Better Late Than Never...November Info

Hello everyone!  I know this post is late but a few things made me delay this post.  My mother ran into a wall of glass at a car dealership.  There was a poster on it, but it came off.  Apparently, she is not the only victim because a man had run into it and broken his nose.  She suffered a mild concussion and I had to help her out.  Then, because I have the best ideas of any person who ever lived, I decided to reorganize my pantry after a Costco trip.  It left the house in disarray.  I was unable to finish the job because my son got sick.  I ended up staying home from school with him.  So I was able to finish that pantry job the next day.  So here it is days later than I promised.  However, I'm going to share all of that info right now!

First off,  the Clique Kits November Kit, Homecoming has fully been revealed!!!  The kit is AMAZING and loaded with so much paper.  I'm talking more than 12 sheets of paper!!  More like 18 sheets!  There are amazing add ons available in the store as well.

Our November sponsor is going to be 17 Turtles!!!

You can get 25% off of a purchase at 17 Turtles no minimum required.  Just enter the promo code CK17TURTLES25.  If you shop the Clique Store, enter CKNOV25 for 25% off of your purchases.

Don't forget the October Challenge is still up for a few more days.

I also wanted to share that I'm doing a Week in the Life this week!  I will be sharing photos and free cut files very soon!

October Wrap Up and What's Next for November

This will be a bulleted post...tons of information and things to share.

*What a very busy month October was.  I completed my first month with the Clique Kits Design Team!!!  It's really a great thing to be part of the team with all of the wonderful ladies.  It's also fun to create projects to inspire you all.  I can't wait for the rest of the year to come.  There is so much exciting stuff happening!  Here are some of the projects I created with my October Masquerade Ball Kit.

*Do not forget to post a project to the Clique Kits October Challenge.  You will have a chance to win some really nice Fancy Pants Goodies.  Link up any project you create for your chance to win.  One winner will be chosen at random.  Here are the prizes:

There will be a new challenge for November.  Make sure to check the sidebar of this blog for the link up.

*A Week in The Life:  I will be doing a Week in the Life starting on Monday, October 27, 2014.  I really hope you join me in documenting your week.  I have an event scheduled on my Scrappy Girls Page.

*Clique Kits November Kit, "Homecoming" is AWESOME and LOADED with embellishments and papers.  If you're not a subscriber, please sign up.  There are tons of awesome add ons for the kit.  MARIAH10 will get you 10 percent off of any purchase.  I'll be sharing sneaks and projects in November.

*Clique Cards and Clique into the Holidays Kits are still for sale.  There are VERY limited numbers of these kits left, so please don't wait if you want one.  I will be posting projects in November featuring the Clique Cards Kit.

*Okay, that was a lot.  Join me tomorrow.  I'm going to announce our new sponsor and discounts, share a sneak at what's on my desk, and share some sneaks from the Clique Cards Kit.  Have a good night!!

What's inside the Clique Kits Holiday Card Kit?

If you've been curious about what is in the Clique Kits Holiday Card Kit here is a short video showing you exactly what you will be getting.  Stephanie Ho made this great video that I'm going to share with you today.  If you are interested in ordering, please go here immediately.  The number of kits is very, very low.  Don't forget to enter MARIAH10 to receive 10 percent off.

Clique Kits Pep Rally featuring Masquerade Ball

Welcome everyone.  You should be arriving here from Marcia's Blog.  If you got lost along the way, don't worry I'll have the links posted down at the bottom of this page.  How exciting it is to share with you the Clique Kit's Masquerade Ball kit.  It was sold out!  So if you got one, you are lucky.  If you didn't, make sure to subscribe to our monthly kits.  You will not be disappointed with the November kit.  Trust me.  Also, don't forget about the Limited Edition Card and Holiday Kits.

This month's challenge was to create a layout with this idea in mind:  I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers--L.M. Montgomery
Anne of Green Gables

Our October's in New Mexico are not very Octobery.  It's still warm with a touch of crisp to the air.  The leaves on the trees are still green, except for those few leaves that are done with summer.  

My first layout today documents the tadpoles we had in our school garden.  It was really neat to watch them grow.  There were thousands of them, and at one point they started coming into my classroom in droves as they were small enough to go under the door.  That was sort of disturbing. I do have a weird frog phobia.  Good thing I had some brave students who could round them up for me.  

I loved the wooden embellis from Pink Fresh Studio. The teacher in me had to use the arrows to illustrate the life cycle of a frog. 

For my second layout, I used the Basic Grey papers with all of the little houses on it.  The instant I saw that paper, I knew it would have to be about my hometown.  We don't live there anymore but if it was feasible, we would.  I really loved a layout on Paper Issues Instagram feed that used patterned paper cut on the diagonal.  My fellow design team member, Danielle is part of that awesome team as well.  So here is their layout. (Sorry the picture is small but it had to be imported from a screen shot on my phone.)

And here is my use of the diagonal.  

I really wanted to keep it simple with the focus on the photo.  It's one of my favorites.  The Basic Grey Paper was just perfect for this:  The nice solid purple mixed with the bright, bold patterned paper.  

I want to take a minute here and tell you there is so much value in Instagram. If you don't have it for your own personal pictures, you are missing out.  The filters are awesome and will make your pictures look great.  There are also so many printing options for the square photos Instagram creates. It is also a valuable resource if you are a crafter. You will find so much inspiration.  The best thing about it is that it gives you direct access to many designer and company pages.  Clique Kits has an account on Instagram as well.  I encourage you to follow it to keep up to date with the latest news, and products.  You can find me on Instagram as well.  My username is mhechler, or the link is on the sidebar of this blog.

  Finally, the "home" is my cut file which you can download here for free.  It is in Silhouette Cut File format, but if you need a .PNG, please let me know.  If you ever use it online, I just ask that you link it back to me.

I have used so much of this October Kit.  I will be posting a recap of the layouts at the end of the month.  You can also see them if you visit the Clique Kits Blog.  Don't forget about the October Challenge on the Clique Kits blog.  You can enter to win a very nice paper pack from Fancy Pants.  It's anything goes so don't forget to upload your projects by October 31.

I wish you a very good day.   Your next stop is the fabulous Tyra.  She is one of my favorite card makers in the world.  Enjoy the rest of the hop.  

Here is the blog list:

Clique Kits

Gia

Jody

Erica

Lacey

Stephanie

Rosann
Cassandra H

Charity

Alisha 

Regina 

Wendy

Marcia----You came from here.

Mariah---You are here.

Tyra---Go here next.

Allie

Kat 

Aliza 

Nicole

Stephanie

Donna

Carolina

Danielle

Sophie

Project Life Week 29

For this week's layout, I used Clique Kit's Glam Camp August Kit.  It is one of my favorite kits of all time.  I have a ton of it left, but I don't want to waste it.  It's just a really lovely kit.  This week our big event was going to Dripping Springs.  I've never made the entire hike because I've visited the area only to take photos of other people.  So we decided to take all of the boys and go.  It's such a beautiful place to visit.

Entire Spread

Left Side:  I love the gold doily.

Left Side up close

Right Side

Right Side close up:  I used sequins in the kit and added them to the pocket. 

There you go!  Hope you enjoyed it.  Next Wednesday, I'll be part of the Clique Kits Pep Rally.  Hope to see you.  Have a great day!

A Week in The Life

I will be doing A Week in the Life this year starting October 27, 2014.  I know I already do Project Life, but this week I will focus on routines and things that define our family instead of weekly events.  I'll be choosing at least one photo a day that represents that day of the week for us.  We have a few people joining this event on my Scrappy Girls page.  So if you would like to join follow that link and I'll add you.  I'll try to post the pictures up on my blog as quickly as possible so you can follow along here too.  Enjoy your Monday!

Around Here

Hey everyone!  We've been pretty busy around here.  That's no surprise, really.  I finally uploaded my pictures from my phone, and thought I would share a few.  Over the last few weeks, we had a lot of rain, visitors, and fall break.  Our fall break was last week.  This week was Wolfie's.  It's sort of annoying to be on three different schedules around here.

 Mushrooms in the backyard

 Super busy with my design team work.

 Our visitors

 Trying to learn to tie shoes.

 Tickle time

 Going out for Bosa Donuts

 Wolfie is suddenly into selfies???

 We took a little walk the other day.

 Jenga is serious around here.

Happy Sunday!

Clique Kits October Challenge

We are already a few days into October, but I wanted to make sure you know about the Clique Kits October Challenge.  Clique Kits has teamed up with Fancy Pants for the month of October!!!

All you need to do is link up a project...any type of project and you have a chance to win this awesome collection from Fancy Pants.  Link your project here on the Clique Kits Blog.

Here's the prize:  The full 12x12 Oh! Deer Collection.

This beautiful kit, Oh! Deer, is featured in the Clique Kits Holiday Card Kit.  The kit is lovely, and so well thought out.  You can purchase it from the Clique Kits Store.  Don't forget to enter the code MARIAH10 for ten percent off of any purchase you make.

This and That

It's been so long since I've just posted about me and mine and what's been going on around here.  So here we go.  

1.  We've been keeping up with our Real Food Diet.  I recently purchased Lisa Leake's cook book, 100 Days of Real Food, which I love.  I highly recommend it.  It is packed with information from her blog, and wonderful recipes and meal plans.  I cook a lot with her recipes and I can't say there hasn't been one I haven't liked.  Everything I've ever made using one of her recipes has been a big hit in our house.  

2.  We got a membership to Costco.  I decided to do this because it's so expensive to try and keep up with solely Real Food in your home.  We got the basic membership, Gold Star, after much contemplation.  We went in and looked at all of the food and prices.  We decided to go ahead and get it because it would save us so much money when it came to meats and healthy snacks.  This first trip we saved $35 as compared to what I'd pay at a local grocery store.  That's only $20 away from the cost of membership.

3.  I am really missing my iPhone...better known as Mariphone.  Maralaxy is nice, but I want my iPhone back.  Guess I found that out the hard way.  It's my punishment for being a traitor.  

4.  I'm on a country music kick right now.  I completely love American Kids by Kenny Chesney.  It's such a small town song, and sometimes I really miss my hometown.  I miss my friends now that we're all spread out.

5.  This kid has turned into a monster.  It's like the instant he walked into middle school he was a completely different child.  It's so hard to parent a middle schooler.  I'm sure much more is yet to come as he gets older.

6.  We're all adjusting to a few bombshells that were dropped on us.  We're trying to adjust to the deaths of half of our grandparents and a friend.  We started this year with 8 grandparents.  It's been a hard thing to accept.

7.  I took my step sister's senior photos this weekend.  It's hard to believe that she's going to graduate this year.  It was nice because I've been so burnt out on taking pictures.  This was just laid back and relaxed.  I'm finally getting to where I want to start taking pictures again.  

8.  I've been busy making layouts and cards.  You guys have seen that, but it makes me really happy to have a creative outlet.

9.  I can't believe how fast this year is going.  It's been hard, but were are 3/4 of the way done.  The holiday season will be here before you know it.

10.  I've been trying to get Wolfie to read Harry Potter for the last couple of years.  The kid is finally reading the series.  He's onto book 5 now.  The only problem is that he's more interested in reading than doing his school work.  So, now I actually have to take the books away from him.  :/

So there you have it.  A little this and that.  Hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Enjoy the Ride (12x12 layout)

Here is the first layout I made with Clique Kits' October Kit, Masquerade Ball.  It's a great kit filled with lots of goodies from Basic Grey's Second City line.  

I started the layout with some Washi tape I had.  It came with my previous Clique Kits' kit.  You can find the Blue Glitter Washi tape here.  Then I added some white paint for fun with a roller stamp.  I loved the 4x6 cards and mini treat bags that came with the kit.  I colored this mini treat bag with a Mr. Hueys Ink Dauber.

I can't wait to share more projects with you this coming month.  Today, you will find me on the Clique Kit's Blog with some photography tips.  Don't forget the Limited Edition Card Kit.  It's fabulous!!!

As always, don't forget if you shop the Clique Kits Store to enter MARIAH10 for ten percent off of your purchases.

It's October...What happened to September?

I can't believe that September is already behind us.  It went by really quickly.  I just wanted to welcome you to October.  I'm so excited to start my design team work with Clique Kits!!  Today was the first Design Team Showcase.  You can see me and my layout on that post here.  Also, tomorrow, I will be posting my very first post on the Clique Kits blog.  Sorry for the super quick post today!  I hope all is well in your world.