Charity FAIL

Posted on | September 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

We sell stuff we don’t use anymore. Only big stuff though. Our first and last yard sale was before moving to the UK. Little things like used clothes, toys, books, etc. we donate.

In the UK you can either take your donations to the different charity shops (many many different versions of the Salvation Army type stores here; every charity has a shop I think) or, these charities will come around, door-to-door, and drop off a little bag with days of when they’ll be coming by to collect and we all just stuff our donations in those bags. Ninety percent of the time it just shows the day of collection on these bags. While this is fine with the majority of the UK folks it’s not quite so with me. I did check the mailbox this morning but the last time before that was… hmm… two weeks ago? So can you see how a circled “Wednesday” might just confused me? Was it last Wednesday or this one or next week?

Last week we got one. From the Salvation Army. It had the date AND the day when they’re collecting. Whoohoo!! Hubby filled it up and he kept telling me to put it in my calendar so not to forget to take it outside.

This morning before taking M to school I put the bag outside, under the bush since it was sprinkling. When I came back from drop-off our neighbor across the street, who was getting ready to go somewhere, waited for me to come closer. I thought he just wanted to say hi. Well he did say hi but he also pointed to my bag and said, “You’re a day too late for that.”

WHAT?!?!?! Aurgh!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, do you also see why I checked the mailbox today? I checked after I came home from drop-off, with bag in hand, to see if there’s another collection bag for another charity so that I can just dump the content (or double bag) into the new bag and hope that I put the bag outside on the right day the next time around.

Hubby said there’s always a reason why I do something. Like checking the mail today. I probably wouldn’t check the mailbox until next week if I wasn’t looking for a charity bag… or expecting stamps from Waltzingmouse – they’re in Ireland so I get my goodies in my house mailbox instead of the base APO one.

I made the tag above for a little friend. It was her birthday and she wanted a tag similar to what I made for her sister. It was a bit challenging because her mum said that she’s not very girlie. After some pulling stuff out I decided to use one of my favorite stamp set from Practicing Creativity, a few oldies but goodies from Studio Calico and another stamp set, from American Craft, that I forgot I had. Love finding old treasures!!

Have a great day all and tomorrow’s blog post might be about pencil cases…

Interview With M

Posted on | May 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

On our way back from Norfolk I asked M a few questions about our little getaway. It went more less like this:

Me: M, did you have a great time?
Jovie: Nope.
Me: M, did you like all the places we went to?
Jovie: Nope.
Me: M, you enjoy our little outing?
Jovie: Nope.
Me: M, can you duct tape Jovie so that you can answer my questions?
Jovie: Nope.
M: (Lotsa giggles)
Me: Jovie, you want duct tape?
Jovie: Yup.

That kid’s annoying! No wonder babies and toddlers were made to be cute!

Today’s layout is brought to you by Pebbles and American Crafts. If you don’t know, Pebbles is a sister company of AC. This has been wonderful for me because not only have I been receiving plenty of fun Pebbles goodies for all sorts of projects I have also received some American Crafts cuteness for this last assignment: Pebbles and AC swap, which basically meant we had to use both products on a project.

I went with a clean and simple design for this page because I want to highlight the photo. I LOVE this photo of M. I didn’t think it’d turn out this great but it did. I also love this picture because it’s the last decent piece that my now dead Canon took.

It took me a while to decide on which pieces to use but after much thought (it takes me longer to create a CAS layout sometimes since I have to really decide which items to use) I settled with those on the page. You can find the details on Pebbles’ blog AND also enter their giveaway. Who doesn’t want FREE Pebbles and AC goodies?

Here’s a little tip: When doing a simple layout select paper that really showcase the photo. For mine a dark base wouldn’t work and anything too colorful/bright would shadow the photo. Since the photo has a soft feel, I tried to find a base paper that would portray that feel also. For the embellishments, go for slick/simple but powerful — the power can come from color or shape. I used a brighter yellow butterfly and a few colorful buttons and brad.

I hope you’re enjoying your weekend!! I am because I JUST finished grading my classes! I have a few weeks off before my one summer class starts. Whoohoo!!!

No!

Posted on | March 21, 2011 | 6 Comments

Lately I’ve been wondering about this: IF the word yes means no and the word no means yes would kids be more agreeable? Jovie’s full blown into the no stage. She knows the difference between yes and no but she prefers to say no than yes. I should probably do more videos of her. I have quite a bit of M’s at this age and M loves watching them. Kids (and pets) are just so darn cute and we all know, they’re only little once and for a very short while!

Here’s a little clip that I got yesterday… If you’re having a bad day I guarantee this little clip will make you smile at least!

Besides the clip, I have a page to share too. It’s a simple one using Scarlet Lime’s February kit. This page gives you all a break from all the crazy pages I’ve been sharing the last few times {::SMILES}.

Despite the fun of playing with different media and toolsI want to remember that scrapbooking is about the memory – the writing/photo on the page. Simple pages like this emphasize this first and most important purpose for me.

The girls are so great together. They even cry for each other when one’s hurt. It’s sweet although I highly recommend ear plugs at times.

I hope you all have a great day. It’s Friday and I am hoping to take M pants shopping… or trousers shopping. I was told by hubby and M that pants shopping is underwear shopping in the UK.

Kids and Technology

Posted on | January 20, 2011 | 9 Comments

Wow, it’s Thursday AND pass mid-month. Before we all know it’ll be February!! There’s nothing overly exciting over here, just looking forward to M’s birthday party in a few weeks.

Check out the little babe above. She’s been into playing games on my phone. Jovie is quick with the computer. I copied her signing video onto my laptop’s desktop and she can go from turning the machine on to watching it. She’s been doing this for a month or two, I can’t remember.

Many kids are surrounded with technology nowadays. This week my grad. students are discussing our digital nation and it’s been very lively. Here’s the video if you’re interested.

As much as we embrace technology my students and I agree that there should be a good balance between real life and technology.

M has access to many things, dangerously too many and I am on them quite a bit too, but I want to teach her to value real life gatherings and to not be texting/on the phone/gadgets while she’s with other people — unless it’s an emergency of course or adding other people’s phone numbers/emails. Right now, as much as she ask for it, we don’t have a DVD system in the car. We do games or look outside when we drive. Whenever she gets a portable device there’s no ways she’s going to be walking and be on that thing. At a restaurant she’s going to interact with all of us and not be tuned into her little gadget. If we’re all waiting to be seated I’ll let her entertain herself but once we’re all conversing, gadgets off. Most of you know we don’t have TV subscription. We do have NetFlix though and M can only watch on weekends. Besides reading and mathematics practice everyday (paper and pencil) we encourage play-time with friends and doing activities outside the home.

What do you do to balance your kids’ tech usage?

On the page… it’s been a while since I scrapbooked just because. Lately my work’s been design team related so it felt nice to just use whatever. Also, I’ve been working the last few and the last time I sat to craft was ages ago it seemed that this little bit of activity felt extra nice. It helped me unwind.

Here are some details of my work… The flower I didn’t make. My super talented friend Terrie did (you should check out her blog… there’s an AWESOME paper bow tutorial!!). She sent me some lovelies soon after we moved to the UK. She decorated this box with the below flower. I’ve since moved the goodies into one of my IKEA drawers and I thought that this flower was just too pretty to be on an empty box. So it moved and it fits so perfectly on the page! Terrie also gave me some pretty pins and I used two of them here. The pink chipboard is Crate Paper.

Before Christmas I got a few things from Etsy and one of the store used the below ticket as a thank you tag. I saved it because it’s so cute and here is its permanent home. The key is from American Craft.

This page was created using Pencil Lines’ sketch, #221, I LOVE it because of the simple design and also the butterflies. I added this big piece, just one, since there are already butterflies on the Webster’s Page pattern paper. I’ve also dug out the American Crafts dimensional butterflies before I got to creating this page and so didn’t want to clutter up the page too much with butterflies. I added some rhinestones for a bit of blingage.

K, that’s it. Have a great one and take care!

Hubs Delusional

Posted on | January 14, 2011 | 5 Comments

The other night, over dinner, hubby and I were commenting on how slow Jovie’s hair is growing. The conversation went more less like this:

Me: Jovie’s back hair is growing but the front is still so short.
Hubby: They’ll grow.
Me: She’s still cute, but a bit more hair on the forehead would be good.
Hubby: Well, just be patient, good things come to those who waits.
Me: Hmmm, guess so.
Hubby: Like my hair for example. They’re just not here yet, still waiting for them to grow.
Me: {I stared, mouth opened… five seconds later…} HA HA HA HA HA {tears rolling down}. You’re delusional. You’d be waiting forever for your hair to grow.
Hubby: Hmpf

Here’s my little rotten brat and her hair… Looks just like daddy! Still a skinny little thing… taller but skinny!!

The book… I think it’s starting to be an M thing now these little books. I’ve made five now for different girls and they all loved their books. This was another gift I made for M’s friend, whose birthday party was last week. I love making these little booklets because not only are they easy they’re really fun too. The girls like them because they’re cute and personalized.

There are a bit of dimension on the cover which I think makes the front more interesting… it’s not so flat ya know.

For this particular one I used a little bit of Dear Lizzy stickers, American Craft dimensional stickers, My Little Shoe Box clouds, Sassafras owl stamps, Pebbles paper and some Cosmo little alphabets. I do need to get more of the 3/4″ wires. They are perfect for a 20 page booklet.

I wrapped the booklet with the door hanger with this handmade paper. I know the paper looks brown and serious but I dunno, I kind of like it because even though 7-yr-olds are still kids it’s nice here and there to get something that looks somewhat grown-up-ish. I remember as a kid it was always special when an adult thought that I was mature or grown up — even if it was for a minute. To sweeten it up I added the baker’s twine and flowers. I did though put this wrapped gift into a fun gift bag and the content are age appropriate {::SMILES}.