Merry post-Christmas!

Hey everyone! How was your Christmas? Mine was wonderful!!!

This year, it was so great to see my 3 1/2 year old son, Benjamin, getting excited for Christmas. He was blown away on Christmas morning that Santa had ACTUALLY come to our house, ate the cookies & milk, fed rudolph the carrot, and left him presents. Presents he had asked him for! Amazing! :) By the way, this year I decided that Santa should only bring one or two gifts per kid (the rest of the gifts I get to take credit for... is that selfish?), and that the gifts he brings them should be un-wrapped (and out of the package) beneath the tree. After all, he carries them in his sack and brings them straight from the North Pole where the elves make them, right? :) It's also nice to have a few toys already out for them to play with immediately. It gave Aaron and I a little time to wake up and brew a BIG pot of coffee.

Actually, I was very awake by the time we started unwrapping gifts. I was the first one out of bed on Christmas morning... about quarter to 6 or so I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. I sat down here on the couch in the dark with the Christmas tree as my only source of light. It was very peaceful for me to think about the meaning of the holiday in the glow of the multicolored lights. It's easy to get caught up in the presents and pretend characters and forget about the birth of a Savior. The BIG reason for why we even celebrate to begin with. :) That's why I love the Christmas Eve service at my church. Every year the service ends with us all singing "Silent Night" in the dim light while holding flickering candles. The last verse we lift up our candles and our voices fill the church in praise. Mmm. It's heart warming. It's beautiful. And it's the exact reminder I need that Christmas is a simple holiday with a HUGE meaning. Not the opposite.

I realize I haven't yet shared the pages I made with the December kit from Mosh Posh! Here they are:






My mom and I are busy working on our Etsy shop. It's been in the works for a looong time. We hit a few road bumps along the way, my house flooded, the holidays approaching, busy stuff, etc. But now I have a renewed energy and I'm very excited about it. Here is a taste of the awesomeness to come: Stuffed ROBOT toys, dollies, babies, lovey blankies, bags for mommy, scrapbook albums, completed scrapbook pages (ready for your photos), cards, art, paintings, etc. A complete creative boutique for baby and mom. :) I'm psyched!!! Stay tuned for more about that!

Anyways, better go. The in-laws are in town and I have to take a trip to the grocery store to make one of my favorite meals, chicken white bean chili with corn bread and salad. Yum. :)

All about cards...

The challenge at Mosh Posh this month is a card making one. I am not highly fond of making cards... mostly because I hardly ever send them to anyone. Gosh, that makes me sound SO cold and unfriendly!!! LOL. But, seriously, whenever I think of making a card I stop myself because I always feel like it's a waste of my cardstock and embellishments. And I never have envelopes to send them in, either! I hate taking so much time and putting in so much effort on a silly little card. Especially when I can buy a beautiful one from Hallmark for a couple dollars.

:)

I'm chuckling to myself over here because I am making a case for NOT making cards! Aren't I encouraging? Isn't this a great scrapbooking blog!?! Hahahahaha...

So, it get's better, I promise. :) I sort of had a change of heart about making cards. I went out and bought a pack of plain white envelopes from Target (or was it Michaels?) and I kept my card designs simple. Actually, making cards is a GREAT way to use up odd embellishments and scraps of paper you have left over after making layouts. See? I'm OK with making cards now. Especially after this batch of 3 holiday cards was completed and I felt so proud! Proud of a card! Who knew?

This month, the Mosh Posh December kit is bursting with fun goodies to play with. Especially if you grab the add-on, too. I just grabbed some ribbon and buttons from my own stash... oh yeah, glitter stickles too.

Here are the cards:






Now, if you're anything like me and you have NO idea how to go about making a card start by cutting a sheet of cardstock to 12x9 inches. Then cut it into two 9x6 sheets. Fold those in half with the non-textured surface on the inside (to write on). This size card is easy to find envelopes for. OR if you're super ambitious, make your own envelope from lightweight patterned paper, too: MAKE AN ENVELOPE.

Do you make cards? Have any to share??? Post a link in the comments. I'd love to see your work and get more ideas now that I'm an official "card maker".

TGIF!!!