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!

Where have I been?

We have had the flu this week. Collin stared it. I'm blaming him. Or one of our several friends who have it. Or Collin's school. Anyway, it is not my fault. Collin got on Tamiflu right away...Billy took nothing. Collin was hyper and only ended up with a crazy fever. Billy was curled up in the fetal position in bed for several days. I don't feel well, but it might be exhuastion. I was desparately wanting to create some things this week. I feel like I just never have time anymore. Or the energy to stay up past the kids bedtime. LOL

I feel like I am getting farther and farther behind on my layouts. I need to stop taking so many pictures...I have too much fun working on pictures I took last week and the older photos slip farther and farther behind.

Did you know that you can print your own background paper? Of course you did, but there are sites that have grid, graph and lined paper that you can print at home. Love it! Use it all the time! I used some grid paper for the clouds in this card.

I bought some super cute halloween stamps...now if I could find more time to use them. :) Here are two cards I tried.

Someone please tell me when my daughter starts school next year that I will have more time for the stuff I love!

My Birthday

On October 12th...I turned 34. Yes, you heard me. I am not afraid to say it...I know TONS of people older than I am, so I am not afraid of that number. LOL I got many lovely presents for my birthday...but now is the time to give a play by play about my present from the lovely Pam. Since she was not here to see me open it, I took lots of pictures so she would not miss a second. Unfortunately that means I am in most of them. LOL

You spoil me! I am so blessed to have a friend like you!