Happy Wednesday to you!

It is Wednesday. Yeah! I'm not sure why that is exciting. My days all seem to run togethe anyway, but other people get excited so...!!!!!!!!!!! I have been not feeling well, which has translated in some lazier days for me and more projects to look at for you. I have been trying to use my cricut more, so I have been looking at different cuts that I normally don't use and trying to do something with them. Thus the birdhouse. LOL Cute, don't you think? I'm also trying to use some of my vast collection of dollar stamps. Love them. Don't use them enough. And my Copics. Yep. Trying to use those, too. HAHAHA...sorry. I'm sick, remember? And easily amused today.
I also wanted to make some more of the mailboxes that are in the dollar spot in Target. I decorated some for the kids last year and yep, you guessed it, they got destroyed. Sigh. This year, I am going to put them away to save for next year. I'm such a mean mommy.

So, I made one for each of us: Isabel (pink hearts), Collin (robots), Billy (lions), and me (frogs). I am going to put them on the table with the coaster box I also made to hold little notes that I stamped and some fun pens Billy got me last year. We are going to write little notes and slip them in the boxes each day until V-Day. On Valentines Day, the boxes will be full of fun little surprises.

I also made a very cute layout of Isabel and some friends with the Basic Grey Sugar Rush goodies that Pam sent. Love this paper!

Labor of Love

So last night I sat in awe of the fun package I got from Pam. I knew the sensible thing to do would be to start cutting and put a layout together, but I just couldn't do it. Cut that beautiful paper? And which side to use? Really, the stress of using nice paper is such a burden some times. The other slight obstical last night was Billy and Collin being sick. I spent alot of time tending to the ill. I did have a chance to think about what I wanted to do with all of that lovely paper so I could get right to work this morning. I spent a lot of time on the tree...adding layers of papers, buttons, brads, and bling. The cuts are from a variety of carts, but mostly Paisley.

I've got a Sugar Rush!

So, since kit clubs are a bit out of my budget at the moment, my friend Queen Pam (who works at a lovely scrapbook store called Journals of the Heart http://www.journalyourheart.com/) offered to be my personal shopper and put together a kit for me whenever I felt the urge to have one. I can set my own budget that way. How cool is that? So....she suggested my first kit be Basic Grey's Sugar Rush. Have you seen it? Wow! Great colors and perfect for this time of year. Plus, who wouldn't love paper called gummy bears? Not only did I get the paper, but I got the coordinating: stickers, chipboard, fabric tags, buttons, brads, glazed brads, journaling papers and clips. PLUS she threw in dew drops, Kaiser rhinestones and Paper Bliss Chipboard Owls. Isn't she sweet? I got her discount, so it was a fantastic deal for me! Love that!

Ready to see?

How about this haul, huh? She did a wonderful job of picking things out. It helps that she is my scrappy twin and knows exactly what I like and what my style is. LOL If you are in South Dakota, look up the store. I've seen pictures and it looks really great! And the owner has fantastic taste in both product and employees. :) And no, Pam is all mine. Get your own shopper. LOL

I *heart* me some sock monkey

I love sock monkeys. I don't care if they are "in" or not, but they are cute, cuddley and nostolgic. So...imgagine how happy I was when I strolled into Michaels and saw this!!

Imagine my surprise! I generally skip over the single sheet papers at Michaels because it was all old and stale and not my style. My daughter thought I lost my ever lovin' mind. I plopped my self on the floor and started scanning to see what else new they had and found these:

And if that were not enough...I spied with my little eye the new K and Company Valentines Stack. And it was on sale (said in hushed, reverent tones) and it was the last one (in a high, squeaky, panicked voice). I saved it.
Every pages is prettier than the last...and it is double sided. Grrr...which side do I use? And check out those valentines. Cute on a page or for my kids to pass out. (or for me to keep and put up in my room...)

Hopefully my next post will be all about the lovely box of goodies that are one their way from my scrappy friend, Pam.

All you need is love...

Hmmmm...and Mini Cadbury Eggs, I believe that part was left out. Let's take just a minute to stare are their crunchy, chocolately goodness.

Have you also been bombarded with all of the Valentines Day stuff lately? Everywhere I go I see pink plastic hearts and candy that has been given a holiday makeover...although the taste is still the same. Still....I have been sucked in. No, I have not purchased a single pink plastic heart...and the candy I buy comes in very traditional wrappers. I tend to feel the need to buy pretty pink paper and put hearts on all of my scrapbook projects. Yep. I have been sucked in. And in honor of that, I do have some new layouts of love...dedicated to the ones I love (or at least some of them...my poor DH has to wait for his layout).Think back...waaaayyy back. Remember those kits I promised to start making? These are thanks to my Valenetines themed kit. I have barely put a dent in it. I told you I tend to go overboard and put everthing PLUS the kitchen sink in the kits.

I did take a break from layouts to make my Valentines Day banner. I got the Paisley Cricut Cartridge for Christmas and have been itching to play with it. This seems like the perfect time, don't you think? I did do the letters with Storybook. My go to favorite font.

The blank heart near the end is blank on purpose. And laminated. I am going to talk with the kids about what love is and we will write ont he blank heart with a marker. I wanted a banner that was more thought provoking and interactive. I love it and the kids think it is cool. Now to make the lovey layout about my sweet DH. I have the photos and the idea...I just need a few minutes to take care of it. :)

Sketchy Goodness

I (uhem) need to tell you something. Please don't be afraid, but I am a cyber stalker. I admit it. I have a certain designer that I stalk online. I wait with baited breath for her videos...I stalk her blog...I worship from afar. That designer is Kristina Werner. Sigh. She is wonderful! Very down to earth and her cards and fun, bright and simple. She is great at thinking outside of the box, but all of her stuff is very doable and very inspiring. I just want to create when I see her videos. Alright...alright...I will share her with you.

Here is her blog: http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/

And on her blog there was a... cow? No...but a great idea for a card sketch book that you can make yourself. Now I will admit it, I am a great design lifter, but I struggle with my own abitily to design on my own. I didn't start out that way, but with so many places to look for inspiration, my design muscle has not needed to be flexed quite so much. Her sketch book has inspired me to stop borrowing so much and go back to doing my own designs.

Here is the link to the video on her blog on making the book: http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=2135

She even graciously shares her pdf for the pages inside. All you have to do is print, cut and assemble. Sweet! I finished mine in no time at all and am in love with it already!

I decided to get started right away, so here is my first sketch:

and here is my card:

I have been wanting to make a valentines day banner for the house, so that was my jumping off point for this card. And what can I say...I'm into owls. :) I even managed to sketch 3 more cards while waiting to pick up Collin today from school. Loving it! Give it a try...and if you make a sketchbook, I would love to see it!

Loving this kit idea

So far so good on making my own kits. It is fun to get excited about my stash again! All of my stuff is EXTREMELY organized (I'll share in another post), so it is great to dig through my categories and find goodies I have forgotten about to put in my kits. My only problem so far is putting TOO much stuff in them. :)

Here is my paper/alphas. I mixed 2 different paper companies (American Crafts and DCWV).

Embellishments were super easy. Think I pulled too much? LOL I am full of ideas already!

And stamps...I'm hoping to get some milage from my new $1 stamp finds. So cute! These would make the best valetines!!

I'll post my finished projects when as I get them done. Almost time to pick up Collin, so playing will have to wait!

Gettin' it done!

How nice to be able to play and create! What a great start to the year for me! I am determined to decide which of my older photos I want to scrapbook and which I want to just put in a regular album. Seriously. I want to be done with it and move on! LOL I have them all sorted and organized both in books and on my laptop (thanks BPS) and I just need to decide which are scrap worthy. Here are a few I've been meaning to do of Collin at his first fair.

I am doing a patterned paper challenge on 2 Peas which lead to this next layout. We were to use patterened paper as embellishements. This is a bit simplier than I usually do, but I am leaving it alone now. LOL

Isn't this card cute? I like how it came out. I just got the book A Card A Day and I LOVE it! Lots of fresh, current card ideas!

Okay. Call me wierd. Call me obsessive. I love this paper. My friend, Pam, sent it to me. It is from the Cosmo Cricket Line Girl Friday. Love Love Love the color combo and the design. So I have been saving it. Indefinitley. LOL I did finally locate some here, and yesterday I framed the original one Pam gave me. Yep. It is on my wall. Along with some of the coordinating paper. It looks so pretty!

I told you it looked cute! And yep. I know one of the frames is crooked.

So Pretty!

Are you ready for some SERIOUS prettiness? I went to Michaels today to get a few things to finish up my January kit (See post before this one) and then headed over to JoAnn's. Oh, boy! I found a great alphabet set by Heidi Grace on clearance.
And then...I saw...IT. The one! The prettiest stamp set I have seen in a loooong time! Really, I was drooling! It is by Inkadinkado (so fun to say) and called Organic Fabric Flourish. Sigh. I just had to have it. And it was on sale. Be still my heart! I took some close ups so you could love it, too.

See? What did i tell you? Black and white...colored in with Copics....sigh. I am going to put them out on my desk so I can just look at them. And stroke them when no one is looking. ;) Don't judge me!

Welcome to 2010!

Seriously, where does the time go? I think it might possibly be hiding under my bed (I really do need to clean under there), but I'm just not sure how to hold onto it. I have alot of goals and aspirations. There are so many things I want to do. But the lot of a mommy/wife is not an easy one. I am so far down the list right now that I can't even see my name. But I am working on changing that. There are things that are important to me and I need to persue them. There are things that make me happy and I need to do them. My family will not suffer. My kids will not need therapy. My husband will still eat a good dinner. But mommy is getting some ME time this year.

Ali Edwards http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2009/12/one-little-word-2010.html has been encouraging her fellow scrapbookers to choose one word that will sum up what they want their year to be. I always thought it was a fun idea, but was too busy/lazy/last on my list to bother with it. Until this year. I have chosen a word. My word.

Now, you might think that my goal this year is to run around hugging people, but that is not exactly what I have in mind. Embrace. In 2010 I want to embrace the moments where I would rather be scrapbooking, but end up with more family time. To Embrace my kids when I want to be frustrated with them. To Embrace my limitations about who I am. In essence, to live in the moment and rejoice in it instead of thinking to the future and the little list in my head of things I really need/want to get done.

Because of my new word, I have been working on schedualing my days a bit better and not feeling like I have to finish EVERYTHING in order to spend a few minutes in my studio and creating. So far so good. I have worked on a few cards this week and will be working on a layout today.

Aren't they cute? The heart one is for Isabel for Valentines Day...I got the stamp at JoAnnes...love it! The Robot one is Collin's V-Day card...I got a new set from Sandylion a while back (I very much needed some boyish stamps) and thought I would try them out. The monkey, planet and ship are from the same set.

So, one of my decadent wishes has always been to join a scrapbook kit club. Now before you look at me funny...money for a Youth Pastor and his SAHW is always just enough for expenses, but not quite enough for expensive extras. And yes, I consisder spending $40 a month on a kit mailed to my house to be expensive for us. I do have extra money each month for my supplies, but I don't want to spend all of it on just that one thing. So I have decided to challenge myself to make my own kits. Yes...you heard me! Have you seen my room? LOL I am not lacking for paper, inks and stamps (never really have enough, though, do we), but drool over new embellishements. And new paper. And new stamps. Oh, dear! Lafayette is fortunate to have a Michaels, JoAnnes and Hobby Lobby, but our only scrapbook store closed, so some of the fun new products never make their way into my neck of the woods.

Here is my first kit for January. It was fun pulling through all of my stuff. I do like to organize. (insert sigh of utmost pleasure here) I decided that I would allow myself $5-$10 a kit to get embellishments/extras for it. Much better than $40, don't you think? And the best news of all....drumroll, please...my dear friend, Pam, works at a scrapbook store (almost makes it excusable that she left me to move to another state...sob!). She has sent pictures of it for me and I think the owner and I might be twins. LOL We have similar taste in products. Soooooo...I had the inspiration to ask Pam to ocassionally put me together a kit and mail it to me. That way I can still get my current product that I crave and can spend an amount that is comfortable for me that month. Whoohoo! Great idea, huh? Love ya, Pam!