Projects | Time Management | Goals Happy New Year!

I always start out projects with a bang and gusto and excitement and then... life happens and I don't complete the project. Am I the only one like that? Well, starting December 31st and continuing onward, each project I begin will be different and WILL hold my full and complete attention. I will complete it. I will stay with one project at a time. I am giving myself positive affirmations and early New Year's Resolutions. I think I need a little head start in getting my head wrapped around the New Year's Resolution.  I need a plan to follow-through with my actions. Behavioral modification if you will. So starting tomorrow...

• I will be Attentive
• I will be Focused
• I will be Organized
• I will manage my Time 

How will I do these things?

• I will stay-on-task and not be lead astray.
• I will have a list.
• I will put everything away immediately. rather than creating piles
• I will have a work schedule with meetings with myself to complete certain tasks by a certain time.

Well, there you have it. I resolve to do these things starting today. What goals have you set for yourself? I hope that whatever your goals are that you will attain them this year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BEST WISHES FOR WHAT IS YET TO COME!

BLESSINGS AND PEACE,

Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us to you! Hope you have a wonderful time with your family and friends. Have fun opening presents and enjoying each others company. May there be peace, happiness, joy, and health in 2012 to you and yours!

excuse the mess. the children are making memories...

I was inspired by some subway art that I came across with this quote and decided to make my own little piece to frame and keep somewhere around the house as a reminder when my house is such a mess... and I'm tripping over toys, clothes, sneakers, backpacks, etc. It is truly just a glimpse in time, a blink, a brief, fleeting moment in time, when the kids are small and living with us. Here's a just a little reminder that messes are just messes... that can always be cleaned up... later.

Enjoy the free download. Just click on the photo to download.

The Flu...

So sorry I have not blogged in such a long time! I do have a good excuse. The FLU hit the house. We always get the flu shot every year (the dead, inactive injection)... and have no problems aside from a sore arm for a day or two. BUT this year, we went with the nasal mist (a weakened live virus). Well, the next day one of my little ones and I got hit, hard, with the flu. Maybe we were coming down with something to begin with, maybe not. All I know is it. was. not. fun. So, after the flu we got colds. Everyone in the house.

Well, I'm now on the mend and excited to get started on my december daily album! I've completed the album, have taken pictures, but haven't had time to journal or get anything into the album, yet. I basically followed Ali Edwards design. I changed it up a bit with the items i had on hand, but for the most part it is similar. Here are some photos in the meantime of my version of the album. (More to come for sure).

I had originally made the "25" all white, but I didn't like how it looked when I finished it. So, I added in some red and now am loving it. I think I may have liked paper too.

Spidey Kit, Etsy.com, Art of Digital Design, and Studio Calico

 

Last February I completed an art of digital design course with Jessica Sprague at Jessicasprague.com I had worked on this Spiderman themed kit and have been tweaking and working on it little-by-little when I have had time. I made quite a few changes to it and have decided to stop tweaking, be brave, and put it out there. So here it is. Inspired by my little dude, B. You can click on the photo above to be taken directly to the store or click here.

Look what Goodies the UPS man brought me yesterday! I can now get started on my album and contents and so that when December 1 rolls around I will be ready! 

I bought the December Daily Kit that was available at StudioCalico. It is now sold out. With the December Daily Kit came an add-on kit full of even more goodness.

 Lovely, lovely Christmas-y paper by Teresa Collins, American Crafts, jennibowlin, Hambly Studios, and jillibean soup!

More Christmas themed stuff: chipboard accents by Echo Park, paper from Pretty Little Studio Jolly Christmas Collection (North Pole),  Chipboard thickers by American Crafts in "Elf", jenni bowlin studio red/black shadow alpha stickers, super cute decorative brads by echo park called Seasons Greetings by Bella Road, a chipboard album and word art from Authentique Paper - petite type circle and Diction + some coasters with numbers on them - not sure who made these. Great kit to get started!

Food from BudgetBytes.blogspot.com

I had to share. I have just come across a blog Budgetbytes.blogspot.com and the recipes look de-li-cious. I am personally going to try my hand at making the Turmeric Chicken tonight (pictured above). (fyi, turmeric, ginger, and cumin are all supposed to be very good for you too). I have one particularly picky eater and the other two, well, let's just say you never know what they'll eat. I'll let you all know how that turns out. If not so well, then I may be making breakfast for dinner for those picky ones.

Another foodie website I came across is http://blog.superhealthykids.com
Now I am a mom of an unusually smell, texture, taste sensitive, picky eater who will usually only eat things that are crunchy or extremely spicy. He will eat the traditionally known kid foods like pizza (but only with pepperoni - will not eat cheese pizza or any other kind of pizza), burgers and hotdogs (must be grilled) and the buns must be toasted or grilled. It's a textural thing. I think this recipe I found at blog.superhealthykids.com, Breaded and Baked Chicken Tenders, may be palatable (and healthier than the store bought frozen version) to my tween-aged son. Stay tuned. Do you have a very picky eater like mine? I'd love to hear what solutions you have.

More Goodies...

I love scrapbooking. I love photos. I love taking photos. I love the creative process. Most of all, I love reliving the memories. I think that is really what it comes down to. I love reliving the memories and the stories and documenting them. I see the importance of documenting my life, my family's life, so that some day our memories, traditions, will be remembered and passed on to future generations. It is all about the little, every day things that make up our lives. How do you record your life?

Ali Edwards December Daily and More Becky Higgins

Ooooo, so excited! It's like Christmas every day around here lately... I am loving the UPS, Fedex guys and the mail lady! Seriously, they must think I am a bit crazy with how happy I am when they arrive at my doorstep with all these goodies. So, the other day I had ordered Becky Higgins photo pocket pages and realized that I needed more. I ordered the variety pack of photo pocket pages this time and the grid journaling cards. L.O.V.E. them all! I also love how this photo came out with a reflection of me. The photo is a bit blurry having taken it with  my unsteady hands and iphone4.

AND that is not all. I also received my first batch of stuff for December Daily. This package came from TwoPeasInaBucket.com. I am still awaiting my kit from StudioCallico and probably somewhere else too. I've randomly been ordering without keeping tabs on where. So everyday is a surprise. These are the items I got from TwoPeas:

• Crystal Star Trinket Pins (Maya Road)
• Wonder Diction 6x8 Stickers (Authentique Paper)
• Ali Edwards Holiday In A Box Clear Stamp Set (Technique Tuesday)
• White Lattice 12x12 Overlay (Hambly)
• Antique White Brocade Blossom 12x12 Overlay (Hambly)
• Metallic Gold Mini Brocade 12x12 Overlay (Hambly)
• Red Mini Brocade 12x12 Overlay (Hambly)
• Silver Hardcover Foil Thickers Stickers (American Crafts)

The Staz-On in Black Cherry and Versamark came from Amazon.com

I ordered more items to complete my December Daily that are coming from Scrapbook.com and Amazon.com and will show those to you once those arrive.

I am eager to get my scrapbook for December Daily completed so that when December arrives it will be much easier to tackle day-to-day.

Hybrid Project - Heidi Swapp and Jessica Sprague

Okay, as promised (back in April), I've uploaded the photos from the hybrid book project I made for Father's Day this year. I have to say my husband absolutely loved it. I used many of the same quotes and sayings that Heidi had, but changed up some others to fit our family. It's a project that will be saved forever and will always be cherished by my husband. It brought tears to his eyes. You really do have to make it. It's something very special and personal. The papers are all included as a download.

You print the papers out at home or at your local printing store. I also used lots of neat ideas from the class and even "actions" (provided as a download) in photoshop that made photos all uniform in color. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the actions really made the photos look kind of dreamy. Beautiful, really. Plus, some talk about using different fonts, different font sizes, colors, and more. I loved this hybrid project. Which is why I have bought all the other Mouse, Paper, Scissors classes to boot! (there is one for mom, one plain, one for dad, and the upcoming one this November, Mouse Paper Scissors, Give).  The class that i made this book in can be found here.  Mouse Paper Scissors, Give can be found here.  CLASS STARTS ON NOVEMBER 14th and CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED!!! GRAB A SPOT!

*Note: the second page has a photo of my early cut-and-paste photoshopping capabilities.  You can laugh. We all did. My husband wasn't able to make it on this hike with us so we had the idea of placing him there for fun. Without further adieu, here are the photos.