Receiving

Christmas is a season of giving but who am I kidding it's fun to get things too!

My sister-in-law Jill gave me Craft Hope, a book I wanted that is filled with crafts and organizations that are in need of those crafts. The pictures are lovely in the book.

My mom surprised me with a big gift I was totally not suspecting! Just wishful thinking...

(photo from http://www.dana-made-it.com/)

Holy moly a Silhouette! Let the fun begin. My husband and I (since we got it before Christmas) played around with it a bit. I'll have to get some pictures of my first projects (journal jar and nativity tile). However, I do have a picture of a silhouette made with my Silhouette. We took the picture below at a pumpkin patch and I took out the color and heightened the contrast so that it would be easier to trace on the software.

Viola! A silhouette of my little guy. A perfect keepsake for his baby book. I can always remember how he likes to jut out his bottom jaw.

I'm excited to make more fun things.

Sentimental Gifts

God. Country. Family. Those things get me every time. I'm sentimental and I admit it completely. When I make a gift for someone it tends to be sentimental opposed to practical. I do like to make gifts for family around Christmas time but it's usually only one person. Too much stress otherwise.

A few years back I made a freshman guide for my brother. Last year Mike and I made a storybook for Matthew and this year I made a photo book for my grandma. My grandma's birthday happens to be Christmas day and I wanted to make something special for her. She's a strong women with a good heart, and whom I think I look the most alike of any of my grandparents. I loved looking through the pictures seeing the clothing, cars, her changing hair styles and my mom as a little girl. I also found some ancestor pictures online by googling their names and connected with a second cousin who had a genealogy blog! Ha who knew. I gobbled it all up, loving it all because like I said I'm sentimental. Here are some pictures from the book.

My grandma's father is on the top in the middle. She never knew him because he died when she was 6 months old. This is one of the pictures I found online.

My grandma is in the middle.

My grandparents wedding day.

The bus.

Totally Jackie O in this shot!

A pictures worth a thousand words.

I love this of my parents.

That's me.