it's all about the details

2009 in retrospect

I've found that doing an end of the year blog really helps me to see how many wonderful things happen throughout any given year, and this year was certainly no exception. Enjoy a whirlwind tour of our 2009 with me!

January through March:

• In January, I traveled to Anaheim with the Paper Crafts team to CHA (and endured a trip to Disneyland!).
• In February, I saw Celine Dion with Jennifer, Brandy, and Kelly in Salt Lake City.
• In March, I headed east for my very first CKC in Louisville, KY.
  

April through June:

• In April, I turned 40, and Beth and I took an amazing road trip to San Francisco and had the time of our lives. One of our best vacations ever EVER!
• In May, I got a promotion to editor, and Beth and I celebrated Derby Day in style!
  
• In May, I also taught my second CKC in Manchester, NH. What a gorgeous part of the country!
  
• Beth's May consisted of a trip to Jacksonville, FL, to see an old friend, and Nashville, TN, to teach CKU.
• On Memorial Day, I made a solo road trip to Arches National Park. So majestic!
• In June, we each filmed some more TN Marketing segments, and one day we bought cowboy hats and took pictures out here in the wild, wild west!
  

July through September:

• In July, we headed to Wendover, NV, to see Pat Benatar in concert and then we explored the utterly amazing Bonneville Salt Flats.
• In the middle of July, my band recorded a demo CD. Fun!
  
• Later in July, I was gone over a week to CHA in Orlando, FL, and then CKC in Valley Forge.
• In August, we headed to Michigan to sing for our cousin's wedding as well as hang out with friends and loved ones in the Great Lakes State.
• In early September, Beth turned 50! Our brother Paul arrived on her birthday, and we had a blast exploring the area with him.
• In mid-September, I taught my final CKC in Nashville, and made a side trip to Cincinnati to hang out with some friends.

October through December: 

• In early October, Beth parted ways from Creating Keepsakes. (boo)
• In mid-October our brother and his family moved back to the US from Turkey! (yay!)
• For Halloween, Beth had the best costume EVER for $0.
• In November, Beth started an amazing new job at Challenger School as a writer. She is enjoying it very much! (yay!)
• In December, we celebrated an amazing book that Beth wrote while working for Creating Keepsakes. Liz Kartchner's book is as outstanding as she is! Their collaboration along with great designers, photography, and design turned out one stellar, must-have book!
• And to round the year out, we headed to Michigan to be with our entire immediate family for Christmas! I even snuck in a mini-reunion with college and high school pals.

Yes, 2009 was filled with much adventure. We are so blessed and ready for whatever 2010 brings!

Happy New Year!

Susan

a gift for you

As we approach the end of 2009, dear blog friends, I'm eyeing the calendars all around my home. I am a fiend about displaying the correct month, and in a few days I'll need to replace my calendars. For the past several years I've made one of my own, and I recently finished my 2010 version, so I'm offering it for download if you'd like one for your home or office.

It's easy to design something like this...the whole thing was done using text boxes in Microsoft Word. All of the snowflakes and fireworks and butterflies and leaves are actually dingbat fonts! Check sites like dafont.com for cool dingbat fonts for a wide variety of occasions.

Download 2010_calendar

To print, first select background paper. I used an ivory textured cardstock, but white would work well too. Depending on the size you choose, you'll need either 6 or 12 sheets.

1. Open the document. (If you have Adobe Reader, it will open automatically. If it doesn't, it's a free download that you can find here.)

2. Send to print. If you want full-size pages, select OK, and here comes your calendar. If you'd like a smaller version, send to print; then find the Page Scaling dropdown menu and choose Multiple Pages Per Sheet (2).

3. Once your calendar pages have printed, trim to a square shape. Hole punch or bind the top. I just used colored binder clips on mine.

Happy New Year! This next year's gonna be a 10!!

Beth

happy birthday, jesus!

Today I'm getting on a plane and heading home for the holidays for a few days...Michigan, here I come! On this anniversary of our Lord's birth, I'd like to share one of my favorite childhood pictures. I've asked my mom to make a birthday cake for Jesus again this year...with my nephews around, it will be nice to resurrect this tradition, and maybe Paul and Kurt and I can recreate this photo pose!

"For unto us a Child is born,
    Unto us a Son is given;    
    And the government will be upon His shoulder.
    And His name will be called
    Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Wishing you a blessed Christmas.

Beth

laughing all the way

We're feeling festive...how about you? We took some time the other day to photograph each other wearing a cool Santa hat...just in time to wish you the merriest of holidays. We're getting ready for a trip home to Michigan (In fact, Susan leaves today!), so we may not be blogging anything particularly profound or funny in the days to come, but we wanted to thank you all for reading our blog this year. It's so fun to connect with other people who share our hobby or faith or just relate to us in some way.

As you head into your own holiday celebrations, we wish you joy, peace, and all the love of our Savior, born in a lowly manger stall to save us all.

Beth

festival of trees 2009 - the heart of christmas

Each December, Paper Crafts magazine participates in the Festival of Trees here in Utah. You might be familiar with this type of thing where companies and families donate a decorated tree and lots of other fabulous stuff to benefit a charity. The Utah Festival of Trees benefits Primary Children's Medical Center and is purportedly the original Festival of Trees in the country.

Our theme this year was The Heart of Christmas in shades of hot pink, red, and lime green, and we had a splendid time shopping and preparing for this festive event. Here's a look at the seven of us in our little elven roles:

Not only do we decorate the tree, we also fill the space around it with goodies supplied by generous manufacturers and designers.

When all is said and done, we love the opportunity not only to bond with each other, but to give to an incredibly worthy cause and ring in the Christmas season together!

Susan 

feeling crafty

I'm not sure what's gotten into me lately, but I've been getting crafty for no particular reason. It seems like a lot of times I am creating something for the magazine, but recently I just got the bug to do some scrapbooking and card making just for the heck of it. It honestly feels like it's been years since I've done that.

First I created this layout:

Since moving, one of the things I've enjoyed the most is being in close to proximity to places that lots of Midwesterners might never see. Taking road trips has always been one of my favorite things, and this layout memorialized several very cool places I visited in 2009.

Next, I'm featuring the brand new L Letterpress from Lifestyle Crafts in one of my May/June columns, so I thought I'd test it out. I really love the sophisticated embossed look that you can achieve with the Letterpress.

And finally, I went for full on inspiration. Not only was this bottle of vodka on sale, I was absolutely inspired by the color combination, the design, and the text treatment of the label. And of course, the touches of orange made it magnifique!

I'm hoping that the new year brings me even more opportunities to create and enjoy this hobby!

Susan   

 

nine

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO looking forward to seeing this movie! It premieres on Christmas Day and features an all-star cast, lush cinematography, stunning costuming, exotic sets, and MUSIC!

But what today's blog post is REALLY all about is a little boy who TURNS nine this Sunday, December 13. Jonathan Caleb Opel is a sweet, mischievous, lovable gem of a kid, and his Aunt Beth and Aunt Q adore him! Join me in wishing him the best day ever! I'm pretty sure he's gonna love the gift we sent...no peeking until your birthday!

See you very soon, dear Jonny!

Beth

a tale of two elizabeths

Once upon a time were two little girls named Elizabeth. And they came together to work on a really cool project. Lizzy K., the creative genius, provided the amazing art and heart, and Beth O. helped Lizzy bring her ideas to fruition. Both Elizabeths considered the project one of the most amazing things they'd ever done. So when it came time to debut the finished product, Lizzy arranged to hold the grand coming-out party at the aptly-named Dear Lizzie, a dreamy confection of a store in Highland, UT. 

Beforehand, we enjoyed a lovely dinner with blog friend Joli and her mom. Many fabulous guests showed up to fete the author, including photographer Brian Smith, who shot the stunning book; crafty notables Rhonna Farrer, Margie-Romney Aslett, and Jefra Starr Linn; Creating Keepsakes and Paper Crafts peeps; and Lizzy's sweet family, including her hunky and hilarious husband Collin (who smized with me).

I'm so proud of Lizzy and honored to have been involved with this amazing book!

Beth

o come, o come emmanuel

I just love that as Lutherans we celebrate advent - the coming of Christ. For four weeks before Christmas Eve, we contemplate how the prophet's foretold the coming of a Savior, and we ready ourselves to welcome Christ into our hearts and home again (not like He ever left!).

One of my favorite parts of the advent season is the advent wreath with its three purple (or blue) candles, one pink candle, and a white candle in the middle lit on Christmas Eve representing Christ himself. The first week begins with one lit candle, and as the weeks progress another candle and another and another is lit until the wreath is a circle of light symbolizing the light of the world coming ever closer. The lone pink candle is lit on the 3rd week and is called the "rejoice" candle - as in "Rejoice! The Lord is near!"

As a child, I knew that the Christmas season was getting close when my mom would let me search under the eaves for our brass advent wreath. I'd place the brand new candles in their spots all straight and tall and set it in the middle of the dinner table. After supper, we'd read an Advent devotion, and we each took turns lighting the candles (something we couldn't wait to do!). Family, candlelight, an advent hymn, and the Word of the Lord bring back lovely memories of Decembers past.

Beth and I treasure the history of the advent wreath so much that we decided to donate one to our fledgling Lutheran church here in Utah. We found a candle holder at Tai Pan Trading that we thought would work, and it is so nice to see it lit at each worship service during this season.

And now, as we wait for the Savior of the Nations to come, we sing to the Lord in thanks for sending His own Son Jesus Christ to us at Christmas.

Susan