Made by Melissa

February Valentine Decor

2012-02-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I like to change up some of my decor every month to match the seasons/holidays. I usually do this in one of 3 places: my tall bookshelf, the top of my piano, or the top of my entertainment center. Well recently we got a new television and entertainment center and rearranged some of our furniture. So now the top of the entertainment center is no longer an option and my tall bookshelf is next to my entertainment center so I think I'll keep all my seasonal decor there (well until I change my mind again.) So here is my February/Valentine's Day decor.

I used quite a bit of my things from last year however I did add two new things; A cherub statue that I picked up at JoAnns, and the Valentine subway art which is a kit I got from Thoughts in Vinyl.

Project Life 2012: Page 1

2012-01-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Supplies: Project Life Core Kit - Clementine Edition | Pocket Pages by We R Memory Keepers
| January Calendar Printable by I Love it All with Monika Wright | 2012 Goals Journaling Card Printable by Plucky Momo | Doodlebug Design Candy Shoppe Cardstock Stickers

Here is my first page of my 2012 Project Life Album. I suppose I'm a little behind compared to most people but for me, I'm actually pretty close to caught up. I'm not worrying about doing a picture a day or even two page spread a week. I'm just putting things in whenever I have a picture or a memento.

I started with a January calendar printable that I found at I Love it All with Monika Wright, which I stacked on top of the gray and white dot card. Then I used the 2012 Goals Journaling Card Freebie from Plucky Momo and wrote down some of my goals for this year. Next to those I have a picture of my kids taken shortly after midnight on January 1st and some journaling below that (on the pink card) about how this was the first year they all made it past midnight. Next to that I have a journaling card describing my some of my kids art work which is to the right and bottom on the right. Then on the bottom left, I have a 4x6 journaling card with the word Togetherness (Doodlebug Design Candy Shoppe Cardstock Stickers) which is our Word of the Year for 2012.

Linking Up:

Project Life 2012

2012-01-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

One of my Goals for this Year is to stay Current on our 2012 Family Album (as well as catch up on a few others.) To do this, I'm going to use a fabulous system created by Becky Higgins called Project Life! (This is not a sponsored post, I just really love this product!) Project Life is often used as a 365 project. I'm not that ambitious, however, the simplicity of the system is perfect for me. My biggest problem is that I have a tendency to collect little mementos and I hate throwing away cards/invites that I receive through out the year, so doing only digital doesn't work very well for me. Project Life is something I can accomplish quickly (very important because I have 3 kids and always have a million other projects/ideas floating around my house/mind) and allows me to preserve all those mementos I love to collect. So for 2012, I decided to order the Project Life Core Kit - Clementine Edition! Amazon was out of the Project Life Pocket Pages, so I'm using some Pocket Pages by We R Memory Keepers that I already had on hand because I had ordered them last year. I still need to order an album to keep it all in but I'll probably do a nice black 3 ring binder. I was so excited when I received my Clementine Core Kit in the mail, and so I whipped up my 2012 Title Page and put a few cards that I want use on the end page as well!

I didn't use the traditional layout suggestion, but I still wanted to keep it simple. On the left, I had (3) 4x6 pockets, but I wanted to use some of the smaller journaling cards, so I just put two small cards in each pocket. Both the multicolor stripe cards and the gray polka dot card were originally 4x6 cards that I cut in half and rounded the corners (which I rounded by hand, so note to self, add corner rounder to my shopping list!) On the right, I used a free digital 6x12 title page that was made by Cathy Zielske, but since I didn't have any paper long enough to print it at 12 inches (and I didn't want to wait), I printed it a little shorter and cut off the ends of two journal cards from my Clementine Core Kit and glued them to either end. I'm really glad that I didn't have any longer paper because I really love the way it turned out!

Supplies:

Linking Up:

I'm really happy with my start and I've already saved a few things and taken a couple of pictures to use for my next set of pages! 2012 here I come!

January Cottage of the Month

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

January's Cottage is done! Even using 3 strands of floss, the snowflakes aren't really very visible. I probably should have used a darker fabric but darn it if I didn't want that sparkle. I didn't really do much finishing on it. I just ironed under the edges and put it in a frame. I'll probably finish it properly on foam core in the future, but for now just ironing it will do. I found this 8x8 frame at Michaels and I'll be using the same frame and switching out the cottage every month. I had so much fun getting back into cross stitching and I can't wait to stitch up February's Cottage!

January Pillow Exchange

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Stephanie, and I are doing a Pillow Cover Exchange every month this year. Before she moved over the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, we used to sew together all the time. Since we can't really do that anymore, we thought it would be fun to exchange a sewing project every month and since both really enjoy having seasonal pillow covers it was the perfect thing to exchange. Our theme for January is Winter and Snow. Here is what I came up with to make for Stephanie.

She said she really liked my September Pillow so I started her pillow the same way. I used my machine to embroider a couple of snowflakes, one on gray cotton and on dark blue felt. I used the letter stitch on my machine to stitch out her favorite Winter related poem. I also added scraps of a super soft white fleece because she adores "touch me" fabrics. I really love how it turned out and I think she'll love it too!

2012 Goals & Resolutions

2012-01-01T07:00:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year!! I don't normally make a written list of my New Year goals/resolutions. but this year I decided that I would make one for the projects I would like to complete. I think the reason I don't normally make an actual list is because most of the time it's really hard for me to settle on what I actually want to accomplish, but for this coming year, I'm actually very sure about what projects I want to accomplish. So here goes,
By The End of 2012, I would like to Accomplish the Following:

{ 1 - Memory Albums } I would like to have the following albums: a Yearly Family Album, Baby Album (for each Child), Birthday Album (for each Child), and School Album (for each Child.) I currently have boxes filled with mementos for these albums and no albums that are actually completed and/or current. So for 2012 I would like to make a really good start to getting some Albums done!

    Albums to Complete                                           Albums to Have Current

- 2012 Family Album                                              - Christopher's Birthday Album
- 2011 Family Album                                              - Kaitlin's Birthday Album
- 2010 Family Album                                              - Isabella's Birthday Album

- Christopher's Baby Album                                    - Christopher's School Album
- Kaitlin's Baby Album                                            - Kaitlin's School Album
- Isabella's Baby Album                                          - Isabella's School Album

{ 2 - Kid's Rooms } I would like to get both my son's room and the girls' room organized and decorated.

Christopher's Room needs: new Furniture, new Curtains/Window Treatments, Wall Decor and other Accessories (Lamp, Decor Pillows, Rug, Desk Organization, Storage Containers.)

The Girls' Room needs: Rearrange Furniture, new Bedding, Curtains/Window Treatments, Wall Decor and other Accessories (Lamp, Decor Pillows, Bulletin Board, Shelves, Rug, Storage Containers)

{ 3 - Craft/Sewing Projects } Every month complete the following projects:
- Pillow Exchange with Stephanie
- Cottage of the Month Cross Stitch
- a Home Decor Project (Pillow Cover, Runner, Cloth Napkins, Seasonal Decor, Storage)
- a Sewing Project for Me (Clothing, Apron, Bag, Accessory)
- an Embroidery Project

If I can get all these things done in the next year I'll be very happy! Especially the Albums because these are in desperate need of getting done. The Craft/Sewing goals are to help keep me on track because I have a problem getting projects done consistently and I always forget to sew for myself so that's something I want to work on this year. I have a really good feeling about 2012! I think it will be a very accomplished year for me and I'm looking forward to all it has to offer! Do you have any Goals or Resolutions for the New Year?

Monthly Onesies for Alyssa

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

My best friend,(I know I talk about her all the time but I can't help it, she's my best friend) is doing monthly outfits for her baby girl and asked me to help out with the onesies so we can sew together even though we live 13 hours apart. I got January's done....

.....and since I had everything I needed to do February's as well, I went ahead and got that done too!

I adore monthly projects and these are turning out so cute! I'm also loving that I get to sew for her little one since I can't be there to hold that sweet baby!

Family Names Scrabble Wall Hanging

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I came up with an idea for a fun wall hanging using a Scrabble Game and my family's names. I made one for myself and hung it up on the wall. My sister saw it for Thanksgiving and commented that it had turned out nice. I had thought to make her one as a house warming gift when she moved to a new house earlier this year but then I never got around to it. So when Christmas time came around I decided to make her one as a gift for her family.

While I was at it I figured I would make my best friend's family one as well.

They fit in a 11x14 frame or for the second one I used a 14x14 frame. Just use a box cutter (also known as a razor blade or exacto knife) to cut the board down to the size of your frame. Then figure out your name layout. Once you have that figured out, use hot glue to glue the tiles down. Of course, you have to be aware of your letter limitations but in the 3 boards that I have made, I've only had to add to the existing game letters once, and that was for the one for my best friend's family and with 6 kids, they have a lot of names. Also with hot glue sometimes the letters can pop off and you have to reglue them, so if you want to prevent that from happening you could use a bit of a stronger glue. You can usually find a scrabble game at any store such as WalMart or Target for around $10 and you could also check thrift stores and yard sales to find them even cheaper. Doing crafts with scrabble tiles is a popular thing but I like that this utilizes the scrabble board as well. These are a lot of fun to give and very easy to make!

January Cottage Cross Stitch

2011-12-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

I used to cross-stitch quite a bit when I was younger but it's something that I haven't done for a very long time (like 8 years) but recently my sister, Laurel, started cross-stitching again and sent me a link to an adorable monthly cottage series. Now I am a huge sucker for monthly stitch alongs, and the January cottage was so cute that I decide to join in. I started on it right before Christmas and I'm about half way done.

I really like how fast it's stitching up. I'm stitching it on a Aida fabric called Silver Dusted and I just love the extra shimmer. I'm using all DMC floss. I'm also using 3 strands of floss instead of the two that it calls for because I was a little worried about the white showing up enough on the fabric. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with it once it's all stitched up. I think I'll probably do them in a frame and then switch it out every month. I also joined a fun Stitch-A-Long blog just for this project and it's been a lot of fun seeing everyone work on their cottages too!

Homemade Christmas Presents

2011-12-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I made quite a few Christmas gifts for my best friend's family this year. She has 6 kids and I made something for all of them except one, the youngest, baby Alyssa. (I fell in love with an adorable sleeper at the store and got her that.) For her boys I made book bags. I had made her oldest daughter a book bag last spring and I guess her boys have been wanting one for quite some time. I made them all the same size but with little differences so they could all have a book bag that was their own.

For her daughter, Aiyana, I made some felt food toys and a personalized apron. She loves to play cafe, bakery, etc all the time so I knew she would love some food toys.

I think these turned out pretty cute. I think my favorite has to be Chandler's book bag (the black one with the bicycles.) The apron turned out super cute as well and I think I need to make some for my little girls! It was fun to make gifts for people but next year I think I need to start much much earlier. I just barely got these ones in the mail in time! They got there in time and were very well received, so it was a success!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

After Christmas Cards, my next favorite Christmas Tradition is baking Christmas cookies. I know a lot of people bake them all month long but I like to do one big baking day in close proximity to Christmas. So what cookies made the cut this year?

{ 1 } Strudel Cookies
(Picture & Recipe Source: BHG)
These are really similar to a recipe my mom always made called Sour Cream Pastries, only instead of rolling them she makes them into little crescents. I love the flavor but not the work of making all those crescents so I'm going to try this rolled cookie recipe this year. Also instead of Blackberry, like BHG uses, I'm going to use Apricot Pineapple jam for some and Boysenberry Jam for some. I will also probably make them the day before and slice and bake them on Baking Day.

{2} Dipped Rice Krispy Treats

(Picture & Recipe Source:

Celebrations at Home)

Who doesn't love Rice Krispy treats? My family definitely loves them. I'm going upgrade them a little by dipping them in chocolate and topping with Christmas sprinkles. Easy, Yummy & Fun!

{3} Baklava Bars

(Picture and Recipe Source: Betty Crocker)

I love Baklava and these bars taste just as good as the real thing! When I made them last year, I knew I would have to make them again this year! They are sweet, nutty, and delicious. They are also pretty easy because for your base you use a Sugar Cookie dough mix!

{4} Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

(Picture & Recipe Source: Martha Stewart)

My sister actually found these and they looked so yummy and festive that I decided to try them. Chocolate and Mint are a very yummy combination and one review said these are similar to Girl Scout Thin Mints, which I find very yummy! Also I like to try at least one new cookie every year and these will fit that category!

I'll also be making some Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies but I don't have a picture or a link for this because I just go the easy route and buy the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookie Mix. I think I've covered all the bases nicely with my cookie choices. I have Spice (gingerbread), Fruit (strudel cookies), Nuts (baklava), Chocolate & Mint (chocolate peppermint cookies), and kid friendly (rice krispy treats.) I'm really excited for baking day and I know the kids will have a blast helping! What Christmas cookies are you (or have you) made this year? What are your favorites?

Baby Girl Gift Set: Sneak Peek

2011-12-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

I don't normally like to share pictures of projects that are gifts until after the recipient has received it but in this case the recipient wants a little peek so I get to make an exception but I still don't want to give the whole thing away so I'm just posting a little peek. This gift set is for my best friend's new baby girl and she has been very patiently waiting for me to get it done and I finally put it in the mail today!

It's pink and white and very very girly! I for one am super happy with it and I'll share more pictures soon!

School Christmas Treats

2011-12-08T11:39:00.001-07:00

I've been making quite a few Christmas treats for school lately. First my daughter's last day of preschool until January was yesterday so I made some homemade hot cocoa mix for her to take to her teacher and all her teacher aides. I used this Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix but also added marshmallows.

For the teacher aides I did two servings in sandwich bags. For her teacher I did 6 servings in a canning jar. I made some fun bag toppers for the sandwich bags. I also made a fun jar wrap and hang tag for the jarred mix. It was a lot of fun to make this fun hybrid project. I had bought this I Love Cocoa set last year and hadn't had a chance to use it yet and it turned out to be just perfect for this project!

Also later today I'm going to read a Christmas story in my son, Christopher's, 2nd grade class and I'm supposed to bring a treat for them to go a long with the story. Well I'm reading them the story, "Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas" because it's about a little boy named Chris Kringle. So, I made some chocolate dipped candy cane sticks to give to his class.

These were a fun quick project and I love how festive they are! I wrapped them in plastic wrap that I tied with a little curling ribbon to protect the chocolate because they are going in the kids school stockings. I'm looking forward to reading to his class and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun!

Christmas Card Garland Frame

2011-12-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

I love Christmas cards! L O V E them! So every year I like to display any that I get and this year is no exception. So when I got my first Christmas card of the year, (Thanks, Becky!) I knew I should probably figure out how I wanted to display them. If you are like me and I have a habit of hanging empty frames on the wall because you know you want them there but you don't know what to use it for...

...then I have a great solution (both for Christmas cards and use that empty frame!) After browsing Pinterest, I decided to combine this and this, with my empty frame to make a Christmas Card Garland Frame. First gather your supplies:

- Frame - Ribbon (for Garland) - Clothes Pins - Buttons - Paper (for Clothes Pins) - Decor for Fame -

You Will Also need the Following that is not Pictured: Paint, Modge Podge, Thumb Tacks, Hot Glue.

Now that you have all your supplies let's start with the clothes pins. You will want to paint them a color(s) that match the paper you are using for them. I'm using red and green acrylic paint but you could also use spray paint if you prefer. Give all your clothes pins a coat of paint making sure the sides are well covered.

While the clothes pins are drying, it's time to get started on attaching the ribbon to the frame. Start by choosing the corner you would like to start with. On the back of the frame secure the ribbon with thumb tacks or if the project is permanent you could use hot glue if you prefer.

Stretch the ribbon across the front of the frame (pull it tight!!) at an angle you like and secure other end to the back of the frame. Cut the ribbon and secure again right on top of where you ended your last ribbon.

Stretch ribbon across front of frame at preferred angle (again pulling tight!) and secure to back of frame. Repeat until your frame has as much ribbon as you would like. Now we just need to finish our clothes pins. Cut your paper into stripes that are the same size as the front of your clothes pins and glue (I used homemade Modge Podge) the stripes to the front of your clothes pins.

After the glue has a chance to dry a bit take your buttons (or other bling, I used some pretty brads that I found and removed the prongs off the back of) and glue them on top of your clothes pins.

Now all that's left is to put it all together! Add some pretty decor to your frame. I used some coordinating ribbon to make a large bow but use your imagination and do whatever you like! Then hang your Christmas cards on the ribbon using your clothes pins.

Now you can enjoy all your Christmas Cards for the remainder of the Holiday season!
I know I will!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know these are bit late, but this time of year is crazy for me! This year was especially crazy because I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my house and we had a total of 16 people (5 of which were children.) For the last 3 years I have been making my girls (well at least Kaitlin) their Thanksgiving dresses and this year was no exception.

This year I used the same dress pattern but different fabrics. I seem to be steering away from the really matchy matchy. I like showcases the girls differences but still having them coordinate (at least for special events anyway.) I've had the fabric that I used for Isabella's dress (the blue one) sitting in my stash for a while and knew I wanted to use it for her Thanksgiving dress. So for Kaitlin's I simply went to the store and found some fabric I thought would look nice with Isabella's fabric. I think they turned out pretty cute but a little too 1970s perhaps? I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Now it's time to get ready for Christmas!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:10:00.000-06:00

Well unlike the last few years I did not make my kids Halloween costumes this year. We didn't even buy new costumes, we reused and borrowed everything we used this year! However, I did put together this fun little tutu shirts for the girls to wear during the day today.

I bought the solid color shirts and the Halloween leggings at WalMart. Then I embroidered a fun Halloween design on the shirts and added a fun tutu on the bottom. They are bright, colorful, and a little crazy! I like them but, more importantly, the girls love them! I hope everyone is having a safe and fun Halloween!

Happy Birthday, Sierra!

2011-10-30T10:07:00.003-06:00

My niece, Sierra, turns 1 year old today and I'm so sad that I couldn't be there to help her celebrate. Since my sister's family moved to Wyoming, I definitely miss being close to them. My sister told me that Sierra is really into cats and ducks right now and I already had some cat fabric on hand so I decided to make her a pair of pajamas and cute little plush kitty to snuggle.

I made the pajama bottoms by sizing down a pattern I already had and then I added the cute little ruffle on the bottom out of some polka dot fabric. The shirt is from WalMart and then I added a little kitty from the fabric as an applique.

The kitty plush is my own creation and I'm super proud of it! I'm in the process of making a tutorial/pattern for it so look for that coming soon! Happy Birthday Sierra! We wish we could be there and I hope my adorable niece enjoys her 1st birthday!

Humble Beginnings

2011-10-17T07:00:00.004-06:00

We all have to start somewhere right? Well apparently even way back when I was first learning how to sew I was very bad at starting projects and never finishing them. I've had a quilt that I started when I was 14/15 (I think? Mom do you know?) that I have moved around with me for years and yet never finished. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's because I'm not much of a quilter (maybe doing this quilt is how I know that.) Maybe it's because I'm just a really bad procrastinator. Maybe it's because my aesthetic changed. I know all those things are at least partially true. However, I finally pulled it out and finished it!

I had a very good reason for doing so. My husband's grandmother is in the hospital with colon cancer. I really wanted to do something nice for her to help her be more comfortable. Hospitals can be very cold and very sterile, and uncomfortable. This quilt seemed like the perfect thing to give her. It was already pieced and tied (like I said from more than 10 years ago) and all that need to be done was to finish the binding. The whole thing is badly out of square and just getting a fold over binding done was definitely interesting but I did it and I'm happy to have this project finished! I'm even more happy to be able to give a gift to a wonderful woman who has been there for my family for many years and I hope this quilt, that has a very humble beginning, will bring her great comfort!

Shirts for Jude

2011-10-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

My friend, Randi, did me a favor and took pictures of my daughter, Isabella's, birthday party for me clear back in July. I didn't have any money at the time so she agreed to work in trade and I finally got around to getting her trade project done for her! Her little boy, Jude, turned 1 year old this month and Randi drew some very cute drawings and asked if I could make them into appliqued shirts. I said sure thing and here are the results:

The pictures aren't great, sorry, I had to take them at night indoors because I was on a deadline. We did a balloon, leaves, a quail and a tree. I really think they turned out nice!

Halloween Home Decor

2011-10-15T07:00:00.007-06:00

So I have been doing a few Halloween crafts lately. First I revamped my wreath a little bit, I should have taken a before picture but I forgot, oops. I had this black wreath from last year and I had put an orange ribbon around it and another Halloween garland thing, but I just wasn't happy with it so I thought I would try to revamp it a little bit. I left the orange ribbon and added some felt flowers and a little spooky bird. Still not really happy with it (you can't really see the little bird for starters because he's black and on a black wreath, he's above the bow if you can't find him) but I'm not sure what else to do with it. I really wanted these cute little spiders I saw at Michaels but when I went back to buy them they were all gone. :( I'm sure I'll probably do something else too this wreath next year because I'm just not happy.

Now something I am happy with is my vinyl craft projects I purchased from Thoughts in Vinyl! I attempted to have a craft night but no one except my wonderful sister, Willow, showed up. Her and I had a blast anyway doing our craft projects. I made the same thing I've made for the last two months, a subway art board and the next side on my stacker blocks. I'm still loving these so be prepared to see November's next month too!

It's nice to have some Halloween decor up besides the one Pillow Cover I have that I made last year. Hopefully I can find the time to whip up a few more Halloween pillow covers before the month is out!

Linking Up:

Boys, Boys, Boys

2011-10-14T10:07:00.000-06:00

I've been making quite a few baby blankets lately for friends who have had babies but the funny thing is they are all boys!

First we have the May Giveaway Day blanket (yes, I'm aware that it is now October, luckily the winner, Amy, has been very patient with me and her baby wasn't due until October) she wanted something blue and green with a turtle applique. I found this adorable blue and green dot fabric that I thought would be perfect. I also made her an appliqued tie onesie as an extra little surprise for being so patient with me!

Next, I made a cute little trio baby set for a mommy friend from playgroup, Janae, that recently had a baby boy. I used this cute owl fabric and paired it with a fun blue,green,brown diagonal stripe. I made a blanket, burp cloth and appliqued an owl from the fabric onto a green hand dyed onesie. I love owls and think this set turned out really cute!

I made this fun little dinosaur trio (blanket, appliqued onesie, and burp cloth) for a family member/friend of mine, Tarah, and her baby boy, Darren. I had seen this fabric at JoAnns a while ago but didn't have a reason to buy it. When I asked Tarah what theme and/or colors she liked and she said, dinosaurs, I knew I had to use this fabric. I appliqued the letter D (for Darren) on the blanket and one the blue dinosaurs on a onesie. The burp cloth is orange flannel with the dinosaur fabric for a binding. I love this how bright, colorful and fun this set turned out!

I still have a couple more that I very much need to get finished but my time seems to be spread pretty thin lately. Still it's been a lot of fun helping to welcome all the new little babies into the world!

Winner: My Memories Digital Scrapbook Software

2011-10-09T10:37:00.002-06:00

The winner is........

Congratulations, Deb!! Thank you to everyone who entered! If you didn't win and would like your own copy of My Memories Digital Scrapbook Software you can use this coupon code { STMMMS61938 } to get $10 off the purchase of My Memories Suite software plus $10 to spend in the My Memories Store! It's a great coupon worth $20 so share it with you family and friends!

(Disclosure: I am an affiliate of My Memories and when my coupon code is used I receive compensation.)

Giveaway: My Memories Digital Scrap Book Software {CLOSED}

2011-09-30T11:36:00.006-06:00

One of the things I love to do but often don't have time for is scrapbooking. Before I had kids (so, um, about 8 years ago, yikes) I used to scrapbook all the time, but since then, well, let's just say I have 8 years of stuff in a box in my garage. Now that most of my photos are digital and there are so many photo book printing services available it makes since to make your scrapbooks digital too! The nice thing about digital scrap booking is being able to store you supplies on your computer instead of taking of valuable space in your home. I've been wanting to get into digital scrap booking for a while now so when the nice folks at My Memories asked me to review their digital scrapbooking software I jumped at the chance! After downloading the program and installing it, I got to work making an album of Halloween Memories mixed in with some fun Halloween Poems. Here are a few pages I've made featuring my son, Christopher.

I really enjoyed using this software. I love how organized everything is and the software comes with a lot of free elements and papers for you to use however, for these pages I downloaded a kit called Toil and Trouble by Just so Scrappy. The interface is drag and drop and it is really easy to resize and rotate your pieces. Pictures are also really easy to add to your pages and they also make it super easy to crop, resize, rotate and add boarders (mats) to them. Not only can you make scrap book pages but you can also do cards, calendars, slide shows and more! I picked up the program really quickly and I definitely suggest it if you are interested in creating things with your digital photos.

Now for the fun part, the Giveaway! Here's how you can enter to win your very own copy of
My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software (worth $39.97.)

Go visit MyMemroies.com and choose your favorite digital kit and then come back here and leave a comment telling me which one you chose, it's that easy!

For extra entries leave a comment telling me that you (leave a separate comment for each entry):
- Follow My Memories on their Blog
- Like My Memoires on Facebook
- Follow My Memories on Twitter

Also here is a special coupon code for all my readers! Use the code: STMMMS61938 to get $10 off the purchase of My Memories Suite software plus $10 to spend in the My Memories Store! It's a great coupon worth $20 so share it with you family and friends!

Giveaway will close on October 8th! Giveaway is now Closed! Thank you to all who entered!

(Disclosure: I received a free copy of this product to review it however the thoughts and options are my own. I am an affiliate of My Memories and when my coupon code is used I receive compensation.)

September Days Pillow Cover

2011-09-19T10:10:00.001-06:00

A while ago I bought a scrap bag of fabrics from a fabric shop on etsy. I had every intention of using them to make a quilt but alas I am not a quilter and it never came to be. The bag had all these lovely orange and brown pieces that I thought would just make an adorable pillow cover. So last night, without a plan I just sat down and started sewing.

It came together very nice but it still had something missing. I had a big brown block in the middle and decided that a poem or quote about September would be an wonderful thing to put there. After a quick search on the internet I found the poem "September" by Helen Hunt Jackson. I couldn't fit the whole thing on my pillow so I just used a few lines and I also didn't use them in order either. I used my sewing machine decorative stitch that does letters to stitch the words onto the fabric. I didn't use spaces and I really loved the resulting effect. I've found a typo, and it's definitely not the best for actually reading the poem, but I just love the way it looks!

Linking up to Celebrate Color at Stitched in Color!

Bird Stitches Block 9

2011-09-18T17:26:00.000-06:00

So you remember way back in January when I stitched the block for the adorable Birdie Stitches by Little Miss Shabby? Well as you know I haven't been very good about keeping up however I finally finished 3 more of them! Block 2 & Block 3 that I actually stitched up way back in March but finally finished into pillow covers and the adorable Block 9 for September!

Just so cute!! I had this dot fabric leftover from another project and it matched my other September project so I matched the floss colors to the fabric and went to stitching! It looks so cute sitting on my couch! Also here are the other two blocks finally all done as pillow covers. Linking up to the Celebrate Color event at Stitched in Color.

I also have plans to do the Easter block and the 4th of July block but that might not happen until next year. I just love these blocks and have had some much fun stitching them!