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{grow with love: holiday} day ten

December 21, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Tuesday and Happy Day Ten of Grow With Love: Holiday!! I feel as though I’ve time warped from the beginning of December to this moment because a good ten days in between was spent in complete sick-haze-couch-land and doesn’t count. I have to be honest, those days when I was feeling really terrible were a challenge for me. I LOVE this time of year. And I felt so discouraged and spent and completely devoid of the holiday spirit. So it was definitely an exercise in deliberate focus for me to stay focused on the positives…like the sound of my Bugga’s voice each morning (even when she herself was feeling yucky) discovered our little elf Rachel and her elf-y mischief or the sound of holiday tunes or lounging and watching my favorite holiday movies. We had to forgoe a lot of what we were looking forward to, but the important thing was we had each other and the whole point of this season was still there. We just had to work a wee bit harder to feel it.

We are nearing the end of Grow With Love: Holiday and despite all the busy (or all the sick) I hope that feeling of magic and warm is filling you up now! These prompts will remain up indefinitely and you can find any and all of them (as well as other Grow With Love projects): {HERE}. Feel free to dive in at any time!

Today’s prompt is another that has us considering a specific aspect of the holidays and one that can be deeply infused with meaning…music:

Even though there may be moments when I feel “tired” of hearing all the musical holiday notes everywhere we go this time of year, mostly I just love it all to bits. I looove holiday music! I am working on a page now that showcases my favorite holiday songs in a “playlist”. And it includes some that make me giggle and warm my heart (like I Want a Hippopatomus for Christmas):

a totally random pairing but song I just can’t get enough of in Bing Crosby singing with David Bowie (ummm..huh? lol!) Little Drummer Boy:

Oodles of other favorites from the Bing and Sinatra and Ella era, plus many traditional hymns and choral pieces and of course my most favorite (as in gives me the chills every single time I hear it), O Holy Night …really any version amazes me but I loove Josh Groban’s version:

ANYhoo…I could do this all night. I love love holiday music. So I’m excited to finish scrapping my music-y page while listening to some of these tunes. You can choose many to showcase, or one that is extra special to you. One that annoys you, one that uplifts you, one that takes you back to a special Christmas moment. Whatever you scrap I hope that you have fun reflecting on the sounds of the season.

Tomorrow the family and I head to the Polar Express train ride (the Grand Canyon Railroad) and I can’t wait! It will be just what we all need to get us feeling better and FULL of happy holiday spirit. I hope you and yours have beautiful days and moments leading up to Christmas!! ♥

{grow with love: kids} day thirteen

December 20, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Hello everyone and happy new week! Can you believe I’m actually blogging today?! Neither can I actually, as I almost wasn’t sure I’d make it. This illness has wrecked me so totally. I can’t recall the last time I was so hugely impacted by a virus, both physically and mentally. It’s day nine of the sick for me (which also hit my sweet Bugga and my dear love) and I’m only just able to peel myself off the couch for a few moments. Went back to the doctor today and they did a chest xray…which was sent off to be read to be sure of what they were seeing. I’m praying for good news and a clear film. In the mean time, I have been given some better meds and I am trying desperately to catch up on all that I’ve missed and regain all the holiday cheer I was feeling before this sick arrived.

I have missed you so and have missed scrapping and blogging and making merry so SO much. I hope that everyone has been enjoying their season and not feeling waylayed by illness or discouragement. I know that Crystal has been guiding you along the way with both our Grow With Love: Holiday and Grow With Love: Kids and I’m so grateful for her inspiration and for her stepping in when I couldn’t.

I’m happy to be bringing you Day 13 and the start of Week Seven of Grow With Love: Kids Edition. We will be taking these prompts into the New Year so there is still plenty of time to hop in and join us. You can do so at anytime, at your pace, whenever you feel inspired. Be sure to check out the main listing of postings {here} to catch up and follow along, for the backstory of Grow With Love and some wonderful inspiration.

Soo….let’s take a peek at today’s prompt shall we? It’s another “act and scrap” prompt as Crystal and I like to say and we find these ones to personally be among our favorites because they challenge us to really tangibly act in our lives. And today’s is one I have found to help guide my steps on the harder days of parenting.

So, it’s true. Parenthood is the most rewarding gift I’ve been given, but it’s also the most challenging. Sometimes parenting can be exhausting, and it can feel thankless, and it can feel like hard.work. Because many times it is. We are shaping our kids into the people they will become, we are guiding them and teaching them and that is HUGE stuff. Important stuff. And oftentimes frustrating stuff. I know I have some days where I am happy it’s bedtime. I always feel a little guilty for admitting that too, but some days…the hard days…nighttime can’t come quickly enough. It’s on these days I need to work a little harder to focus on the positives and so this prompt is helpful for me. It’s not about shielding from the important lessons or pretending life is all “rainbows and lollypops” but it is about being mindful of the power of your words. A parent’s words are heavy with meaning. Meaning that lasts. So we challenge you to take a day and let the praises be louder than the negatives..both outloud the little unsaid things you may say to yourself.

Ok..so I hope that gives you a good point to jump from. My head is feeling a little fuzzy so its entirely possible this post has made no sense. And I had better stop while I’m ahead. I will be back tomorrow though with Day 10 of Grow With Love: Holiday. And Crystal will be blogging on Wednesday.

Oooh ooh! And if you missed it…I’ve shared a freebie on the Scrap Orchard blog today as part of their advent hoopla annnnd my releases there at my guest home this month are currently 50% off (but only for a few more hours). ♥

Happy day and Happy Scrapping!

{grow with love: holiday} day five

December 10, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Friday! I hope that everyone has been enjoying this the second week of December! I know it is a time that is extra full for everyone…with all kinds of busy. I know that I’m already feeling as though I could slow time a little bit to really relish all the moments and have a bit more time for the to do lists. And now that we are battling the sick in our house I feel that more than ever. Here’s to staying focused on what really matters and taking time to pause.

All that said, I was really excited to take a pause from the hub-bub yesterday to scrap today’s Grow With Love: Holiday post. And so without further ado here is our prompt for Day Five.

I’m really loving these “in their own words” prompts and pages lately and I love the idea of infusing MORE of my loved ones into my pages..not just me scrapping *about* them or speaking *to* them, but sharing more from their perspective in a real way. Getting them engaged in the memory keeping. So I had fun asking Bugga about her impressions of Christmastime. So here we have Christmastime with 4 year old goggles. What fun it will be to look back at this. And in fact I’m feeling inspired to revisit this very page each year to see the changes over time.

Here’s where this prompt took me:

And here’s Crystal’s page:

How sweet are they?! I just know your own pages will have you smiling too! We can’t wait to see them!

Hope everyone has a beautiful weekend! Happy Scrapping and Happy Growing with Love! ♥

25 Days of Christmas

December 10, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

So as you’ve likely heard by now Leora Sanford is hosting an amazing 25 Days of Christmas event on her blog wherein she showcases an astounding array of talented artists from across the Interwebs ranging from digital scrapbooking to handcrafted art to photography. Each day she features a fresh artist and showers you with free goodness. It’s pretty much an event made of awesome.

I am so thrilled and SO honored to be sponsoring {Day 10} of the 25 Days of Christmas.

I fell in love with Leora’s work as a scrapper (and if you aren’t yet familiar, I just know you’ll feel the same when you see her designs). When she invited me to be a part of her Creative Team it was one of those “this feels like Christmas” moments. She brings the magic in her creativity and my pages have always been the better for it…

Today, I’m so happy to be a part of her extravaganza of giving in this holiday spirit. You can pop over to her blog to leave a comment for your chance to win all of my new template releases in 2011. No kidding. ♥

If you aren’t the winner take heart because I’ve shared a coupon code for an additional 25% off any purchase in my shoppe and there’s this cute freebie for you to snag too:

So can enter for your chance to win until 9pm MST/11pm EST on her blog. And you’ll want to keep checking back every day because the flood of free goodies and inspiring talent continues. Her sponsors have been and continue to be really AMAZING.

Happy Holidays and best of luck!!

{fresh seeds} Mistletoe: 2011 CD Calendar Templates

December 10, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

So I have a confession. I am a sometimes-horrible procrastinator…I always have good intentions, but sometimes in all the hustle and bustle and as a byproduct of my perfectionism, I end up sqeeeeezing things in just before the wire. Seems to happen every year with my holiday gifts. And this year was no exception. I am just finishing up some homemade gifts for my loved ones.

All this to say (get to the point, right?) I do love to make things when I can because there's just something so heartfelt and personal about gifts of creation. And one of my favorite things to do each holiday season is to create and gift a cd calendar to loved ones.

"Mistletoe" is inspired by my 2011 calendars and really is perfect for creating a heartfelt and homemade (and useful!) gift for your own friends and family. It's as easy as pie when you choose any papers and elements and your favorite photos of the year to create a sweet keepsake calendar that fits perfectly into any cd case. The perfect addition and decoration for any desk!

Includes 12 layered 4.75" X 5.25" cd calendar templates in .psd and .tiff formats (fits most cd cases) and separate calendar elements in .png format that can be used for any calendar-y project. Completely customizable (you can choose the papers and elements, alphas and fonts) so you can get the most out of the template designs and they can reflect you and yours, wherever you may live. Drop shadows can be used as is or customized to your liking. Can be used in a fully digital manner or as a hybrid project!

So..if you're still on the hunt for some fun and easy last minute gifts that are heartfelt and homemade, I hope you'll enjoy Mistletoe. It will be available for 20% off throughout the weekend.

Happy Scrapping!

{fresh seeds} Clippables: Balsam and Cranberry {clipped}

December 7, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Just a quick little note to let you know about a couple fun holiday-y goodies I have up in my shoppe for Tadpole Tuesday. Woot!

Here's a peek at Cranberry {clipped} and Clippables: Balsam. I love the idea of something with a little whimsy and simple classic sentiments for the holidays and these little goodies can add just that to your photos, pages, blog posts and even cards or notes.

Both are available (with many other amazing goodies from the girls) for $1 today only! Woot!