Color Swatch...

    

I have been having a blast scrapping and making things with Cocoa Daisy's Color Swatch kit. It is available for purchase now! If you are a new 6-month subscriber, you can get 40% off your first kit...such a great deal! This kit is bold and colorful, but there is so much in it and on the reverse sides that you can tone it down and go for some subdued projects if you like those too. So many options and loads of fun! Now that is a winning kit for sure!
I am also making some Valentine cards with my scraps right now, so if you leave me a comment and tell me one thing that you are loving in or about your life right now, I will choose someone to mail a card to. Just leave an email in your comment so that I can send you a note and get your mailing address in return if you're the lucky winner of some happy mail! Here's to lots of love, color and happiness all month long! Happy February, everyone!

Just because...

So the winner of the minibook from the previous post is Julie Ken. Please email me your mailing address and I will send you the little book I made. I hope you like it! {nitty.grittyjodyatyahoo.com} And just because I am so in love with  mail and I still have more scraps and flair on my desktop, I am going to choose one more person to send a little something too as well. Sort of as away of saying, "thanks for checking back to see if you won, oh, and if you didn't here's one more chance to do so"!
This time, just let me know what your favorite color or color combo is right now, and I will be back to choose a winner sometime after I wash and dry 6 loads of laundry. =)

Spread a little love and flair around.

 

 

Do you know what's fun for me?! Scrapping and then sharing it with others who love it as much as me! So today I have a bit of love to share with you.
First off, I was given some custom {meaning she made it with me in mind...how cool is that?!} flair, by my creative and crafty friend, Martha. Martha and her husband went to China and came home with a little girl of their own, just over a year ago. Since then, Martha has been smitten by all the fun and excitement that a child brings to your life. She has documented so many of the special, crazy, tiring, noodle-eating, Hello Kitty loving moments through scrapping too. She was inspired to start a shop where she sells her flair- you can visit it and see for yourself what she has to offer right here at PandaEight Designs.
I just loved scrapping for the fun of it and came up with three different projects where I put her flair to good use. One was a page where I went nuts with photos, flair, antlers and just let it all fall onto the page. Martha has even added a mini set of the same custom flair she made for me, just in case any of you have the same crazy life as me! {You can find that set right here.} I have never had anything named after me before, so I find this pretty exciting. My own flair! =) Next I made a card with a handmade bow on it too. I wanted some matching dimension on my card, and a fabric bow certainly seemed to pair well with a couple of cute pieces of flair. The vinatge fox images are adorable. I can't wait to send this card to an unsuspecting friend. =)
Lastly, I colored my hair, put on some make-up and felt myself get a little more hopeful the other day. I was reminded of how sometimes just doing something for yourself can help lift your spirits. Besides doing something good for yourself, doing something for others brings a certain happiness too. So as a thank you to Martha, and to you for reading here at Nitty.Gritty. and leaving me thoughts and encouragement at times, and just coming along for the ride at other times, I am doing a little giveaway today. It will run from now until I post again- so it could be 72 hours...or a week. Or more. Just kidding. I will choose a random winner before the week's end. The 'prize' is the little minibook you see, which I made using lots of scraps from my Cocoa Daisy add-on this month {Freehand} and the 'oh snap' flair which is part of this collection. I added a few random bits inside of it, but most of the little book is waiting for some tiny photos or other ideas of yours to be tucked into its pages. If you would like a chance to get this little book, go to Martha's PandaEIGHT designs shop here. Then click back and leave me a comment telling me your favorite piece or set of flair. Easy, peasy! I just love knowing I get to send some love, happiness and flair in the mail to one of you soon!

12.12.12

Considering this date doesn't happen again for another hundred years, I figured it was profound enough to take a bit of time out of my busy day and actually write a blog. When I go days or even weeks at a time without even a photo posted, it usually isn't for lack of something to say, but more often than notit means so much is happening that I don't have time to stop and take note of it here at Nitty.Gritty. It also is very likely that I am dealing with stuff, emotionally, physically, mentally or spiritually that are just hard for me to articulate, or that in fact, I would rather not even be dealing with, so I absolutely don't care to write it down and share it with the world.
I do always promise to keep it real around here- and have been criticized for being too raw even! But the fact is sometimes even I can't write it down and get it out in this format as I trudge through it. So I hold it inside and I am sure there will be lessons learned or great insights to this stuff later on. Sometimes you just have to sit in a place and let it unfold and then looking back it takes on a whole new meaning. I am sitting and waiting for meaning right now.
Now, when I say 'sitting and waiting' you know that isn't literally what I am doing! My to-do list as a mom to 6 kids ages 2 to 13 is never-ending and after having just moved a month ago and throwing in Thanksgiving and now Christmas, well, it is just a phrase I use. I am sitting and waiting in my heart and mind. But I am otherwise busy keeping up with the kids' schedules and events and getting them back into their new-ish routine. There are things that changed and things that stayed the same since we moved a year ago, and it is still a bit of an adjustment getting it all feeling "back to normal".
I have been busy trying to make some cards for Christmas {that's a couple of different ones turning my favorite stamp into a Christmas card/banner} and actually get some in the mail before too long. I love playing with my scraps and glitter and just listening to Christmas music while I think of the people I am writing my cards to. It is a nice way for me to put my heart into something that is such a traditional part of Christmas. The mail! I know that real cards in the mailbox are getting rarer and rarer as technology has connected us more and more in recent years. But to me, instead of seeming like a waste of time, paper and energy, it seems even more important that the art of Christmas cards not get lost. To me it tells the receiver you are indeed as special in my life as I hope you know and this card is a way of saying so. I hope to never get too wrapped up in computers and phones and such that cards aren't a part of Christmas. Last year we had just moved and there was no way I could get cards out to friends. This year feels good for me to be able to do that and to handmake some of my cards is a gift to me as much as it mightbe to anyone else who gets one.
To prove my point and to just have some random holiday fun, I would love for any of you who still read to leave me a comment and just say Merry Christmas, or share your favorite holiday food or Christmas cookie. Tell me a way you are going to make this year special for someone less fortunate than you or where you are heading for Christmas day. Any comment will do, really. I will choose one {or two, if that many of you actually leave a comment...my readers are sparse these days!} and send you a Christmas card and photo. Just make sure to share your email address or come back and check to see if you've won. I will choose the winner by next Thursday {Dec. 20th} which just so happens to be my 40th birthday too! It should be a wild day for me!
I posted a picture of Wyndham and me here because she is just doing so well right now. I always worry a bit more about her as the winter approaches because she has not faired so well through the years when it comes to her weakened immune system and all the viruses and junk that gets passed around everywhere you go. For her, even a cold and flu has far too often turned into a hospital stay. Last year was her first year since she her head injury that she didn't need an ER visit or extended stay for any reason. I am hoping we can make that a tradition too and go for at least two consecutive years! It would be a wonderful thing for her and us as a family. Hospital stays are rough on everyone!
Wyndham is finishing up some evaluations at her rehabilitation center and will be back on a regular schedule again. She so loved her aquatherapy before and the pool was such a motivator for her. She has been much more mobile and even a bit independent in our home sine moving back here. I don't know if she is just more comfortable in the space or what it is exactly, but it is still even a bit shocking for me to look back to the dining table for instance, and see that she has left her spot and is off in another room. After not having gotten up from her spot for over 2 years, it is just surprising to see her do things like that on her own. The fact that she doesn't speak or really make noise is another reason it's unexpected and surprising. She would make a great spy I think. =) Her happiness is something that I never take for granted.
I love the picture of her and I because the truth is it was a bit cold and windy that day out at the beach. She doesn't really like being outdoors in the first place, much less in the cold, wind and blowing sand. I am just so proud of her and the way that she lets us push her sometimes and proud of how she pushes her own self at other times. It's sometimes a tricky dance to do- especially as a mom whose heart is bent on her comfort and ease and happiness moreso than on her growth and overcoming obstacles. She didn't want to take one step onto the state beach for our family pictures that day. We coaxed her as the other kids took off running. Teague and Crew were ahead of all of us, even though they're the youngest and smallest. She made some faces to let us know that she was unsure, uncomfortable and would much rather get back inside the toasty van and watch us all have fun without her. But even as we tried telling her that the sand was okay for her to walk on and that we certainly weren't going to let her lose her footing in it, she held on tightly. She looks to us for a lot of support, and yet we know that it's not always best for her to just sit back and watch life happen around her. The more steps we took, the trickier it got for the first bit of the beach. The sand dunes are tall and the wind was really blowing and the sand was in the air too. It wasn't your typical day at the beach.
She hung in there. We got a blanket out and let her sit down and just get a sense of the space she was in as we gathered the other kids around for an attempt at a family picture. I fully expected her to be in tears as I reached down to straighten the corner of the blanket she was on and the wind snapped it and sand went in her hair and eyes. As I helped brush her off and get her eyes cleared, instead of tears, Wyndham let out a small chuckle. I knew then that she was going to make this experience better than I had expected. She ended up walking a long ways down by the water and she held some items the kids picked up- a stick, some dune grass and all the while I was thinking how amazing it was that she was even here. How many times she pulled through something that was threatening her physically. She has had too many listless days for me to count over the years. I have seen her at her worst and it still comes to my mind in nightmares at times. So to see her beaming in a place where I would never expect her to shine was a really special thing for me to see. I could brag on all my other kids {and maybe I will get some more time to do so!} too, but Wyndham's smiles will always be a bit different and hold a meaning that I feel in my heart better than I can put into words. To have been by her side as she has lived through some really traumatic things; the challenges she still has and always will; the day-to-day struggles that she has endured and yet to see her smile in a picture like this as though life has been nothing but sunny is astounding to me. I know there will be days that are hard for her yet to come. But knowing she has such strength and a deep happiness in spite of it all is inspiring to me. I haven't been on top of my game lately, and I hoping that reminders like this from Wyndham will light the fire in me again. She certainly deserves me being my best and I love her so much I am willing to shoot for that now and always! Okay...the comments are open if you care about getting a card from less-than-perfect me. =) Happy twelve, twelve, twelve Day too!

Long lost art...

I have gone through a few boxes of miscellaneous stuff that I received a few months ago when my Grandma Shirley passed away. She was and always will be so dear to my heart. Her love and life inspired me when she was here and still touches me even though she's gone. She lived a very unique and yet ordinary life- from her birth to her death her life story is one I will forever treasure. Needless to say, as I look through some of the items she left behind I am so thankful for what a wonderful gift she was to me and so many others and I am so grateful for these miscellaneous items that connect me to her past. The are real treasures.

What you see in the photos above are just a few snapshots of some of the priceless items I feel lucky to have. In an old unmarked envelope thrown in with a box of recipe cards and old piano books and sheet music I came upon several letters that were saved from the early 1930's. Many of them were cards and notes sent to my great grandma on the birth of her little girl- my great aunt Phyllis. What I love about the cards/letters {as you can see in the top photo} is that they are hand-addressed with only a name and city and state. And they made it to their destination clear across the country! How amazing is that?! No zip code necessary, I guess! Things have changed in 80 years, I guess. =) What I really like about the old letters is seeing the handwriting and reading about the 'important' things that were worth writing home about. In one note from my great grandma's sister there is talk about the weather, what was in the oven for dinner, politics and the thought of looking forward to playing tennis and golf. It's easy to forget that there was a time when letters to weeks to be received and that chatting on the phone was impossible! We have it so easy with internet and cellphones, don't we?!

Among the treasures I also found a wedding invitation from my great grandma Lydia's wedding. It dates back to June of 1920- that's nearly 100 years ago! I can't believe it was just stuck in an envelope with no markings on it. It should have easily been in the trash and long lost by now. So that makes it even more exciting for me to have found it.

There's a full and much-loved/used composition notebook which was used to keep recipes and other newspaper clippings inside with practical household tips. You know something is old when many of the recipes are about pickling things and also some that include rabbit and chicken livers! One of the recipes I found has "over 100 years old" scrawled across the top of the card. It's mixed in with other recipes dating from 1967 to 1974. So that makes this Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe about 150 years old! I plan on making a batch just to see how they taste. There's also a cake recipe with the notation "Used for Genie's 5th birthday" next to it. Genie is my mom. I can't tell you how fun it's been for me to find such a book rich with memories, notes and lots of speckled splatters from the cooks as they went about their baking.

It got me thinking how some of the greatest treasures we have and will pass on aren't necessarily the things we spend a lot of money on, but instead the things that mean so much are things that connect us to past generations- to people and their lives. I have always loved getting and sending letters. I love to add lots of handwriting to cards I send- especially as things move more electronic and digital these days. I love writing notes in my journal and on scrap pages. I hope one day they will be treasured by people whose lives I've touched and left behind too.

In the spirit of that, the bottom photo is one of some sweet Valentine goodies I received from my {online} friend, Debee. Here is a link to her fun blog. She is so creative and has great photos to look at- check it out! Anyway, I thought I would have a little giveaway- I'll make up a little something with the things I got and some other scrappy things I have in my collection and I'll choose a random winner by tomorrow. I'm in the mood to send something handmade- somewhere. If you want a chance to be the recipient just say hello in the comments and feel free to tell me something you love about the past. I think it's more than time to bring back the fleeting art of handwritten mail. Wouldn't you agree?!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas...

We wish we could have sent you all a handmade card this Christmas. Be assured that even though you may not have received one or maybe we've never even 'met' that my family and I appreciate the support and prayers and care we receive from so many of you throughout the whole year here at Nitty.Gritty. It's like you're practically family!

{Click family Christmas card to enlarge~ if you wish.}

Have a blessed, peaceful and Joy-filled Christmas this year. May the Babe in the manger touch your life and heart in a real way- even now more than 2000 years later. May you come to adore Him as He deserves to be adored.

Merry, merry Christmas from the whole Nitty.Gritty.Family!

More cards and crafts...

I was able to make some more cards over the weekend and that makes me happy. The more cards I can make, the more I can put in the mail! I was flattered and humbled that the designer of the paper line I've been using actually called me and posted pictures of my cards on her blog. Thank you, Brenda Walton~ it's been a pleasure to use your designs!

I took a little break from cards and tried my hand at pom-pom flowers. I got the idea from this tutorial/blogpost. Aren't they simply adorable? They remind me of little puffs of snow. I think I may have to host another giveaway and send one or two of you reading this a card and flower too. You know. Just because I need to add things to my Christmas list right now! Wait. On second thought, I think a random giveaway sounds like a nice thing to host in the New Year. I do have thoughts in my head for a blogpost about the holidays not being so merry. Hopefully I'll get those thoughts down here before the end of the week. Then my kiddos are on Christmas break and I doubt I'll get much thinking done then!

P.S. Do you have a favorite cookie recipe? I'm making some for a class party. I just haven't decided what kind yet.

Cards and more...

Here are some of the cards I've made in the past couple of days. It's much easier to work on projects when they don't have to be interrupted to drive to therapy or pick up kids from school. Winter has a few perks; snow days are the main one. I guess you have to take the good with the bad. Sort of like my crafty/creative friends. I love them all very much, but boy, they make me feel pressure to get creative before I mail my cards to them! =) It would be easier if I didn't put expectations on myself when it comes to Christmas cards. But the truth is, I LOVE mail and I know some of my friends do too and they appreciate something made and sent with love. So I've decided to scale back my mailing list this year, but those who ARE on my list will know that they truly have a special place in my heart. Especially when it comes to cards.

Now, here are a few of the details- for those of you who are into them. Most of the patterned paper and chipboard shapes are from K & Company. I love this vintage line a lot! I think you can find most of the items at Jo-Ann or Michael's stores and even Target carries some of their lines. For the inside of the cards I've just been using scraps of papers or journaling tags and then simply adding some rub-ons for sentiments. I've also been sewing the background papers to the cards- I like the way it adds to the handmade feel and also I find it's actually quicker to sew than to use glue and let them dry. So while these cards sound like a lot of work, they actually come together quickly once I settle on the design. I may not be getting much baking done (our oven isn't heating properly and we're in the market for a new one), but the cards are hopefully going to make it to their destinations before Christmas. Especially if we keep getting snow days!

Post 1000.

I just got done baking and eating some pumpkin bread. It's especially tasty with some cinnamon swirl cream cheese spread on it. My kids all love this. The recipe is here, but I cut back on the sugar to 2 cups and instead of 1 cup of oil I used 1/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup of natural applesauce. Also the baking time needs to be doubled. So maybe I actually reinvented this recipe. I highly recommend it, if you're in the mood for something pumpkin. Delicious and easy.

Wow!

I can't believe I've blogged 1000 times. I was thinking back to when it all began. I had less clutter around my house, one less kid, a live-in nanny/friend, and not a clue what I would "say" from day to day. I was failry new to the whole world of blogging and had actually only been following a handful of them for a few months when I started kicking around the idea of my own place in cyberworld.

Chip said, "Why would anyone want to read your blog?", I didn't have a good response other than, "It's just going to be for our families and friends". I often emailed them updates and photos as to what our family was going through and thought a blog might be a handy way to just put it all out there and then let them check in when it was convenient. I had no idea this place would actually take on a life of its own. =)

It's been really wonderful to "meet" so many of you. Several of you have become friends- through scrapbooking and more. So many of you have encouraged me through emails and real mail and I have loved that you share your life stories right back. It's definitely been fun to be able to look back through the many stories and especially the photos and see how life has changed and evolved in the past few years. I would have forgotten so many of the details here and am so glad that I have paused and blogged about things like kids putting jammies in the toilet and Chip running over a skunk late one night. Those are the things that happen, but are quickly forgotten in the bustle of daiy life. I'm happy that I have been able to watch Wyndham accomplish new things and see Crew grow inside me and out. I am happy to look back on funny things my kids have said and look forward to many more. There have been serious topics, moments I wish I didn't have to blog and things I am still churning over in my mind wondering how they will 'look' on the blog as they play themselves out too.

My original blog name (which lasted about 2 days) was "Life- This side of Heaven". That's really what this is about, and for me it all comes down to the Nitty.Gritty.

I'm so glad that you all have somehow come to this place- my space in the web- and been touched in some small way. I don't know how long I'll keep blogging, but hope that I can capture a lot more before I call it quits. I'm glad I was able to show Chip that I did have something to say and that- if even only for our family- documenting life experiences this way is truly valuable.

Thanks for playing along this week and saying hello from wherever you are. I was surpised at the number of people reading from Indiana...Hi you guys! We drive through the corner of your state on our travels to MN, so be sure to wave hello on our next trip. I had Chip pick a number between 1 and 143 and he chose #78. Congrats to Susan of Granger, IN...I'll be sending you a Starbuck's giftcard and a chocolate bar in the mail soon! (Send me your address at nitty.grittyjody@yahoo.com )

Now, to the rest of you, if you didn't play along yet, or you want one more chance, tell me your favorite candy bar or holiday dessert and I'll have Chip pick another number sometime by Sunday night. I'm not sure why anyone wants random mail from me, but I sure do have fun sending mail and it could be coming to a box near you!

Kids...

In the past 24 hours I have been hugged, kissed, danced for, smacked jokingly, jumped on, spit up on, thrown up on, pooped on and been told 'I love you' by my children. Being a parent has its highs and lows- that's for certain. It just sometimes surprises and/or overwhelms me how these highs and lows can come so close together. Sometimes even happening simultaneously. If you don't have kids, consider yourself blessed for the fact that you don't have anyone to wake you suddenly in the night due to the stomach flu. Consider it a blessing that you don't have to wash 'pieces' out of long hair at 1:30 a.m. Consider yourself blessed that you didn't have to change pants and do laundry first thing the next morning due to a diaper not 'absorbing' all it should. Sometimes diapers that claim to be leakproof don't live up to those claims. That's all I'm going to say about that!

Although being a parent is the toughest job on earth, it does have its rewards. I will say that the good definitely outweighs the bad, even though it's hard to believe that in the midst of the long, sick nights. We're in the middle of the sick-mix right now. It's not fun or pretty, but it makes one appreciate health that much more. Bella is down for the count right now, and I'm praying ferverently that none of the rest of us will join her. Feel free to pray with me...and for me too!

I am happy to share the pictures posted here with you today of Ava and me. She is our ball of energy these days. She is our entertainment much of the time- from morning til night. I snapped these pictures as we were headed out the door to pick the kids up from school last week. Don't you just get a good sense of her personality from those first two photos?! That look says so much...so 'her'. She took off running and wanted me to try to 'catch her' with my camera. Silly, lovable girl.

I got to share a bit of her when I was invited to create something for my friend, Claudine Hellmuth, who is a SIS Fashionista, talented designer and author of this fun, new book/kit. It's called "The Scrapbooker's Creativity Kit" and you can find it online here. Claudine has such a fun, unique style and process for making things. She has been featured on Martha Stewart Living and has her own line of product out too...like I said, she's very talented! She will be teaching an online class based on this book/kit- you can register for it here. Or get the class and book all in one by clicking here.

Those of us who were featured in her book were asked to design a page/project based on two colors and a word prompt. It is so fun to see so many different results using the same starting point. The kits not only offers lots of ideas, but also includes so many inspiration pieces from so many different designers. I am so glad I was able to be included among such a great group of people. You can see Ava's full page here. She was proud to be in a book too.

After a long night last night, and more laundry and household chores to do today, I am trying to squeeze in a bit of happiness too. Today that has already included a stop at Starbuck's with Brock before I dropped him off at school. I'm still enjoying a personalized gift card given to me by Chip's mom for my birthday. Simple, but so wonderful and needed on a day like today when the little things make a big difference! Happiness also means I will {hopefully} be getting some more handmade Valentine's in the mail. Ava and Wyndham are helping me with that fun project. Nothing says love and happiness like a handmade card sent in the 'real' mail. =)

Yes, life has it's ups and downs- highs and lows. When we take them in stride, especially the lows, it's all somehow managable. Sometimes they're even fun!

Scrapping again.

That top photo is my scrap space in our upstairs. It's half playroom and half work area for my creative endeavors. I stood back and snapped this photo because it made me realize where my kids get their "love of the cluttered look" from--- me. I blame a lot of the messes around our house on them, but I definitely have to take credit for this chaos. However, if you could zoom in and also if you could get inside my head, you would find there is actually a little bit of a system within this mess. Ask me to find a certain color of pom-pom trim or a pack of buttons and I can lead you right to them. It IS a mess, but it still makes sense to me.

The real point of this post is to say that I scrapped again! I have been away from it- other than to design baby announcements and thank you notes lately and what better way to get back into it than with a box of new products. I was thrilled to win a random blog drawing from Cosmo Cricket last week. Their new product line "Chemistry" showed up at my doorstep and I already scrapped a page which you will be able to see as soon as our SIStv Fashionista Challenge goes live- at the end of this week. Get ready to have your own scrap fun!

Speaking of scrap fun, if you're up for making lots of things for the holidays this year- things like gifts for friends and family members, well then check out the link here- "30 Days to a Handmade Holiday". It's a series of classes all geared toward making your holiday season less stressful and more handmade. It's already a few days underway, but you still have time to jump in and catch up or just start from here on it.

I am excited to try some of the neat projects and I hope to make several gifts myself. My biggest challenge is making things with one hand while I've got Crew in the other. =)

To Daddy- all the way from Heaven~

Dear Daddy,
I know it seems like forever since we last hugged like this, but I want you to know that you're still the love of my heart. I love how you have found ways to smile in life, even though I'm gone, and that you have danced with my sisters, Wyndham, Bella and Ava many times since I left you. I love that you have made Brock laugh and Mommy too. They have needed you so many times and you have always been there for them.
I love how you have cried and hurt for me, but found ways to remember all the good times we shared. I have seen how hard you have worked to make sure that there have been lots of good times for the rest of the family- even when it has been difficult to do. You are my hero, forever and always.
I hope you know that I don't miss you a minute while I'm here in Heaven, but I can't wait for you to get here...someday! Make sure you love on the new baby that God is sending you soon. I helped pick him out for you, so I already know he's going to fit in perfectly! Tell Mommy hi and give her and everyone else a big squeeze for me.
I hope you have a really great Father's Day!
Love, Your Angel in Heaven~ Teagan

Butterflies and scrap goodness...

I'm back- wow, two posts in one day. =) I love it when that happens. Well, I actually love it when that happens and nothing else in my life has had to 'suffer' as a result. Laundry is done, kids were bathed and they're all tucked in and sleeping right now. We even had Oreo ice cream cones this afternoon and I baked muffins to go along with dinner. So I feel justified in posting again here.
Even though I don't really need to justify blogging to anyone...I just feel better myself.
{ It must be the pregnancy...I feel like I have to account for squeezing things into my life right now, and I'm also trying to let go and get out of a few committments. So this is all just part of my thinking process. The old ongoing question...should I keep blogging or not? For now I'm going to keep at it. Hope you don't mind. Thanks for listening to all this self-talk. =) }
Okay.
Butterflies are all over these days- in textiles from bedding to clothing to paper goods. I really love the simple shape. Butterflies always make me think of Teagan too...she loved them and her last birthday cake was even in the shape of a butterfly at her request. The past few days I've had lots of 'butterflies' in my stomach too as this baby just seems to be moving and active so much of both the day and night.
So how fun for me to get the new Scrap In Style Trendsetter Collection and have it be full of butterfly goodness. I was able to make one mini album so far- you can see it in full here...and if you want to get your hands on the Collection itself, it went on sale in the SIS Boutique here today.
Those little colored butterfly notecards I just had to have after I spotted them at Barnes & Noble while we were on our date yesterday. I always have someone I need to send a note to...and these just seemed the perfect way to say so much. Anything really. From "I'm thinking of you", to "My heart hurts for you" to "Let's grab a Starbuck's soon!"...these cards pretty much cover it all in my opinion.
And now, just for fun, why not leave me a comment telling me what simple thing you love about nature, and by Thursday I'll pick a name and send one of you a card in the mail. "Just for fun...just for reading Nitty.Gritty." Ciao for now!