Looking back, moving forward

SCRAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I was going to start this entry by saying good riddance to 2007. But after reflecting, and taking into account my new resolution to be positive, I've decided that with the bad comes good. Sometimes you just have to dig for it!

My resolution for 2007 was to work towards being debt free.

Glen closed his office and moved it back home in April. The office was an unnecessary financial burden, and while its not always easy having everyone home every day, we were lucky to get out of the office lease like we did. By, August, we were merging our company with another. I didn't like the idea at first, but again, it did have its advantages, namely, health insurance. Glen was spending way too much tme away from home. Didn't like that, but regular checks were nice. But by November, the merger fell through, so Glen is back home again. I now share my scrap room with him. He likes working in there because it's clean, and quiet. Same reasons I like it. LOL He really does try to be considerate if I'm in there trying to be creative. The upside to him being home again is that I have cooked exactly ONE MEAL in 2 months! Gotta love a man that loves to cook! LOL

Megan is doing well in school. She managed to wise up and crack down during her sophomore year at college. This is a blessing.

Ethan got his G.E.D right after his 17th birthday and joined the Army. He was medically discharged after 5 weeks. I'm thinking this is a blessing.

Caitlyn made her move into the modeling world. She is pursuing her dream. This is a blessing.

Peyton, well, she is 11 years old. She's a blessing, just cuz I say so. :-)

Our health has been good. This most definitely is a blessing. Our family is together. This is a blessing.

So, in hindsight, 2007 wasn't a terrible year. We did manage to pay off several of our debts, including an expensive truck payment.

Looking forward into 2008, the resolution is a little broader... Create, Simplify, Be Positive.

Create: I am going to schedule time for myself. Here is a sign that my daughter made for my scrap room door.



Simplify: Still working on paying off debt. Also, just say NO. I don't need to fill every square on my calendar.

Be positive: Just like it sounds. Don't dwell on the negative, find the silver lining. There almost always is one if you look hard enough. :-)

Some scrappy challenges that I'm excited about this year:

The blog challenge, right HERE! I've got them all lined up for the year and I think y'all will love it!

The Year in the Life challenge, right HERE! I'll be posting one word each week and altering playing cards. (I posted the box I made to keep them last week, just scroll down to see it.)

The Photo a Week challenge on 123-Scrap.

The Book of Us and the Kitchen Keepsakes challenges on Feeling Scrappy. LOVE these challenges!

I don't know what else I'll do, but this is a good start.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year! I will see you right here Wednesday morning with our first blog challenge! :-)

Last layout of 2007

I know, silly me, because I'll be scrapping again day after tomorrow! LOL But thought I'd share anyway. :-)

Photo for 12/28

I've been trying to learn a little more about how to use my camera to its fullest. I played around with the macro yesterday in between rain showers. I was trying to catch a mid drip photo, but these turned turned out pretty cool I thought. :-)

Blog challenge sneaky peek!

I am SO excited that so many of my scrappy friends will be blogging with me next year! I've gotten the first several ready to go and it will be FUN getting to know y'all a little bit better! Ready for a warm up? :-)

If you haven't done so already, you really should set up your Google Reader. It will help you keep track of your friends and their blog updates. Don't forget to add ME! :-)

When you’re finished, post to your blog and let your friends know what you're up to. Feel free to invite them to participate! Name a few of your friends by name. Everyone loves to see their name in lights! Leave a comment on at least 3 of your friends blogs. Everyone LOVES comments!

I'm specifically calling out my best friend Tams! She started her blog early this year and has updated only a handful of times. I know first hand that she's an excellent writer, so I have invited her to join and she has accepted. YAY!

I've also invited all my friends from 123-Scrap to join in and many of them have accepted as well! YAY again! Well, Rach, Pam, Karen, Tammy and Lisa didn't really NEED me to challenge them, as they all do an awesome job updating their blogs already. But they are sweet to support me! :-) And if you love challenges like I do, you need to check out 123-Scrap! New challenges will be posted in a few days! One that I'm super excited about is called Photo a Week. I don't know about you, but I sometimes "forget" to take photos of the every day blessings. So what I end up with is hundreds of photos of holidays, birthdays and Disney, but tend to leave out the beauty and wonder of the every day.

Have fun and I'll be posting the first official challenge next Wednesday! :-)

Blog challenge!

Okay, I'm going to do it! I'm going to start posting blog challenges each week, right here, starting next week. My plan is to go through the year, but I'll see what kind of a response I get before committing. :-D

So, for now, if you're interested, please comment here and/or email me with your blog addy and I'll add you to my Google Reader. :-)

Spam commenter

Thanks to Adam, who replied to my last entry, my blog comments are now moderated. And since I'm apparently not nearly as saavy as Adam and can't figure out how to delete his comment, I will just tell you... DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK IN HIS COMMENT. I have no idea what it is or who he is, but no matter. If one of my real friends has a clue on how to delete comments, please tell me! Thanks in advance!

ETA: I figured it out! Under each comment is a little icon that looks like a trash can. Click on it and is asks if you're sure you want to delete it. YEA, BABY! DELETE!!! Off to turn off the moderation! :-)

Scrappy resolutions anyone?

I have always set page goals, but 2008 will be a year of firsts for me. Instead of setting a goal, I'm just going to track what I've done. That way, I won't feel as if I have to rush through a project, kwim? Creative destressing!

I'll be doing a lot more altering this year. Here is a CD tin (thanks Colleen!) that I'll be keeping track of all the new creative ventures I accomplish.



I'll also be working on a weekly card challenge. Not card, as in greeting card, but rather card, as in altered playing card. Here is the altered box I made to keep them in, until the end of the year, when I attach all the completed cards to a cornice to attach over the window in my scrap room! I'm super excited about it!



I will also be expanding my horizons as it relates to photography, which is always good to keep me in scrappy projects! LOL

I would love to hear what your scrappy goals are for the new year! :-)

Pogo sticks aren't for old people

Well, old being older than 12. Our daughter got a pogo stick for Christmas and of COURSE, everyone had to try their hand at it. Insert major eye roll here, because there was no WAY "I" was doing it! I know my limitations! LOL

First, the 19 year old sister gave it a whirl.



Maybe she'll have better luck if she leans against a door...



Or not. LOL

Then, you've got the 44 year old dad. NOT a pretty sight. LOL



Finally, they let the kid have her turn. :-)



I hope y'all are having a fun day and that Santa brought everything you wished for! :-)

White Christmas

HA! Even in the heart of dixie! It is super cold today and for you naysayers, here's my photo a day for Christmas Eve! :-D





I'm wishing all my scrappy friends a very merry Christmas and hope that Santa brings you everything you wish for. ;-)

After the storm

As you saw in yesterdays photo, it was a rainy, gloomy day. Soon after that photo was taken, a major storm rolled through. We lost power for 2 hours and it made quite the mess with it's 60 mph winds.

But today dawned a new day, bright and warm. This is a photo of the sweet gum tree in our backyard. I just love how all the gumballs managed to stay on the tree in spite of the high winds. :-)

Photo a day

Okay, so I committed to it, then flaked out. Some friends of mine are doing a photo a day and they have been taking the coolest photos! I was feeling pretty crummy about ditching the project when all of a sudden, I had a photo op! So, I still flaked out, but I'm going to share my first PAD today, the 20th of December.

It's rainy and gloomy and cold and I walked out on the front porch and this is what I saw. Lovely for the challenge, I thought! :-)

Traditions

Being as how I am Jewish and dh is not, we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas and have beautiful traditions for both. I thought I would share a couple of layouts that I've done recently. Blessings for a happy and safe holiday, no matter what you celebrate. :-)

Last minute gift idea

Are there still scrappy people on your list to buy for? How about a gift certificate to one of Feeling Scrappy's classes! Your friend gets to pick the class they want and you can buy and deliver from the comfort of your computer. Good thinking, huh? :-D

Here's a layout I did from the last class. I printed a photo onto a transparency for the dedication page of my daughters modeling album.



The next class is in January and is all about painting! I'm so excited! I have tons of paint and love using it, but could really use some inspiration on how to use it in new ways! Hope to see you there! :-)

Member of the Month!

Feeling Scrappy has a new thing called Member of the Month. This is to recognize talented ladies who share and participate on the message board each month. There are lots of fun perks, so come check it out!

Our first Member of the Month is Colleen! She is well deserving of the title! Check out this layout she did. It's one of my favorites of hers, but all of her layouts are amazing. She teaches me cool things all the time! I'm proud to call her friend! Congratulations Colleen! :-)

245 down, 91 to go

Only 91 layouts left to do to reach my 2007 page goal. What was I thinking!!! I managed to get many completed during Feeling Scrappy's Jingle Bell Crop, which I'm thankful for. Unfortunately, the January paint class comes too late to help me with this year, but I haven't given up! Here are a few that I got done today. So fun and easy to scrap the photos of Caitlyns photo shoot! :-)

Tis the season!

Okay, y'all have heard me go on and on about my Mint M & Ms that I hoard each holiday season! Apparently, they aren't widely sold, but check it out! You will all have an opportunity to win your very own bag! Doesn't that sound FUN! Of course, you'll have to come over to Feeling Scrappy on Friday during the Jingle Bell Crop to see how to win this lovely bag of chocolate yumminess! :-D If THIS doesn't entice you, I don't know what will! These minty morsels are to die for! C'mon! You know you want them! LOL See you on Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that all my scrappy friends had a wonderful holiday with family and friends and food. And I hope that y'all didn't get "malled" too badly! LOL Me? After the Gameboy craze a few years back, I vowed never to leave my house on Black Friday again! Most of our holiday shopping is done online and this year is no different. Save the one trip to (shhh...) the Verizon store, it's all done! Now I can relax a bit and enjoy. :-)

Speaking of enjoy, I do hope that all of my scrappy friends plan on joining me on Friday at Feeling Scrappy for the Jingle Bell Crop. I ALMOST wish I weren't on the Creative Team... there are some AMAZING prizes to be had! (see post below, plus more prizes have been added to the pot since then!)

And even my other team members don't know that I'm "donating" another prize. What's that? You wanna know what it is? Well, I'm going to show you! Tomorrow! LOL And I promise, if the prizes posted below don't entice you, this one will!!! Stay tuned...

Boat People

Well, thats what I call them, and they are the dearest folks! They were nice enough to allow me and my family to stalk their home, the "Patricia Ann." Yes, it's a boat, and a very beautiful one at that! I could have kicked myself for not taking photos of the boat, but here is a layout using the two photos I DID take.



Someday, when Glen and I get all these birds flying on their own, we'll be living on our very own "Little Miss Magic." Seven years and counting... :-D

Jingle Bells Time!!

There's nothing like a challenging crop to get your creative juices flowing, just in time for the holidays! I hope you'll join me on Feeling Scrappy on November 30th! You should see the amazing prizes that will be given away! Well, here, let me just show ya!







I hope you'll join me and my friends for a day of fun! And no worries! If you can't call in sick to work, you'll have all weekend to complete the challenges for prizes. But I'd way rather see you there! :-)

Happy Veterans Day

A friend of mine shared this video on her blog and I thought it was very fitting on this special day. For anyone reading, I'd like to thank your loved ones for their service!

The only thing worse than having kids old enough to trick or treat is having kids who are too old to trick or treat but then insist on trick or treating at the last minute. Hmphf. (Have I mentioned how much I detest Halloween?) My girls dug out dance costumes from last year. Caitlyn was a fairy (duh!) and Peyton was Betty Rubble. (LOL)

Oh well, who am I to say no, especially if it means a layout in the making! :-) Happy Halloween!

New Design Team on Feeling Scrappy!

Oh, how Jayne and I hate choosing new design team members! It's always SO hard, the talent is immense out there! But, choose a new team we did. Niki and Bethany did Feeling Scrappy proud; they are both extremely talented and inspired our members. We will miss them! But our new team will give them a run for their money! Andrea and Stacey have been constant inspirations on the board and in class. Here is just one example... Stacey posted this layout on her blog and I loved it right away!

Here is my scraplift...




I was happy with this particular lift, although the preceeding one didn't go as well. It's not that the inspiration wasn't there; it certainly was, which is what made me attempt it. Such is the life of a lifter! LOL

I do hope that y'all will come by and welcome our new team! They really are amazing women! Good luck ladies. Inspire on! :-)

Pumpkins Eaters!

Well, just the seeds! LOL Our family isn't big into Halloween (I mean...why do the work for the candy? Just go buy a big ole bag at the store!) but we LOVE it when it's pumpkin time so we can roast the seeds! I hope y'all aren't throwing those seeds away. If you've never roasted seeds, it's super easy. Just wash them, dry them and lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. I use about 10 slivers of butter and sprinkle all over the top. Salt. We're VERY generous with the salt! Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until they look dry, but you have to make sure to stir about every 5 minutes. YUMMY!

Have a happy and safe Halloween! :-)

Simply Caitlyn

And let me tell ya! There is nothing simple about this girl. She is high maintenance! LOL But she's SO sweet and loving and always has been. Since she's been about 5 years old, she's been confident that she wanted to be a model. Well, okay, a dream is a dream, but knowing what I do of the industry, I knew that they would eat her alive. So, hubby and I just went along with it... wink, wink, sure honey, you can do anything you put your mind to. Well, she actually did it. I'll admit, I'm still leery, but after two open calls and two call backs, she has now signed with an agent. You've heard of soccer moms? Dance moms? Yea, I'm a model mom. LOL

Here is a layout I did using a technique from the Feeling Scrappy class going on right now.

Also, there still time to try out for the design team call! Hurry, hurry! The call ends Oct. 22nd!

Did some scrapping today!

Glen brought me these photos from the office of the day they billed a half a million dollars for tax credits. The deal was, bill a half a million and the senior staff will host a Luau complete with management doing the hula in grass skirts. Hmm, motivation? Or NOT? LOL It must have been, because they did it! The big event is planned for November 2nd. Do they make coconut bras that big??? :-D

To all my Canadian friends

Ribbon winning layout!

Congratulations to Jenni C.! She actually posted 3 Halloween layouts to Feeling Scrappy, but her name only went in to the hat once for the drawing. I just loved all the embellies on this, including, HELLO! RIBBON!!! Thanks for playing Jenni!



We are into day two of "The Write Stuff" class at Feeling Scrappy and about half of the students have already completed the first assignment. So inspirational, seeing their layouts! I wish I could share, but it's not too late to join in the fun!


The only thing I've had time to scrap lately are the portraits we had done last month. Here is the title page from the second family portrait album. I used Cosmo Cricket's Dutch Girl kit and Daisy D's rub ons.

Enjoy your week and hopefully, I'll get back to the scrapping table soon and I'll be able to share "real" layouts! :-D

Do you know how to tell a story?

I'll admit, I don't very well. I can do the 5 W's pretty good, and I can summarize journal very well. That's why I'm really looking forward to Feeling Scrappy's new class that starts on Monday, "The Write Stuff." I KNOW it's a weakness of mine, so I'm a little apprehensive about what the class will entail. But having taken previous classes there, I know I will get some honest, yet positive feedback. (Some of you may not realize that even though I'm on the Creative Team at Feeling Scrappy, I'm NOT privy to the class info ahead of time. I take the classes right along with the rest of the students.)

Speaking of Feeling Scrappy, do y'all know there's a new Design Team call going on right now? Don't miss being a part of this fun group of gals! Click the link for more details on submission guidelines.

Just a reminder that I'll be drawing on Friday for everyone who posts a Halloween layout on Feeling Scrappy for the ribbon RAK posted in the blog entry below. There's still time, so hurry on over and show me your Halloween layout! :-)

BOO to YOU!

I found some really cute Halloween ribbon and of course thought of all my friends! :-) So tell you what we'll do... you go over to Feeling Scrappy and post a Halloween layout from a year gone by and your name will go into the hat. On October 1st, I'll have one of my girlies pull a winner. Sound like fun? I can't wait to see your wonderful creations! Good luck! :-)

Army Strong

That's what I'm trying to be. It's a scary thing to send your child into harms way. Ethan is leaving for Ft. Jackson, SC tomorrow. We're all so proud of him, we could just bust. I made this layout of his swearing in, by none other than his grandfather, who served in 3 wars over 30 years. Please keep Ethan in your thoughts and prayers.

My crazy kids!

The thought occurred to me that we hadn't had a family portrait done in 7 years, and with my 17 year old son leaving for Army basic training next Monday, I thought it would be a good idea to have another family portrait done before he left. I was thinking it would be no big deal... all of my kids are old enough to pick out their own clothes and get themselves ready by themselves. We made our 10 a.m. appointment at 10:15 and got right down to business. After getting individual shots and the family shot, we had one left to take. What do I want? Hmmm, thinking... so my children immediately start pulling props off the wall. This is what they came up with. LOL

Aren't they the craziest kids? I don't know WHERE they get it from!
:-D This will be so FUN to scrap!

It's finally happened!

My baby girl has turned into a teenager. Have mercy. On me. LOL Of course, she would absolutely DIE if she knew I posted this on my blog, but it's my revenge for all of the eyerolls I've had to endure in recent weeks. I was thinking about having this pic enlarged and scrapping it. What do you think? Should I do it? :-D

Surprise! It's me!

It has been an absolute whirlwind of a week, umm, month actually. Which is a bummer, because I didn't have anything on my calendar when August started. I haven't had much time to scrap, therefore there hasn't been much to update here. But alas, I was able to scrap a little bit yesterday during Scrappy Hour in the Feeling Scrappy classroom. This is a layout for my Book of Me.

I can't believe September is almost here already! Where did the summer go? But a new month means new fun on the Feeling Scrappy message board! Each month, we have a new avatar theme and they are always CRAZY! (Probably has something to do with the fact that "I" choose the themes! LOL) You will NOT want to miss what crazy thing I have planned for September. At least come over and see the ladies fuss at me! :-D

Scrap shopping at Home Depot

Yes, it's true! My husband thinks I'm totally nuts and I think it secretly annoys him that I LIKE going to Home Depot. Last time we went, he "lost" me in the kitchen section, and when he found me looking at formica samples, he rolled his eyes and said, we're not getting new countertops, forget it. I was totally confused and he pointed to all the samples. "OH! No, these are for the scrapbook! What do you think about these colors for beach pics?" Other cool items from Home Depot for paper crafting: washers, paint chips and drywall tape. Yep, nuts, I tell ya! LOL What do YOU think? :-)

I Rock!

No! Really! I was nominated for Rockin' Girl Blogger! I really have no idea what that means, but I'm very excited and honored for the nomination! :-D

I have actually managed to find a little time to scrap. I finally finished Ethan's portrait album and none too soon! I was feeling a little stressed about it, since he had already passed his G.E.D. So, that's done. I've been working on a couple of beach pages as well. Here's one I completed today for the Feeling Scrappy class. And just so you know, I'm not giving anything away by showing you my layout. I promise, my layout looks nothing like the sketch given, nor was it supposed to. LOL But I will admit, it wasn't as easy as it sounded!

Back from the beach!

Ahh, there's nothing like a little sun, surf and sand to soothe and renew the soul!

We came back home to wonderful news! Ethan got his GED results and he's passed! You know what that means! I'm LATE in completing his portrait album! So, I've got to get busy and finish this week. Luckily, I only have 6 more layouts to do. But darn it, that means I've got to get busy scrappin'! LOL And lucky for me too, that Feeling Scrappy's latest class, Sketching with a Twist, starts in a few days. I can't wait to scrap my beach pics! :-)

Kitchen Keepsake Fun!

We are having the best time on Feeling Scrappy with our Kitchen Keepsake challenges! What's that? You don't know what a Kitchen Keepsake album is? It's all about life in your kitchen with your family! The challenges are posted once each month, so by the end of a year, you'll have 12 beautiful layouts that are sure to be treasured by generations to come. We'd love for you to come join us, so I'm offering this RAK. You DO like clear stamps, yes? Would you like to know how to win them? I thought so. ;-)

1.) Register at Feeling Scrappy! (This is important! Otherwise, I won't know who you are!)

2.) Leave some lovin' in the Kitchen Keepsakes threads between July 18th and July 31st.

There! You've put your name in the bucket to win the stamps!

Want another chance to win? Complete a challenge by July 31st and post it in the appropriate Kitchen Keepsakes thread! Your name goes in the bucket again!

Let's recap... how cool is this? Not only do you get a chance to win these clear stamps, but you will be on your way to having your very own Kitchen Keepsake album! Good luck! :-)