Eating

With a small business there are many things that could eat into your profit. Shipping costs, raw material prices, advertising, etc. But this morning I discovered something else that was gnawing away at my profit. Literally. It was a mouse.

Yuck.

Apparently he is a very crafty mouse. He enjoys patterned paper, chipboard, ribbon spools, and glue. I'm pretty sure he made an explosion album for a friend last night. In my bedroom. With my materials. If I find out he was using the die cut machine I'll sell him to the circus. Or maybe "Simple Scrapbooks" magazine...

So I guess I'm off to brave the long lines at Wal-Mart today. Not for a sale or Christmas present. No. I'll be looking for a mouse trap.

Thanksgiving Quotes

Happy Thanksgiving! To celebrate today I'm posting some of my favorite scrapbook quotes about this holiday. They are great for your scrapbook pages or for a smile :).

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.

"God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart." Izaak Walton

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. " W.T. Purkiser

Gobble 'til you wobble.

"No one has ever become poor by giving." Anne Frank

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.
Author Unknown

Various Thoughts

Hi all, so glad to see some of you this weekend for the Home for the Holiday's event! It wasn't overly crowded, but we had fun! I got lots of my own Christmas shopping done and ate a delicious piece of pie compliments of the Baptist Church Youth Group. It was a good thing too because those Huckleberry Lane candles were smelling soooo good I could have eaten them instead...

Just a reminder that the November early bird discount will be running out soon. Click here for fab gifts!

And keep your ears open, there is a possibility of another great Christmas event coming soon!

Gallery

Yesterday I recieved a shipment of new scrapbook materials. Amazing how new packages of adhesive are so tempting! So, of course, I stayed up late and worked on my son's pages! They turned out so cute I had to update my website gallery. And since you are so special, I've posted some here too!

Confession

Today I was late for an appointment because Hobby Lobby had a sale. True story. I took the little guy to town early so we'd have time to run to Wal-Mart, Walgreens, and Hobby Lobby before we needed to be at physical therapy.... Well, Wal-Mart had what I needed from Walgreens, which meant I had time to browse in the scrapbook isles. (Yes I know its supposed to be aisle, but for me-- its isles.) I enjoyed looking at the Christmas paper packages, diving in the discount bin, and then... the paper isle. (Yes. Still isle.) It was new. It was bigger. It was on sale. 50% off. Oh my.

Well, I found some vellum I'd wanted for a while and the perfect baby album for my Gramma's Christmas gift. And I'd been through my pictures just the night before so I knew some specific papers I needed. (Yes. Needed.) And then I wanted to look at the new American Craft paper packages. Very pretty. Before I knew it I was already late and I hadn't even checked out!

So the girl at the cash register was very helpful and checked us out as quickly as possible. Then we drove as quickly and safely as possible to our appointment. And we were fine 'cause the appointment after us had canceled anyway. In the future I should be more careful.

But I wonder if they'll cancel again next week...?

This Saturday

Time flies when you're busy! I've been getting ready for the Christmas shopping event in Maysville this weekend! In case you've forgotten you can stop by the June Conley Building (which is at the far end of town on Main street, like you are heading East on 6 Hwy.) from 9:00 -2:00 this Saturday to do all of your holiday shopping in one convenient and local location! I recently received an update saying that a youth group for a local church will be there selling food too. Now how can you say no to that?

Thankful

I’m starting Thanksgiving early this year! (Not that there is a time limit on being thankful or anything!) Yesterday we took our little guy to the children’s hospital to be re-evaluated for his muscle condition. He was born with cramped muscles on one side of his neck and at nineteen months old he has been in therapy for most of his life. Some children face physical deformations, surgery, and various other trying medical procedures. So far our son has had therapy, taping, a special collar, and Botox injections (who knew?), which have not been fun, but could be much worse. Well, yesterday we got good news! He still tips his head more than he should, but it is now habit and not a muscle condition!!! Yea!!!

More good news is that the Doctor could find no sign of physical deformation in his face or jaws (bad for dental work!) and only a little bit of a flat head where he sleeps. The doc informs us that this should continue to round out as he grows and hair will soon (we hope—he’s been bald for a while now!) cover whatever remains.

So while I plan to write a whole Thanksgiving blog in a few weeks, I just had to post this blessing a little early.

Praise God!

Christmas Covered Candy

Oh yum. Today's project has required an unusual amount of self-control for a scrapbooker. Normaly working with patterend paper, glitter, buttons and embellishments is an indulgence. Not today. However, I am strong enough to resist. I think.

In my scrap area there are four delux dark chocolate Hershey's bars. And six regular Hershey's bars. Currently they are decorated in adorable Christmas paper, tags, and ribbon. We'll see if they last the night.

So my advise to you is that if you'd like to really treat your friends, family, co-workers, etc. this holiday season you order a beautifully deocrated gift of chocolate. My second piece of advise is to do so quickly.

Journaling

The great thing about pictures is that they are going to be around for a while. (Provided there is no natural disaster or your two year old doesn't throw the camera into the toilet that is.) And to enjoy your photos certianly you should place them where they will be seen. But if worse comes to worse you can do it tomorrow.

What is much harder to do is journaling.

Before you roll your eyes, let me explain. For a scrapbooker journaling is simply writing enough to remember the moment. And its amazing what a few sentences will do to jog your memory. For example:

I remember Thanksgiving as a child:

setting the table

writing a play

dressing up as a Pilgrim

trying cranberries

eating Aunt Venita's gingerbread

See, nothing fancy or long, but wow! Images, feelings, smells-- all of it rushes back to me.

As the holidays approch, take a few minutes and just write a sentence about what happened today. You can add it later to a scrapbook page, the back of a photo or on the lines of a picture album. At least, you can if you take one minute and jot it down today.

I Might Have Gone Overboard

It is possible that I got a little bit carried away. Perhaps.

Yesterday I hosted a wedding shower for the new daughter-in-law of a friend. It was nice. There was cake, really good punch, nice gifts, and maybe just a few scrapbook elements. A few.

Of course I made a pre-made scrapbook for the bride to put her wedding photos in. Red roses, silver stickers, black photo corners. It was elegant if I do say so myself. And then I needed to add to the tag that came on the gift bag. It was cute, but it had potential to be much cuter. And then who wouldn't want to keep the gift list forever-- so I decorated that page with glitter and bows. Lucky for me the shower was hosted by the church, so the invitations went out in the bulletin and not in the mail. I could have made those too...

So I might have gone overboard for a girl I don't really know.

My name is Kelly and I am addicted to scrapbooking.

To-Do List

I love to plan, to be prepared, to be ready ahead of schedule. So why is it that I never am? This year I made a plan to work on that extensive Christmas gift list starting in August. A few gifts per month and by December I'd be home-free. Well, I've bought three. That leaves just like 15 left to go!

If you are in the same boat, I'm here to help you out. Order a Christmas gift in November and save 15%! You'll kill two birds with one stone-- shop on sale and mark one more thing off that holiday to-do list!

Did I say one thing? Scratch that-- there are personal and one-of-a-kind gift for lots of the people on your list. Gift certificates, of course, work for anyone. But what about a mega chocolate bar decorated with a quote for your favorite teacher, or an explosion album for grandma? Give your sister-in-law a package of handmade cards and an altered journal to neices and nephews. Order a 6x6 album with notes to a wonderful father, mother, or spouse. Won't it be nice to give a gift you know they won't need to take back!

Let us help you get that to-do list finished! To get your discount click here: http://www.designsofminebykm.com/?code=cheer. You can even request gift wrapping.

But your on your own with the turkey.

Home for the Holidays

I'm really looking forward to a new event Designs of Mine will be attending! Its called "Home for the Holidays" and it will be happening the weekend before Thanksgiving. The idea is to shop local small businesses instead of the malls for Christmas. Amy is organizing this project and I'm so impressed by the number of vendors that will be there. I had no idea our area had so many great ideas for gifts!

The info:

Shop Home for the Holidays will be Saturday, November 22 from 9am - 2pm at the June Conley Building.

Vendors include:

Me! Designs of Mine Custom Scrapbooking, Cookie Lee Jewelry, The Pampered Chef, Discovery Toys, Add a Little Happiness Jewelry/Vic's Handcrafted Clay Jewelry, Huckleberry Layne Candles and Gifts, Avon, Burrows Metal Works, Cakes by Jen and I know Amy has added others in the last few days!

Save gas, shop local, support small businesses! Oh, and have fun!

Come shop!

My Own Advise

You can judge for yourself how my picture taking advise works.

On the 31st we had a fall party at our house. We invited some close family friends to dress up as godly characters from the Scriptures or history and then we had FUN!

Really, I had a great time. From making invitations to decorating cupcakes even getting ready was a blast. And few things could be better than visiting with friends :-). My son was beside himself with joy and sugar.

So, here ya go. Cute, aren't they?!