My One Little Word

This is my word...motto...mantra for 2011. It is already working well for me. There are so many things that I want to become, areas that need growth that it was hard to pick just what my focus should be on for the next year. And then I heard myself telling my frustrated husband that the people at work are never going to change and he needs to change his perspective on the situation in order to stop being stressed. Perspective. That word seems to come up alot in my conversations. Every situation...every moment in your life can be viewed through different lenses...from different angels. Sometimes just changing your perspecitve can make all the difference. I am teaching my kids this word. When I have been frustrated the last few days with their behavior (not bad behavior...just irritating quirks), we have sat down and rephrased my frustrations in a more positive light. And it helped tremendously. Alot of my stress is all in my head. And I mean to do something about that in 2011. It seems to be paying off. I like to talk out loud sometimes and mentioned this morning about the things on my to do list. Just so I could hear them. And lo and behold Billy and Isabel started the dishes and Collin vaccumed and did laundry. Wow! I suddenly am blessed with some free time and I am going to go enjoy it. Have a wonderful end to 2010. See you next year!

A little nostalgia

Look what came in the mail today! Happy sigh! I'm not feeling well, so I am looking forward to a hot shower, a good cup of tea and some reading time.

Guess what I found today while I was picking recipes for the next few weeks?
This was my Great Grandmother's recipe box. I remember a long time ago my Grandmother was cleaning out the basement and was going to throw this out, but I asked if I could have it. I put it up and haven't looked through it since. What is wrong with me? I flipped through it today and had fun looking at the old recipes. Some typed...some clipped from magazines and newspapers and some even hand written. What a treasure! I don't recall alot of special family recipes on my dad side, but I am excited to look through them to see what I can find. I have a book of recipes that my mom/Grandma gave me as well. I think it is about time that I made recipe books for the family.

Just a couple of cards

One of my favorite card making books is "A Card A Day" by Paper Crafts. If you have not seen it, you really should check it out. I know Archivers, JoAnn and Hobby Lobby carry it. It has actual cards and not sketches for every day of the year, but I have not run out of inspiration yet. Here are two cards I whipped up from the January card examples. The paper is very different from what I normally use, but I'm really liking it.


Only 8 more days until the first challenge kit is posted on our new blog! I hope you are planning on playing along with us this year!

Confessions of a Scrapbooker and a NEW BLOG!

Alright, I have to get this out of the way once and for all. I did not take pictures this Christmas. There. I said it. I made a special December Daily album so that I could document the month...had my camera at the ready on Christmas and realized that I was spending so much time trying to get pictures that I was missing the whole event. So I quit and didn't look back. I hardly feel guilty at all. I can still journal about it and get some after shots, but I spent some quality time with my family and stopped being the crazy lady with the camera for once. I'm not sure I will keep that up. LOL

So...did you know...that red pepper jelly is really yummy! Especially on cream cheese and crackers! And did you know ....that you can buy bulk bags of the dehydrated marshmallows from cereal? Did you? Well, now you do. I know those are odd things to get excited about, but they just make me happy.

Now onto the big news! My friend, Meridy, and I have started a challenge blog that will debut on January 5th! We both love kit clubs and love to make our own kits, so we decided to challenge ourselves and YOU to make our own monthly kits! I really think kits helps me scrap faster and better. It takes the guesswork out of it for me and lets me scrap whenever I get a few minutes.

Each month, on the 5th, we will post a kit that we have found to use as inspiration and the kits we came up with based on that. Through out the month we will share tutorials on making some of the embellishments, mini challenges to help you use your kit and even a blog hop so we can all share what we have done! Are you with me? So here are some links that you will want to know for our challenges:

My blog (I will post throughout the month about the challenges and what I am making)

Meridy's blog: http://www.meridy77.blogspot.com/

Our Challenge Blog: http://http//counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

And facebook! Yep! You can like us on facebook. Just look for Counterfeit Kit Challenge!

Let me know what you think by commenting here or on facebook! And feel free to offer suggestions!

I'm not sure I can stand it!!

I am a neat freak. There is nothing wrong with that. I have calmed down substantially since I got married and had kids, but it is still in me. I feel like twitching every thime I see and mess and feel the need to straighten. And now the mess has invaded my scrap-space, my sanctuary. I think I might start twitching now. The good news is I got my Clip It Up prize. The bad news is that I have to deconstruct my room to get it all set up. That is not at all a problem except it is Christmas and I don't have time and my room has to stay this way until I can find time. Bleh. That part I hate. Off to make some Christmas treats and wrap more presents. :)

Clip it up in the house!

My Clip It Up came today and I can't wait to put it together, but I must. Christmas activities call! I did get some great photos today of our sleigh ride with Santa. Yes, you hear that right! We got to ride in a one horse open sleigh with Santa! Isn't that cool? Isabel was acting shy (totally NOT in her character normally) and Collin was explaining how this was not REALLY Santa. Just a guy in a suit. Sigh. Be quiet, boy.

Hippity Hop!

My main reason for loving Thursdays is...it is Unity Blog Hop Day! I "heart" those girls! Their blogs are fantastic and I always get so inspired that I pout a bit about having to leave to go help at my son's school. I would rather stay home and play. If you have never tried a blog hop, it is SO easy! All you do is go to the Unity Stamp Company Blog and click on the cute green blog hop button. It takes you to another designers blog...you just keep clicking away, gathering inspiration as you go. The nice thing is that you can do is as you have time. :) I'll try to post back later with some of my favorites from the hop.

So.....you may remember me mentioning about Simply Rene's Clip It Up giveaway. For the last, what has it been, 2 months I have been posting on their blog and facebook to be entered into a drawing for their floor model clip it up....and I WON! Yep. I am doing cartwheels here folks!

Check that thing OUT! Amazing! No, it doesn't come with all the stuff, but that is not a problem. I have enough here to fill that puppy up. I can't wait to get it (they are trying to have it to me by Christmas) and share pics. with you. I will be in heaven setting it all up and reorganzing my room.

Off to the hop now! Keep checking in here...I have a fun surprise to share with you all on December 27th. I think you are going to like it!

The simple life is NOT for me!

There are alot of things that I can do without. Apparently a computer is not one of them! I can now join cyberspace once again on my sweet new Sony Vaio. It is so pretty. And fancy. But mainly pretty. LOL I solomnly promise to be more gentle with this new friend and not take it for granted. (And to back it up regularly....)


I am happy to be coming back to share with you over the next year with more cards, more layouts, more challenges and...a secret. Yep. I am developing an secret identity. (Imagine me running into a phone booth and whirling around until I reveal my snazzy new outfit.) I am going to be starting a new challenge blog with a new friend of mine, Meridy. We have been chatting on 2 peas about our inspiration to do a joint challenge together. I am SUPER excited about it! We have big plans that include a new blog (we will both keep up with our regular blogs to post things that we each make), facebook page, blog hops, challenges and some surprises! What will our challenges be about, you ask? I might give you a hint about that a little later. Be on the lookout for it starting in January, though! I think it will be great fun!

In the meantime, I will post a few things as I get them done. I'm feeling a bit rusty! LOL Scrapping time has been fleetingly with all of the holiday activites. I dusted off my supplies, though, to whip up a card for Mojo Monday! Love this sketch! I have a feeling I will be using it again!

Go to Mojo Monday if you want to play along! I would love to see what you make!

Also in the works for me is a December Daily Album and chosing my One Little Word for this coming year. Last years word was Embrace and I tried my best to live it. What word would YOU choose for 2011, if you could pick one word to live by?

The day the laptop died

I had so many plans...so many dreams. Then my laptop died. We were gone over the weekend, so we have not been able to get it looked out. Keep your fingers crossed that we can at least retrieve some of the files I have on it. I do have access on my hubby's laptop and on my I-phone, so I will see what I can do about the many blog posts I had planned. :)

Post and Run!

Just a quick heads up to check out DCWV's blog! http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2010/10/say-what-giveaway-today.html They have a contest going on over there, but you can only enter through today!

Review for Clip It Up Swinging Wall Arm

Good sunshiny morning! I hope you are having a fantastic day! Yesterday I received my prize from Clip it up in the mail! I wasn't sure what to expect since I have never used their products before. When I opened the package I was pleased to see a very simple, sturdy organizational system. I asked my husband to put it up for me this morning before he went to work and he said no. Really. Brave man. He knows I do not like hanging/drilling/putting things up. Ever. I think he knew I was a bit peeved because he then offered to stop home at lunch and take care of it. Ummmm...nope. As soon as I took the kids to school, I searched the garage for his old drill (he takes his new one to work) and got to work. In about 2 minutes I had it up on the wall! (Of course I promptly sent him a picture of me next to it sticking my tongue out. Haha!)

It was super easy to install and the instructions/pictures on the back of the package were fantastic. I'm a visual person, so this was great! I love the little hanging clip. They make me happy with all of their organizing potential. And they are nice and shiny. Now came the hard part. What to put on them. I am excited about the fact that they are so simple that I can change out what I store on them as quick as a wink! I'm always changing things up, so that is a great feature for me. I have some alpha stickers that I always forget abou, so I gathered them up to hang. I don't think I will ever forget about them again! they look great and are so convenient now! See for yourself!

How nice it that? The only bad part is that it gave me a taste for all of their other organizational systems. I am seriously craving ALL of them now! Love it! Wish me luck trying to win their floor Clip It Up stand. Don't you think I deserve it?

Chicken Pot Pie and Warm Apple Crisp...

The wind is blowing...the leaves in our front tree are turing a beautiful shade of red and there is a chillin the air. This weather makes me want to COOK! Seriously! It was my hubby's birthday, so I got to work making all of his favorites this weekend: cinnamon rolls, stromboli, chicken pot pie, apple crisp...yummy!

My main goal over the next few days is to get the kids fall clothes out and put away their spring outfits. And I always make it too hard on myself. Although I wash all clothes before I put them in storage, it creeps me out to think of getting them out and not washing them again. So I am doing a massive amount of laundry. Blech. It will feel great when it is done.

In between loads, I am ignoring the rest of my house (hey, fall clothes washing is a huge undertaking on its own, right?) and sneaking some time to scrap.

Since today is Monday...it is MOJO MONDAY! Super cute sketch today!

I got out my lovely stack of scraps to find some paper that said Fall to me. I think most of them are MME. Stamps are from Ippity except for the sentiment which is CTMH. I did the coloring with Copics.

Off to check the laundry. And hopefully create some more. Maybe laundry day isn't so bad after all!

Pull up and chair and let's dish!

Oh, so much to share with you! Are you comfy? Do you need anything? Got your coffee? Okay, let's dish!

I accidently fell into a fantastic FREE (did you hear me?) online scrapbook magazine and it looks fantastic! Full ads (come on now, don't you get inspired by the ads, too?) http://www.scrapbookandcards.com/subscribe They also have an inspiring blog, too: http://www.scrapbookandcardstodaymag.typepad.com/ Now I can curl up with my laptop and flip through some inspiration! Love it!

As long as you are snuggled next to your computer, have you checked out Unity's new site? Oh me, oh my! It is a beautiful thing! Bigger photos of their awesome stamps! Wishlist opportunities! So much love went into this site! Check it out and then show Unity a little love by leaving them a message on facebook. http://www.unitystampco.com/

Now you know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE challenges. Seriously love them! I'm not a challenge snob. I will try anything, but I do have my go to sites. Today I was inspired by the sketch on Get Sketchy! Their samples were yummy, too! http://getsketchy.blogspot.com/

Here is their sketch:

Here is my take on it:

Paper/flowers: Making Memories Chloe's Closet

Stamp: American Crafts

Middle of flower: I-Top (Imaginisce)

Individual Bling: I-Rock (Imaginisce)

Other Bling: Zva Creative

My other card for the day is for my sweet hubby for his birthday! It is tomorrow! Can you tell I love birthdays?!!!!! LOL He keeps every card I make for him (I got him a wooden box for that very purpose), so I want them to be special.
Off to play some more...or maybe take a nap. Make a great day!

Signs of Fall

If I had to pick a favorite season, it would be fall. Not too hot. Not too cold. Brisk morning air and red leaves falling from our tree out front. And these:Ah, fuzzy socks, a comfortable hoodie sweater and a pink cup of coffee. Oh, how I adore you! I am all warm and toasty right now!

I am making a special gift for Collin and Isabel's main teachers, but thought I would make a little something for their Art, Gym, Music and Library teachers as well. They often get neglected around the holidays. I want to show them that they are loved, too. On a budget. LOL I had these great small orange lunch bags that I have been hanging onto for I don't know what. Add a cute bag topper and fill it with candy and we have some gifts! Yep. I am one of THOSE moms who like to do little gifts for each holiday. It is fun! And when I taught, it made the day a little brighter. So I do it. And they love it. Here are the bags the specials teachers will be getting (once they are filled). You will have to wait on the main teacher gifts. Bwahahaha!

Oh, and do you want to hear the coolest thing today? I have been politely and leagally "stalking" the Clip it up blog and facebook page and I won a prize!! Are you ready? I won this:

from Clip it Up! How awesome is this? You know how I am about organizing and have been eyeing some of the shiney silver things on their site (http://www.clipitup.com/). I am very excited! I see a few more things on their site that I just might have to have. And I have an Amazon gift card just waiting to be spent.

Hey, have you checked out the Paper Posies site yet? So many pretty things to see on there. And it only takes seconds to sign up! So what are you waiting for? I want to have a VERY long friend list on there. :) http://paperposies.com/index.htm

Off to play! See you soon!

Let me tell you about....

Let me tell you about a great company I have stumbled upon! I have seen/heard about their kits, but have not (for some unknown reason) checked out their site, yet. My bad. It is pretty inspirational! Oh, I suppose you want me to tell you WHAT site. Really. Stop pushing me! I'm talking about Paper Posies! You can check it out here: http://paperposies.ning.com/. I would HIGHLY recommend signing up, so you can check out their forums and online gallery. It really only takes a minute and you will have access to some great inspiration.

Let me also tell you about what I have been doing this week. I have posted pics of my room for you before, but have been busy re-organizing again. LOL It is my birthday week. It makes me happy. Enough said. :) I think I am close to how I want it. I think the only thing missing is a clip it up. And I am working on winning a floor model of that. Wish me luck! I would love to get the storage out from under my dest and sewing table.

I took lots of photos. 'Cuz I can. So get ready! Here is a view of each area of my room:

Here is my guest bed (also a nice place to read a scrapbook magazine or blog hop) and embellishement area!

This area is my desk and closet. I am lucky enough to have a 7 foot desk (thank, honey!) and a nice closet space (stores my scrap totes, stamps and magazines). Yep. That is a lot of videos that you see. LOL I keep the "mommy" movies in here since no one else ever watches them. What have I been watching this week? Pride and Prejudice, of course!

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE my slat walls? Sigh. I never thought I would own any. Never even crossed my mind. Now I don't know what I would do without them. And I think we spend $50 for the walls/trays and all!

Here are some closer pics of my desk area. I have everything in my room (ribbon/paper/flowers/buttons/ink) in color order. I love my rainbow!

In my closet, I recently bought a BUNCH of photo storage boxes to categorize my stamps in. It is working well for me so far. I may make a roledex so I know EVERY stamp in the boxes, though. :)
What I have mostly been doing this week is my embellishments. I got a new Jet Max Cube and it was just what I needed to be able to categorize my stash. Each drawer has its own purpose now and is labeled accordingly. :) Happy Sigh.

The top of the Jet Max makes a great surface for my paint, sewing machine (one of these days I will figure that thing out), cuttlebug and, uhem, M&M dispenser. What? You don't have chocolate in YOUR room? LOL I love the Ikea Kitchen rods/buckets for my ribbon, too. So pretty!

And did you spy this little guy?

Isn't he cute? I love little monsters. And owls. But no one has given me a cute stuffed owl yet. (tear) I will just have to settle for my monster.

Hope you MAKE a great day! My room is looking pretty good, so I can play in a bit. Don't forget to check out Paper Posies! You will not be sorry! Also, Unity is having their Thursday Blog Hop and it is full of Spooky inspiration!

Two more down!

I have slowed a bit with the Unity Challenges, but since I am just doing them for fun, I'm okay with it. LOL I do need to keep up with Pam, though, who is doing them with me. The next two I finished were Inked Edges and Tag.The stamps are all Unity...are you ready for this? Angela (owner and ANGEL of Unity asked on facebook if anyone could use some "imperfect" stamps for their work with kids. Well, since I do alot in my kid's school (including crafts) and also Billy and I work with teens/kids in church, I volunteered to take some off of her hands to use in those projects. And she sent me a massive bag of them! Seriously, they are the best stamps out there and she send me a bag! How generous is that? It makes it so much easier (on my and our bank accounts) when I don't have to pay out of pocket all of the time working with the kids. So thank you, Angela and Unity! Seriously, you are the best. My little brain is busy with project ideas for the kids, so thank you!
Yesterday was my birthday and I got spoiled! Wanna know what I got? Do you? Hmmmm??? LOL I got dozens of well wishes on Facebook (which was fun to see all day)....a gift card for dinner and babysitting (Sarah), some yummy chocolate chip cookies (Kasey), Summer Vacation Cricut Cart (Kim), $50 to Amazon (Dad/Meg/Rylie), Lyrical Letters Cart and hair cut gift certificate (Billy), chocolate (Isabel) and a necklace (Isabel). Plus phone calls and several renditions of the song "Happy Birthday". It was a fun day.

Off to play with my new stuff...or organize (I got a new Jet Max Cube as a happy birthday to me...LOL).

Make a great day!

And today's challenge is....

I am still plugging away at the Unity Challenges. You still have time to get in on them. If you have some Unity Stamps, you are elligible for some prizes. :) I'm just doing it for fun. Check it out at http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/2010/10/world-card-making-day.html .

Here is the link to the 4th challenge: http://www.alteredambitions.blogspot.com/ I love, love, love this inspiration photo, but don't think I did it justice. I just couldn't get the worn look I was going for. But it is done. And I am moving on. (And seriously, I am getting tired of Blogger flipping my photos, but I can't figure out how to fix that.)

I did a layout yesterday, too. What do you think about that? LOL I seem to be on a roll! I try to keep if fair with the kids, so it was Collin's turn for a layout. I love these pictures of him trying to get a butterfly to land in his hand at the zoo. He was worried I would put flowers and "junk" on it and make it pretty. Never fear, little man. Mom can make a boy page. I was going for a field journal look. I have been stamping alot more lately (Which is good considering how many stamps I own. Seriously.) I totally forgot I still had this bug set from Close to My Heart. Made my day to find it again. I thought I had sold it. I'm glad I didn't.

Off to try the next challenge: stamping on fabric. Did you see that, Pam? I totally need some stick stock. But I don't have any. Boo.

Since I don't generally do fabric, I got out some twill ribbon and thought it would be great stamped with my banner stamp. Cutting it out was tricky, but I think it looks okay. Definitley out of my comfort zone. I'm glad I tried it and have some other ideas for it next time. Here is the blog with the challenge and a great example: http://pamelasworldofscrap.blogspot.com/

A creative breath of fresh air...

Some of you may not know that my mom had an unexplained reaction to knee surgery in August and went into a coma. Thankfully, she came out of it in a few days, but since then we have been dealing with a brain trauma. Basically she is like an Althsizmers patient, although she is improving daily and the Dr. sees reason to hope for an almost full recovery. It will just take time. Because of all this going on, we have been back and forth to the hospital/rehab facility for the last month and a half. It has taken its toll emotionally, physically and creatively for me. I had to take a break. But I am back. Finally. Mom is being cared for at home now and we had to take a break from the 2 1/2 hour each way visits for a few weeks. She will be okay and I don't feel like I need to focus solely on that anymore.

Yesterday I started the Unity Stamp challenges (running for the next two weeks), but my friend Jen put up a challenge on her blog, so I thought I would take a break and play with her for a while. http://myscrapcloset.blogspot.com/2010/09/butterfly-contest.html I have some digi images of Alice in Wonderland that I have never gotten around to using, so I wanted to give those a go. When I think of butterflies, I think of the bread and butterflies from the Disney version, so it seemed a perfect match to me. I went a little crazy with the cutting out of most of the elements...and then the bling, but I love how it came out. I wanted all of the elements to blend together so not one thing would just stand out. What do you think?

Friday I was able to finally do a layout. I have been unispired in that area lately, but remembered some pictures of my daughter when she went through a mustache phase. I paired the pics with my favorite particularly girly piece of paper as an interesting contrast. I love it and am ready to jump back into things again.

I'll be back later with some more cards and maybe a layout. It is a lazy, don't feel well sort of day today, so I am just taking it easy.