30 Days of Thankful begins tomorrow

Tomorrow I will begin my version of Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful Project.
This is the second year that Cathy has documented one thing she is grateful for each day in November and pairs it with a photo.  

While Cathy does her pages digitally I'll be doing a paper version.  You can see the package I purchased  at Designer Digitals here:
http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/product_info.php/products_id/14881
I downloaded the pdf files and printed them.  My one caution is to make sure you read the directions thoroughly so that they print out the correct size.  I failed to so and ended up with pages that are 7 1/2" x 7 1/2"!  I've chosen not to reprint them and will be doing an 8" x 8" album instead of a 6" x  6".

For those of you who want more information on how Cathy does this project digitally her blog  announcement regarding  30 Days of Thankful is here:
http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/10/announcing-the-30-days-of-thankful-album-project-for-2013.html

And you can follow this link for Cathy's instructions on how to use the digital files here:
http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/30-days-of-thankful/

During the month of November I will be sharing posts about gratitude and thankfulness including why I decided to do this project.  I'll share some of my pages and photos along the way.  I'm also very excited to say that I have a very special guest who will be sharing a story about gratitude with us on November 10th.  
I'll be very thankful if you follow along....

Get your photos out on display

 I found this old ladder this past summer in an antique/junk store.  It started it's life as a farm ladder (probably to a hay loft) and was twice it's current size.  The photo above is after my husband sanded and spray-painted it black.  

 I took one of my fall layouts and my fall bucket list layout, put them in page protectors and using the 3M velcro strips (in photo above) and applied them to the spine of the page protector.  So the spine of the page protector runs along the rung of the ladder.  This allows me to use the open side of the page protector to change out the layouts with the season or occasion.

 I then attached the page protectors to the back of the rungs with the other half of the 3M velcro strip.  

 Here's the top half of the ladder.  It's so hard to get a good photo this time of year.  Even out in the natural light.  It's been grey and overcast most of the day.

And the bottom part of the ladder.  I don't have a lot of table or display space in my home so this works really well for me as I have a few spots where I can lean it against an empty wall space.  It might also end up in my craft room which was my original intent.
This is another Pinterest project that I adapted for this purpose.  I am also going to use this for photos in the future as well.  I have some favorite photos that I plan to enlarge to 12 x 12.  
How do you display your layouts and photos?  

Still decorating

I created another ribbon pumpkin as my table seemed to need a little more.  I found the tablecloth at WalMart.  I had the cornucopia and acorn candle wreath which I have had for several years and never put out. Today I found the candle at Michaels and used my 40% off coupon for that.  I've realized that I decorate in fits and starts.  I add a little every now and then as ideas develop and I live with something for awhile.  I admire those people who have a vision in their head and are able to create it all at once.  I'm pretty happy with the way the house looks and many of the decorations will stay out until Thanksgiving.   Now that my sons are married I tend to decorate more for the Fall rather than for Halloween.  

We "Boo", Do You?

Two of our friends will find these on their doorstep tomorrow night!

 I really enjoy Pinterest for all the great ideas there. What I love most is finding ideas for things I can do.
I had never heard of "Boo-ing" friends or family until I found these two printables.  The one in the back has a Halloween poem and then the directions for the people who have been "Boo'ed are below that.  

Here's the basic idea - put together a treat basket or bucket.  It can be anything you like.  In the buckets I made I have a Halloween movie (one is Beetlejuice and the other is Caspar).  A package of microwave popcorn, a bag of candy corn, a box of Junior mints, a roll of Necco waffers, a post-it pad and a little Christmas notebook.  I also included these two little pumpkins at the top. The poem lets the receiver know that they have been "boo-ed" and to follow the directions below the poem.  The receivers are challenged to turn around and "Boo" two more people within two days.  The "We've Been Booed" sign is meant to go on their outside doorknob so people can see they've been "boo-ed"  
Sounds fun, doesn't it?  The printables are on my Fall Pinterest board if you're interested in  "booing" your friends or family.

Kraft Pocket Album Inspiration

Today's video focuses on one of the items shown in yesterday's video about My Creations Craftable Containers.  The Kraft Pocket Album has many uses and in the video it is created as a Family History album.  Check the video out for additional ideas and inspiration.

For more information or to order you can go to

http://craftycreativity.cthm.com

My Creations® Craftable Containers - More great gift ideas

I 

I'm loving these Close To My Heart videos and am working on my next order.  I'm catching up on several of them as I am confined to resting today.  I slipped this morning as I got of a bed, turning my ankle and ended up getting x-rays of my right ankle.  The swelling was pretty impressive and while the doctor thought it might be fractured it seems to be only a sprain.  I now have an aircast and crutches.  So I'm spending the day in bed with my leg elevated and an ice pack on my ankle. I'll be off it the next day or two at least.  We'll see how the swelling goes.  

Anyways, this gives me the opportunity to start thinking about the holidays and making a list of things I still need to get for gifts I want to make.  So if you find yourself with a quiet or rainy day watch the videos along with me for ideas and inspiration.  

30 Days of Gratitude

I'm starting to prepare my pages for Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Gratitude beginning November 1st.  Hard to believe it's mid-October already and I know I'll need time to get this put together.  
I'm using her printable kit from 2012 as I still haven't mastered Photoshop.  The link describing it is here:

http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/10/30-days-of-thankful-a-gratitude-album-project.html

Cathy's blog just announced the 2013 kit  (a digital kit only) and you can find that information here:

http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/2013/10/announcing-the-30-days-of-thankful-album-project-for-2013.html?cid=6a00d8341c5c3753ef019b000ca98d970c#comment-6a00d8341c5c3753ef019b000ca98d970c

This is my first year doing a gratitude journal but I hope it will be the start of a regular practice.  
What about you?  Do you keep a gratitude journal or gratitude album?

Note:  The wood veneer in the photo at the top is Cathy Zielske's design and can be purchased at www.studiocalico.com

This is the Close To My Heart Designed Decor Black Frame.  Simply add your favorite photos, embellishments and/or notes/journaling, really, whatever you feel like. It's only limited by your imagination!

The bottom photo is a close-up of the lower half and the photo above that is a close-up of the upper half.

This was really simple to do and did not take much time.  The stamped card was made with Close To My Heart's September Stamp of the Month "Poster Tidings"

I'm making several of these as Christmas gifts this year.  I think these would also make great gifts for weddings and baby showers.

For more information or to order go to my online store http://craftycreativity.ctmh.com

Designed Décor Frame Kit

I'm so excited to share this video from Close To My Heart with you.  It covers one of the two reasons why I decided to become a Close To My Heart consultant again.  The Designed Decor Frames are new this fall and I think they make great gifts for a variety of occasions.  This particular kit makes it so easy to quickly put together a personalized and meaningfulgift.

Check back tomorrow and I'll share what I've created with the Designed Decor Black Frame.  Both items can be seen and purchased at my online store:

http://craftycreativity.ctmh.com/