A holiday freebie!!

so you know, i finished my christmas shopping, mailed my packages, created my ct layouts and now i'm ready to pack my bags! i need to get away for a bit, relax and recharge batteries and what a better place to do it that at taos and santa fe.

i'm sorry but this is a drive by posting to leave you with a free template while i'm away. i'll be back the first week of january hopefully with some nice pictures to share here.

have a wonderful holiday season and enjoy!

template #4:

click on image to download freebie

here's a page i created with it using nina's snowy days kit:

click on image for credits

Christmas shopping....... and some freebies.

it is almost christmas and of course time for shopping. i'm getting in the familiar panic mode not of "gift buying" but of "what do i buy for....".
our family consists of of various age groups so i make a list and add gift ideas besides each name hoping to find an ideal gift for that person & today with the internet at hand i  manage to skip some of the driving around town, the mall crowds & long lines at the stores - having them ready and all wrapped-up by mid-december or sooner, when my husband travels to el salvador taking most of the gifts with him, it's what makes it stressful.
i only have 2 more gifts to buy but i'm clueless of what to get - which means more time in the computer tonight!

i've learned that men have an easier time buying gifts. i bet my husband would go to the mall, spend a couple of hours there (or less) and get a gift for everyone on the list without torturing himself to buy those "perfect' gifts. we women, on the other hand,  want our gifts to be meaningful & tend to browse around looking at a bunch of choices here and there - men go straight for the kill!  maybe i should let him do the shopping next year while i focus on the joy, cheer and festive part of the season!

i'm glad i'm almost done so i can focus on getting all of our winter clothes & ski gear together. once in taos i can relax and enjoy the rest of december with no rush & no set routine.

ok.... enough of my thoughts on christmas shopping and back to business.
i've manage to work on a couple of freebies that i want to post here just in case i don't have enough time next week. hope you like them.

Template #3 (.psd file)

download here

download here

i have not had time to do much digi-scrapping lately and have only managed a few pages.

this first layout i did for sue cummings - december challenge "a letter to santa" which made me journal for a change. the other two layouts are also using her products. you can check her store here

good luck with your christmas shopping, stay safe and i'll be back with more freebies and hopefully more layouts to show you by next week.

Thanksgiving day is gone and Christmas is almost here....again

hope you all had a fantastic thanksgiving day, and much to be thankful for, whether you celebrate this holiday or not.

i'm thankful i got to spend time with my sister and her family in orlando, that we had a safe trip with relatively little traffic, that the kids got to spend time together & that i didn't have to do the cooking! lol!!

of course the food is not the primary reason to celebrate thanksgiving but i thought i mention that the turkey was fabulous as always but the day- after- thanksgiving turkey sandwiches are always the best. white bread, a moist mix of white and dark meat, a bit of lettuce ( watercress will be better), slice of tomato and slathered with the special salvadoran style turkey sauce. ahhh!!

for recipe go here

some photos from the thanksgiving holiday:

arturo preparing the turkey

judith & me sharing some coffee 

right before dinner

at the cat in the hat store- islands of adventure

max, lourdes, javier & gustavo being silly.. again!

having fun & getting wet!

a thanksgiving layout - credits here

so, thanksgiving has come and gone and christmas is almost here! the christmas tree is up ( a fake one by the way) and for the very first time i think i decorated it all by myself since hubby was busy on the computer (no, not helping to shop for christmas presents but working... i guess) and my teenager had also more important things to do (homework, he said?!) the tree is not as fancy, as big and/or as fabulous as it used to be a few years ago when i was living in el salvador but i guess coordinated bows, ornaments and a real tree do not make it special - the important thing is that every little ornament was carefully chosen & placed with love - even if it was only me doing it!! i have to say i was very please with it when it was done & they were very happy and though it was pretty fabulous anyway!

i wish i could say that i'm done with my christmas shopping, that the presents are all wrapped up & that i have a plan of attack for the rest of the gift buying but i'm afraid i am still in need of some ideas..... i really wanted to go to the mall today but the prospect of walking around with no particular ideas of what to buy did not appeal to me at all. i should go tomorrow though  because the idea of encountering the frenzied consuming masses during the weekend is already filling me with dread just to think about it!

and wait!!! before i finish here i want to mention that sue has some awesome christmas products. a new holiday daily digital download kit and lots of freebies for all her newsletter subscribers. details at her blog or at her store at o'scraps.

click on the image to go to her blog for details

some of my latest layouts - click on images for full list of credits.

snowy day moment

days to remember

winter days

constantly reinvent yourself

hope everyone is having a great start of the holiday season... for me.....christmas vacation can not get here fast enough!