Endings and Beginnings....

Everything changes and I am trying hard to learn to accept that. It is a struggle for me. Even good change (like the girls getting taller, losing teeth, etc) is hard for me to accept. I have loved the girls more at every single age, but I still long for the way they used to be. Maybe that is why I scrapbook - to try to make sure I never forget how it is exactly RIGHT NOW. Never thought about it like that, but I bet that has a lot to do with it.

OK, things ending..... Today (June 30th) is it. The very last day to place a Once Upon A Family order. Go here to order anything you want to have. After today, I can no longer place an order for you. And that makes me sad. I never made much money on OUAF, but I loved it. I loved their products and what they could mean to people.....  anyway, everything they make is 40% off for one last day. If you want the Wrought Iron Tree, there is no direct link to it....  so go HERE and at the top, select PRODUCTS and then select any catergory. In the left column there should be a SEARCH bar at the bottom. Type the word "tree" there and hit enter. Go to page two and it will be the last item you see listed. People have struggled with this and I have to work today, so I will not be around to talk you through it. Be patient, and you will find it on the site and be able to add it to your cart....  sorry for the trouble - this is the item I made people want most, and it is not an easy item to order....  but, it is only $21 with the 40% off discount, and it will make an incredible gift for someone! :)

OK, things starting. Tonight was the first night Busia (my Mom's 85 year old Mom) spent the night in her new room in our home. It will be a transition for all of us, but it is time, we are all ready, and it is a blessing for each one of us in its own way. In fact, tonight, the ever amazing Kalli choose to spend the night in my old room with her great grandma. She was so cool about it that it made me cry. How blessed are the girls to get to be around someone filled with SO MUCH love for them. I am transitioning our stuff (why do we all have so much stuff anyway?) to Dad's old room in the basement. It is a very nice space. A lot smaller than I had, which is encouraging me to purge (which is a very good thing). Moving is just hard. I loved our room. I need to get my dad to come over to hang up all my photos of the girls, then I know I will love our new space, too. And, I feel lucky to have the space to have Busia here with us. I pray she does OK with the transition. I love that lady.

Here are a couple photos of how I have quickly organized her new space as of today....  lots of work still left to do, but this is a good place to start, and I think she will be comfortable until I get her more settled...

An old thing I stopped hopefully starting again.....
I have been a lame blogger and an even lamer scrapbooker (is lamer even a word?). I used to do something called Make Something Monday and I loved it. I loved having one time each week where I made SOMETHING. Printed or uploaded photos, created one journal entry or finished one page. I have been asked to start this again, and I am going to try. I have a better shot this summer while I am not teaching....  so here it goes...  starting NEXT MONDAY, I am going to post SOMETHING I made. I am going to try to encourage some of you to do the same.....   we can do this. We can make things that matter. There is truly enough time in our lives to create simple, meaningful memories....  we just have to prioritize and DO IT. If you want to encourage yourself to remember to MAKE SOMETHING check out Shannon's new MAKE SOMETHING stuff on Cafe Press. Carrying this will remind me to just make something. Never make it harder than it needs to be, just think about a memory you desire to never forget, and get it on paper! Enjoy the process.

I am ending this super long post with a photo Kalli made me take today because Uncle Matt ran to Target and did not get to see all the candy dots she had in her mouth at one time.

She made me take a picture so she would be able to show him when she got back. I love being a mom to funky kids. I love every bit of it. :)

40% off all Once Upon A Family Products

Once Upon A Family is closing its doors to consultant sales as of June 30th! They did not give us much notice...  but, they are offering 40% off of anything they have so you can complete your kits, get what you have wanted for your family, and stock up on a few meaningful gifts.

I loved their items once I saw the Dear Sweet Letter Box. I got one for each of my daughters and became a consultant. I never did many parties, but the parties I did do were a lot of fun, and I think people picked up some great, meaningful items.

Anway, this is it - your last shot. So if you have been waiting to get anything, now is the time before it is gone for good. Plus, at 40% off, you can check a few Christmas gifts off your list!

Here are a few of my favorites:
Dear Sweet Child Letter Box

Handprint Book

Birthday Book

Wrought Iron Tree (this link to the OUAF cart for this item never worked for me, but you can link to some cool trees I have made with this item) 

They have a lot of other very cool items like Lessons for Little Ones, Keys, Cool Silk Albums and so much more. Browse the site if you get a chance. These will all be gone in just a few days. I hate when things I love end. Anyone who reads this knows I hate change of any kind. It is sad that a company with these strong of products could not make it. 

Speaking of change...  in a few days, my beautiful (and crazy) 85 year old grandmother moves in with us. It surely will never be boring!

I love Bingo

I totally stole this idea from Stacy Julian's blog and I LOVE IT ALREADY!
It was quick and easy to alter her templates she kindly provided to make this work for our family.
The girls are excited and I am totally excited, too.
Go Summer!

I have had a lot of issues posting and I think I finally might have found a way around the issues. For any of you still reading this thank you for checking in still. I hope to post more this summer. And, I will post again later with info and links...  but Once Upon A Family is longer going to be in business as of June 30th so if you have anything you wanted to get from me...  be sure to order soon off my website before the products are gone forever....  more on that later.  OH YEAH - every awesome thing they make is 40% off! Get what you have always wanted now before it is too late.

Have to do some Father's Day fun stuff. Oh, I will post the pages we made him sometimes soon. Go visit Stacy and make BINGO cards for your kids if you have them. :)

I love these trees....

A couple of people have asked me to post some samples of the different Wrought Iron Trees I have made in one place...  Here are my favorites with some text as to what they were for...

This is one I did for a few people to give a grandparent for Christmas. I did them in whatever color the customer asked for it to be - or I just sold them as they were out of my both at events - this one came with clear templates so it was easy to line up and cut the photos into circles OR rectangles.

This one was for an amazing friend of our family. It made me so proud to bring this to them as a hostess gift/holiday present. I had lots of photos of them, so I was able to compelte the tree for them photos and all.

This is a simple shot of one I did as a booth sample without any photos on it at all, and it sold right away. Wish I had a better photo.

And this one is ours. The one I have on our Piano. The intention was to change it for every holiday and let the girls redecorate it, but I love this gratitude tree SO MUCH I have not had the heart to take it apart yet. Looking at this everyday makes my heart feel happy.  This item seems to make people stop and look at my booth at fairs and shows. I love this tree.

So, let me know if you want a plain tree ($35 plus shipping) or if you want me to decorate one for you (Prices vary - but I sold the Grandparent ones for $50 for the holidays). I can come up with just about anything you need in the colors that work for you.  Templates are always included so it is super easy to cut your own photos to the perfect size.

I love this wrought iron tree. Once I get caught up with teaching and planning (yeah, like that is ever going to happen) I will try to create some TREE KITS for holidays and just offer those.

If you have picked up a tree from me (Tammy, are you reading this??) and decorated it, please email me a photo or a link to where I might see it as people are asking me for more ideas, and I have not done that many different ones. THANKS!

Featured in the Local Post Tribune Paper....

I was so excited that my recent "10 things I love about you" class was featured in the local paper. It was about 3/4 of the Front Page in the Neighbor section. My friends Jen and Michelle even had photos of their kids in the article. I wish they had mentioned my website (I asked them to) but it was still awesome to know that people might have thought about making something when they read this:

Link To Article

Wonderful People Surrounding Me

I had a very busy, but very good weekend. I connected back with people I met this summer and ended up at a wonderful person's home today and made some cool connections. I created the album below for a family who just lost their grandma. I am delivering it tomorrow. (If you ever need me to custom create one of these little "10 things I love about you" books, send me an email. I can get it to you pretty quickly, and all you have to do it add in a little journaling and some photos.....  I am also teaching this class as a Mom and Me class Monday night at the Schererville Town Hall from 6 - 7 PM).

I love that paper and glue can connect me with people and I can help them do little things to preserve their family's memories. I had a great time today meeting new people and showing them the value of doing just one little thing and loving that they did that! I felt connected to people in an odd and peaceful way. Like I was exactly where I was meant to be today....  and it was last minute and I felt unprepared....  (which you know I hate) but it went so well. It was good for my family because I can get a couple little things I needed for the holidays because of the success of my business this weekend, and I can sleep well knowing I helped a couple of moms feel excited about the little things they do. Have a great week.

Made a fun project tonight

Had a GREAT show today at the Lake Central event. I think there were 150 booths there. I wished I could have walked it but I was nice and busy. Had the best show I have ever had and it felt great. I am even doing an event tomorrow with some cool people I met today at the show. I made this for a lady to give to her parents for Christmas. I cannot wait for her to add her photos. I even made clear templates for her to use to trace and cut the photos! I am so excited for her to give this gift!! 

Have a ton to do.....  CCD in the morning, then the fun open house event, have two more trees to make, and a bunch of 10 Things I Love About You books for my class in Schererville on Monday. Plus, Girl scouts and teaching on Monday too....  Man, I better log off and go to bed! Hope you are having a great weekend!

Also, Tammy....  if you are reading this - the girls LOVE opening a gift on their trees every day. It is so fun watching them. We got a couple days behind and they opened three at once and had the BEST time. Thank you for the amazing gift for them. You have brought them SO MUCH daily joy this holiday. I am grateful.

While I Am Away

I love this box. I am so excited to use it for the first time. I am going to Iowa to a friend's scrapbooking retreat for a few days, and I left this for the girls.

It is the While I'm Away box from Once Upon A Family. It is the first time I have used it.

I filled it with envelopes - one for each of them to open each morning and each night that I am gone....

In the first one for Thursday night - they have a cover page for a mini book and the o'rings to attach all other pages....  and each envelope contains a photo of them and a note from me....  the last one includes lots of trimmed ribbon for them to tie on the o'rings. I cannot wait to see these when I get back!!!

Making something else on Monday!

Hey - I did it - I got creative! I am in a challenge with my friend Shannon (we pull things out of a jar each week) and I had to use a rub on. I wanted to work on this anyway, so here it is.... 

This is an excellent item from Once Upon A Family called "I am always with you". It is for me to stick in my bag when I travel so I have photos and little notes from the girls and Neil. I can hang it up in my hotel room and look at their cute little faces. Kaya is working hard on her note from me as you can see here....

I am working on a treat for them when I go out of town later this week called "While I am Away" I cannot wait to show that to you guys when it is completed.  I love that these products let me do little things that really matter to my family.

Hope you made something today!

Teachers helping a fellow teacher...

I have been asked to have a Once Upon A Family for a teacher who is going to donate all of her hostess perks to a fellow teacher whose home was recently under water. We had terrible floods here in Northwest Indiana, and this teacher is due with her first baby on December 5th. Well, everything she had purchased for the baby got lost in the 8 feet of water she had in her basement. So, the teachers are getting together to learn about the wonderful OUAF products and every purchase them make will go towards helping the new mom-to-be gather items that will become heirlooms for her new little love. How awesome is that?

I am going to raffle off a complete Handprint Book Kit (Book, Paint, Brushes, Instructions, Cover Page) so one lucky person will go home ready to create a family heirloom this Thanksgiving and the teacher will go home with a little extra money to use for something she needs for the new little one.

I feel lucky to be a part of something so simple and yet so meaningful.

Beautiful Day for an outside event...

Here is where I will be today:
FAll Arts and Crafts
CAlvary Church
9900 Columbia Ave
Munster, IN
9AM - 3 PM

See you there if you are Local.

Here is the completed handprint cover page. Man, I love this book.

Enjoy your weekend.

Capturing Handprints....

When I saw this Once Upon A Family product....

I instantly thought it was to be used only for children....  and then I thought better! I gave my friend the idea to take the book to her family reunion this summer and she created an AMAZING family heirloom by capturing the handprints of her entire family.....  so, I decided to do the same - and we started tonight for Make Something Monday!

 

And this book is sure to be something we love forever and ever..... 

  

We are going to get Busia tomorrow and Neil's whole family over Thanksgiving. There are a few basic questions like Favorite Color, Favorite Food, Favorite Book...  things like that - I LOVE THAT MY GIRLS will have this for their entire family. Man, that makes me happy. :)

Think about how awesome it would be to get your entire family to do this over Thanksgiving or Christmas or any time you all get together. You will never be sorry. I will be sorry forever that I do not have my Mom's handprint to press my hand against when I want to. 

Get your handprint book here. It is so easy and fun to do. I just used a foam brush and acrylic paint.

I am working on a simple title page - need to cut some letters out, and I will post it once I get it all glued down. 

Have a great day today. 

KLSB 

Booth tomorrow....

Neil, the girls, and I went to set up my booth for an event this weekend tonight....  I loved setting it up the night before which will make the morning so much more relaxing....  I did not bring my camera.... but I loved the booth today. It is so much better than last time. I will be sure to take some photos tomorrow.

Here is the frame I actually put photos in for display...  I love Kaya's little face.

And, little kids are so cool. Kal and Kaya simply brought a bag of straws..  yes, drinking straws....  and played with them over and over and even invited new little friends they made to play with them. For over an hour the girls and two new friends made things, played with, and enjoyed a 99 cent bag of straws...  I love little kids. I love how they just instantly asked anyone small to play with them. Listenting to them made me proud. I am very lucky. Very very lucky in my life. Enjoy your weekend.

Making Frames...

I have a booth again this weekend to promote Memories for Everyone...  talking to people about on-line classes, local workshops, and Once Upon A Family products....  I love showing these products to people because most of them wish they had something - but their children are getting bigger and bigger and they have not really made anything. These products fill my heart with a sense of peace that I have already left behind something that matters!  My friend suggested having something cute to actually sell on site to get people to stop in the booth for longer (I totally never would have thought of that) so I decided to make some frames and see if they sell....  I made them quickly, but I thought they came out OK. Thanks, Jen, for the idea. :)

If you are local - I will have a booth at the Lincoln Center in Highland at an event on Saturday from 9 - 4 and Sunday from 11 - 3. Hope to see you there.

I hope anyone reading this takes 10 minutes this weekend to make notes on life right now. You will never be sorry!