(cousins all decked out for the holidays)
I made it through the holiday weekend - and am back at work trying to get this house together & ready for baby - still feeling completely unprepared but hoping to have crossed off some of the items on my to-do list by this weekend :)
Thank you to so many of you who questioned whether or not I might put out a sketch book in the future - I'm totally flattered over here & hopefully one day soon I can make that a reality - I would LOVE to!!!! I'll keep ya posted on that one!!
Not too much on the scrappy front - I have slowed down a bit . . . although I have some upcoming assignments that I need to get crackin' on :) I do have something I have been waiting to share with you for a while now - looking for the perfect gift for family, friends, or maybe just yourself??? A fun little mini celebrating all 12 months of the past year!!!
Here is a close-up of all the pages - a simple design to showcase your fab pics from the past year . . .
This is up for sale over at A Page 4 All Seasons - only $25!!!! Check out all the details HERE.
**NOTE** The letters are a little different for the "year" word. You will get a FULL pack of American Crafts Yellow thickers but they are not fabric, they are yellow chipboard. The letters shown are discontinued!
I can't believe we are just a day away from December - the holiday music, lights, gift-wrapping - it all makes me so happy!!! Love this time of year :) In celebration of this holiday season - how about a giveaway???? Some Jillibean goodies - one of each of the Chestnut Soup papers & coordinating sprouts, canvas stars, and stickers - fun, fun, fun!!!!
Just leave a comment sharing your favorite holiday tradition that you do with your family - I'm always looking for new ideas of fun things to do!!!! Hope all is well with each & everyone of you & so thankful for such fab readers!!!!
ttyl - julie :)
wonderful mini album - every year we put together a 1000+ piece jigsaw during December - everyone gets to participate
ReplyDeleteWonderful Mini Julie! I am participating in the Project 12 (Scrapbook & Cards Today) and loving it. This would be a much simpler way to go next year!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite Christmas tradition is making my mother's shortbread - and then eating it of course! Now I get my older two girls involved which is lots of fun.
Oh, and LOVE the belly! Grow baby grow!
Beautiful album Julie! Our favorite tradition is attending our candlelight service at church and then coming home and enjoying a special treat/favor that is at your seat at the dinner table...this year its at my house and our favors are chocolate covered homemade apples with a lottery ticket...yummy!
ReplyDeleteWow--beautiful mini-album, lovely belly, and wonderful name!! Nicholas is one of my all-time favorites.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite (new) Christmas traditions is our advent calendar; I bought a set of three charming (doll-size) houses that have 25 doors... so I get to set up my kids' treasures for all of December. (now that my son tries to peek, I end up going more day-by-day... rascal....) Some days are a tiny treat, others are the first clue to a scavenger hunt, others still are a task we get to do together (like make cookies). :)
Hi Julie!! You are looking terrific!! Love that cute mini album! I guess my favourite holiday tradition would be Christmas baking. When my girls were little we always made gingerbread from scratch and then decorated with ornamental icing and sprinkles. I still have to bake them for my 21 year old but she no longer helps me. :( LOL Thanks for the chance at winning that amazing JB! LOVE it!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the photos, Julie!! I love the mini as well!! That would make a wonderful gift for sure!! Our family tradition is cookie baking. I love baking cookies with my two younger ones. The oldest never really got into it. But these two still are. We also love driving around looking at all the houses decked out in Christmas decorations/lights! Thanks for the chance to win!!
ReplyDeleteColleen ...Gingerbread men - and women! Every year I bake a few batches. Some get put into cellophane bags with a homemade Christmas tag and distributed to the students I teach, others stay home and take their place on the tree. The students are so funny - they are convinced that my gingerbread people are lucky and will not eat them until exams have all been written!!
ReplyDeleteLove the mini album! I would love a book of your sketches too :).
ReplyDeleteThis year we got the Lego Advent Calendar for my boys...who have just discovered Legos...and LOVE them!
Sorry, no special traditions with my family, but I have one that's a tradition for me and many people here in the Netherlands: last week we all could vote for the best 2000 songs ever. On december 25th they'll start broadcasting and they play all 2000 songs. #1 is played just before midnight on december 31st. In many households the radio will be playing day and night for those 7 days and even across the globe people listen to it via internet.
ReplyDeleteLove those days!
Hey Julie! Nice to read that everything ist fine with you, Ryan and the baby. A wonderful book you created.
ReplyDeleteSo let me think of our special tradition. Here in Germany we give our presents on Christmas Eve and not in the morning of the 25th.
When I was a little girl the day was so long for me. The christmas tree was decorated in the afternoon of the 24th while me and my sister have to stay in our rooms.
As I have always been very impatient my dad and I started the tradition of one pre-present! That was great.
Greatings from Germany
Julie
These are such great pics. A beautiful family you have!! My favorite holiday tradition is our Christmas stockings. Rather than stockings being Santa's job we each pick a name from a hat and we are in charge of that persons stocking. Since our kiddos are still young my hubby has to help with whoever gets my stocking and I get to be in charge of taking the kiddo who got his stocking shopping. Because it's supposed to be a secret it helps keep the stocking even a suprise from mom and dad who usually don't get many suprises Christmas morning and it gives 1 on 1 time with each kid and Mom or Dad when they get to go on their shopping trip. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful album Julie! My favorite holiday tradition is having a raclette with the hole family on 24th of December.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win the beautiful paper!
lg
elke
You are adorable pregnant. At my mom's house for Christmas we take turns in a circle opening presents so we can see what each other got and their reaction to each present. It was really hard when the nephews were really young but they are trained now. Thanks for the chance to win a yummy prize.
ReplyDeletemy favorite tradition for christmas is getting out my mom and grandma's (who are no longer with me) recipes and bake with my boys! they love hearing stories about baking with them when i was a kid!
ReplyDeleteWe've just started a new tradition - every year we make Christmas ornaments as presents for my girls' teachers, and we make some new ones for our tree. I use the clear glass baubles and decorate with pearls, rhinestones, inks, glitter, and anything else that will stick.
ReplyDeleteAwwww, look at that baby belly! I can't wait to see that picture scrapped!
ReplyDeleteOne of our Christmas traditions is opening one present on Christmas Eve. Each year it's always the same thing...new jammies! It's seriously cute though because even though my girls know exactly what it is, they get super excited anyway! :)
- April W
What a awesome mini album, I love it! You are a beautiful Mommy and you are just glowing. I'm so excited for you and your family as you wait for the birth of your new little man. We have many family traditions and some that I would like to make traditions as well. Some of my favorites are baking cookies with my Mom, my sister, sister in law and our children. Gingerbread houses with my kiddos. Also reading the Story of Jesus' birth the night before Christmas. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteA favourite tradition is just watching all the old Christmas movies and munching on Christmas cookies and having hot chocolate too.
ReplyDeleteYour album looks amazing! Such cute pics, too!
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by to check in! I love the photos, especially the B/W one with your belly...sooo sweet! The book looks great too!
ReplyDeleteMy family Christmas tradition consists of every relative planning their Christmas festivities....that we are "required" to attend...at the exact same moment. Across multiple towns in 2 different states. Fun stuff.
ReplyDeletetraditions....so many, but fairly ordinary, looking at lights, decorating tree, making gingerbread houses, watching Christmas movies, my fave is making ornaments with my kids for the grandparents. Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can pick just one tradition to be my favorite, and it seems like we add a new one each year ! I do love decorating the tree and driving through the city looking at all the decorations. Thanks for the chance to win !!
ReplyDeleteWe are starting a new tradition this year. My mom and I collected a bunch of children's Christmas book over the past year, and we have enough to read a different one each day in December. They are wrapped and ready to go for day 1 tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on making it to now! Your belly looks fabulous and I am so happy for you.
My favorite holiday tradition is that on the 24th at church, we light a candle for all family members who died this year. This way we keep them in our hearts and have them celebrate Christmas with us. Unfortunately, this year we have to add a candle for Asintua, our angel baby.
Big hugs!
Hi Julie. Looks like you had a fun weekend with your family. Your mini album is adorable!
ReplyDeleteMy family doesn't have traditions, but I have to say that the one thing that happens every years is that everyone gets together. It's probably the only time I get to see the whole family and that's what matters to me!
Great mini-album! Love that idea~
ReplyDeleteTraditions...don't get me started, Nicholas would be born before I got finished describing them all. My favorites are taking my kids to donate their Toys for Tots, Breakfast with Santa at Church (my older ones work at it and my little ones attend it;)) and decorating our gingerbread house. And and and....
On Christmas Eve we go and deliver "blessing baskets" to those who are working the holidays. Doctors, Firemen, Police...
ReplyDeleteMy personal favorite is my holiday baking. It seems to be a month long process, as as soon as I am done, it seems like I have to start again, lol. And last year, my four year old son decided he wanted to start a new tradition. So he picked out that on Christmas Eve, we would once again bake, but only each child's favorite cookies (we have five kids) and then we would bag them and each child will now wake up to a stocking full of homemade cookies just for them. That is extra special to me as it was his idea and he put alot of thought into it. And I really love that he choose something I do for everyone as that makes me feel proud.
ReplyDeleteThe mini album is great. Love the pictures of your Mom and sisters (you all have the same smile. If you get a chance, check my "Thankful" layout where I used that same Joann headdress your son is wearing! Take care!
ReplyDeleteWe always set up the Christmas tree the weekend before Thanksgiving so we can have all the decorations up for visitors. But, my dad still puts his tree up on my birthday(Dec 9th)as was the tradition in my family when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteLet's see, we always open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it is always ho ho pj's.
And, finally, we always watch The Christmas Story on Christmas Eve.
Such a fun post! I really love the peek into your scrappy projects and your life. Your layouts are always absolutely amazing and if you put out a book I would definitely be interested! My favorite Christmas tradition is our Christmas play that we put on every year. We've been doing it since I was 5.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, Julie! You are just glowing!!! Growing up we were always given an ornament every Christmas that somehow related to our life at that time. When we moved out--we had enough ornaments to decorate our first tree. (okay, so maybe we received more than one a year! LOL) Now, I enjoy unwrapping those ornaments and remembering the time, the memory and the person that gave me/us the ornament.
ReplyDeleteGreat album!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tradition is not an original one: I love setting up the Christmas tree. I'm looking forward to it every year!
Hi Julie- Love the mini! My favorite tradition for Christmas is buying my kids a new ornament each year. My son has always received a toy soldier; which has stressed me out more than once they are not always easy to find! My daughter, an angel. I give them to them and they have to place it on the tree- not my job-lol. I think they both look forward to it. By the way, my son is looking at his 22 soldier, He was only a week old and I hadn't thought of this his first Christmas- :-) Have a very Merry Christmas Julie.
ReplyDeleteSomething I did as a child, that now I have my children do, is put together a wish list for Santa. But my kids can't write yet, and even when they can, who can remember the specific name of the "Criss Cross Crash Track" from Hot Wheels? So we always sit down with the toy ads, cut out the pictures of things they want, and then they paste them into a spiral notebook (or a little mini note pad made from a few pieces of printer paper folded in half and stapled, whatever). It's fun to keep from year to year to see how the wish-list changes!
ReplyDeleteLove that mini you made---such a great paper collection to work with! One of our more recent traditions is to have a picnic dinner on Dec 23rd on our living room floor. We spread out a blanket, put in the Charlie Brown Christmas DVD and bring all our picnic food to the floor and just enjoy some quality quiet time together before all the hustle and bustle of family gatherings begin the next day. It's a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteGreat mini and photos! We make my cookies, my 3 year old son helps, and we use my husbands grandmothers recipes! It is a great way to remember her and all the hundreds of Italian cookies she made for every special occasion!!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog. I have seen your work in so many places. Glad to be here now.
ReplyDelete