News of my own...

It's not as important as the election and all, but exciting all the same. :) Guess what. You can now pre-order a copy of MY BOOK!! You may remember back in July of 2007, shortly after I started this blog, when I was working so diligently on a big, secret project. Well. This is finally it! Ta da!!

Here's the back cover, so you can read a bit more about it all...

Um, click on the little picture and then you should be able to read it. I think. :)

And...I'll be doing a grand kickoff week of sneak peeks, challenges and giveaways over on the Creating Keepsakes website starting next Monday, November 10. Join my group over there so you don't miss any of it, okay? Plus, I love to chat with y'all so don't leave me hanging. ;)

Must stop here to say a great big thank you to my awesome contributors. Summer Fullerton, Laura Kurz, Tracey Odachowski and Tiffany Tillman are simply fabulous designers and even cooler people! Huge thanks to them for their contributions and their patience. :)

Now, just two more quick things. First, if you're on my personal gift-giving/receiving list, please know that you'll likely be receiving one of these this Christmas. :) Second, if you've got scrapping friends on your own gift list, wouldn't this book perhaps accompanied by some fabulous calendar-ish products or a premade "month by month" album be a spectacular gift? ;) You know it would!

Oh, and yes. I do realize that Tuesday has come and gone without a Tuesday's Tool entry. Forgive me. This and the election kinda eclipsed that for me. I'll try to do better next week.

Now. Go join my group and mark your calendars for next week's fun!!

Just quick...

Creating Keepsakes' December issue is now up online! I received mine in the mail yesterday and must say that it's got some fabulous ideas in there, folks!

With the December issue comes the end of my Album in a Year column. Thank you, thank you for joining me throughout the year! It's been a great experience and I'm loving having my album complete. Not to worry, though, I'm not going anywhere. Join me in 2009 with a new little column that (in my opinion, lol) is just as fun... ;)

Oh, and you can find all of the instructions, title blocks and sketches in the CK archives and here on my blog. (I've posted the layouts, themselves, in my Gallery here as well.) I just added December and the album wrap up pages (title and end pages to finish off your album). Enjoy!

Tagged.

Happy November! Hard to believe, isn't it? ;) So, I've been tagged by my good friend Marti. (The rules….link your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.)

But. I appear to have run out of random and weird things about myself. Okay, not really. But my brain is tired right now. Instead, then, here are 7 things that make me happy right now:

1. The holiday countdown. Now that Halloween is over, I feel okay embracing my anticipation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. ;) Even though traditional Christmas layouts aren't usually my favorite thing to do, I love collecting holiday embellishments and do-dads...love thinking up holiday crafts to do with the boys. One of my latest favorite finds are these beautiful tags. I'm still on the fence about whether I want to tackle a December daily album this year, but if I did, these would definitely be part of it! (Oh, and totally love the little owls and circle numbers there also!!)

2. Supplies for a cause. Speaking of holiday scrapbooking and crafting...check out this fabulous digital kit by the awesome designers at Little Dreamers Designs. The proceeds go to Toys for Tots! Can't beat that! :)

3. Innocence. So, yes, I've purchased the digital kit I just mentioned. You may notice, though, that I do not do many digital scrapbook pages. In fact, this layout that was in the October issue of CK was only the second digi layout I've ever completed:

I love how Noah looks in this picture...so innocent yet knowing. Everything on this list, too, still holds true. :)

4. A kid funny. Noah learned a new song last week at Options. One of the lines had to do with mistletoe and holly. Asher, upon hearing this song, went about the house belting "Mrs. Toe and Holly" until I finally figured out what he was talking about. Gotta love lyric laughs!

5. Pants that fit. I won't go into my rant about how women's pants are sized, but suffice it to say that finding pants that fit me isn't easy. Last week I finally broke down (don't ask what took me so long!) and took a bunch of my pants to be altered (as my sewing machine and I don't see eye to eye, lol). Wow. It's amazing how happy a little thing like pants that are the right length makes me. :)

6. Good books for kids. MathStart books by Stuart J. Murphy...Magic School Bus books...Magic Tree House books...ValueTales books...Choose Your Own Adventures...yup. I could go on and on and on. Good books are just a wonderful thing.

7. Great deals. I can't give details but earlier today the boys and I found an awesome deal on what will be a Christmas present for someone. Love when that happens!

So. What makes you happy?

Oh, and I'm tagging these lovely folks...Laura, Tiffany, Jamie, Michelle, Vivian, Emily and Heather. ;)

Stay tuned later today (hopefully) for another Tuesday's Tool!

Eight.

Oh my heck. My baby is eight today. Okay,  he's not a baby any more. I know that. I do. :) As Nathan pointed out today, though, he's half way to driving now. Oy.

Sigh. I guess I'll just be happy for my beautiful, birthday boy. :) We're not doing much today beyond some cupcakes and a small family gathering...his party with his friends will be next Saturday. I did, though, manage to get some pictures. Before long, he was really getting into the spirit of things and telling me what pictures to take. Here's an example:

(Yes, that's Micah in the background...taking pictures of his own, lol.) What a silly kid. It's been so much fun thus far watching him become more sure of himself...more silly...more brilliant. Can't wait to see what's to come!

Incidentally, today marks the eight year mark for becoming a parent for me. Kinda weird to think about. Wow. And, today is also the three year anniversary of Nathan starting his business. I'm so proud of him! Serious kudos, when you think about it, for managing to be a technology start up that's still in business and growing after three years, particularly in today's economy. I am so blessed.

So. Big day around here. :)