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 I had some birthdays in the family that were coming up that I wanted to make some homemade gifts for, and what better gift than a book that organizes all of your birthdays? :) These cute little books were inspired by The Birthday Organization Challenge by the uber talented gals over at Papertrey Ink.  

Every month I panic because I don't remember what birthdays are coming up and who I need to send a card to.  Well, Birthday books to the rescue!  What a cool idea - It's a simple concept all wrapped up in a pretty, and functional, book that you can leave on your desk.  

Basically, each page is a month where you mark down all of your birthdays on the front, and on the back is a handy attached envelope for stamps and address labels for all of the birthdays you are sending to for the month.  In the past, when it was time to send a birthday card, I was always scrambling to find the address (and a stamp!)- and sometimes this small task made me late in sending it out.  Not any more!  In addition to the book which sits on my desk for a handy reference,  I also have a Word document stored on my computer which is titled "Birthday Labels".  This document has all of the addresses of the people I need to send birthday greetings to for the entire year.  This makes addressing my envelopes so easy, and updating or adding any info is a snap.  I can keep this document updated and use it year after year.  I print out the labels just once for the year and then store them in the appropriate month envelopes in my book.  I also purchase a book of Forever stamps at my local Costco.  The stamps are separated into appropriate quantities for each month and added to the corresponding envelopes with the address labels.  At the end of each month, I  prepare all of my envelopes & cards for the birthdays that will be celebrated the following month.  

I ♥♥♥ House of 3!!!  It just doesn't get any better than Heidi Swapp, Rhonna Farrer, and Janet Hopkins!  If you have never been to their new site, you must check out all of the yummy delicious scrapbooking goodness.  These girls have really got it together, from being on the very edge of the latest scrapbooking trends to Rhonna's most fabulous digital creations.  This valentine's mini album was inspired and created using the Valentine Book Printable Kit, Valentine Template Printables Kit, Valentine Love Notes Brush Kit, the Haute Pink Background Kit, and the LOVE Twenty Ten True Type Dingbat Font.  

Times have been tough in this economy, (as we all know so well) so this year I decided that I would spend my time creating a lot more homemade gifts.  (I was always a big proponent of this anyway - much preferring a handmade gift to something store bought) This cute little set was inspired by my friends at Papertrey Ink.  What a talented group of gals they have on their design team - they have quickly become my favorite!  Nicole Heady, co-owner of Papertrey, has an absolutley AMAZING blog - which I highly highly recommend that you read religiously on a daily basis - Hurry! GO. NOW.  She is just so inspirational, and has all sorts of wonderful goodness on her site.  A while back, I stumbled upon her blog and saw these fabulous ideas for a line of stamps called "Simply Stationary".   It was love at first sight!  

 For this particular stationary set, I wanted to use a desgin and color scheme that was both elegant and functional.  The set includes 8 blank monogrammed cards with matching envelopes that are stored in a cute little card holder.  The card holder opens up to reveal  the cards on one side, and the bundled envelopes on the other.  I also included a cute little coordinating sentiment portfolio, which holds return address labels, monogrammed seals, and stamps.  I had so much fun creating this set, and the card holder and portfolio really brought it all together so nicely - you know what they say - it's all about the presentation!!! :)  

This was 4x4 Maya Road chipboard album I created for my mom for Mother's Day.  I had created the base album and the cute little canvas storage bag (pictured underneath the album) a while back and was just waiting for the right time to use it!  

The album is covered with Basic Grey's Stella Ruby papers.  Interspersed in between the chipboard pages are transparency pages that I cut from a Hambly Screen Prints Metallic Silver Brocade overlay.  So pretty!!!  And of course, everything was distressed with Tim Holtz walnut distress inks.  Allow me to digress a bit.  First off, I could never ever say enough good things about Tim Holtz!  His blog is amazing, and I really love how the Internet has evolved lately with You Tube and streaming video.  More and more of my scrapbook icons are launching videos of thier techniques, and frankly, I couldn't be happier!!!  I LOVE it!  Remember, back in the day, when you had to read instructions on how to do certain techniques?  It was always so hard to follow, especially if there weren't lots of pictures involved. (I always thought that there were never enough pictures, especially when it came to creating a special bow, or explaining a complex book binding procedure....)   I just saw this great technique by Tim Holtz on his blog.  You can also just type in your favorite scrapper or scrapbook technique in a google  video search.