Books I Have Known

I'm about 20 pages away from finishing Pat Conroy's latest book "South of Broad". Another love letter to Charleston, it's been a great ride and I am a bit sad to be near the end. Since reading is such a big part of my life, I've decided I am going to document all the books I read in 2010. Nothing fancy--just a little 4X6 album with white pages, a picture of the front cover of each book and a few sentences containing my thoughts about the book. It will be interesting for me to look back in coming years to see what I was reading in 2010...and might give my kids some insight about their mom when they're older. (I am flattering myself that they will be interested!)

Here's the front of my simple little album:

And a sample of one of the pages:

I'd love to know what you're reading right now! Happy Weekend!

Class is in Session

Tonight's webcast with House of 3 is not to be missed! Heidi will be teaching a class on how to make the most darling little album below:

I have a quite an obsession with mini-albums these days...I have no idea what I'm going to use this particular one for but I simply must have it! :) The inside is made up of 6" by 9" envelopes so it will be great to store little keepsakes and memoribilia in.

Just love it! I'll post mine if I'm able to follow along and it turns out ok!

Fun Scrap Weekend with the Girls!

Just ended a fabulous scrap weekend with Kristie and Kim at Aloft Hotel at Park Place! It was a great time: we got lots done, ate whatever we wanted, had tons of girl talk and finally saw the movie "Twilight". Ahhh...I feel so refreshed...and we're already planning our next weekend getaway in May!

One of the projects I completed was my House of 3 "Sweetie Album". So easy and so fabulous! Rather than using the mini-book as a Valentine's Day album, I plan to fill it with some sweet photos of Kendall's ballet classes. :)

OH.MY.GOODNESS.

OH (pause) MY (pause) GOODNESS!

That's what Kendall said last night when I showed her this amazing quilt that her Nena made for her! Nena's friend, Karen, was kind enough to do the actual quilting for us since it is a queen-size quilt--and it is nothing short of stunning! Kendall is getting her "big girl bed" next month and this gorgeous quilt will be her bedspread. She is just beside-herself-excited and insisted on sleeping on top of it in her crib last night. Kendall will have this beautiful heirloom forever and I feel so blessed that my mom was willing to spend the last 4 months of her life creating it!

     

Basic Grey has always been one of my favorite scrapbook companies, and when they came out with fabric, I knew this quilt had to be made using the "Sultry" line. The pinks, greens and browns are just perfect for this girly-girl's new bed!

My Mind's Eye Challenge!

My Mind's Eye has been a favorite of mine for years! They always have the most amazing designs and patterned paper...I can't wait to get my hands on the new LUSH line! Their challenge this week was to use red or pink in your layout and to follow this sketch:

I really dug deep in my stash tonite and came up with papers from the gorgeous Laundry Line, 29th Street Market and Breaking Free, and I used a "descriptives card" from one of my all-time favorites: Wild Asparagus (am I dating myself here?!).  I am really trying to use what I have right now so I will feel less guilty buying all of the new lines once they hit my LSS! Here's my take on the sketch:

Thanks so much for looking!

Wonderful Wednesdays!

I just adore those gals over at House of 3! Heidi, Rhonna and Janet are so talented and always coming up with bits of brilliance and whimsy to inspire me!

At the beginning of this year, they started doing hour-long webcasts on Wednesday nights at 8pm CST to talk about new products, techniques, projects, classes, giveaways etc. (I have to admit that I am a bit obsessed with the whole thing!) During the webcast there is also a "chat" going on among the viewers, who hail from all over the world. The gals in Australia and New Zealand are watching the show during their lunch hour--they are almost a day ahead of us, which is fascinating to me for some reason!

So, if you have some time on a Wednesday night, you've got to join in the fun! They are celebrating their 1st birthday this month and have all kinds of new birthday decorations and goodies available...just in time for Kendall's birthday! I will be making this darling countdown for sure:

Have a great day!

Fun B-day Invites! (or Seriously, You're Almost 3 Already??)

My daughter is turning 3 next month (!) and I had been debating about ordering birthday invitations for her little get-together. We're only having two families over, along with my parents and grandmother, so they really aren't necessary...but I've been thinking I'd really like to have one for the mini-album I plan to make. (Silly perhaps, but really no more so than planning my daughter's outfit around the patterned paper I plan to use for the album!) At any rate, I found Tiny Prints, who has the most darling cards at a really reasonable price and you can order as few as 10 cards--love it!

Here's a sample of what I chose (and this is perfect for my daughter as she is a bit over-the-top!):

Then, I just had to have the matching thank you notes and address labels...serious cuteness!