Andrea's blog

Another CHA sneak peek from Imaginisce.  This was my favorite line of the bunch to work with.  Rock N Roll, Robots & cool gray, blue, turquoise & orange.  Loved it!

Be sure to check out the rest of the gallery & all the other designers' work!

I'm stumped.  It's a new year, a new decade, and I'd like to change up my scrapbooking "plan" a little bit.  Just because.  But I can't decide how to do it.   So I'm looking for ideas...can you help me?

I've considered this: Becky Higgins Project Life

or this: Stacy Julian's LIbrary of Memories

But neither seems *quite* right for me.  Becky's is a little too uniform & segmented.  I still like making unique scrapbook pages.  But Stacy's is a little too disjointed for me and there's something I like about keeping things chronological.  

I've considering switching to a 3-ring style album (instead of post-bound) so that I can use more photo sleeve pages with different layouts in addition to the traditional 12x12 pages.  So far, that's my best plan...

Anyone have any spectacular ideas for a mish-mash or new idea?  I'd like it to be something I can replicate or maintain for the next decade.  Help me out!

Though I haven't completed my 2009 album yet (still need to finish up Oct-Dec)...I'm close! As of right now, in no particular order, these are my 9 favorite layouts created in 2009 (Last year I picked a top 10):

Looks like this year I've been leaning towards using more white space, though I still like to cram lots of photos on a page when I can!

I did some design work for Imaginisce a few months ago for some of their new products....a few of those projects have been revealed!  Take a look!

Be sure to check out the other designers' work too! Lots of great ideas for this fun product line!

For a moment, I wished every season had a "tree" to decorate...

Then I realized it wouldn't be near as special that way.  Perhaps that can be my excuse for NOT decorating for all the other seasons...to make Christmas decorations more special...

See that ribbon on the wall? Add a few clothespins and it's a SUPER-easy way to display our Christmas cards.  Here's another idea that I used last year.

Love my wrapping paper this year (and probably next year too--there's a ton of it in the Sams-size roll).  It's reversible.  And, it's not Christmas specific, so it's good for Hannukah and maybe even weddings or birthdays too!

A view of our kitchen side nook.  Although you can't see them, the four frames on the wall usually have my "HOME" pictures in it, but have been switched to holiday photos along with the frames all over the main level of the house.  Makes everything look a little more festive and is CHEAP decorating! 

I hung our stockings on the railing in the kitchen this year since we don't really spend much time by our fireplace down in the playroom.  And yes, Paxton has his own now! :)

Now, if only all that rain we had last night could have been snow....

Instead of doing all the things I *should* be doing today, I was inspired to make these photo tags for each of our Christmas stockings as I was in the middle of decorating the house for the holidays:

I made Paxton one too...but he doesn't have a stocking yet!  I gotta get on that...

Supplies: 

• Pressed Petals Chip Chatter Alphabet
• Imaginisce Polar Expressions Rub-Ons
• Imaginisce Polar Expressions Ribbon
• Clear Scraps acrylic circles
• Crop-a-dile
• large white eyelets
• alphabet beads
• artistic wire
• StaZon black ink
• glue dots

I'm not in the market for a point-and-shoot camera this year, but if I had $10 for every time somoene asked me which one to buy...well, I could have bought a few of them by now.  

The truth is, I don't really know much about them, except that they're small, because I carry a big-ol-beast Canon 40D with me most of the time, and only use my Sony Cybershot in a pinch or for video.  Now if you're in the market for a DSLR...then we can talk.

But...for all my friends & family who will inevitably ask me this holiday season for camera purchasing advice, here's a link I saw today with a list of the 20 most popular point-and-shoot cameras:

Top 20 Popular Point and Shoot Digital Cameras

Looks like my previous advice has been pretty sound -- Canons rock. 

And while we're at it...the best places I know of to buy cameras are BestBuy.com and BHphotovideo.com.  Your local Wolf Camera store would also be a great place for information and personal service...although unfortunately, not usually as good of a price.

Happy shopping!

I'm getting my "booth" ready to for a local holiday sale and added a few holiday signs to the mix:

This perfect sign for your fireplace mantle:

FOR SALE: $25
SANTA stops here - altered w/patterned paper

And a wonderful entryway sign to welcome your holiday guests:

FOR SALE: $30
MERRY Christmas - altered w/patterned paper and beaded trim

Four days left for my buy one, get one 1/2 price November deal...

Personalize, customize and get your shopping done from home!

Oooh. I just had to share:

SimpleMom.net is giving away a $50 gift certificate to Lisa Leonard jewelry designs.  I love coming across handmade crafty things that I love, but can't make on my own.  If I win the gift certificate (hey, why not me, right?)...I'd love a necklace like this to wear everyday with Paxton & Ayla's intiials on it:

or maybe this with all our names:

or perhaps this design with "family" on the little circle and Ben, Andrea, Ayla, Paxton written around the circle:

Husbands...keep this in mind for mother's day, birthdays & Christmas.  Your wives will love it!

Ben---this is not a direct hint to you, (truly) but you know...if you're stumped....well, you can't say I didn't help.