More Calendar Layouts

Making these calendars for Garrett's baby book have been so much fun and I love the way they turned out! Thank you, Amanda Probst for such great ideas! Check out my previous post just below to see some more!

And speaking of great ideas, Stampaganza is ending in just two more days! Take advantage of the most wonderful stamp sale of all time and get a free stamp set for every two you purchase! All sets except custom K size and SOTM (since they are already such an awesome deal) are eligible with this promotion!

If you need some ideas, I shared a little secret with you earlier this month on how to choose the best stamps here. Contact me today (slvrlinin@live.net, 801.910.8698) or shop 24/7 on my website at http://slvrlinin.ctmh.com . Stamps from our current Idea Book as well as the previous Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book are still available through July 31st. Amazing!

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Cute Calendars and Fish Lake

Vacation was sure fun but it's great to be back and scrappin'! Felt so nice to get out of the valley and get dirty for a bit (I know, it's a strange way to relax!) We had such a good time and I'm so grateful to have great parents who love to go camping with us! And of course, there were plenty of pictures that I can't wait to scrap. I'll show you a few later this week.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I have been reading this lovely book I recently bought from Creating Keepsakes called "Month by Month Scrapbooking", by Amanda Probst. She's put together some cute calendar ideas plus some monthly themes page ideas.

I got this book because I really wanted to document my pregnancies and baby books this way. Makes sense since that's how I recorded them! With each child I kept a planner or calendar (you can get some great ones from Close To My Heart on my website at http://slvrlinin.ctmh.com ) and I simply wrote down the milestones on the calendar when they happened. Sometimes I wasn't spot on so I just wrote on one of the days that week. With my third child I was really good about it and these are a few of Garrett's pages I made using Amanda's book as inspiration.

Some great tools to help you "fake" it through the blank spots in your journalling are pregnancy calendars. Baby Center is my favorite and they email you a weekly or daily event based on your due date or conception information. They even have an App for smartphones which I loved with my last pregnancy! And with Baby Center, you can keep receiving updates as your child grows! Super helpful for busy or tired moms!

Have a wonderful summer!

Trish

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A Little Birdie Told Me... {SOTM}

Life is "tweet"! After spending the past few days sicker than a dog with food poisoning I am thankfully back in the office. It was a rough couple'a days there, but I'm glad to be back!

This stamp set is just the cutest little thing and I've had so much fun making cards for the first time in like, a bazillion years! The best part is they're super simple and easy to bust out a few. And these days, with four littles, I'm ALL about the easy! And here is the latest little, mouth open, just like a bird!

Life Is Tweet is available at regular price for only $17.95 this month only or you can get it for $5 with your $50 purchase. And don't forget it's Stampaganza this month! Purchase 2 regular priced A, B, C, D or E sized stamp sets and get the 3rd set of equal or lesser value for FREE! SOTM's can't be free under this promotion because of their already insanely cheap price, but you can use the sets you actually pay for as part of your $50 to get it for 5 bucks. This is one amazing deal and only happens every few years, so don't let it pass you by and go the way of the Dodo. This bird's too "tweet" for that!

Warm wishes,

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Holiday Tags and Morton Update {Welcome Colt}

As you can see we've been a little busy around here! This past month and a half we celebrated Halloween, welcomed our new little one, counted our blessings and then decked the halls. Phew! Here's a quick recap of our family but first, let me share this great video on how to make your own decorative tags for great gift-giving that makes a splash!



Happy Halloween
We had some pals come trick or treat with us this year. Uncle Drew and Whitney brought Brayden (aka: Thor) over to reign terror over the streets of South Jordan with us. We couldn't believe how much candy the kids collected this time! The dentist is gonna LOVE this bunch!

Snow Monsters
Our first good snow of the season called for suiting up. Brook and Aidan had a great time making tracks all over the backyard and even fit in a few Monste... er, Angels.

A Welcome Addition

Our house welcomed our new little brother into the world in November. Colt Glenn arrived a day early by cesarean and weighed in at 9 lbs and 11 ozs. He had a hard time adjusting at first due to his size and the c-section and spent some time in the nursery with an IV line until his blood sugar stabillized. When he was born he had a little bit of fluid in his lungs and had started to grunt while breathing, indicating labored breathing normally, so as a precaution they kept him on oxygen for a couple of days. Turns out he just likes to grunt like the other kids did. Completely amazed the doctors. We're glad they took the precautions anyway!



Smile, you're on Aidan's Candid Camera, Mom!

Roast Beast

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving and had the whole Morton family over. It was great having everyone together again and Mom always puts on a good spread!







Canning

This was a new experiment for me this year. I've dabbled a little bit with freezing produce but really have wanted to learn how to do this and to be more self-reliant. We have a great little garden started and I'd love to be able to put some of our harvest up for a later date.

Last week I tried applesauce for the first time. After a few mishaps and some trials and more errors, I finally got something worth giving! The kids passed it off as a keeper and I gotta say, it feels great knowing that my 7 hours, 2 broken nails and bad temper really was worth seeing those jars on the shelf!

Deck the Halls

Wasn't sure about this adventure this year with a new baby and a 2.5yo Turbo-powered kid running around! Turns out the older two were more, eh.. acrobatic than Garrett. They put every ornament I had on the poor tree and half way through we lost the bottom rung of lights. *Sigh* Mom's fancy trees are a thing of the past for some time to come, it seems, but it turned out pretty nice and they had a great time!



It's been great being off work for the past month. I don't want to go back! I can't say it's been a vacation.. cuz it hasn't. But I've loved spending time with each of my children and my husband and the great way we have come together to work at making our home a great environment for our family. I'm really going to miss that as I move back to the hustle and bustle. Hopefully we can keep a little bit of that in our daily lives. But one thing I am looking forward to... going into the gas station again instead of paying at the pump because I have a car full of kids I don't want to get out of their seats!

Warm wishes,

New Studio J Layouts

I just got back several Studio J orders and wanted to share what I've been up to. I really love this online software! With being pregnant our budget has been a little tighter as we prepare for our new baby boy this fall. As a member I get 50% off my printed projects, free sheet protectors and free shipping. It's cheaper than bying a paper pack! I haven't had a lot of time to spend in the craft room and Studio J is fast and fun! I've really been able to catch up on my scrapbooking by using the website, especially since I switched to a digital camera several years ago. No wondering if you've got the right size enlargement for your page, just drag and drop as you can see in the Grandma's Garden layout.

Enlargments are no worries with no extra expenses at the print shop, or preplanning your order to get the right photo in the right size. Plus, if I change my mind, I can just drag it to another sized photo well and drop it in! Grandma's Garden took me about 20 minutes to complete. I wanted a fun title for it, so I spent some time adjusting the size of the My Stickease and the layering to get the look I wanted, but the embelishments I used are just the ones suggested (every layout has this option for super quick scrappin'!)

When my sister became pregnant with her first child, I wanted to preserve the memories for her with our family as they live far away and we aren't able to visit often. She knew she was having a baby boy and wanted a rodeo theme for the nursery. I was in luck for the scrapbook with Sarsaparilla. This paper pack retired a few years ago and I've run out of it, but with Studio J, I can use it again and again! Didn't buy the My Stickease? No problem! Studio J has both sheets available to use as many as you want. And if you love one of the images and want to use it over and over again.. you can! No need to purchase a full package to repeat an image, just drag and drop!

If you're interested in learning more about Studio J, contact me today to set up a free consultation. We'll play with the software and even build a layout or two and there's no obligation to buy. It's okay - have fun with it!

Warm wishes,

Morton Family Update

It's been kind of hectic the past two weeks and we're only just starting August! I've been out of the office for a week, so thanks for staying patient and let me catch you up on our comings and goings.

I started the Week In The Life project July 25th and spent a week chronicling my daily life with photos and words. I was able to finish 5 out of the 8 layouts (7 days plus an intro and footer page) in Studio J, then had to set it aside to catch up on housework (booooring!) I hope to finish these this week and get them ordered for the album. I've still got supplies waiting to arrive, but I'm very excited to see this completed! Stay tuned.

The housework I mentioned above involved packing the two older children for a week-long camping vacation with Grandma and Grandpa Garrett in Fish Lake. A whole lotta laundry got done so we had stuff to take and stuff to wear when we got home (and spent more time catching up more laundry..) The kids left a few days before Brandon, Garrett and I headed up and we had a great time 4-wheeling on our favorite trails and seeing tons of deer. Brook decided she liked s'mores (finally, ONE kid likes them) and Brandon got to take his truck on a pretty tough trail out to Crater Lake. We had fun chronicling that for his trailblazer blog.

After such a nice vacation it was tough to come back to reality and I started a new shift this week as a result of our recent shift-bid change. We're working 12 hour days right now (3 plus a 4hr) and I can tell you it wasn't a popular topic at the dinner table a few months ago when we found out we would be changing from 5 eights. The plus side? Pretty much 4 days off that will ROCK! The bad? Three full days lost every week where I see very little of my family each night before we all go to bed. Think breakfast, lunch and dinner at work and in the winter you go to work in the dark and go home in the dark. I'm just about to end my first week and the adjustment is slow, but we'll make the best of it for the next few months.

Baby [insert name here... No REALLY.] is doing well. We are 25 1/2 weeks pregnant and things are going really well. Our little guy is very healthy so far and we're grateful for the blessings we have received with this very unexpected pregnancy. We have yet to pick a name (PLEASE send me your suggestions- we have a running list that has yet to narrow significantly) and this bothers me that we haven't named him yet. I like to connect through the name during pregnancy so it's frustrating to just call him Baby all the time. However, it does provide some comic relief as some people insist on calling him a different name every time they see us! "How is baby Stryker? When will we meet baby Conner?" (The funniest, most far-fetched so far is baby Jalepeno.)

We hope your past few weeks have been going well!

Warm wishes,

and the Mortons

Week In The Life {Saturday}

Little more stressful today. Jackson hit the doorbell first thing this morning and I told the kids they couldn't play until they got dressed and cleaned up the basement first. Whew, crisis diverted! I feel bad when I turn him away because I know his Mom sleeps during the day, but my own kids are hard everyday, let alone adding another! Brandon likes to sleep in late on my weekend to catch up, so I understand, but I just needed a break today and I had lots of cleaning to do.

I was able to get a mid-afternoon break when Brandon kept the kids outside while he mowed the lawn. Garrett and I went to Babies R Us for some door knob thingies (safety lock for the door so Garrett can't open them). The getting out and the locked doors were AMAZING! It's much nicer being able to keep him to a contained area free from markers and small toys! I had a good time perusing the stuff at the store and window shopping for the new baby. I wish you could have a shower every time, though! (My sister-in-law, Verliene, thinks you should have one every ten years minimum to replace the broken, faded, torn and fads. I agree, we should start it!)

Check out the day in pictures:

Yesterday's mail greets me today. Lookie what I have!!

Rice Chex with Aidan and Ellie

He's learned from the best what to do with his milk!

An outing with Garrett.

In the store cruisin for chicks, er.. stuff.

Plans for the album.

Gone crazy.

Warm wishes,

Brandon's Birthday Card and More Baby Layouts

I've been on a retro kick lately! Here is the card I made for Brandon's birthday. It features Over the Rainbow and is a great happy-day set. (I seem to be finding many birthday uses for it, too!) I absolutely love clouds (hence the Silver Lining) because they are so much fun! You can see another birthday card with this set here.

And here are some more baby book pages of Garrett. We're almost done, here, so bear with me! Lol! Again, there is not much in the way of embellishments. I really am just looking to get these DONE! (I do wish I could have used Studio J's photo editing feature to erase that hospital gown, though..) You can click on the pictures to see a large version or to read any journalling.

Don't forget that all during June you can get a free jpeg download of one of your layouts to do with as you please, just for having a Studio J account! You can create one here on my website. Then when you create your layout you will have the option to add it to your cart and get a free Jpeg. Next, you want to stop by my Facebook Fan Page and "Like" me to get all the updates, including a link on how to upload your Studio J Jpeg to enter a contest to win 10 more Studio J layouts, free shipping and 10 free page protectors! Go here to LIKE me today!

You'll want to get all the updates, especially later tonight when I announce how to win some swag for Liking my page!

Warm wishes,

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Last Day for Studio J at $64.95 and Garrett's Baby Book

I was able to work on Garrett's baby book again last night and have a few pages to show you. Before I do, I wanted to remind you the magic of National Scrapbook Month ends at midnight tonight. So, Cinderella, what that means is if you want in, you gotta do it now. What do you do? Here's the short list:

• The You & Me kit is only available through tonight.
• Get it now for $34.95.
• Get it cheaper for $15 with your $50 order.
• Get it totally FREE with your HALF PRICE consultant kit for $64.95. (This also includes two choices of booty including paper, ink and stamp bundles, Studio J Membership or Photo Albums as part of your kit!)
• Go here to DO IT NOW! Lol ( I love Ahnold quotes!)

Ok, now on to the baby! I added some journalling to the page I showed last night. The title is from my Cricut (because I was lazy and didn't want to cut out the stamps, lol!) He was such a big boy when he was born! Hard to believe he is already two and tripled in size.

This page was a lot of fun because I love family history. We picked a meaningful name for all of our kids, but it was fun to tie the whole family into Garrett's name. These pages detail the ancestors from which his names come from, going back 150 years, as well as highlight his grandparents.

I've got several more pages to finish in this and then I'll post some more photos. The 5 for $5 is coming up this  Thursday at 630p. If you'd like to attend, please text, call or email at 801.910.8698 or slvrlinin@live.com.

Warm wishes,

Garrett's Baby Book & Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you are all out enjoying! We have plentiful rain here, so no park for the kids. Hard to stay dry with a wet slide! Hopefully we'll be able to go out in a few days.

I started this awhile ago on the Simply Snapshots 9x9 pages which recently retired. Now that there's another one on the way, I better finish the other three baby books before I'm really behind!

I thought I was so clever, buying enough to finish the book.. However I forgot to buy the album and sheet protectors to go with it!! So to coin my sister, Holly's, favorite phrase, I said, "I can fix this" and proceeded to do just that.

I wasn't quite sure how to adapt these at first. As you know I am not a great fan of white space. I also don't have a lot of time and didn't want to spend more on a "finished" project. Suck it up kid, white space it is! I am really quite pleased with how they turned out, though. Almost minimalist, but with enough pop and color to be fun.

Some pages were just glued straight onto the White Daisy base, but on others I simply removed the photos on the backs and put them on new bases. I didn't spend a lot of time with B&T's - just more of a collage to highlight the pictures, with a few accents and some journaling as needed.

Yet another one of those projects that just needs to get done before the kids think we don't love them because they never got their own scrapbook, lol! If I hadn't had these already printed, I really think I'd have gone with Studio J for this. I really like how easy it is to get caught up and just get your pages DONE! (If you want a membership, they are only $64.95 this month - just ask me how!)

Hope your Memorial Day is memorable and not for the rain *smiles*!

Warm wishes,

29 Cent Dimensional Elements!!

Wow, if that didn't get your blood pumpin' I don't know what will! Close To My Heart has added some new sale items to the While Supplies Last section of my website. You can get colored Dimensional Element chipboard accessories for only 29 cents now! Rub-ons and ribbons are as low as $2.00! Stock up today! Kraft mini albums are only $1 and would be perfect for Mother's Day and Grandma Brag Books! Neighbor gifts for Christmas, perhaps? Buy now at WAY below cost and reap the rewards! See them here now. Because like all good things, this certainly won't last.

This is a layout I did a few years ago of Brandon holding a newborn Brook. She was only 1 day old and such a sweet bundle! Our first, we couldn't get enough cuddle time! I gave Brandon a framed copy of this for Father's Day that year. These Hollyhock Arrow Brads which anchor the photo and accent the paper are currently on sale on the website for DIRT CHEAP at $3.00 (45% off!) This sale is a great way to get some bling on, girl!

Warm wishes,

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 8

Welcome fellow Heart-Lovers!
We're counting down the days until Valentine's Day with a blog hop featuring DAILY Love notes - great works of art celebrating our most romantic holiday!

Today, my card is a bit of stretch for Valentine's as it was actually created for a baby shower card for my husband's cousin who is being *blessed* with triplets in a few months. I say *blessed* because - Wow! is it an amazing blessing, but Wow- that's scary to me!

However, after completing it, I thought it fit the bill for V-Day with the hearts and.. well, I'm using it! Lol! This is straight from Wishes - pattern, colors, design. The only thing I changed was the bling and I added pink hearts - she's having 2 boys and a girl, so her colors were blue, green and pink. The heart brad in the corner is not CTMH, but everything else is. They are just too fabulous not to use, though!

Since this is my duplicate copy the inside is left as original. It's a quote from the Unforgettable My Stickease. I thought it was appropriate for Valentine's Day as well. ~For Angie's I crossed out "one" and wrote the number "3" in blush marker, then also added an "s" to the end of miracles. It put a little spin on the surprise they felt at finding out they had triplets.

Supplies: Miracle papers, Sweet Leaf textured cardstock, Hit the Spot, Priceless Word Puzzle, Foundry Metal frames, Cherish Connections Rewards, Silver Brads, Mocha Opaques, Winter Cozy Buttons, Basics Embroidery Floss, Twilight Designer Ribbon Rounds.

Thanks for stopping by! Leave me some love and post a comment, then check out the linky party to see more fabulous DAILY works of heart!

Warm Wishes,