.:Sponsor Spotlight - Say It On the Wall:.

Have you heard of Say It On the Wall?

Say It On the Wall is a fabulous vinyl company! The offer something for everyone! Let's take a peek at a few of their fantastic products.

Vinyl for your living room

FHE dice kit

Vinyl for your business

Recipe Magnet Board

And that's just barely scratching the surface!

Well, for the next TWO DAYS - just until the end of the year - Say It On the Wall is offering 40% OFF some of their past new products of the week! That is a steal!

You could get these fun, seasonal HOME blocks...

Or this Christmas Subway Art...

Or this Give Thanks vinyl...

and so much more, for 40% OFF! Use the code NEW40 to get 40% off through the end of 2010! That's not very long, so get shopping now at Say It On the Wall!

.:Getting To Know You:.

Getting to know you....getting to know all about you!

Did that song come into any one else's head?

Anyway, The Idea Room is hosting a "Getting to know you" party, so I thought I'd join in the fun!

- I'm the oldest of FIVE children. Between the five of us, we are a total of seven years apart in age.

** Fun fact: I had my first daughter when I was 28 years old. By the time my mom was 28, she had had all five of us kids already!

- I'm 30 years old, and it still surprises me sometimes!

- I have a deathly fear of spiders. I'm always afraid they are going to jump up at me if I try to kill them.

- Cats are my favorite animal. Right before my oldest was born, we had to put to sleep the cat I'd had since I was 12. It was super sad and hard.

- I played soccer and ran track in high school. I played defense in soccer, and I was known for playing tough and a little dirty. :)

- My family was nicknamed the Von Trapp family. We are a pretty musical bunch! At points during my life, I have played the clarinet, bass clarinet, trombone, and piano. Piano is the only thing I'll credit myself with playing well, and I still play now! We all love to sing, too!

- I have two beautiful daughters (you already knew that!) - 2 years old and 9 months old. They are two days shy of being exactly 18 months apart.

- Before having my two daughters, we lost two babies within a month of each other. First was a miscarriage, and the second was an ectopic. It was super hard, but I feel that it's made me a much more compassionate person.

- I LOVE being pregnant. I LOVE having babies! I'd do it every day if I could!

- I'm a cougar. My husband is two years younger than me! We always laugh when we hang out with our friends, because a lot of them have younger wives, and I always feel old.

- I used to dye my hair all the time. It's been brown, blonde, black, red - everything. It's currently growing out to my natural, yucky dishwater color.

- Diet Coke is my favorite drink, topped with a little bit of Coke or Coke Zero. It's not unusual for me to start my day out with a big glass.

- When I was younger, I saw a scary movie where a hand came out of the toilet. (Random, right?) Ever since then, I've had an irrational fear of something grabbing me from the toilet. These fears were confirmed just last week when I found a yucky bug in the toilet. Gross.

- My husband and I have been married for FIVE years!

- I'm kind of OCD about where things are in our house. I like to have things in the right place (which is decided by ME!) and I have a hard time letting my kids make too much of a mess before I have to clean it up. I hate leaving dishes on the drying rack over nite, and most often will put them away before I go to bed. Luckily, my husband is patient with my neurosis'!

- I LOVE blogging! I've had so much fun since getting into this, and love meeting all of you wonderful people!

- I love cooking and baking, but it also gives me anxiety because it is so messy!

- A few of my pet peeves are: when people clip their fingernails anywhere besides the comfort of their own bathroom over a trash can (gross!), when people do dishes but leave food in the sink, and when people don't use their turn signals.

- Reading is another one of my favorite things to do. I'll often stay up WAY too late because I just can't put a book down!

- I'm secretly (not so secret now!) obsessed with Days of Our Lives. I watch it almost every day. It's my guilty pleasure once the girls are down for naps.

Alright! Enough about me!

Time for you to share some things about YOU! Leave me a link if you do; I'd love to learn more about all of you!

.:Shutterfly Card:.

Remember back when we talked about Shutterfly and their fabulous holiday cards?

Well, I finally got around to making our New Year's card! I can't wait to send these out to friends and family!

Head on over to Shutterfly and see what they can create for you. The options are limitless!

Pictures In Noir New Year's Card

Turn your holiday photos into holiday cards with Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

.:Market Yourself Monday:.

Happy Monday!

Did everyone have a great Christmas?

We have been visiting with family, and have managed to still have a great time despite Remi getting her two front teeth (girlfriend does NOT handle teething well!), Reece having pink eye, and both of them having horrible colds and coughs. Good times.

But they were both spoiled rotten, and it was really fun to have Reece a little older this year for the holidays!

AND, I got a fabulous gift: a SILHOUETTE! I am beyond excited to get home and get using her. I also got a bunch of different colors of vinyl and some sketch pens (I think that's what they are called?), and I can't wait to start playing around. Any tips or suggestions for me?

The extent of my creativity on our vacation has been dressing up the table for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Here's what we came up with this year. I think it is so pretty with the silver and red!

Now it's your turn to share! Have you had time to do any crafting during the holidays? Have a giveaway you'd like to share? An etsy shop you'd like to promote? Go ahead and link everything up! Just be nice and link back here!

Things will continue to be a bit quiet around here this week, as we're still enjoying time with family. But I'll be back and ready to go after the New Year!

.:Sponsor Sunday - A Vision to Remember:.

I love Sundays because I get to share my fabulous sponsors with you all. And this week, I've got a new sponsor to share: A Vision to Remember!

A Vision to Remember is not just a shop, but also a blog, too!

A Vision to Remember is run by Bobbie. Her blog is full of tutorials, a weekly linky party, and just lots of fun, great ideas!

Bobbie is a mother to two little girls, and started off her business after she took her three day old baby to the store with a blanket covering the car seat. She realized that the blanket kept strangers from touching her baby, and from there, she went on to creating and selling car seat tents and the car seat tent pattern.

Here's Bobbie to tell you a bit more about car seat tents.

"For those of you that don't know what a car seat tent is what is sounds like. A tent to cover the car seat. It is a great way to protect your baby from all the elements (wind, sun, rain, snow) It is also a really fun way to accessorize your baby. I have used my car seat tent as a nursing cover, baby blanket, and car seat tent. It really has been great to minimize the items that I am packing around at one time.

All the patterns are very easy to follow along and include pictures. Currently I have 4 different car seat tent and rag quilt patterns, a boutique ruffle blanket pattern, belly band pattern, and 4 flower tutorials available in my shop. I also have free patterns available to my customers.



One thing I love about the quilt patterns is that they are easily converted to larger or smaller blankets. If you purchase a pattern from me and want to make a larger or smaller blanket I am more than happy to help the customer figure out yardage required and the changes that need to be made."

Doesn't she sound great? That's fabulous customer service, and lots of options!

A Vision to Remember also sells dresses,

children's toys,

purses,

and lots more!

So head on over to A Vision to Remember and see what is there for you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope you have a fabulous day spent with those that you love. Thanks for being a part of my blogging family!

.:Merry Christmas Eve Day:.

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

For me, Christmas Eve is almost better than actual Christmas day. It has always been full of traditions and fun, and I think the anticipation of Christmas Day makes it even better!

We almost always go to a movie on Christmas Eve. This year, my parents rented a movie theater for us and a bunch of their friends - talk about fun! We're going to see Tangled!

Later on, while dinner is being prepared, us kids will prepare a nativity performance. It used to be much more sweet, reverent and sincere when we were younger and actually acting it out. As we've gotten older, it has slowly become more of a reader's theater with hymns being sung, and there are often times where we get the giggles and have trouble going on! Bad! It is neat, because we have this same book that we always use to write the 'script' out of. We've saved all of the scripts and the programs throughout the years. What a neat keepsake! I think this year we are mixing it up and doing a flannel board story with the little kids.

Dinner is always the same: ham, funeral potatoes, rolls, salad, and chocolate pie. Yum!

After dinner, we open the traditional gift of pajamas from my parents. After we've all changed into ours, we do our gift exchange where we've drawn names.

Growing up, we would always sleep together in the basement and watch Christmas movies. We don't do that now, but we're all looking forward to the day our kids are all a little older so we can start having them do that!

What do you do on Christmas Eve? Do you have traditions? What do you usually eat on Christmas Eve? Share!

Happy Christmas Eve Day!

.:Sponsor Spotlight - Janey's Jewels:.

Do you all remember the beautiful jewelry from my sponsor, Janey's Jewels?

Let's just remind ourselves of the pretty items they have to offer:

Mystic Topaz Trilliant Sterling Earrings

Natural Burmese Jadite Cabochon Silver Ring

White Sapphire Rose Petal Custom Cut Ring

Freshwater Pearl Post Earrings

Custom Cut Lemon Quartz Engagement Ring

Beautiful, right? Everytime I go to Janey's Jewels, I add a few more things to my wish list! I know you will, too, so head on over to Janey's Jewels now!

.:Sponsor Spotlight - Propinquities:.

Are you in the market for some stunning, handmade jewelery? Look no further Propinquities has an array of beautiful things to choose from!

Here are some of my recent faves:

Drusy Quartz Satin Cord Necklace

Silver Bean Bracelet

Freshwater Coin Silver Pearl Earrings

Brides Swarovski Crystal Set

Turquoise Faceted Teardrop Necklace

Those are just a few of the many items available from Propinquities! Get shopping!

.:Market Yourself Monday:.

Can you believe that it's almost Christmas???? It has come so quickly this year!

Is everyone ready? We're on family vacation, enjoying some time in the snow with family; it's great!

Which means that I don't have anything to share this week! I've actually really been looking forward to having these two weeks of a 'break' from real life to enjoy my family and put my shop and everything on the back burner. I'll still be posting here and there, but it won't be as often as usual. Stick around though, things will be back to normal after the New Year!

Time to share what you've been up to lately! Last minute holiday ideas? Great family recipes? Need to promote your shop? Everything is welcome here! All I ask is that you link back to me!

Happy Monday!

.:Things to Try Thursday - Animal Ear Headbands:.

This idea is just too cute. These make believe animal ear headbands are such a fabulous idea for your little one. There are so many possibilities of things you make these for, boy or girl!

Hart & Sew tells us how here.

.:Mouth-Watering Wednesday - Hot Chocolate Bar:.

The ladies over at Our Best Bites have wowed me once again. (Did you know they have a cookbook coming out? I can't wait!)

They shared this idea last week for a Hot Chocolate Bar. I think this would be such a fun addition to a holiday party, or to a December wedding.

Go here to check out all of their great gourmet hot chocolate recipes!

.:Black Giraffe Winner:.

Thank you to everyone who entered the Black Giraffe Design giveaway! And of course, thank you to Black Giraffe Design for sponsoring the giveaway! I'm incredibly jealous of the winner.

Who is that, you ask?

Jessica Rae

Congrats Jessica! Email me at sumossweetstuff@gmail.com within 48 hours to claim your prize!

Don't forget, Black Giraffe Design offers free shipping in the US, so take advantage!

.:Tutorial Tuesday - Tie Belt:.

This is a super easy and inexpensive thing to make! It would make a great gift!

Here's what you need:

- 2 ties (I got mine at the D.I.)

- sewing machine/accessories

Start off by laying out your ties how you want them to be sewn.

Pin them in place.

Start sewing around the edges. You may want to map this out before you begin, so that your sewing goes full circle in your pattern each time! Here's what my first time around looked like.

Continue sewing around, using your first stitch line as the marker for your presser foot. Do the same pattern you did the first time. Here's what it looked like two times around.

And here's what it looked like done!

I'm not going to lie; it got a little tricky to follow my lines in the pattern. Kind of confusing! But I think it is super fun! I also made one with one solid tie and one patterned tie. You could do lots of fun things with this!

I don't have a picture of me or someone wearing one, but I imagine you all can figure out that you wrap it around your waist and tie it how you like! Blogger fail, I know - just imagine it...or better yet, go make one and try it out!

Linking up here:

Sugar Bee - Craft Edition

Topsy Turvy

Today's Creative Blog

Funky Polkadot Giraffe

My Craftie Life

Blue Cricket Design

Shanty 2 Chic

Someday Crafts

Seven Thirty Three

Whimsy Couture

Trendy Treehouse

Sew Much Ado

Creations By Kara

Somewhat Simple

Crystal's Craft Spot

It's Fun to Craft

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Lil' Luna

Night Owl Crafting

Fireflies and Jellybeans

504 Main

Creation Corner

Naturally Me Creations

Kojo Designs

Tip Junkie

Life In My Pj's

The Train to Crazy

Katie's Nesting Spot

What Allie's Making Now

Mommas kindacrafty

Be Different, Act Normal

A Vision to Remember

Craft Envy

A Little Lovely

I Heart Naptime

.:Market Yourself Monday - Tie Belt:.

Happy Monday!

Did everyone have a good weekend? Getting your Christmas wrapped up? I think I am finally nearing the end of our Christmas preparations! Yeah!

Today is the last day to enter the Black Giraffe giveaway. You could win an item of your choice! Go enter!

At one of the boutiques I was involved in during November, I saw these fun tie belts. Of course, I'm the person that we all hate when we are sellers at boutiques and said, "Hey, I could make that!" So I did. And this is what it looks like.

I'll have a tutorial for you tomorrow!

What have you been up to lately? Crafts, recipes, giveaways, shops - Market Yourself! All I ask is that you show a little love, and link back here somehow.

Linking up here:

Tools Are For Women, Too

The Girl Creative

Craftomaniac

Mad In Crafts

Keeping It Simple

Making The World Cuter

It's So Very Cheri

Texas Monkey

Baby Makin(g) Machine

Miss Crafty Pants

Sew Chatty

Simpsonized Crafts

.:Sponsor Sunday - Made on Fifth Street:.

Do you all remember Sarah, from Made on Fifth Street?

She makes the adorable plush dolls. Wouldn't one of these be the perfect gift for a new baby, or stocking stuffer for an older baby/toddler?

Melonie

Alexandra

She's even got a Christmas doll (appropriately named Mary) - listed at 20% off!

Sarah also makes beautiful quilts! I love this Meadowsweet one!

And this fun Christmas one - also listed at 20% off!

Get on over to Made on Fifth Street and see what treasures are waiting for you!

.:Return to the Family:.

You may have seen this popping up on the internet lately!

It's a new idea designed to help bring families closer together. A friend from back home, who also happens to be an amazing blog designer, along with some other bloggers, have been working on this project with renowned Christian artist, Liz Lemon Swindle. The project is called Return to the Family.

Not only does it promote having a picture of Christ in every home, but also a Return to Family and Family Dinners.

The Return to Family project is 12 Limited Collectors Edition Paintings with a custom sayings on each print designed to teach and inspire your family and provide opportunities for you to teach lasting values and principals of integrity. Every Month you will have the opportunity to receive a new matted image that will create new interests, new ideas and fresh conversation around the dinner table. Each painting comes with a brief history behind the artwork along with several topics of discussion that correlate with the print.With the Return to the Family project you get:

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• 12 Limited Edition SIGNED Paintings (one new image every month)

• One custom frame (you have the option to order a new frame for each print or slip in your new print each month into your existing frame)

• History behind each painting

• "Dinner Table" discussion with hidden symbolism and various values and principals of integrity you can discuss with your family around the dinner table.

You can get all of this for less than $17 a month! What a great Christmas present; especially this time of year when we should be focusing on the true meaning of Christmas.

The idea of the Return to the Family project is to simply hang this art work next to your dinner table and then let the conversations begin. When children ASK questions, it means that they are ready to LISTEN to the answers. As parents we have a tendency to lecture our children when we want them to learn a specific lesson, value or principal. Hanging uplifting Art in your home makes it so that the children can study it out in their mind and then ASK making it possible for the spirit to then TEACH. Uplifting Art in your home can teach, testify and change hearts.

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I love the idea of changing out these pictures every month. I feel like it will not only inspire my children, but me as well. That is what they want to help you do with your family, and the Return to the Family is a start to making that happen.

They have hand selected some of Liz's amazing art for you to receive each month and invite you to join us in the Return to the Family by hanging uplifting Art on the walls of your home.