Some of my faves from 2007...

I wanted to blog today, but am still a little under the weather. I'm gtting nostalgic, thinking about all the changes in my life this last year & decided to do a little"creative year in review" with a few of my favorite creations from 2007.

"Sense"-ible Sundays

Normally this would be a "sense"-ational Sunday, but when you read it you can guess why I adjusted the title...

I SEE: Trash cans filling with tissues and empty soup containers. His and hers prescriptions for antibiotics. The bacterial infection that tarted in my throat has settled into my lungs and we had to take Matt to PrimaCare Friday night - he has the same infection, but it is worst in his ears. We're a pretty sad set when we're both down & out.

I HEAR: Hardly anything out of my right ear - it's clogged. There's been TV on in the background most of the day while Matt was making buttons & working on a household project listening to random football. We get worse when we lie down so we're puttering...

I TASTE: Sour Lemon Cough Drops & Citrus Vitamin C Defense Drops from CVS...and Chloraseptic. Not much else.

I TOUCH:

I went ahead and laid out some new button sets for Matt's etsy shop Saturday morning. Before Christmas we found some old scifi pulp comics at Half Price Books and ever since he's wanted to do a scifi fantasy set. I was all for it - I love that stuff. The other sets we put up today were: Barbie Buttons, Gnome Buttons, I Love Harajuku Buttons and Dead Girl's Choice, The Best of Pushing Daisies Buttons.

I SMELL:
This stuff is a miracle & I didn't even know it existed...Kleenex with lotion and Vicks Vap-o-rub built in. The uber-soft Vicks tissue is a life saver & about the only thing my red nose can still smell.

Wow, what a sickie post! I guess when you're sick it kind of goes after all your senses!

Photos of the girls...

Since I'm not “contagious" (except to poor Matt who I kissed & accidentally gave my cooties to), I still took advantage of seeing Amy & Meg some this week. My uncle & aunt were awesome and delivered the girls to me & picked them up so I could rest more. We were going to do so many things, but mostly we ended up hanging at my house while I languished on the couch, trying not to look too miserable. Amy attacked the DVR & watched the entire season so far of Pushing Daisies & an episode or 2 of the office. We talked and just relaxed mostly. We did make it out for about 2 hours on Thursday & ran to NorthPark where I took pictures of Amy & Meg.

Amy has no pictures of her new look (since joining the army she's shrunk from a 14 to a 4!), and really wanted some before she went back. She liked the photo shoot I did with Meg at the mall this summer, so we were determined to go get some good shots.

I haven't gone through and done the fun things with filters I like, but I wanted to share some of my favorite shots from the day.

Etsy Pick of the Week...CHEEP CHEEP

So, I have a new etsy love...so far I've bought 3 rings & 1 pin from her and the stuff is as awesome as it looks!

CHEEP CHEEP
This is a fun little shop run by a girl who's paying for her school with her cool etsy creations. A lot of her pieces are made from re-purposed, "kitsch-y & tastefully tacky" molded buttons. I fell in love with the black rose and ordered it in a ring and a pin the moment I saw it. She was a quick shipper & the ring is so comfortable I've been wearing it all the time. (They're adjustable rings, so no worries on the fit.) I'm now stalking her shop & waiting for it to come up in the other colors I want. I snagged the red & the turquoise this morning. Now all I'm waiting for is it to come up in white & hot pink.

Over 1400 members have listed her as a favorite seller & she's sold 843 items so far...this crafty girl has it going on - check her out!

A case of the Christmas crud...

Yep, It's Christmas break & I'm sick. I'm usually battling severe Christmas tree allergies this time of year, so I was a little surprised when I went to the doctor yesterday to find instead I had a nasty infection in my throat instead. Apparently I'm not contagious, unless I kiss somebody (& yes, that means Matt's sick too).

Since I'm not contagious, I've been chugging around with family this week regardless. Yesterday Amy, Meg & I went to see Enchanted. And there on the front row were my nieces Amy & Haley, Matt's sister Tracy & my mother-in-law who was in town for the day. Small world. It was a pretty cute movie. I just loved Susan Sarandon in it...I've always loved the evil queens a little more than the ingenues...

"Sense"-ational Sundays...

I SEE:


Wires...everywhere. I finally made it to the sleep clinic last night (can you believe they were open on the Saturday night before Christmas?). I'm a terrible snorer & had apnea when I was a baby, so the doc thinks it's showed back up.

Um - it felt like she was sanding my head. They actually did sand little patches to attach all the electrodes to my scalp. It was odd falling asleep with all that gear on me. I mentioned I had my camera & my technician was totally into taking pictures. I was thrilled when I looked at my camera later - I like the close ups a lot. I hear back in 10 days.

I HEAR:

Amy voice! Amy's home on leave for the holidays & is talking non stop. Every other sentence is "Have I told you how much I LOVE THE ARMY????" She's really happy. It's so great to see her or just call her on the phone. We're going to get some cousin time next week.

These are her friends Carl & Jake who came with us to the airport when we picked her up.

I TASTE:
I got holiday m&m's for my fun dishes. We have plain, peanut, dark chocolate peanut & mint (my favorite). I had to taste them all...

I TOUCH:

I did the wrap-a-thon yesterday. Every gift we're giving this year looks like this - white or kraft paper with a stamped monogram & freehand painted & doodled holly. I finished them off with some striped ribbon (I had a ton of it in my studio) and a mini avery tag with the "to" and the "from". It was really quite easy to do & the packages look so clean & festive.

I SMELL:
Nancy's Italian Cheese Spread - I made it earlier today for tomorrow night. Combine an 8 ounces of Cream Cheese with a container of feta cheese crumbles. Drizzle a little oil off the top of a small bottle of basil pesto into the bottom of a straight-sided container (otherwise the cheese will stick). Place a thin slice of either provolone or mozzarella cheese in the bottom of the bowl. Spread a thin layer of the feta mixture on top of the cheese slice. Add a thin layer of basil pesto on top of that. Add a thin layer of sun dried tomato pesto on top of that. Repeat - sliced cheese, feta mix, green pesto, red pesto, etc. If you make too much it freezes beautifully (thaw overnight in fridge). I like to serve it at room temperature, but it can be heated. Keep it in the container to serve and use a couple of spreaders or butter knives to spread. Serve with Ritz Chips - trust me, go ahead & but 2 bags. This stuff rocks.

Christmas with my family will be at our house this year. I still want to straighten up my studio. I have to go back to the grocery store for butter, sour cream & some other forgotten last minute stuff. I'm cooking a ham (pray for me) & making biscuits (frozen).

Here's an Emily original that I'll be making tomorrow - Amy's special request for Christmas. Take 2 triangles of crescent roll dough and press them into a rectangle. Add shredded yellow cheese and chopped green onions down the center of the dough. Pull the dough over the cheese mixture and press it together. Pick up the cheese-filled dough rope and gently twist. Pull the ends towards each other and crimp the ends together. It will look like a donut. Spray the tops with butter spray and sprinkle them all with a small amount Garlic Powder. Bake according to package directions.

*BONUS* I FEEL: My "sixth sense" post - I'm really happy. This has been one of the merriest countdown to Christmas in a while. I'm rather "type A" and try to make everything perfect, but this year I'm focusing on family & fun.

Merry Christmas to you & your families!!! Have a safe & happy holiday!

Daydreaming of shopping to do...

And who said shopping at Christmastime isn't any fun? Man, I wish I could've tried that with a few of my ornaments, it would've saved me a lot of greif.

Adams Family Weekend...

It was a long big weekend. It was Adams family reunion time & I think we set a record with the weather! Matt always does set up so there we were, trying to get the fire going to warm the cabin. Let's put it this way, it was a bit of a comedy routine...fire starting is not one of our "skills". But after an hour we got it going. It was a good time. Matt has tons of cousins & it's always good to hang out for the day. I even was brave enough to join the domino game.

Matt's brother David & his wife Julia and their son Zachary & Matt's sister Tammy all stayed at our house. I hadn't seen Zach since he was 2 months and now he's walking around {soooo cute}. I had to bribe him with a some biscuit, but we're buds now. Look at those beautiful dark eyes! We did the immediate family Christmas {Matt's one of 5} at our house today. It was a madhouse, fun & wonderful all at the same time...

I had to throw this in the weekend post....We finally got our new quilt. Matt's mom made this piece of gorgeousness for us. She is amazing! We shopped for the fabric together 4 years ago and I had the pattern picked out, so it was kind of a made to order present - I wanted something kind of modern-Quaker. You can't quite see in this picture, but all the colors are a beautiful multi-shade batik. Now we can finish that room. We want to paint blue, do distressed red painted furniture and funky folk art. I love it & so does Matt.

Tree time - I know I promised to put a picture of our tree up. The white tree has been a big hit and it was almost out of the "little feller's" reach. He teethed on Matt's Christmas ornament this year.

"Sense"-ational Sundays...

I SEE:


I HEAR:

Got this stuck in my head earlier this week...

I TASTE:
OMG...Aunt Mary's snickerdoodles, which can knock your socks off. And her fudge. She sent some home for me. I love Aunt Mary.

I TOUCH:
Well, this weekend I'm going to have to answer people - there was a lot of hugging. At the reunion there was Matt's parents, 3 aunts, 2 uncles, Santa Claus, Matt's 2 brothers & 2 sisters & their spouses our 5 nieces & nephews {one niece brought her boyfriend}, 4 more cousins with spouses and their 10 kids. If that wasn't enough family, my sister Nancy came over after Matt's family took off.

I SMELL: ...nothing. I'm allergic to Christmas trees & my allergies are starting to kick in.

12 kits in 12 days...

A Honolulu Holiday - one of my kits with directions to do the mirror & mini album.

Christmas With the Top Down - an awesome kit from Pam who included directions for her metal CD album.

A Girly Girl Christmas - another great one from Pam, complete with original sketches for holiday pages.

Monthly Memory Treasury - A Tricia mix kit, awesome wall hanging/great project.

Postmodern Farmhouse - another by me. Digging the Luxe & vintage mix.

For the Suburban Rebel - another from me, this time my rock & roll punky funk.

A French Quarter Christmas - another mix kit from Tricia and a gorgeous mini album.

A Retro Crafty Christmas - another kit from me. Had a lot of fun making the custom clip art sheets. I went ahead and included instructions for the ornaments.

Two Is Better Than One - Pam did her awesome Pamdora's boxes & included instructions.

Getting Carded for Christmas - Tricia did up this card kit & Pam made up a sheet of custom Christmas Color Me paper for the kit.

A Suitcase Full of Memories - another from me. Can you tell I've been dying to go all vintage-y with the Luxe?

It's In the Bag - Jen's kit was worth the wait - what a knock out! This bag is FAB!

Well, whew - 12 kits in 12 days. And I lived through it. And I kind of loved it...

Life is good...a real post

Wow, taking the time to actually blog...Just one more kit on the 12 days of Christmas! I am beside myself, I'm so excited...I'm really in love with all of them. I'll post all 12 here tomorrow.

I had a pacemaker callibration & check up this morning - I'm doing great! The lady from St. Jude's is so nice - she even made me copies of of my report {sweet}. Here's the good stuff: Since July my heart has beaten 22,137,656 times. I know. It's been counting, I have a chart. My pacer only fires >1% of the time on the atrial side, but the ventricular side...well, it runs my heart <98% of the time. {So I guess if I didn't have it I'd be about <98% dead. Good to know. Kind of sobering when it's all there on paper. Thank God for gadgets!} She could even tell I've started working out...she saw the percentage of time my heart rate increased went up. Cool. After years of crappy doctor's appointments, it's so nice to be getting good reports.

After that I started Christmas shopping this morning...did a fair chunk, grabbed lunch while I was out, came home did a little art & packaged up some etsy sales

ETSY pick of the week...MULBERRRY MUSE

This printer has it going on...I love her stuff! So check out Mulberry Muse and her original printed creations.

"Sense"-ational Sundays...

I SEE:

I saw this in Northpark Mall {the Barney's New York window} last week, the whole thing is made out of scrap cardboard, recycled cans and old bottlecaps - I love it! It's gi-normous!!!

I HEAR: I got The Minority Report and Other Short Stories by Philip K Dick from Audible.com {great site} & have been listening to them every day in the car this week. I've read this set & enjoyed it so much I wanted to have it to listen to. So far this week I've listened to The Minority Report, We'll Remember It for You Wholesale {the story Total Recall was based on}, Paycheck & Service Call.

I TASTE: We're going to award this category to what Matt referred to as my "cookie hockey pucks". It comes down to this. Sometimes we don't trust our oven. It is no fault of the oven, just a quirk Matt and I both have. So when something is supposed to be done we peer at it and go - "Does that look right to you?" And always when someone asks you that you feel obligated to give something at least 5 more minutes or bump up the temperature to where you think the cookie people really meant it to be...anyway. They didn't blacken they just got very, very dry. The cookies tasted great, if you sucked on them. Which we did.

I TOUCH: Luxe, Luxe & more Luxe - still with the Luxe limited! I have 2 more kits & projects to create for the upcoming week, so I'll be talking about it some more I'm sure!

I SMELL: Coffee...which smells really good on this chilly morning. That's right, it's finally getting cold in Texas. It's been warmer than usual here yesterday up to 85 - today down to 39. That's Texas for you.

A kit after my own heart...

The kit I did for Luxe Limited today, inspired by my cousin Meg - could be my favorite one yet. I loved the soft vintage one I did for Amy on Friday, but this - this is wonderfully weird & funky. Matt even made some exclusive buttons to be included in the kit.

CKU Chicago is up!!!

I hopped on my friend Debby's blog and saw that they just opened the new CKU site, rolled out the classes & announced the new format! They have listened to feedback from the attendees and the teachers and have made a lot of wonderful changes this year. There are some great new things - like changing the make & take madness to "Inspiration Stations" where you stay put & get comfortable and all the demonstrators rotate to you (no insanity & you get to do everything). There's a pre event meet & greet where you get to mingle with the other students and teachers the night before the event if you get in early. They're providing a nice lunch all three days to all the attendees so you don't have to scramble. You still choose an album track - and they're amazing, but everyone will have the same 4 electives. That's right - the four elective instructors will teach the entire student body, so that means you all get your time with Tim...and me.

I will be teaching Black and White and Read all Over! I couldn't help myself - when I was running through class names I thought of that old joke, gave a little groan and realized that was what I had to do. I love these colors and I figured they were the most universal that fit my style. With a theme of "random musings" and "I have a story to tell" on the front cover - I opened it up for you to fill it with everyday details of your life. It's a great book - full of fun surprises, details and fun techniques. I've even included a product I'm designing that will come out at the winter show...

Registration opens up on December 12th for CKU Chicago. The event will be March 13 - 15. Hope to see you there!

Living Luxe Limited...

So, this has been my everything lately. My joy, my stress, my creative energy. I am loving how Luxe, limited is coming together! I wanted to share the kits so far. These will all ship on or before December 14 until December 21st so you can receive them in time for Christmas. They're great for gifts for a loved one or for yourself.

I've been writing the little back stories to the kit & picking the songs to go with them. It's really fun for me - I love that kind of stuff. We had a request to pack the story of the kit with it when we ship & we thought that's a great idea so we're going to! {if you'd like to read the back story to each kit, please visit the Luxe blog. Double click the arrow in the box on the music bar to listen to the kit's song while you're reading.}

I can't believe there are still seen more days of these to roll out...and I'm so excited about what's coming!!!



A Honolulu Holiday - my first Luxe limited kit, an adaptation of the Christmas class that I taught in Amsterdam that we got so many requests to purchase - $29 click here to purchase.



Christmas With the Top Down - Pam's first kit, wild and fun just like her - $29 click here to purchase.



A Girly Girl Christmas - Brandy's inspiration & Pam's creation. Brandy jumped the chance to create a kit, but with a newborn at home gave her pink Christmas idea to Pam to run with. - $39 click here to purchase.

Monthly Memory Treasury - Tricia's first "mix kit". I nicknamed hers "mix kits" when we were making the weekly plan because she dows such an amazing job mixing papers from different lines together. - $29 click here to purchase.

We're selling these in batches {for the sake of my sanity to do the back work to get them up & running} and to make it a fair playing field for people to order the kits. So these first four opened up for sale last night at 6 PM {you can see how it's posted on the Luxe blog to shop}.

The next four will open for sale Monday, Dec 10th at 6 PM and after that the next four go up Friday, Dec 14th at 6 PM.

Postmodern Farmhouse - my second kit with inspiration from Amy. Amy is our other new mother in the office and she wanted a banner done up in soft pastels for the nursery. Well, you know me, if it's not funk, it's modern & vintage mixed so I adored doing this up.

Here's a close up. That's my dad in the white suit and my uncle {my cousin's Amy & Meg's dad} in the dark suit in front.

Counting to five...

I decided it was time to take a break from my project to take a deep breath and count to five. Five things that made me happy instead of frustrated. {I am very worked up over a pile of paper right now}

1. I found a Christmas tree. I've been stressed about getting out the full sized tree & wanted to do something totally different, but didn't really like anything....that changed tonight when I found a very retro 4 foot white tree & a white Christmas wreath with all red decorations...I'm so in love! I'll post pics when I have the tree up & decorated.
2. Matt's etsy shop has been going bonkers & he's been selling a lot lately. We've decided to have a craft night sometime soon to make some more stuff. {I love craft night with Matt!}
3. I'm loving writing the stories & working on our Christmas kits for Luxe.
4. My house is 95% clean. I've slacked a little since Debby's left, but other than a load of laundry and some stray paper projects I have a clean house.
5. I let go of some of my guilt and bought Christmas cards this year. I swore I would never do it again...but these Anne Taintor cards were so ME.

Introducing Luxe,limited...

I've been very busy with a project...Jen & I brainstormed LUXE, limited on the train from Amsterdam to Brussels. We knew we waned to launch it almost immediately - which was a lot of hard work, but totally worth it! It's been a frenzy of activity & fun throwing these together. There will only be a limited number of each and when they're gone...they're gone. They will only be available until Dec 21 (so we can have the time to ship them to you for Christmas).

Luxe will be celebrating by launching a twelve day holiday promotion with limited edition kits created exclusively for you by the Luxe Girls! Visit our blog every day from Dec 3 -14 to see our one of a kind kits, perfect for gift giving, getting or using to create a wonderful gift. Some will include instructions, products from other manufacturers, some will even have product exclusives created just for LUXE, limited!

Each day until December 14th we'll be posting a limited edition kit on the Luxe blog that will only be available until it sells out. We're going to open them for sale in batches so you can decide what your favorites are and have a fair chance to place an order before they're gone.

• The kits from today, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday will go up for sale on THURSDAY, DEC 6 at 6 PM.
• The kits from Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday will go up for sale on MONDAY, DEC 10 at 6 PM.
• The kits from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will go up for sale on FRIDAY, DEC 14 at 6 PM.

We're going to tell the story of each kit, let you know the price & what it includes. {I've loved working on the themes and story telling of the kits - I'm in a super creative zone}.

The first one kit kicked off late last night - a Honolulu Holiday. {pictured} It was one of mine & I had a lot of fun converting my Christmas class this year into a kit & telling its story. Keep checking for new kits on the Luxe blog every day (even the weekend) through the 14th- all of the kits are great & I've had the opportunity to create several of them.

Tell your husband to put Luxe on your list this year. Shop for your scrappin' friends. Write Santa. Or just buy one for yourself ("Merry Christmas to me...") and tell your husband, "Look at what you bought me! Thank you so much!" {lol - that's how I do my shopping!}

"Sense"-ational Sundays {better late than never}

a little belated, but here is my sensory update from last week...

I SAW:
My CKU-best-friend Debby Schuh! She flew in last Friday & we road tripped it down to Waco for her classes there. We came back and had a lovely Sunday - brunch at Amigo's, shopping at NorthPark, a vintage book romp at the main Half Price Book location & topped off by a lovely get together at Ashley's house.

I HEARD:


I TASTED: ...the world's best brunch. Beef fajita omelets with frijoles, "Mexican" potatoes & Texas Toast.

I TOUCHED: piles of old books. I love vintage children's books & while Debby & I were shopping I picked up a set of fairy tales published in 1928 ($3) & a 1950's Golden Book of Alice in Wonderland ($1) - I love, love, love Half Price Books. Debby had never been to one which made it twice as fun. Oh, yeah - and we sat in Santa's lap there....he asked me what I wanted for Christmas & I told him he couldn't afford me...

I SMELLED: gingerbread scented handsoap. I bought a gold handsoap dispener at Target that said "Holiday Soap" and I thought it was pretty, but had no idea it would smell so yummy!

Live from Waco...

I'm sitting here in the classroom at Crop Paper Scissors in Waco in a tucked away corner where I can hear Debby teach & get some work done at the same time. I'll be taking her happy holiday album class later today. We've had a wonderful time together so far...

Yesterday we were in awful traffic getting out of Dallas & it took us three hours to make the hour and a half drive. We hung out at the crop for a few hours and then went home with Molly, who has such a beautiful home. I had a heyday taking pictures of her Santa collection this morning.

I was hoping to post some pics here, but can't find the USB port on this thing (lol, how very me)...I'll add them later when I get home (probably tomorrow). It's so wonderful to have Debby here!!! I love her!