Rick's Birthday, Mixed Football Emotions, and a Little Basketball

World's Best Son-in-Law: Rick.  Happy Birthday!

Today I am thankful for RICK and FOOTBALL and BASKETBALL!

First, Rick:  Rick is our son-in-law, our daughter, Kori's wonderful hubby.  We love him so much.  Happy Birthday, Rick!  Thanks for being the husband and father you are.  We are so grateful you are part of our family.  Have a wonderful day. I hope Kori make all of your favorite things and spoils you rotten.

Now on to football: I love me some football, especially when Pedersen boys are the ones I'm watching. My father played college football for Brigham Young University and I grew up in a  home filled with football. My hubby, Dan-the-Man played as well.  He played Jr. College ball in from 1982-1984 for Ricks College then went on to finish at Southern Utah University. He was a lineman. We are still trying to figure out where our receiver, DB, QB boys came from. Ha!

Easton playing for SUU vs. Cal (Easton's sophomore season)

Today is the final season game for the Southern Utah University T-Birds (and Easton Pedersen) as they take on the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, who are ranked #11 in the nation FCS right now.  No worries.  We knocked off the #1 team a couple of weeks ago. We've got this! Good luck to Easton. He burst the bursa sack in his knee a couple of weeks ago but has been playing through it. I'm proud of his toughness and determination.  In fact, with a hugely swollen knee and a black and blue leg, he had his best receiving game of the season last week.  No too shabby!

The reason my emotions are a little mixed today is that I am always sad to see football season come to a close.  It ended a couple of weeks ago for Dawson (his final year of high school football) as we lost the final game of the season in overtime by one point.  A win in that game would have put us into the state playoffs. Sad night. Lots of tears were shed by this mommy as she realized she would no more be watching any of her sons play high school football.  That's not to diminish in any way the sadness the boys felt as they missed the playoffs by a point.

Dawson's final high school football game (red, #10)

After today, I will have to satisfy myself by watching the rest of the college football teams still playing and some NFL.  It's better than nothing, but not as much fun as watching my own boys on the field.

Although the ending of a football season is sad, there is also lots of football to look forward to.  Tannon returned from his 2-year mission for our church in Spain this Fall and is busily preparing to start school and his football scholarship at Southern Utah University, where he'll be on the team with his brother Easton. Dawson has high hopes of playing after his mission (which he will leave for following his high school graduation). Fingers are crossed all through the Pedersen home that one of the schools recruiting him offers soon!  Easton is currently a sophomore in eligibility so he has another 2 years to enjoy catching the ball for SUU.  Since Tannon is a QB, who knows, if he works hard he may just be starting at QB while Easton is still there and have the chance to throw to his bro. That would be cool, right?

Tannon in his senior season of football in high school. Can't wait to see him throw the ball in college!

Off I go to make some treats and straighten up as we get ready to watch the Southern Utah T-Birds and Northern Arizona Lumberjacks tee-off at 2:00 pm.  I'm so glad it's on television. We had hoped to drive to Arizona for the game but Dawson has basketball practice this morning so that was out of the question.  Ahhhhhh, that reminds me. When football ends, I still have basketball to look forward to! I feel much better now.  I am also thankful for basketball.  Here's to a great senior season for Dawson and the Springville Red Devils. 

Sprinville (Dawson, red #10) vs. Timpview last Spring. We won in 4OT!

Pigment Ink vs. Dye Based Ink...and Brains

Watch this video for a quick and fun explanation from Kristine and Monica, two of the Vice Presidents of Close To my Heart, of when to use pigment ink and when to use dye based ink. Fast, fun, and informative!

Before you watch, I must first keep my promise of posting something I am grateful for in every post during November. Today I am grateful for my brain. Lately, with a few projects I am working on outside of my CTMH business, I am doing some new things that I have never done before and am grateful to find that this old brain of mine can still do a few new tricks.  Learning is something that is uplifting and rewarding for me (as I'm sure it is for you) and I'm grateful for the amazing brain that God gifted us with.  Aren't you?

Thank You Card and More Blessings

Another day of gratitude makes me happy. I have lots if things to be grateful for today and here are a few of them.

1.  Happy Mail and a sweet friend who sent me this gorgeous thank you card. Thank you, Christine. This card is so cool. It was cut on the Artiste cartridge and then stamped beautifully. What a fun color combo: Goldrush, Whisper and Lagoon.  The actual card slides out to read (as shown in photo). I love the little wooden floral accents she added as well.

Christine's beautiful card

2.  The priviledge of living in a country where I have the right to vote.  I'm proud to exercise that right today. 

Your vote counts.  Please vote for "my guy." Ha!

3. Hats. I didn't want to fix my hair today so on went a hat. Yay for hats!

My hat and I

4.  My Clearfield Ladies:  I have a Scrappin' "Play Group" in Clearfield that meets every other month. Tonight is the night. Excited to see them all! I hope they won't mind my hat. :0P

Clearfield, UT

Happy voting day!

Thank You Card and Another Blessing

I created this card (5 1/2" x 4 1/4") using the Avonlea paper pack, the new Cricut/CTMH Artiste Cartridge (with over 700 images on it!), a couple of the  Avonlea Canvas Shapes leaves, and a few fun embellishments (Petals Paper Flowers, Mocha Opaques). I sponged the edges of things with a round sponge and chocolate ink to give it a little bit of a distressed feel.  It was a quick and easy card that came together in a few minutes.  Everyone needs quick and easy once in a while, right? And, EVERYONE needs thank you cards. I think I find a need for one at least once or twice a week.

 Detail shot:

One (or three) of the things I am especially thankful for today is my beautiful grandbabies!  Love 'em so much!

Daci, Street and Livvi

Have a great day filled with gratitude!

Stamping Technique and Another Blessing

Creating your own backgrounds with the November Stamp of the Month.  Keep reading to find out how.

I have decided that every time I post in November I will mention something I am grateful for. If I posted every day, I'm sure I would have more than enough blessings to talk about, but I probably won't be posting every day. I do promise that in every post this month, you'll see something I am very grateful for.

Yesterday, as you saw, it was our beautiful children I focused on.  Today, I gotta tell ya, my hubby is the bomb. I am grateful to have a husband that loves me in spite of my faults, who is a devoted to me, is a devoted daddy and grandpa, and is devoted to his Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ.  Plus, he's cute and cuddly! At 6'4" and incredible Hulk status, I tell him all the time that the only reason I married him is that no matter how big I get, or how pregnant I ever was, I would always look little next to him. It was a good plan because I seem to be growing these days, and I don't mean growing taller. Ha! Seriously, that is not why I married him, but I must admit that it is a bonus!

I also thought I'd share a fun stamping technique today (see photo at the top of this post). In yesterday's post you saw a layout in which I created a random numbered background by mixing many of the numbers in the November Stamp of the Month* (Capture the Date).  Want to know how I did it so that they were spaced so beautifully?  You'll be happy to know it's easy, peasy, lemon squeasy!  To achieve this look with any collection of stamps, you just need a large block.  I suggest our 4" x 5" block.  Adhere your stamps to the block in the pattern you'd like and then stamp away.  You may even want to turn your block different directions to get an even more random look. You can achieve some really fun looks this way. Have fun trying it!

Here's the layout again:

 And, here's the Stamp of the Month set:

November Stamp of the Month (Capture the Date)

*Don't forget this set is available during November only. You can purchase it for full price ($17.95) or get it for only $5 with a $50 order. On top of that, if you do that you also can choose any other stamp set in the catalog for 1/2 off. And, if that weren't enough, for every time you take advantage of this special, Close To My Heart will donate $1 to help with the Red Cross relief efforts with Hurricane Sandy. Cool beans!

November Close To My Heart Specials

November is here!  To me, November is gratitude month.  With Thanksgiving nearing, I seem to focus more than ever on the many blessings in my life. I love doing that because it really does help me focus on what I DO have, rather than what I don't.  No wonder Oprah keeps a gratitude journal.  It fills your heart with happiness to focus on your blessings. This layout uses the fun and practical November Stamp of the Month (Capture the Date) and I made it to remind myself of 4 of my favorite blessings. How did Dan and I get so lucky?

Some awesome blessings coming your way this month from Close To My Heart are the following:

1. Capture the Date:  The November Stamp of the Month is a great one!  It's great for layouts, cards, and even calendars and other papercrafting projects. You can see that I used it to create background paper in my layout as well as numbers down the side of the layout (click on the layout to see it larger and in more detail). The journaling tag and month and year also came from the set. I didn't use a single stamp on this layout that didn't come from the set. See what I mean? Practical AND fun! I love all of the different sized numbers.  I had fun combining them for my background.

This set is valued at $17.95 and is yours for only $5 (with a $50 order) during the month of November only.

Here is a scan of the carrier sheet. It's actual size is 6" x 6":

November Stamp of the Month: Capture the Date

If you are ordering on my website and spend $50, you will be asked if you want to add this set for only $5 before you check out. Handy!

Scroll down to the end of the post for a supplies used list.

2.  Capture the Savings:  In November, you’ll get something extra when you buy the Stamp of the Month—50% off another stamp set! When you qualify for and buy the November Stamp of the Month set, Capture the Date, you’ll receive another stamp set* of your choice for 50% off—it’s like two promotions in one! The versatile Capture the Date stamp set is great for any layout, card, invitation, or calendar, and now you can choose another stamp set (click on this link to be taken directly to the stamp portion of my website to browse) at half-off for more wonderful papercrafting. Get Capture the Date and then capture the savings today!

If you are shopping on my website then when you purchase $50 or more and the Stamp of the Month at $5, you will be asked to choose a stamp set before you check out.

In closing, I thought I'd share a picture of Dan and I (and a whole bunch of other people). We were invited to a "Celebrity Murder Who Done-It Party" a couple of weeks ago. Dan was John Wayne and I was Lucille Ball.  Can you find us?  I also thought I'd share a few photos of Easton, Tannon and Dawson from last night (since I shared photos of Kori's family yesterday).  Easton and Tannon (and Tannon's girlfriend, Jessica) went to see Daysha's closing night of Thriller (performed with Odyssey Dance Theatre at Tuachan).  She was cute as giggle girl and pretty scary as well.  What do you think?  Dawson got his wisdom teeth out yesterday morning. No yummy Halloween candy for him. Boo hoo!  I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Murder party:  Jimi Hendrix was the killer!

Easton, Daysha (as Giggle Girl), Jessica and Tannon

Scary Daysha (far right)

Dawson: No more wisdom

CTMH products used on layout:  November Stamp of the Month, Black Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Dakota Paper Pack, Black Stamp Pad, Ruby Stamp Pad, Versamark Pad, White Daisy Embossing Powder, Black Reinker (mixed with water in spray pen), Spray Pen, Neutral Twine Assortment, Basic Brad Assortment

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  I  hope your day is... Spooktacular!

Before viewing the ultra-cute Halloween pics below, be sure to check out my last 2 blog posts for reminders of the October specials that end tonight at 11:59 MST. Don't miss out!

How cute is Kori's family? These pics were taken last week at their church Trunk-or-Treat and party.  Kori decided to go with a Dr. Seuss "Cat in the Hat" theme this year.  Kori is the mom, which she got kind of creative with since you can only see the bottom of the mom's dress and shoes in the book. Luckily she had the perfect polka-dot dress. Rick was the fish.  He (or rather, Kori) bought an orange t-shirt with a picture of the fish from "The Cat in the Hat" on it. Brilliant.  As you can see, Daci was the Cat in the Hat and the twins were Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Our beautiful "Daci in the Hat"

Thing 1 and Thing 2

The mother and the Cat in the Hat

The fish and the Cat in the Hat

Now off to work. This mess on my desk is 'so big and so deep, and so tall. There is no way to finish, just no way at all!' I'd better get started.

Free Studio J Layout(s) for 2 More Days! (Digital Scrapbooking)

Just two more days to take advantage of the awesome Studio J special!  For every 9 Studio J (digital scrapbooking) two-page layouts you purchase in October, you get a 10th absolutely FREE! Studio J is so easy to use, yet so beautifully done that your layouts look like a professional graphic designer put them together. You can try it out for free on my website.  Just click on "Studio J" once you get there.

These two layouts are also from my son, Easton's two-year mission for our church in the Houston, TX South Mission (see yesterday's post for more details about that).  I love that I can use Studio J to make a whole album coordinate without having to purchase TONS of the same paper packs. What if there is one paper I absolutely love that comes in the pack, and a few I don't love as much? To get enough of the one paper I would be spending a lot of moo-lah. Not so with Studio J! You can use as little or as much of any of the papers that you like!

Lovin' me some Studio J! I'm confident you will too. Go give it a try!

FREE Studio J Layout(s) for 3 More Days (Digital Scrapbooking) and an October Stamp of the Month Card

There are just 3 more days left to take advantage of the awesome Close To My Heart special this month.  For every 9 Studio J (digital scrapbooking) two-page layouts you purchase, you get a 10th absolutely FREE! Studio J is so easy to use, yet so beautifully done that your layouts look like a professional graphic designer put them together. You can try it out for free on my website.  Just click on "Studio J" once you get there.

I recently completed these layouts of my son, Easton's mission. He served a 2 year mission for our church in the Houston, Texas South Mission.  He was serving in Galveston, TX when Hurricane Ike ravaged the area. He spent the next several months of his mission doing service, cleaning up, and helping those who were displaced, as well as teaching the gospel.  As I have watched Hurricane Sandy this week, it has really made me think about the power of nature, and the power of service. All of the people you see on these pages in the yellow t-shirts were missionaries from our church who helped during Hurricane Ike. I have no doubt they'll be there to help again with Sandy!

I created Easton's whole mission scrapbook using Studio J and this beautiful paper pack (Vintage Travel). This is a paper pack was retired by CTMH long ago, but still lives on in Studio J. Cool beans!

Here are some close ups of the pages (feel free to click on them to see them larger and in more detail):

And, while we are on the subject of 3 more days, don't forget that the October Stamp of the Month also disappears at midnight on October 31. It's yours for only $5 ($17.95 value) with a $50 purchase. If you are shopping on my website and spend $50 or more, you'll be asked if you'd like to add this gorgeous set before you check out.

October Stamp of the Month:  Actual carrier sheet size is 6" x 6"

October Stamp of the Month card by Karen Pedersen (inspired by a card I saw by the talented CTMH Art Department)

Enjoy your day!

November Play Group Scrappin' Class Layouts (Flirty)

I love the trendy, bright colors in the Flirty paper pack and they are just perfection for Autumn.  We are using these bold and beautiful papers in my November Play Group Scrappin' Classes.  I would LOVE to have you join us!  For details on how these classes work, just scroll down the left side of my blog until you see the section titled "Play Group Classes" and you can read all about it. 

Here are the three 2-page 12" x 12" layouts we will be making in November (click on any photo to see it larger and in more detail). If you would like to participate, please contact me (801.360.9896, pedermom@aol.com) with your kit order no later than Thursday, November 1.

You can participate in my Play Group classes in one of three ways:

1.  Attend a class in person
2.  Host one in your home with your friends (and earn free product!). Call or email me to schedule your date (801.360.9896, pedermom@aol.com)
3.  Participate long distance. Just add $5 to the kit total you see to have your kit shipped directly  from me to you. (call or email me to order your kit: 801.360.9896, pedermom@aol.com)

In person class dates and times:

• Thursday evening, November 8,  7-10 pm in Pleasant Grove, UT
• Friday morning, November 9, 10 am - 1 pm in American Fork, UT

I'm confident you will enjoy what we do and be very happy with the projects you make! Layout #2 was inspired by the fabulous Vicki Wizniuk and Layout #3 was inspired by the wonderful Liz Johnson. Thanks, ladies!

After the layout photos, you'll find the shopping list.  Keep reading...  

Layout #1: "Autumn Bloom"

Layout #1: without photos

Layout #1: detail shot one

Layout #1: detail shot two

Layout #1: detail shot three

Layout #1: detail shot four

 ________________________

Layout #2: "Family" (inspired by Vicki Wizniuk)

Layout #2:  without photos

Layout #2: detail shot one

Layout #2: detail shot two

 _________________________

Layout #3: "Happiness" (inspired by Liz Johnson)

Layout #3: without photos

Layout #3: detail shot one

Layout #3: detail shot two

Layout #3: detail shot three

Layout #3: detail shot four

 Shopping List:  To attend or participate in a class, all you are required to purchase is the Basic Kit.  If you want to purchase the Better or Best Kits, or even pick and choose a few items from those to add to your Basic Kit, you are welcome to, but it is not required.

Basic Kit (this is all that you are required to purchase to participate)

• Flirty Workshop on the Go Kit (includes: Workshop Stamp Set, Flirty Paper Pack, 2 extra sheets of Colonial White Cardstock, Sparkles Clear Assortment, Flirty Dimensional Elements, Instructional Brochure)
• 2 extra sheets of Colonial White Cardstock
• 1 extra sheet of New England Ivy Cardstock
• Karen's Cutting Guide

Subtotal: $31.36
Total with Shipping and Tax: $35.90 (add $5 more if you are participating long distance)


Better Kit = Basic Kit + the following products (I recommend this kit!)

• Autumn Lane Assortment
• Color Ready Arbor Wooden Shapes
• Olive Mini-Medley

Subtotal: $48.21
Total with Shipping and Tax: $55.31 (add $5 more if you are participating long-distance)

Best Kit = Basic Kit + Better Kit + the following products  

• Cocoa Stamp Pad
• Olive Marker Set
• Autumn Terracotta Marker Set 

Subtotal: $70.61*
Total with Shipping and Tax: $81.00 (add $5 more if you are participating long distance)

*at this purchase level ($50 or more)  you qualify for the October Stamp of the Month ("Very Merry Christmas" - $17.95 value) at only $5! 
e) at only $5! 

October Stamp of the Month: "Very Merry Christmas" (actual size of carrier sheet is 6" x 6"). Notice the stamps you see outlined?  Those stamps have coordinating shapes on the Cricut Artiste Cartridge. Cool beans! You'll also notice that next to each stamp that is outlined it tells you which page on the coordinating booklet to turn to to find this shape as well as what size to cut it. Awesomeness!

 Call or email me soon to sign up for a class or to order a kit (801.360.9896, pedermom@aol.com).