More Christmas Journal Pages & Merry Christmas!

I can't believe it is Christmas Eve already! I'm ready ... everything is bought, wrapped, kitchen stocked, etc. Now we just get to celebrate. (I hope).  Here is yet another installment of Christmas Journal pages:

Another of those "just a quote" pages from a day when I didn't have photos.

Documenting real life.  The xray doesn't belong to my kids - it was clipped out of the little booklet they give them about what to expect during & after the surgery.

Love the stockings hung from the mantle - for years they hung on the staircase because we blocked the fireplace with bookshelves to protect the girls when they were little.  Love this!

I've always wanted to document some close-ups of our stockings.  I made these (yes, said with a measure of pride and satisfaction).  We've had them for years and years now and they still look great.  At some point I need to go back and figure out when I made them.

Last one for today.  This is the paper I used for this year.  All green & red and very Chrismassy.

Now I'm off to shower and maybe do some more scrapbooking!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas Past

photo circa 1996

Christmas was so much simpler when they were this age - they believed in Santa, had no real expectations of what would be under the tree for them, and loved all their gifts (except the clothes).  Yes, this photo makes me nostalgic and missing my little girls.

Letter to Santa

Postcard is from the Cozy Christmas Postcards set by Tia Bennett available on Two Peas

My Year in Status

with thanks to Sharyn for posting the link to this cool app.  I'm even happy with most of the status posts that FB randomly selected for me.  But I'm thinking about turning this into a real scrapbook page and wondering (since you get a png file from FB) how difficult it would be to change out some of the wording...hmmm.  Or I could just be truly authentic and leave it alone.  Call it done.  It's cool just the way it is.

More Christmas Journal Pages

Yesterday I posted this page:

When it was done, I was feeling creative and decided it needed a companion, so I put together this to turn it into a two-page layout for my Christmas Journal:

The paper and frosted overlay are from Erica Zane's Touch of Winter kit. The word art is Katie Pertiet's Defining Christmas set.

Since I was on a roll, I got another two page set done:

Paper, frosted overlay, and snowflake are also from the Touch of Winter kit. Tradition font is Scriptina, journaling font is VT Portable Remington.

As you can see, my pages are getting done in really random order, but they are getting done!

I Believe

Do YOU Believe?  Inquiring minds want to know. Click on the photo for a larger view if you can't read it.

Blogging & Shopping

on Blogging - a case of ask and you shall receive! I love bloggers... it is so reassuring to know that even when I'm not getting heaps of comments there are people out there reading my thoughts and sharing my days. Thanks to everyone who stopped by after Friday's post and left me some love! You all made my day!

on Shopping - I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas shopping.  See if this description fits for you...

In some respects I hate Christmas Shopping - mainly because I'm a little bit claustrophobic, or maybe its enocholophobic. I find them confusing.  I'm not afraid of small spaces like elevators or closets.  I'm not afraid of people or even large crowds of people.  It's the combination I find disturbing - large crowds of people in tight spaces.  Which is why I don't shop Black Friday at the Mall.  And why when I go to convention halls, I pass right by the booths that have large numbers of people in them.  At CK Convention, you can pretty much assume that the booth with all the women elbowing past each other has the best scrapbooking stuff - or the best prices on some gotta-have-it item - but there is no deal great enough for me to join that party! And should I accidentally find myself enveloped by that party, I get a headache, feel like I can't breathe, and immediately search for the nearest "out" where I can find an aisle with some s-p-a-c-e to breathe.  I admire the women who can forge into the melee and come out victorious with that great gotta-have thing. I'm not one of them.

What I LOVE about Christmas Shopping.  That rare instance when I can find the perfect gift for someone.  And even better if it happens to be on sale.  I can go into a store having no idea what I'm looking for and, if I am lucky that day, find the perfect item beckoning to me from a shelf.  This year I stumbled into a half-price sale at a gift shop (Hallmark type store). 

In addition to finding some cute "smores" ornaments for my girls, I found a beautiful canvas print for a friend that I'm certain will look lovely in her scrap room. 

Beyond finding the perfect thing, what really gives me thrills & chills when it comes to Christmas Shopping is finding the deals. Yes, I'm a bargain shopper. With my own daughters, I rarely have the opportunity to find that perfect something. Their tastes in clothing are too specific and individual. Ditto with music, jewelry, or anything else that teenage girls enjoy. So I shop from their lists. And when I can score something off the list at a great price, well heck, that just makes my day. For example - p.j. pants - original price $29.50 a pair. Ouch. On sale at Aerie for $20 a pair. Better. With the 40% off coupon that I've been saving for just this purpose, $12 a pair. Score!

My best find so far this season:

Fuzzy Socks.  This fun little footwear was originally priced at $12.50 PER PAIR!  Are they insane?  I would never even consider spending that amount on a single pair of socks, regardless of how cute.  But at 70% off, they were $3.75 a pair.  Much more reasonable.  Take three pairs to checkout.  Hand over a store gift card and ask sweetly "could you see if there is any balance left on this card?" Understand, I've literally had this card in my wallet for over a year without knowing if there was any money on it or not. Turns out it had $9.79 on it (that's like found money to me!) My total out-of-pocket for 3 pair of fuzzy socks - $1.46.  SWEET! You've just gotta love it when that happens.