i love it all

the twinery & momenta | blog hop

2012-02-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome followers and fans of The Twinery and Momenta! We have an amazing line-up of designers presenting crafty and creative projects using the most colorful, fully saturated, luscious baker's twine on the market.

That's right, it's a Blog Hop!

You should have arrived here

from the blog of the creative Cristal Hobbs.

I made my first project using all the sherbet colored shades of baker's twine from The Twinery: cantaloupe, shore, flax, orchid, blossom, buttercream, honeydew, and caribbean. It's a mobile I made to decorate a corner of my craft room, not in front of the door as you see here...this was just my staging area. In addition to my The Twinery twine and an embroidery hoop, I used embellishments from the Kaleidoscope collection from Momenta. The Clear Layered Stickers, Flair Buttons, Sticker Kit and 5x7 Cardstock Pad all were used to embellish the mobile.

Please note, I don't recommend placing a mobile of this sort above a crib as some of the items may fall and could cause a choking hazard to the most precious gift you'll ever receive: your child.

Using a small serving tray from the craft store, I painted it black, placed some glitter embellished double-sided cardstock in the bottom, used Blossom, Cantaloupe and Orchid baker's twine to hide the edges and covered a raw chipboard frame I had on hand with more paper from the Kaleidoscope 5x7 cardstock pad from Momenta before choosing a sticker and tag from the Sticker Kit and a Clear Layered Sticker which I added to the top of the tag.

What a sweet little gift I now have to send to my friend of 32 years for her birthday!

Your next stop on the hop is with

the talented Mara Campbell.

Here's the Blog Hop lineup in case you'd like to start at the beginning for your chance to win...have fun!

The Twinery

http://www.thetwineryblog.com/

Momenta

http://mymomentablog.blogspot.com/

Julie Ranae

http://juliesopenwindow.blogspot.com/

Jamie Cripps

http://jamielanedesigns.blogspot.com/

Cristal Hobbs

http://blueyecicle.blogspot.com/

Mara Campbell

http://loveyourmotherearth.blogspot.com/

Jen Carter

http://jensinkspot.blogspot.com/

Christa Uttley

http://dowhatyoulove-maxadriane.blogspot.com/

Tifany DeGough

http://www.inkblotsbytrd.blogspot.com/

Erin Morehouse

http://girlpaperscissors.blogspot.com/

Angelica Suarez

http://www.typicalaquarian.com/

Christine Meyer

http://scrappingwithchristine.blogspot.com/

Sarabeth Burke

http://www.chroniclesofsarita.blogspot.com/

Should you be the lucky winner on Friday, you will receive the Ultimate Color Sampler pack {value $25}. Each of the colors is 100% cotton, eco-friendly and manufactured in the US.

Comments must be left on each participating blog to be eligible for prizes and will remain open until 11:59 pm EST, Friday, February 17th. Drawing will be done by respective companies and announced on Monday, February 20th. Additional rules to win are up to each company.

proud

2012-02-12T09:25:00.000-05:00

photo via Instagram

february photo a day | a challenge | days 1 - 9

2012-02-10T05:00:00.001-05:00

The February Photo A Day Challenge is created by @fatmumslim and I'm taking my photos with my iPhone using the Intagram app, using the challenge prompts as my contribution to my Photo365 project: taking an Instagram photo a day, every day, in 2012.

day 1 | your view

day 2 | words

thankful thoughts every day

day 3 | hands

if it's morning, my hands are going to be wrapped around a coffee mug

day 4 | a stranger

that's me in the side view mirror taking the photo

day5 | 10am

day 6 | dinner

nana's bday dinner | filet mignon, sauteed mushrooms, twice bake potatoes, salad with homemade blue cheese dressing

day 7 | button

day 8 | sun

taken through the sun roof, the left streak is actually from an airplane

day 9 | front door

girls entering school

Today's prompt? Self-Portrait. Wonder if I can come up with something original for that one?

| instagram {monikawright} | pinterest | etsy | facebook |

52Photos | create

2012-02-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

I can remember creating homemade cards and gifts as a kid and teen. Luckily, each of the kids has crafted with me while making birthday cards, gifts and Christmas ornaments. For me, a handmade card from my kids is the best thing ever. I even do the DIY home decor gig, going as far as helping lay hardwood floors, hang sheetrock, paint, build room additions...you get the picture. There's not a week that goes by that I don't create some sort of project, whether it be a craft, a project for the home or working in the flower beds around the house.

And I can't imagine that there will be a time that I won't want to create something.

next week's theme

soft

the wrap-up

It's always such fun to view the Flickr gallery to see what's been posted and how each group member interprets the theme!

where i am | the twinery

2012-02-07T09:42:00.000-05:00

I whipped up this little candle concoction last night using recycled book pages, a heart punch and Maraschino baker's twine, which was inspired

by a Pin to my good crafts board. Don't worry, it's a battery operated candle so it's not a fire hazard at all.

I'm featured today over at The Twinery blog where Nicole is introducing the new members of the 2012 Design Team, one each week. I'm returning from the 2011 team as a Senior Designer, and so very proud to have the opportunity to continue crafting and creating with the highest quality twine being produced in the USA. Go take a peek and then come back here to leave a comment telling me which of the projects featured on The Twinery blog was your favorite. Be sure to choose one of the projects featured at The Twinery so that I know that you paid them a visit. You'll be entered to win samples from my stash of each and every of the 18 eco-luxe colors in The Twinery inventory. If you're a follower of my blog, that's another entry, but leave separate comments for each entry.

Giveaway will remain open until Thursday at 8pm EST and winners will be announced on this post. Be sure to leave an e-mail address in your comment or have it linked to your profile. If I can't contact you, I'll have to choose another winner.

EDITED TO ADD: This giveaway is now closed. The winner is commenter #36! Kristina @A Home Made by Kiki, please contact me so that I can ship the samples of all 18 colors of The Twinery baker's twine.

5 on the 5th | february

2012-02-06T05:00:00.001-05:00

Lots of ordinary life photos here. And I like it. As a whole, don't we tend to only photograph the highlights of life, the big moments, the holidays and celebrations? But what about our ordinary moments that make life really great? I wish I had a photo of my brother and I riding bicycles.

1 | cleaning up after breakfast {homemade buttermilk biscuits a la Gordon}

2 | Victoria wuz here {that girl can make a mess}

3 | Sunday afternoon "date" at the Home Depot

4 | warm enough to ride bicycles on the driveway

5 | not sure if the jumble is staged or real, but certainly is classic Zach - thanks Zach!

See you next month {on the 6th} when I'll post March's 5 on the 5th family update!

the world's best tentmaker

2012-02-05T09:32:00.001-05:00

two girls with their brother and a girlfriend

momenta | cha project sneak peeks

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

Although I did not reapply to the Momenta Design Team, mainly so I could spend that time to design new and exciting things for I Love It All, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to contribute a few projects for consideration to be displayed at CHA! So, if any of you are attended CHA and happened to see a Monika project, let me know!

An altered project for my little sweetie, Miss Victoria...

A mini book, like that's a big surprise, for some adorable baby photos...

And a page from the mini book...

Oh, and this address book I made for Isabella was at CHA as well.

Now, head on over to the Momenta blog to find other inspiring projects and here to start shopping now! You can find a link to all my Momenta projects here and here. I have blog posts planned to share how I crafted each of these projects for later in the month!

52Photos | rest

2012-02-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

Along with my One Little Word {be} comes the sense that I should take more time to just BE. I am a Firstborn. I am Type A personality. I am a perfectionist. I want things done NOW. In the last little bit, though, I have allowed things to slip. I am more relaxed. I try not to let things bother me. And this has been a big change for me to embrace. It's more important to BE than to worry.

Here I am chilling out with some magazines, too relaxed to get up and get my Canon 40D option instead to take a photo with my iPhone and e-mailing the photo to myself for this post. I'm at rest.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

next week's theme

create

the wrap-up

Did you get a chance to see the first roundup Lisa posted last week? Oh, and be sure to see all the new photos in the Flickr group as well.

february photo a day | a challenge

2012-02-01T17:33:00.002-05:00

This morning, as I was going about my daily routine, I noticed something interesting in the Instagram feed. One of my friends had posted a photo with the hashtag #febphotoaday. Hmmmm. You see where this is going, right?

your view today

That's not only my daily photo taken in Instragram with my iPhone for my Photo365 | 2012 project, it's also my contribution to this photo challenge. My view today as I walk around the Jeep to turn off the garage lights and close the garage door is this: it's a never ending battle to keep the toys and recycle bins and all the other stuff neat and organized.

My plan has been to take an Instagram photo each day in 2012 of the ordinary things I probably wouldn't take a photo of. Therefore, for the month of February I'll be using these prompts and will share a few of them here on the blog, but most definitely will do a monthly wrap up.

Feel like joining the fun of the Photo a Day Challenge?

month-in-review | january

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

This is what I'm working on today. And I don't know about you, but I love the first page of anything. A new book, a new planner or a new mini book..oh, yeah!

tag tied Marschino baker's twine from The Twinery

Yes, another year, another month-in-review for the Wright family. And, wow, we finished off the month with a bang - our little {all 6'2" of him} boy came home for a visit. Finally.

Wonder what February has in store for us?

These mini books are sold out in the shop, but if you'd like for me to make one for you, I'd be happy to do so {some of the papers used will be a bit different}. Contact me and we'll work out the details. Or, if you're feeling extra crafty, you can download what I used for last year's review book {it's in the sidebar} and use your own paper stash.

grateful | enjoying the time

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing when your little sisters like your girlfriend {almost} as much as they love you!

Fighting over who sits next to who. Waking up at 4am because you're so excited and then going to wake up your big brother, too. Helping to make breakfast and making a big mess. Lots of tickle time, tent-making, Scooby Doo watching and tons of silliness. Worrying about whether he'll still be here when they wake up in the morning.

Already missing him.

Grateful for the time AND the visit.

together again

2012-01-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

we {heart} felt hearts | the twinery

2012-01-27T05:00:00.001-05:00

I admit it, I love any excuse to put on my thinking cap and create a project. While I had my Maraschino baker's twine and red felt out the other day creating this project, I thought to myself, "What else can I do with all the supplies I already have out?"

Well, I'm here today to show you what some felt scraps, a little baker's twine and some patterned paper scraps will reward you with. I made this heart pin for my Mom, but I'm thinking that I should have made one for myself as well!

I began with my two felt hearts and stuffed it with a small bit of a cotton ball because I didn't have any polyfill. After using my craft glue to adhere the two layers together, and becoming impatient with the dry time, I resorted to stitching the heart shapes together with my sewing machine. Probably the best choice, really. The baker's twine is adhered with Glossy Accents atop the line of machine stitching.

After adding a pin closure to the back of the felt heart, I attached it to the patterned paper insert I made for my hinged tin and added a bit more twine {Maraschino and Lemondrop} to add a fun touch.

connect with me here

| facebook | pinterest | see all my posts for The Twinery |

Supplies Used

Maraschino Baker's Twine | Lemondrop Baker's Twine

Hinged Metal Tin | Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type Alphas | SEI Cardstock | pin back | Crop-o-Dile

52Photos | community

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

A blog button? Odd, right? But, not really and here's why. It's all because of this little blog that I've had the opportunity to make some friends that I would never have met if it were not for the world wide web. Some people I know by name, but have no idea what they look like while others have a photo attached to their profiles. There are those that I have e-mail conversations with and those that I owe long, overdue e-mails to. Some friends don't even live in the same country I live in. Or speak the same language. Luckily, I've met one of my virtual friends in real life and perhaps will have the chance to again this Summer and sneak in a visit to CHA while I'm there.

It's all of you that make up a community that touches my heart by your kind comments and continued visits and make me smile and warm my heart. And to think we might never have met if not for the interwebs. Now, let's finish our coffee, shall we?

next week's theme

rest

the wrap-up

I'm so looking forward to some warmer weather when the capture of our weekly themes outdoors is a little more pleasant. Not complaining, just reiterating that I do find Spring and Fall to be the most glorious of seasons. And can I just say...how will it already be February next Thursday?

clean and simple | practical scrappers

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm honored to have been asked to be a Fresh Face Designer through March over at Practical Scrappers.

I shared this card for their Clean and Simple assignment using some happy ❤ day tags I designed, similar to these all-occassion tags and this holiday-themed collection, which I popped on top of a metal-rimmed tag from the shop. Using my Top Note die from Stampin' Up {love} and some Blossom baker's twine from The Twinery {love, love and more love}, this card could not have been any simpler to create.

I'm a big fan of pink and green, probably due to the fact that I was a preppy girl back in my High School days {Hillwood High School Class of '82}, so forgive the throwback feel to the photo shoot!

bag full of love | the twinery

2012-01-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

There's love in the air for young, old, single, married...and of course, the wee ones in our life!

Being a crafty mama, I always have random art project supplies on hand and thought I would share with you this rather easy, but charmingly cute, under 10 minute project. Have I mentioned yet that I am a proud returning member, and now Senior Designer, from the 2011 Design Team for The Twinery? Cause for celebration, right?

Here are my supplies:

So, let's get started. Using some die cut hearts, but you could also use a hand punch or even free hand draw them and trim them yourself, I wrote a message that spans about 9 hearts to Isabella. After punching holes, I threaded the hearts together with Maraschino twine and loosely knotted it to hold the little booklet together before slipping it inside the canvas bag.

Then, using a hand cut felt heart, I used my Glossy Accents {I find that this product does an amazing job of adhering The Twinery twine to fabric, felt and cardstock} to embellish the felt heart with more Maraschino twine and again used Glossy Accents to adhere the felt heart to the canvas bag.

Sweet. Easy. Packed with lots of happy love. Excuse me, I need to go make one for Victoria now.

Supplies Used

Maraschino Baker's Twine | Canvas Bag | Glossy Accents | Sizzix Heart Set #2 | Accent Opaque Cardstock - International Paper

guest blogger | creating keepsakes magazine blog

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

You can find me guest blogging today over on the Creating Keepsakes Magazine blog featuring a brand new mini book created with a free page template I designed for you. Yeah, I know...pretty cool, right?

And, yes, that is one of the four brand new colors from The Twinery you see on my cover below. Hello, Orchid, so nice to finally meet you.

Be sure to head over to the Creating Keepsakes Magazine blog to get the download for the mini book page template and leave a comment there for your chance to win a $20 shop credit to the I Love It All Etsy shop.

wrapped in the arms of love

2012-01-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

52Photos | shine

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

join me on Instagram {monikawright} or on instagrid

my 52Photos capture

What a difference a few days can make. Well, a few days and a new way of thinking. This brand new year has a shine to it that I am welcoming with open arms. And it feels good.

next week's theme

community

the wrap-up

It's so great to see how many new photos are being uploaded, to greet our new members and to welcome back our original members.

guest blogger | big picture classes

2012-01-18T10:02:00.001-05:00

Big Picture Classes is a treasure trove of inspiration and ideas. I'm a fan of both their self-paced workshops and hands-on classes. At this moment, I am participating in the One Little Word class taught by Ali Edwards, Grateful Every Day with Mou Saha and tackling a few projects with Aly Dosdall in her Doable DIY Decor workshop. I just love it when I get to be inspired and learn, all in the comfort of my own home at my own pace.

I invite you stop by today, over at Big Picture Classes, where I'm sharing a few sweet Valentine's Day projects...all made with crafting and scrapbooking supplies you probably already have on hand. Oh, and there might be a coupon code waiting there for you as well!

And speaking of inspiration, today I am giving away one seat in May Flaum's newest online adventure with Big Picture Classes, The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide. It's 12 weeks of techniques and creative play just for you.

Class Description

Duringeach of the 12 weeks of class, there will be a focus on specific techniques andproducts. Adding texture, stitching, mists, stamping and everything else shecould think of. May has created a class full of information and inspiration.Students will find scrapbook layout project examples each week as well asprojects such as cards, tags, altered projects and mixed media canvases. Thisclass features a new colorful PDF handout and videos each week, and an A-Zbasics library of 26 videos.

Want to learn more about how Big Picture Classes works? And here's May's Teacher Top Ten, so you have a chance to get to know your instructor a little better.

TO ENTER

Leave a comment telling me which Big Picture Class most interests you right now. I'll leave the comments open until Friday evening at 8pm when I'll draw a winner and post here. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. No way to contact you...I'll have to award May's class to another lucky person.

AND THE WINNER IS...

it's just around the corner

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

In 28 days, Valentine's Day will be upon us. I tend to approach the celebration in a lighthearted way with just a smidge of seriousness. My thinking, "Why wait for this one day to declare your devotion and gratitude for having the luck to be loved and to have loved and loving ones in your life?"

Stuck for ideas? Let me help with a few from that cute little Etsy shop, I Love It All {wink, wink}.

Because I Love You coupon book

10 Things I Love About You mini book

the alphabet of our love mini book

red LOVE print pink LOVE print denim LOVE print

so happy together art print

Have I Told You print | 4 colors

Date Night Coupon Book

me+you=we | gray me+you=we | aqua me+you=we | red

all you need is love 5x7 print

Love Makes The Ride Worthwhile print | 4x6 and 8x10

Use the coupon code ILOVEITALL at I Love It All to enjoy your 15% purchase discount!

rain on the windshield

2012-01-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

via Instagram {search for monikawright} | also on instagrid if you don't have an iPhone

gratitude journal | a new year

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

Hello 2012! You have been a very fine year these 12 days and I so appreciate your bing bang bam ending to 2011, I needed that.

So, yesterday was the first day in about forever that it was a little slow for me. Crazy. I finished up a few outstanding Etsy orders, completed a Journal for a friend and also my very own Journal, which I'm going to share today. Now, as you look at my Journal, it's a mish mash of all the leftover bits and pieces from the first Journals I made for the shop and the second version of Journals I made for the shop and then, of course, I added in a few "just for me" pages.

My 2012 Gratitude Journal with pink o-wire binding...adore my Bind-It-All and use it all. the.time. One of my most used crafty tools.

Managed to sneak in my one little word, too. Each day when I open my Journal, I'll have this little reminder to just be...

Isn't that a cute photo with all those colors and patterns and bits and pieces of patterned paper, found paper and ephemera all bound into a "good thoughts" book!

Week 1:52, Days 1-7

I used some colored pencils to add a bit of color to my kraft page. Why not make it fun and bright if I can.

Nothing drastically thought provoking or earth-shattering in my gratitudes to date, but all are daily reminders of how extraordinary an ordinary day can be.

Week 2:52, Days 8-11

If you weren't able to purchase a Gratitude Journal, I do have a few little mini books {will be adding more soon} that you could use for this purpose by adding in few of your own papers and doo dads. And, in case you missed it, here's what the girls are using for their daily grateful thoughts and you could do the same thing as well.

Happy Friday the 13th!

drumroll please | the 2012 twinery design team

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

With great pride, I'm pleased to share with you {half} of the 2012 Design Team for The Twinery.

The rest of the team will be announced tomorrow, so be sure to drop by at The Twinery for the rest of the gals! With nearly 400 applications, here's your first peek at 10 members of the Team. Take some time to drop by their blogs and browse around will you're there...and, by all means, become a follower of our team members as well as a follower of The Twinery blog!

You can connect with The Twinery on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and be the first to know about breaking news, coupon codes, sales and inspiring project links, too.

and now...meet some members of our
2012 Design Team for The Twinery

Julie Ranae - Design Team Coordinator

http://juliesopenwindow.blogspot.com/

Angelica Suarez - Senior Designer

http://www.typicalaquarian.com/

Monika Wright - Senior Designer {that's me!}

http://www.iloveitallwithmonikawright.com/

Teri Anderson

http://terisplace.wordpress.com/

Dorangela Bobet

http://www.twoprincebakerytheater.com/

Helen Bird

http://www.curlybirds.typepad.com/

Lauren Brewer

http://www.laurenscreative.com/

Natalie Clause

http://www.southernbellescharm.com/

Amy Crockett

http://www.scrappingmommy.com

Tifany DeGough (returning as a 2nd term designer)

http://www.inkblotsbytrd.blogspot.com/

Carolyn King

http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com

Kathy Skou
http://kathyskou.blogspot.com

Kellie Winnell
http://www.kelliewinnell.com.au/

The announcement of the second half of The Twinery Design Team is here.

Race over to The Twinery now to enter your name into the giveaway for the Ultimate Sampler Pack you see below!

Quite a team, don't you think? You can see my own projects for The Twinery here and here.

52Photos

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

I jumped ahead of schedule and posted my 52Photo last week.

next week's theme

shine

the wrap-up

I am honored to be continuing on this journey of discovery with Lisa. Did you know that she's participating in another photo project...find out more here and be sure to drop by and congratulate her. Oh, and don't forget to add your captures to the Flickr group, we have166 members already!

5 on the 5th | january 2012

2012-01-11T10:56:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first installment of a new family project using my Instagram photo.

Why 5? Because we have 5 family members for one and for another, it seemed much more do-able for me than the more common 12 on the 12th that so many people participate in. ~~Ideally, I would adore if Zach would snap a pic with his iPhone and e-mail it to me so that I could include his take on the 5th along with our experiences for the day...maybe next month.~~ Guess what? Zach sent me a photo...although I'm not sure he knew I was going to use it for 5 on the 5th, but I'm using it anyway.

I thought it would be fun to capture a year's grouping of 5 photos taken on the 5th day of each month. You know, photos that I probably would never think of taking or think to silly to share, but that define our life at that moment. Like we all need another project to keep track of. But, I've been having so much fun with my new phone and all the apps. Instagram is one of my faves and you can follow me by searching for me: monikawright or you can follow my Instagrid feed if you don't have an iPhone.

1 | girls headed out the door to their 2nd day of school in 2012

2 | ironing the duvet cover which takes for.ever.and.ever. but which makes Gordon so very happy

3 | our almost daily stop at the Post Office to mail I Love It All on Etsy packages

4 | loyal, getting older and with the saddest look he could give, Duke the dog

5 | the two of them on the beach in Charleston

See you next month {on the 6th} when I'll post February's 5 on the 5th family update! Here's a rough outline on what's in store for 2012.

note: seeing my collage now, I need to stick with one filter for all the photos for a more cohesive look, but that's just the Type A perfectionist coming out in me. Can't help it and I'm not going to apologize.

one little word | january

2012-01-09T11:34:00.001-05:00

A sense of accomplishment this morning. I'm already 100% ahead of where I was last year at this time. OLW 2011 was a bust as all I did was to print out the title page and read the pre-class assignment. 2012 already has me excited, it's a new year and a new me.

fabric strip from Little Yellow Bicycle | chipboard letters from Studio Calico | Classic Laid Linen in White

And since it was already printed, I wasn't going to waste it. Adding the small portion of the much longer fabric border to the top adds texture and the placement of my OLW {be} hides the year 2011. I used pop dots to lift the b off the page and just adhered the E directly to the page.

You probably already know this, but I'm not much of an innovative or technique-y scrapper. Case in point, I just purchased a heat gun and embossing powder 3 weeks ago. Yeah, it's been out for ages, but I'm just now giving it a go. I first stamped the butterfly image in turquoise ink thinking that I had bought clear embossing powder {nope, it's white} and the colored ink would show through. I like it anyway, though, and will probably find some clear embossing powder to give that "technique" another try!

paper and cardsock sticker from Studio Calico | butterfly stamp from Jenni Bowlin

Later in the post you'll see my painted foam stamped letters unembellished and this is what they look like now. I had red in my machine and was too lazy to rethread or to spin another bobbin. The paper I used was from product packaging and I didn't trim my threads so that I could use them to tie on the letter m for Monika.

chipboard letter, cardstock sticker and product packaging from Studio Calico

The January Assignment

the cover page | 5x7 size

invitation | invite myself to just let it be

thesaurus | exist . subsist . live . breathe . {existence} being . survival . life . prevail . endure

because | i want to revisit the me i remember...i want to be joyful, spunky & in the moment

definition | present indicative: i am - as a substantive verb, be is used ----> to mean | to have existence,

truth or actuality

quotation | learn to enjoy every minute of your life. be happy now. don't wait for something outside of

yourself to make you happy. think how really precious is the time you have to spend. every

minute should be enjoyed.

invitation | introspection . reflection . fun . joy . growth . awareness { a new me }

January assignment | baseball card size page protector

Looking for a be quote ended up being quite a chore. There are tons of quotes with the word be in the text, but very few actually about "be"ing. I kind of paraphrased the quote I ended up using, and if I find another that better suits me, I can always make a change. But, right now, this one seems to fit.

You can see how my Be cards originally looked before I added stitching to them. The embossing also shows up a bit better here, you can see the shininess and texture of the technique. Both the cover and ATC card pages fit into page protectors, but it's difficult to get a good photograph with a page protector in the shot.

I realize that I have two invitation cards. I want them both included. Not knowing what February's assignment is yet {don't want to peek, which is very unusual for me} I don't know whether to expound further upon some thoughts I haven't included here. I may just do it anyway, but not sure I'll share. Did you notice, I snuck in my 2011 OLW, joy.

cardstock sticker from Studio Calico

I punched holes into a print I offer in the shop and decided to add it here, without a page protector.

BE art print from I Love It All

Why did I choose be? Because I am tired of not being happy with the way things are. Not that I'm unhappy, I'm not. I have a good, good life with wonderful people in it. But, I'm not happy with how I've let circumstances that you may or may not remember {other people, other situations, other things} have control over me. And that affects my family, my relationship with my husband and essentially me as well. It's time for me to release those feelings and JUST LET IT BE. Just let life be and accept it and move on. I wish that I could better articulate what I'm feeling in my heart, but just let me tell you that I feel a difference already, on this 9th day of January, and things can only get better with time.

Participating in OLW as well? Posted about it or added it to Flickr? I'd love to come visit...leave a link in the comments so I can stop by for a peek. Find my other one little word posts here.

And read Andrea's blog post here.
Here's what Kate created.

Want to join in?

warms my heart

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

Victoria wrote the note and asked Isabella to tie the knot

...and this is what greeted me when searching for a cup for my after-dinner coffee. You may have already seen this photo from my share on Facebook or Instagram {I'm monikawright in case you want to follow me}, but how can I say sorry for sharing again? This just makes me so happy.

52Photos | a new year

2012-01-05T11:49:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

Vintage clocks to ring in the new year. The pocket watch belong to my Opa and his Father before that. With each new year, we are afforded a fresh start, hope and new beginnings. I begin 2012 with a new frame of mind and a rekindled spark. Life is Great!

next week's theme

new

the wrap-up

I am honored to be continuing on this journey of discovery with Lisa. As a matter of fact, one my 2012 resolutions is to push myself out of auto mode and into manual. Which mode to you shoot most of your photos in? Oh, and don't forget to add your captures to the Flickr group, we're up to 148 members already!

52Photos :: celebrating

2012-01-05T11:24:00.002-05:00

my 52 photos capture

This is the first year that my littlest munchkins have gotten into the choosing of their gifts, the wrapping and the anticipation of waiting for someone to open a gift they are giving. Watching them with hearts full of joyful celebration is the gift of parenthood that I do not take for granted. All too soon they grow up and their sense of celebrating is somewhat different. Having two generations of kids {remember Zach is now 20} is such a unique, and sometimes exasperating, experience.

next week's theme

new

the wrap-up

Lisa has a re-cap post you will find interesting and also includes a master list of all of 2011's themes. And here's a link to the Flickr group if you'd like to check out what's new over there. Here's to another great year of 52Photos!

gratitude journal for the wee ones

2012-01-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Isabella and Victoria have heard me talking about making Gratitude Journals and more Gratitude Journals and more Gratitude Journals and then even more of them since October that when I asked if they wanted to have a Gratitude Journal of their own they knew exactly what I meant by that and were up for the project!

After gluing their paper to the front, the girls trimmed the paper to fit. They decided to leave the inside as is since these are composition books and have a place to put their class schedules inside. They wanted to add their school name, the year and their "specials" classes they have each week: music, art, computer, guidance and physical education.

Oh, yeah, you knew they were going to want to use some letter stickers, right?

And, naturally, they both wanted to use the same set of letter stickers so a little patient impatience was on tap for Isabella since Victoria nabbed them first!

Soon I'll be sharing what I'm using to journal my everyday gratitudes. Are you journaling yours as well?

happy new year

2012-01-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve at Oma's house...see even Zach {as a baby} is in the photo!

happy new year's eve

2011-12-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

new year art print

"be" ing

2011-12-30T11:26:00.001-05:00

With the girls on Christmas break and Gordon home until next week on vacation, we've had some really good family time. Which means that I am already practicing one of my 2012 One Little Word goals...just "be"ing. Being in the moment and putting aside other things that are not nearly as important as family, hence my lack of blog updates.

Here's the OLW charm I made myself and the joy {my 2011 OLW} charm was a gift last year from Vicki of Joyful Whimsy. It brought me so much joy when I opened the charmingly packaged charm and still does to this day. I added my be charm to the joy charm and I think they make a perfect pair!

be | one little word

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

Having failed miserably at not fully living and implementing my One Little Word for 2011 {joy} I stand here before you, well actually I'm sitting, and tell you that the year of 2012 will be a year that I let life BE as it is.

Yes, let it be. I am old enough now to have realized that there are things I cannot change. People who are who they are because that's who they are. Things that I should let it go. Relax. Live in the moment. And just BE.

You might have read in yesterday's post about a few of my blog posting plans for 2012. One Little Word will be a monthly feature on the 2nd Monday. I'll be using my OLW class from Ali Edwards over at Big Picture Classes {she's also doing a 2012 class and there's a giveaway open until December 29th for 2 seats in the class} and following along with all the prompts and exercises I missed in 2011 due to one thing or another.

I have my new OLW art print all ready, but had to clip it to this little photo prop because the super cute frame I purchased and spray painted a fun aqua blue cannot be found. I'm sure once I finally put away all of the Christmas decor, I'll find it somewhere. When I do, I'll be sure to share. But, until then...

As a small little reminder, I'll be wearing the green BE necklace and the turquoise BE is for Andrea. She was my very first Etsy customer, by the way. She's going to venture along with her OLW, which also happens to be...BE and blog about her progress and projects living with her word. She loves turquoise, so I'll send the charm along to her to slip on a chain and wear as her own little reminder.

If you're playing along with Ali's One Little Word this year, visit with me every 2nd Monday {to keep me accountable} and leave a link to your blog post so that I can stop by for a visit with you and see how you're doing living your own OLW.

BONUS: This year, I had a little help painting my letters before I added the patterned paper!

Lucky me!

planning & plans for 2012

2011-12-27T05:00:00.001-05:00

I love, love, love getting a new calendar. The methodical routine of transferring memorable dates, important notes and plans for the year makes me happy. Silly, right?

I lucked out in finding this calendar at a local salvage store for just $2.00...last year I paid $15 at an office supply store. Keeping it simple, I added several strips of washi tape, stitched on the colored shipping tag on which I journaled:

i like to:

make messes

get dirtly

try new things

start over

be creative

I didn't want too many layers or embellishments on the cover as I plan to take this with me everywhere. I'm tired of being out {at the school, at the Doctor's office or at my Mom's house} and not knowing what's ahead and if I can actually make an appointment for that day. Yes, I know I can use the handy dandy calendar app on my iPhone, but I much prefer paper. I may have to try both, but for now, I'm sticking with paper only.

The inside front page that covers up the marketing message also shows how I added tabs for each month and for the month-at-a-glance calendar pages in the back.

All the rub-ons I'm using were sent to me by my friend, Kate, who is also a Close To My Heart rep. Lovin' the quality of the rub-ons, wow, plus they're having a great promotion going on right now...check it out. For each birthday or holiday, I'm adding a small rub-on. Why hoard all my cute stuff, I need to use it and let it surprise me and make me smile as I turn the pages.

My blogging plan as of this moment looks like this:

Weekly

Thursday 52Photos
Saturday Layout A Week
Sunday Sunday Photo

Monthly

1st Write.Click.Scrapbook. Gallery Layout
6th 5 on the 5th {more to come on this project}
2nd Monday One Little Word
last day of Month Month-In-Review {more to come on this project}
Pinterest Project inspired by a Pin from my Boards
Christmas Create 12 handmade items {one each month} for Christmas giving

+ I plan to update a few projects that I found were unfinished or I had not presented yet.

+ Complete some online courses that I've signed up for and have left unfinished and present here as

well.

+ Continue with free downloads.

+ Regularly send out newsletters with exclusive discounts and downloads.

So, are you a paper or digi calendar kind of gal?

my twenty12 resolutions | a journal

2011-12-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not one to make resolutions for the New Year. Normally. There are a few areas, though, that I have meant to make a change in the right direction and just haven't. Yet. And if I take the time to write it down, mightn't that help me to be more accountable and perhaps achieve my goals? I'm hoping YES!

I began playing around with some colors and ideas sizes and this is the design I came up with for this mini. After I printed and trimmed the journal, I decided to add this little cutie to the shop as well.

I definitely need to drink more water...Dr. Pepper and coffee's all day do not a healthy Monika make.
I've had my camera for two years and still don't know all the bells and whistles. This MUST change and my plan is to make a concerted effort to learn, not just take the easy "click."
Enjoy the precious time we have together and make it count, make it special and make it good! Who says it has to be just Date Night to make it all about us?
Too often I am distracted by other things when I am approached by my girls or my Sweetie and I just need to let whatever it is that I think is more important {but probably not} go and be in the moment with my precious family.

You can see that I'm not changing the world with my resolutions, but I am changing a few things about me. To each page, I added a strip of washi tape across the top. No washi tape, add a small strip of patterned paper instead to cute it up. Each of your 5 pages will have this twenty12 graphic in the lower right hand corner.

Here's a close up of the cover:

All packaged and ready to ship! If you need more than the 5 blank pages that come with the front cover and ribbon tied binder ring for your twenty12 resolutions, let me know how many and I'll set up a custom listing for you in a jiffy.

from our family to yours

2011-12-24T10:05:00.000-05:00

recycled & manly | momenta

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have run out of cute boxes and I'm getting low on wrapping paper! NO FEAR, Momenta has come to my rescue!

After rescuing a box from the recycle stash in the garage, I pulled out my All Through The Year Super Paper Pad to see what Christmas patterned paper I still had left and Ta Da!, I had two sheets of this design just waiting for me to use it up! See...and you thought you would never be able to find a use for all your pretty patterned paper. You could even use a 12x12 sheet of paper to wrap a small gift up and sneak under the tree, too!

After trimming the paper to fit {I didn't mind the ruggedness of the corrugated box showing} and adhering, I made a handle out of the scraps for my Sweetie to lift the top and added some Crimped Red Alpha stickers to the top. Certainly makes that gift of cash for Gordon to pick out a new pair of Ariat boots look soooooo much better doesn't it? YES!

Momenta Supplies Used

PA-1991 | All Through The Year Super Paper Pad

ST-2042 | Crimped Red Alpha

Other Supplies Used | shipping tag, Marschino baker's twine from The Twinery

52Photos :: joy

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

I'm not really sure if there was more JOY in my heart for seeing my girls meet Santa's helper for the very first time or in their heart for getting to experience this much anticipated trip. When we walked up to the are where Santa was holding court, he was up walking around and Victoria spotted him first and started waving excitedly and began exclaiming very excitedly, "There's Santa!" Isabella was happy as well, just a bit more reserved...in true form she was.

While Victoria began her sweet little conversation with Santa, I took a mental picture of her looking up to Santa with such a priceless expression. Isabella sat patiently on Santa's lap, not uttering a word and later told me, "He had a real beard, Mommy, but I thinks Santa's eyes are blue, his were brown."

Yes, I kicked myself that I did not take video of this adventure with my uber-cool iPhone4s. Didn't even think about it until Gordon asked me if I had. Grrr.

next week's theme

celebrating

the wrap-up

I'm not going to say it's the end, because it's not! 52Photos will be new and exciting and rarin' to go with our first 2012 theme on January 5th!

let's try this again

2011-12-21T19:02:00.000-05:00

Definitely need to re-think using the straight pins for this project and just pull out the E6000 for more than just attaching the super fun and colorful baker's twine from The Twinery.

What a darling project, pinned to my art projects Pinterest board, but our puffy, fluffy balls keep coming out...operator error I'm sure. The girls always call our crafting time "art projects" - hence the board name. And they always, ALWAYS, want to do art projects.

And even though the ornaments aren't perfect, the Pro's of this art project are:

that the girls had an absolute blast prowling the aisles of Hobby Lobby with me looking for styrofoam and puffy balls and even some multi-colored sequins
they had major fun choosing the colors and position of puffy, fluffy balls
they had minor disagreements with each other about who gets what particular color
they always find a way to make me smile in the midst of their arguments when I question why I even brought out all the supplies in the first place when one of them complements the other on their design, color choice or just overall goodness in handing out positive vibes

What? Sequins? Oh, yeah...rumor has it that the sequins and extra puffy, fluffy balls will appear on a headband made for Mommy fashioned after one seen in the Fancy Nancy book Isabella checked out of the school Library. Can't wait to share the photo of me modeling said headband on Christmas morning...ahem.

I'm thinking these ornaments are next on our list!

gifting

2011-12-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today starts our first day of the Holiday Break for the girls and the rest of the week we hope to share with you the daily crafty art projects we'll be doing together. Until then...

Super simple gift wrapping for the Teacher Gifts this year...glassine bags, shipping tags, paper flowers and some red tulle at half price from Hobby Lobby. I embellished the tag with a bracket shaped stamp before adding the flower and then sewed across the shipping tag.

After punching a hole where the hole in the shipping tag is, I threaded through the red tulle and tied a knot. The Scrabble Tile necklaces are from here. Isabella's Teacher had been speaking of ribbon candy and we were lucky enough to find some so that Isabella could gift them to her. Makes me happy that she wanted her Teacher to be happy!

Hoping you'll join us as we try our hand at some of the fun art projects that I've been adding to my Pinterest board to try out this week.

sweet surprises

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

I found this under the tree when I woke up one morning last week and shared the photo on my Facebook page. It was taken with my new iPhone 4s using Instagram. Once I figure out how to add the link, I'll share my Instagram user profile if you'd like to see other photos I've uploaded.

52Photos :: anticipation :: perspective

2011-12-15T11:32:00.001-05:00

my 52Photos capture :: anticipation

"Look Mommy, I look like a reindeer!" Yes, those are Isabella's feet standing in for reindeer antlers and yes, that is sock fuzz you see between those precious cheesy toes! Youngsters really do put a fresh perspective on most anything and everything and especially holidays. Gotta say, though, that the biggest kid in our house {aka Mr. wRight} can be kinda silly, too. What you can't see in this photo is that Victoria is sitting in a wicker trash basket and had a tough time getting out of it. Oh, and she's missing two of her bottom teeth...the Tooth Fairy has been very busy around here since August.

my 52Photos capture :: perspective

Lesson Learned: Going through the day wondering what it is that I will be most grateful for in that particular day has leant itself wonderful perspective to my life. When I have forgotten to record my thoughts, I can see a difference on how I approached the day. And now, others are liking the idea and have asked that I make them Gratitude Journals as well, and I'm grateful for that!

next week's theme

joy

the wrap-up

I hear from Lisa that she has a wrap-up post planned, so I'll be sure to link you up to that soon. We also have a new blog button designed and ready for you to post in your blog sidebars, if you so wish. See ya next week!

merry & bright | momenta

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

During my last trip to the craft store, I stocked up on jar candles to embellish as gifts, and I just couldn't give this candle away...so it's mine, all mine!

Guess what? There's not a single item I used to embellish this candle that is actually a holiday themed item. The green striped paper and the red star paper are the "B" sides to double-sided papers in the Family Outings Premium Paper Pad and I think they are just so fun, so bright and so perfect for our family room mantle. The white glitter puffy alphabet stickers have a sparkly shimmer to them with a fleck of red that complements the red star patterned paper so well!

Layering scallop and round punched shapes under the Flair button, which you know is one of my favorite embellishments, is a nice way to give the top of the jar candle a more finished look. You can see more of my projects using Flair buttons here.

And here's how this once plain candle looks on our mantle with a few other Christmas decorations. I'm kind of partial to the fingerprint snowman votive holder next to it that my now 20-year old son, Zach, made in elementary school. Why do they grow up so quickly?

May Your Holidays be Merry & Bright!

Momenta Supplies Used

PA-2250 | Family Outings Premium Paper Pad

ST-2040 | White Glitter Puffy Alphabet

Flair Stickers

Other Supplies Used

jar candle, border and shape punches, pop dots

You can also see this project over on the Momenta blog today!

crafting away

2011-12-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

Even though I have been a little scarce here, I have been busy, promise!

Made several more Gratitude Journals, since you lovely people had been asking for them and there's just one left! They're a bit different than what his pictured, but still just as cute a way to journal in 2012. The cost is $45.00 and it will ship tomorrow. If you're interested, contact me and I'll set up a listing for you to purchase.
The school my two younger children attend is having a fundraiser and it's such a cute idea. The Library has not received funding to purchase new materials for several years now. Other than Book Fair proceeds, they have nothing. So, from Tuesday through Thursday, the kids will get to "shop" for items in the 50 cent to $5 range...most of it handmade items from the parents, grandparents, administration and teachers at the school. The first two days they get to shop for family and friends and then on the third day, they can make purchases of something they would like for themselves, if they so wish. I made about 20 of these, along with a few other items.

I decided to make another round of Gratitude Journals and list them in the shop since so many people have been interested in having a mini book to Journal their 2012 Gratitudes...it's been such a lovely experience to chat with people who have an interest in this little project book of mine. There are several of these for purchase, they would make lovely gifts, and they're ready to purchase AND ready to ship NOW...no wait! Here's a peek at what the cover looks like, there are 12 monthly tabbed patterned paper pages as well as a variety of inside pages to include lined notebook paper, legal pads, guest checks, library cards, graph paper and hand stamped pages.

And here's a shot of my computer desk this morning, before I sat down to write this post. And it still looks like it now, I'm just working in the 2.2 square inches of open space while I type this. Don't even ask what my craft desk that backs up to this desk looks like...my "studio" does not look so cute and pretty right now, but I have had fun making it look this way!

traditions | the album

2011-12-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I'll be sharing with you a few ideas that might help you to capture your family's memories that don't involve an intense month long commitment. Now, as much as I adore my 2009 December Daily, I will admit that it involved some time...preparing my pages ahead and then embellishing them further as I added my photos each day...and I didn't feel that I could dedicate those precious minutes this year but also didn't want to miss out on capturing some of our holiday traditions. And that's when I thought of using an 8x8 album in my stash as the home to Holiday Traditions. At least that's my working title, as I've not yet embellished the front cover...remember this was literally a last minute brainstorm.

Here are two pages that came together rather quickly for me because I used a template {which you can find in the Download section of my blog sidebar} and only had to add the photo and a strip of patterned paper. You could also add some letter stickers in that space instead, but I opted to add the title to my photo before printing.

Wondering why the years begin with 1991? That's the year I became a Mommy!

The plan is to include Holiday Traditions in this album from all my Mommy years and from each and every holiday we celebrate. I look forward to browsing our photo archives, printing photos and journaling memories. So, no December Daily for me this year, but instead I've come up with a project that I'm really excited about. I hope it's so successful that I have to move on to a second and third album. If you happen to use the page template to begin your own Holiday Traditions album, upload them to the Write.Click.Scrapbook. Flickr group so we can all take a look!

Here's the page template download and it's also over in the sidebar:

Here are a few more ideas {just click on the links} that might help you to document your traditions:

grateful for you | 52Photos across the ocean

2011-12-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

I think by now, after all we're 49 weeks into the 52Photos project, you know that Lisa and I have been taking our photos miles and miles apart, posting them to our blogs as well as to the Flickr group {along with the other 123 members of the group} and wondering all along how we're going to document our year's worth of photos. She's in Sweden and I'm in Tennessee, but that didn't stop us from forging ahead, sharing some wonderful e-mails and getting to know each other through our photos and the stories behind them.

I am grateful for you, dear Lisa, for the package that arrived last week. The "52" album full of our photos, side by side, means that I will end this year with a completed project, albeit by you. The thoughtfulness, the time, the care you put into this gift warms my heart and proves that virtual friends ARE real. It's as if you knew that I needed help and reached out your hand. Tack - that's thanks in Swedish in case you're wondering - Lisa for your friendship.

And this wasn't the first bit of goodness from Lisa, she also sent Isabella and Victoria each one of these and I have this in black - very chic, very unique and I'm so proud to wear it!

thanks for everything | momenta

2011-12-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

I'm hosting over at the Momenta blog today and I'd love for you to hop on over for at visit and take a look around. The Design Team Call for Momenta is still open, but only until the 15th, which still gives you time to submit your projects. And if you don't follow Momenta on Facebook, you should...there's a giveaway once they reach 2,000 fans and if you send your friends, both you and your friend could win!

In the midst of all the brightly colored holiday papers you have on your crafting table right now, how would you feel about some pastels? That's right, I've made some notecards to have on hand for Isabella and Victoria to send out to family and friends thanking them for the Christmas gifts they received. If tulips aren't your thing, no worries, the All Through The Year Super Paper Pad has a multitude of patterned papers appropriate for holidays, themes or just because.

To complement the sweet printed paper, I used this hot pink cardstock which has a softer hued pink on the reverse side...and that happens to be a feature I truly adore about the Momenta cardstock. It's like getting twice the color choices for the same price!

These 4 cards were made with cardstock I had trimmed from another project and with just 1 sheet of patterned paper and 1/2 sheet of textured cardstock, as well as the letter stickers, I was able to craft these four cards in just minutes. Can you believe all those letter stickers came from one alpha pack?

Momenta Products Used

PA-1991 | All Through The Year Super Paper Pad

PA-0657 | Textured Cardstock Pad

ST-4491 | Pastel Alpha Pack

Other Products Used | white cardstock, border and shape punches, corner rounder

ella friends | blog hop

2011-12-05T07:25:00.000-05:00

In addition to all the holiday shopping you're doing and also trying to finish all the handmade gifts you promised yourself you would make...you know you're going to need a few thank you cards, too, right? Wait, did I hear a Grrrr? NO worries, Ella Publishing is coming to your rescue with one of their newest eBooks, 31 Thank You Cards with creative inspiration galore oozing from each and every page!

And just to mix it up, I changed the thank you sentiment to Birthday Girl and created an enclosure card to add to a gift bag...just the perfect size {and no envelope needed} to add a small note for all those classmate parties our kids attend. I used the card featured on page 20 by Kimber as inspiration.

As a thank you to all our Ella friends, use the code CARDHOP which will save you $2 off the 31 Thank You Cards eBook. Fine print: Cannot be combined with any other coupon code or gift certificate. One coupon per customer. Expires 12/10/11.

and here's the Ella Friends Blog Hop lineup

Brenda

Diana
Donna Francine
Jenni
Jennifer
Keshet
Mary Jo
Monika ---> that's me
Valerie

My year as an Ella Friend is coming to a close and I had the wonderful opportunity to work with and get to know an amazing bunch of ladies. I refer to my collection of Ella Publishing eBooks quite often and encourage you all to browse their catalog as well, you'll never be at a loss for ideas again.

BONUS!

If you'd like to be inspired in your own card making adventures, leave a comment here before Wednesday at 8pm EST {include your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you're the winner} to win a copy of the eBook, 31 Thank You Cards. I'll announce the winner then, so be sure to check back on this very same blog post.

UPDATED 12.31.11

And the winner is alexandra s.m.!

i love this guy

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

...he makes our days full, fun and fabulous.

e marie creations | a giveaway

2011-12-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

It's the third day of December and I Love It All has a fun giveaway for you from a cute little Etsy shop, Emariecreations. Here's what Samantha, the owner and creator of all the sweet polymer clay creations, has to say:

I've been running my Etsy shop for about 2 years and absolutely love what I do! I have enjoyed crafting every since I was little, and being able to actually make and sell my creations is great! Knowing that others find joy out of my creations is wonderful as well. It is what makes selling online so rewarding! In my shop you will find a wide selection of polymer clay and resin cabochon jewelry, charms, Christmas ornaments and more. My items appeal to girls and women of all ages, and I am happy to be able to offer great products in a price range that is affordable to all.

Let me share some cuteness with you and you'll see what I mean...and you knew I was going to add those three little pea pods in necklace form, didn't ya?

There are lots of ways to earn entries and the giveaway will end on December 7th at 8pm EST so that you can get your goodies shipped before holiday deadlines. Good luck and have fun browsing!

{Rules}

This giveaway up to U.S. readers in hopes that the items might reach you before Christmas.

Make sure to do each comment separately unless otherwise noted.

PLEASE leave your e-mail in at least one comment so you can be contacted at contest end.

{Mandatory Entry}

Visit the EMariecreations shop then come back here with a link to your favorite item(s) from the shop.

{1 entry}

{Extra Entries}

1. Heart the Emariecraetions Etsy shop

{1 comment}

2. Add Emariecreations to your Etsy Circle

{1 comment}

3. Purchase an item from the shop

The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to emariecreations

to spend as they wish!

Samantha also has a giveaway blog, if you're interested in stopping by for a browse there.

+++

Find other holiday gift items in my own Etsy shop, I Love It All, to include custom and personalized typography family tree prints, wedding announcements and baby birth | adoption announcements!

UPDATED 12.31.11

Commenter Hillcrest Acres, you're the lucky winner!

52Photos :: real

2011-12-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

Our first real tree in seven years and we're all thrilled about it! Isabella sat down next to me on the couch last night while we were decorating the tree, hugged me, and said that our tree looked like a real family Christmas tree. I hugged her back and chuckled to myself. It is a real family Christmas tree...the girls decorated, putting ornaments where they thought was the best place for them and we left the tree real {au naturel} without garland or ribbon. Just the tree, lights and ornaments. To see the joy in her eyes and the squeeze of her two little arms around me is a memory. A good one. And there you have it, two girls who believe Santa Claus is real. Make that three.

next week's theme

anticipation

the wrap-up

Entering week 49 of our 52 week journey!

calendar cuties

2011-11-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you're all as excited about the New Year as I am...fresh start, new ideas, renewed spirit. And calendars. I do love a cute calendar and a planner that makes me smile.

Last year's subway art calendars were a hit and were download lots and lots and lots...glad you liked them. This year's collection of calendar downloads are sized to 4x6 with January through March now available. I used a template designed by my friend Celeste Smith, she's talented in so many ways, and will add each month in a variety of typefaces.

You can see that my baker's twine from The Twinery makes an appearance again this year. January happens to be a pretty good match for Caribbean. Well, February matches Pink Sorbet and March is a ringer for Honeydew, if you really want to know! I just used my Glossy Accents to outline the calendar and added my baker's twine. I also suspended it from more baker's twine with two mini clothespins.

Or add the calendar to a frame {this one is from IKEA} and embellish with ribbon to match each month. I'm guessing you probably have a ribbon stash like I do.

Or for yet another option, go to your paper scraps, I used some from Momenta, adhere a piece to the top and place it on an easel. In the extra space below the month, you can always add the dates you just don't want to forget!

April, May and June will be available for download in mid-March, so mark it on your calendar and stop in again for a visit then!

You can find this and other free printables in the downloads section in the sidebar.

nutty nut slippery melts

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

We went into holiday prep mode early here at the Wright household.

Let's enter into evidence this little bit of goodness that I packaged up and the girls happily delivered to their Nana and Papa, just a short walk up the driveway, on Sunday. The super cute snowman and polka dotted papers are from Momenta's All Through The Year Super Paper Pad, with designs for a number of holiday celebrations.

I fussy cut around the snowman figures and popped it on top of some green textured cardstock. The container, which happens to be an empty nut can, was wrapped with the paper that didn't meet in the middle, so I wrote our little message and covered the bare spot with the cardstock.

Papa happens to love these little holiday treats and I continue to make them each year to solidify my place as his most favorite daughter-in-law. Oh, yeah, I'm his only daughter-in-law. Did I mention Mr. wRight has an unmarried brother?

Oh, gosh, who am I kidding? We all love Nutty Nut Slippery Melts! Ready for the recipe?

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. I also hope you can practice more restraint than I do as I can't eat just one. You'll know what I mean if you decide to add these to your holiday treat list.

cyber monday sale

2011-11-28T08:12:00.001-05:00

click I Love It All on Etsy to be taken directly to the shop {and thank you!}

the {perfect, too big} tree

2011-11-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

1,000 followers

2011-11-26T13:02:00.001-05:00

WOW! I made it to 1,000 followers on the blog, so let's celebrate. Use the coupon code FRIENDS30 at the shop for a 30% discount on your purchases. Thanks for hanging around and spending time with me!

flashback

2011-11-26T08:29:00.001-05:00

At the time of this ultrasound, I did not know Zach was a boy. I didn't want to know. It wasn't until thirteen years later that I even made this layout and now he's a 20-year old Navy sailor. Hmmm, maybe there was a reason for the fish after all!

let the shopping begin

2011-11-24T15:00:00.000-05:00

click I Love It All on Etsy to be taken directly to the shop

happy thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:39:00.000-05:00

| source |

joyful wishes for a wonderful day

52Photos :: thankful

2011-11-24T05:00:00.001-05:00

my 52Photos capture

I had a difficult time trying to think of creative ways to capture the essence of thankful. Then, yesterday afternoon, we finally sat down to do the painted Thanksgiving handprint turkeys that made their first appearance last year, but now suddenly they're a tradition. How could I not be grateful for this small little thing that became a memory to my girls. Five minutes spent painting palms and fingers and making handprints, ten minutes spent cleaning up handprints and paint trays, then another three minutes trying to get the paint out of the shirt we should have taken off before we even began.

Thankful for the memories that I get to be part of, and I have the photos to prove it!

next week's theme

real

the wrap-up

...and I'm thankful to Lisa for including me on this journey with her!

grateful for you | simple things

2011-11-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today I am grateful for a day spent with my husband on a last-minute road trip...just the two of us! Today I am grateful for a Mother-In-Law who rearranges her schedule so that she can spend the day with her granddaughters. Today I am grateful for a Mom who listens, offers advice, questions, but in the end lets me make my own decisions. And lastly, I am grateful for a very short phone call from Zach yesterday... today is his 20th birthday - his first away from home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH

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I am thankful for the simple things in my life that, when I think about it, are simply the best things in life.

momenta & epiphany crafts

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I adore bright. I adore fun. And I adore when I can combine bright and fun to come up with something adorable!

Easy. Simple. Quick. That's what Epiphany Crafts says about their products and they're right! Using the Round 14 Shape Studio Tool, I slid my Momenta papers in the slot and placed the coordinating sized Bubble Caps into the hub on top of the tool to securely adhere the paper to the cap. After popping my newly decorated bubble caps into the Clubhouse Vintage Setting I was all set to begin crafting.

I began by embellishing this little eyeglass case to keep my reading glasses scratch free in my purse. Yep, it's come to the point that I need my readers when I'm at Hobby Lobby, to read the fine print on the packaging and check prices. Oh, and guess what, I see on the Epiphany web site that they're coming soon to Hobby Lobby!

In order of appearance, I used paper from these Paper Pads: red and yellow flowers use the Family Outing Premium Paper Pad and the white flower uses the Kaleidoscope 5x7 Cardstock Pad.

I was so inspired by the cuteness of these flower shapes, that I created, well...a flower!

Placing a piece of cardstock inside the frame from the One Fine Day 5x7 Cardstock Pad, I then placed a white 4x6 oval photo matte inside that has been backed with a contrasting cardstock paper. To that cardstock, I used embroidery floss to sew a stem and then adhered the leaves, which were made by trimming a heart punched shape in half like this:

Here's my sweet little piece of home decor, ready to gift to a dear friend, that is if I can bear to part with it. The scalloped flower punched shape with the Clubhouse Vintage Setting is actually adhered to the outside of the frame. I added some glue dots on the glass and adhered the bloom directly to the glass.

Speaking of gifts, I don't know that I can part with this one either, but my daughters are loving it!

These adjustable ring blanks are great, but I do have my eye on the charms as well. You can find the perfectly coordinated paper that I used for this adorable ring in the Forever Family 5x7 Cardstock Pad.

So, tell me, what do you have your eye on?

Other Supplies Used | punches, quilted eyeglass case, frame, embroidery floss

the ring

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000-05:00

the twinery | market street stamps blog hop

2011-11-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

So glad that you are all with me today, because we're going to have a little packaging fun with the Loopy Loo Polkas stamp from Market Street Stamps and lots of Caribbean, Maraschino, Peapod, Mandarin, Charcoal, Honeydew and Denim baker's twine from The Twinery.

you should arrived here from the blog of the talented

Michele Gross

If not, head over to The Twinery blog and begin there.

It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas so my mind always goes into overload wondering how I'm going to make all those little treat bags for our Nutty Nut Slippery Melts look cute while trying to stay within a budget. And yes, those are Halloween treat bags and even a Valentine's Day version you see up there all to show you the versatility of this one background stamp.

Wondering where I found the tags and labels that coordinate with my baker's twine from The Twinery so well? Just head over to the blog at The Twinery and in the sideabar, you'll find a link to the tags. I imported them into my word processing software and added text that matched the occasion. You can also use your alpha stamps or your even your own handwriting for a more personal touch.

To get the two tone effect on my stamped kraft bag, I stamped the lower front half of the bag with one color, turned the bag over and stamped the top half of the back side of the bag in another color...in this case green on the front lower half and red on the back upper half. Fold your bag to the front and then fold the ragged edges under to make it nice, neat and festive. I topped it with some patterned paper and embellished with the ever appropriate Peapod and Marschino eco-luxe baker's twine.

And now what you've all been waiting for...

Prize from The Twinery

One Ultimate Sampler Pack

retail value $25

and

Prize from Market Street Stamps

One $25 Shopping Spree

your next inspiring stop will be with

DoBea Alberts

Don't forget to leave comments on all the blogs along the way during this two-day event that began yesterday...that's the only way you'll be eligible to win the prize packs from Market Street Stamps and The Twinery, two of my favorite crafting resources! Deadline for prize giveaway is Friday, November 25th. Prize Winners will be drawn at random and will be announced Saturday, November 26th on both The Twinery and Market Street Stamp blogs.

52Photos :: mosaic

2011-11-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

my 52Photos capture

A small collection of photos from the last week, which includes quite a few milestones:

+ A favorite necklace.

+ Victoria Monika Wright celebrates her sixth birthday! And loses another tooth the day before. It was her 6th tooth.

+ 11.11.11 - how many times does that happen in a lifetime? I was in my craft room, which is a big surprise for absolutely no one.

+ Isabella Tipton Wright prepares her 3rd Grade Social Studies Fair project.

next week's theme

thankful

the wrap-up

Looking forward to seeing what your thankful capture is!

super star ribbons and psa essentials

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

School started August 2nd here in East Tennessee, so that means we've already had our first Report Card...can you believe it? I thought it might be a nice surprise for our two scholars to have a prize ribbon showing them how proud Mommy and DaDa are of them and their stellar academic performances. We'll have to let Isabella's American Girl, Julie, stand in as my prize ribbon wearing model as she sits in my craft room rocker. No more live models now that Victoria is a school-goer as well.

Glueing two 2.50" x 12 inch strips of patterned paper, from Momenta, together {total length will be 24"}, and scoring and folding each 1/2" I made the rosette, which will serve as the base for the PSA Essentials stamped image.

I used the Super Star Peel & Stick set to begin, used a 3" scallop punch and embellished it with just a bit of Marschino baker's twine to highlight the Momenta papers I was using. Love that star patterned paper, I could use about 10 more sheets of it! TIP: I use Glossy Accents and it does an excellent job keeping the twine in place, but giving me a bit of time to get it perfectly into position before it dries completely.

Here's a close-up so that you can see just how cute these can be. In the past, I've also used a border punch for the outer edge of the rosette and it makes such a nice presentation that way as well.

And, if you're the type of Mom that doesn't dress up to hand out Halloween candy {I'm that kind of Mom}, you could have made yourself a little rosette to wear, instead? I used the friendly little witch from the Haunted Shack stamp pack, but there are plenty of others you could choose, as well.

Love that paper, it's from Momenta, too! And that's Cappuccino baker's twine this time. The Leaf stick pin is from the Hello Fall collection at Little Yellow Bicycle. I think that if you changed up the patterned paper, you could use these in place of corsages at baby or bridal showers for a fun switcheroo.

merry & bright

2011-11-14T05:00:00.001-05:00

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...almost. A few of you probably already have your holiday greetings addressed, stamped and ready to go...but for the rest of us, well, have you even decided how many you're going to send this year?

Hi, there...get ready to bust out your card making supplies.

I decided not to get in that pre-holiday frantic rush this year by trying to decide on the perfect cards now. So I sat down, sketched out an idea and began creating. It really wasn't that hard, actually, using the All Through The Year Super Paper Pad. Every holiday has several coordinating papers in this Paper Pad, so you could craft for an hour and probably have enough cards for the next year using this one simple design.

You can see that some of the cards have a large circle cut through the top layer so that you can see the sentiment that's mounted on the inside of the card.

Because these were such fun papers, I decided to go the non-traditional route and use cardstock colors that one does not generally use for Christmas cards...pumpkin, aqua, periwinkle and pink. Plus, I thought it would be fun for Isabella and Victoria to have some fun cards to give to their friends in school, if they wanted.

And it's always nice to have a few cards on hand that don't specifically say Christmas for friends that are of other religious beliefs, so make a few of those as well.

And it never hurts to have a Thank You card, or twenty, on hand! It would make your Mama proud.

May there be lots of jingle bells and hot cocoa in your very near future. Happy card making my friends.

Momenta Supplies Used

PA-1991 | 12x12 All Through The Year Super Paper Pad

PA-2390 | Black & White Textured Cardstock Pad

PA-9658 | Primary 12x12 Textured Cardstock Pad

PA_0659 | Earthtones 12x12 Textured Cardstock Pad

PA-0657 | Brights 12x12 Textured Cardstock Pad

Other Supplies | circle punch, The Twinery baker's twine, metal-rimmed gift tags, Scotch glue stick, pop dots

If you're in a card making mood, read about this wonderful card drive, Cards that Care, to brighten the spirits of elderly folks in nursing homes. Cards must be received by Vera Wates and Jennifer McGuire by November 30, 2011.

at day's end

2011-11-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

grateful for you | saluting our service members

2011-11-11T07:58:00.001-05:00

When I stop to think about everything good in my life, everything I am thankful for, all the blessings in my life, I literally am overcome with emotion. I often allow the in-the-moment frustrations of everyday life take over without seeing the big picture. I have so much to be thankful for.

save to your Desktop and print from there or download

I am thankful, today and everyday, for the men and women who serve our country. They are brave, they are strong, they are selfless, they are heroes. I praise also the family members of those men and women because they, too, sacrifice in supporting their service members. They endure separation, loneliness, worry and single-parenthood all while feeling pride.

We were an Air Force family, my Dad served in Vietnam and elsewhere. My brother served in the Army. My Father-in-Law was a Marine before marrying his sweetheart {aka Nana}. My son is in the Navy.

I know what it is to be proud. And I am. I am also thankful.

52Photos :: nostalgic

2011-11-10T08:12:00.001-05:00

my 52Photos capture

What could possibly be nostalgic about this particular photograph? Actually, it's not the photograph itself, it's the memories it evokes. It has me thinking of Gordon applying Dracula make-up {white face, black eyes...} to Zach so many years ago. And if I remember correctly, I'm guessing that Zach was the same age Isabella is now, 8 years old. It touched my heart then that Gordon would take the time to make sure that Zach was prepped and ready to go have some "scary" fun. He's so good that way.

And on this Halloween, we even made a stop at our house again after visiting Oma, so that Gordon would freshen up Isabella's make-up to be cute for our visit with Nana, Papa and Uncle Chad.

You might also wonder why it is that the DaDa is applying the make-up, well, he's just so much more artistic than I am. Must be his Fine Arts Degree in Design, what do you think?

And here's a bonus photo, of Victoria as Cinderella...she wanted make-up, too, of course and it looks as if Mommy might have been a little heavy handed in the blush and lipgloss departments. Too soon they'll find the dressing up part is not something big girls do, so we had better enjoy these moments while we can.

next week's theme

mosaic

the wrap-up

I'm headed over now to upload about 10 photos to the Flickr group...finally. Anyone else behind in doing the same thing?

Go here for an explanation, a blog button and an invitation to join our 52 week journey of discovery! We'd love to have you join us...just jump in now and see where your photos take you.

It's never to late to join and even if you don't blog, no worries...just upload your photos to the Flickr group. Lisa and I would adore to have you as part of our little band of memory keepers!