Christmas gifts, toot and a surprise!

DONE! With my nephew's 8x8 album featuring BoBunny Grease Monkey. I was thrilled to get the photos from my SIL Friday, which confirmed I chose the right papers for the project. I promised I would share a few finished pages - kept relatively simple.
The stamped, distressed paint images are a perfect accompaniment to Grease Monkey. The only item left undone is a journaling spot by my nephew and his pride and joy - his Jeep! I thought it would be good for him to write down all the specs, and special ad ons- such as his sound system. The next page in the book shows him receiving a trophy for the best sound system at a car show.
Tonight I opened a returned layout box from All American Crafts ...I admit, it's been sitting here for a month if you can believe it. I knew what was inside, and did not want Abby to see it and question Santa. It's the December issue of Scrapbooking and Beyond... I really need to just subscribe - it is such a great magazine! I love this issue as much as the last, and just love the full sized patterns and many techniques given. I am always looking for new ideas and techniques, and this magazine delivers. I had considered subscribing to CK again, but after receiving the last issue it seems it has gone very much in the direction of Simple Scrapbooks, of which it was to combine.

I thought I would get on FB and toot - because my layout is the first featured reader layout - and it is HUGE - goes across 2 pages! I was so surprised! I wanted to give a link to the issue so people know what to look for on their newstands. Hopping on the Scrapbooking and Beyond site... to see my layout come up as the first feature for the December issue. WOW - blow my socks off!!

It is definitely one of my all-time fave Christmas LO ever...and Kyle is pretty gosh darn proud when I showed him it got a two page spread as well as a feature. If you pick up the magazine - my one page layout, "Dear Santa" appears on pages 24-25. This is going to be one of those timeless layouts that make you laugh as you relive the memory, whether it be next week or 50 years from now. I already envision Kyle's own children looking at that layout someday, and getting a chuckle out of it. Kids say the cutest things when they are little, and in this case, it's his original written word from several years ago.
Christmas is days away! Tonight Jesse and I found the toys I had bought in July...whew!! As tempted as I was to embellish Kyle's tree frog ornament some more, I tried it out on the tree and decided to give it as is, without a santa hat, without a scarf...because right now he looks pretty darn real when propped on a tree branch. It will be up to Kyle if he wants his altered Magistical Memories frog ornament made into a whimsical ornament. I hope you are all finishing up so you can relax and enjoy the season well. I am wrapping things up Tuesday night, literally and in both senses of the word. Happy creating and Merry Christmas!