First of many Valentines

This will be the first of many Valentine card posts I hope!  This card was CASE’d from this beauty I saw in the SCS gallery the other day!  Of course, I changed a few things based on what I had in my stash.  Set my timer for 15 minutes and went to about 23 minutes to complete the card in one sitting.

Got to use a new embossing folder and some things that have been sitting in my stash for a long time…like those sweet hat pins!

I spent most of Saturday preparing to go digital for Project Life 2013.  I caught up on my Jessica Sprague Digital Project Life class.  A lot of it was review for me on the basics of using Photoshop Elements, but I did learn a few more tricks and tips and then as the class got deeper into things, I learned some new things!  Yea!!  Can’t wait to get my first weeks done.  I’m in the midst of downloading the complete Seafoam Edition right now!!  Next up will be to get everything organized on my desktop for easy, efficient use.  I will share my first week’s pages as soon as they are done.

Looking forward to the new week.  This weekend was rough on my emotions.  I got hurt a few times and I’m trying to recover and let it go.  I’m in quiet mode this week, hoping for the nurture and healing of my mind.  I’ve got plenty to keep busy with, and in fact, was glad for the day long Project Life project Saturday!!

Snowflake Blueprint

I checked out the Ways to use It Challenge over on SCS and found a fun snowflake challenge.  I’m wanting to be done with winter cards, but I also didn’t get a chance to use this new snowflake stamp I got from Tim Holtz!  And I’ve hardly made a dent in the veneer stash I have from Studio Calico!!  I like how the veneer and blueprint stamp image go together and look “woodshop’ish”!

It’s a very cloudy, foggy morning so I’m not happy with the lighting but alas, it’s time to get it posted!  Have a wonderful day and weekend.  I really would like to stay home today, but I do have to go in this morning and adjust my dad’s pills after his doctor appointment yesterday.  A quiet weekend is planned, thank goodness!

Valentine’s!!

It’s fast approaching, one of my favorite holidays!!  I love seeing the stores fill up with Valentine goodies after all the holiday junk is gone.  It’s so refreshing!  I’ve been rapidly gaining Valentine goodies to paper craft with.  Eeep, my pile is getting HUGE.  This doesn’t factor in what’s already lurking in my corner from years gone by.  I hope I can put it all to good use!

I put a little decor out yesterday too. I don’t have a lot, but just a few fun things to add in here and there amidst the snowmen.

My mom made the Valentine paper cutting many years ago.  I found it among her things and have displayed it every year since!  The crystal dish is full of x’s and o’s confetti.

 

Snowmen and twinkle lights two shelves above the Valentine decor!

And yesterday I got another 15 min session in my craft corner.  I forced myself too.  I wasn’t feeling good most of the day.  I had used my feel good moments to get a bunch of little things done around the house.  But while supper was heating up, I went down with my trusty timer and went to work getting the last part of my 2012 PL album ready for photos.  Photos are ready in one big pile also!

And as I was working, I found myself throwing a ping pong ball out of the way without even a second glance; almost like it was normal to have such happenings while crafting, LOL!!  I know this table likely looks like a dumping grounds because of the mess.  But to me it’s not a mess, it’s spread out organization and a work in progress and I know where everything is…and ping pong balls and paddles were not part of the initial set-up!!  I’ve heard of snowmobile helmets and this doesn’t beat that, but you just never know what will show up when you work out in the “open”!!  😉

Have a wonderful day peeps!  Thank you so much for stopping by!  It seems I’ve been bitten by the blogging bug again and so it’s been feeling good to write and share again.  And hop around to your blogs too.  Nice to get out of the comfort zone of Google Reader and share the love.

Wordy Wednesday!

I’m sorry, but whenever I find the perfect photo for “Wordless Wednesday”, along with it comes a flood of words in my mind to go with it, so this is going to be my version of a Wednesday theme!  The wordless part has been frustrating me, so why not make it my own??

Today’s photo:

Morning sunlight streaming through our dirty bedroom window.  That’s the beauty of a truly bright, warming light, the dirty window is no barrier for it’s effect.  I hope my life can be more like that.

But anyway.  This is where I landed this morning…back in bed.  The bad, morning sickness days have returned with a vengeance the last few days.  I awoke with lots of energy and immediately began formulating my “fun, PJ kind of day” list.  But as soon as my feet hit the floor, wham, I knew the fun part was going to be set aside.  I won’t go into the details, but when I finally found myself back in bed, I took some deep breaths and savored the beautiful morning light and fell back to sleep.  How could I possibly need more rest after going to bed the night before around 7’ish and sleeping fairly well all night???

BUT, before falling asleep, I grabbed my camera and tripod and took a photo for the day.  Check.

And then when I was up and at it a second time and fixing something to eat, I took a closer look at the photo I had seen earlier on the kitchen counter.  No idea why it has found it’s way out to the kitchen…but it did speak to me…this is DD2 as a ~5 month old.  Full of life and smiles.  And my pregnancy with her was just like this one…I was sick, sick, sick and never felt great.  So!  I think we have another bubbly, full-of-spirit kiddo coming along.  This little one is bored in the womb as was DD2 I’m quite sure, knowing what we know about her now!!  So they stir up troubles while in the womb until they can bust their way out and ENJOY life to it’s fullest!!  The womb is just too dark, quiet and unstimulating for these kinds of personalities.

And so with that, I leave you for my 20 minute walk outside.  It’s a 37* sunny day with rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so I best take advantage of some Vitamin D while I can.  And hopefully return invigorated for some fun this afternoon.  Think journal writing catch-up, Valentine card creation, Project Life work and a new blog set-up for my private 2013 PL posts.  Oh and some Valentine decorating so I can finish up that blog post and have it live tomorrow.  Tomorrow, I’ll be baby-sitting a 2 yr old and an almost 4 month old.  The sweetest, cuddliest little baby girl ever!  The baby cuddles are going to do my heart good I know!  And the activity of a very cute 2 yr old will do me wonders too.  They will be two little rays of sunshine on a rainy day!

Alone at last…

I’m left alone with the still full sundae glasses of candy canes.  DH bought them for the kids after Christmas, not able to resist the awesome deal.  But they just aren’t something any of us gravitate towards!  So here they sit, looking festive and well, ready to head for the garbage now that looking festive is so yesterday!!  I won’t deny being ready for some quiet home days, but the initial let-down is always hard!

I also found the game pile that provided many hours of fun and entertainment.  We’ve had lots of company.  Lots!  And it was all wonderful!  We played lots of games of Up and Down the River, Pit, Presidents & Nerds to name a few.  See that game up there called Ruby Rhino?  Don’t put yourself out trying to go find it.   It’s a hilariously dumb (yes, just plain dumb!) game.  And from a supposedly good name in the game making industry.  A major flop in our most humble opinions!!

Candy canes discarded, or rather, sent to work with DH to hand out to his students, and games all safely put away.  Time to find put out some Valentine decor amidst the still much loved snowmen and winter decor, and even a new little winter birdie that my SIL and I both have one of (her’s is just slightly different).  They have been labelled our friend birds.  We found them on our girl’s day out shopping trip to Galena.  It was a splendid day.

This is the said shopping trip…looks like we had fun eh?

A little view of our yummy lunch and the window nook where we ate w/lacy curtains overlooking the downtown main street and old, historic and architectural rich brick buildings,

And now today I’m off for a much needed (or kneaded!) massage.  Still having days of not feeling good, but they are certainly becoming out-numbered by feel good days, thankfully!

15 minutes a day…

A new resolution for me, that when voiced to my husband the other day at our lunch out, he said go for it!  See, I’m afraid.  I don’t want my hobby consuming me.  I don’t want it to be something I have to do.  It’s a hobby after all.  So I’ve just been too scared to hold myself to a daily goal with it.  But 15 minutes isn’t bad…it came to me when thinking of a good time limit for working on Project Life each day.  Something reasonable that can still be done when Baby arrives.  Although, I’m not a dreamer, and I KNOW how much time a baby can take from a momma’s day.  And I’m ready for that.  I really craving just absorbing each moment and more holding and more skin-to-skin etc w/Baby.  But.  I have lots of help, so I know if I told my family that I wanted 15 min every evening to keep up with Project Life, I would have four, if not six hands held out to hold Baby!!!  (DH and two kiddos)

So in two 15 minute sessions on two different evenings, I was able to assemble four of the same card design!  And on Saturday afternoon, I had unlimited time and only got two cards made (I’ll only be showing you one of them for now)!!  But it was late afternoon by the time I got to my craft corner.  So!  My SIL will finally get her birthday card on time this year!

The baby on board cards are for some friends that have loaned me some awesome maternity clothes and for one friend who gave me a gift card for some new maternity clothes!!

These cards were inspired by Paula’s fun card below that she sent me awhile back!  The idea has been percolating for that long!  Thanks for the fun inspiration Paula!  You are a wonderful mommy inspiration to me too, as you balance life with three little ones and don’t let anything much get to you!

And so there you have it!  Finally a blog post.  I’d like to blog more, but there again, I don’t want it consuming me and being something I feel I have to do!  So it’s another fear!  I do have a few in mind for the next few days to catch up on some “thoughts” but it likely won’t continue so regularly.