How

Posted on | August 15, 2010 | 5 Comments

Do you keep your craft room/studio/office tidy? You know my space isn’t big so I have to stack a few things but man, one thing I hate about paper crafting is the mess that I accumulate after one project. When I crop I have this habit of tidying up after each page and I try to do a bit of that at home too but often time I find things ending up stacked up (neatly) on one corner of my table. What do you do?

Today I have a little card for WPlus9’s color challenge: Red, aqua, yellow and vanilla/cream/off-white. For this piece I used Magical Moment and Background basic II. The design’s pretty simple. I was trying to go for the simple but fun. I’m not sure if I captured it but I like it. It’s CAS but with some bulk.

Today is yard day. I’ve decided to just stay home and do yard work. Our landlord hires a gardener to mow the lawn, tidy it up now and then and to rake the leaves but the bush trimming only comes every so often and they need some love. There are other things that I need to do too. They’ve been neglected because we’ve been out and about almost everyday. IKEA isn’t going anywhere. They’ll be another time!

I hope your Sunday’s fabulous!! Have a goodie!!

Another Color Cue!

Posted on | June 15, 2010 | 9 Comments

I don’t own a weight scale. I have these pants that I use to gauge whether or not I’ve exceeded my weight limit. So far these pants still fit me although they’re probably 1/8″ a bit too tight. Which means I need to start working out again. It’s probably a good thing I don’t own a scale. I’d probably be on it ALL the time. Before and after #2 (I might even do it after #1 if my bladder was really full). Before and after a shower — wet and dry. Each time I did a few push-ups or after I get back from taking M to school — we walk ya know (hubby said: Yes, like two blocks!). I’d weigh myself too much — each time I pass by it — if we own a scale. The crazy part is that I might just remove all that’s on me if the scale got a bit high… maybe by 2 oz… so that it can show me what I want to see: 105lbs (about 47.5-48 kilo). A lot of people think I’m a nut case cause I get freaked out about getting big. But I eat A LOT. Clouds know. She’s amazed ha ha!! I’m just afraid that one day I’d wake up and poof.

Hubby always rolls his eyes when after I start working out I’d yell out the next day: I LOST TWO POUNDS!!! I do. It’s weird. I can loose a couple of pounds the first two days of working out and then I won’t loose anymore.

Before I thought that working from home would be the shit. I did it a few days here and there at my Missouri job. It was nice. Dropped the kids off, made my coffee and I’d sit on the couch with my laptop… or on the table if I have to do a lot of mouse work. I’d have lunch and that’s it. Now that I work from home part-time, not only do I have J Therese (it’s rarely Jovie now because she’s always into trouble. Jovia Therese got too long and so now it’s J Therese + mean voice + mean look each time she comes near the dogs’ water bowl or the steps) I also have the refrigerator and pantry. The damn British cookies are going to kill me. The tea and coffee too. Oh, I found these double cream at the grocery store and a bit of it with my coffee is DIVINE!!! I am the French press coffee goddess now because of the cream. The best part… it’s 48% fat per so many milli liter… which I have no idea what that friggin means. The 48% doesn’t seem good though but my taste buds say YES YES YES, MORE MORE MORE! It’s terrible when each time I get up I feel like I need to make a stop in the kitchen… and not to clean. I am going to gain 10 cookie + cream pounds and be diabetic (I like a bit of sugar in my drinks) by new year if I don’t control myself and not start working out. Do I get a lot done? No. That’s why I stay up late… with late night snacks and tea.

While I am only off by 1/8″, more less, I am going to start the P90x program again. All my computers are working now and I just need to shove a few things aside so that I can have some leg room. I still think the guy is annoying and I really don’t like yoga but I’m going to do it again!

Page details:

I made this page using WPlus9’s colors: aqua, orange, green brown. Great colors and I was glad I could incorporate them into a page! I used a VERY old Scarlet Lime kit… Nov.’08. The sketch is Pencil Lines #189.

Before I get to the details, I know a few of you card makers commented about wanting to start scrapbooking. A lot of the challenge it seems is the area. The 12×12 seems daunting. Well there are a few ways to get over this. Start with a mini. I’ve cut a 12×12 cardboard into six pieces to create a 12-6×4 page mini. Minis are fun and it’s making me want to do one or two now!

You can do a smaller book, like 6×6 or 8×8. I like the 8×8 better. Just a bit more room by the time you put a photo in there (usually 4×6 or smaller for me). Last, go with the 12×12 and pick a smaller area to work on like I did here. Technically I was only working on about an 8×8 area which also gives the page some nice white (or polka dots) space.

I know you have many photos. Pick one or two up that inspires you and scrapbook!

For the below I just layers a few things on the bottom right. Except for the stamped image (WPlus9 Woodgrain Silhouette) everything came from Scarlet Lime. My mom actually showed me how to make those flowers a few years ago when she came to visit and I hope to make some of my own here soon!!

When adhering things like buttons or plastic shapes I like to use glue dots or Scotch permanent tape (foam/regular double sided tape). For example the butterfly is too small for tape so I used the small glue dot for it. The button is a wider area and on it I used the foam tape. Stock up when you see these essentials on sale!!

I love pattern papers where I can cut out. Like the leaves and butterfly. These types of paper make great and inexpensive embellishments. A lot of them are on sale too because if you look at the whole page they kind of look a bit much… or even ugly… but once trimmed out, they’re perfect! You can embellish them with all sorts of stuff. Buttons with some thread/twine/jute are my favorite.

One last thing… colors are fun but it can take away one’s attention from the photograph. To avoid this try b/w photos on colorful paper and embellishments. Not only will you have colors but your photo(s) will still stand out!

Have a great day and do join WPlus9’s challenge for some great fun and prize!!

Day One: Birthday Wishes

Posted on | May 29, 2010 | 16 Comments

Kristina Werner is hosting a color challenge again and I had to play. When I saw the colors I thought they’d go perfect with WPlus9’s new stamp set: The Birds and the Bees. Super super CUTE with tons of possibilities and if you want to see more, hop on over to Dawn’s blog and see what she’s done. Plus she has an awesome giveaway!!

This is a long weekend for us. Actually for M it’s a week long break. It’s her mid-summer break. I’m not sure what to do with her for a week, it’s a new thing for me being home with her during breaks, but we’ll figure out some fun things to do. She did get a bike yesterday so there’s that. She’s still a bike newbie so even on training wheels she’s still flip-flopping everywhere because the sidewalk’s not even. But, she said she’s getting the hang of it.

We’re organizing still. It seems never ending but I know we’ll get there.

Ok, gotta go and do more chores. Ta ta for now!!

Color Cue #3

Posted on | April 15, 2010 | 17 Comments

It’s Thursday! I have one more night here in our home (sniff, sniff) and then we’ll be moving in to base lodging until we fly out next Wednesday. I have tons of UK stuff to share but today, I just want to post this card and get on with my Thursday…

Dawn, the owner and designer of WPlus9, has another color cue challenge on her blog. AWESOME colors: blue/gray, yellow, white, and melon. Although the colors are great I had a hard time creating because I have a limited supply of ink. I only have six colors with me: red, blue, white, black, pink, and green, and so I had to really dig through my stuff to be able to play. A challenge I tell you. So, my card’s close but the blue on mine is just a tad bit more turquoisy than the blue on the Cue. So yes, quite a challenge indeed this one was!

Alrighty, gotta go to work. I’ll share more moving stories tomorrow!

Material:

Stamps: WPlus9 Woodgrain Sillhouette Addition and Funky Flowers sentiment
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Pattern paper: October Afternoon and My Little Shoebox (the clouds)
Ink: Clear and Simple Stamps
Accessories: Martha Stewart rhinestones, PTI buttons, twine and ribbon

Flabby Butt and Signing

Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 12 Comments

My M said this evening:

M: Mommy, when are you going to start working out again?
Me: Why?
M: You have a flabby butt.
Me: (deep inside: AAAAAAURGGHHHHHH!!!!)Thanks, M.

So I was doing the P90x but that was short lived. I blame it on M. She puked all over my workout rug. Don’t ask me what happened. I think all the rolling around and crazy moves that I did made her sick. After she threw up she went to bed and was all better the next morning. I ended up watching the video while cleaning up M’s mess. I had to air out the room too and it was probably 0 degrees outside.

BUT, it will continue! I have the kids on a schedule this week and so far so good. If this continues I should be able to workout at around 9:30 p.m.! Of course we’ll see. My hobby might just distract me, ha!

The signing deal… my baby is growing up!! Jovie can sign “milk” and “change“. I use change instead of “diapers” because it’s harder to see the sign for diapers. She’s also understanding “bath” and “all done“. The milk sign started a few weeks ago but I wasn’t sure until a week or two ago. We have this parents as teachers program here and her mentor was here when Jovie signed milk. We’re so proud of our little peanut!! M signed when she was 6-months-old and she got “dog” at 7-months. The rest came tumbling through quickly (we watched the My Baby Can Talk video and Signing Time) and at 14-months M knew about 33 some words. M started talking at 14-months. She skipped babbling and went to talking but a few words were sometimes unclear and so M would speak and sign until she was 18-months-old. By then she was speaking in 4-5 word sentences.

We’re hoping Jovie can do at least the basics. We’ve noticed that she’s a lot slower than M in terms of development timeline. M had a few teeth at Jovie’s age while Jovie’s still toothless. M was already pulling herself up too while Jovie is still not crawling although she loves to sit up by herself and jump on her jumparoo. It’s so interesting to see how different each are. Fun fun!!

I did make a card and this one is based on the current Embellish magazine challenge: stripes and the colors kraft, purple, and brown. So ok, it’s not a traditional stripe but I’ve got some lines in there, right? I wanted to use more of the PTI stamps I got!!