Hi Friends, Happy Saturday!!

I have a fun scrappy sale to share with you today-- Ella Publishing is offering 31% off ten ebooks from now until Halloween! This is definitely a TREAT (not a trick!)

So, stop by Ella to check out this fabulous sale and TREAT yourself (in addition to candy;) this Halloween.

Make sure to use the code ELLAWEEN at checkout to receive your savings!




Today through Halloween only, you can save 31 percent on ten select Ella eBooks! (You know, because Halloween is on the 31st, and October is the tenth month of the year? Yeah, we're clever like that.)

Just in case you're not dressing up as an accountant or a math teacher this year, we'll break it down for you: you could save as much as $18.56 on eBooks you've been dying to read! (That is, of course, if you buy all ten eBooks before midnight on Halloween. We can't reveal what happens if you buy after midnight, but let's just say it's not recommended.)

Use code ELLAWEEN at checkout to save 31 percent on these titles:

Vintage Hip Christmas Crafts

Design Workshop

Picture Perfect

Stretch Your Sketches

A Year in the Life

20 Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers

Special Effects for Digital Photos

40 Top Tips for Better Photos

Quick & Creative Quizzes

Text Tricks for Scrapbookers

Happy Shopping!!!

Doors

The doors in Greece were beautiful.

They were nothing like what you see in America. Each door was different, unique, filled with character. Almost like each door had a story of it's own.

Which must be why this verse kept coming to mind.

20 “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends." Revelation 3:20 (NLT)

The door is a representation of our hearts.

Life can do many things to a heart. It can certainly leave it's mark, and sometimes those marks can be pretty deep.

But no matter what your door looks like,

Whether it is locked, afraid, or closed off.

Rusted, weary, or damaged.

broken, abandoned, ashamed,

Jesus is there. He is knocking. And He waits for your to let Him in.

A Vintage Halloween with Lily Bee

Happy Tuesday!

Today I am blogging over at Lily Bee, and I have a new layout to share...

I am not much of a theme-y scrapbooker. Meaning I don't do ALOT of holiday/theme layouts. Not that i don't love them, just for some reason they intimidate me. However, I had a lot of fun making this layout and using supplies I already had, that were not "Halloween" products.

All of these papers come Lily Bee's two new collections- Christmas Town and Catching Fall, along with the Audrey Collection and French Couture Collection. Imagine that- using Christmas Papers at Halloween!!

That is one of the many reasons I love Lily Bee. The collections are versatile enough that I can use a Christmas Town paper in a Halloween layout. The various collections come together so well, creating a gorgeous classic,vintage, look.

I used Maya Road's fabulous chipboard frames to create my "Halloween frames". I stamped the frames a variety of shades of black and even left a few completely bare. I added some staples here and there to add a little bit of metal (after all Jonah IS a pirate in this photo:)

Finally I used Lily Bee's fabulous banner stickers as part of my title. Once again these are banner stickers found in both Christmas Town (black) and Catching Fall (orange and cream). Love how these colors mix together so well and create the perfect Halloween embellishment. I matted the stickers to cardstock (since i always move things around so frequently when creating my layouts:) then used pop-dots to adhere them to the page.

Supplies used: Carstock: Bazzill. Pattern Paper: Lily Bee Design. Chipboard Frames: Maya Road. Ink: Stamp: Studio Calico. Banner Stickers: Lily Bee Design. Black Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts, Basic Grey (small). Circle Alphabet Stickers: Jenni Bowlin. October Calendar: Elle's Studio. Kraft Ticket: Maya Road. Green Web Sticker: Little Yellow Bicycle. Scallop Punch: EK Success. Brads: Pink Paislee, Basic Grey. Ribbon: Vintage. Twine: Craft Supply.

ETA: Ummm... what!?!?!? just headed over to Two Peas and saw that this is the Feature Layout of the Day. Kinda peeing my pants- this is a first for me! How fun!!! Had to document it here! :)

Athens: in Words and Pictures

After our visit to Santorini and Mykonos, we finished our trip with a weekend in Athens. It was nice to have the time to re-coop from our week-long activities in Mykonos before heading home.

Athens is very different from the islands. Much more fast paced, busy, dirty. People are more aggressive, not as friendly. For example: Mom and I were walking in the Plaka (area around the Acropolis with tons of shops and cafes). A man outside of a jewelry shop commotions us to come in... WHY we went in, i don't know. They basically start asking you questions and us naiive midwestern American's feel like we need to talk to them. He proceeds to ask us if we are travelling alone (!?!?), where we are staying (!?!?), and if we would like to take a swig out of this huge bottle of vodka on the jewelry case(!!?!?!?!?!?!). Um, WHAT? No, i will not drink any of your roofies, thank you.

Anyway.

Other than that situations (and a few similar) we had a nice time. The best part? Meeting friends from Mykonos both nights for dinner. It was so nice to see familiar smiling faces in the evenings and share some laughs.

This is the view of the Acropolis from the rooftop of our hotel. Quite a sight... and it's quite a hill to climb in the blazing sun. It was very interesting to visit. One thing I will always remember: the slippery ground (a lot of marble) and all the STRAY DOGS everywhere... even up in the Acropolis. There were some dog fights going on while we were at the Acropolis but for the most part all the dogs are very mild natured.

Temple of Zeus. This picture was also taken from the rooftop of our hotel. I would get chills thinking of the Apostle Paul looking at these same structures as he, through the Holy Spirit, wrote Acts 17.

"Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown, I am going to proclaim to you."

The fact that Paul says he walked around the same streets I walked, and saw these same objects of worship, just send chills up my spine. I wonder if he felt the same way we felt (what I referred to earlier). It just seemed dark in Athens. I can't put my finger on it, but I thought alot about Paul and what he might have been thinking while he walked those streets.

In the Plaka I saw this man carrying all the balloons. I know exactly which ones my kids would want (Sponge Bob and Dora) :)

The Plaka area at night. There are SO many cafe's in the Plaka-- funny story: there used to be one Starbucks in the Plaka but it went out of business because it was surrounded by so many other coffee shops and cafes!

The changing of the guard at the Greek Parliment building.

We had this as our lunch both days we were in Athens. It was incredible. I know it doesn't look like much but the pesto was amazing and there was a cream cheese or something spread on the toasted bread. It was awesome.

As we head to dinner with friends on our final night in Athens we stopped in this little candy shop. The shop owner was telling us the flavors and one of the girls with us thought he said it was cigarette flavored. ha. so here you go carol, your cigarette flavored candy.

This guy serenaded our table almost the whole night. A little Greek music mixed in with Frank Sinatra :)

We got a sampler platter of everything listed in the menu above. It was soooo good. A great meal to end our Greek vacation with.

Having dinner with new, dear friends on our final night- we had such a good time.

It's hard to believe this trip is over!!! I have been thinking about it and preparing for so long and it was over so quickly. It was such an amazing trip, and I truly cherish that I got to do this with my mom. We had the best time together.

Currently, He...

Currently, He....

1) Is counting down the days until he turns FIVE. And talks about his birthday party. And asks how many days until January 5th, all.the.time.

2) Knows his address by heart and is showing more confidence in writing his name and letters.

3) Went on a date with his Aunt Nikki to see the Musical, Mary Poppins. He LOVED it. It was a very late night for him but he stayed up the whole time. And sang, "Step in Time, Step in Time" the whole next day.

4) Is beginning to develop sweet little friendships. He loves to tell me who he played with at school each day.

5) Eats better once we told him his dinner was "lion food".

6) Doesn't want to be alone in his room at night. Working on this.

7) Is going to be a pirate for Halloween. (and got to premiere his costume at ZooBoo this weekend.)

8) Went on a Leaf Hunt today and wanted to find a leaf for every color of the rainbow. He was sad there wasn't a blue leaf to be found.

9) Loves riding the bus to afternoon preschool.

10) Is now taking showers instead of baths.

11) Wants to know how old everyone is (probably due to the fact he is obsessed with #1). He asked me the other day if I was 100. uh no. although sometimes i feel like it. Lucky for him todd's best friend's grandparents live next door to us-- they are 93.

12) Is approaching one year since he was first tested for speech delay. As we approach that one year mark, he will be due to be tested again to check his progress and to see if he will still need services next year. I am so thankful for how far he has come. However, I am trying to not worry about how this upcoming test will describe my son. I refuse to think of him in terms of a "chart" and compare his skills to others. I am trusting my heart on this one. He is a loving, caring, smart, talkative, funny, social, ornery 4 year old boy.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Take Comfort in Rituals

Recently I was driving by my neighborhood Starbucks (okay, let's be honest, I was going through the drive-thru), and i noticed their new advertising slogan, "Take Comfort in Rituals".

I have no doubt that through this campaign Starbucks hopes I take comfort in the ritual of going through their drive thru and purchasing a Pumpkin Spice Latte (which i may or may not be doing on regular basis anyway), but the whole idea of rituals got me thinking...about my own rituals. Our rituals.

The things we do on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis that bring comfort. These could include various types of rituals- from the mundane to the deeply personal, heartfelt routines.

One ritual I have come to love is our daily morning routine. By about 7am we are up and at 'em. I make breakfast. The kids eat and watch Clifford the Big Red Dog. I unload the dishwasher and Jordan organizes the silverware. Jonah feeds Kinja. Todd is getting ready for work. This is the usual scene as we get ready for the day. Completely mundane, but something I look forward to and love.

A weekly ritual I hold dear to my heart is our family Wednesday night dinners. For the last six years my mom and dad have hosted and prepared a family dinner at their home for Todd and I, my brother and sister, and my grandmother. Since they have started this ritual, both of my two children were added to the mix, and it is something special they look forward to each week.

I love the fact that this is a solid event in our schedules. A time that is rarely interrupted. A time for four generations to interact and to build relationships.

Another weekly ritual I look forward to is our Thursday routine. For the last year my dear friend's little girl comes over to play every Thursday. I watch her as her mama gets some work done. It's a regular built-in play date for Jonah and Jordan, and in the mean time they have built a solid (almost sibling-like) relationship with Claire. :) On occasion Claire's big brother comes along too (which Jonah loves). I love this ritual for many reasons. For the friendships my children have developed, and for the simple fact that it teaches me to PLAN AHEAD to stay home for (at least) one entire day a week.

These are just a few of the the many rituals that bring me comfort. Things that are special to me for their own unique reasons. Things that I could easily take for granted. I am trying to be deliberate in noticing the regular events that bring comfort to our lives and hearts.

That's my little girl...

That's my little girl

In the pig-tails, who loves dolls, drinks orange juice, and wears bracelets above her elbow.


That's my little girl

Who wears Craftsman goggles, uses the Wii controller as a "purse", and carries her play pizza cutter around the house.

That's my little girl

Who can sport the fakest pout, give me the most drama-filled looks, and then burst into laughter.


That's my little girl

Who talks up a storm, loves to sing and perform ("watch this mama!"), and even stuck her sweet little hand out and said "Nice to meetchyou!!" to a woman at Chick-fil-A last week.


That's my little girl

Who loves waiting for her brother to get home from preschool, who's heart is full of joy, and who's smile lights up the room (and my heart).

Mama's Prayers

Lately I have found myself including bits and pieces of "motherly advice" in the journaling portion of my layouts. There is so much on my heart that I want to share with Jonah and Jordan. Of course I verbally tell them these important things, but I want to record them as well so that they can revisit these thoughts later in life.

I decided to go ahead with this theme and create a layout for Jordan with some "motherly advice", or in my case, my specific prayers for her at two years old.

As I was growing up, I remember my parents would always tell me the specific prayers they were praying for me. Maybe I didn't completely appreciate at it at the time, but as an adult I have such comfort in knowing that they were always praying for me, and I see evidence that many of their prayers were specifically answered! It was a wonderful testimony to the power of prayer, and it has greatly impacted my life now that I have my own children.

I created this for the Lily Bee Blog and it features Lily Bee's, Domestic Bliss Collection! Even though I used one photo, I knew i wanted this to be a two page layout. I love to include embellishments that help "support the story" and cluster them around the photo. By centering the photo slightly at an angle over the center of the two pages, I created a nice flow for the layout and a nice balance of negative space outside of the design.

Like a typical mom, I didn't want anything to go to waste so I used the negative space of the Lovely Chipboard Stickers as part of my design! They have the ever so slighest line of color around the outside of the chipboard space- it perfectly matches the colors of the Domestic Bliss line!

Finally, I finished my layout with some bakers twine. I twisted the bakers twine and let it fall along the paper in a pattern i liked. I used Helmars adhesive to secure the twine in place.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Mykonos- in words and pictures

I don't know really where to begin to describe the week we spent in Mykonos. There is something special about forming relationships and "shared experiences" with new people while traveling. Whenever Todd and I travel, we always hope to meet up with a friend of a friend or find some cool connection with someone in the place we are visiting. Why? It is just more fun to meet people along the way and share something special with one another- a unique experience.

And Mykonos was just that.

Yes it was beautiful. Yes the food was amazing. Yes the hotel was beyond perfect. But my heart is with the people and the awesome relationships that were made during our week stay in Mykonos.

After our two day stay in Santorini, we flew to Mykonos for the Cocoa Daisy Event at the beautiful Kouros Hotel. While we were there we took scrapbooking classes with Ali and Jenni and a photography class with Karen. We also had mini workshops with Christine, Lisa, and my sweet Lily Bee friend Ronda. And of course there was tons of sightseeing, shopping, eating out, cocktail hours, more scrapbooking, and hanging out by the pool. It was a rough week :)

And the classes? were wonderful. I truly enjoyed every minute and it was a thrill to be around such amazing creative women. Ali, Jenni, and Karen were kind, generous, and down to earth. I cherish the time, conversations, and laughs i had with each of them. :)

There was about 50 women at the Cocoa Daisy Event. Many countries were represented in this mix of women (and some men!:) and dear friendships were made. It was so neat to see how close many of us became in a short week. It's rare to have an opportunity to "stop life" with 50 like minded women, and to go to a beautiful island to play and create. Like I said earlier, a shared experience that I will always treasure.

Mom and I with Karen Russell. Love this girl and her sweet spunky spirit! She is one of those people that you feel like you have known forever.

I may or may not be trying to cuddle with Ali Edwards here. HA! j/k. (kind of;)
Ali was one of the very first scrapbookers that I began to follow through her column at CK and on her blog, so it was quite a pleasure to spend time with her in mykonos! I so appreciate her calm, laid back, "enjoy the moment" outlook to life and scrapbooking.

This was a total lucky shot. I snapped it as we were walking by a group of Greek women. To me, it totally captures the local culture.

Tara, Stacey, and I... had so much fun with these girls!

I SO enjoyed meeting and spending time with Jenni Bowlin. She has such a sweet and gracious spirit. And she has incredible style- her product style and personal style!!

I miss cocktail hour...

and the crepes..

um, and the nutella. :)

with new friends anita and nycole.

It was an incredible week. I left feeling refreshed.. in a creative sense and personally.

A huge thank you to Tricia and Cocoa Daisy for putting on this wonderful event, and thank you to Elina and the Kouros Hotel for your phenomenal hospitality!!