Tuesday, December 02, 2008

It's Newsletter Time...

it's the beginning of a new month, and that always means a newsletter chock full of inspiration from my lovely team members at Scrapsupply. for the December newsletter, i was the support for Sue Thomas' article on using tags. you see, every other month i write and article with a FREE tutorial, and on my off month, i support someone else's article. you can find links to all my tutorials over there in that sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen! personal use only---please do not redistribute as your own. sharing a link to the download is okay. :o)

anywho. here's a little peek at one of my projects. click up there on the words December newsletter to see more!
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Journaling reads: For as long as I can remember, Christmas Eve has ALWAYS been spent at Grandma Pearce’s house. It’s just known. It’s our little tradition. Grandma goes all out. After donning her festive shirt or sweater she gets to work cooking all the food and pies herself. Every year. And, every year I offer to arrive early and help her cook, but it never fails; she always, always says she can handle it alone. She makes the turkey, and ham, and dressing, and a special dish of oyster dressing for her boys (my dad, Craig, and my Uncle Terry). And then there are always homemade mashed potatoes, and the most delicious noodles with gravy to go on top. And a relish tray loaded with pickles. Mmmmmmmm. My favorites are the dills. It’s worth mentioning that the pickles are from her own canning. Grandma has always put away the fruits of her harvest to enjoy all year long. And we have deviled eggs, and pickled beets, and enough green beans to feed an army. After dinner, it’s the rule that the table must be cleared and dishes all washed before we all gather in the living room for presents. It used to be that the children hand-washed them all, but Grandma has had a dishwasher now for several years. Christmas at Grandma’s has always been an “all are welcome” affair. Through the years we’ve celebrated with close friends of hers and their children, even. We’ve always just seen them as part of our family. Glenn and Eleanor have since passed on, and so has Grandpa, but their spirit remains with each passing year. Now, we’ve welcomed new faces to our circle with the addition of Joel who comes by way of my cousin Nannette, Terry’s daughter. We open gifts—all at the same time, talk loudly, share stories, and laugh a lot. And “A Christmas Story”, the movie is usually playing in the background and the echoing sound of each line of the script being quoted word for word. Then we all disperse to the kitchen to scarf down the pies...always a cherry one (for me and Greg), apple (for Doug), and chocolate meringue (for just about everyone else). Yep. We’re a spoiled bunch...thanks to Grandma.

it's worth a mention that Christmas Eve also holds a touch of sadness for me too, since it's the last i get to see "little grandma with the crumbles on her face" as ashlyn calls her---so descriptive, that one. for the past several years she's packed up and headed to Florida with my aunt and uncle in their RV. it'll be the same this year. Florida will be their home until April. i can't say i blame her escaping this cold Ohio weather, but dang.........i.want.her.here. i'm SO lucky to still have grandparents alive and doing so well.

do you have any special Christmas Eve/Christmas Day traditions? and are you ready for another winner!??? the winner of the lovely pink goodies goes to...............PETRA! email me at taniamwillis at (yahoo.com) with your address.

and up for grabs today................it's mystery prize! hahhaaaa. seriously, it's something good, but it's dark here this morning, and my hair sopping wet up in a towel, and i have to have a kid at school in 40 minutes and then another at the doctor on the other side of town 30 minutes after that. so no time for pictures this morning. forgive my poor planning, pretty please? i'll update with a photo later. enjoy the newsletter!
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40 comments:

  1. A mystery prize..... I'm so excited. I really wanted the Pink package, but congrats to Petra, you know Petra means Rock.

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  2. That's a great LO..love the photo's !

    Mystery prize...wooo !

    patty 2832

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  3. I love reading your blogs. Seriously, it's like we talk everyday because I always know what is going on with you it seems! I guess I should do better blogging so it can be reciprocated right? LOL :)

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  4. LOL - Mysteries are good. Thanks for sharing the info about the newsletter - Love that Layout you did with the tags.

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  5. I love the LO with all the little tags at the top. I have so many tags that I don't know what to do with and I would love to use your idea on one of my LOs. Thanks.

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  6. You are indeed blessed. All of my grandparents had passed before I was born and I always envied my friends when they would go visit theirs.
    I love your tutorials!

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  7. I have so many cards to still address!!
    Sandy~Turtlelady

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  8. What a great Christmas tag layout. I am praying for you this Christmas season. A mystery prize sounds exciting.

    Tricia

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  9. Everyone loves suprises! Love the LO.

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  10. Thanks for sharing your journaling about your grandma. Chokes me up. My grandparents are so precious to me and I've only celebrated a handful of holidays with them. My children are more fortunate to see their grandparents on a regular basis.
    Every Christmas I bake a birthday cake and then we sing "happy birthday" to Jesus. I'm starting to think it's getting a lil' hokey. Well, if the kids like it then that's all that matters!

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  11. I love that LO. The tags are a great idea. The prize will be a great surprise for someone. (hopefully me. hehehe)
    congratulations Petra

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  12. The tags on top of the LO are fantastic!!! Will be remembering that idea ;).

    How wonderful to have such a family filled Christmas Eve. Enjoy yourself again this year!

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  13. It's always nice to have special Christmas traditions... as a child we always celebrated on Christmas eve when my dad got home from working at the hospital. To this day my side of the family (8 siblings and mom totals about 40 with all the spouses, kids and grandkids) still get together on Christmas eve to celebrate.
    Debbie #4668

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  14. On Christmas Eve we all go to Gramma's house to open presents which can get pretty late because we open ours here first.


    And your lo as always i s gorgeous.
    Thanks for sharing.
    Lorraine L.
    #3700

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  15. We used to always go to my Grandma's on Christmas Eve; she always had a bag of candy for all of the kids which we loved; for a while she did this for the great-grandchildren as well, but now is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's, so we have to remember it for her.
    Love your tag l/o.

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  16. Hey I finally made your blog - and it's a decent picture of me. Can't wait until Christmas Eve. I may have to use some of the tag ideas. Those look great!

    Nannette

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  17. wow...a mystery prize sounds really interesting!!!
    for chirstmas we always have a small family party with lots of singing laughter and fun. :)

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  18. A mystery prize sounds like fun. I so miss my grandparents now. Wish they could have known their great granddaughters.

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  19. what I do for Christmas is have my son, brothers and my aunty and her husband over. lots and lots of food and good times

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  20. so sorry, I forgot my name. EVE #5012

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  21. Sounds like a busy morning!! Hope you find time to breath!! Awesome LO, off to check out the newsletter.

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  22. Mysterys are good, everyone love suprizes, thanks for another change.

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  23. Mystery Prize!!! Very Exciting! Love the Christmas layout!

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  24. Thanks for the tag layout and I will check into your tutorials because I need the help. It's just like Christmas -- a mystery prize!

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  25. Mystery..ooooo,I love surprises!!

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  26. You have some wonderful family traditions. With the exception of my parents who moved up here a few years ago all of my husbands and the rest of my family live out of state.My parents go to see the rest of the family for Christmas so it's just me & my husband. We enjoy our alone time though...watching movies, taking walks etc.

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  27. Hmmmm....what might the mystery prize be?

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  28. Your journaling is priceless. I'm all teary-eye missing your grandma!

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  29. Oh wow! So awesome!! Thanks Tania! :) I was just reading along about Grandma and then was totally surprised to see my name. :)

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  30. We travel back home (1.5 hours) for Christmas and since the kids aren't home on Christmas morning, Santa writes them a letter explaining that he makes special trips for those kids that aren't home on Christmas and so he comes a day early at our house. He then also comes on Christmas morning to Grandma's house...so the kids come out pretty sweet on this deal!

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  31. Oooooh! A mystery prize!!! Can't wait!! Thanks for the chance!

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  32. your blog is very interesting...Christmas specialty.. I get to go and visit my daughter in Alberta, once a year, and that's at Christmas break.we stay 2 weeks.. and on Christmas Eve, we sing carols, and tell stories from Christmases past..

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  33. your blogs are so cool. so nice to see celebrate and keep traditions going. your layout with the tags is too cute

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  34. Way to go Petra!
    You're tutorials ROCK girl...They always have!! ;)

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  35. This is the sweetest moment. And what a great page, I love those tags!

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  36. Hi! Really glad to find your blog. Thanks for sharing your moments, and a chance to win.

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thank you for taking time to connect with me in this space! i will do my best to leave comments answering any questions you may ask. if you are commenting on an older post and you dont see your comment publish right away it is because I have comments set to be approved before publishing on any blog posts older than 10 days old due to a recent influx of comment spammers. i will see your comment, approve it and reply to you....if it isnt spam. xoxo :)

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