Two years ago, practically to the day, an amazing friend surprised me with a birthday treat. Stephanie made gluten-free cupcakes, impeccably decorated, as you can see, for me and 10 of my closest scrapbooking friends:

As if that wasn’t cool enough, Stephanie entered the photo into a contest with Pamela’s Products, since she used their mixes, and WON picture of the month in their December 2009 newletter! And if THAT wasn’t cool enough, she received a care package of all kinds of cake mixes, cookies, and other extras as a prize, and she gave it all to me! So that year, it was happy birthday AND merry Christmas to me! I’ve loved Pamela’s products. The gluten-free gingersnaps are probably my favorite, but everything I’ve tried has been exceptional.

This weekend, Archiver’s Make & Take is a 12×12 page (plus a coupon for a free photo enlargement) using the We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool. I like using my sewing machine to add stitching to scrapbook pages, but usually cannot be bothered by dragging the bulky contraption out and reading the booklet (again) to figure out how to thread the needle and bobbin (again). Seamstress I am not. So I would love having a tool like this that is as effective – maybe more so, given my erratic stitching style and uncanny ability to jam thread.

So I tried it out today. What it really does is poke the holes through the page where you’ll later go back and (laboriously) stitch with a needle and embroidery floss. Kind of a lot of time-consuming work, BUT they have really cool head attachments (e.g., flowers, scallops) that I couldn’t do freehand or with the machine, and I like hand-stitching on a page here and there so I’m thinking I know where to throw some birthday money this year…

Last summer, Archiver’s was promoting a new line of trays and corresponding products by 7Gypsies. Inspired by completed projects on display, and wanting a special birthday gift for a friend, I made one. I found designing the tray to be easier and more fun than I expected, once I got started. It’s a nicely contained project that makes one-of-a-kind wall art, to keep or give away.

The theme of this tray was our Summer 2009 trip to Stephanie’s lake cottage, where she and I returned last week, for another vacation with the kids. Oh how much has changed in two short years, but God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8), and vacationing together is still just as sweet.

Every summer stores sell school supplies at rock bottom prices as students and teachers prepare to stock up for the school year. Right now Meijer has loads of good deals, including 40 cent composition books. So I stocked up on those (among other supplies – you should see my gluestick collection):

Now, they’re pretty ordinary right now, but I see all kinds of potential. I received two fancified ones as gifts last year and then made and gifted one since I liked mine so much.

I LOVE what my friend Lindsay has done with hers: Lindsay’s Prayer Journals, an idea she got from a blog, which directed me to yet another blog for instructions. I loved checking out each gal’s version and am going to have to use some of these ideas for my family and as gifts. So now the real question, were 10 comp books enough???

I always like the simple line drawings on boy’s shirts and often think, “Hey I could do that.” So last year I gave it a try. All you need is a T-shirt and a fabric marker. I can usually find plain T’s at Old Navy for just a few dollars and with a coupon the fabric marker is just a few dollars at Michael’s (and can be used over and over). I also picked up some iron-ons that were on clearance and tried that out too. Here are some samples: SK8, UFO & Superhero’s Cityscape. The boys helped me choose designs, and in some cases iron or color-in, so these became some of their favorite T’s!