Another Layout to share

Quickly before I turn in for the night, here is another all digital layout. Only my second one. I completed a few paper layouts tonight too, I only have 1 more layout to go before I have met my 31 in 31 challenge! YES!!!!! I will post pictures of the paper layouts that I created some time tomorrow along with the very last one for this challenge.

Another big post

Ok, here are the 3 layouts I finished yesterday and one that I managed to squeeze in this morning. I kind of laugh when I see them all together like this because my style totally changes with my mood. It's sort of odd. Anyway, here they are...

Hayley went through a phase right after she turned one, of taking her pants off and putting them on her head...I just HAD to document that. So cute, right? :-) I had a little trouble getting this one right and I still am not completely crazy about it. I may tweak it later...
Very simple and straight to the point.
Now, the answer here is YES I did HAND CUT the Dory and Marlin and paper pieced them together. I drew them by hand and also drew the title by hand. Hayley demands to watch Nemo every single day. Without fail. Every day. Some times she asks more than once a day, but I can only force myself to oblige once. I love Nemo, I think it's one of the best Disney movies ever, but I am SO burned out on it. She, on the other hand, still LOVES it.
And this one, I did some very rare for me stitching on the main photo. I don't do this often because it has to all be done by hand since I don't have a sewing machine because I don't know how to sew really. And it takes FOREVER. But I love the look of stitching on my pages so I think the end result is worth the extra time.

Only 4 more to go for my 31 in 31. And then it's on to making some CARDS! As much as I have loved doing this challenge, I am ready for a little variety for a few days. And then I can mix it up like I usually do with a little bit of both here and there.

3 more pages down

I have 5 more pages left to do to meet my 31 in 31 challenge. I finished 3 layouts today! YAY! Sorry no pictures to share tonight, I hope to share some tomorrow. It's getting late and I must go get some sleep!

Layouts 22 and 23

Here are my most recent layouts for my 31 in 31 challenge. I am only 8 away from being done! AHHH! So much pressure :-). I'm really hoping I can get them all finished, but I am still so proud of myself for accomplishing what I've already gotten done. This is by far the most I've ever scrapped in one month, probably the most I've ever scrapped in 2-3 months! It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.
For the first layout I used a new color combo for me, but I found it on the kuler website. Then for the second one, I sort of scraplifted a technique Tuesday ad that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it! So if that layout looks familiar, that's why! :-) Hey, it still counts!

I've been TAGGED

Rules: (1) Link to the person that tagged you. (2) Post the rules on your blog. (3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. (4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (5) Let each random person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their site.

Wow, this is the first time I've been tagged on my blog. How exciting! Thanks Katie! Ok, so six random things about me...let's see.

1.) I love love LOVE movies. Will and I have a mini-blockbuster at our house. We have hundreds of movies. (I am NOT exaggerating). We have 2 big CD cases full of our movies, plus two others for just the "kid" movies. Crazy, right?? My friends and I even do quote marathons back and forth with our favorites.

2.) I am a pile-maker. This little quirk about me wouldn't be interesting, if I didn't drive myself crazy with my piles. I've never been "neat" ever. Disorder has been my friend since I was a little girl. I used to drive my mom nuts. But it's controlled chaos because I know where to find things. Will, on the other hand is extremely neat, so he kind of keeps me in line. Since he's been gone, my piles have been driving me crazy. I guess he's rubbing off on me a little. But it still doesn't stop me from making the piles :-)

3.) I am dying to go to Europe. I especially want to see Italy. Big dream that I hope to accomplish sometime in the not so distant future.

4.) I am a big sucker for all things romantic. Flowers, candles, love songs...ahh, love is a beautiful thing :-)

5.) I love office supplies. It reminds me of the first day of school. Fresh packages of notebook paper, pens, paper clips. I love them all. I buy notebooks just because I think they are pretty and have tons of them stashed around to use as journals, or to house the many lists that I make but very rarely actually use :-)

6.) I would love to own my own business one day. Maybe a scrapbook store, maybe something else...it's a future idea that I've been toying with. I have this wonderful image of bins lining the walls filled with buttons, and ribbons, and flowers, and all kinds of other wonderful embellishments as well as open stock paper and such so people can bring in their basics like adhesive and their photos and have everything they need right at their fingertips to create. Sort of a build-a-page concept. Similar to build-a-bear but for scrapping. Any investors out there interested?? LOL

Ok, so now my turn to tag someone...I guess I will tag Michelle. I know you're supposed to pick 6, but my blog buddies have all been tagged...I guess this means I need to make some new ones!!

Will's Valentine's Day gift

Thank you so much to Ali Edwards for posting this amazing project! I was stumped on what to do for Will for Valentine's day. I wanted to do something special, but I didn't want to go over the top because Will is in Qatar and can't really do much in return and knowing him he'll feel bad if I do too much. SO, this was absolutely perfect. Check out the project for yourself, here. Now I do not sew...I don't own a sewing machine. So when I saw this, I was like...crap, I can't sew! But I gave it a shot anyway and hand sewed it, and though it looks far from professionally sewn, it came from my heart and I hope he likes it. Here is my version

I used my sizzix to die cut the hearts out of the pink and brown felt. The ribbons are all from American crafts Valentine's day collection (SOOOO cute!). I got one of them at the Pink house and the others were a gift from a good friend of mine trying to cheer me up from missing Will while he's away. You can download the inside pages from Ali's blog, which is what I did. I also included photos and then added the ribbons and other various embellishments to the inside. I should've taken pictures of the inside before I did all the writing and stuff, but you can check them out on Ali's blog. Thanks again, Ali for the wonderful project!! Hope everyone had a wonderful and productive weekend!

Real Beauty

Ok, this is layout number 21 for my January challenge. Cruising right along, right? :-) I am actually really loving this page. I wandered pretty far off my original sketch with this one, but I'm okay with that. I originally was planning to use blue and green for the color scheme, but the black and red just sort of started to take over while I was playing. It was all kind of an accident. I had an embellishment for another page on my desk and it landed on my page when I was moving things around and I loved the red on the blue background. SO long story short, my plan was completely altered and this is the result.

Beautiful Little Princess

Here is my most recent page for The Pink House. Just finished it at around 11:30 last night! It didn't exactly turn out how I envisioned, but I managed to include all of the elements that I wanted to. I used Stickles to outline the word Beautiful on the paper and also the little crown in the bottom right corner. You can't see that detail as well in the photo as I had hoped. The paper is from the Delish Designs Royale line, it's double sided. And the cardstock is Bazzill. Michelle asked me to use a tool and a technique that I hadn't used before. SO, I used Queen & Co. felt fusion which was something new to me and cut it apart to accent the main photo. And I matted the main photo in a new way, I left the photo as just a normal 5x7 and cut the ovals into the cardstock to frame it and then peeled the edges back a little bit. Lots of reaching outside the box for me lately. I ordinarily would've hand cut the "Beautiful" out of the paper and done something fancy with that, but I'm supposed to cut back on all of my hand cutting when working on things for the Pink House, SO it took me a while to come up with a new way. Not that what I did is that crazy or anything, just unlike what I've done before. And I don't ordinarily include so many photos on my layouts either, which is something that I'm trying to work on. I take tons of great pictures and only use a handful. I think all of these little photos do a better job of telling the story for Hayley's first few hours. The one of me and her is our very first photo together the first time I held her, and the others are while they were taking her footprints and such at the hospital. I can't believe she'll be 2 soon. How fast the time goes...

Squeezing time

I feel like this week I have been squeezing every drop of extra time out of the days. The week has FLOWN by as a result. I managed to get this page finished between the time that Hayden left today (one of the boys I babysit during the day) and the time for me to start dinner. That's only a window of about 25 minutes. I had ZERO plans for this page, I just printed the picture out over the weekend, so I'm rather impressed with myself for getting this done so fast. I'm in the creative/productive zone, so hopefully I'll get a lot more accomplished! I have another assignment for the Pink House that I need to get finished--I've been staring at the papers for the last two weeks and finally had an epiphany today, so that's the next one I'll be working on.

My very first ALL DIGITAL page!

Ok, here it is... I finally played with my photo software long enough to get a decent looking layout done! This is my first one, so be gentle! It is very very basic and simple, but I don't know how to do much yet. It's hard when everyone posts tutorials for using Adobe and I have Photo Impact Pro. But I must say that I am very happy with how this turned out. Everything I used came from digital freebies that I downloaded online. So give me some feedback, what do you think?? I was going to add journaling, but every time I tried to put it on there, it just all looked too cluttered and took way too much focus off of this picture of Caitlynn. I think the photo sort of speaks for itself. Can't wait to hear what you all have to say!! Thanks for looking!

Who Says Girls Can't Get Dirty??

If you haven't noticed, I've been doing a lot of playing around with different styles and pattern mixing. This was another "experiment" but I like the results. These photos are of Hayley from when we went camping this past summer in Michigan. I has mortified our first day there with how dirty she was and kept trying to win a losing battle and washing her face and hands every five minutes. But I finally gave up. I mean, when I was a little girl I was a major tomboy, constantly getting dirty, playing with boys, catching bugs. So who am I to stop my little girl from getting dirty?? Especially when it was stressing me out so much trying to keep her clean, LOL. And she does look awfully cute when she's head to toe filthy. :-)

Catch up post # 2

Here are a few more layouts that I've gotten done. I have now completed 17 of my layouts for the 31 in 31 challenge. I probably could've accomplished a lot more if I hadn't been playing around with some digital kits, but since it's another goal of mine, I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's not as easy as it seems is it? :-) I'll get the hang of it. I absolutely LOVE doing all of the work by hand anyway, but some of the digital products out there are just so cool. I am hoping to do a little hybrid scrappin' once I figure it all out!

My first catching up post!

Here is my first post of the day, and hopefully not the last one that I get around to doing! I have lots to share, but have time only in bits and pieces to get it photographed and posted. So here are two layouts to start with that I've done in the last few days. The first one is a photo from our family vacation to South Higgins Lake, Michigan. It was absolutely beautiful there. We camped for the week with my parents, and my brother and his kids, and my sister, her husband, and her daughter, and my two step brothers, step sister, and my step brother Scott's girlfriend. Whew...lots of people, but my family is HUGE and just keeps on growing. So this summer vacation as a family is going to start being an annual thing. We are excited for the next one!

The background paper is basic grey as are the two ribbons. The felt ric rack is from AC Moore, and the red trim is from Rusty Pickle. I cut the photo corner using my sizzix, the flower is Heidi Swapp.

The next layout is kind of a stretch for me. I wanted a creative way to document my feelings about the deployment. So while I was emailing Will I had the idea to print off a map and mark where he is and where I am, and then figure out how many miles were in between and then focus on the journaling. So this page is the result of that. 7,321 miles is the approximate distance between Qatar and South Carolina. This paper is KI Memories, brads are Making Memories, I used Creative Memories Star Punches, and the Slim Jim Alpha on my sizzix, the ribbon is American Crafts. I hope to be able to post a few more later on the afternoon or this evening!

So busy

I apologize for not posting anything in the last couple of days. It's been a busy weekend. I finally was able to talk to Will for the first time in 3 weeks. He was on a mission in Kuwait and had a wireless internet connection so we were able to actually carry on a conversation in real time rather than only via emailing. So thank God for wireless internet, the what he called a"crappy tent" in Kuwait, and instant messaging services! I spent the entire day Saturday talking to him. He surprised me Friday night, so we were able to talk for a little while Friday night as well. It was so rejuvenating to speak with him. I've been struggling. I think I've hidden it pretty well, but I've definitely had my days and one kind of (ok very) emotional breakdown. Thankfully, he was the only one that had to really be subjected to that. I'm still just trying to adjust to life without him and this whole military deployment stuff and getting used to not being able to just pick up the phone to reach him when I need to talk to him, or walk into the other room to see him. That's been rough. It's definitely getting easier because I'm getting into a routine at home and I'm learning to express all of this nervous energy I've had into a more positive outlet. And I've changed my perspective about how I view the whole deployment in general. I think before I was thinking of it as almost a break up. Because it was kind of this sudden removal of him from my life. I made it into being like he made the choice to leave, when he didn't. It's just part of his job. And with this being my first deployment, I just didn't know what to expect. So I think he sort of sugar coated things before he left when we were talking about how much I'd be in contact with him and all of those kinds of details. Anyway, long story short, we had a great talk about everything this past weekend and I am feeling absolutely great. I did finally get some layouts done tonight, but I am seriously exhausted. So I promise I will post photos tomorrow. I will probably actually post a few times tomorrow to show you everything I've gotten finished. I'm not ahead the way I thought I'd be, but I still have plenty of time to get my 31 layouts completed. But knowing me, I'll be up til the wee hours of the morning on the last night trying to finish so I can actually say I made it! :-)

Rock Star

This is my 12th layout for my 31 in 31 challenge. I seriously have about 8 layouts all planned out that just need to be pieced together and then I'll be ahead! I just need to get the time to sit and do them. It's been a crazy busy week this week. I had 6 kids today with my two. I had an extra because her babysitter who also works here in my neighborhood is sick. I'll have her tomorrow too, but one of the kids I usually watch will not be here. So yeah...busy week. Plus, Caitlynn has suddenly started waking up at around 4 am and turning every single light in the house on, including my bedroom light. I am absolutely exhausted from all of these early morning wake up calls. So if it's not one thing it's another, lol. My six year old won't sleep through the night! AHHH!

Ok, so the photography on this one isn't great, but it's almost 11 so obviously the daylight is gone and my best lighting is in my kitchen, but it's a bit harsh. So be forgiving with that please!

This is Caitlynn's Halloween layout for 2007. She dressed up as Diva Barbie. The paper is by Moxxie, and is actually "Prom" themed on the other side, but when I saw it, I just had to have it to scrap these pictures. (I got it at the Pink House!) The ribbon is from the Rockstar collection by DCWV and is also from the Pink House. The dangly star ribbon and the glittery stars are actually walmart finds. But they fit this layout so well! Now tomorrow I must get my swaps done for my Carolina Girls get together on Sunday. So hopefully I'll have those done enough to share! Goodnight everyone!

Yard Work

I spent the afternoon raking up leaves and pine needles out of my yard. Will and I just didn't get around to doing it sooner because of having to prepare for him leaving and trying to get the inside of the house the way we wanted it. Now that I have more time on my hands that I would much rather fill with chores than with sitting around letting my mind wander, I decided it was time to clean up the yard. Now, our landscaping that the owner has put in is already terrible, so it can't be helped very much...but it does look better after this...Yes, this is FIVE 30 Gallon bags FULL to the brim of leaves and pine needles from just my front yard. I had to smoosh the bags in order to close them and they kept ripping. So they are over- full and I could easily have probably filled 7 bags, but I was trying to not be wasteful. Can you believe this?? 5 bags of stuff just in my front yard??! And the yard is not that big, let me tell you!

And this is me posing with my bags of yard gunk (Caitlynn took the picture) so that I have proof to Will that I actually DID do this and that I was still smiling when I was done. Although, there are still some in the yard that I just couldn't get to cooperate but definitely way less than before. So obviously, no time to do anything crafty today. Hopefully tonight. I'm really hoping that this means that when we really should be doing this in the fall instead of in January :-) that I'll have a get out of yardwork pass since I did it all by myself this year! Haha, we'll see! Although, I did actually kind of enjoy it. Shh...don't tell him!

A big post

Since I didn't post over the weekend, I am going to share the pages that I finished. I was very busy this weekend. LOTS going on. I have a leak in my downstairs bathroom that I've been battling with for the last couple weeks. Well, I gave up on DIY fixes, so the plumber is coming some time this week. Then I had to pull weeds in the yard. We are renting this house and the landscaping is TERRIBLE. It drives me nuts. I don't even like to go out there. So I decided to try to make it at least look a little better until I can do some planting, etc. Then, I rearranged my living room because I was tired of the way it looked, and I scrubbed my kitchen top to bottom. Yes, busy busy. I also bought Hayley a new toddler bed and tried to get her to take a nap in it yesterday. Didn't go over so well. Ugh. So she's back in the crib. I will find a way to make it work. It's a little early, but I thought I'd try to see how she liked it. She likes to play on it, but not so much to sleep on it. I'm not in a big hurry. She did potty in the potty again, but only once since the first time. Baby steps. We're getting it. Again, not in a big hurry, though being done with diapers again would be fabulous!

Ok, so here are three of the four layouts that I completed this weekend. I'm up to 11 finished for my 31 in 31 challenge. Still going strong. I am hoping that by the end of this week, I may even be a little bit ahead of schedule. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Actually being ahead? I can't even imagine!

WSC30

My card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I just HAD to do this one before I got to work on getting some layouts done for my 31 in 31 challenge. I needed to use my new Nesties!! And I must say...I LOVE THEM!!! :-) I got this stamp set for Christmas from my Mom. It's by Autumn Leaves and it's called Mindy's Zoo. Love the monkeys! The sentiment is by Technique Tuesday and I bought the sentiment set at the Pink House. The papers are from a stack I bought earlier this week by KI Memories. I love all the patterns...so bright and pretty! Love 'em. So I got to play with all my new stuff! I have been experimenting more with "animal" cards because I have to come up with a swap for a get together with the stamp club. This stamp is topping my favorites list. I've got a soft spot for monkeys! Happy Friday, everyone! I hope to have somewhere between 2-4 layouts to share tomorrow depending on how long I can stay awake tonight! I WILL be caught up for the month before the weekend is over!

Less is more

So with as busy as I've been with things over the last two weeks, I decided last night that for this page, I wanted to go with a less is more mentality. I absolutely adore this picture of Hayley. I think she looks like the most beautiful baby and I look at it all the time because it just makes me happy and puts me in awe of the miracle that she is. So, this layout that should have been my third assignment but I shifted it around and did it after my fourth one for the Pink House. This one uses papers by Studio 8 Paper Company. These are gorgeous. They're double sided, and are named after desserts...how yummy is that?! Anyway, love them...go check them out at the Pink House!! I used the papers by Studio 8, the big brads are by Bazzill, ribbon by American Crafts, and the stickers are from Basic Grey and DCWV. I wanted to use doodle bug stickers, but I ran out of the letters I needed! I hate it when that happens. I need to buy alphabet stickers in bulk when I find ones that I like! I think these worked, though.

So all in all, a stretch for me because I tend to do more on a page, but I really actually love the simplicity of this. For those of you that are keeping track, this is layout number 7 for the month of January. I completed another one, but have to wait to show it to you--I'm using it as a contest entry!

Layout number 5

Here is layout number 5 for my 31 in 31 days. I know I have some catching up to do. I have pictures all ready to be scrapped, so it's just a matter of getting the time to do it. If not before then, I should get caught up this weekend when I can stay up a little later and then sleep in!! I used the Rusty Pickle Mayflower line again for this layout, so this is another design for the Pink House. But I used them in different ways than on the first one and I really like the result. I recolored the picture to Sepia and I distressed the photo edges just a little bit because the papers look a little distressed. The chipboard alpha is by Daisy D's. I thought about sanding those down a little too, but it took the glitter away and I think that makes this page look a little more feminine. So there it is :-).

I still have 2 other small assignments to work on for the Pink House that I will hopefully be able to deliver this weekend. It will be nice to take a whole bunch at once! :-) And then maybe Ronee will have something else for me to do...

Let me know what you think...judging by the number of hits I got this week, I know people are looking but no one is commenting...I really appreciate the feedback and/or constructive criticism! :-) Thanks!!!

So so busy...

Those of you that have talked to me lately, know I'm having quite a time getting my routine back to working order since Will left. I have just been insanely busy! So I didn't have time to scrap today yet, but I may do some in a little bit after I work out. SO there may be another post from me tonight. But I have some big news to share...Hayley is having a big week. (She's my almost 22 month old). First over the weekend she counted to ten for the very first time. Which was pretty exciting for me. THEN tonight, she went potty on the potty for the first time! I was jumping up and down clapping and shouting. She was of course laughing at my antics, which I'm sure she didn't quite understand. But I am absolutely thrilled. I know it may be some time before she goes again, but I'm still just so excited. I missed a lot of this stuff with Caitlynn because I was still working in the corporate world when she was this age so the daycare did most of this stuff with her. I'm so glad I don't have to miss it again! I have been so productive today and then that was just the icing on the cake. This is the best day I've had since Will left, not including that and that just put it over the top! So anyway, just had to share that...hope you all had a great day too!!

Rusty Pickle Mayflower

Here is my first creation using the Rusty Pickle Mayflower line. Ronee gave me the papers and embellishments on Saturday. I have plenty more of everything, so I'll probably do one (maybe even two) more layouts using these. They are pretty versatile. I chose this picture of Will on the C-17 because the papers first struck me as being sort of patriotic. But I think I am going to use them next on a page about my girls because even though they are sort of masculine, I think they have a little bit of whimsy to them as well, so with the lace and some more feminine touches...I think it'll work. So back to creating. This by the way, is only layout number 4 for me for January's 31 in 31. I really need to get caught up!!!

Another couple of projects to share

I have been working on this set of projects for a better part of the day. I am using them to enter a contest of sorts...I had to create a card, a layout, and an altered item. These are what I came up with.

I used Provo Craft (more scraps used!!) Designer paper matted on black cardstock. The stamps are Autumn Leaves. I made those paper flowers myself. They are made out of mulberry paper and are folded andand fanned out--hard to explain. Then those are topped with buttons topped with gems. I typed out the Helen Keller quote on graph paper and then matted it on black and then green cardstock. I then chalked key words in the quote using my Pebbles Inc. chalk.
The altered item was a stretch for me. I wasn't sure what I wanted to alter. Then I came up with this. It's a cookie sheet. I painted it white with acrylic paint and then rubbed some of the paint off to give it a little bit of a weathered look. The background papers are all basic grey. I used my creative memories punches to do the calendar squares and circles. Big flowers are Heidi Swapp. Buttons are fun expressions and the ribbon is also basic grey. The smaller flowers are Prima. Everything on here is attached using magnets so that it can be changed month to month or just if boredom begins to set in! I have it havning in my office right now...but it'll probably be moved somewhere a little more prominent over the next couple of days because I really like how it turned out. Not bad for a first try, right??
This layout is 12x12 and has a hidden journaling panel that tucks in behind the photo. It's pulled out in this picture so you can see that it's there. The tab on the journal card is a Stampin Up punch. The ribbon, tag, papers, and stickers are all basic grey--my Mom got me TONS of Basic Grey stuff for Christmas and I'm having a blast playing with it. All of the flowers, brads, and buttons are Prima--I got them all together in a cute tin at the Pink House!! You know me, if it's floral, I'm gonna like it! :-) So let me know what you think of the result of my productivity today! I'd love the feedback! Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

He is the Cheese...

You've probably all seen the commercial for this new movie coming out where a girl says that her boyfriend is the cheese to her macaroni. Something about that line stuck with me when I heard it and now that Will has been gone and I've had time to sit and think (A LOT) I have figured out why. It fits so well with Will and I. He is definitely the cheese to MY macaroni. Yep, he is. Without him, life is kind of plain and boring like plain unflavored pasta. My girls spice it up a bit...like salt and pepper, but still don't take the place of the cheese which ties everything together. Plus, mac 'n cheese is like a staple in my house. It's a little embarrassing. We don't eat it because we can't afford better stuff, we eat it because everyone loves it. It's the no-fail staple. If my kids will eat nothing else we fix for dinner, they'll eat that. Plus, we just fit together. A natural combination of personalities, the perfect mixture of strengths and weaknesses. So here is my page celebrating the cheese to my macaroni! :-)

I love the patterns and colors in this LO...it was a new color palet for me and I just love love love it. The journaling strips are not uniform and that is driving me insane...but it was after midnight when I added those, so I think the sleep deprivation marred my ability to measure and cut correctly...so those will probably be re-done so that I don't go crazy! :-) I can embrace the imperfections usually...but that's a really noticeable and irritating one! Anyway...so 12x12 layout, the patterned paper is by American Crafts (dark circle pattern) and the green is Provo Craft. Green stickers are Basic grey. The gray letters were cut using my Quickutz. Circles are from my creative memories punches. I hand-drew the arrow. These masculine color pages are kind of fun...I think I need to do a few more.

Oh, and I'm going to try that whole 31 layouts in 31 days thing...we'll see if I can do it. This is only #2 so I'm already three behind, but I do have a couple of assignments for the Pink House to do so that should hopefully get me all caught back up again. If you decide to join in the fun 31 in 31 madness, let me know--I'd love to see what you come up with! Happy Saturday everyone, I'm off to play!

Two cards to share...

Today has been a down day. One of the kids I watch called in because the dad was in a car accident this morning (he's okay!) and the other has been asleep since 9:30 this morning (it's almost 1!) So I was able to get some more stamping done. Here are the two cards I made today.

This card is my take on Beate's weekend sketch challenge. You can find it here. This is her first sketch for the new year. I got hooked on doing them at the end of last year, so I plan on making them a must-do on Fridays!
For this card, I used ALL scraps! That's another of my small goals for the year. I want to see how many cards I can make just using up my scrap paper. I am sadly one of those people that can't bear to throw the paper away! SO, this is the first card made entirely out of my scraps. The patterned paper is by Reminisce, stickers by Basic Grey, bling found at AC Moore, brads by making memories, circle punches using my creative memories punches, and cardstock is DCWV. The flower stamp is from Stampin' Up's doodle this set. I stamped it in Cocoa ink and then colored it in using my chalks by Pebbles Inc. I use these chalks all the time now.
I cased this card from someone else's blog that I happened across today, sorry I forgot to save the link!! I made some changes, mainly to the color scheme, and also added some stickles to the butterflies and the swirls (kind of hard to see in the photo). All of the stamps are from Stampin' Up's Priceless set. Patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye. The velvet ribbon was another cheapy from Target's $1 spot!
I've been a busy little crafty bee this morning. Hopefully I'll get another LO done this afternoon/evening to share later! :-) I'm on a roll...must keep the ball moving!

17 degrees in South Carolina??!

So I woke up this morning and had to take Cait to the bus and it is a whopping 17 degrees outside??! I thought we had escaped mornings like this when we moved here. This is Indiana weather!

I've been struggling to find a good routine now that Will is gone. Crazy how I didn't realize how much I depended on him doing certain things. Like dinner...we took turns cooking, and doing the dishes. So if he cooked, I did the dishes and vice versa. Now I have to do the cooking, dishes, AND baths and books with the girls. So before I even know it, it's like 8 pm and I haven't done much of anything except run around like a chicken with my head cut off. SO I must find a new system. Even with the craziness of getting adjusted this week, I managed to crank out a scrapbook page last night. It only took me about 15 minutes to get it all put together. Nothing very complex about this one. The blue background and the journaling stamp are by Autumn Leaves, and the other PP is a double sided sheet by Reminisce. I bought both papers at the Pink House! Ghost flowers are Heidi Swapp, buttons are fun expressions, and the brown ribbon is Offray, glittery pink ric-rack is from the $1 spot at Target. I love those cheapy finds. And then the letter stickers are by basic grey. Again, really bad photography--it's seriously too early! :0) I promise I'm working on that though...maybe I'd do better with a large format scanner...is there such a thing??!

I may have more to share later...I'm hoping to get a couple more pages done at some point today/tonight!!

I'm an aunt!!

Sorry, no project to post today. It's been a crazy day. My sister gave birth to her new baby boy this morning!! Logan Michael Kaiser was born at 7:30 a.m. He weighs 6 lbs, 12 oz and is 20 inches long. He has a full head of dark hair. The labor and delivery went very smoothly. Thank you for all of your prayers. They are supposed to do a CAT scan to check on the kidney stone and determine whether or not they will operate to remove it. Still waiting to hear the final word on that. Thank you for your patience with my non-project posts! I will have more to share tomorrow...or maybe even later tonight if I get everything else done!!

Thanks everybody!

Zoofari card and a prayer request

I borrowed this set from my friend Michelle and decided to start playing with it today. Here is the first card I made with it. I actually cased this from SCS with a few (very minor) changes.

It is my very first gate-fold card. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. This little monkey just makes me smile! Isn't he just the cutest??!

I hand cut the scalloped circle, though I won't have to do that for much longer because I ordered a set of nesties today!! YAY! I just got the small scalloped circles to start with. Then I'll probably order another set in a couple weeks because I know I'm going to use the living daylights out of these things! I colored the monkey in with my Pebbles Inc. chalk. The sentiment is from a Michael's set of stamps. I hand doodled the border around the monkey.

On another note, I found out a few minutes ago that my sister is in the hospital (she's 9 months pregnant) and found out that she has a kidney stone. SO they are going to go ahead and induce her and deliver the baby so that they can treat the kidney stone. If you could all keep her and her hubby, the baby (Logan Michael) and her 4 yr old daughter, Kylie in your prayers through this time I'd appreciate it! Her delivery with Kylie was difficult and she had to stay in the hospital for an extended time. Let's pray this one goes much more smoothly and that she and my new nephew will be safe and healthy!

Goals for 2008

Happy New Year, everyone!!! This time of year, I always try to come up with a list of things that I'd like to accomplish for the year. Sometimes I get them all done, sometimes just a few, and sometimes they just drop off the list all together but it kind of gives me a roadmap to keep me on track for the year. So this year, these are my top 5 because sharing them all would just take forever...

1. Make a design team (already accomplished!) YAY!
2. Be 40 lbs lighter by May...now this may or may not be feasible because that is a generous amount of weight loss. BUT, the first 40 lbs that I lost came of very quickly, So I'm hoping this 40 will also. It would be wonderful to have it lost by the time Will gets home from his deployment! Wouldn't that just be a fabulous surprise???
3. Complete at least one scrapbook layout every other day.
4. Make at least 2 new friends every six months (this shouldn't be an issue at all, but I need to branch out of my shyness)
5. Get at least one scrapbook layout or card published

I am already well on my way with having number one knocked out already! And I am LOVING being a designer for the Pink House. I will hopefully get started on my 3rd assignment today, but have to swing by the store to pick up some ribbon that arrived after I stopped in to pick things up. Go figure :-).

I did hear from Will yesterday, so thanks to all of you who have been keeping him in your thoughts. He arrived safely and had his first trip last night.

More later, with an actual project to share!