Merry Christmas!

A quick note to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you all enjoy the day - a day to rest, relax, and savor the gifts that are among us.  

Lots of love!

Erika

Thank you, Kristin!

My dear friend Kristin is an amazingly QUICK scrapper - she is busy with a big family and all that's required in running a household. But, she always finds time to SCRAP! It keeps her sane, she says :) This year, 2008 that is, she accepted a challenge to scrapbook a page a day...yes, 365 pages in one year...and, ya know what?! She's almost DOUBLED that! AMAZING!

When I asked how she did it, part of the trick is her new found love with the simplicity of digital scrapbooking. But, she also said she scraps every night for about an hour or so before bed. It relaxes her and gets her mind off all the craziness of the day. And, it gives her the feeling of accomplishment - something neat and tidy that she actually finished.

She encouraged me to do the same, and last week, I got started! Every night before bed, I have given myself an hour (or two if I'm up for it!) to do something creative - it doesn't have to be a page, it could be a card, or just a little project. What I have done this week amazed me! I scrapped 5 pages this week! Yes...FIVE. I know that might not seem like a lot, but for me it was a really big deal...usually I spend hours and hours deliberating over my pages, stunting the creative process in exchange for my unending perfectionism. BUT NOT THIS WEEK! This week I let my little inner artist come out and play!

One of the most liberating things I've done lately has been to allow myself not only the time to scrapbook, but also the freedom to scrap any size I want. I've started dabbling in 8X8, 8.5X11 (vertical and horizontal), 6X12 or 12X6, and MORE MINI BOOKS! I'm LOVIN'IT!! The nice thing about these smaller sizes is that they're also easier to scan and SHOW YOU :) So, here are a couple pages I did this week - they're from David's graduation (yes, that was in MAY...so I'm a little behind?!?!)

For this "Ascend Together" page, I used little pieces of transparencies to soften the pure white papers. I'm really going to miss my Chatterbox letter stickers when I run out...gotta find more of these! The finishing touch was my Stampin' Up Baroque Motifs stamp - a STAPLE, I tell ya! One of the pictures is David supporting me at my graduation, while the other is me supporting him at his graduation...awwww....

This page is very Ali-esque, I know! I softened the edges of the cream colored papers by using a make-up applicator and some soft inks (SU going grey, bordering blue, and creamy caramel). The "Gifts" title is done with Technique Tuesday acrylic stamps, first in Whisper White craft pad, then with More Mustard craft pad over that. Then, I used a blender pen to join the letters together to make it look like it's all one word. YAY!

Oh Christmas TREE

This year was such a FUN year for Christmas decorating. We got started early (just the way I like it!) and we had Brandon & Susan out to help us! Definitely wonderful to have them out to visit and then to get to decorate for Christmas together?!? SO GREAT!

We found an affordable but beautiful tree @ "Can Trash" as David refers to Canadian Tire...but hey, it was convenient. We stuck with the same theme as last year: Black & White - which looks super great with all my black and white house stuff now (Darryl & Linsday would love that!) Enjoy pics of our decorating weekend below...a little peek into our home!

(Above) David's been taking guitar lessons, which has been great. Brandon and David played some worship songs for us (Sue plays too...I'm the only one who just tries to sing...) Very inspirational and relaxing :)

One of my FAVORITE Melnychuk traditions: Cinnamon rolls during the decorating! YUM!

And, thanks to Brian & Alyssa for adding another tradition: Egg Nog + Coke...yes, that's right. David loves it...me...not so much!

Thanks to Krystal, my lovely SISTER for my cute Eddie Bauer down vest - this was it's debute into the winter season! LOVE IT! Such a great pic of Sue too - I miss you already, girly!

Which is the lift?

SCRAPLIFT: to copy an element or the entirety of another's scrapbooking or papercraft artwork

Oddly enough I ended up with these two cards hanging on my fridge at the same time...one I got from my dear friend Alyssa (the sweetest thing when you send me cards, girl) and one I bought for my hubby David to tell him how thankful I am for him...Can you believe how alike these two cards are?!?! Makes me wonder if Hallmark copied Stampin' Up, or the other way around...! Food for thought :)