9 Favorites in 2009

My favorite layouts of 2009
in no particular order...

This one was based on a Target ad & for a
challenge on the American Crafts blog.

Love the white space and simplicity.

And our picture with Melissa Joan Hart.

Made this one for KI.
Love the colors and fun-ness of it.
and the subjects.
:)

There was looooots of running in '09 & that means
lots of running pics to scrapbook.
Since I have not yet scrapped Disney marathon '09
this defaults to my fav{e} running layout of the year.

Just love this one.
Makes me feel warm & fuzzy.

This was the first layout I did with my
first official {DT} Kenner Road kit.
Love how it turned out.

and Ginny.

This one was one of my Master Pieces layouts
when Memory Makers was still around.
{sadness}
Love the corny humor I attempted on this one.

And the yardboy.
{that's Lee in case I have confused anyone}

Made with the July Freehand Scraps kit.

This one is what scrapbooking is all about for me.

Made this one for My Little Shoebox.

Love the cake.

and the subjects of course.

Another one for KI.

I just love it.

And I don't think I have ever used purple on a layout before!
__________________________________
So here's to a great 2010!
{and lots of scrapping!}
Happy New Year friends!
:)
gretchen

We had a good Christmas!
And hope you did too!
:)
gretchen

The ole box joke

Here's a little glimpse into my side of the family's Christmas.
The Misner's are known for their corny jokes.

It goes all the way back to my mom and dad.

:)
The corny jokes are never more prevalent than they are at Christmas.
Let me give you an example...
Person is given a present to open.

Present is in a box wrapped in pretty Christmas paper.

Person tears into the paper and then raves about the box:

"Oh my gosh, a box! Sweet! It is what I have always wanted!
Thank you so much!"

Then person suavely puts the box down and waits for the next person to open their present all the while anticipating the loads of laughter they will get from their clever joke.
But the joke doesn't end there.

Where is the fun in that??
The next time the person gets a present, he will rave about the brown box he opens that matches the white box he opened the present before.

And around and around the corny jokes go.
Year after year.

Brother David is king of the box joke.

{All supplies-patterned paper, glitter alphas,
chipboard embellies, ribbon are KI Memories}

But we totally got him last year when we actually wrapped up a box inside a larger box.

Total burn!!!!!
Don't worry, that did not stop the box joke from returning this year!
Hope you had a Merry Christmas!
:)
gretchen

December 25th

Have a very Merry Christmas!!

And happy birthday Jesus!
:)
gretchen

It's not Christmas-y necessarily...

but I do think it is appropriate this time of year.
{and who minds staring at Rob Thomas for a few minutes??!! not I!}

Merry Christmas!
:)
gretchen

Baby it's cold outside

It might be like 30 degrees outside right now but it was most certainly not that kind of weather when we were at the beach this past summer!!
{as much as I complain about the heat, I still prefer summer over winter any day. except for sweaters. i do love my sweaters.}

****
IT'S NOT HERE
BECAUSE

IT IS BEING PUBLISHED!!
****

Supplies: Cardstock (Prism); Patterned paper, die cuts, chipboard alphas (My Little Shoebox)

I thought I would try to warm you up by sharing this layout today.
You are welcome.

:)
________________________________

And happy 38th anniversary to these two crazy kids!

Supplies: November Kenner Road kit

Happy Monday!

4 more days 'til Christmas!
:)
gretchen

Christmas-card-making fool!

So what do you do when you decide to make Christmas cards
with less than 1 week until the holiday??
Well you make the same card over & over again!!

And then my ADD kicked in & I had to make something different!

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill); Patterned paper, glitter brads, rub-ons, stickers, & jewels (Little Yellow Bicycle), Die cuts (Making Memories)

Looks like at least a few relatives will be getting cards!
{And those of you that don't...we still love you!
My fingers just aren't fast enough!}

:)

Still got a little shopping to do so I am out!

{you didn't actually think I would
have all my shopping done by now, did you??}
:)
gretchen

Be Merry

KI is doing a 12 Days of Christmas countdown
to the big day on their blog right now.

It is 12 days of fun new Christmas projects complete with instructions.
{and of course there are great giveaways going on too!}

I made a banner that I have hanging from my mantle right now.

And I love it!

Here are a few close-ups shots...

For more pictures, a supply list, and instructions to make this, head over to the KI blog.
While you are there give yourself a chance to win a great prize full of KI stuff!

Leave a comment on any & all of the "12 Days of Christmas" posts for a chance to win.

The more posts you comment on, the greater your chance to win!

Then after Christmas they will draw for a big winner!

YAY!

It could be you!
:)
Merry Christmas!
gretchen

Last minute

Christmas is 7 days away.

Depending on where it is going, mail takes
roughly 2-4 days to be delivered.

No mail will be delivered on the 25th.

That means essentially there are 6 days left
for Christmas cards to reach their destination
before the holiday.

I wonder how many cards I can make in 2 days?

(All supplies are Little Yellow Bicyle)

I might need to make a few "Happy New Year" cards just in case. _______________________

Total sidenote:

Anybody got their hands on the January CK yet?

I am wondering how it is & if I should renew my subscription.

No Ali. No Becky's sketch. And I hear no Dear Lizzy either.

Hrmph.

Sadness.

I would love to hear some opinions!
_______________________

:)
gretchen

the cat's out of the bag

Kerry Lynn asked me to stay on and
be a for-real designer for Kenner Road!
Um, YEAH!! Did she even have to ask!!??!!

{I was sitting at my computer when her email

came through and purposely waited a little while

to email her back...you know, just playing it cool.

I think I made it a grand total of 5 minutes

before I emailed her back...

in all caps, by the way, so I totally blew my coolness attempt!}
____________________________________
And I get to start immediately!

So here is what I made with the December kit (Seven Gables)

and the embellishment add-on (Ramble).
_____________________________

I have I told you about my sweet friend Ginny??

Here's one with pics from this past Thanksgiving.
{and a funny story!}

Here's a sweet simple card...

And I even tried to go a little patriotic with this kit!

Kits are on sale now!
Get 'em while they are hot (and available)!!

{I've got plenty of leftovers from these kits
so you will probably be seeing more from it!}

:)
gretchen

Tease

So I've been working on some stuff.

It's some stuff that I am pretty excited about.

Curious at all?

Why don't you join me here for a little chatty-chat this evening.

:)
gretchen

Merry Christmas!

Just popping in quickly to say Merry Christmas!
It has been a crazy week but I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend and a chance to enjoy the season!

Supplies: Cardstock (Coordinations), Patterned paper (KI Memories), Bling (Heidi Swapp), Stickers (KI Memories), Brads (KI Memories)
________________________________
Want to win something?
Go to the KI blog and leave a comment on this post for a chance to win some scrappy goodness!
________________________________
Enjoy the weekend!
:)
gretchen

In numbers

And now to document the milestone...

Supplies: Cardstock (Prism); Die cuts, chipboard alphas, tiny alphas, transparency (My Little Shoebox); Bling (Heidi Swapp); Brads (KI Memories)

:)
Thanks for looking!
gretchen

Lucky 7

7 years ago I married the coolest guy ever.

I cannot believe it has been that long.
Time flies.
And it has certainly been an excellent 7 years.

Here's to hoping for seven-ty more!
:)
gretchen

{sorry, this is about as cheesy, mushy as I can get!}

Running with bells on

Literally!

One fun thing about Christmas time around the Birmingham area: the annual Jingle Bell Run!

It is kind of like Disney...grown adults can wear silly things & act a fool and it is totally acceptable {and kind of encouraged}!

The shorts were a really bad idea though.
There were a couple of times I looked down to make sure they were still on because I literally could not feel my legs.
And I am not one that usually gives up comfort for fashion!
{if you can even call what i have on "fashion"}

I am pretty sure this was not the real Santa.
I could see his other mustache under his beard.
But I did mention to him that I have been really good year & I want an iTouch, Lizzy's new book, and new running shoes for Christmas just in case.


Ah, good times!!
______________________________
And how about that Bama game, huh??!!
ROLL TIDE!!
:)
gretchen

Are you up for a challenge??

Like do you think you can make a layout without patterned paper??
I have a challenge up on the Kenner Road blog today and the challenge is just that:
make something {layout, card, project, whatever} without patterned paper!
Check out the challenge here!
And this is what I made.

{all supplies are from Kenner Road's November kit: Timber Cove}

Link up at Kenner Road and link me up here too if you play along!
Thanks for looking!!

oh and ROOOOOLL TIDE!!
:)
gretchen

It's starting to look alot like Christmas

The tree has been bought.

The decorations are being put out.
The house smells like cinnamon.

Supplies: Patterned paper, rub-ons, chipboard embellishment, brads (KI Memories)

I usually love Christmas.

Usually.

Up until about 3 years ago I adored Christmas.

But I will admit that my attitude has been more bah-humbugish than it should have been over the past few years.
It stems from the trying to be in 3 places at once so that we see every family member at the time when is most convenient for them which usually means spending way too many hours in the car and not being able to actually just BE and enjoy the holiday while still managing to piss off someone because we were not able to accomodate them just like they wanted.
{how is that for a run-on sentence!!??}

Last year's Christmas was an all out disaster.
I mean, there was a family member who refused to talk to me for a few months.

{it was so bad I haven't even scrapped it and don't really want to...somethings may be best not remembered}

So freakin' bah humbug!

BUT...

This year is going to be better!
I refuse to let my Christmas be ruined.

I am not going to stress.

I am not going to try to be in 1,000,000 places at once.

Supplies: Patterned paper, chipboard sentiment, border stickers (KI Memories), bling (Heidi Swapp)

So there might be lots of Christmas stuff on this blog over the next month.

It is all in my effort to enjoy the holiday.

I watched Elf Monday night.
Tonight I am watching the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting thing on TV and Rob Thomas just sang a song to me.

This year is already off to a good start!
:)
gretchen

Just for David

I learned something unfortunate over the weekend.
Apparently one brother refuses to read this blog anymore because he feels like the other brother gets preferential treatment.
Hrmph.
Apparently he forgot about this layout.

And maybe he just never saw this one.

Really, though, I can't be too hard on him because he did just turn 30
{see above layout}
and I know his memory is not as sharp as it used to be.

So I thought I would dedicate an entire blog post to my brother David.
{and judging from the comments I get every time I mention the brothers, most of yall will not mind}

He is passionate.

He is loyal.

He can quote Dumb & Dumber, Blades of Glory, and the Pink Panther movies word for word.

He is a reader. He is so gullible making surprising him super easy and fun!
He has good hair.

He is great with kids and adults love him too.
And he can teach a mean tennis lesson!

He loves his family.
He loves the Lord.

And he just started a blog! Here is a linky if you want to check it out.
{he was not so keen on the cute layouts from shabbyblogs.com...go figure}

To make good and sure I am back in his good graces,
here is a new David layout just for good measure.

Supplies: Patterned paper (My Mind's Eye), Alphabet stickers (KI Memories), Border stickers & brads (Doodlebug), Pen (American Crafts), misc (staples)

Can you tell I love my brother??!
:)
gretchen