lit*chick

b-day

• return Books
• pickup Babysitter
• prepare for Bake Sale
• drop off stuff at Bazaar
• go to the Bank
• Buy snacks for monday

Nicole is one crafty girl. She has several fabulous ornament ideas posted on her blog today. Check it out.

And just a lil enabling.

these labels from remake are lovely, the handmade notebooks are too.

custom pencil urchins - amazing stuff - file under useless but beautiful. another example of everyday art.

new stuff at keep calm:

  out of circulation prints - what a great title!

and this awesome tote. My rationale is the more totes I have the less likely I am to forget them when I go to the store, or something like that...

And for your little greenie:

a good deal at barnesandnoble.com.

Did you know it is the 20th anniversary of the Princess Bride movie? Man, I'm old.

I'm not reading at all. And imagine my surprise we had a productive day yesterday. I cleaned out drawers filled with "treasures" (happy meal toys and toy packaging - don't ask) and got things together for the school's Christmas Bazaar. The boys helped in their willingness to part with things. After that, I'll be ready to return to my stacks. If you haven't already read it, or had the story ruined by the movie, Surviving Christmas by John Grisham is short and hysterically funny. I plan to reread it this year.

The End.

stuff

Happy Belated Birthday to my sister (it was yesterday)! I glommed on to her bday dinner last night - thanks, mom.

In other news, my layout is one of the featured faves on scrapjacked. For this I am grateful and giddy.

Let's pick up where we left off  - day 3 of the 12 days of enabling:

I would play Go Fish all day with these gorgeous letterpress cards from greenchairpress

I repurposed this as my bookplate - i stamp it inside my books, makes a cute lil giftie:

I love this puzzle - the wood is beautiful.

I just discovered supergirlstickers - very cool...

If you are sightseeing in dc and wearing this, you won't have to worry about find the closest metro stop:

from le photique (there are others too)

love Steve Martin - funny & smart

  my kids love Philadelphia Chicken so we must get one of these.

so adorable from rose and radish

I think that's enough for today, don't you?

The End.

The Winners Are:

Shalay - you have won The Scrapbooker's Almanac , I'll email you and get your info. Congrats!

If you are wondering why it says winners - the birthday boy Caleb wanted to pick too and he picked the birthday girl, Miss Joni. So you'll be getting a little something too. :)

And the Owen is as stubborn as ever. Last night I went upstairs to re-tuck (after they get tucked by the hubs, i re-tuck) and found him still in his jeans. I supervised the change into pj bottoms and left. Then the hubs went up again, found him in jeans, changed him back into pjs while he was asleep and left. Before we turned in for the night, we checked again - the Owen had his jeans back on. He must have woken up and changed AGAIN. Forever in Blue Jeans - gotta download some Neil D for the O.

Day 3 of the 12 days of enabling will be up later today.

The End.

reason #142 why i love the internet

Every year I do 70% of my Christmas shopping online.  There is no good reason for not doing the other 30% online. Ever year I feel like it's not Christmas if I don't go out amongst my fellow Columbians and get stuck in the Target parking lot for an hour or more. This year, I vow no venturing out after December 10.

The only store that I refuse to give up visiting is Barnes and Noble. I must see & touch the books while the smell of coffee hangs in the air.

Anyone else do their Xmas shopping online? Why or why not?

And day 2 of the 12 days of enabling:

this is a good deal for a wooden pirate set on sale at constructive playthings for $45.

sorry, but this is too funny from fred flare

if you like the edges of your baked goods this is the pan for you (& me)

and this falls into the category of completely unnecessary but so cool - still life fruit bowl

okay - on to books:

I finished Consequences, to me it started off strong and then kind of petered out. Not as good as The Photograph but a solid read. I'm halfway through Up High in the Trees which is completely different in every way from Ms. Lively's books. It's told from the perspective of an autistic boy who has lost his mother. The chapters are very short bursts of information that move the story along.

We are planning to do the drawing for The Scrapbooker's Almanac later today, post party. Instead of junky goody bags, the wee guests are getting $5 gift cards to Barnes & Noble. :) (No offense, goody bag people)

The End.

just a little taste....

the beginnings of a Christmas list:

We had friends over for dinner last night and they brought us treats from Trader Joe's. If you are close to one I HIGHLY recommend the dark chocolate covered shortbread stars in the cool blue box. They are like non-pareils in cookie form. We are all addicted.

For crafty kids Bare Books sells just that and more. Blank books - with covers to color, blank board books, blank comic books, stuff to create your own gameboards, and more. Prices are very reasonable, shipping is fast, there is a minimum order of $20.

I also love these giant coloring books from children's books & stories.They are a bit pricey, but are beautiful and not to difficult (sometimes Dover is a bit too intricate). Love love love these - lots to choose from.

When I was younger, I collected paper dolls and played with them a lot. I had a particular set of Princess Diana ones that had the BEST outfits.. I digress. Here are a couple choices:

I have these :).

just do a search on amazon for paper dolls - they also have Little House, Little Women, Jackie O and lots more.  My mom wisely reinforced the back of my dolls with some cardboard (cardstock would probably be useful) so they wouldn't get floppy.  And really, isn't the point for them to be played with?

i like these cards from onegoodbumblebee

i like these calendars modernart & greenchairpress & happify

these shirts are fab from charlie & sarah - i'm partial to the green wellies on the pink tee but who can choose?

and for the baby in your midst: these onesies are too cute.

There is much more to come.... the list grows daily.

Tomorrow, the boys don't have school and our house will be hoppin'. We are having a joint birthday party for Caleb & Owen (early, but necessary). I will be kneedeep in cupcakes and small sweaty people. Speaking of birthdays it was Miss Joni's bday on Friday - Happy Birthday!!

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The Wait is Over

I'm not usually a scrapbook idea book girl. That said, I've been WAITING for this one with a mix of eagerness and impatience. It doesn't hurt that this girl has mad writing & scrapping skills and happens to be a crazy reader too. Not to mention any book with Almanac on the cover conjures up visions of good information. Order it now - (or take a chance at winning one below). You won't be sorry.

Congratulations Elizabeth! You're an author. That's so cool.

And with that - it's time for a giveaway. One for you & one for me....if you want this book, you must leave me a little note.

The End.

PS I was going to save this until tomorrow, but I just can't. Have a wonderful weekend!

In the Spirit...

Every year, I'm a bit of a  Scrooge until something sparks my Christmas spirit. It's usually a catalog, and this year is no exception. The Wisteria catalog is a thing of beauty - a little bit shabby a lot bit chic. The online site does not do the set design justice. Go to the bottom of the screen and request a paper copy. The Paper Source catalog is also providing loads of inspiration. Sorry eco-gals but sometimes you just need it in print.

Do you have anything that inspires you to get in the spirit?

Also...my buddy annechovie has made holiday cards out of her fabulous prints. Check it out.

I've seen a lot of people have taken the BUY Handmade pledge for the Christmas season. I would love to take the pledge, with a small modification - for adult gifts only. It is nearly impossible to buy boys anything not plastic with millions of small pieces, preferably guns & swords. I'm doing the best I can. We're big into baseball cards this year. I love watching them discuss and organize and trade their collections.

On the reading front: I'm halfway through Consequences by Penelope Lively. I enjoy her writing because you must take your time. Not because it's difficult, or overly-wordy, it's just the pace of her stories. If you get a chance, I also would recommend The Photograph. Consequences is set in WWII London and as I'm reading it, I'm picturing these:

from keep calm, originally seen on poppytalk. They have other cool prints too...

Finally, been scrapping (it's either reading or scrapping you know) have a looksie:

  for the OneLittleWord challenge.

just for me.

The End.

"preppy star wars"

for a challenge over at SIStv - do a layout using unexpected colors for the theme, hence:

me, the Owen, Darth and my pink shoes

Other than that, I've got nothin' today. I haven't read anything but old magazines for the last couple of days. The time change has got me all messed up. What's new with y'all?

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hibernation

I find the idea of hibernating to be very appealing.  Gathering up blankets, coffee, scrap supplies, and books, with a large pot of chili warming on the stove then hunkering down for the winter. But alas, that is not to be.

I got some layouts done. This one for scrapjacked :

  proved to be a fun way to use up scraps.

This one:

  just so i could use the new making memories paper. That would be me - circa 1975 - not the Owen in a dress.

I still haven't tweaked our h'ween pics yet or our vacation ones for that matter.  This week I'm determined to get some good fall pictures. Every year there is a void between October and January in my photo files.  So if you have any ideas for me, please help.

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Wonder Twin Power

Well, seeing this:

almost makes me like h'ween. Almost.

Finished The Used World. Even though there are only 3 main characters, the story is extremely intricate. There are connections and odd plot twists that I never expected - and a couple that I did. I'm not sure if I would recommend it for everyone. It contains my 3 least favorite literary subject matters, portrayed with enough subtlety that I could stomach it. (If you want to know more, email me privately). Her writing is good and the story so involved that I got sucked in. So if you are a Haven Kimmel fan, go for it - you know what you're getting into. If not, start with A Girl Named Zippy. I don't know many people who didn't enjoy that one.

Last night, KWB came in my room to have a chat. Not a mother/son chat, but a reader/reader chat. As in, "Mom, who is your favorite children's book author?" And with that we were off...discussing books for half an hour. I'm not sure delightful is the right word. Giddy might be. Then the best part - "Mom what is To Kill a Mockingbird about?"  I mean, that might be the question I've been waiting for someone to ask my whole life. And he really wanted to know. So I told him.  I am holding out hope for a grandson named Atticus...

The kiddos are off school today so hopefully I'll get to scrapbook a little bit. I managed to go through the whole month of October without doing a single layout. Total bummer. Now that things are ramping up with school, work, birthdays and the holidays I'll be looking for a place to hide...

The End.