Scrappin' Sunday

Take a looksie here to see what I am up to...

TA-DA... I think this will be a great day to reflect on all that has happened with my scrapping in 2007. Let's see... I got my MacBook Pro in turn reorganizing my digital photos, redesigning my website and starting my blog.

I completed four client albums. I altered four new items and made tutorials for three of them. I signed-up as a Close to My Heart consultant. I hosted my own blog party to celebrate National Scrapbook Day online, and hosted a crop at my church for the third running year. I altered my first wedding reception centerpieces. I purged many supplies and inventory with a swap, a giveaway and a sale. And I finished about 65 layouts total for the entire year. Wow! That was a lot to look back and reflect on.

TO-DO... I think my only plan this week scrapbooking wise would be to clear off my scrapping area of not-yet-opened toys of my children's from Christmas, and maybe to pick some pictures to print for my son's next layouts.

My craft-related goals for 2008... well, they would have to be...

• to finish my sons album to one year old (10 3 more layouts),
• to complete 2 layouts 1 layout for my daughter's second year,
• to get at least a couple family album layouts done,
• to scrap a little for my newborn,
• to alter a recipe box just for me,
• to get a least one client album done,
• to finish my daughter's crocheted blanket,
• to complete more altered item tutorials...

ALL WITH THREE KIDS!!! LOL!!!

Merry Christmas

I hope you all had a great Christmas filled with many blessings from the Lord. I know I was extremely blessed... I actually screwed up on my bank account (surprise surprise at this time of year) and prayed that something would come that I may still be able to bless my husband with a big gift this year. Well God blessed me with $300 that I ended up just wrapping for him in a little box. I was crying when I gave it to him which probably isn't too strange since I am 9 months pregnant now, but he was very blessed too... We only pray that God would bless the givers above and beyond what they can even ask or think. Oh BTW, we are getting him a new flat screen computer monitor with the mula :o)

God is so good :o) Here are some pics from our day...

My Pre-School Photographer

My little girl's birthday was a week ago... she is three years old now, I can't believe it! We got her a digital camera for her birthday that she totally loves. I just thought I would share the only two good pictures she took with it out of 60 :o) You can tell both me and my husband squashed down a little to aim for her :o) Enjoy.

Tackling Something Different

...this week I will still be tackling my client's wedding album, along with my crazy children and the housework which I will update you on later today, but late last night I started getting serious with my Christmas cards! Three of them are going out in the morning, lol! The rest need eyelets, ribbon, writing, and envelopes still. Here is what they look like, outside and in...

Recognize the stamp I used from the stamps you all helped me decide on back in June? This one was by far my favorite!

MY UPDATE:

• I got a ton of my laundry done because I decided that it all needed to sit in the middle of my kitchen! My kitchen is much closer to the washer and dryer and I cannot have that out of sight out of mind problem anymore.

• Of coarse before I dragged all the laundry in there I cleaned up the kitchen floor.

• I also (finally) got my front room picked up of the toys that haunt it...

• I even swept under the Christmas tree!

• On top of all this I finished my Christmas shopping,

• got a little grocery shopping done,

• finished putting together all my Christmas cards

• another 7 of them will go out tomorrow (I need more stamps)

• I even managed to stay sane with my kids and play a new board game with my daughter that she got for her birthday :o)

Wordless Wednesday...

I went away from my family for one night last Friday and this is what I came home to...

More Working... and less Tackling!

Well, here are some more peeks on the layouts I have been working on for my client's wedding album.

I am moving right along into their honeymoon pictures....

... and I'm happy with how much I am getting done, but I am also noticing I am falling a bit behind on other things.

• dishes
• laundry folding & washing
• gift wrapping
• Christmas card making & sending
• continued tree decorating (we ran out of ornament hooks)
• Bible studying

This is a picture of gifts hiding under clean laundry that I need to fold, lol! At least it's useful :o)

Okay, maybe I am a little more than a bit behind :o) Though I did balance the checkbook, I did the bills, and I picked up the house. Pray for me :o)

Wordless Wednesday

Pics of me with my family going Christmas Tree Hunting :o) I told you it was a tradition in my family... I just can't believe I have pictures from about my daughter's same age this year (see here :o)

More Wedding Work

Well I am still tackling my client's wedding album and I am having a wonderful time doing so. I only have sneak peeks for you right now because I don't usually scan my layouts until I get a good sized pile going. The first peek is of a flower I made out of a special handkerchief from her ceremony.

The second is a peek of the bling I bought just last night, it's perfect!

And the third is of some yummy flowers I chalked, jeweled and "glossed" up.

Full layouts will come in the near future, so be sure to check back.

Scrappin' Sunday

Here's a layout with a picture of Tree Hunting from two years ago. I thought I would share it since I shared my Tree Hunting Pics from this year yesterday... I guess that shows how far behind I am :o) ...Fun and easy page... ink distressed strips of Basic Grey Christmas Paper, some cardstock, ribbon, mailbox letters, rub-ons and wha-la!

If you are also sharing your Scrapping project today, chime in here.

Christmas Tree Hunting

We got our Christmas Tree today! :o) I always LOVE to go out and cut our tree down... it's something my side of the family has done for years.

This place is cool because they have a tractor train for my kiddos to ride and the put your trees in this cool shaker thing to get all the loose needles out.

The tree we found this year was an unusual one... it was an 8 foot tree, but it started about 4 feet from the ground :o) The kids liked it and my husband said it was a lot easier to cut down which made me happy... we had a blessed day.

Thursday's Things

What a total surprise it was to have an Eggo Waffles box show up on my door step, but then when I remember I entered Wendy's Scrapbooking swap in October and knew that must be what this box was........I was right.... look what was inside. MMM, I'll take this over waffles anyday :o)

My swap partner was Lisanne the Bathtub Junkie she was so sweet to send me all these yummys... look at the list...

• Portafolia tote bag
• slab 6x6 patterned paper
• 10 spools of ribbon (different sizes)
• 4 small metal frames
• 3 patterns of wired ribbon
• 3 punches
• 2 sheets of acrylic stickers
• 2 boxes photo corners
• 2 wooden stamps
• 1 bag foam Christmas shapes
• 1 pack of 9 chipboard stickers

Thank you Lisanne for all the wonderful goodies!

Wedding Work

Here is a wedding invitation I made that matches with the mini paint can/center pieces I shared back in September. This was the first time I ever used digital scrapping brushes in photoshop, it was fun.

And here is some wedding layouts for my wonderful client, she was such a beautiful bride! And just look at her adorable bridesmaids!

In this layout I finally tried a couple new techniques... on the left I put acrylic paint in the grooves of my Making Memories letter charms to make the L-O-V-E stand-out... in the middle-corner I let my sewing machine poke holes, then I sewing with embroidery thread by hand to give me nice straight lines... and on the left I stamped with my Close to My Heart Playful Flourishes with versamark ink covered in grey chalk to give it the soft tone-on-tone look.

I also used Heidi Swapp fuzzy rub-ons for the first time, it was a little harder to get them to transfer compared to traditional rub-ons, but the raised detail was totally worth the trouble.

Be sure to let me know what you think of my work, I could use a good critique, especially since all this work is for my clients... thank you ladies.... have a get day!

Scrappin' Sunday

Here's a fun new thing I was invited to and will participate in since I usually share new layouts on Sunday's anyway.

Here's a page I finished at the last crop with my scrapbooking friends. The layout design is from the new Imagine Book from Close to My Heart, what do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving

Well I had a full and blessed day with my family today.  We went over to my uncle's house for I nice Thanksgiving meal.  I was blessed because my uncle asked me to pray, but then I was frustrated with myself when my husband said I prayed too much like a kid, well it doesn't help that I'm a mommy and I was telling my daughter to close her eyes because we were gonna pray.... then mommy mode kicked in and I prayed as if I was leading children in prayer, now I just hope that God was glorified today regardless of me, and I am just thankful prayer even happened in that household (something I have never seen, and I am 25). Maybe I am just too sensitive pregnant, but I was also put on the spot a bit when my uncle choose me over any of the other Christians there, I just say praise God.

And now for the winners of my Thankful for Friends Giveaway....

• Living for God
• Amy at Tiny Blessings

The winners were chosen by Random.org

Wordless Wednesday

My son's first night in his twin bed! We took my daughter's bunkbed apart and put the top bunk where his crib was (next to her). I figured he was ready since he was climbing into the top bunk anyway... I also figured it is more safe to fall from this far than to fall from playing on the top bunk.

Now I just need to work on the bedding choices to make it more boy/girl room friendly... I think I really like this monkey set from Target... it will match the wood of the bed and the blue on the walls, what do you think?

A Finished Project

I decided to crochet a couple of scarfs for some family members for Christmas. These are the first ones I have ever made and I am very pleased with how they turned out.

It took me a while to figure out how thick to make them at first, but once I figured that out it only took me about an hour per scarf.

I know some of you are probably thinking, "What happened to the blanket she started making in September?" Well I have not given up on it, I just wanted to get these done first... plus I had to buy more yarn for the blanket before I could move on... which I have done, so you will see an update on that later :o)

Little Giveaway

Here is a couple pics of the altered items that are included in my giveaway :).

New Professional Photos

Just wanted to share the new photos of my kiddos from Kiddie Kandids. My son is 1 1/2 now and my daughter will be 3 very soon.

Tackle it Tuesday

I've been tackling the organization of my scrapbooking supplies recently... mostly paper. I am re-sorting by color the papers I will keep.

Including putting my 8.5x11 sizes with the 12x12 sizes in color order.

I am sorting the papers I want to get rid of.

I am sorting supplies I can most likely use for Wendy's scrapbooking swap on her blog. Check that out here... sign-ups end this Saturday!

And I am putting aside things that can be sold on ebay... this step is by far not done, I still have a large rubbermaid bin to go thru...

This all helps with the overall look of my office (once it gets out of the hurricane stage) and it helps me get more actual scrapbooking done! Who'd a thunk?! :o)

Friday for Friends

My hope is that this will help more than one of you, but I got the idea from Rebecca (The not so desperate housewife) who commented asking how I decide the size of my photos, and if I already know my layout design before I choose sizes. Here is the method to my madness Becca...

I decide on my picture sizing by picking my main "favorite", a family shot, or the best of the bunch to make it a 8x10 or 5x7, sometimes I pick two.

Then the "others" end up being smaller sizes but usually all something similar like 2x2's, 4x3's, or some of both. The smaller ones give me more choices in photos also because they could be pictures that wouldn't look good huge or "normal' size (4x6) anyway, like a close-up on my daughter's head or a blurry smiley one of my son, you get my drift?

These are the steps I follow that work for me...

1. I pick my photos (usually all digital) unless I know a family member gave me doubles or memorabilia I know would go with them.
2. I pick 1-3 "favorites" to put them in a folder on my computer marked either 5x7 or 8x10 even though I might choose to make them a 5x5, 4x7 or 7x10.
3. Then I go through the rest that I chose in step 1 and kinda randomly pick their sizes knowing how much room I should have left on my 12x12 if I already have one 4x7 down. And I will put them in a folder marked 4x6 (so I know what size they will get sent to the printers as) but they will be 2x3's, 4x4's and so on.
4. I send them to my online printer, crop them when they get here.
5. Then I do a rough layout on two blank white 12x12's, sometimes I draw a sketch.
6. I pick my paper, my embellishments and so on, and when I put it my whole layout together my pictures will usually shift a little again to make the colors and shapes on the layout more pleasing to the eye... visual triangles, "color throwing" and such.

There is a pretty good video of a method similar to mine over at paperclipping.com that you could check out if you want.... have a GREAT friday!

Wordless Wednesday

New Project Update

Do I love control or I'm I just a woman of order?

I couldn't handle not having a full plan for my blankie project, so I made a chart on my computer.     

It helps me know how many rows I will have total, how many rows will be light purple, how many will be dark, where my rows are and how much yarn I will need.

I am currently completing row 32 and have run out of yarn, but now that I know how much I need of each color and have more peace about purchasing.   

Take a look at my progress... I am hoping to have this done for my daughter for Christmas.... I especially want it done before my baby is born, because I don't want to get too overwhelmed to finish it.

Wordless Wednesday

This one's for you Mary... this is when my crazy cat was a kitten, she fell asleep on a friend's lap at a crop at my house!  Yes! She is sleeping!

Forever Tackling Toys!

My kids like to dump out their toy bins in their room to use them to stand on, sit on, even have a picnic on?! I am starting to hate toys and am really not liking the teaching process so my daughter will learn to pick up after herself, but I know it will be better in the long run.

And this is a view of my constant pick up in the family room... my daughter moves ALL the pillows to the floor and puts her animals to "sleep" with ALL of the blankies from the blankie basket... at least this is an easier pick up :o)

A New Project for Me

Take a look at what I started last week...

...it's going to be a twin sized blankie for my dear daughter. I am crocheting it with my own directions because the last time I used a pattern with this stitch it went vertical and I totally messed up on it! That was with the blanket I made for my husband that he totally loves with ALL it's flaws. So now I'm adapting those directions to make the pattern horizontal.

My daughter says, "Oh mommy are you making me a blankie? Oh I like it!" ;o)

Bible Study

Last night was the start of a new Women's Bible Study I am joining, it was a wonderful night seeing old friends from another church, fellowshiping with close friends, getting to know my mentor more thru her testimony, and entering into a BEAUTIFUL time of prayer.

I was very encouraged by God continuing to tell me that I have His power, but since something hasn't quite been feeling right I asked my mentor what she sees for me in the Lord, she asked me what I am doing with the power He has given me, and I was like WHOH! DUH! See why don't I think of things like that for myself?

So today I was working on using the power God has provided within me thru the Holy Spirit. I ended up having more strength to handle my ever whining 2 year old, my grumpy 1 year old and my toy infested home, it was great.

But now that the day is almost over I am noticing the attack through discouragement and since I am SOOO not okay with that I thought I would change my thought process and remember on something that was encouraging today, plus I want to share it with all of you.

You see the Bible study we are starting is going thru a book called, "Lord is it Warfare? Teach me to Stand", but I will also be going thru another book with my Pastor's wife called "Healed and Set Free"... I spent some time in this book today and really wanted to share a poem that was in there, it is AWESOME!!! It was written by Dean Jay for his wife Tracey, it's adequately called

Healed and Set Free

A Pure white dove, You were learning to fly.

Crippled in flight, You were left to die.

No bandage or brace could heal the wound.

As you looked ahead, You felt you were doomed.

It is said God knows when even a sparrow falls.

He knew you were hurt, He answered your calls.

The bondage was removed and you now are free.

For a moment I thought you no longer needed me.

By grace God showed me, She's not saying good-bye.

She's spreading her wings and learning to fly.

So spread your wings and fly my dove.

We've truly been blessed with

God's Pure Love.

Isn't it wonderful?! That gave me so much encouragement not only in hoping to "learn how to stand", but also in growing wings to learn to be free and fly... it is possible and that is motivating!

I love you ladies... I hope you all are doing well.

Wordless Wednesday

This is my daughter's first haircut ever! AND... this is my first time cutting hair ever! It was a little scary, but my goal was to have a lot of baby hair to keep, so it turned out being a job well done... she just looks so grown up now :o( My baby girl.

Oh! And it was so cute, on Sunday at church a friend asked where my daughter's hair went and she told him it was in the kitchen :o)

Crop Progress

Just thought I would share something Scrappy with you since I am the Scrapping Servant :o) We had another crop at my old church yesterday, and since I have my new method of picking and printing photos (as shared HERE) I was actually able to be productive! I got 2 whole two-page layouts done in about 10 hours (yes, I'm a very slow scrapper). It was wonderful, here they are...

Journaling:Oh Joshie! I can't even begin to say just how much you blessed me this day. With your wonderful attitude on 3 hours of sleep, your constant encouragement, the endurance of 3 hours on your knees, the wonderful praise of "you did it!", the adorable pride when you wanted to take JJ and show her off, the cuteness when you fell asleep holding her in your arms. I could never have done it without you my love.

Journaling: JJ was born at 7lbs 3oz and 20 inches, she was beautiful and had perfect health.

Just the next day we found out her weight went down to 6lbs 14.5 oz, it was hard news but the doctor assured us this was a perfectly normal thing.

The problem was that our little girl was not nursing well. She would not open her mouth big enough to latch on correctly so she was not getting enough milk. She would cry all the time because she was frustrated, and so would I. Josh would have to take her from me and calm her down so I could calm down, then we would try feeding all over again. This was a painful experience.

When she was four days old we both had a check-up scheduled as well as a photo shoot planned at Kiddie Kandids. We had a feeling she had not gained any weight yet especially since she was still not filling her clothes in. We found out she was down another 10.5 ounces, and I was not encouraged to learn that all this was not healthy for me either. I cried at my appointment as they told me not to even get JJ's pictures taken that day, but to just go home try nursing again and rest. Josh calmed me down, assured me that God had this handled, we got some BEAUTIFUL pictures and were glad at the decision we made.

When she was 6 days old she was looking so skinny in the bath it made me so sad, but I received some good advise to enjoy her when we weren't both frustrated and annoyed, so I ended up just sitting on the couch holding her a lot and taking sweet naps with her.

It wasn't until JJ was 11 days old that she finally started going up in weight, she gained 4 ounces bringing her up to 6lbs 8oz, and just 8 days later she made it back to her birth weight plus an added 2 ounces. Things were still hard, but from this point on we were slowly trudging uphill.

Products Used: MMM! For the first layout I finally got to use some of those yummy Crystals from Prima, along with some of the chipboard they sent me, some patterned cardstock from Crate Paper, and more of my glossy accents glue from Ranger.

For the second layout I used the Phoebe Collection of papers and monogram letters from Basic Grey. I also made my own rub-on with a transparency for the first time!