If you love photos, memory keeping and pretty products then scrapbooking is a no-brainer hobby. There is no shortage of supplies out there to help you fill album after album and tons of inspiration to be found from talented scrappers around the world.

But, did you know that scrapbooking is good for you? That’s right, the hobby that you love, loves you right back. Here are 6 reasons that scrapbooking isn’t just fun, it’s good for your soul!

Before I get into these points, I want to say quickly that the attitude you have when you scrapbook is going to determine whether it’s good for you. Approaching scrapbooking with an attitude of perfectionism, rigidity and comparison to others will quickly steal your joy and sap your energy.

I should also say that for me scrapbooking serves as a way to tell all kinds of stories: the good, the bad and the ugly. I have evolved as a scrapbooker from the early years of heavy product focus and only-happy-moment pages to minimal products, tons of journaling and focus on real-life experiences. To learn more from the guru herself about how to document your real life stories, check out Ali Edwards. I owe my process to her vision and products.

Scrapbooking is cathartic.

Telling your story with words + art is a healthy way to process it. In a certain sense, scrapbooking is a form of art therapy, utilizing different parts of the brain to make sense of your world and integrate experiences into your life. The medium of scrapbooking helps you to go deeper into experiences with photos and journaling and is a safe place to process hard times and reflect on your experiences. Creating art stimulates connections between various parts of your brain and this process builds psychological resilience and resistance to stress.

One of our holidays last year was pretty rough. I won’t share the details on here but suffice it to say, it was less than ideal. As I went to document the experience, I found myself facing the dilemma of how to tell the day’s story. Did I want to be honest? Did I want to just use minimal words and try to forget the details? Did I want to paint a rosy picture and pretend it was all just fine?

Any of those options are fine because we all make the rules in our scrapbook worlds. There is no “right” way to scrapbook. But, if you want to use scrapbooking as a therapeutic tool, then the more authentic the better.  For that holiday page, I sat down and just wrote. I didn’t edit, I didn’t consider whether anyone would ever read it. I just shared my experience completely unfiltered. I wrote four typed pages about what happened and felt so much better afterwards. I might not have felt able to verbalize my feelings in the moment it was all happening but my scrapbook was there, listening to my experience and offering a space to put it when I was ready. I didn’t end up using this writing on the design of the page, but slipped it behind the layout in the page protector. Journaling doesn’t have to be public, it can be like a little diary just for you in the hidden crevasse of your albums.

It can put a positive spin on challenging experiences and moments. Project Life is one of my favorite ways to document bad days. Whenever I’m having a tough day I think about how I can document it in Project Life. It reminds me that this is just one day inside one week. That week is inside one month in one year in one decade and so forth. It reminds me that it’s one piece of a greater whole and that I can move forward from it.

A few weeks ago I had a really rough day. As with all days, it wasn’t completely good or completely bad but, overall, I felt pretty blergh. I had the thought in the middle of the day that this was the perfect opportunity to use a chipboard piece I had been saving from Ali Edwards that said “Hard Day” in the week’s Project Life spread. That was such a positive spin on a crappy day and served as a coping skill to help me get through.

Scrapbooking creates perspective. One of my favorite ways to understand life is through the lens of seasons. Whether we like it or not, all things will end. This is both a wonderful and terrible reality. Scrapbooking serves both seasons- it can help you celebrate the pleasant ones and work through the rough ones.

It’s a method for compartmentalizing experiences to help you keep moving forward.  Albums are little holders with whom you can honor and share your story and then create a distance and an opportunity for the type of closure where you have a door to revisit things whenever you want.

Scrapbooking increases self-awareness and gratitude.

Scrapbooking can be a fascinating mirror to your life. Going through your albums and paying attention to what you’re documenting provides so much information about your values, your routines and yourself.

This is especially true when you consider scrapbooking daily routines or stories over the span of time. For example, if you do a project like Week in the Life or Project Life, you will see the way things change and also the way things stay the same over time. 

A couple of years ago my husband and daughter and I went to Great Wolf Lodge. It was our second time and I was so, so pumped. I LOVE Great Wolf Lodge. I was excited to watch our daughter go down slides, splash around the water and oh, the photos I imagined I would get. Laughing and splashing and wild fun!

I stood there in 6” of water at the bottom of a small slide, camera at the ready as I urged Ellie to go down. “I’ll be right here,” I promised. “It will be so much fun!” I became increasingly annoyed as she lingered by my side, holding on to my leg and watching other kids go down over and over. 

As I stood there, frustrated at her for not doing as I wanted her to, I became very aware of myself. I “zoomed out” and saw myself standing there next to a cautious and fearful toddler and suddenly realized that I was trying to create a moment to document rather than documenting the moment I was actually living. I saw my dad in myself, remembering the way he would get frustrated with me as a child for being cautious and afraid. I realized that this is so precious, the feeling of a child wanting comfort and being able to give it to them. I realized that this is a personality trait that will serve her well throughout her life and likely keep her out of trouble. I realized that this is not about me- it’s not about me having a photo or about me having fun. This is about her having an experience however she wants to have it and I am here to support and document whatever that story is.

I made a huge attitude adjustment and we had a really fun day. (And, for the record, she was going down the slide by herself over and over by the end of the trip and I got some really fun pictures.)

Scrapbooking builds self-worth and celebrates your love for others.

Scrapbooking is one of my love languages. It’s one of the ways I express love to myself and others. Taking the time to devote to a hobby is an important part of self-care. I work full-time at an emotionally challenging job and have a young child - life can be exhausting. The fact that I take time every day for myself is important. It’s me saying “I’m worth it.” I am worth the time, the money, the resources and the energy.

I have found that my process of creating has taught me a lot about who I am. My fear of wasting. My deeply sentimental heart.  My love of organization and cleanliness. My impulse to compare myself to others and dismiss the beauty of my own style. It is a chance to explore myself and express myself.

These albums are my legacy. They are my flag on the moon saying, ‘I was here and my life mattered.’ They are my way of saying to my daughter, ‘I noticed you. I paid attention when you talked. I knew your routines. I appreciated the way the light hit your hair in the morning or the way you rub your fingers together while you suck your thumb.’ It’s my best attempt to bottle things that I know are slipping away, to capture precious moments and hold them as close to me as I can for as long as possible.

Scrapbooking fosters connection and builds community.

The scrapbooking world is a little subculture full of passion and community. We have our own acronyms: DH = Dear Husband, DD = December Daily, LO = Layout…I could go on. We have celebrities -I totally geeked when I met Cathy Zielske. We have bullies (sadly).  We have opinions - hybrid vs. traditional vs. pocket pages vs. digital. We have crops and gatherings to spend time creating together, though we used to have more when brick and mortar scrapbook stores were still a thing. It’s really fun to be part of a group of people that share your passion and inspire you. I have made so many wonderful connections with crafters that I have never even met in person! And I have traveled near and far for events centered on this hobby that are among my favorite memories of all time.

Scrapbooking is your chance to play!  

Just because we are adults doesn’t mean we shouldn’t play! Scrapbooking is a great chance to express yourself through art and experiment with techniques, color, photography and writing. It is a beautiful thing to embrace the messiness of the creative process.  

I think most people get into scrapbooking because it’s fun! All of the beautiful products, the photos of people we love- what a gift to have the chance to celebrate our lives through this hobby.

Scrapbooking is a space that’s just for you.

I am blessed to have an entire room of our house dedicated to scrapbooking- but this wasn’t always the case. For the majority of my time as a scrapbooker I was confined to a desk in the corner of my room or apartment. At the beginning, I was working out of boxes in my closet. No matter where your space is or how big or small it is, it can be a retreat of creativity and a place where you have total control.

As an adult I operate within a lot of larger systems that have rules I must follow- but in this little world, it’s all me. I’m the queen bee. If I want to splatter 8 gallons of glitter on every page, I can. If I want to organize my albums according to color or year or type or person, I can. It's an opportunity for me to organize and create systems that are completely mine. My space, even when it was just a couple of plastic bins, has always been a safe haven where I feel completely in control and at peace.

If you want to hear more of me talking about this topic, you can listen to this episode of the Scrap Gals where I talk to Tracie and Tiffany. If you want to learn more about products that will help you tell the real stories of your life, you must visit Ali Edwards or Cathy Zielske.

Please let me know any thoughts or questions you have in the comments. Thanks for reading – now go forth and scrap your stories!

Yearly Recap

Oh, hey!

So what have I been doing and why haven't I been posting on my blog?

Well, because I have been posting on OTHER people's blogs. In the last year I have been lucky enough to be on three design teams, Ali Edwards, Elle's Studio and Sahin Designs. (I ultimately had to opt out of Sahin because being on three teams was proving a little overwhelming.)

One of my responsibilities as a design team member has been to write blog posts. Since I spend so much time creating the topic, doing the projects and writing the post, I rarely have time for my own blog.

So, here are the blog posts I have done in the last year:

Elle's Studio:

Creative Stamping

February 2018 Sketch Day

Icon Stamp Pocket Pages

Hearts and Arrows

Sahin Designs:

How to Not Waste Time When Scrapbooking

My 4 Favorite Tools to Make Scrapbooking Easier

3 Uses for Tags Created with Digital Scrapbook Elements

5 Scrap Stash Essentials for Hybrid Scrapbooking

Why You Should Stick to One Collection for Your Next Scrapbooking Project

I was also a guest designer over at Studio Calico earlier this month:

March Guest Designer at Studio Calico

In addition to these blog posts, I was part of a few classes offered by Elle's Studio:

Everyday Adventures Mini Album Class

From Sketch to Finish Vol. 2


Blog Posts are not a part of my requirement for being on Ali Edwards' team but I was part of the December Daily Product Play Class. I was also a guest storyteller for the themes of "Black and White" & "Up" .


I also taught a few classes at Big Picture Classes in 2016, for the record.

Embroidered Stamps

Fresh Perspectives for Pocket Page Scrapbooking

Custom Cross Stitch Characters


Lastly, I had so much fun talking to Tracie Claiborne and Tiffany Lowder on their great podcast "ScrapGals" last month about Why Scrapbooking is Good for You.

It's been a great year and I am so honored and thankful to have the chance to be part of such a vibrant and fun community of  inspiring memory keepers. I am also so thankful to be on design teams for companies that I admire and who make products I love to use.

It won't be another year until I update because I'm currently working on a written post about the things I talked about on the podcast.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a crafty day!

5 Steps to Speedy Scrapping!

The one thing I have heard over and over again since I started scrapbooking is:

"How do you find the time?" 

As a full-time working mother I won't say that I have all the time in the world. But the reality is that it has never been hard for me to find enough time to complete my projects.

Part of my personality is to do things really fast. I talk fast, I type fast, I think fast and I scrap fast. It's just who I am.

But I do believe there are other factors that play a role, especially as I have worked to juggle motherhood and full time work in the last two and a half years. I really believe that anyone who makes these adjustments will see a huge difference in productivity.

So, here are my 5 tip for scrapbooking with speed and efficiency to maximize your craft time.

1. Have an organized and dedicated space. 

It's best to organize according to how you work. For example, if you sit down while you scrapbook and don't like to get up a lot, then make sure that all of your products are within arms reach. (I call this the lazy scrapper method and it's certainly the way I do it. No shame, people.) If you like to move around more then make your space more mobile, perhaps with a higher desk and rolling furniture.

When considering how to organize your products, think about the way you add elements. Do you like to search for embellishments by shape, color or theme? Do you only use your die cutting machine once every decade but have it prominently on your desk?

You won't use it if you can't see it, so the more accessible your products are the more likely you are to use them. My favorite organization piece of furniture is this set of drawers from Ikea. I also love this one and use their white table tops as well.

I am lucky enough to have an entire room devoted to scrapbooking right now but this wasn't always the case. For the majority of the last 17 years I was confined to a single desk with some drawers underneath. If I ever lose my room, I am 100% sure I would invest in the Scrapbox. It holds SO much but doesn't take up much space at all. Plus, it comes in different colors and finishes so it's pretty versatile design-wise.

Another option is this portable workstation from American Crafts and We R Memory Keepers. You can keep your supplies organized and work straight from it so that no cleanup is necessary. That combined with a fold down wall desk would work great if you don't have a lot of room.

The reason that having a dedicated space is so important is that you don't have to start from scratch each time you work. Digging out boxes and setting up a workstation isn't the creative expression you're probably looking for so don't make yourself do it each time. There are lots of other scrapbook organization products that allow you to work directly out of them, without having to rifle through boxes or bins.

2. Have dedicated time. 

When our daughter was about 6 months old, my husband and I found evenings became draining time instead relaxing. It's hard to come home from work and go right back to work caring for a child. So, we started "splitting time" and it has made a world of difference. Every night, even on weekends unless we have plans, we each take 60-90 minutes to do something of our own choosing while the other one watches our daughter.  We have really clear boundaries during this time, there is no spillover where we get roped into watching her because she's banging on the door or crying for one of us. She's used to this routine and it's actually helped a lot in terms of delineating tasks. I always do dishes and start her bath and he always picks up at tooth brushing and puts her to bed. It works out perfectly for us.

I am aware that I have the luxury of a helpful partner who will do this and that some might find it hard to get that support. It might not be every single night but having a structured and routine time that you set aside for yourself is very healthy. Taking care of yourself is important and ultimately important for the people that you care about. I often use the analogy of a flight attendant on a plane when talking to my clients about self-care. Flight attendants explain that if you are traveling with a small child and the oxygen masks are deployed, that you must put yours on before your child's. Why? Because if you aren't OK, then they aren't going to be OK. Same applies here. Modeling good self-care and carving out time for yourself is a perfectly healthy and appropriate boundary to set. Here's more info on boundaries in case you are interested. (I'm a therapist, I couldn't help myself)

3. Maximize the time you have at your craft desk.

When it comes to scrapbooking, there is a lot of "prep work." This can include choosing photos, editing them, printing them, organizing them and writing journaling. Thanks to technology (it's a great time to be alive!) you can do these things during "downtime" and make sure that time are your craft table is reserved for fun.

4. Use technology! 

I highly recommend using your phone, tablet or laptop to edit photos and write journaling when you're out and about. You can use time in the car (not when you're driving- I don't need a lawsuit on my hands!), in line at the store or bored at work. I use two photo editing apps, Afterlight and PicTapGo. Both are great for editing and cropping. I import them into my laptop to arrange them on an either 8.5x11 or 13x19 page to prepare for printing at home using the Epson R2000. This means that when I sit down to scrapbook the only "prep work" I have to do is the actual printing and that takes less than 5 minutes.

5. Keep Perspective and Just Say NO to Perfectionism!

I miss the days of the scrapbook "crop." It was such a blast to sit around with other scrapbookers and work on projects late into the night, fueled by candy, adorable chipboard embellishments and adhesive fumes. I've attended crops with all types of scrapbookers, beginners and experts, kitschy and modern, old and young- we are a diverse bunch.

One thing that always made me sad is when someone would get stuck on a detail about a page for hours, slowly losing excitement and steam. I remember one specific time when I was at the late Archiver's (I miss brick and mortar stores) and there was a woman frantically running around looking for a "Belle" sticker. She explained that her daughter recently went to Disney World and met Belle and that she needed this sticker to complete her page. She was imploring employees to look in the back, having friends scrounge the sticker bins all the while having no fun at all.

Now, I'm not one to judge someone's embellishment choices. That's not the point. The point is that she was losing perspective. Did she get into scrapbooking because of her interest in matching stickers to events? Was the Belle sticker worth the frustration and would it add to the page in such a critical way that it needed to be found? It's important, especially in frustrated moments, to return to your "why." Why are you scrapbooking? Why does this matter? What's the most important part?

This is one of the many reasons why I love Ali Edwards so much. She instills a focus on intentional embellishments and storytelling. In the end, the stories are what will matter. I may love the new Pinkfresh stickers but I can promise you that in 100 years when my grandchildren are looking at these albums, they will care the most about two things- the photos and the journaling. The embellishments are fun but they aren't the point.

When it comes to productivity, you get to define what productive means. You get to define your own "enough." You might make a goal of completing one scrapbook per year or one scrapbook per month. You might put one embellishment on a page or a hundred. You are the queen of your scrapbook universe! My current "enough" is to do Project Life and other scrapbook pages as I feel inspired, usually about 1-2 a week. To read more about Ali Edwards' thoughts on how to define your own "enough," head over to this link.

Lastly, don't compare yourself to others or try to be someone you aren't. Be who you are - it takes less time!

What are your biggest obstacles to maximizing your productivity and your craft time? Do you have any other ideas? Please share in the comments below or on my Instagram.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm BAAAACK!!

Welcome back!

Actually, that's what you're supposed to say to me. After all, I'm the one returning to the world of blogging.

So, I'll wait while you congratulate me on my triumphant return.

*Blushes humbly*

Why, thank you. And yes Nancy from Tacoma, I do look great, thanks for noticing.

So, here I am. This will be my third (that's the one that's a charm right?) time attempting to write a blog and if you scroll down a bit you'll note that my last entry was 4 years ago. I still haven't figured out the formatting, some text is sort of janky, but I'm here and I'm trying.

A lot has happened in four years. I've changed jobs twice. I've had a baby who is now a toddler. I'm still madly in love with my husband. I have become highly dependent on the use of Gifs and Emoji to accurately convey my feelings in group texts.

And, of course, I am still scrapbooking.

Today I am going to share a layout that I just completed which I think shows the evolution I have experienced as a scrapbooker in the last four years. Ever since the magnificent Ali Edwards started her story kit subscription, I have changed the way I scrapbook or, stated more accurately, the way I tell stories through scrapbooking. I will address this more in future posts but for now, let's get to the layout.

This is a vulnerable story- and that's become my favorite kind to tell. Just like this adorable card says, "Connection is about being fucked-up together. There is no humanity in perfection."

So, I hope this will be a safe place for this story. I mean, the internet is a generally safe place right?

Famous last words. (Insert concerned emoji face)

Here is the journaling from the layout:

It all started with talk of the "bulbous tip."

I sat at the kitchen table with my parents my Junior year of high school talking negatively about my nose. They talked with ease about my mom's rhinoplasties as she also had the dreaded "bulbous tip." (I would in later years be casually talking to a friend in the kitchen about Brian's bulbous tip when he would overhear walking downstairs, offended and concerned that he had this feature. I assured him that i  t works better with his face which, oddly, it does.)

My memory is foggy on the details but I remember pieces. I remember my parents being very breezy and completely supportive. I remember my friend Eric sitting me down the night before the surgery, pleading with me to reconsider and assuring me I was beautiful just the way I was. I remember thinking that I was just like a character in Clueless- except that I was a side character in the back of the classroom massaging her nose in a mirror, not like Cher with her perfectly pleated skirts and porcelain skin.

I remember the black marks the doctor placed on my face in the three way mirror at our consultation, explaining where my features were misaligned and how he could correct them. I remember the room lights dimmed so that the bulbs lining the mirror shined even brighter as he took a black marker and drew dotted lines around my face. My nose seemed enormous, looming far beyond the rest of my face as if a rogue character who would never yield to the laws of beauty until tamed by his surgeon hands. I can still see my head turned to the right, the doctor showing me how far back my chin was in comparison to the looming nose. "See that?" he commented as I nodded in agreement.

I remember the feeling of urgency as I walked out of the office that day, thinking the surgery couldn't come soon enough- my face was misaligned! My bulbous tip was taking over!

I remember the doctor was young and relatively new. I remember wondering if he enjoyed his job and whether he thought I was pretty. I remember the waiting room of the office and the fancy feeling of being there. I remember years later my mom commenting on my nose, scrunching her face and saying she wished we had found a better plastic surgeon.

The surgery was the summer before my senior year. This was a summer where I was no longer a Devilette but still friends with the people on the team. I had a new part time job at Subway. I was dating Ben Wissel. It seemed like perfect timing, it would be completely healed by college and I was pretty free that summer to recover. Part of the surgery involved breaking my nose at the top in order to make it smaller, shaving it down and realigning it. I can still feel the jagged bone at the bridge where it was broken.

There ended up being two follow up surgeries. One because cartilage broke off (no clue why) and one to remove the chin implant that became infected, likely from my lack of cleanliness as I was too afraid and too squeamish to clean it. I was afraid of it because I didn't understand how it could stay in place. Would it somehow come loose like the rogue cartilage on my nose? Would it travel all over my body, eventually migrating to my nose and creating yet another of the dreaded bulbous tip?

This was the first time I had ever had surgery and I don't remember being scared. I remember lying on the table, counting back from 100 as I got the anesthesia. I remember being wheeled out of the surgery room and into a hallway where my mom stood talking to the staff. My mind was foggy as I was waking up but for some reason I was able to interject as my mom spoke wildly, flailing her arms.

"Did you get in an accident?" I asked.

"How did you know?!" she exclaimed, explaining that she wrecked my car pulling into McDonald's. I don't remember caring about the car, just feeling excited that I was finally fixed.

I remember feeling that I needed to live up to the surgery. That I was being given a gift, a gift of beauty. I felt that I should honor the gift by doing my part and being as beautiful as I could be.

I laid in bed with pain medications and my cat, Jinnie, for a week as I recovered. Friends visited and I made a point to get photos with them. I had just started scrapbooking at this point! I couldn't smile because I needed to keep my face really still so I look sort of crazy in the photos. I remember telling Rachel and Angie and Katie to stop making me laugh because I wasn't supposed to move my face. 

The worst part of the experience was in a follow up appointment. The doctor told me that he needed to inject steroids directly into my nose to keep it strong and prevent it from collapsing. This had happened to my mom so I knew it was important. It was by far the worst pain I had experienced until that point. I remember being alone as he injected three long needles into my nose, my head pressed hard against the chair in resistance.

I will never forget the disappointment I felt the moment the bandage was removed. I had been peeking obsessively under the bandage the week after the surgery, dying to get a glimpse of my new face. They told me it would be swollen for awhile and take about a year to settle in but I didn't really get it until I felt the disappointment. It looked even bigger. I felt like I had a pig face- it truly looked like a snout! It was even swollen for my senior pictures, very disappointing since I was sure they would be the perfect way to show off my new face.

It's been 17 years and I would say that my 
nose has finally "settled."

Visually, it's not the nose that I imagined it would be, but then again, neither is any part of my physical body. I always assumed growing up that I would eventually become that perfect type of beautiful I always dreamed of. It always seemed like it was ten pounds and one hair product away. 

I know now that it's all an illusion. And, 
more importantly, an illusion that isn't even worth my time.

Honestly, I feel fine about it. I think my nose looks fine. More importantly, I sort of don't care what my nose looks like. It's just a nose. It can smell and breathe and I think that's about all I really should expect from it.

Thinking back on this experience is weird. I feel really separated from the part of myself that went 
through it.  The person I am today would never choose to get that surgery for a variety of reasons. But I 
also wouldn't change anything because I know that I had to go through that experience to become the 
person I am today.

The only thing that I regret is how this will impact Ellie. I like to look at photos and see similarities in family member features. I love how I can see part of my brother's smile in our great uncle that I never met. I love that people say Chad looks just like his sweet grandfather.

But now I feel like that will never happen with Ellie. If she does get the bulbous tip, will she be ashamed? Will she see it as something that needs fixed because I once did? Have we lost a connection in the way we look? There is no longer that thread, from grandmother, to mother to her where we all share similar facial features. It's as though I've isolated myself physically with a nose not carved by genetics but rather by a mildly talented plastic surgeon. I feel sort of sad that I ever looked at myself in the mirror and deemed the blessed body I was given to not be good enough.

I have come a long way in terms of developing a positive body image and healthy relationship with my body. I appreciate my body. I do not allow myself to criticize the way I look based on cultural standards or what is seen as acceptable to others. I believe in health and wellness and giving my body what it needs so that I can fulfill my purpose in this life. But the fact that I underwent elective surgery to change something handed down to me from generations of family because the bulbous tip is not currently en vogue?

Well, it's a little bit sad.

Sometimes I wonder if the societal pressure women feel to look perfect is intentional systemic oppression intended to derail and disempower us from reaching our true potential.

But that's for another scrapbook layout.

Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing. This experience is a marker for me in terms of showing me how far I've come. It's an important part of my history and a story that needed to be told. And to my dear sweet Ellie, if you do get a bulbous tip, please, please embrace it. I promise it's beautiful. It's a part of history that I no longer hold but that you might get to. Focus on the function of your body. It's a vessel so that you can live your life, not the purpose of your life.

And anyway, do you think Rudolph would have led that sleigh without his big bulbous tip?

I don't think so! #fingersnap

Brian and Brooke

I have recently been on a roll of scrapbooking pictures of my brother and his FABULOUS girlfriend Brooke! Chad and I have settled into the daily humdrum married life and things don't feel quite as exciting as they once did. (Not that I would trade our comfort for anything!)

So, scrapbooking photos of this young beautiful couple has brought new life into my scrapbooking! Enjoy!

Crafty Christmas

I have lots of crafty friends, which makes for a very fun Christmas every year. Unfortunately, as we all get settled into our crazy lives, there isn't as much time for crafting as we might wish. So, a few friends and I decided this year to do a craft exchange. The rules- nothing over $10 and the gift must have a handmade component.

Thankfully, I got someone who appreciates embroidery which gave me a great excuse to buy the template for these adorable animals from Sublime Stitching! I changed the titles to include all the members of her family including her most recent addition, Max.

Check back soon for more crafty goodness!