on center stage

the december kit from studio calico is absolutely lovely. it COULD be christmasy, but it COULD not be christmasy. it's kind of like a chameleon that way :) i love it because it has some crate, because of the red making memories paper, because of the lace stamp that is undeniably cool, because of the sparkly letters, and because of the pink paislee pixie stix (and i DON'T typically gravitate toward glitter because it's a messy thing) but most of all, i LOVE LOVE LOVE the nadiya stamps. i tend to like nice clean fonts, never been a floofy font kind of girl. but these stamps have won my heart for good. and come on admit it, everyone has a favorite letter, one they love to write over and over. i know you do. mine changes from time to time, but i really like writing the letter "g" when they are fancy looking like this:



well, the nadiya stamp has THE COOLEST looking "y." if i could swoop my "y" like that, i'd be doing it all the time. but no need now. i have the stamps. you should get them. :) see the "y" in this layout about me good friend nicole harper? pretty cool huh?


i also used the stamps on this layout using the christmas carol layout and this thanks card. the card was intended to be a jumpstart for my creativity that hadn't been flowing. i LOVE how it turned out, it makes me happy. i need to make an envelope now, it's an odd size.




then there's the "rejoice" garland with which i think i'm the only one that is impressed. i don't make crafty decorations for my home. i just don't. ok maybe once in a while. but this is a crafty decoration and i kind of like it. those birds come from a pattern i found on kate's paperie. they are called peaceful partridges and they are just pretty. i felt almost like martha for a bit there. couldn't get enough of the glitter. i used 4/5 of the tube. crazy.



and finally, my favorite piece. i reworked this one 3 times. and it was worth every tear i shed. i got rid of one of the pictures, i'll have to save that one for another layout :) i get crate&barrel magazine and the christmas one came just in time for this layout's inspiration. see this cute stocking? see any resemblance? were i ever to spontaniously become a millionaire, you know where i'd be spending my first $500,000... anyway, back to the layout. my daughter, my beautiful graceful daughter, she constantly amazes me, making me wonder what i did to be so blessed. this is about how i used to have to force her to practice the piano when she was younger. now it's so different, she now just sits and plays. it's a beautiful thing. the journaling card is a studio calico exclusive item, there are three in the kit. they are cool. the front has an image and lines, the back has a very cool pattern. it's a toss up which side to use.



so there you have it. an updated blog for paula, who did a mini about me, well at least inspired by me. and a special thanks to gillian for getting me in a chatty mood. love my friends.