About 5 years ago, I was hugely pregnant with my little blessing, sweet Cole. I was so excited to decorate his room with all of the care that I put into Grant’s room in our old house in Newberg (where we lived before moving to Dallas). And, since Grant came 4 weeks early, I thought it would be a good idea to start sooner rather than later. I distinctly remember standing on one of our barstools with a paintbrush in my hand, reaching as high as possible to paint the …

I’m a big goal-setter. I like having something to shoot for, whether it is a spiritual goal, a physical goal, a family goal, a relationship goal, a financial goal, or any number of things in my life that could use improvement.
I read through the e-book Tell Your Time by Amy Lynn Andrews a while back, which was just awesome. There were a couple of exercises in the book that I went through to help me think about what is important to me and what I want to accomplish …

I am busy, busy, busy setting goals and getting my life organized. I’m anxious to share my list of goals with you, but I figured that this one item deserved a post all to itself!!
Remember last year when I decided to become a more motivated mom? I printed out a honkin’ calendar to keep me on track with my daily and weekly household chores so that my home wouldn’t fall apart. It really worked . . . when I followed it!! Then, I let the honkin’ calendar get buried …

If you missed out on the limited time 12 Days grab bag that I put together with Mari Koegelenberg, Pamela Donnis and Melissa Wilson, don’t fret! NOW, you can pick up JUST the pieces you really had your eye on, in our individual stores!! Love Mari’s bold papers and elements? Did you think Mel’s soft and sweet mix was more your style? How about Pam’s funky vintage look? Perhaps you needed some quick print and assemble gift ideas from me! In any case, this is your chance to grab what …

Growing up, my parents couldn’t give us a lot of things, but they were very good at giving us experiences that didn’t cost a whole lot of money, and those experiences are some of my favorite childhood memories.
I remember the Christmas that my Dad brought out “Wish Baskets” for each of us kids. They were actually small, wicker baskets with lids, and each one was a different color. Each wish basket contained a dozen little strips of paper. At the beginning of each month, we got to draw a slip …

Who says you have to spend a lot of money to give a great gift?! I certainly don’t buy into that myth!! In fact, many of the most welcomed and meaningful gifts I have given to others have been handmade by me! And, although I’d like to devote a lot of time to each individual gift, I only have so many hours in the day, and I have a HUGE family. Spending hours and hours on making gifts is just not realistic.
However, this gift is quick, easy, FRUGAL, classy and …

Welcome to the first day of the 12 Days Blog Hop hosted by Mari Koegelenberg of My Digital Art Studio, Melissa Wilson of Domesticated Lady, Pamela Donnis of Keeping Life Creative and myself, Kelleigh Ratzlaff of Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs. We are all designers in the digital scrapbooking and papercrafting industry and we are SO excited about the next 12 days! We plan to bring you frugal gift ideas, fun tutorials, free downloads and lots of great inspiration to put you in the Christmas mood.
All of our freebies are designed to …

Every year, we like to add a photo ornament to our Christmas tree with a picture of our entire family on it as a record of our lives. Sometimes I buy a photo frame ornament, and sometimes I make the ornament myself. It has been a fun tradition, and one that I plan to continue.
Today I want to show you how I put together the photo ornament that I showed you the other day on my new release post.
The first thing I did was grab a great photo and decide …