So on to a new year we go… really, where did the time go this year? Well, I hope that you all had an amazing year of 2009!

This year was pretty awesome for me. I made the goal of keeping a blog consistently for the entire year… and I did just that! It grew from a simple blogspot blog to this little place that I call home — created by my big bro and handsome hubby! I look forward to coming here everyweek and know that I will continue to return in 2010 :) I also grew a lot in my scrapbooking & card-making skills and wanted to recognize those newly found designers that have been my inspiration and teachers through out 2009. ENJOY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

{Click Designer Names to go to their Personal Blogs}

Dawn McVey has a very sweet personality and her passion for color and design truly comes through in each of her projects. I love playing along with her color challenges from time to time and seeing what she creates with the Papertrey Ink products each month!

Mona Pendleton is extremely talented. Not sure how she does it, but it seems that I am always learning something new and easy to use on my projects. Her style is very detailed and lovely.

Jamie Harder has a classy style that no one can resist… not to mention her adorable little girls that are the subjects of many of her projects. She is also very innovative with different products; I have been inspired many times by her beautiful creations.

Nichole Heady is perfect. I so look forward to her monthly projects with the new stamps and products from Papertrey Ink. She is a true artist and I adore her clean style and innovative mind-set.

Dana Gustafson loves a challenge and I admire that! A lot of her creations look more like a dare to me because I would never think to do it that way or even think of it. Her mind is beyond creative… gorgeous, inspiring work — Always!

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… so this is goodbye! I have really enjoyed my time with the oh so talented Pile It On design team. It was such an honor to be a part of the very first team and these ladies truly were gifted! I hope to continue playing along with the challenges from time to time and look forward to seeing the new team and what they have to bring to the table!

Here is my final card for PIO — and very possibly for the year 2009. My apologies for the bad quality of the photos; I was trying to catch the essence of my clear embellishments and to do so, I had to eliminate the flash. The challenges included in this card are listed below and I do look forward to checking out whatever it is that you decide to create this week! Many blessings to you and yours in the coming new year! Dont forget to drop on by in the future :)

Challenges used:

• Pile It On — Crystal Clear Item(s)
• Embellish Magazine — Light Blue, Brown, Kraft, Yellow & Snowflakes
• Mojo Monday — Sketch

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One day I was shopping at Home Goods, searching through all of their wonderful Christmas goodies and I came across these little tins of hot chocolate. It was one of those light bulbs going on inside of my head moments, for sure. I decided to get a bunch of em for the girls at work. I brought em home and wrapped them with some cute patterned paper, Close To My Heart, of course. I even hopped onto Photoshop to create a quick label for the top — I suppose the receiver of the goodie would want to know exactly what it is! I had a bit of fun with that and loved how it all turned out in the end.

Perfectly fun and easy little gift… everyone loved them! These cuties even qualify for a few challenges this week: Practical Scrappers – Anything Christmas; LaLaLands Crafts – Anything But A Card; Crafty Creations – A Crafty Creation of Any Kind; Crafty Ann’s – Anything but Red and Green; All Sorts – Anything But A Card; Bee-Crafty – Circles!

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This Christmas has been very different for Garrett and I. Long story short, we decided not to move into that apartment, were told we needed to move out by the 1st of the year, frantically looked for a new place, found a great apt, were told we didn’t have to move after all, and decided to stay put for the time being. So as you can see — Christmas didn’t really begin until all of that was over. It was a growing experience and are so thankful to God for answering our prayers and teaching us how to truly trust Him with all parts of our lives.

So now, I would love to share our little piece of Christmas spirit with you all…

Due to a late start, we did a lot less this year with family and friends… it was okay though, sometimes it is nice to keep things simple, right?! The weekend we decided not to move out, I broke out the Gingerbread cookie mix and got to baking the little guys! Gare helped me decorate them… such a fun little activity to get the Christmas spirit started. That weekend, we also went and got our Christmas tree (which we didn’t think we were going to have this year!) and I love it! Words can not explain how special the Christmas tree tradition is to me and I felt it more this year than any year before. We also realized that we need some more Christmas ornaments with color in them — problem is that we like the very traditional colors — no black, purple, blue, etc. We are also pretty picky about our ornaments so we need to be present together to purchase them (I know, I know… the perfectionist couple!!). Enough about the Christmas tree… on to the *new* recipes of the year!

It is my personal tradition/goal to try out at least two brand new recipes every Christmas. No leaning on the familiar, there are just too many great holiday recipes out there! The center photo above is how it all turned out — Oreo Truffles and Peppermint Fudge. Now I admit, not too challenging or adventurous, but as I said earlier, this year we had to stick to the simple stuff to stay sane :) The Oreo Truffles were a HUGE hit at both mine and Garrett’s workplaces and at our community group. I am still always amazed at how easy fudge is to make! I love it. I simply added some peppermint extract to the fudge for a minty flavor (Peppermint Mocha style!) and sprinkled some crushed peppermint candies on top. Click the links to check out the recipes… you wont regret it!

I truly hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season with their friends and family! Many blessings to you and yours on the special day, however you celebrate!

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Merry Christmas everyone!

Just wanted to stop in and share my latest creation with you all! Christmas is all around, so I decided to create something outside of the season :) I absolutely love this paper and the colors! This card was created using the Card Patterns sketch from last Saturday; I know Im a bit behind on posting! I loved the challenging sketch and how the card turned out! Hope you enjoy; and if you like this one… you may want to check out my last post using these papers/colors called, My New Fave!

Originally, I had planned on applying for the Card Patterns Design Team… but things have been so busy around here with Christmas and all, that I just didnt have the time (deadline was today…). So I look forward to applying next time! I will be back to post some more Christmas goodies and recipes :) Have a wonderful day!

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