MAGGIE HOLMES Photography and Scrapbooking Blog

Winner: 52 More Challenges Giveaway

The winner of Elizabeth Kartchner's new book is:

Ashley Harris said...

Oh how fun! Every year on Christmas Eve, we go to my in-laws and we all act out Luke 2. Then we write a letter to ourselves to be opened next Christmas Eve.

ReplyDecember 05, 2009 at 06:02 AM

Congrats Ashley! Email me your address and I will send your book out soon! 

The Christmas decorations are all finally up, including the tree! Hooray! I love waking up each morning and coming downstairs to all of the bright colors and sparkly glittery things around the house! It makes me happy! I will try to take some pictures this week to share. I love seeing bits and pieces of other people's houses during the holidays and how they decorate! 

Last night I made my to-do list for today and it was over 20 items long! eek!!! But I am happy to say that I am making good progress and I have crossed off more than half of it already! I am soooo a to-do list kind of girl -- love being able to see what I need to get done and even more I love the satisfaction that comes from crossing things off!! I think I am finally seeing the light at the end of the crazy busy holiday photography tunnel! :) I am almost done editing and just have a couple more shoots this month. I have a couple more cards to design and then I need to design ours and I will be done! yipeeee! 

Thanks for sharing all of your family traditions and great ideas for celebrating the holidays! I have enjoyed reading all of them and am excited to try out some of your ideas! Have a great day!

Giveaways

Hi there! I am happy to say that we have a lot of the Christmas decorations up and it is definitely starting to feel very festive around here. We really just have the tree left and hopefully we will get that set up and decorated tomorrow! 

Emily Jane thinks that the decorations mean it is someone's birthday. She keeps looking at everything and saying "birthday party!" And I also keep hearing her sing "happy birthday to you, for emwee".

She is also going around singing "mommy and daddy are maaaaaaad" which is from the song "I'm gettin nuttin for Christmas" that she has been listening to on my phone all week. We think it is pretty cute but when she is singing it in the store people are probably wondering what kind of parents we are if our 2 year old daughter is singing about us being mad! :)

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Anyway, on to the giveaways!

The first one is brought to you by Scrapbook Trends Magazine. They are giving away a pink Making Memories Slice!! You know I love the Slice and if you don't have one already then be sure to head over to their blog to find out how to enter to win! Or even if you already have one you can still enter -- the pink one is pretty darn cute! :)

Just to show you a tiny tidbit of what the Slice can do here is a project I did with it.

 

 

 Most of the elements in this card were cut with the Slice! I especially love all of the tags and scalloped edge shapes that it cuts! I find myself using those a lot!

Next we have another giveaway sponsored by Creating Keepsakes Magazine. They were nice enough to give me two copies of Elizabeth Kartchner's new book titled "52 More Scrapbooking Challenges" and I would love to ship my extra copy to one of you! 

 

If you don't already follow Liz's blog, then you must check it out and I guarantee you are in for a treat. Not only is she super talented but she is also adorable and incredibly sweet. (and no, she isn't paying me to say this! :) ) I met her a couple years ago when we were both teaching at the CKC in Mesa and we have been friends ever since! She is great! This book is nothing short of what I expected from her -- cute and clever and full of inspiration!! Love it! 

To enter to win this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment here on this post and tell me something your family does to celebrate the holidays. It can be anything from a small and simple tradition to a big activity.... whatever you do that makes the season fun and memorable! I am trying to think of lots of fun things to do with my family this Christmas season and I could use some fresh ideas! 

I will draw a winner on Monday! Good luck!

It's {NOT} beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

My house still has glittered pumpkins and owls and orange leaves which don't really tie into the whole Christmas scheme.....

We have broken out the Holiday tunes on my IPhone though......

So I guess you could say that it is beginning to sound a lot like Christmas over here (just keep your eyes closed) :)

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I think I have talked before about how Emily Jane is head over heels in love with her daddy... seriously it is not an exaggeration! You can literally just see it in the way she looks at him -- all gaga eyes and everything! It is hysterical! 

Well today Brian was already gone to work when the rest of us got up but when we came home from taking the boys to school, his truck was in the driveway. Emily spotted it and like she always does started yelling with utter excitement "Daddy's home, Daddy's home, Yeah, Hooooooray" (and her arms go up in the air when she says Hooray!) 

Then she let out a big sigh and said to me "My daddy is so cute!"

Oh how I love her..... and him and their cute daddy/daughter relationship!! It makes my heart skip a beat!

Scrapbooking Shares

Joy and I hosted the blog over at Studio Calico last week and wanted to share a couple of the layouts I did.

The first is for the challenge that we gave which was to create a page around the theme of gratitude and also to use at least 8 different patterned papers! You know I love mixing lots of different patterns so it was a fun one for me!

Here is my take on the challenge:

 

Quite a few of the Studio Calico gals joined in on the challenge so if you want to see their layouts you can go here. If you scroll down to the comments there are links to the images where you can see all of their layouts! lots of inspiration there especially if you are looking for ideas on using up those scraps and adding lots of patterned paper to your layouts!

I also created a tutorial on painting and misting. You can see the full post here with detailed instructions and photos.

This is the finished layout:

Happy Monday! It is a short work/school week which always means lots of excitement and anticipation for us and the kids! Hopefully I can get lots done in the next couple of days!

Studio Calico Giveaway Winner!

Here is the winner (drawn at random):

Didee said:

Such a gorgeous page using the collection! I love the mirrors in your family room too!! Thank you for the chance to win this amazing collection! xo

Congrats Didee! 

Email me your info and we will get the Home Front collection sent out to you! I know you will love it!

Thanks to everyone for all of the really sweet comments about our family room and the mirrors! Who knew that you all would love those mirrors so much! :) To answer your questions -- The mirrors are from Ikea and I believe they still have them. And they weren't too hard to hang actually... lots of measuring and checking all of my marks with the level before I actually hung them to make sure they would be straight and even. And if you can believe it I hung them by myself! It was a little scary up there on the ladder but you see I have this flaw in my personality where once I decide I want to do something I have no patience and I want it done NOW because I get too excited, which usually means that I don't even wait for my husband to get home to help me.... and you think I would learn my lesson but I keep doing it -- like when I hung the cabinets in my scrapbook room by myself and when I put up the tile backsplash in our kitchen.... I must be a glutton for punishment or maybe I just need to learn a little patience! :) Silly me!

I am super busy editing photos trying to catch up and get everyone's proofs done... I will try to post sneak peeks as I go! Here are a few from a newborn shoot I did last week.... 2 adorable little girls!

(All four photos edited with my Urban Action at different opacities from the Color Mix Set.)

Oh and one more thing.... Have you seen the sneak peeks for December's kits over at Studio Calico? I just finished up my project using the Woodwinds project kit.... If you like the Making Memories Vintage Findings products then you will love this kit! At first I wasn't sure what I would do but I love how it turned out! Can't wait to share the whole thing with you! Here is a little peek....

Oops, I know I said one more thing but there is actually something else I just thought of.... I am working on some upcoming tutorials for Studio Calico and would love your input. Is there anything that you would like to see a tutorial on? It can be something you have seen me do on a layout or a project or something photography related or even something that you haven't seen me do. What techniques are you dying to try or would like more info about? Let me know by posting your comment here and your ideas may just turn into a tutorial! Thanks in advance! Can't wait to hear from you! Have a great day!!

Drawing a winner for the Studio Calico giveaway right now! Good luck!

Studio Calico Blog Hop and Giveaway!

What makes your house feel like home? Since the new Studio Calico product line is called Home Front, we thought it would be fun to share something about our homes. In thinking about it I decided that there isn't really one specific "thing" that makes my house feel like home to me. Rather it is having my family around me that makes me feel at home. Of course all of our decorations and family pictures on the walls definitely help to make it feel cozy and warm and personal to us but I could really live anywhere and as long as I have my husband and kiddos around me I think it would feel like home. 

So, I decided to take a picture of our family room and do a layout about that to share with you today. Our home is situated so that the kitchen, eating area and family room all kind of flow together and those three areas make up the bulk of our main floor and living space. We spend the majority of our time in the family room - hanging out, watching tv, playing games around the ottoman. We are lucky that our family room is quite large so it really works well as a gathering place and there is plenty of room to spread out and get comfortable. There is even enough room for the boys to wrestle, play a little flag football and lots of passing the ball back and forth with dad! (And I have to say that I don't really think that those things should be done in the house... but with 3 boys I have learned to bite my tongue and be ok with it as long as they keep it under control!) Emily has even started to join in on the fun - going over by the back sliding glass door and telling dad to "pass it". It's pretty cute!

 

Almost all of the elements in my layout are from the new Home Front line (everything except the cardstock, mist, brads, buttons, flowers and leaves). 

Studio Calico is sharing part of their home with you as well by sponsoring a giveaway of this brand new line. Imagine June Cleaver styled 1950's domestic bliss. Featuring optimistic colors and smooth vintage inspired patterns, you'll find fresh stained wood grain, retro home decor, an exclusive SC cardstock alpha set and much more! Home Front is versatile, colorful, and beautiful and I know you will love it!! I know I do!! Here is a sneak peek at the collection. You can see everything on the Studio Calico blog. Just scroll down to some of the earlier posts (posted early November).

To win this collection, simply leave a comment on this post. You have until Wednesday morning when I will be back to draw a winner. All of the Studio Calico designers are joining in on the blog hop which means that you can enter to win on each of our blogs! Just visit each of their blogs and post a comment -- that gives you multiple chances of winning! You will also find a layout from each of them featuring the Home Front line! It's always fun to see the different things that everyone comes up with using the same products!

Here are the links to everyone's blogs:

April Foster

Celine Navarro

Davinie Fiero

Emily Pitts

Jenn Olson

Joy Madison

Kelly Noel

Lisa Truesdell

Nicole Harper

Nicole Samuels

Stephanie Howell

Tina Aszmus

The Home Front collection is available at many online stores already, including 2peasinabucket and amillionmemories. You can also request that your local scrapbook stores carry it as well! 

Have fun and good luck! 

Winner: Making Memories Giveaway

The winner of the Vintage Findings Package goes to: 

Joanna Ganning said:

I absolutely love the colors in this line of products! The gray-blue and green soften everything so easily and give it a classic look. Congrats on the Dream Team position!

Congrats Joanna! Email me your address and we will get your package sent out soon! 

I also want to give a big thank you to everyone for your sweet comments! It really means a lot! Hope you are all getting your week off to a great start! We are jumping in full swing here - working on a layout for CK, getting ready (and excited) to do next month's layouts for Studio Calico and gearing up for a full week of photo shoots! Happy Monday!!

Sponsor Giveaway: Making Memories

I was pretty excited to find out that two of the other Making Memories designers will also be on the CK Dream Team next year! Laura Vegas and Wendy Anderson are both fabulous artists and also two of the sweetest girls you will ever meet! 

Making Memories is helping us celebrate by sponsoring giveaways on each of our blogs! I chose the new Vintage Findings line for my giveaway! I adore everything about this line and have quite a stash hoarded away because I know I will be extremely sad if I ever run out! In fact I used the Mini Nature Kit (pictured below) in one of my classes that I taught in Africa! I simply can't get enough of it!

 

If you want a chance to win, leave a comment on this post and I will be back on Monday to draw a winner. You can also enter to win one of the other two prizes on Laura and Wendy's blogs so be sure to hop over there to see what they are giving away! (We each got to choose our own prize!) Thanks Making Memories!

filed under: Scrapbooking Giveaway, Creating Keepsakes Magazine, Making Memories

Creating Keepsakes Dream Team

Year number 3.... 

honored and excited to be a part of the Dream Team again for 2010. 

Also equally excited about the new designers that are joining us and can't wait to see more of their work in the magazine this year.

Another thing I am excited about is the fact that I came home from Africa to an entryway full of boxes filled with the latest goodies from these kind and generous companies:

Adornit – Carolee’s Creations, Advantus, American Art Clay Company, American Crafts, Anna Griffin, BasicGrey, Bazzill Basics Paper, Bella Blvd, Bisous, Bo-Bunny Press, Buttons Galore,C.R. Gibson, Clearsnap, Close To My Heart, Colorbök, Core’dinations, Cornish Heritage Farms, Cosmo Cricket, The Crafter’s Workshop, Creative Memories, Die Cuts With a View,Dimensions, Doodlebug Design, Dyno Merchandise, EK Success, Elmer’s, Eyelet Outlet, Fancy Pants Designs, Fiskars Americas, GlueArts, Glue Dots International, Graphic 45, Hambly Screen Prints, Helmar Adhesives, Hero Arts, iLoveToCreate, a Duncan Enterprises Company,Imaginisce, Inkadinkado , It Takes Two, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Jillibean Soup, K&Company,Karen Foster Design, Krylon, Little Yellow Bicycle, Maya Road, McGill, Mimi Collections,Pebbles Inc., Piggy Tales, Pink Paislee, Prima, QuicKutz, River City Rubber Works, Sakura,Sandylion, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, ScrapGirls, Scrapper’s Guide, SEI, Singer, Sounds Easy,Spellbinders, Stampendous!, Stampin’ Up!, Technique Tuesday, Therm O Web, Unibind, We R Memory Keepers, Zva Creative

Thank You!!!!!!

If you want to "meet" the rest of the team go to the Creating Keespakes Blog here.

filed under: Scrapbooking Inspiration, Scrapbooking Magazine, Creating Keepsakes, Dream Team 2010