the best is yet to come

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december daily | mini albums with monika

Meet me over on the My Mind's Eye blog today for this month's Mini Albums with Monika featuring the largest December Daily I've ever created.

black friday sale coupon code

Thank you all, the shop was booming overnight...but just in case you didn't know yet:

happy thanksgiving | gather, give thanks, feast

Gordon and I are blessed to have the joy of having both sides of our family gather and celebrate our Thanksgiving feast together. It might be a little tight in our tiny little dining room and we'll end up adding a table to ours and having it bump out into the living room...but that's okay. Totally okay for the joy of seeing everyone looking forward to their favorite recipes, deciding if a third helping is really a good idea and contemplating whether to go for the pumpkin pie or apple strudel {or both} for dessert.

It is Thanksgiving, after all.

I am thankful for this busy, hectic, hustle bustle that will be in our home because we were a military family growing up. We didn't have the luxury of aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents to gather around our table. There weren't cars lined up in our driveway.

But there will be this year and I'm looking forward to carrying on my Mom's tradition of good food, good times and good memories.

Feel free to drag the art print to your desktop and print. 

christmas countdown calendar

Ready, set, go! Print your Christmas Countdown Calendar sized for a Personal sized planner and here's a letter sized calendar to hang on the fridge for the kids to mark off the days!

In just one month, we'll be sitting around in our comfy clothes, sipping on hot chocolate and sitting on the couch gazing at the fire while the kids play with their toys or read books. We'll reflect upon the birth of Christ and the joy of having family near to celebrate with.

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN

In addition to the calendar, there's also a Countdown to Christmas list page included in the file. Because, who doesn't need another list page, right? You could even print off several of these and make a notepad using this tutorial.

A little washi tape and some flair buttons just make anything cuter and more cheerful, so go for it! The Jolly gift tag is included in the file as my gift to you. I used a large tag punch from Marvy Uchida to punch mine out and then used a snowflake punch and backed the tag with some contrasting paper to make them stand out even more. Add some baker's twine from The Twinery and you're all set for a jolly December.

Oh, and our kids loved the Halloween Countdown Calendar in case you missed that printable and here's how I used it in my Filofax Finsbury.

HELPFUL LINKS

Here are more Filofax ideas, tips and photos to browse through.

Follow my to filofax board on Pinterest.

And here are more fun free downloads.

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While you're thinking about it, just do it!

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                         Minimum order of $50.oo must be placed to receive $15.oo discount.

a chance to start new

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baker's twine tassel necklace | the twinery

I've been waiting to share this project for a while, I just love it. Do you ever have an outfit, but not the right piece of jewelry to go along with it? 

The possibilities are endless...you can add beads, baubles, more tassels...and I can't wait to share the tutorial with you over on The Twinery blog today.

thankful mini album download

Our Canadian friends have already celebrated their Thanksgiving and here in the US, we're just weeks away. As we head into the season of thankful thoughts and counting our many blessings, I wanted to share a free download along with my project today.

If you're not into mini albums, just print the journaling cards and have friends and family members write their thankful thoughts down during your Thanksgiving get together. And guess what...it's sized to fit in your pocket pages and Project Life albums, too.

NOTE |  This project first appeared on My Mind's Eye 

as part of my Mini Albums with Monika monthly series.

I'm adding a little twist to this month's mini album project, actually it was a first for me, but this entire mini album has been created without a single photograph. Gasp! I challenged myself to let the awesome array of My Mind's Eye products "stand in" for places where I would usually use a photograph.

The Setup
The left side of the spread has a thankful journaling card {in a colorway that works well with the Jubilee collection} and the right side of each spread has a different patterned paper embellished with flair buttons, transparent frames, letter stickers, chipboard elements and journal cards...and sometimes a combination of two or three items...making for a chunky, layered, colorful mini album.

The Design Elements

I had a vague idea of things I wanted to include in my Thankful mini album, so when browsing through the Jubilee collection, I noticed that I could create and craft my album with just the supplies I had on hand.

My thinking was that I could incorporate the design elements from the MME collections to help the reader picture what I had journaled. Let me show you how I did it.

Using the Transparent Frames from the Just Sayin' and Jubilee Live It Up collections, I inserted frames between my thankful journal card on the left and my patterned paper on the right side. I even added Rub Ons and Letter Stickers to the frames!

Layering Chipboard Elements is one of my most favorite ways to add depth and dimension to layouts and mini albums.  For the feather page, the coral rectangular shape had a sentiment that didn't fit my project, but served as a perfect anchor for my other elements. 

The polaroid frame comes with the photograph chipboard, but I separated the two items, and added the chipboard arrow between the two by adding foam squares to lift the frame off the page.

I might just be a little bit in love with the Rub Ons. I used them in a few projects earlier this month for the October challenge and haven't stopped playing around with them since. Here, I used them on a transparent frame and on patterned paper to highlight a flair button.

The Album

One can never have enough layers, I think it adds a bit of surprise and makes me want to keep turning the pages to see what comes next. Sure, I could have begun with just the thankful journal card, but instead I opted to add a transparent frame that I stapled a chipboard element to.

I lined it with patterned paper so that the raw chipboard wouldn't show through to the back side of the frame. I popped a chipboard frame atop the journal card and it fit perfectly. And no, I didn't plan it...it just happened, lucky me.

All these little pieces come together to help me tell my thankful story: life is an adventure, the good life...all a part of what I want to document.

Using journal cards is always a favorite way to jumpstart a story for me. So many times, they spark a memory of a moment that needs to be documented.

And the butter that holds this biscuit together is the awesomely gorgeous patterned papers, don't you think. And who says you can't cut into your favorite piece of paper? Not me...here I've trimmed the gold glitter nerdy glasses paper to use as journal card. Because...I am so thankful for my reading glasses!

Go ahead, it's okay. I say it's better to use your paper and enjoy it than to save it and never see it.

The Download
Don't forget to download your thankful journaling page. And, I've also included what I journaled on the left side for each right side page decoration below.

More Inspiration

And other Thankful mini album ideas here and here.

i am grateful for you

I am grateful for you.

Well yes, you, too. But this card was made for my husband. Sure, I tell my husband regularly how awesome I know he is, but there's something about taking the time to write it down and letting a person read your grateful thoughts that makes it official. And memorable.

WELCOME 
Hello and welcome to this fun blog hop event with The Twinery and CardMaker magazine. We've teamed up to present tons of card making inspiration using  baker's twine...I know, fun right? And if you've arrived here from the blog of

The Twinery

I know you were excited to see all the sneak peeks you found there!

If you haven't already, you may want to begin the blog hop with CardMaker magazine so you don't miss out on tons of great cards and inspiration along the way.

THE DETAILS

I've worked outside the box here on what one might consider traditional Fall color combinations, but after I wrapped by card with the Gold Shimmer baker's twine, I felt it needed a pop. So, diving into my basket full of twine goodness, I chose the Solid Denim twine. It seems to ground the shimmer twine and draw your eye in toward the "one in a million" message.

I kinda love the way my threaded mini tag turned out. That was totally last minute and I think it's the  my most favorite part of the card design. But then I am a fan of using your own handwriting in projects, it seems to lend authenticity and a real "handmade with love" touch!

THE PRIZE

Want to win some Gold Shimmer baker's twine of your own? And Solid Mandarin, Copper Shimmer and Solid Maraschino? Just leave a comment below and on every other blog participating for even more chances to win.

prize package valued at $60.oo

destiny

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this girl

This girl slays me.
I love her.

I love that she's got an "I can do anything!" attitude. Not in a cocky sense, but in the sense that she doesn't think that there's anything she can't conquer.
I love that she wants me to come to school to eat Thanksgiving lunch with her.
I love that she grabbed for my hand as soon as she saw me and we continued to hold hands as we waited in the lunch line.
I love that once lunch was over, she didn't want to linger and was fine with me going and didn't want for me to wait for her. She was ready to be back with her friends, Mommy time was over.
I love her quiet beauty.
I love her smile. Love. It melts my heart.
I love that she's in the mood to hug again. She asks to sit in my lap and wants hug time. For a while, she wasn't so huggy and I missed our special time together.
I love that she loves to read.
I love that she loves to read alot.
I love that retains what she's reading.
I love that she is encouraging to her little sister.
I love that she is friends with her little sister.
I love that she loves her big brother, even though there are eleven years between them.
I love that she misses her big brother and gets sad and mad that he forgets to call.
I love that she wants to learn and help around the house.
I love that she's her own person and is not easily swayed.
I love that she finally has a group of girls that she can call friends. In elementary school, her class did not have many girls that had the same likes as her so it was a tough few years friend-wise.
Okay, I don't love that she has the same little attitude I did with my Mother, but I can't hate it either. I think that I turned out okay, so perhaps it will serve her well. It's my little defense mechanism and maybe it's hers, too.

I love this precious, sweet, loving, amazing, fabulous girl.
She slays me.

veterans day | a celebration to honor

source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

week in the life

Week in the Life, I will document you. There I said it. I have an unfinished album from April 2012, I think, that is still begging me to get 'er done.

I'm still in the process of getting it all together, but my biggest challenge right now is finding the time. Orders are rolling in, thank you, and that keeps me busy pretty much all day long. And I'm good with that, but those busy days leave me little time to do crafting for our family. 

Here's what I have so far, some pages cut and trimmed and bits and pieces gathered while Kate was visiting during Fall Break. I think I want to try to do some full page photos to add in and then maybe a page protector with some detail shots in smaller scale, too. I didn't take as many photos as I had thought, so I'm hoping my brain will remember all the stories and details that I want to include to make this a nice reminder of a week in our life, October 2014.

If you'd like a pre-made album, already bound and ready to hold your photos and stories, here are a few you might like:

Where are you in the process of your album? Started? Finished? Given up all hope?

Come on, we CAN do this. We can, let's do it.

Here's a link to other mini albums I've made.

Find similar mixed media mini albums perfect for Week in the Life projects. Or Date Night!

magic

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filofax planner calendar printables | filofax friday

Even though we're not even through 2014, I already have appointments and days to remember for 2015. If you're the same, and haven't yet ordered your next year's calendar, take a look at what I'm sharing today.

Printables in Action

My big girl camera has been sent off for repair, so here's a quick snapshot I took with my iPhone, which at least gives you the idea. You could print out several of these and have one for each year listed to really get your forward planning under control.

I'd love to feature people who've used my printables on a future Filofax Friday. If you're interested in sharing your thoughts and a photo or two of how you've used them, e-mail me so we can chat.

What's Included

Download your Days to Remember planner printable, for the years 2014 - 2019, in the Personal size to use and enjoy for years and years, for personal use only of course. Please don't copy, reproduce alter or claim as your own. Thank you. 

Follow Along

Follow me on Instagram, where I share loads more Filofax tips, tricks, hacks, ideas and DIY's that never make it here to the blog. Oh, and there's an occasional giveaway there as well. 

More Filofax ideas, tips and photos.  |  Here's my to filofax board on Pinterest.

december daily mini album

Yay, I'm so proud to be able to offer three different December Daily mini albums in three slightly different sizes and layouts. Each of them has their own style and feel, but several page ideas and items are repeated. And, I think, they each have the same holiday themed papers.

I'm having a difficult time trying to decide which version to use for our December story, they each speak to me in different ways. Maybe I'll let the girls decide for me, they would love to be a part of the decision-making process!

Here they are, I hope you like them.

Click on photos to be taken to the shop listing for more details about sizes, what's included and what your add-on choices are.

HOLIDAY MEMORIES JOURNAL

26 Pages with included 27 Piece Embellishment Pack

Choose One Washi Tape and Either Spiral Bound or Unbound

DECEMBER DAILY MINI JOURNAL

29 Pages with Included 17-Piece Embellishment Pack

HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS JOURNAL

26 Pages with Included 35-Piece Embellishment Pack

Choose One Washi Tape and Either 2" or 3" Book Binder Rings

SPECIAL OFFER TODAY ONLY

Use the coupon code THANKFULTHURSDAY for 40% off your purchases today.

Minimum order of $10.00 for coupon to be effective.

Coupon must be entered at checkout.  |  Not effective on previous orders.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SHOP

right now | october 2014

In my mind, October is always the calm before the storm. There are the beautiful colors of the changing leaves here in the mountains, the weather is most often still beautiful and warm and breezy.

November brings lots of planning. 
Planning for the two November birthdays for the kids. 
Planning for Thanksgiving at our house. 
Planning for the Christmas celebrations ahead.

this download has expired

october  |  10.31.14

feeling

amazed that it's already halloween!

on the to do list

thanksgiving menu

my guilty pleasure

buying an iPhone 6+ today, even though it's not a necessity

favorites

blue tin butter cookies with coffee

dreaming about

my canon being fixed in time for our november birthdays

grateful for

kids who are mine to love and hug and spoil and care for

Here's the post where I share how I created my mini book.

right now 2014 archives

january february march april may june july august september october november december

sunrise over the smoky mountains

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