Alt Summit Business Cards

I designed new wood veneer business cards to pass out at the Alt Summit Conference last week.

Website Re-design

 

My website, Say Hello has a new look! I've also updated it with new products... and will continue to add new products into next month.

We believe in miracles

My little sister, Trisha has been sick for almost 2 and a half years. She was diagnosed about 2 years ago with a grade 3 inoperable terminal brain tumor. Since then she was also diagnosed with skin cancer, and a second grade 3 brain tumor. She has fought hard. She hasn't eaten candy since her diagnosis. She has also been eating an alkaline diet to help her chances. Trisha has been through about 10 surgeries in the past 2 years.

Emily, Trisha, and I.

Last September (2012), with the help of some neighbors, we planned a fundraiser for Trisha. We wanted to raise money for her treatments and bills. It was such an awesome day. The weather was perfect. Friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers came to our race to support Trisha. We raised over $15,000.00 for her. Up until that point, Trisha had been paying all her medical bills on her own. She had been working as an engineer up at Hill Air Force Base until Earlier that year when she was too sick to continue to make such a long commute from South Jordan up to Weber County in Utah.

 Even our neighbor who suffered from strokes participated in our 5K run. You can read more about his neat story HERE.

Trisha was thrilled to see so many people support her in this difficult trial.

Today Trisha is in the Hospital. She is struggling to breath and talk. But we still have hope.

Last week a friend sent me an email about her mom who had cancer. They had her whole funeral planned out. Then, one doctor told her not to die, but to toughen up & fight. She is still alive today. Trisha is a fighter, and I believe she will fight as hard as she can as long as she is still breathing. 

Sometimes people come to the hospital to say "goodbye" to her. It makes her so sad to think that she may never see them again. My friend inspired me to put this sign on her hospital room door. It has seemed to change the attitudes of friends and family member who come to say "goodbye." Now they are saying, "Keep fighting because we believe in miracles." instead of saying goodbye.

Other people at the hospital mentioned that they would like a similar sign on their doors. I decided to share a downloadable copy of my sign with anyone who can find a use for it.

 

You can click on the sign above to download a free 8.5" x 11" pdf file. Feel free to print out this sign for your own loved ones who may be suffering and need some hope.
Feel free to share this sign on your blog, but please refer back to my blog for your readers to download. Thanks!

10% off at Cute Stencils

 

Now through the end of February, enter the Coupon code: grandopening to get 10% off everything at CuteStencils.com.

"Peas" be my Valentine Airheads Tutorial

 Valentines Day is a month away, so I thought I'd get started on some fun ideas.

Today my daughter and I decided to make some peas in a pod candies using Airheads.

We started by shopping for some candy. We bought some Airheads. We bought Watermelon flavor for the green pod, and Strawberry flavor because it was a yummy treat to eat while we made our peas.

 

We also bought some Runts. We used the Green apple Runts as the peas in our pods. You could also use sixlets, or green jelly belly's instead. We thought the Runts would look cute.

We cut our green Airheads in half and stuck 3 of the candy apple runts in the center.

 

 Then we squeezed the end of each pea pod together.

 

 Using some kitchen food scissors we cut off the edges of each pod.

 After we finished our peas, we printed out some little heart shaped tags that say "Peas be my Valentine". CLICK HERE to download a free pdf printable named "peas_valentine.pdf  This will print onto a standard 8.5 x 11 sheet of card-stock. There are 28 hearts per sheet.

 

Next, we cut out the hearts, wrapped the peas in some cellophane, and tied the hearts to the peas using some thin red ribbon.

Simple to make, Cute to look at, Punny, and Yummy to eat!

Winner of the New Creative Spaces Magazine

Thanks to Random.org for helping me randomly choose a winner. Congratulations to Ladybug68 for being the 3rd commenter. Creating Keepsakes will be mailing you a copy of the awesome new magazine; Creative Spaces! You can find a sneak peak of this magazine on their Pinterest board.

New Creative Spaces Magazine Giveaway

Many of you know that my workspace was featured in the 2011 Issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine; Creative Spaces. It was really fun to participate in that project. It was fun to see my space in print, and even more fun to see all the other spaces featured in the magazine, and be inspired by so many different spaces. Here are a few photos of my office space back in 2011.

We've since moved, and my office isn't as pretty as the pictures above, which is why I'm looking forward to the release of the new Creative Spaces Magazine (Volume 2) that is coming out this month! I can't wait to see all the new spaces and ideas. My little sister Emily Call will be featured in the new issue. Her Creative Space is in her laundry room. Anyhow, Creating Keepsakes is doing a sneak peek of the new Magazine. CLICK HERE to check it out!
Do you want to win your own copy of this exciting publication? You can! I will pick one lucky winner on January 10th. Just leave a comment on this blog post by Midnight Jan. 9th (Mountain Time) for your chance. I'll announce a winner on Jan. 10th.

Geometric shapes for the new year

I've finished taking down all my holiday decorations, and now my walls look so bare. I think it's time to take out the paint and do some stenciling. Check out my collection of stencils over at my Etsy Shop.

Busy Bee Chore Chart for the new year

I designed this chore chart for my kids several years ago, but we've moved a few times since then. I can't find it anywhere. Since I'm making a new one for my kids, I thought I'd share this printable activity chart with my blog followers.  CLICK HERE to download a high resolution printable PDF file with instructions. Download should start automatically. Name of file is: Busy_Bee_Chores.pdf

Instructions:

1: Print the “Busy Bee’s Activities” chart onto card-stock. It fits perfectly on a standard 8.5” x 11” paper.

2: Have the printed card-stock laminated or put a clear contact paper over the images for extra protection. Feel free to skip this step if you wish.

3: Cut out beehive & bee’s.

4: If you wish, you can add glitter or embellishments.

5: Glue some magnets to the back the beehive & one magnet to each bee.

6: Print or write some activities and/or chores onto a small piece of paper.
Here is a list of some activity ideas. Feel free to add any that would work for your child’s age.

•Read a book with mom.  •Help mom make cookies.  •Clean all the mirrors in the bathrooms.  •go tickle dad. •Count how many times you can find the word “the” in your favorite book. •Practice sight words. •jump 10 times.  •Make pudding pops.  •Write a letter to Grandma.  •Choose a game to play with mom. •Enjoy a yummy snack.  •Complete a worksheet •Complete a (be specific) craft project. •Learn to tie your shoe. •Cut out your favorite pictures from some junk mail or old magazines. •Make up a story about your favorite animal.

7: Fold the small paper in half (so that your child can’t see what he/she is picking) and place behind each magnet.
 
Be sure to change out activities on a daily basis to fit your needs and to keep your child interested.

8: Set aside a time each day or week for child to complete the activities.
 
Here are some rules:
   •The child can pick any bee that he/she wants to.  The child has to complete the chore or activity before moving on to the next bee.
   •I usually let my kids pick 6 bee’s a day. I always include something fun, something educational, a chore, &  a physical activity.

I hope you and your children enjoy these fun activities together.
(You may link to my blog post, but please do not re-distribute without my permission.)

Over the river, and through the woods

I threw a Little Red Riding Hood birthday party for my daughter last month. 

Her name is Lily, so I made a book through blurb called, "Lily Red Riding Hood."

 

 

 

 My little sister made a Big Bad Wolf Pinata filled with candy and prizes for the kids.

 We read stories, played games, ate some cake, and opened presents. My mom made Little Red Riding Hood capes for each girl to take home, and I made a basket party favor filled with home made bread, a juice box, apple, and a treat for the girls to take home.

 A little neighbor girl brought these adorable home made puppets as a gift.