Layered Template #44 (5 Photo)

Wow! It has been a LONG time since I've done a template. I've been using too many templates and quick pages myself, just to get caught up. But I had an afternoon where the rest of my family is sleeping, so I'm sitting in front of the football game and scrapping a little bit. Talk about the perfect Sunday afternoon! :)

Unfortunately, I must also add, "Don't get used to it." I'd love to tell you that my schedule has let up and that I have more time for scrapping. That would be completely untrue! I do have a lot of catching up to do though, so as the opportunities present themselves, I'll share the templates that come as a result of my own page designs.

So about this template... it is designed at 8x8 and 300 dpi. It will print just fine at 12x12, but I worried about enlarging it to 12x12 after I had created it at 8x8. Sometimes the upsizing digitally doesn't work as well as I'd like. So here you have it.... you may go HERE to download it. Enjoy! ;)

FREEBIE: Christmas Cards

Did you think I had fallen off the face of the earth? :) No fear, I am here. I appreciate those of you have reached out in concern to ask about me. It has been quite a crazy year! I really can't complain, because it has been a GOOD year. I just haven't had any time to myself to do any hobbies. And what little time I did have, I'll admit, I was selfish and created for myself, but didn't get to the freebies.

The background, for those who don't know. In January we moved. In my real job, I'm a sales rep. In the past, I've always had an office in my home, because I was the only one of me in a given region. Well, the move we took in January put me in an office instead of home based. So now I've got a 20 minute commute each morning and evening, which isn't too horrible. But... what it really means working out of an office is that I've got basically 2-3 hours each night to play with the kids, cook dinner, and keep the house reasonable. I'll admit, I struggle to keep the house reasonable, and we've eaten a LOT more processed food than I would like to (and my waistline is paying the price for that). I definitely LOVE my job, LOVE my company, and have no desire to change either of those... but hopefully the next move/position will put me back in a home-based office! We shall see what He has in store for us.

Anyway, so I just finished up and ordered my Christmas cards for this year. And I thought I'd wish you all a Merry Christmas by sharing with you some of the cards I've used in years past. The top 3 versions are the actual cards I sent out. The collage is how I've tweaked them for you. Because the '07 and '08 cards used someone else's papers, I obviously couldn't share them with you like that.

This is our Christmas card for 2006. My son was 6 months old and my daughter was 28 months old. She needed to be bribed with a sucker to smile, which I Photoshopped out in that center photo! These photos were taken at the top of our stairs with a white bedsheet draped over the railing. I used Virtual Photographer to "glow" them a bit. I also bolded the "Christ" in Christmas, as a subtle reminder of just why we're celebrating. There are 4 PNG files available in the download: black, green, red, and red/green polka dot. I have taken the year out, so you won't be stuck in 2006.

This is the card we used last year. I couldn't seem to get a good photo of all of us at the same time, so I used a picture of each of us throughout the year. Again, I made "Christ" slightly larger to give it some emphasis on the card. The verse I chose is, "May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace." I provided for you a PNG file as well as a layered template so you can choose your own background. I obviously took our names and year off of there. The font I used is Arriere Garde, which is a free download.

And this is the card I ordered for this year. I used Vista Print to print them. I got 250 cards for under $50!!! And that's with envelopes, too. AND they print on the back in B&W for free, so we added our address and contact info on the back. They printed our cards last year too, and they did a really great job. I did get the idea for the love, joy, peace, and the verse from someone who I saw on Two Peas a few years ago (it's been in my inspiration folder ever since). However, I couldn't find it again to give proper credit. If anyone recognizes the theme and can tell me who did it, I'd love to give her thanks for inspiring this years card. Hers is a 4x6 and includes another greeting/verse, so is different, but the theme idea came from her. Anyway... I've provided you with 3 PNG files for this card -- one with a black background, white background, or red background.

You can download all of these HERE.

Enjoy the cards, and have a blessed Christmas!

"Hold On To Jesus" Lyrics

I'm sorry I haven't had scrapping time to get some more freebies posted. I know that lyrics don't replace that, but I do hope they provide you some inspiration.

I discovered this song, by Erin O'Donnell, about a year and a half ago when I was working on putting all my layouts to video. It so beautifully puts to words and music the prayer I have for my kids. I heard it again on the radio this morning as I drove my kids do Day Care, and I actually had to choke back tears. I just love it! If you have a chance to listen to it, please do. (Here's a sample.)

"Hold On To Jesus" by Erin O'Donnell

You're a little piece of heaven

You're a golden ray of light

And I wish I could protect you

From the worries of this life

But if there's one thing I could tell you

It's no matter what you do

Hold to Jesus; He's holding on to you

The world will try to tell you

That might is more than right

That beauty's on the outside

And being good's a losing fight

But remember what I've told you

Because the world will make you choose

Hold to Jesus; He's holding on to you

CHORUS:

Hold on to Jesus

Cling to His love

Rest deep in His mercy

Whenever things get rough

Don't lose sight of His goodness

And don't ever doubt this truth

That when you hold on to Jesus

He's holding on to you

Hear me dear Jesus

Rock this little one to sleep

Keep her close when she's scared

And give her grace when she is weak

I know she'll stumble

But I know she'll make it through

If you hold on to her

Just like You said You'd do

Hold her Jesus

And she'll hold on tight to You

Give your kids an extra hug for me. I'll give mine some extra squeezes, too. They're precious miracles from God, and I'm sure you feel the same way I do -- completely humbled by the blessings and gifts that they are.

One Life to Love

As I was driving into work this morning, a song touched my heart. I always listen to the lyrics to see if scrapbook inspiration can be taken from, and this song this morning definitely would fit the bill. The song is called "One Life to Love" by 33 Miles (from their One Life CD). The chorus is the part that I think would be a great addition to a scrapbook page:

"You only get just one time around,

you only get one shot at this

One chance to find out the

one thing that you don’t wanna miss

One day when it’s all said and done

I hope you see that it was enough

This one ride, one try, one life to love."

~ "One Life to Love" - 33 Miles

An important lesson to remember -- we do only have one life to LIVE and one life to LOVE -- so make each moment count.

HERE are the full lyrics for anyone interested.

Follow This Blog

So I was reading Hummie's Blog today, which actually explains this a LOT better than I'm about to....

Anyway, she introduced me to this cool new feature called "Follow This Blog" -- so I decided to try and add it to my page. If you like to visit my site and come back from time to time, please consider adding yourself to the "Come Scrap With Me" link on the left hand side. I'm just curious what the little gadget does and how it looks in action. I promise I won't put you on a SPAM list or anything like that! :)