{oh heck}

I'm out of the loop recently because well with all of my time off from work I haven't really been following up too much with the internet. Life is so easy without internet, phones and other stuff! It's amazing and almost prehistoric not checking the computer 100 times a day :)

Well anyway I would like to share a YEAR END sale that is going on over at CTM Kits. Yay, there is a lot of stuff there and cheap, cheap, cheap!!! I am really looking forward to some of the new stuff that Devon will be adding to the store. I can't wait until my LOVE kit and other goodies come in the mail either!!! I am patiently waiting :)

Well I hope that everyone had a super wonderful holiday!! I know that my family had the BEST Christmas ever!!! And we are going to have a swinging new year, can't wait to visit the Gaylord ICE exhibit on New Year's Eve, yay!!!

Well have a super week ya'll and be sure to stock up on some loot over at CTM Kits blog :)

{my big break}

Hey ya'll. I'm still alive :) Just spending some much needed quality time with my girl, my man and my scrapbook room :) I've reorganized everything from my scrap desk to organizing my papers (card stock and patterned) by color. Amazing I know. With the help of my very good friend Nancy, I was able to complete two Christmas projects (that are gifts) for my brother and sister in law's families. I hope they will like them because well... I want to keep them both and put them in my house! LOL Today while Daddy takes Harper out on an excursion, mommy is going to buy some ink for the printer, and I am going to start on two big projects (that are also gifts) for my parents and my parent in loves :)

I will share pictures of the finished projects after Xmas is all said and done and look forward to a post on CTM from me on January 3rd, whoopie!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{mia for a few days}

Sorry I've been MIA for a few days, but well...I didn't have anything fun or exciting to post about :P

Now that my classes are finished with; there isn't much else going on in my life! I made an A in all of my classes this semester! I really knew I could do it, and I am so glad that I did. I'm signed up for another 4 classes for next semester, and after the Spring I'll only lack 16 hours to graduate, which I could very easily do over the summer and fall and graduate in December, but I think I'm going to take my time and graduate in the spring because I'll get more financial aid grants if I take my time :) Yay!

I have some projects that I put together over last weekend, but I have yet to upload them. I need to get some more color ink for my printer so I can start creating some lovely projects for my family this holiday season! I have a lot of things that I want to do and only a few days to throw it all together :) I love the new Sketchy Thursdays LO too, so I plan to make a LO about our trip to the Texas State Fair using that guide :) whee!

This Friday I'll be scrapping in my room late into the night while Harper sleeps and Gavin hangs out with his friends, and I will be just peachy!!! I can't wait really!! I love these little dates with myself!

I am working on some gorgeous projects for my relatives; I hope that they love them. I will share pictures and links to make your own when I'm done with those. Currently they are a surprise, and I don't want any of my family readers to see or spoil the fun :)

I am down to only a handful of gifts I need to get: a pinapple slicer and pinapple, something for Papa Jim, my Dad and my brother, and well I think that's it! Yay!!!!

Anyhow I will share an Christmas LO from last year since I haven't uploaded anything very recent, enjoy!!




This is a LO about our tree. We have a Grinch tree. It is curved at the top and the start hangs down. This tree was our big first investment when Gavin and I got married, and we've been able to celebrate for 4 Xmas's with it. We LOVE our tree, and we will be extremely sad when the tree finally breaks (it's on it's last leg right now) :) We still love our cool, curvy, grinchy tree! I hope you love it!

{dining room design}



This is my dining room idea swatch. My dining room is currently cocoa brown with a restored antique oak table with black chairs. I have a silver pendant with linen shades, and two armchairs that are faded sage.

Well in my new dining room. I will keep the table and chairs the same. I am going to paint the light fixture matte white and keep the linen shades and just paint a black number on them. I am going to purchase these window panels (they are my splurge, $100 for a pair), paint the walls quarried stone, paint one wall with chalkboard paint, and hang some old wooden shelves on brackets and display B&W pictures in vintage white frames and white-ish plates like these ones from Anthropologie. I love Anthropologie because they have such good style. They are great for inspiring creativity, and personally I don't buy much of anything there because it's WAYYYY over priced, but when there is something that I absolutely cannot live without I will buy it!!! Like these curtains: they are normally $228 for one, and I am buying a pair for $100; awesome deal if you ask me, and they are the most expensive thing in the whole room. The paint will be $20 a gallon; I will eventually get white slipcovers for my chairs, those will be $40 a piece, and hopefully free if I time it right and use my Target gift cards I get :) and then the spray paint for the chandelier ($5) and black acrylic paint for the pillows and shades ($5).

Tell me what you think of my new design :) Do you love it or hate it?

{new kit to share}

This just in, and it's on sale for only $12.50!!! Awesome deal if you ask me, and I will be getting my hands on this little baby for sure!
Check out the Catch the Moments Kits blog post for details.

{update about Olga}

Olga is searching for a family, and there is blog dedicated to her right now that is helping to raise money for her to find a home. She is a sweet little baby with downs syndrome, and you can help her find a home this Christmas. Please donate if you can by clicking the donation link found on Patti's blog; it is VERY important (life or death) that this dear child finds a home and soon. Every little bit counts, so $5 here and there really adds up! Her fund has gone from $78 to over $5,000 in just a matter of 3 days, so we want to see it get to $20,000 so a warm and loving family can bring this sweet child home!

Who will help her if we don't?

{big, bigger, biggest sale}

My friends and followers Catch the Moments Kits is having LITERALLY the biggest sale ever! Paper is $.45 a sheet; Thickers are $3.00-3.75!!! This sale is amazing and perfect to stock up on stocking stuffers for YOURSELF!! Just thought I would share this with all of my friends.

Also, today Catch the Moments Kits is being featured on the Sketchy Thursdays blog, so check them out, play along to win the Jolly Kit from CTM :)

Yay, yay, yay, well I will think of some more stuff to share later today. I am just eager to leave work and be with my family tonight and study for my exam that's this Saturday, eek!

With Love,
Gabi

{the gift of life and family}

I am inspired today and everyday by the giving of others. For all the bad that there is in this world, there is so much more good. I found this blog today about the gift of a family for special needs children who live across the ocean. This is a very touching story, and I made a small donation, and I will keep giving to find this little girl a home. There is a giveaway on this blog, but I don't personally care about that. I just want all the children of the world to know of love and compassion; to have a family to give them love. Please help this little girl out if you can.

The Most Important Post I've Ever Written - a Perfect Lily

{amateur night or day}

Well most of you know that I am a die-hard scrapbooker, but I am also a very amateur photographer. I just love looking at other photog's work and trying to emulate it :)

A couple of weekends ago I took my friends maternity pictures, and well I think that they turned out alright. I edited them using a vintage style called cross processing on Picnik, and this is a collage that I put together of some of my favorites that we took that day. There are tons of great shots, and I hope that these pictures warm their heart, and help them to remember this special time in their lives waiting for their bundle to arrive. Here is a glimpse of what I did for my friends the Fields family.

Picnik collage

{free Santa tags}

Hello my friends... I am a follower of Smitten Blog Designs, and they have a few awesome freebies to give away this week. Some of them are just lovely and really perfect for us scrapbookers! I was going to make some handmade tags for Harper's Santa gifts this year, but they have provided cute digi tags that you can cut and print and tie onto those Santa gifts this year, and now you don't have to disguise your handwriting on those tags!! Thank Heaven's for computer software! Visit their blog for this tag sheet, other freebies and blog designs. This is where I purchased my blog design for only $5; I know that's cheap right!

{fashion}

Hey Ya'll!!

Well I haven't posted anything today really, but I did share 2 layouts over at Catch the Moments this morning, so check me out over there today!! This is a picture of my fab fashion from the night of Gavin's party this past Friday evening. I felt very sexy and fashion forward, which is great because most days I feel like a frumpy mama, if you know what I mean ;P

{feeling good}

I'm feeling really good today despite a few minor let-downs this morning. I'll start with the bad news and end with the good:
--Today Gavin's car didn't start :( I'm glad though that my father in law was generous enough to come and get Harper and me, and let us borrow his car for the day so I was not late to work
--Anatomy final is tonight, and I will be glad to have it over with

Good news:
--I found my new favorite mall to shop at over the weekend: Willowbend in Plano
--Harper got her pictures with Santa this weekend even if she was screaming in the photo, oh well... She'll look back and laugh at those pictures
--I'm feeling fashionably fab today with my booties, leg warmers, herringbone tights, floral tunic and (p)leather jacket :)if the camera on my phone worked I'd post a picture
--Gavin's holiday party was fun even if it wasn't too eventful. Had fun playing 3 card poker (I'm a champ at this game), Black Jack is cool too; I looked awesome in my skirt and top (I will be sharing pictures of this), and well it was just a nice adult evening, while Harper stayed with her Granny and Papa :)
--Spent a portion of Sunday sleeping in then visiting Target, where we spent entirely too much as usual, then we just watched Xmas movies all day together, Harper napped over two hours, so I was able to finish wrapping presents; studied a lot for my final that's today; and then watched the season finale of Boardwalk Empire, and last night's Dexter... OMG I can't wait for the Dexter season finale :) (is it sad that I'm glad that Rita was killed off, she was making Dexter too domesticated...)
--And last but not least, I will be posting some LOs and projects over at CTM blog tomorrow morning, and I am very EXCITED about this. As most of you know this is my first ever design team opportunity, so I am working my hardest to be the BEST designer I can be. With the kits that I've received from Devon I've make 3 one page LOs, 1 two page LO, and 1 Home Decor project (12 Days of Christmas)... teehee!! I have more in the works today. I'm working on something for Scrap That Baby and I used this week's Sketchy Thursday Sketch for one of my LOs, and I LOVE how it turned out. Check out the sketch:


Well that's it for today... Ta, ta for now!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{holiday spirit}

I love this time of year when the holiday spirit fills the air. I love seeing the wonderment of Christmas and joy that the holiday brings in the eyes of the ones who are dear to me in this life. I wanted to share with you a special LO that I created for last years Xmas (created over the summer). It may seem kind of ordinary, but I chronicled our first Xmas cards that we sent out to our family and friends. This was the first time that Gavin and I did holiday greetings to families, and it was special because we are a full family here: Gavin, Harper and me. It was just very special for us, and this year I'd like to create even cuter cards with a beautiful greeting... I need to you all to help me think of something sweet to say this holiday season. Sometime I'm just terrible with words :P

I took my lab final last night, and I'm worried about the organ slides (clearly I didn't study the right ones), and I am worried about the labeling of the cat cadaver (yes I said feline). It smelled gross yes, but it was still pretty cool. I love A&P. Good thing I'm taking A&P 2 next semester, whee! Now I can cross that off my list, super!

Tonight is Gavin's holiday party. Harper is staying the night over at her Granny and Papa Jim's house. She is going to have a blast. I packed her some warm jammies and a Barney DVD. She is currently obsessed with everything Barney, so I will need to find some Barney books, and maybe a small Barney doll. I'm sure I can find one at a thrift store I can wash in HOT water :)

Ta-ta for now my peeps. I will be dancing the night away and gorging myself on food until my skirt buttons pop off, and then I will be singing carols in the morning with my daughter at her gospel brunch. Then pictures with Santa Saturday night and studying for my final all weekend in between!! Thanks Heaven's for weekends or I would get nothing done!



PS - Well I guess that doesn't matter because this is not a letter, but anyways I plan to host a small RAK on my blog next week. I will need to find some cute stuff to giveaway! I will let you know the details, when to enter and who will win a lovely prize!!

Happy Weekend to All!!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{rumblings from CTM Kits}

In honor of this lovely holiday season CTM Kits is hosting a very sweet RAK! Visit this website to get all the details: Catch the Moments Kits, but here is just a tidbit:

1. Follow all of the design team member's blogs (including mine) and show some love.
2. Follow the CTM Blog
3. Leave a comment here

Devon will choose one lucky person to win the Jolly Kit :) That is one SWEET deal!




Also Catch the Moments kits will be sponsoring Sketchy Thursdays and Scrap That Baby coming up very soon, yay!

In other news, when we reach 150 followers at CTM Kits (54 more to go)!! Devon will host the BIGGEST SALE EVER! So if you aren't a follower, become one, so everyone can score some great deals! Post on your blog, tell your friends, let's get to 150!!!

I'm out for today. I've turned in my Mentor-ship assignment, and now I am studying for my Anatomy Lab Final Exam that's night, eek, while working ;P

Ta-ta for now!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{tis the season for giving}

This cause is very close to my heart not just because of the season but also because I want to do what I can for all the children of the world. My husband and I donate our clothes to support children with disabilities; we choose a few angels (children and elderly) from the Salvation Army Angel tree every year, and this year I wanted to do a bit more. I just didn’t know what I could do with very little “free” time on my hands. Monica brought up a lovely idea of a ‘fundraiser’ event that she did last year that raised hundreds of dollars for the needy children and elderly folks in this great community, and I felt like I was being called to raise money for others through a Mary Kay party of my own. After trying to plan and put this party into motion, I kept running into obstacles, like test dates, holiday parties, and family events. As the holidays grow nearer to us, so does my desire to help those who need helping the most. Please give with me this year, think of the children who may not receive a gift from Santa this year, so while you’re doing a little shopping do what you can… if you are at Walmart please pick up an inexpensive toy and drop it off with Toys for Tots, or if you need that perfect moisturizer from Mary Kay, feel free to buy for yourself because you’ll be donating 20% of that order to families in need (while getting a 10% discount for you).

Monica Broadhurst is a very good friend of our family, and she has generously devised a plan with her Mary Kay business for you to get 10% off your orders of makeup, skin care, and fragrances, and she will donate 20% of the proceeds to Cumberland Children’s Home in Denton, TX to help provide nourishment, shelter and gifts for children and families in need in Denton! This fundraiser will start Friday, December 3rd and end Saturday, December 4th. It is two full days of giving while receiving.

If you would like to participate in this fundraiser event to help the less fortunate of this community, please purchase from her website www.marykay.com/monicabroadhurst, and in the comment box please put my name: Gabrielle Watson or mention the Cumberland Children's Home, so that she knows to send the ‘host’ benefits to the right establishment. I am not benefiting in any form or fashion from this fundraiser event because I would rather see my good fortune paid forward to others especially during this lovely Christmastime.

Please give what you can this year and God bless us, everyone.

I wanted to leave you with a beautiful music video and song that always touches my heart and reminds me of what this season is all about: good will towards men



With Love,
Gabrielle Watson

{i'm back with awards to give}

Alright ya'll!!!

I'm finally back and in action. It's been kind of crazy at work, so I have very little time for anything personal (like I should be doing anything personal at work, but whatever!). I'm studying for my finals late into the evening every night of the week, during my lunch. I am living, breathing Anatomy 1 right now. First I need to make myself a little list of what I need to accomplish or have to do this week, sadly this will keep me on track because I check out the blog alot!

1. Study for Lab Final, Mentor-ship assignment due 12/2
2. Lab Final tomorrow evening 12/2
3. Marriage & Family quiz due Thursday 12/2
4. Study for Anatomy Final 12/2-12/5
5. Gavin's holiday party Friday night 12/3
6. Harper's holiday recital Saturday morning 12/4
7. Taking pictures with Santa Saturday evening at Willow Bend 12/4
8. Scrapping/Studying Saturday night 12/4
9. Church on Sunday, then studying the rest of the day while taking care of Harper 12/5
10. Monday night Anatomy Final 12/6
11. Read for finals 12/6-12/10
12. Breast sonogram 8 AM on Tuesday 12/7
13. Complete career assignment by Thursday 12/9
14. Final quiz for Marriage & Family 12/9
15. Slop Crop and Final Exam for Intro due 12/11
16. Final Exam for Marriage & Family due 12/13

And the award goes to:
1. Shannon Bogan - Chicken Scratch
2. Elizabeth Kartchner - Dear Lizzy
3. Monica Coffman - Yep, I'm a ScrapFREAK
4. Stephanie Howell - Just Me, My Soldier and 4 Little Chicks
5. KariAnn Sweeney - It's a Wonderful Life
6. Diana - Designs by Diana
7. April Foster - Goodbye City Life
8. Kandis Smith - My Creative Treasury

Congrats to you all, and thank you Mary for my nomination!!

{stylish blogger award}


This may seem kind of silly, but I was given this wonderful award by Mary Pat Seihl. She is one of my lovely followers, and I follow her blog as well :) I feel so grateful and excited to receive this award. It really means a lot to me especially since I'm still pretty new to blogging in general.

Here are the rules for receiving and accepting this special award:

1). Thank and link back to the person who awarded you
2). Share 8 things about yourself
3). Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you've recently discovered
4). Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards

Eight things about me:
1. I was born in Landstuhl, Germany. It was still considered West Germany when I was born.
2. I currently use the Pink ATG, and I love it.
3. I survived Thanksgiving night at ToyRus last week. It was hell-acious, and I will NEVER do it again. Try 30 minutes in line in the bitter freezing cold, then finding the items in a very crowded store, and then waiting in the check out line for over an hour!!
4. I want to have another baby girl and soon, but it won't be happening until the time is right. I need to finish my schooling first.
5. I've been from a size 00 to a size 12, and all the sizes in between. I am currently a size 2 and very thankful that I finally fit back into my skinny jeans.
6. I want to dye my hair blond, but I just don't have the gumption to do it.
7. I love, love, love these movies - Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Marie Antoinette, the Duchess, Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Vanity Fair... do you see a trend?
8. I love helping others. I love being a teacher, and I love caring for other people. It brings me to tears most nights while I pray for the less fortunate. I am so richly blessed that I rarely pray for myself but always for the welfare of others especially my family and people I know who are struggling. I always, always pray for the children of the world, that they may find love, adoration, warmth, nutrition, shelter and gifts throughout their upbringing. I hope that their lives may not be riddled with abuse and neglect, and that they may overcome oppression in their young lives.

So that's it for now. I will update with another blog today about who I am divvying out my awards to :)

{giving thanks}

Before I rest my head, I wanted to wish everyone a very merry and happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful for all the blessings in my life. I am so grateful for a wonderful family, good health, a good job, good friends, and well everything, everyday. I am very richly blessed in this life, and I would have it no other way.

So goodnight to my friends and followers, I am thankful to you as well for taking a moment to check out my blog, for inspiring my creativity, and for your generous support. Thanks Catch the Moments for all the great Thickers too :) Oh, and if I don't blog again before Monday it's because I'm too buy catching up on sleep after staying up all night in honor of Black Friday, yipee!!

Merci et bon soir!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{new favorite store}

Thanks to Elizabeth Kartchner (my scrappy idol) -- I have a new favorite store. It is definitely right up there with Forever 21. I love this online shop because it has hints of Anthropologie's vintage boutique style but without the SUPER high price tag. I love the look book because I can really see how they used the clothing, layering, etc. Because of this website I have found 2 pairs of boots that I can't live without and I simply can't spend another day in my life without this sweater dress. I have the perfect long sleeved shirt to wear underneath, and I will have the perfect boots and tights after Xmas, and I know I could pair a cute scarf with it when I find one at a thrift store or something. I love VINTAGE BOUTIQUE anything. They have uber great deals on shoes, jewelry, purses, and other accessories :)
Autumn%20Belle%20Lookbook

{good eats}

Well last week I was raving about this two-page LO that I did, and then I never posted it for all to see. I know epic fail. Well, here is it. I hope you like it. The PP and journaling cards came from Catch the Moments. Everything else came from various resources. I really love this LO because these pictures came from 3 separate messy eating occasions. I am glad that I was able to incorporate all of them into a LO because all o the pictures were so lovely. They began as 4x6 pictures, but then I cropped some to be 3x4, and I kept a few of them 4x6. I rarely do two-pagers, so this was a challenge for me, but it turned out rather swell :) Enjoy and leave me some love!

 

 


Used: Echo Park pp, Bazzill Swiss Dot cardstock, Fiskars Apron Lace punch, AC journaling cards, AC ribbon, Zig writer black, White cardstock
Posted by Picasa

{baby shower, party, and Sunday funday}

Okay, so I've been away from the computer since Friday night pretty much. Here is a quick update of what I've been up to...

Friday - Work was work as usual, but after I got off I went to my coworker and very good friend's baby shower. I gave her an 8x8 scrapbook that I started for her so that she can pick up her crafting tools after her little one arrives in a month.
Saturday - Gavin worked in the morning, then we went to Target picked up some wrapping paper and few other treats. When we returned home I began makingdinner for my friends and family, and the Super Secret Sushi group came to my place for a lovely meal, friendly conversation, games and just a good old time. It was great to have everyone over. Tanya, Laura and Laura's husband were missed, but everyone else came and it was a mega blast.
Sunday - Right now I am updating my Cricut Gypsy now that Mac users can update and get free cartridges. I am so excited! And we are planning to visit our family in Denton today and just hang out just browsing shops and other stuff. Right now my little girl is dancing around the living room in a tutu that her Lita gave to her. She thinks she is a fairy princess, and she truly is.

Here are photos of the baby album that I gave to my friend for her baby shower.













Used: Paper Studio Little One PP, DCWV Baby Girl PP, Karen Foster stickers, AC Thickers, Michael's alpha stickers, Making Memories alpha stickers, Cosmo Cricket ribbon, AC Ribbon, rubons, buttons, twine



Forgive the randomness of this post... The pictures are out of order, and this is driving me crazy!!!! Aargh.

Well the pages go in order like this:
Hello Little One
It's a Girl
Baby - Life Changing, information tag
Mama and Me
Daddy's Girl
Sweet Dreams, Sleep Tight, We Love You, Goodnight

{dear little st. nick}

Dear Sandy Claws,

I would like to come upon the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7S under the Xmas tree all wrapped up with a pretty bow. I would also love this Short Swing Sweater Coat from Old Navy, and I want/need the Soft Black Jegging and the Boyfriend Jean in Vintage from American Eagle. And if you have enough time and money on hand... please bring me these boots from Payless or these from Forever 21. I know that I've been a good girl all year.

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{lazy last night & this week's winner}

So I have been a bit lazy. I took pictures of my LO, but I have yet to upload and edit them. I'm lazy I know. Well it is more busy that I am I guess. I really needed to finish my homework assignment, discussion and reading last night after class, so I was dreadfully tired after my long day. I watched Morgan Freeman's "Through the Wormhole" for about 15 minutes, then I slunked to bed and dozed right off. So today's Random.org blog winner is, comment #4:

Sue, a.k.a. midwestgirl said...

Now how cute is this? Great idea and I love the look of all your cards.
p.s. the only way I can post photos in the right order is to organize them in iPhoto before exporting. Don't know if this will help you, just my 2 cents. :)

November 15, 2010 7:50 PM


Sue, send your mailing address to me: tinyscrapper at yahoo dot com

You won the 12 Days of Christmas Envelopes, Thankful Card, and I will be sending you some scrappy Thickers and paper to enjoy with them :P

Happy Creating to every one today!! Now I'm back to paperwork at work this morning :)

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{the sale is on}

CTM Kits is having their BIG sale today. Be sure to check out the blog throughout the day to see what is on special. Right now we are selling kits for $13 and kit add-ons for $5. What a STEAL!!??




The sale includes all these kits and more :)

{through the wormhole}

Morgan Freeman... I love you when I am tired and done with homework. Are we all alone? Is our universe deceiving? There are more stars in the universe than their are grains of sand on the beaches of the world, and there are planets that revolve around these stars.

How fascinating?!

Don't forget to check out the Catch the Moments Kits blog before going to bed tonight, and then all through the day tomorrow. I know I will ;)

And can I say that Elizabeth Kartchner is my scrapbook idol. I wish she and I were best friends and cropped together while our girls played, teehee. I can dream right?

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{friday before black friday sale}



Catch the Moments Kits is having a Friday Before Black Friday Sale Extravaganza!! For more details please visit the CTM Blog, but here is a brief rundown of what to expect:

"Sale starts at midnight Friday morning! Throughout the day Friday, I will be posting 10 different sale posts. Each post will include different items that are on sale. The sale is only good until I make the next post."
"For example, when sale post #1 goes up on the blog, that sale is good until I post sale post #2. And post #2 is good until I post #3 and so on. So only one group of items is on sale at a time."
"You can order throughout the day as many times as you like, I will just add them all together over the weekend and send you a total; feel free to email me as many times as you want!"


You definitely will want to check the CTM Blog a lot to see what is on sale at any given moment during the day. Devon is going to update her Flickr account to keep up with the inventory that she has in stock. Per Devon, there will be partial packs of embellishments (brads, buttons, flowers, etc) and other scrappy goodies for, at or near wholesale prices!! What a steal!! Don't forget your scrappy friends and family this Christmas. You could probably build them a beautiful kit with all the stuff that you buy this Friday during the sale. What a lovely gift idea (a Catch the Moments Kit)!! Wink-wink, nudge-nudge!

Check the CTM Blog starting at Midnight, I know I will be :)

{shh... big news}



Okay because I am privy to some stuff... I will only share a tidbit. YOU must check out my blog tomorrow for details of something BIG that will START on Friday over at Catch the Moments Kits. Seriously... this is going to be BIG!! Like HUGE and CHEAP!

Ack!! I said too much! - Just check back tomorrow for ALL the details!

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{meet the CTM Kits designers}

Today Catch the Moments Kits has put up bios of its newest designers. I am really ecstatic that I was chosen to be apart of such a lovely team of gals!! Thanks Devon, I am beyond honored!

Today I won't be posting much else; I just wanted to give you a quick update of what is going on over at Catch the Moments Kits ; also DON'T forget the sale that is going on!!! $15 Kits, $6 Add-Ons and a $1 for some other goodies!! I think I might purchase an extra Kit as an inexpensive Xmas gift for someone scrappy that I know!! So since I don't have anything else for you today, here is a beautiful music video and song that well... I just adore. It makes me cry everytime I hear it! I'd love to sing this for my church during the Christmas season, but I just don't have the time to get all the kinks worked out.

{my sweet flower child}

Harper is my sweet flower child. She is independent, curious, smarter-than-the-average-bearcub, funny, and a think-outside-of-the-box kind of gal. She is MY sweet baby (or big girl now). I wanted to share a LO that I did a few weeks ago at my last crop (the one before this past weekend). I really love this LO with the DeLovely papers.



Used: Cosmo Cricket - DeLovely PP, Prima bling, Core'dinations cardstock, AC Thickers, Alpha glitter stickers from Michael's, and black trim

I hope that you love this LO as much as I do. I submitted it to Cosmo Cricket to see if they want to post as a Fan Creation on their FB page. I hope they like it. It's really one of my favorites; I have it framed in my house :P

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{12 days of Christmas & my first giveaway}

"On the First day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a partridge in a pear tree"

I know that all of you are familiar with this song, but have you ever tried this? Giving your spouse, boyfriend, fiancee, partner, soulmate or maybe even roomie gifts over the 12 days leading up to Christmas. Probably not right? Well I lifted this idea from November 2009 - Project Freak - 12 Days of Christmas and none other than Shannon Bogan (she may not know about my blog, but I religiously follow hers).

Well last year I was still a pretty new scrapper, and I did this project. The envelopes I made last year turned out lovely, but they just aren't my cup of tea anymore, so I decided to scrap up some more using the Festive kit that I got from Catch the Moment Kits plus some extra BG papers and the Jovial chipboard purchased from PaperAddict. And well I am so very pleased. I think they turned out stunning, and I am very happy that I went with the 5.5x7.5 envelopes this year. More room to fit those goodies in :)

Basically if you are familiar with the song, then you know how it goes. You set the envelopes out and you or your lover/friend open the gifts starting on December 13th. Last year I did it for my hubby, so this year he is going to fill these envelopes for me. Whee I can't wait to see what little surprises he gives to me :)

Well let's see how it looks this year shall we? Ugh, sorry for the random order, I'm still figuring out how to attach darn pictures!














Used: BG Jovial PP, BG Jovial Die Cuts, BG Jovial Chipboard, BG button, AC Thickers, Core'dinations cardstock, and MS Baker's Twine (gotta love that stuff) and on the card all of the above plus Jenni Bowlin button -- you can get the JB buttons, AC Thickers and Jovial Kit from Catch the Moments Kits

And for my very first giveaway I am going to regift my first set of 12 Days of Christmas envelopes and a handmade card (made with scraps from my new Jovial kit) to a blog follower that leaves a comment on this post. Because I don't have a ton of blog followers right now I will wait a few days before selecting a winner at random. I will also throw in little something scrappy that you can use on your LO and/or cards :) - so become a blog follower and post a comment by Wednesday, and I will post the winner on Thursday; now how does that sound?




Alright, I'm out for the evening blog followers!! I will be back later this week to post a winner and present a double LO made with Echo Park from Catch the Moments Kits.

With Love,
Gabi Watson

{sale, sale, sale}

Catch the Moments Kits are having a great sale this week!! All kits are $15... Add-ons are $6, plus Devon added a $1 (or less) group under her Flickr account so you might find some really inexpensive paper, brads and other embellies that you just CAN'T LIVE without!

I will be posting my double LO and Envelopes tomorrow, and I will have a giveaway as well sometime this week, so be sure to keep checking this blog for something special this week!!

Here is the Joyful Kit from Catch the Moments Kits; I love Crate Paper. Their paper is thick, good quality, and their designs are delightful, perfect for those snow bunnies, babies and angels in your life :) -- I like to think outside of the box as well with this line. I can see a number of those papers used for Non-Winter LOs, such as birthdays, Easter, and other fun and quirky pictures you may have...

{cropped and ready for bed}

Yesterday I cropped from noon until 11 pm. It was great to be with others who love being creative with paper. I didn't get everything that I wanted done, but I did finish my 12 days of Christmas project, and I was able to churn out a 'Thanksgiving' card, and a 2 page LO (I never do those)... I just felt like challenging myself a bit, and I really wanted to use as many pictures at one time that I could while still creating a beautiful and simple scrap page.

I have taken pictures, but Gavin is on the laptop right now, so I can't load and edit them yet. I need to sign up for my paid account at Picnik since I have decided that I prefer their site, and I like using them more than Picasa. I like it because I don't have to download it to my computer, and people can view my pictures like they do on the picasa web albums. So I will actually be paying for photo editing stuff, but it will be MUCHO cheaper than photoshop (which I would love, but it's not in the budget). I've much rather have a good fitting new pair of jeans and pants for work.

So I am gearing up for Black Friday. Ads are being released early online so if you are into the hustle and bustle of the biggest shopping day of the year, you may check out this website: www.blackfriday.info -- I follow this site religiously every holiday season.

So.... I'm going to have a date with the television now and then I am off to bed because Gavin and I are exhausted from this weekend. I have the most wonderful husband in the world. While I was away at cropping... he was cleaning the carpets, picking up the dog from the groomer, and taking care of our sweet (and becoming destructive) angel baby girl.k -- He's the best man ever, and I am so blessed to be his wife. Today we picked up Harper a new winter coat from Old Navy, taking advantage of their 30% off coupon. Then we ate at the Cajun Big Easy at the mall and picked up some rolls of wrapping paper at Hallmark and Harper's Xmas ornament for this year. I love their $5 off coupons :) -- I got 2 rolls of Peanuts paper, Xmas plaid, and one with a Merry message on it. Harper's ornament is the Orange See and Say they have. It's fun. Harper was a handful today though, so we are both pooped to say the least.

Goodnight and I hope everyone has a lovely and hopefully creative week without any tests, unlike me :(

With love,
Gabi from Savannah, TX

{done}

Alright so I finished my project that was due at midnight, and I've already turned it in. I completely my discussion for the night too. I still need to finish reading my chapter on parenting and take my quiz by 6 pm tomorrow for my marriage and family course, but I will take that tomorrow morning before I go to my crop. I need to rearrange and pack up my room for tomorrow, but I just don't have the energy right now, so I may just do that in the morning. We'll see, right now I'm going to snuggle up with my honey and maybe watch a lovely Xmas flick by the fire.

I have such a beautiful life.

With love,
Gabi from Savannah, TX

{finally friday}

I am so glad Friday is here. It it is pretty much my favorite day of the week. I like it because it is the start of the weekend. I get to wear jeans to work, and every other Friday it is payday. Fridays are wonderful.

Tomorrow I have a crop, and I am just thrilled to finally be getting some scrapping done. During the semester, it is terribly hard for me to put aside time for my hobby when I have more pressing things to take care of: family time, homework, groceries, cooking, cleaning .... scrapping always comes last when I have a quiz and discussion due every week :) -- so I crop once per month with my gals in Frisco. It is my healing creative time when I can just shoot the poop with other girls and make fabulously creative stuff :)

Tomorrow I'll be working on my 12 Days of Christmas envelopes for this year, and I will be working on some LOs for Catch the Moments Kits.

I've been planning with my husband our Black Friday excursion right now we are going to visit ToysRus at 10PM on Thanksgiving night, and then early the next morning we will be at Target picking up a few things, then on to the other stores... I'm going to get me some freebies at Walgreens and CVS. Visit this Website for the most up to date Black Friday ads...

I am so looking forward to the holidays that are right upon us!! I just can't believe it's been a whole year since last Thanksgiving and last Christmas! My how the time has flown by. I am almost done with my classes. Today (while I'm at work) I will be quickly putting together a one page essay and response about the film that I watched last night. (Literally gave me nightmares) and I will be working on a power point that is due tonight by midnight. Usually I get these power points done at least a day early, but I needed to watch that movie last night before it was unavailable. Eek... busy night. Then I will be tidying up the scrappin' room and pack up my scrap junk!!

I am leaving you with a LO that I did for my Xmas album last year... This is Harper paying a visit to Santa at his Mall workshop :)

{going to sleep}

I'm exhausted right now. I had my lab this evening, which was fun. We talked about the 5 senses; we did a neat experiment. Harper and Daddy got home late, and Harper climbed on top of my chest, and she laughed and would put her face in my chest and scream (muffled) .... then she was just burst into giggly. Gosh I just love my little girl. She is the LIGHT of my life.

I watched a documentary called "Are the Children Alright?" which was about children's mental healthcare system in the State of Texas. It was appalling that there is not enough help out there for children who are mentally ill. There are half a million mentally ill children in the U.S. and only 2/3 of them get the help they need. The documentary brought me to tears when I heard a young boy's earliest memory about being raped when he was 3 years old. It just brings me to tears now just thinking about his life.

Nobody ever thinks about children in these situations. We think about out kids daily. How they are and how we can provide for them. I've never really given much thought to children who have mental illness, and I like to think that children are not abused, but I am seeing children, childhood and babies who live in poverty with rose colored glasses. I feel like I am just a pawn and I can't really do anything alone, but I WANT to HELP these children. What can I do Lord to help these sweet children? I pray every NIGHT for the children who are living in poverty, who are abused/neglected/unloved, the ones who are ill and need help, need to see a doctor, need therapy. Oh Lord, please I beg to you...watch over these children and make them known to people so that they can be saved.

I want to save these babies. I want to see their smiling faces and take them away from the nightmare that I can't even fathom their life is. I was sexually abused for a brief time when I was young, but I can't even wrap my head about a child being raped at 3 years old. It has been a sad and depressing night. It has been an eye opening night.

Today I chose 2 children from the angel tree, and I am going to pick and elderly person tomorrow. I hope that these small gifts that I give them provide them with enough hope to make them feel whole in a very empty life that they may live. Sweet angel babies....peace be with you, this season and all the seasons of every year. I don't know you, but I LOVE you as if you were my own, and I want you to be blessed, be nourished and well taken care of.

May no child of the Lord be lost.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
(Matthew 18:12-14 ESV)

{Vintage from Catch the Moments Kits}

Hey ya'll!!

Well Devon at Catch the Moments Kits has some new goodies posted on the blog. Today I have photos of the newest kit aptly named Vintage! Isn't it gorgeous? This kit includes patterned paper from Basic Grey Curio and American Crafts Classics; embellishments included are Fabric Print Thickers and Basic Grey Curio Brads & Bloomers. This is beautifully VINTAGE and so AFFORDABLE; that is what I love MOST about Catch the Moments Kits. I know a good deal when I see it, and I can't wait to start playing with some paper, whee!!! If you would like to order the Vintage Kit or any other scrappy goodness in Devon's Flickr Account just send her an email (email is on the blog).

Here are some pics...
I have a crop this weekend, so I will be playing with paper and posting pictures by Monday of all the lovely LOs and projects that I've made.

Today is my Hubby's 27th birthday too, so I would like to give a quick SHOUT to him. Happy Birthday my Sweet Hubby and Father of my baby girl!! You are such a wonderful man, and life would be nothing without you in it!!

Oh ONE more thing before I drift off into '...angry student territory...' Catch the Moments will be starting a REAL website where you can put orders in a cart, etc... I will give you all the details as I get them :)

With Love,
Gabi from Savannah, TX

{you know it's wednesday}

Happy hump day folks...

I don't have much to say today, so I am just going to make a list of things. Lists make me very happy!

1. Crop on Saturday, and I can't wait!
2. Talk about the Black Friday deals with Gavin tonight after dinner.
3. Pick up Harper today after work (I don't normally do this, but Gavin works late tonight).
4. Pick up a little something, something for my sweet hubster. His 27th b-day is tomorrow! I'm going to get him some sweats to wear around the house. He needs sweats!
5. Read Chapter 4 and 9 readings for Intro.
6. Look at the video discussion tonight for my Marriage and Family course.
7. Think about what project to work on for my Personal Development class, due this Friday.
8. Read Ch. 11 - Parenting and take quiz on Thursday or Friday.
9. Watch a least 1 Christmas film this weekend.
10. Start studying for my Anatomy final this weekend, putting together note cards and reading over important stuff.
11. Picnic today with my cousin Candice.
12. Did I mention that I have a Crop on Saturday? Yay!

{is there something wrong}

With my blog right now? Hm. I'm having trouble accessing it, so I'm sure my readers are too ...

{is is lunch yet}

Ok, so my two fave parts of the day are 1) lunch and 2) end of the workday

Haha, who knew?

Nothing much too exciting is going on today. I am just working on stuff at work. During lunch I'll be studying form my exam in Sociology of Marriage and Family. Tonight after Harper goes sleepy-bye then I will will take one last glance over my notes and take my exam. After my exam I will start working on my studies for my Anatomy Exam in a few weeks. I need to reread the chapter over Neural Tissue, and I need to read about the gross anatomy of the Spinal Cord, the Reflex Arc, the gross anatomy of the Brain, the lobes/sections of the brain & what they control, and tons of other junk about the brain and disorders/diseases Disconnection Syndrome, etc.

Fun stuff. But it really interests me... Anatomy & Physiology interests me just as much as Scrapbooking!! Haha, then I need to read for my Intro class, and I am meeting my cousin Candice for lunch tomorrow! I am very excited about this. It's odd to think that we are both grown ups now. When we were kids we used to play together for a few hours, and then we would get totally tired of each other and nit-pick and fight about little things. I think all kids are that way though.

I love her, and I am so happy to share lunch with her!

My Slop Crop (monthly crop) is this Saturday! I SOOOO can't wait!! I am going to play with my Catch the Moments kits and make something fabulous that I think you will all like and maybe incorporate during this holiday season!!

{dallas world aquarium and perfect weekend}

Gavin's 27th birthday is this Thursday, and we celebrated this weekend by taking the family to the Dallas World Aquarium. To those of you who've never been to this place, it is a wonderful rain forest like habitat. Some of the animals and birds are domesticated and run free, and the whole bottom floor is a pretty good sized aquarium and it is just neat-o!! Harper had way too much fun!! Well we all had a blast. Our favorite animals were definitely the Sloth, Giant River Otters, Anteater, this little Monkey that was crawling around and the Tree Kangaroo. The Shark & Ray tunnel was REALLY cool too! Enjoy the pics!


Also this weekend was extra special because we spent time as a family decorating the house for Christmas!! It was really a magical weekend despite the fact that I didn't study at all (like I should've) and Gavin wrote a paper :( - We always make time for fun family stuff and getting in the holiday spirit was just what we needed :) There are some pics above of us getting the living room ready for the tree! Yipee! I love Christmastime!!

{twenty-four favorites at 24}

For the "About Me" challenge at Scrap the Moments (sister challenge blog to Catch the Moments Kits) I did a scraplift from a LO by Shannon Bogan. I really love her LOs, but she is a digi scrapper for the most part. I would love to go digital, but I have too much fun playing with paper :)

So here it is my first LO using Catch the Moments kits. I used papers and tag from the Wonderland kit and add on, and I used a paper and brad from the Jolly kit. Almost everything from this LO came from Devon from Catch the Moments kits including the all the papers, tags, button and brad. Here is the Etsy store to see what's for sale right now!

Well I hope you love it. This is the first LO I've ever done that is just about me. Most of the time all of my LOs focus around my daughter or our whole family, but definitely not me :) -- It felt challenging and good to finally step outside of the scrappy box and do something for me :) - I love how it turned out too! Thanks Shannon Bogan for all the inspiration!




Journal:
1. My family - Harper & Gavin
2. Christmastime
3. Being with friends
4. Coca-Cola 5. Eating
6. Wearing shorts with long sleeves
7. Sleeping
8. Scrapbooking, especially at crops & retreats
9. Shopping
10. Disney everything
11. Easy music
12. Surfing the web when I should be working
13. Embellies
14. Movies
15. Dresses from Forever 21
16. Singing
17. A Few TV shows
18. Taking & Editing pictures
19. The Weekend
20. Reading
21. Black Magic Skinny pants from the Gap
22. Date nights with Daddy
23. Vintage anything really
24. My whole life - my house, my family & all the fixins'