Birthday Celebration Blog Hop

Hello everyone!!  I'm very excited to tell you about a super fun event happening over on the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog AND our Facebook group!!  Why are we celebrating?  I'll tell you why.  It's because the blog is now one year old!!  So many wonderful things have happened during this year and I cannot tell you how much of a blessing it's been to me personally.  We hope you'll join us in this celebration - remember tho, it's on the blog AND our Facebook group!!  Too much fun for one location so we have it on two!  hehe


In addition to the blog hop for you this weekend we will also have a tutorial and a couple of techniques from past designers from the last year and  FIVE fun and easy challenges that you can enter to win some amazing prizes, all of which will be on the blog throughout the weekend!!  Sound pretty fun?  The celebration doesn't stop with the blog tho!!  We will also be having lots of fun on our facebook group!!  (Do you think I've said that enough yet?  haha)  Please come join us in our celebration because there will be some fabulous prizes.  We will also be posting and discussing the challenges that we created for the Birthday Celebration.  

Let's get this party started and we'll begin with sharing a few projects...
       
Here is the project that I wanted to share with you that has the theme of celebration and after that is my favorite project that I've created over the past year on Scrapping Everyday Miracles.


First is the altered paper bag album that I made for my dad for Father's Day and the matching card.  The poem in the album was written by me, but the sentiment in the card was found in a card program I've had for years.

Inside of the card...

Next is my favorite page that I've made since I've been on the Design Team for Scrapping Everyday Miracles (I chose my favorite celebration themed project) and that is my birthday page.

This is what the hidden journaling says...

One thing our family has always been big on are birthday parties. We believe it doesn’t matter if the one having a birthday is 3 years old or 70 years old, each birthday should be celebrated.  I love that about our family!  When it’s your turn to have a birthday, you look forward to it for weeks because you know it’s going to be a day filled with lots of fun, presents, delicious cake (usually made by Grandma Cooke) and the house would be decorated so beautifully just for you.  With all of that to look forward to, how could you not feel special on your birthday?!

One of the things that stand out in my mind when I think back to our family birthday parties when I was little was how joyful everyone sounded when they sang, “Happy Birthday”.  Everyone had big smiles on their faces as they’d sing and it just made you feel so loved.

As if that wasn’t enough, we also had lots of gifts to open!  The gifts were all wrapped so pretty you almost didn’t want to unwrap them and mess it up!  They’d have pretty bows on them as well as little decorations to dress up the package and there’d be a birthday card from each person who gave a gift.

It was sad when I became an adult and had children of my own to learn that birthday celebrations like my family had were not the norm, it was a rarity.  How can this be??  Birthdays should be celebrated!!  Another year of life was lived, so how can people not want to celebrate them??  I’ll never understand it, but one thing is for sure… it’s a family tradition I want to pass down to future generations because it’s one that I hold dear to my heart.  I wanted my children and grandchildren to experience the joy of birthdays that I did as a child so I tried to do the same with Bethany & Rachel.  I don’t think I did it up quite as well as Grandma Cooke did, but I think I did pretty good.  I think it’s safe to say she’d be proud!

Our hop grand prize has been provided by two wonderful sponsors: Paper Loves Glue and Memorable Seasons!!  (Please see Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog for details.)

Remember... in order to qualify for the Grand Prize you must comment on all the blogs in the line-up. The hop will remain open until Sunday night, June 3rd at 11:59pm PST.

SEM blog http://scrappingeverydaymiracles.blogspot.com/
Nic http://scrapmethis.blogspot.com
Sherri  http://faithandscraphappiness.blogspot.com/
Einat  http://scrapinit.blogspot.com/
Cara  http://bitsbaublesandbliss.blogspot.com/
Jeannine http://creative-chaos07.blogspot.com/ 
Elizabeth http://ejoym.blogspot.com/
Lisa  http://creativejuicefreshsqueezed.blogspot.com/
Dolores  http://scrapperinnewyork.blogspot.com/
Amanda Johnson http://asjmade.blogspot.com/


Make sure you also stop by our Facebook page for games, challenges and even more prizes.  And don't forget, Monday, June 4th will be a new challenge and another chance at a prize!


Ooh!! I almost forgot!!! (Imagine that, huh?  hehe)  I will be giving away some super cute faith stickers from SRM Stickers so be sure to comment on my blog to be entered to win them!!

Thank you for stopping by!!  :)

SEM Birthday Celebration

I'm very excited to announce that we will be celebrating our one year birthday on Scrapping Everyday Miracles next week!!  It has truly been a blessing to be on this team.  I hope all of you will join us as we celebrate next week both with a blog hop on the SEM blog and on the SEM Chit Chat Facebook page.  There will be prizes, games, challenges and lots of FUN!!!

Here are the details...

SEM's Challenge #16

Today's challenge on Scrapping Everyday Miracles is to create a page that tells how our mothers have blessed our lives.  This was a tough one for me for a few reasons, one of them being because she's blessed my life so richly in so many ways it's hard to limit it to one page!

I explained in my journaling that one of the many ways she showed her love for me was with her hands because she made handcrafted items for me.  She made things like a hand sewn a quilt, crocheted a couple of afghans, several scarves, and the most recent item was an adorable Humpty Dumpty that she was planning to complete at our house on October 14th, when she was supposed to be coming to spend a few days with us before heading to Florida for the winter.  However, God had other plans.  He took her home on October 12, 2007.

I must say that the biggest way she blessed my life was the fact that she was very instrumental in bringing me to the place where I knew I needed a Savior when I was 21 and not only told me how to live the Christian life, but lived it by example.  She also offered a listening ear whenever I needed someone to talk to about anything on my heart, we prayed together, we cried together, we definitely laughed together (a LOT), we talked on the phone every day (sometimes more than a few times in a day) and I went to her house every week to visit her and my step father and we'd have the best talks and just have fun together.  Mom liked to be silly and she knew how to have fun.  She was a huge, huge part of my life and when she went home to be with the Lord, the void she left behind was excruciatingly painful.  I miss her more than words can express.

(The scrap twist was to include a book page on our project, so on my second page, you'll notice the music sheet tucked behind the photo.)

Thank you so much for stopping by!

SEM Challenge #15 "It's my story"

I was really excited about Challenge #15 for Scrapping Everyday Miracles this month because the challenge is to scrap a page about something funny someone has said.  My first idea was an obvious one (for anyone who knows my family) and that was to do a page on our daughter, Bethany's, "Bethisms" because they are just too funny for words!!

However, the more I thought about it, I decided I wanted to do a page on someone other than one of our children for a change.  That's when I thought of doing this idea.  It was the day my Great-Grandma Sevart, my Grandma Cooke, and my Aunt Dorothy gave me instructions on how to roast a Thanksgiving Day turkey. I hope the way I did the journaling and photos will help you understand what's going on but just in case it doesn't...since all of them were talking at the same time (and I was responding to instructions I was hearing at the time so I was talking too!) I figured the best way to do this was to put each person's comments printed on  different colored cardstock so you'll know who said what.  If you read each color individually, it actually makes sense, but since that's not how I was hearing it, you need to read them as I have them listed on page two of my layout.  As you read a sampling of how their instructions started out, you'll understand why I was so confused!!  I think what I found the funniest was when one of them said, "I know but you're confusing her" as if SHE wasn't confusing me too!  LOL Every time I think of that day I laugh because it was just too funny the way they were all trying to share their Thanksgiving turkey recipe with me but all kept talking at the same time.  LOL  It was hilarious!!

I'm not sure you can read the journaling so here's what page 1 says:

"Early in our marriage, I didn't have much experience with cooking anything beyond simple meals, so when we decided to host the Thanksgiving Day dinner at our house for the first time, I wanted to talk with Grandma Sevart, Grandma Cooke, and Aunt Dorothy.  In my mind, they were the best of the best when it comes to cooking.  I barely got the question out and all three of them were talking at the same time, telling me their version of how to roast a Thanksgiving turkey.  I remember at the time trying so hard to make sense out of their instructions but it was so hard because they were all talking at the same time and were telling me different parts of the process and not necessarily in the right order. 

As they all talked, I tried my best to gather as much of the information as possible.  I was writing as fast as I'd ever written before!  I wasn't sure any of it was going to make sense to me come Thanksgiving morning, but I figured they're only a phone call away so no big deal. (HA!  As if I'd have time to make a phone call on Thanksgiving morning during my first time making Thanksgiving dinner!) After about 15 minutes of this confusion, they all stopped and Grandma Cooke said, "So that's how you prepare and roast a Thanksgiving turkey!" while Grandma Sevart said, "Did you get all of that, Sweet'art?" while Aunt Dorothy said, "Yeah, she got it all.  She'll be fine"  ...except they all said that at pretty much the same time too!! 

At the time I was confused and hoping I'd gotten all the details straight, but now that I look back, it's one of my favorite memories!  They're so cute!!  I love my family so much!!!"

Journaling strips on page two read like this (remember, it's not supposed to make sense!  lol):

"Well first, you need to buy the..." "Buy a turkey that's about 24 pounds..." "Start off by cutting up salt pork..." "...turkey at least 2 weeks in advance...." "Wow, really?  2 weeks??" "...for the number of people you'll be having...." "That's not too big?" "...into strips like bacon, and then..." "Wait.... what?  What is that??" "What's what?  You don't know what bacon is, honey?" "No, the other thing." "because it takes about a week for it to thaw all the way" "It's like bacon but a lot more fatty" "...because you'll want to have leftovers!" "Are we talking about bacon now?" "...use a toothpick to hold each slice into place." "...put it in a pan with a little bit of water in it..." "It takes a week to thaw??" "Oh definitely don't put it out on the counter!!" "Don't put what on the counter?  I thought we were talking about bacon!" "....yeah, don't put it on the counter to thaw...." "No, Jeannine, you don't put the turkey on the counter to thaw." "...that's what I was saying, Dorothy - thaw it in the fridge..." "I know but you're confusing her." "...kept in the fridge the whole time it's thawing..." "....then put tin foil over the top of it..." "Are we talking about the turkey or the bacon now?" "...and keep it covered with a wet towel..." All three of them say, "The turkey" "What side dishes did you want to have?" "Hold on.... what temperature do I put the oven?" "Sweet'art, just listen to what we're telling you and you'll understand." "...Mother, you're getting ahead of yourself now." "Yeah, slow down so she can hear us." "...and make sure it's covered completely..." "I'm just trying to find out..." "So I put the bacon on the counter....wait no, I put the bacon on the turkey..." "what side dishes she wanted because..." "...put the thermometer in it..." *sigh* "I'm so confused."

  

No matter how many times I read that it always makes me laugh!!  I've had a number of conversations like that with them over the years.  They all want to tell you at the same time but don't realize how confusing it is for the one listening.  LOL

Time to announce the winner!!!

As you know, we had a surprise birthday blog hop in honor of Nicole Brenner, who is the owner of the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog, this past weekend.  My daughter had the honor of choosing the winner of the RAK from my blog and the name she chose was....

Becky Dunham!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here's what Becky posted in the comments:

"What a sweet card Jeannine!  I love these kind of cards!  It has been a while since I have been able to get in my craft room and I am just itching to go play!  New follower to your cute blog.  Thanks for the inspiration!"

by Becky Dunham

Becky, please click on the "contact me" button on my blog and in the message tell me your email address so I can get your $10 gift certificate for Paper Issues to you as soon as possible!!  Happy shopping!!

I'd like to thank everyone else for playing along this past weekend and hope you'll make your way over to Scrapping Everyday Miracles now to check out our latest sketch challenge and for another opportunity to win a great prize from our sponsor Dot & Whimsy and our second sponsor, Nana Campana who is offering the winner a spot in Ashes to Beauty Program.  (Details for both prizes are on SEM blog.)

Thanks again, everyone!!

SEM March Sketch Challenge!

Hello again!  We have a new sketch challenge and technique up at Scrapping Everyday Miracles!!!   If you participate in the sketch challenge on SEM, you'll be eligible for a prize so don't forget to head on over there!  Everyone likes to win a prize, right?

I absolutely love sketches.  As a matter of fact, I can't make a page without one.  Ok, I guess I could but it would take me much longer. lol

This sketch was made by my very creative friend, Debbie Gaydos, and I just love her sketches because they really inspire me a lot.  She originally designed the sketch for Allyscraps, if you're interested in seeing more of them.

This is the page I made using this sketch.  

For those of you who are like me and like to see all the detail, here's a closer look.  :) 

Ok, now that you've been inspired by the sketch and see my sample, let's see what you create with it too!  Once you complete your project, be sure to head over to SEM and share it with us over there so you'll be eligible for a prize!!

Thanks for looking!  :)

Happy Birthday, Nicole!!!!!!

The Design Team members decided to high jack the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog today to wish our fearless leader, Nicole, a happy birthday so today's card was created with her in mind.  Without any further ado, let me say....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NICOLE!!!!!!!!! 

We would love for you to join us by hopping to our different blogs in celebration!!  Hey, you never know what you may find!  Make sure you leave a birthday wish for Nicole on the Scrapping Everyday Miracles blog for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Paper Issues!!  Paper Issues has offered a discount to our readers for this weekend in celebration of Nicole's birthday.  Just use the code SCRAP30 for a 30% discount!  How cool is that?  
Also, make sure that you stop back by SEM's blog on Monday, the 19th for a sketch challenge that I will be posting and of course more chances to win a prize from our sponsor Dot & Whimsy.


Here's the card I made with Nicole's birthday in mind...

WAIT!!!  There's one more thing.... make sure you leave a comment for me here on my blog for yet another chance to win a $10 gift certificate to Paper Issues!!  Ok... that's all for now.  :)

SEM blog 

Wendy 

Roulien 

Lisa  

Jeannine  <---- YOU ARE HERE

Sherri 

Kline  

The next blog in the hop is Sherri so be sure to stop by her blog too.  She always has such adorable projects to share!

TUTORIAL:  For those of you who would like to make a shutter card, this video is the best tutorial I've found on the internet. She spells it out very nicely and makes it easy to follow.