justem: little bits of this and that

Happy 2015: Season's Givings Blog Hop and Giveaway!

 

**Giveaway now CLOSED!  The winner is: KIM MARTIN**

Happy New Year!!  I am so excited to be participating in the Season's Givings Blog Hop this year! 2014 has been an incredible year for me both personally and in the scrapbooking world. In this industry, we all rely on each other, and this blog hop is a way to say thank you to all of the friends and fans I've made this year.  Every single blog on the hop will be hosting a giveaway. Yes, you read that correctly.  Every single blog.  Awesome, I know.  Here is the amazingly long list of participants:

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L • Lawn Fawn • Spellbinders • Paper Arts • Reverse Confetti • Clearsnap • Ice Resin • My Favorite Things • Technique Tuesday • Paper Smooches • Sweet & Sassy Stamps • Stamp Simply Ribbon Store • Avocado Arts • A Jillian Vance Design • Latina Crafter • Die-Versions • Unity Stamp Company • Splitcoaststampers • Verve Stamps • Latisha Yoast • AJ Otto • Vera Yates • Julia Stainton • Judy Hayes • Kim Watson • Yana Smakula • Chari Moss • Taheerah Atchia • Shemaine Smith • Emily Spahn **That's Me!!** • Kimberly Crawford • Lee Murphy • Lovely Linda • Laura Williams • Lori Tecler • Chaitali Narla • Darsie Bruno • Lydia Fiedler • Giovana Smith • Teri Anderson • Beth Pingry • Dina Kowal • Daniela Dobson • Lisa Adametz • Piali Biswas • Kelli Green • Keri Lee Sereika • Jocelyn Olson • Julee Tilman • Michelle Woerner • Lori McAree • Theresa Momber • Anita Autore • Melody Rupple • Sean Fetterman • Bunny Vance • Tricia Traxler • Lisa Arana • Lorena Cantó • Amy Tsuruta • Jodi Collins • Tenia Nelson • Kelly Klapstein  • Jill Cornell • Emily Leiphart • Becky Williams • Margie Higuchi • Lee Ann Barrett • Lisa Hoel • Heather Campbell • Lisa Henke • Sheri Holt • Michele Kovack • Ashley Harris • Sharon Harnist • Lori Craig • Nicole Nowosad • Laurel Beard • Michele Boyer • Christiana Reuling • Laurie Schmidlin • Jennifer Priest • Stacey Schafer • Heidi Blankenship • Heather Pulvirenti • Anita Madden • Gloria Stengel • Sarah Gough • Rachel Kleinman • Natalie Dever • Lorine Mason • Loretta Lock • Meihsia Liu • Sarah Martina Parker • Angeline Choo • Christine Emberson • Karen Hightower • Sabrina Alery • Debbie Seyer  • Dana Joy • Cat Tidwell • Deborah Saaranen • Ceal Pritchett • Lisa Lara • Colleen Schaan • Anabelle O'Malley • Megan Hoeppner • Monika Davis • Marisa Ritzen • Wanda Guess • Jenny Peterson • Annette Allen • Gracie Chavez • Christina Griffiths • Niki G. • Kristi Schurr • Jennifer Ingle • Karolyn Loncon • Camille Robinson • Lindsey M-P • Kathy Clement • Maria Levine • Savitri Wilder • Savannah O'Gwynn • Teresa Horner • Laurel Seabrook • Libby Hickson • Yvonne Van de Grijp • Alice Wertz • Leigh Penner • Lisa Lee • Tina McDonald • Nina Yang • Angel Johns

Today, I will be giving away a huge set of pocket scrapbooking cards. Thanks to my awesome gig as a design team member at Gossamer Blue, I have amassed quite the collection of fabulous cards.  However, every year I try to participate in Project Life, and every year I fail miserably.  Therefore, I have decided that someone else deserves these cards.  You will receive approximately 100 3x2 cards and 50 4x6 cards.  Almost all of them are printed on both sides so that they may be used either horizontally or vertically.  I will most likely include a few other goodies, as well.  To enter, simply leave me a comment with your email address and let me know what you are most excited about in 2015.  The giveaway will end on Sunday night, and I will post the winner on Monday.  This giveaway is open to crafters from all countries.  The pictures below reflect a selection of the cards in the giveaway.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I would love for you to bookmark my blog or follow me on Facebook or Instagram!  Happy New Year!

My #1 Very First Christmas {Elle's Studio Celebrate December}

Good morning! We got home last night from a great weekend in Chicago! We had a holiday tradition while we lived there and decided to continue it ever after we moved away. We had brunch, shopping, and a visit to the Christkindlmarket.  It was so much fun...I love that we are making these memories with our family!  Today, I am up on the Elle's Studio blog as part of their Celebrate December blog feature!  I created two layouts - this is my more "traditional" Christmas layout using red and green, which is not something I do very often!  I just had to use these adorable photos of my littlest last year!

For more information about this layout, check out the original post on the Elle's Studio blog!  Have a great Monday!  

#workspacewednesday

Hello, hello! Two weekends ago I finally found some time to get my scrap space organized. I've shared photos of it over time, but this is the first time it has ever been truly clean and organized. I still have a few boxes to unpack, but for the most part, it all came together like I'd been envisioning for the last year!  I wish I would have taken more photos, but the light was not great. Perhaps another day I will take some detailed shots of my shelves and my drawers, but for now...here is the one and only photo of my CLEAN space:

I realize it's not as fancy or cool or vintag-y or organized as some. ;)  But, I'm loving it.  Sadly, the desk is already a mess...I've got tons of assignments coming up in the next week and a half.  Now that I've had it clean, though, I'm really vowing to try to keep it that way!  Have a great day! 

Hello, Snow {Gossamer Blue Pinspired}

Hi there!  Happy Monday!  I'm starting to freak out a little bit that Christmas is NEXT week.  I am very behind on gift buying and card sending and cookie baking and, well, everything! Not to mention, it's the end of the month, so I have lots of scrapping to get done in the next week!  Friday, my "Pinspired" layout was up on the Gossamer Blue blog.  I used the fun new Get Happy collection this month. I love how fun and non-traditional this collection is! There are also a few elements from the On My Desk collection...I love how they work so well together!

For more information, including the original inspiration, check out my post on the GB blog! Have a great day! :)

First {October Afternoon}

Hello! Happy Thursday. All day yesterday I thought it was going to be Friday today.  I'm pretty sad that it's not. ;)  I had a layout up on the October Afternoon blog on Tuesday using their new December Story kit. This kit is intended to be a December Daily type kit, but since I am not a December Dailying type of girl, I just went ahead and made a layout...because all I ever do is make layouts. ;) The kit comes with some pretty adorable 6x8 paper...which is obviously just a tad too small for a layout, so instead I did a little blocking, and embellishing, and journaling. This is the result:

I really love this kit. A lot.  Although I tend to love everything that OA comes up with. :)  It's got the perfect mix of everything - the doily, the flair, the little labels, the buttons.  It's like they made this for me...except that darn 6x8 paper!  Are you doing December Daily?  I love the idea, but I know I would never finish it. Let's not talk about my two failed Project Life attempts... ;)  Have a great day!

Your Heart is Full of Unwashed Socks

I posted this first in 2011 and have reposted it at least one other time. I was reminded by my good friend Barb that NOW would be a perfect time to repost it again. ;) So...while not all of the incidents described are not current, the sentiment is timeless. ;)

********

So. The holidays. They are supposed to make everybody all bright and shiny and happy inside, right?  WRONG.  I don't know about you...but I find that the majority of people actually turn into major a-holes during the holiday season. People get greedy and rude, and they forget all about common courtesy. It drives me nuts!!!  Rude people in general drive me nuts, but especially at a time when the whole world is supposed to come together in peace, love, and harmony and all that mumbo jumbo.  Well, this year I have decided to take a stand against holiday rudeness.  I will not allow myself to sink to the levels of those obnoxious holiday types.  I have decided, instead, to embrace the Grinch. Not that I'm going to be one...but I AM going to use the Grinch to help me manage my feelings about the rude people.  You see, ordinarily, if someone ticks me off I will get all angry and upset and let it bother me. But not anymore.  Instead, if you make me mad, I will get you back...with a line from the Grinch song.  It will make me feel better, and hopefully make you feel like a moron.  Here are some examples from the last couple days:

To the man that cut me off in the Starbucks drive-thru this morning: Your heart's a dead tomato, splotched with moldy purple spots.

To everyone at school who keep emailing me to ask when the holiday sing-along is, even though it's been on the calendar for THREE WEEKS: Your brain is full of spiders.

To the lady at the grocery store who ran up to the newly opened register, even though the cashier said "next in line" and the lady was totally NOT in line and I was: You're a nasty wasty skunk.

To the guy driving the wrong way down the one-way parking lot: You're a crooked jerky jocky and you drive a crooked hoss.

To the clearly abled mother who parked in the handicapped parking spot at the daycare when there was an open one right next to her: You've got garlic in your soul.

And to little 2 year old, who, as cute as she is, made it her goal tonight to drive me so insane that I just might run away to join the circus and then she can have Daddy all to herself: You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel.

Try it. Really. It will make you feel much better. :)

Giveaway: Any Occasion

Hello! I have another giveaway on Instagram today!  My good friend Latrice, the owner of Any Occasion, is giving away some super cute headbands from her shop today!  She generously sent one for Miss M to wear.  We had a fun little modeling session, complete with her new favorite deer puppet! ;) Here are a few of my favorites!

Showing off her true personality... ;)

For a chance to win a headband, you need to visit my Instagram page!  There will also be a loop giveaway for more chances to win! Have a great Monday! :)

I got the donuts... {Gossamer Blue}

Happy Sunday! It's been a blur around here.  December is always like that! Today, I have a silly, simple layout to share with you today!  This layout uses the Gossamer Blue Main kit.  We have a Friday night picnic tradition in our house. We like to travel to different parks and nature preserves in the area.  One Friday, we stopped and got a special treat for our picnic - donuts! We had just about finished our dinner, when my 3 year old grabbed them, uttered this quote, and ran away. He was wearing his pajama pants...because sometimes that's just how you roll when you're three. ;)  I love the foam thickers that come in the Main kit and they were perfect for a big title!  I had hoped to incorporate some more red in the layout to tie it all together with the photo, alas, when my lovely red mist dried, it ended up resembling blood spatter. So, yeah... ;)  Luckily in this photo is just looks kind of black!!!

Hope you are all having a great weekend! I have some fun things going on this week...stay tuned! :)

Mac LIVES!

I know you've all been waiting patiently to hear about the fate of Mac. Right? I mean...it keeps you up at night like it does me, right?! ;)  Well, I am happy to report that Mac is back safe and sound with me and thanks to Amber's amazing husband I have ALL my photos and music and just about everything. I kind of want to cry. Happy tears, or course.  Or fly to Oregon and hug them both.  I wrote a little about this on Instagram, but...sometimes I think it's really odd that I have all these connections all over the world through scrapbooking and social media. I have friends I have never met in person...and maybe never will.  There are people I know and trust and care about who I only know through the computer. But, I wouldn't change it. I am so incredibly thankful for this hobby, this industry, and all of the incredible people I have met over the years.  So yeah. Thanksgiving may have a been a week ago, but today I am feeling very grateful and thankful and happy.

Giveaway: The Rare Orchid

One of the things I love the most about the scrapbooking industry is all the connections I've made over the years.  In fact, many of the people I first met through scrapbooking are now some of my closest friends...and most of them don't even scrapbook anymore! One of these friends asked me if I would be willing to help out a friend who has a pretty fantastic business...and of course I said yes! So today I am featuring a giveaway for The Rare Orchid. Here is a little bit about the business in the words of the owner, Meredith:

The Rare Orchid, your go to shop specializing in chiyogami yuzen washi Japanese papers! I'm proud to offer you a gorgeous, unique selection of fine hand-silkscreened papers from Japan. This fibrous, mulberry based paper has fabric like qualities and can be used for all sorts of paper crafts - including origami, cardmaking, scrapbooking, paper flowers, stationery, gift making, wedding invitations, party favors, and more! Browse our design selections HERE and see an assortment of designs featuring cherry blossoms, plum blossoms, and many other intricate patterns. My collection of washi features both traditional and contemporary designs, suitable for any themed project from Asian inspired to shabby chic. Modern meets classic in many of the bold, vibrant hues our papers have, and some patterns have never been sold outside of Japan before! Sheets are sold in full and half sizes to accommodate crafters and makers with projects large and small.

The Rare Orchid has a kickstarter campaign right now.  **Update: The Rare Orchid has reached their Kickstarter goal! Yahoo!*

I have looked through the selection on Meredith's website, and there are some truly beautiful papers and some fabulous ideas, including an entire Washi Wedding!!  I would love for  you to take a look at her shop and her kickstarter campaign. Now for the fun giveaway part!  The Rare Orchid is giving away a full sheet of washi paper of your choice. A full sheet is way bigger than your average scrapbooking paper - 25" x 38" to be exact! Think of all the fabulous projects you could create! To enter you can either comment here on my blog or you can leave a comment on the giveaway photo I posted on Instagram. I will choose a winner on Friday!