Toast & Juice

  

 

 

 

 

My living room is flooded with toys. There's not an inch to spare, but it was all worth it as I watched Ethan open his gifts Christmas morning. He woke up around 6:30am and headed straight for the tree. He knew something was up. His first immediate reaction was to grab and tear. Knowing it was just myself and Ethan this year, I was looking forward to this moment. The immediacy of excitement and surprise that children often feel upon waking up Christmas morning is something I'd not experienced with Ethan yet. To get Ethan ready for Christmas morning, I had him leave cookies and a note for Santa the night before. *Good thing he left Santa cookies cause Santa was hungry when he arrived...he ate all the cookies, plus a few extras..wink. Smile. I spoke a little bit about Santa's visit and then had Ethan go to bed. When he woke up the next morning, there was definite excitement. We dedicated the entire morning to celebrating the holiday. By afternoon, we were at my sister's place and celebrating the holiday with family. Ethan wasn't really feeling well by afternoon (bad cold!)so we left the party early. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out at home. We finished up the festivities at my parent's home the next day.

There are some new activities that Ethan has taken great interest in lately. Santa brought him a toaster and juice dispenser, so the kitchen has become his new best friend. He's cooking me all kinds of stuff,including lots of toast. Laugh. He's also a major fan of "Wall-e" (who doesn't love a robot with a witty personality?) and now we have a miniature electronic Wall-e living in our kitchen which Ethan likes to turn on while eating meals. We also have Wall-e books to read and color and a dishware set for eating out of with Wall-e in the background. This is totally a fun age..my favorite so far.

 

Supplies: Pattern papers ( Sassfras "Frosted" & "In Love", Crate Paper "Notes") Sassafras Leaf border stamp (Organic Borders), Sassafras Green Scallop Journal Tag Sticker (Life at the Pole), K & Company Ornament Adhesions (Swell Noel), Anna Griffin Epoxy Snowflake Sticker (Georgette Holiday), Making Memories Adore Epoxy Sticker (Michaels Exclusive Valentine Pebble Stickers), Heidi Grace Blue Cardstock Alpha Stickers (not able to locate), CI Creative Cafe Transparency (Neutral Date)& October Afternoon "Believe" Die-Cut Letters (Good Cheer).

There's a new member in our family. His name is Evan and he's sooo adorable and itty bitty. I've completely forgotten what it feels like to hold a newborn baby. He's officially one month old. My brother and his wife had a baby last month. This was my first visit with him...a true blessing.

 

This is one of those layouts that "just" sort of happened. Laugh. I found a few hours to sit down and work on it while Ethan was napping yesterday. It was a spontaneous creation. I find that spontaneous creations turn out to be some of my favorite projects. I love creating when I'm not totally vested in the end result. The process of creating is slower and more enjoyable. This layout came about piece by piece. I experimented with various ideas and supplies. I did some combining of both intricate & bold elements. They balance each other out on this layout. I also toyed around with adhesive rub-ons once again. Love these. The soft, ornate swirl sitting behind the word "believe" is an adhesive rub-on from We R' Memory Keepers. I have a small collection of adhesive rub-ons that I use from time to time.

 

Instead of printing my holiday photos this year using my personal home printer, I downloaded them to Snapfish and had them printed for me. I'm quickly realizing that I need to find ways to save time if I'm going to get my holiday layouts completed. I usually like to tweak and play around with photos before printing them, but it's time consuming. I can easily spend hours on the computer altering photos, which is a whole 'nother hobby within itself. So this month, I had someone print my photos for me. While waiting for the photos, I'm continuing my search for Christmas scrapbook supplies. I have some from previous years that I still love and use. I'm combining those with some new items. My favorite two holiday lines from this year are "Be Merry" & "Snowed In" by My Minds Eye. I'm drawn to the color palette and illustration of both of these collections. To celebrate the season, I'm giving away a "Snowed In" collection pack. If you would like to be included in the drawing, please leave a comment below. Share your favorite Christmas collections and tell us why you chose the collection'(s).