Happy 39th Anniversary

Wow 39 years, and still happily married. What a wonderful example to look too! Thanks mom and dad for always "walking your talk". I love you.
xoxo
Nikki

Cleaning up and relaxing...

Neither one of my boys is feeling to good, so the last couple of days I have been pretty much stuck in the house (which can actually be a blessing sometimes). To me, there is nothing better than the feeling of "starting over"...let me tell you what I mean by that. Wednesday, I spent the day enjoying all the great new gifts I received and played with Riley and his new presents he received too. Yesterday was spent cleaning up and putting away all my Christmas decorations. That led to empty spaces in my house, which led to rearranging plants and some furniture. In the end... I just love how fresh my home feels. I also caught up on some of the online message boards I participate on, and a bunch of loads of laundry. Today I cleaned out drawers in my kitchen, baked a cake for a party I am going to tomorrow night, finished sorting out all the boys new Christmas toys. My house feels fresh, my life feels refreshed (I have allowed myself to sleep in a couple of mornings this week- and not feel bad about it), but most of all I am looking forward to a brand new year! This last picture is of my homemade biscotti (dipped in chocolate) I made for Christmas gifts for my Dad, FIL and brother in law...I made a few extra, which was what I had with my coffee on Christmas morning.

Clean. Refresh. Renew.

Nikki

Merry Christmas

We have had a wonderful family holiday so far...watching Riley open up his Christmas presents was the best!! I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I will post some photos soon...
xoxo
Nikki
PS the winner of my iSCPAP membership goes to......"Moments in Time"....Congrats!!!
PSS Jan Scholl, I am still looking for you...you won my iSCRAP giveaway a couple of weeks ago!!

Dragon Flaire Studios digi LO

I made these two Lo's from a kit at Dragon Flaire Studios called "Boys Own"... if you like this kit, you can find it here: http://www.dragonflairestudios.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=519

TFL.

Dream. Design. Create.

Nikki

iSCRAP membership giveaway!!!

I have one more iSCRAP membership to give away! If you did not win last time, please enter again for another chance to win. I noticed from your comments last time that you did not know much about the International Scrapbook Assoc. (known as iSCRAP) so here is a brief description. If you are interested leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I will randomly chose one name on Christmas Day!!


Guest membership: free. This includes access to the forums, galleries, store locator, fonts, poems, titles, and quotes. Access to the event calendar (includes scrapbooking events from all over the world), and Contests and Calls list (from all over the web)
Scrapbooker membership (this is what I am giving away): Access to the entire site, including digital elements, participating in our contests and challenges, the choice to have all contest and call notifications (from other sites and magazines) emailed direct when they get posted. Scrapbookers also get discounts from certain online stores and LSS's that are members of iScrap. They get to participate in our Scrap Points Program: a system we have where everyone receives points for uploading to the gallery, participation on the site, submission of articles, tips & tricks, etc - then each point gets them an entry into a monthly draw for a prize pack valued at $150
Retailer Membership: Retailers get a page to display their store information, hours, events, sales, and any other info they choose to put up. They have the opportunity to provide a discount to iScrap members. They get listed in our directory and store locator. Retailers may also participate in all forums, galleries and contests that we have running at iScrap. There are further advertising opportunities available to Retailers. Retailers may take advantage of discounts provided by Manufacturers that are members.
Manufacturer Membership: They receive a page to display their company information, get listed in our Manufacturer directory and have the opportunity to provide discounts to iScrap Retailers. There are many advertising opportunities for Manufacturers at iScrap.


We would like to have the largest list of Scrapbooking events/ contests/ calls/ crops on the web, plus the largest Resource section for Scrapbookers. (which is what we are currently working on) – this will include articles, tutorials, projects, class project ideas for instructors, fonts, titles, poems, quotes, digital elements, card sayings, etc. There is so much involved and lots that the NSA started but hasn't fully completed – but now we can complete it since we have more resources. There are some exciting things in the works such as a Trip Planner (for example if you are going on a road trip from Los Angeles to Portland and you want to hit every LSS on your way. This program would map out a route for you to all the stores.), and an Instructor Certification Course, as well as lots of other things.
We also are trying to have the largest up to date directory of LSS's, online stores and manufacturers, and we are going to soon start a Consultant section as well.



Hope this all helps and gets you excited about iSCRAP as I am!!!

Dream. Design. Create.

Nikki

Free Christmas Music

Go here to this link http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/seriously_westcoast/index.html and you can download 16 Christmas songs from various artists (hurry, this ends tonight at midnight!) I found this offer on someone elses blog and thought I would share.
Nikki

Some Christmas Decorations...

My mom and I make Christmas centerpieces each year from fresh Christmas tree boughs, pheasant feathers, pine cones, and this year I added mini silver Christmas ball ornaments!
These are the Christmas stockings I made last year from some vintage fabric and crocheted lace that was my Grandma's.

My tree forest is an idea I got from my friend Kim B. (who originally got it from Heidi Swapp)...I have to get some better pictures, but it is 3 seperate trees clustered together! TFL

Dream, Design, Create

Nikki

Moments i cherish most...

I finally got the chance to play with a clear acrylic album...so much fun. I wanted to combine fabric with my scrapbooking supplies for a shabby chic look. I used fabric for the background on the cover and the right side of my two page spreads. I used the Making Memories "noteworthy collection" journaling pages and the felt flowers (except for the one I made). I also used a stamp on every page (Autumn Leaves, Hero Arts, Fancy Pants, Sassafrass Lass and Heidi Swapp). My pattern papers were from, Prima, Basic Grey, Creative Imaginations and Making Memories. TFL

Dream, Design, Create

Nikki

PS If you live local, K2 carries these albums and if you shop online you can find it at http://www.paperjamstudios.com/

Happy Birthday Brody

Here is a photo from each month this past year! TFL.
Dec, 06
January- bath time
February
March- St Patty's Day

April- Easter Sunday
May
June
July
August

September- bathroom remodel
October- Halloween
November- Oscar Scherrer Park
Dec 07
I can hardly believe that my baby turned one today.

Nikki

K2 Weekly Blog Challenge

Ok girlies...December is here and the countdown to Christmas is on (Yikes, only 22 days left)! I have been in the Christmas spirit so much this year. This is the first year that Riley is sooooo excited about it too. Every time he sees any toy (and I mean ANY toy) he says "I am going to ask Santa for that so I will get that for Christmas", and I usually say "We will see..." We (Riley and I) have also been creating alot of decorations for the tree and around our house... That gets me around to this weeks challenge!

Make a Christmas decoration for your home using your scrapbooking supplies. Take a look at my previous post and your will see some button and paper trees I made for my table centerpiece. Once you complete your challenge make sure you put your name in the blog challenge jar at K2 Scrapbook Studio...the drawing for the grand prize is coming up soon!!

Dream, Design, Create

Nikki

Christmas creations...

What could be better than hot cocoa, York peppermint patty's, and all your craft stuff surrounding you!


My button trees.
My paper tree made from Basic Grey Figgy Puddin line. I attached pom poms around the bottom and some trims around the top. I have it displayed on an upside down tea cup! TFL
Dream, Design, Create
Nikki

Paper Jam Studios Invites you...

Nikki

And the iSCRAP winners are...

...drumroll please, Jan Scholl and Kim Bolyard.
I wrote down everyone's name in the order they left a comment and had my husband choose two numbers, and he chose 3 and 12!! Congrats girls. Leave me a comment with your e-mail addy and I will send you the info you will need to join for free!!!
Nikki
PS No worries if you didn't win this time...I will be giving away one more membership so check back soon!

Fun at K2

On the Friday after Thansgiving I spent the evening with some girls over at K2 for some real Scraptherapy. I was able to relax after taking care of the family all day. I spent some time organizing the rest of my digi stuff and and the rest of the time making this digi LO! TFL
Dream, Design, Create
Nikki

So much to be thankful for...

-my husband and kids
-my parents, brother and his wife
-my in-laws
-my health
-my friends
-my dogs
-my home...the list could go on and on

On my run this morning as I reached the top of the Ringling Bridge, the sun was coming up through the clouds and it took my breath away at the beauty of our city. I turned my ipod off and thanked God for all that he has blessed me with. An amazing way to start my day. I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed day today too!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Nikki

Colorful Days

I just made this LO from fotosusu's "Colorful Days" kit found here http://www.dragonflairestudios.com/store/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=34&products_id=448 at http://www.dragonflairestudios.com/

Dream, Design, Create

Nikki

A fun give away

Just in time for the holidays...I am giving away 2 free year memberships to http://www.iscrap.net/ (a year membership is normally $10). All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post and next Sunday I will pick 2 names...and if you don't win this time, in a couple of weeks I will have 2 more memberships to give away!!!!

If you haven't been to http://www.iscrap.net/ (Formerly National Scrapbooking Association- NSA) yet then go on over and check it out. We have some amazing contests going on right now with even more amazing prizes...Photoshop Elements 5.0, and an 8mp Canon camera to name a few.

You do not need to be a member to participate in the forum or gallery, but if you want to participate in the great contests and info about your local scrapbook stores sales, coupons etc... you have to have a membership.

Ok, get those fingers typing and leave me a comment. Don't forget to check back next Sunday to see who won!!!! Good Luck.

Nikki

K2 Weekly Challenge

We are decorating the STUDIO for the holidays and we want YOU to help. This weeks challenge is to make an ORNAMENT for our Christmas tree using your scrapbooking supplies. This challenge will continue till Christmas. (Don't forget to put your name in the jar when you drop off your ornament!) My ornaments are made from wooden spools.

Directions:

I inked the edges with various colors.

I wrapped the center with digital paper and embellishements from the Sapphire Sparkle digi kit I got from here: http://www.dragonflairestudios.com/store/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=10&products_id=435.

I embellished the cord with ribbon, beads and vintage earings and pins.

Hang on tree and enjoy all season!

Dream, Design, Create

Nikki

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday brother.
I love you.
Nikki

An October recap

Brody and Daddy at Sharky's pier.Brody wants to scrapbook with his mommy.:)
Riley showing off his "tough boy" face. Riley having fun in the boat at Sharky's pier.

Brody loves mirrors.

Riley fell asleep on the side of his bed...
Riley wearing my rubber boots...too cute!
His two adorable bottom teeth.
Happy Halloween (Brody is a "lion")
My baby sleeping.

Sean ready to hunt pheasant.
My family.
Riley picking apples.
The boys...
Looking back we had a crazy and very eventful month. TFL.

Nikki

PS This is a nice way to remember all the happenings in a month...will have to try and remember to do this each month!