Another layout

I have one more layout to show you from my scrappin' time this weekend. It is based off of a sketch at Boy's Rule Scrapbook Kits. I also used the November kit from Boy's Rule to complete the layout.

A close up of the staples, brads, and burlap.

A close up to show the dimension of the banner and the Tim Holtz tickets. (LOVE those things!)

Thanks for looking!

Sunday Night Chit Chat

I skipped last week, but I am procrastinating so I decided to join up again this week. You are supposed to start with a picture. Here is a picture of me during the summer of 2010. I was on vacation in Punta Cana. I miss warm weather and sunshine. I am totally not a winter person, which when living in upstate NY is not good. I guess I just like money more than sunshine because the hubby and I have talked about moving south and we would both lose our retirements if we did. :-(

Anyway, on to the rest:

What are you…

Reading? IEPs. Fun, huh? I even had a snow day on Friday to get these progress reports done, but I have been procrastinating big time. So here I sit on Sunday night when I should be going to bed, but working on those instead.

Watching? Nothing

Listening to? Josh has the TV on in the bedroom. Not sure what he is watching. Football? Sunday night cartoons?

Cooking/Baking? Nothing. I will let you all in on a little secret. I HATE the kitchen. I hate cooking, I hate dishes. I don't mind baking, but then Josh just tries to "help" (he can't stand having someone else is his kitchen) so I just give up and let him do it.

Happy you accomplished this week? Scrapbooking. I have been in a rut lately and haven't made enough time for me. I want to scrap, but by the time Liam goes to bed and I get everything done that I feel need to get done, I'm too tired for me. So I took 2 nights this week and did what I wanted to do rather than what I thought I should do.

Looking forward to next week? Not sure. More scrapping time? Progress reports being done? Definitely the Superbowl on Sunday and having some people over for that!

Thankful for today? Great friends. I went to go see a friend and her baby today who I haven't seen in almost 4 months. I went with another friend of mine. It was nice to be able to see her, meet her little guy, and just be yourself.

Thanks for reading and have a great Monday!

February Declutter Challenge

If you missed my post from earlier, Carla over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily is doing both a decluttering challenge and a low (no) spend challenge. I haven't had time to sit done with my budget yet, but I have some pictures and details for the decluttering challenge. Here are the details of what's involved:

Week 1: Personal Space Challenge

Week 2: Family Space Challenge

Week 3: Productivity Challenge

Week 4: The "Dreaded" Challenge

I hope I'm not cheating,but I'm combining them. Our basement is a disaster! My scrapbook room is down there and I am not motivated to go someplace to scrap that is a complete mess (the basement, not my room) and not a functional family space. So here is the plan of attack, I am combining all the challenges and hubby and I are going to get the basement under control. It won't get completely finished because we have to finish the bathroom that we gutted, put carpet in one area, and put cheap tile in another area. Although we have the supplies for the bathroom already, it is too much to add to this challenge.

Anyway, here are pictures with some details.

Week 1: Personal Space. This is what I am counting for my personal space challenge. This area is right outside my scrapbook room and I am sick of walking past a mess to gointo my room. I also want something more functional for additional storage if I need it.

Week 2: Family Space. This is the family space. I want a more functioning space sothat Josh and Liam can come down into the basement and play or watch TV while I am scrapping. I am totally a social scrapper so I get bored and lonely sometimes when I am down there alone. This is the area we are eventually putting carpeting into, but I doubt that will be this month. It just needs to be cleaner, more organized, and less cluttered before it can be used better.

Week 3: Productivity Challenge This is the garage sale stuff. It is unorganized, messy, and I have no idea what is there. My goal is to get it organized and ready to go once spring hits. I will count this as my productivity challenge because it is productive to get things ready to sell and make money. (Luna wanted to be in the picture.)

Week 4: The Dreaded Challenge This is definitely the dreaded challenge. Josh's "office" space is the catch all. If we don't know where something "fits" but it's important enough to be saved, it gets piled on Josh's desk or the dresser next to it.

Since the first of February falls on a Wednesday I will be doing the challenges Wednesday to Wednesday. Again, it may have bitten off more than I could chew, but we shall see. Luckily, I don't have too much going on at work this month so I won't have to worry about that. I will be busy planning Liam's first birthday party (first weekend in March), but I think I have a good handle on that. OK, a demanding almost 11 month old is calling for my attention, so I better go. Have a great day!

I heart challenges

As all of my friends that I scrapbook with know, I love challenges! I use sketches for my layouts a good 95% of the time and if I can combine that with another challenge, that's great. For this layout I used a sketch from Elle's Studio and combined it with the Weekend Warm Up at ScrapFIT. The challenge there was to use Kraft cardstock on your layout. Anyway, here is my creation.

I used Kraft cardstock for the strip of paper on the left of the layout and the journaling strips.

Here is a closeup pic of the stars on the bottom and the journaling strips on the bottom.

Thanks for looking!

Why not make life crazier...

OK, as if I don't have enough to do between my full time teaching job, my part time tutoring job, being a mom and wife, and being me, I have decided to take part in Carla's challenges over at My Half Dozen Daily. I'm not 100% sure if I am doing both, just one, or maybe I'll decide it's just not possible to do either. But I'm going to try! So excuse the break from crafting (I'll still post some projects and layouts), and enjoy my journey through the month of February. I'll be back later with some specific goals once I learn more about the challenges.

Winter Wreath Project

I have another quick and simple project to share today. I had made a Christmas wreath, but I figured it had to come down with the rest of the Christmas decorations. I didn't have another wreath to put up, so it was time I made one! I started with a basic styrofoam wreath frame that I picked up at a craft store. I also got some pretty blue yarn that I thought worked well for winter. I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped until the whole wreath was covered. I liked the effect, but I didn't love it, so I took some pretty silver ribbon and wrapped it around as well. For the sign I stole a piece of luan from my hubby's scrap pile in the garage, covered it with some Fancy Pants Arctic Chill paper, and used Stickles for the lettering. Adhere a snowflake, and you're good to go! (For the record, I HATE snow, but didn't know what else to write on the wreath, so I chose that. :-))

Menu planning project

Hello blog land! Happy Monday night (and Martin Luther King Day). I had an unexpected 5 day weekend, which was great, but unfortunately I spent a large majority of it cleaning. It's not that I necessarily like to clean, but I LOVE having everything clean and organized and in its place. Josh said to me yesterday (as he walked in on me washing the inside of the dishwasher), "Ya know, hunny. People actually live here. It's never going to be as clean as you want it to be." What a wise man I married. The truth is, I don't think I will ever be as clean or organized as I want to be. There is always going to be that stray dust bunny or piece of fuzz. There is always going to be a more stuff to organize and a better way to organize. But, you do what you can. And part of doing what you can, is the adorable menu planning/calendar project.

First, I ordered a 16x20 frame off of Joann.com (Super clearance and free shipping.) Next, I sucked it up and paid the $2.00 extra and bought one at Walmart when the one from Joann's arrived in a million pieces. :-( I thought this whole next part was going to take forever and be awful, but it really wasn't. I cut out a few different sized squares to see which would best fit using my Cricut and vinyl. (Unfortunately, I don't remember which cartridge or what size I used.) Once I figured out what size I wanted, I cut the rest of the squares and letters out. I laid the glass piece on my scrapbook cutting mat. This has .5 inch grid marks and was REALLY helpful in figuring out spacing. I adhered all of the vinyl on the glass, but I had to do it backwards if that makes sense. I wanted the vinyl to be on the inside of my frame, so everything had to be reversed. After getting all the vinyl on, I put the glass piece back into the frame, adhered some burlap to the frame (gorilla glue, hot glue, staple gun...can't really remember which), and put the backing back on.

I wouldn't recommend using the calendar as your main calendar for a big family. We only have 3 people, and let's face it, a 10 month old doesn't have a hoppin' social life, so it works for us for now. The menu planning forces us to menu plan every week because I would be so embarrassed if company came over and found it blank. Whether we always stick with what is planned is another story. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Night Chit Chat

Still no projects to show. :-( The flu hit hubby, so taking care of a baby, taking care of hubby, and trying to clean/sanitize everything didn't leave much room for crafting. Anyway, I had a quick minute while hubby is giving Liam his bath, so I thought I would participate in Carla's Sunday Night Chit Chat. Here it is:

What are you…

Reading? I just finished reading Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris. Haven't figured out what to read next because I have just been reading the Stackhouse series for SO long. Any suggestions?

Watching? The Giants game. (Go G-men!)

Listening to? Nothing at the moment, but I LOVE the Adele station on Pandora when I'm cleaning or scrappin'.

Cooking/Baking? Baby food, baby food, and more baby food. I take the all natural approach to raising Liam and he has only had formula once, we use cloth diapers, and he has never had bottled/canned baby food. We ran out of green so I believe green beans and peas are on the agenda, as well as sweet potatoes, squash, and applesauce.

Happy you accomplished this week? Cleaning! Josh getting sick forced me to do a thorough cleaning and with the 2 snow days turning this into a 5 day weekend, I've had more time than usual. I still need to get Liam's room, living room, and dining room, but the rest of the upstairs is completely clean. I sometimes go a little too far with cleaning, so it takes me awhile. Examples: yesterday I steam mopped the mattress, today I cleaned the inside of the dishwasher. I have also been knows to dust/lysol shoes before too.

Looking forward to next week? Scrapbooking with friends on Saturday and then having a triple date with other friends at one of my favorite restaurants that night.

Thankful for today? Josh feeling better and my infection clearing up and not having to have surgery to drain the infected area!

Well, I better get going. Liam is out of the tub so I gotta get pajamas ready and get the cloth diapers in the wash. Have a great night everyone!

Quick post

I have tons of projects I want to show you, but unfortunately I am dealing with a fever and infection. :-( So I am not feeling up to showing projects right now. Hopefully I'll be back soon.