Love isn't love 'til you give it away!

This Valentine's banner that Becky cut and sewed for us made me happy all month!

And also, my Valentine table runner (that I made last year when I worked for Kim) brought smiles anytime I looked at it.

This sign/quote did too. It's on my kitchen window sill where I see it each morning. It inspires me to go and do. 

So I decided to do some old-fashioned Valentine's door ditching. I gathered tags and ribbon , giant sugar cookies from Old Grist Mill and a variety of Valentine candy. (The tan tag is actually a tag that Scott's sister Jill made for us, along with a plate of fabulous cookies and chocolate candies. All handcrafted by Jill...she's amazing. )

I found cards and stickers to help add loving messages. 

I had a good supply of these cherry M&Ms that were made just for Valentine's Day, I  had to hide them because I knew Scott (and I) would eat more than his share, and I definitely wanted to give a bag to my friend Dorothy who loved them but never could find them in December. The red candy colors are so pretty.

We wrapped up the M&Ms - and laughed at the red "spokescandy" trying to look romantic. Wrote some cheesy words and tied on the cute tags. Dropped them off, but weren't fast enough to do the door ditch thing. 

Now you won't believe this. Scott made banana bread - yes by himself. He gave it away too.  

 We had a grand Valentine's Day, Scott and I, taking goodies to neighbors, staff at work, visiting teaching friends, etc. We talked to family on the phone and opened e-cards from our grandkids.

These Valentines came to us from little Lizzie. The Doc McStuffins theme was adorable and perfect for Dr. Raymond.

sNowflaKe cooKies

It's snowing today! Finally. 

This picture is from before Christmas, and I put it on Instagram, but I love it so much I had to blog it too. Aren't those cookies gorgeous? The frosting decorations were exquisite and you can't see, but they looked glittery and sparkly too. 

For my snowy picture, I knew I had to place the cookies on the perfect plate. I love the white white Waterford china. I bought one dinner plate and one salad plate when Dillards in Logan closed and their china samples were half of half price. Those silver squiggle-swoops are my favorite. 

My daughter-in-law Sierra and her mom made and decorated the cookies. Sierra and Leslie are awesome at things like sugar cookies and caramel apples and holiday celebrations with fancy food to match. For their Chinese New Year party last week, they had Mike cook Japanese food for them, and they had cute decorations and probably homemade fortune cookies. I love how they do things up right! But I'm most impressed with their sugar cookies (because I love to eat them). Leslie's recipe not only looks great but tastes delicious (the icing too). I probably ate most of the cookies myself because, unlike Scott who can forget food, I kept sneaking into the kitchen for one more nibble. 

scRapbooking nowadaYs

Scrapbooking! No, I haven't done it lately, but I sure have enjoyed looking at what others make. It's still alive and (sort of) well. Many scrappers have taken their layouts to an art form as you can see from the examples that follow. I'm amazed by their creativity and dedication to their art. I admire the companies who continue to design gorgeous product. The photos are from the blog of an Australian scrapbook distributor called Aussie ScrapSource. 

I just love watching trends and seeing how they change. Right now there seems to be an emphasis on texture with lots of layers and clusters of product on light-colored (or sometimes chalkboard-ish) backgrounds. The one-photo layout is still popular. Lots of scrappers are adding interest with stencils and spray mists.

Heidi Swapp

Carta Bella - Bella Blvd.

Sizzix

BoBunny

Jillibean Soup

Studio Calico

Studio Calico

ADORNit
The last image is the pretty Capri Collection from ADORNit where I once worked as writer and editor. It's actually not a new collection, but I included this layout because I came up with the name for the papers and fabrics: Capri. A simple but nice name that made me think of sunshine, sea scenes, and happy vacations. The girls on the layout are the owner/founder/artist Carolee McMullin and her daughters..the ADORNit girls...also a name that I developed!