This weekend we celebrated the life and goodness of my cousin, David. He went missing September 2011, and his remains were found this fall. David and I were good friends during my late teen years, when AOL was the big thing. We chatted over e-mails and IMs for the better part of a few years. He was a good friend,  hilarious, kind, gentle and a great man.



It's sad that funerals are what tend to bring the majority of our family together, but it really is so wonderful to catch up with everyone, see how our families have grown, and share sweet memories. I've spent the last 2 days with my extended family and I feel so blessed to be a part of such a group. A few immediate observations; We are loud, we like Diet Coke, and we love each other.

I've grateful that families are forever and that we will see him again someday.

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed Sunday and a Happy New Year!

I seem to let blogging go around the holidays, even though I have so much to blog about, I end up being busy doing things instead of writing about them. We've spent the past couple weeks with family, celebrating holidays, birthdays and enjoying some down time. We'll be back to normal life in about a week or so, but in the meantime.....
I have a great treat for those of you who have stuck around.

Thanks to my new DT spot over at Simple Scrapper, I have a great giveaway from Big Picture Classes!!!

One person will win a spot in Tracey Clark's class, "Art of Composition" (standard edition)
Class details below

The Art of Composition
12 weeks of capturing compelling images taught by Tracey Clark

Starts 1/3/2013

Class Description
Are you ready to see a dramatic improvement in your photographs? Tracey Clark, professional
photographer and founder of Shutter Sisters, kicks off our 2013 4Experts series with The Art of
Composition, a 12-week journey into one of the most important fundamentals of photography-
namely, composition.
No matter what kind of photography you enjoy, The Art of Composition will change how you
look at the world around you while teaching you about line, shadow, shape, focus, negative
space, balance, color and more!
This highly sought-after class is back again in two versions:
● Our Standard version, the original class that delighted hundreds of students during its
first run, is open for unlimited enrollment. You'll enjoy all of Tracey's original content
(weekly lessons, video instruction, rich imagery, creative exercises, and challenges), plus
access to a rich and vibrant community of fellow classmates.


I'm super excited about this class. It will be my first official photography class, and I can't wait to get started on it! This giveaway is only open until the 1st of January, so make sure to enter quick!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Well this weekend proved to be anything but seasonal....I spent Friday night in the emergency room with a ruptured ovarian cyst, for those of you keeping count, that's 3 in the past 2 years, but I am on the mend.

It's finals week here, so timing couldn't have been worse for Ryan but he is amazing and has managed to take care of me and Zoe, make sure we are all fed (and in my case, medicated) and getting his final projects done. This weekend he was Superman - he really was.

In crafting news, I'm really excited to announce that I'm part of the new Simple Scrapper Team at simplescrapper.com. You can see the entire team here.

Simple Scrapper is an amazing website, with 2 different types of membership. It includes all kinds of inspiration and sketches, free printables, and so much more! You can join for free here.

I'm looking forward to being a part of this community and team, and I'm sure it will help me streamline my own scrapbooking!

And because it's been awhile since I shared a page on here, this is a page a made for Pretty Little Studio a while back. I love the monochromatic layout with the pop of color from the photo.


Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Finally! It's finished! It only took about 8 months :)

I finally finished the quilt I'd envisioned for Zoe's room, and I made a matching pillow case to go with it. We're working right now to rearrange and organize her room. I'm hoping early next year we can move her out of the crib/toddler bed and into a twin, which will open up her room nicely. I added some vinyl and cloth butterflies I got on clearance this summer.



I adore the way this quilt turned out, but next time I attempt something this difficult, I will use a pattern. All the math was overwhelming, especially because I was measuring on the diagonal and I haven't been in a math class since my junior year of high school (that's about to change in 4 week, yikes!)

I made the pillowcase out of the backing and binding fabrics, so they do actually match.

I do plan on writing up a pattern at some point, but there is a MUCH smaller version of the quilt available HERE

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

I seriously LOVED working with this kit, seriously it felt like the layouts just fell into place. It also produced my new favorite layout (although that seems to always be in rotation)

This page I went a little heavy on the mist, but it doesn't look as bright in person, that's just the light reflecting off the Mr. Huey Shine. I love the glassine bags that Lisa puts the tags and fun stuff in, I'm not sure if other people use them on pages or just throw them away, but I love them. They are a great way to hide journaling.


This is my new favorite page. Probably because I'm so proud of myself for actually getting Christmas cards this year. We've been married for 5 years and this is the first time I managed to accomplish this task. I did Halloween cards when Zoe was just a few months old, but that was because I didn't do birth announcements.

 I stuck with rounded edges for the entire layout, playing off the rounded edges on our card. The Crate gold dot vellum is AMAZING. I need at least 10 more sheets. I'm hoarding the other 6x12 sheet I have. Also, it features the new MME enamel dots, for which I should buy stock in. I love these so much. Ok enough gushing about my new favorite page.....


I went with a black and white vintage action series for this picture. I  fussy cut the snowflakes and again used the MME enamel dots. ( I actually had to go buy a second pack) The snowflake paper was perfect for our first snow pictures. (Zoe is getting ready to hit me with a snow ball in this picture. Look how happy she is!)

The PaperHaus Winter 2012 issue is now available! It's 119 pages of pure awesome!