I choose…

Finally, some time to think upon my 2013 OLW choice.  “I choose”.  I’m not taking Ali’s class this year, but I do look forward to another OLW journey.

I made up a little art journal page to insert into my Project Life album and also post on my fridge or some other highly visible place!

Digital items I used:

Jessica Sprague Mixed 4:  Mixed Media Canvas

Elements from Persnickety Prints StoryTeller Freebie

Traveling Typewriter Font Freebie

Stacy Julian font Freebie

There are many things I want to choose this year.  One thing over another (good, better, BEST).  Reality over goals and dreams that aren’t for the present and take away from simply being present.  I want to choose how I perceive and think over things.  I want more pure thoughts…less critical and judgmental.  I want to choose better how I spend my time; what I spend it on, who I spend it with.

You get the drift…

I will add to my list through out the year as necessary!

What is your OLW for 2013?

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life Weeks 2 & 3

All caught up and enjoying the digital workflow so far!  I hope to get more and more efficient at it and make my layouts pop a bit more with each week!

Week 2

Week 3

And Week 3 needed a little more story telling, so I have a long journaler insert from Ali Edwards!

Front and back of the journaler,

Did I say I’m loving this??!!  I really am!  It’s so nice to get a week done, having worked on it through-out the week and then be done, like really done!  No more developing photos, and then still have the page protectors to fill, title cards to date, and journal cards to fill out.  Plus, the digital style is allowing me way more flexibility somehow.  It just seems so much easier to add photos into those journal card slots or to add Instagram photos here and there.  To do this traditionally was too mind boggling for me, because I would have to have it all planned before photo developing (to develop the right sizes) and that just wasn’t happening!

I spent some time over the weekend doing some catch up work on my 2012 traditional PL albums.  I’ve got 4 total for the year it looks like (thus why I am trying…{and loving!}, the digital style this year….4 albums???  Whew, can’t do that every year!!  The year before there were 3 albums!!).  I’m not done yet with 2012, but I made huge strides and I’m very pleased.  It was so heart-warming to work with photos from this past summer and remember the everyday moments that make our life what it is….WONDERFUL!  Yes, we took some awesome, fun trips, but really what was striking me the most was the everyday things I captured.  The nitty-gritty of life.  Our life.

I’m linking up with This Mom Creative.

Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine weekend edition

I had a fun Friday evening working on Valentine cards!  I think I got 7 made!

Here’s a look-see at them,

This is a postcard style card,

And here is what I put on the back to make it more authentic!  A postmark I cut out with my Silhouette (minus some of the intricate work I didn’t want).

Another postcard.  For one of my SIL’s.  They love to finish their phone conversations with “Mwah, mwah!”  I saw an embellishment in a make-your-own card package with “mwah, mwah” on it and wanted to buy the whole package just for that.  But, **GASP** I used some common sense and decided I could somehow create my own, and I did!  I cut the lips out with my Silhouette also.  The little banner says “hugs and kisses”.

And this one I’m super excited to tell you about!  A pkg of pink scalloped (and even glittered) cards and envelopes from the Target $1 spot!!  Quick, easy fun cards with some flower embellishments that have been in my stash forever!  And some washi tape of course.  I made three of these in no time flat!

 

The inside.  I wrapped the washi tape all the way around.

Some Studio Calico wood veneer fun.

 

And some more flower embellishments from my stash.

Believe it or not, I have several more I’d love to make, so check back soon for more creations!

Tomorrow I’ll be linking up with This Mom Creative with Weeks 2 and 3 of digi Project Life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Child thanks…

I played along with the Free For All challenge over at SCS today.  I needed a fun, girlie card to thank a sweet little girl for the poster she made me.  As you know, I’ve been battling not feeling good with this pregnancy, and she must have heard her parents talking about it. She went into action and made a fun poster for me!  I wanted to be sure and acknowledge her thoughtfulness!!  And so I thought of everything girlie I could…buttons and bows and polka dot banners!

And here’s the inside!  I was inspired by Angie’s beautiful cards today and all the pretties she does inside a card!  I always forget about that added touch.  Not that I did much, but it’s a little start!!

Here’s the sweet poster on my fridge,

And now I’m off to have a happy, quiet 3-day weekend.

That is, after we calm the tears from a bad day with a grumpy teacher.

Valentines WT410 & SC419

Took a peek at a few of the SCS challenges this week and decided to have some fun combining two of them.  I’ve had some fun new things in my stash of goodies waiting to be used. I love Kraft based papers and found two new pads of papers that had a lot of Kraft to them.  One is a 4.25″ X 5.5″ paper pad, the Kraft-Core Nostaligic Collection by Tim Holtz….how good can it get…emboss (in hearts below) and sand and Kraft peeks through with your base color…DEE-lightful!  The other goodie is a 6×6 paper pad by American Crafts called With love.  Not sure if this is the one I found at Target or a LSS down in Galena, but it’s a fun, fun pad of Valentine papers!  That’s what my cork “polaroids” have inside them.  Add a LOVE ticket from an older line of Tim Holtz product (that I found in my basket of unused extras from previous projects) and a few red gems this card is good to go.

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s a cloudy day today, so I hope to just retreat to the basement and get crafty, between getting some more Valentine’s done and some work done on 2012 PL.  I’m choosing to not let it bother me today.

“I choose”…hey, that’s my OLW this year…more on that later!  I still haven’t sat down to write about that yet!

I had an errand list for town, but I asked DH and he is going to do it for me.  I just don’t feel like venturing out.  I’ve had several nice, quiet days at home, and I’m just not ready for that quiet cycle to end yet!

New design!

I changed the design on my blog.  I was frustrated with the old template because all of my menu things like Follow Me, Blog Roll, and classes I’m taking, etc were down at the bottom of the old design, and I doubt they were highly visible!  I had followers on my old blog over at Blogger, but here I don’t seem to be getting many.  I wonder if part of the reason was that the option to follow me was not visible, being way down at the bottom of all my posts.  Who scrolls that far down on a blog LOL??  Or maybe WordPress is not as easy to follow like Blogger?  Anyways, I like this much better.

It feels much more like “home”!  So WELCOME and thanks for stopping by!
My kids have early release today so I’m looking forward to some crafting together.

Bird friends

My SIL bought us both a bird friend to have.  She held out the bag when we got home from shopping, and I got to pick one out for myself.

Remember the “best friends” bracelets and necklaces from school days?  Our little friend birds are going to be like that to us…but instead of just half a bird, LOL, we each get one whole bird, slightly different from each other.

This is a thank you card I made for her,

This is the bird sitting on my piano…I shared him with you the other day,

WOYWW #189 (or #1 for me LOL!)

I’ve always wanted to do the WOYWW challenges!!  Or not really a challenge, but a blog share of sorts!

So here are my work areas….  After this post is published, I’m headed back to those areas to do a 15 minute clean-up so I can use my 15 minute resolution to be in my craft corner each day more efficiently.  Every so often a girl just has to take a breath and clean up!

Main stamping desk, everything from winter stuff to Valentines.

Winter needs to GO, although…I was once inspired by the colors on that fun Panera coffee cup.

Project Life desk, with a few winter decor items that got replaced with Valentine decor and are ready to be put away in their proper spot.  A mending pile and a ping pong paddle!

Paper selecting/cutting area,

Wordy Wednesday

Time for another Wordy Wednesday post!  Time for a belly shot update!  18 1/2 weeks.  Feeling good this week.  Been able to get my treadmill workouts in and two yoga sessions so far!  Yea!  That’s more like it.  I’m feeling healthy and strong.  Doctor appointment yesterday brought continued assurance that all is well and my doctor’s favorite expression “Nothing worrisome!”  He hasn’t changed that phrase in 14 years!!!!  I heard it with my first two also.

I’m also actually able to think about healthy eating/snacks and that feels refreshing again too.  All the soda, chips and McDonald’s stuff was really getting to me, but I. could. not. make myself eat healthy stuff.  It made me feel worse.  It simply didn’t appeal.  Now I crave an orange a day.  I’m eating carrot sticks for a snack here and there.  I munch on a handful of mixed nuts.  And I want to make up some summer porridge for some reason.  Well I know the reason…summer or no, I just read again about how good Chia seeds are, and I have some that need using.  A small bowl with my morning egg should be tasty.  I also want to boil up some eggs to have on hand for more healthy snacking.  Wow…just did I just type all that?  Amazing.  I better hit the publish button quick before I feel pukey again.  Still staying away from sweets for the most part, simply because they still don’t appeal, not due to any will power of my own LOL!

I try to take one nap a day.  Mostly it’s first thing in the morning after the kids go off to school.  Figure that one out.  But if I don’t get that, I do lay down in the afternoon.  I read that it is so good for the baby to take these breaks.  Increases blood flow to the baby.  Now that I’m not having to lay on the couch all day, it’s appealing to lay down as needed to regenerate energy for baby and I both.

My immediate family says I’m huge, LOL, but everyone else says I’m hardly showing.  I don’t feel huge (weight gain is right on and baby is measuring right on too), but they unfortunately see me in my finest exercise and yoga gear which tend to showcase every bump and curve a girl can have eh?  At home it’s all about COMFORT!  And really, I’ve got lots of comfy maternity and other clothes that fit, but something about yoga pants, a stretchy shirt and flip flops is just so extremely comfortable!

And with that, it’s time to go make that summer porridge.  Maybe it will invite some warmer temps!  Although I’m not one to complain about winter!  As long as the sun shines this winter, that’s all I care about.

Project Life 2013, Week 1

     

Extra insert,

So happy to have Week 1 of my digital PL done.  This is my first year going digital with it and I’m looking forward to the journey after learning a little more about it on Saturday by taking several of the sessions of Jessica Sprague’s Digital Project Life class.  Some was review, but I learned plenty of tips (like how to put Instagram photos into a layout…easy peasy, but just not something I had thought was and easy process!) and got some extra elements to make it well worth the $18!!

I’m linking up with The Mom Creative Project Life Tuesday!  Check out her blog post today!  It’s a full post of Q&A about Project Life and full of great tips!  Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!