Look at that smile!

My customer Carol sent me a few photos of her daughter opening the album she had made for her by me. Look at that smile! Carol said that Stacey was very surprised and touched by all the memories "that I so elegantly put together". I'm blushing! It was really fun. As you can see from my previous post, Carol had some of Stacey's old school work to incorporate in the pages. It was so fun putting it together. Thanks for allowing me to help you, Carol!

Holy Snot! It's February!

I totally missed January. Wow! Well, it's not that I haven't been busy. Lot's of crafting going on and little time to talk about it. Here's what I need to catch you up on:

At the beginning of November, I finished the tribute book for my customer Kim. She's the wonderful woman who lost her husband this past August, wasn't a scrapbooker and was looking for someone to preserve the fondest memories of her and her husband. As she looked through the book, of course, she started crying and saying how wonderful it was. It made me happy I could do this for her. I was excited for her to share it with her sons because the holidays were coming up. Two of her sons live in other states. I finally heard from her in email. This is what she said:

"I want to thank you again for the wonderful tribute book you made for my husband. My sons also had tears when they looked through it. Thank you especially for taking the time to capture my husband's personality and his love of his family. We love each page and how it was dedicated to who he was. It will be treasure forever. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving."

Awww, it made me tear up. I loved that her grown sons loved the book as well. It made it all worth while.
I did share with Kim the dragonfly story about my son. She said one of her sons has a tattoo and she isn't happy about it but she would never share with him how she thought it looked cool. She also was thinking of getting a tattoo herself even though she would never go through with it because she's not the type. But, she did share that if she ever did entertain the idea, a dragonfly is what she would get. Isn't that a scream!? How the dragonfly brought that all together!? I LOVE it!

So, you can see here a couple of my favorite pages from that album.

In January, I got another scrapbook job. This one was for a woman named Carol, whose daughter, who lives in Seattle, was about to give birth to her first grandbaby. She wanted to do an album of some of the highlights from when her daughter was a baby through college graduation. Her daughter is a writer and she wanted to incorporate some of the things her daughter made for her while she was little. It was very inspiring to work art projects and journal writings into the pages. The album was to be surprise for her daughter's birthday. She said she would need it in a months time. I thought, ok, this is doable. When I met with her though, her daughter had just given birth that morning and she was going to go see her in TWO weeks and wanted to take the book with her. TWO WEEKS! Yikes! Well, it has been said, that most of us do our best work under the gun, that is no joke! With the extra off days I already had planned, I was able to make it happen. She loved the book and couldn't wait for her daughter to see it! I asked her if she would send me an email when she got back so I could hear how her daughter liked it. She said she would take a picture of her daughter looking through the book and send it to me. I think she's due back in a month or so. She's gotta spoil that grandbaby, ya know! I'll keep you posted when I get it. Below are some of my favorites from that album.


This last picture of Carol when she was little and picture of her daughter. The mother's quote is makes it even more special being that her daughter just became a mother herself.

But below is my absolute favorite page. I'm upset though because I didn't realize that the actual picture turned out blurred. What I enjoyed about putting this one together was popping up the books with chipboard and foam squares to make the books stand out. I had fun!



Thanks for looking and taking the time to read this long post. Next week, I get to go to scrapbook with my girlfirends for twelve hours! And even more shocking? I get to work on my own family's pages! Haha!

Heeelllloooo! Happy (almost) 2011!

Wow! This was a busy holiday season. Made alot of homemade gifts for everyone from family to friends to teachers. It was a wonderful Christmas. Now, just waiting on the new year but no need to rush. Things are calming down and that's always a nice change.

Well, now to share some of the items I made for Christmas.

First, I'll show you the SLEDDING book I made my dad. He took us sledding when we visited Wisconsin last year. He enjoyed it very much and said I made him cry! Awwww!

I also made him and his wife a 25th anniversary frame. I incorporated the colors from their wedding and put pictures of them from then and now.

I also made ornaments this year for my brother and his wife and daughter. I started this tradition last year. I also gave them a small white tree for them to hang their new ornaments on.



For my son's teacher, I made her a little house that is Christmas themed. I covered it with scrapbook paper, paint and glitter. I used cotton batting to make the smoke come out of the chimney. Then, I took little stocking buttons and wrote each family members name on it. Add a flameless tea light and you have yourself a little decor house to add to your collection.

Then, for my daughter's Glee group, she was making each of them a cookie package. She wanted to add a token gift for each of them. I suggested ornaments. Heck, why not, right? Well, she designed the logo, then we made the girls glittery ones and the boys were more manly without glitter. They all loved them! But I think we enjoyed making them more! Heehee!

Opened on Etsy!

Yes, finally, I've opened an Etsy shop so now I can share even more with you. I've made some great frames that can go in your kitchen. I've also created a 25th anniversary frame for my father and his wife. I can do one for you too and even include the colors of your wedding in the design. I've made a shadowbox with Tim Holtz's Configurations. This one is fall themed and I'm working on a bigger one for Christmas. I will soon have cards on there for sale as well as some other things. So go check it out. It's at www.etsy.com/shop/CherishedEffects. Enjoy!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and are not going out on Black Friday. If you do, stop by the Scrapbook Barn. We'll be having some awesome deals! Stay safe and I'll be back to blog soon.

Long time no blog.....

Yes, it's been a while. Been working hard plus with the swim season on top of it and Scouts, life has been a more than a little hectic. I hope to get back to making regular posts once Halloween is past. I have to blog Halloween, of course. William is going to be Chuckie and Ashley is going to be Kat VonD. Should be interesting. See you all soon!

My Reward

EEEEEE!!!! This is why I do what I do! I had done an anniversary book for this woman's Jan's parents. I think I showed examples of her parents book in an early entry. Anyway, I delivered the book in July and her parents anniversary wasn't until August. I sent her a card asking if she wouldn't mind letting me know how they liked it. This is what I got in the mail today and I am over the moon!

It reads "Dear Joanie, Thank you for your note - Yes, I am feeling well rested. Our new little guy is such a good baby. We are enjoying him so much. My parent's anniversary was August 30th. They loved the book. The funny part is that because I had their pictures so long, they forgot I had them, which made it even more special. My mom especially liked all the personal touches, like the copied handwriting from the backs of the pictures and the tabs she could use to make her own notes. My whole family was here for the celebration, and we all enjoyed the memories together. Thank you again! Jan"

Maybe I'm just a big dork, but this card made me so happy! I love that she and her family, as well as her parents, all enjoyed the book together and reminisced about the photos.