LIFE

I had a few blog entries bouncing around in my head today, but I decided to not do any of them.

Marah Johnson posted this on Facebook and I just had to share. I am going to print this out, frame it, and hang it where I can see it everyday.

This is something that EVERYONE should remember.

Challenging Myself

Lately I haven't been eating well. I've been eating out waaaay too much. I've been really good about bringing my lunch to work, but in the evening I haven't been good at all. I've been sucking bad. I've succumbed to fast food again. Ugh. Not a good thing. Oh and generally eating like crap. I'm really good at finding excuses too. I've worked all day, I'm exhausted, I deserve to eat out, etc.

So I've decided to challenge myself. Starting today, November 8, I am not going to eat out for at least a month. I'm going to eat all meals at home. No eating out. No wasting money. Being much healthier in the long run. I've done this before and I can do it again. It's going to be hard and suck, but I'm going to do it. I know I can.

So in order to help me out here, I'd love for you to share or link me to some of your favorite, easy, recipes.

December Daily

Each year Ali Edwards does a December Daily. You can read about it on her blog. Back in 2008, I did the December daily and honestly, it is one of my favorite scrapbook projects that I have done. I recently started talking to the wonderful Linn about scrapbooking, and got her hooked. :) I started talking to her a bit about the December Daily as I was debating about doing it again this year. She is going to jump right in and do it! I can imagine she feels overwhelmed, so I'm going to share my take on Ali's December Daily album and some tips on how I did it to de-stress it a bit.

First up the book itself! This is going to be VERY image heavy, but I hope that you all will think it's worth it and enjoy it. :)

Now that you have seen my book, I'm going to give you my tips and tricks that I used. Take what you want, and leave what you don't. :)

• I started to put the book together ahead of time. I made the pages, covered them with paper, and added some embellishments. Not many, but a couple.
• To make the pages, I used chipboard, and cut them down to size. I wasn't concerned about other page edges going through.
• I used the Christmas paper and embellishments that I had on hand. There are at least 3 lines of paper in there and many, many different brands of embellishments.
• One thing that I did not do, that Ali did, is that I did not work on this each day. I did not have my book completed at the end of December. I was ok with that! I took pictures throughout the holiday season, and blogged them with a bit of journaling. The days that I did not have pictures, I added in Christmas memories, etc. It is fine if every page does not have a picture or journaling. This book is for you, there are no rules.
• If I remember right, I didn't actually finish my book until March, 2009, lol. But you know what, I was ok with that! I did it on my own time, and loved how it turned out in the end.
• On some days, I had lots more pictures that I wanted to share. What I did was punch holes in them using the Crop a Dial and ran ribbon through the holes, and tied it in loose knots, so that I could still flip through the pictures. I adhered the back picture to my book.
• The most important thing about this book is to do it how you want. Do whatever you want! There is no right or wrong with it.

I hope this post encourages others to try out the December Daily. It is a wonderful way to capturing those Christmas memories. If any of you have questions about how I did mine, fire away!

Sing Along Saturday

I thought that sharing a few of the songs that I have been listening to lately might be fun. So today is Sing Along Saturday! If I'm going to do this more often I might even make a banner thing, and invite others to participate since I can never have too much music and I'm always looking for something new.

So in no particular order here are a few songs that I have been listening to a lot lately.

"On the Wings of a Snow White Dove" by Ferlin Husky

I've been listening to this a lot lately since it reminds me of Grandpa Nelson. I've really been missing him. I've realized lately that I haven't been dealing with his death well. But that's a whole different blog entry. The old style country is what Grandpa used to love. This song makes me feel closer to Grandpa somehow. And yes, it was played at his funeral.

"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd

Growing up Dad used to listen to a lot of Pink Floyd and for the past couple of years or so I've been listening to more and more of it. "Comfortably Numb" has become part of playlists a lot recently.

"Runaway" by Love and Theft

This song has made my rotation since some days I would love to just sell everything, pack my bags and drive off to a new place. I think most people have that dream that they can just do that....

"Felt Good on my Lips" by Tim McGraw

This is a new song that I just love to sing around too! It sounds so different than most of Tim McGraw's songs, but it makes me just want to crank the music and sing.

"All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan" by Kenny Chesney

Yes, I have been listening to Christmas music already. I just love me some Christmas Music. One day I am going to spend Christmas on the islands somewhere....

"Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland

Ok, I have to say first of all. I HATE this video. Jenniffer Nettles (the lead singer) just annoys me. I can't stand her. But this song keeps getting stuck in my head. Though it could do without the whole country rap part. That annoys me. But I do like this song.

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams

This song I've always loved. Been listening to a fair amount of various 80's songs as well lately.

"Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" by Hanson

This song makes me just want to get up and dance!!! I grew up in the 90's, of course I still love boybands!!!

"Sweet Little '66" by Steve Earle

Once again, Ma and Dad used to listen to a fair amount of Steve Earle, and of course I HATED it, lol. But I've been listening to a lot of it. Unfortunately youtube does not have a fabulous version of this song, but I'm sure you can find one if you want to download the track.

"Get Off on the Pain" by Gary Allan

I just love Gary Allan. I really need to get his new CD that came out a while ago. I really enjoy his music.

I suppose I should stop now before I don't have any to do this again! And if you are looking for a new CD to pick up, check out Jason Aldean's newest CD "My Kinda Party." I really need to see Jason in concert again. He is AMAZING!!

Finally Friday!

I always think of this song on Friday's. :)

I'm going to be honest. I don't want to blog today. It was a long day. I didn't sleep good last night for some reason. Today at work was crazy busy, I mean I didn't even have time to take a lunch, so busy! That's not typical at all! But I still love my new job. :) I'm just happy that the day flew by.

Honestly you know what sounds good right now? A nice, hot, long bubble bath, and laying in bed adn watching a movie. :) I think I might just go and do that. :)

Tweet Your 16 Year Old Self

On Twitter today I noticed that there was a trending topic called "#TweetYour16YearOldSelf" and throughout the day I was thinking of some things that I would tell myself in my younger years. Not necessarily when I was 16 but throughout my school years. I was thinking that it would be a good blog post, so here I am.

• You aren't fat. You are healthy and gorgeous. Believe it. Don't worry about trying to lose weight or changing. Don't think that you are fat. You look good and healthy. You will look back and wish that you still looked that good.
• It doesn't matter what people think of you. Be yourself. Embrace yourself.
• Live your life for you. No one else.
• Don't try to be perfect. No one can be perfect.
• Don't try to live up to everyone's expectations of you.
• Don't give up on your goals.
• It's ok to go out and party once in a while and come home late. Those are part of the teenage years. You will regret that later in life.
• Don't ever sell the Thunderbird.
• Confide in your friends when stuff goes wrong. When you feel like you have no one to turn too.
• Don't attempt suicide.
• Take the scholarship to St. Scholastica. Live in the dorms. Enjoy that part of life. You will regret it if you don't.
• Don't be so responsible all the time. It's ok to let your hair down once in a while.
• Buy 2 pairs of those awesome Tommy Hilfiger jeans. You look awesome in them.
• Chase those hopes and dreams you have.
• Spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa. They won't be around forever.
• Don't be in such a hurry to grow up. Enjoy life.
• Experiment with makeup. Have fun with it.
• Dye your hair whatever color you want. It will wash out eventually or you can always re-dye it.
• It's ok to wear your hair curly every now and then. Embrace it.
• Rock out to the music you like. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks.
• Dance at the school dances. Don't worry about what you look like dancing. It's fun!
• When the girls want to go to a club, go!
• Follow your heart.
• Buy stock in Apple or Google with your spare money.
• Try not to be so shy.
• Don't fall for credit cards. Use cash only.
• Push for braces.
• Do what you want to do, not what you think everyone wants you to do.
• Most importantly, enjoy all the good times with your friends. Laugh a lot. It's the best thing ever.

Ramblings

Tonight I feel like writing, but I'm not sure about what. I've toyed with a few ideas from my list, but none of them speak to me today. So I'll do a rambling list of thoughts.

• Today I gave a presentation on Outlook Calendar Best Practices to my work group. I HATE speaking in front of people, but I did it anyway. I think it went really well and afterwards people kept coming up to me and thanking me for giving it. I think everyone learned a lot. One person even told me that she is going to call me "Awesome Amber" from now on, lol.
• I am seriously behind on reading and commenting on blogs. I'm debating about moving my old Google reader account to a new one and weaning down on the blogs I follow.
• Speaking of following blogs, I'm so sad to see some of my favorites seem to be turning commercialized now. It seems like they are constantly giving sponsor items away and that most posts are about the products. That makes me very sad as I miss the real posts from them. :(
• I'm not ready for winter. I wish it could be 50-60 degrees and sunny all year around. Getting down to the 30's/40's at night. That would be ideal for me.
• I've been falling behind on cleaning and putting things away in the apartment. I've been feeling so exhausted lately. Not a good thing.
• I'm planning to go to bed early tonight and hopefully that will help.
• I've been listening to Christmas music already.
• I really need to create a new playlist. I've started it, but haven't finished.
• Speaking of music, I should share some of my favorite songs lately. Anyone interested in that?
• Books make me happy.
• I have a think for stationary and office supplies. Odd.
• I've been meaning to go to the Salvation Army and look for a couple of things for my desk at work. I have a vision in my head and need to find a couple things.
• I haven't been spending a ton of time online lately. That makes me happy.
• I've been devouring books like crazy.
• One can never have too many books.
• I want a good program to track/organize my books. Anyone have any ideas?
• I really want a bookplate/library checkout system for my books. Like this from uncommon goods. :D
• It sounds like there is a heard of elephants running around upstairs. I think my things are going to start falling off my walls.
• I have a vision for my living room and kitchen. I just need to get ambition to do it.

Ethan

My cousin Lynette had a baby on October 13. His name is Ethan and he is the cutest baby ever! Lynette and Cliff were nice enough to let me watch Ethan when he was only 10 days old! He is just so damn adorable and I hardly put him down while I was there. That new baby smell..mmmmm. Here is a quick picture of the two of us. Whenever he was on my shoulder he was holding my shirt in his little fist. He is just so adorable. It makes me wish I were a mom. Instead I'll be "Auntie" Amber since Lynette is an only child and spoil Ethan so much!

NaBloPoMo, again!

Last year I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo again! If you don't know what that is, you can read my entry last year. In reading that post again, I wonder if it is summer and early fall that I start to slack off on blog posting. It's kinda odd. I do know that I definitely go through peaks and valleys in blog posting, but I wonder if some are seasonal.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to blogging daily. I've been "writing" entries, but not getting them out here. I start thinking of them on lunch, in the shower, in the car, etc, and then when I sit down I feel as if I can't word what I wanted to say in a good way. Does that make sense? It does in my world!

Here are a couple things I want to blog about this month. Hopefully it will serve as a reminder if I can't think of something to blog about! I also, have my trusty Journal Jar too! I found it while unpacking some boxes from my scrapbook room!

And of course, in list form, a few ideas.

• Scrapbook Classes--Me A:Z; Journal Your Christmas
• December Daily (Share my completed book!)
• Update on new job
• Update on apt
• Recipes, cooking, baking
• Share various pictures
• Ethan
• Marriage Counselling
• Scrapbook room

And of course I had a ton more, but can't think right now! Also, my tummy is growling at me, so I suppose I should go find something for dinner!

I'm really excited about NaBloPoMo! :D

Have you ever looked back on your life and realize that this is where you thought you would be in life?

Tonight for some reason I'm in this mood and reflecting...and honestly, it's not a good thing.

Right now I'm 27. By this age, this is how I always imagined it would be.

I thought that by this age that I would be happily married, with 2.3 kids. Like the typical American family. I would be a stay at home mom for the children while my husband worked. I would have meals on the table, homemade, and would spend hours playing with the kids and scrapbooking a bit as time allowed. I would be living up north somewhere closer to my family. I wouldn't have to worry about money. I would have a large garden. Before I got married I would have traveled through Europe. I would have gone on vacations to Florida, California, and I would be very close to my family. Grandpa would have held my first born child. We would have a 3 generation photo taken.

It makes me feel like I am a failure. I know that I shouldn't feel that way, but I do. How wrong is it to feel this way? I know that I shouldn't look back, but I do. I wish I could simply look forward and move forward.....

Taco Soup (recipe)

I made this for dinner last night and a few people have asked me for the recipe. Here it is. :)

Taco Soup

1 ½ lbs hamburger (I’ve made it with 1 pound just fine. Just not as meaty)
1 onion, chopped
16 oz can tomato sauce (I used diced tomatoes instead)
8 oz can tomato sauce
3 cups water
2 cans whole kernel corn, don’t drain
2 cans kidney beans, don’t drain (I usually do 1 can black beans, 1 can kidney beans)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 (4.5 oz) can green chilies
1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch original buttermilk dressing
Garlic Powder to taste

Brown the hamburger and onion. Season the meat as you wish. I usually toss in pepper, garlic powder, season-all, and onion powder.

Add the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least ½ hour, stirring frequently.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese, and chips or Fritos. I usually skip the chips and just use sour cream and shredded cheese.

You can also make this with chicken and it’s really good too.

Password Protecting

I haven't updated a lot here lately.  Part of the reason is that I haven't felt like publizing what is going on in my life.  In the past I have always been fairly good about being open and honest.  Sharing what I want to share on my blog since it is mine.  But lately I haven't been.  Part of that is because I don't want to upset anyone by sharing my thoughts and feelings.  I've always felt like I could do that in all places of my blog.  I've toyed with starting a private journal, even a handwritten one, since I love paper, and books and such so much.  But I just can't see myself sitting down to write in it by hand.  So here I am.   I've finally decided to password protect my blog.   If you are interested in reading it, please contact me via Facebook, Twitter, or email.  gamerbabe360 (at) yahoo .com

Apartment

I'm getting ready to move into an apartment, in fact I started to move in today!  I signed the papers and got the keys yesterday!  I'm so darn excited. :)   I just love the apartment and can't wait to make it mine.

Today I did something I have never done before.  I went and picked out and bought furniture!!

I figured I should start with something in the living room since I have no living room furniture at all.   I was going to get a couch and loveseat, and possibly an oversized chair, but I seen this and loved it.   It looks much better in person than in this picture, but oh well!  Since all of the walls are white, I opted for a rich, dark brown that I loved.  It's called Cafe.  I was thinking that I could accent with a teal or turquoise.  I'm not sure though, we will see what I love!

Then I was going to move the daybed and the matress that I had when I was back home....but I kinda wanted something bigger.  I was going to go for a full sized bed, and bed frame, but the mattress that I found was a queen, and it was actually cheaper than a full in the other bed I was thinking about, since it was on special.  Plus I liked the one that I got a little bit better, and it wasn't just because of the price.

ANYWAY, I found this bed that I fell in love with.  

And the the least fun of all of them is the mattress, but I look forward to sleeping on it, and not getting poked with springs like the current mattress.

Now I just need to find queen sheets somewhere for cheap.

I'm looking forward to this new adventure in my life. :)

Grandpa Nelson

ETA:  Grandpa passed away this morning, shortly before noon, if I am understanding everything correctly. :(

{First, I have to comment on the photo.  This is typical Grandpa.  Sitting down talking, coffee cup in hand, and by the candy dish.)

I recently realized that I haven't talked too much about Grandpa here on my blog, other than perhaps a couple random memory posts. Grandpa had a lung removed due to cancer 17 years ago. Most people don't survive lung cancer, so that is a miracle in itself. During those 17 years, he still has managed to do many of the things that he loves. Hunting, fishing, and building things. He is currently in the hospital due to a fall and is not expected to live much longer than a week. Things were looking up at one point, but now they are grim. As mom said during one of her phone calls to me, they are planning a funeral. Even if he survives this, his quality of life simply won't be there. Anyway, due to this, I'v been reminiscing a bit and thought it would be a good idea to get some of my memories down.

I lived with Grandma and Grandpa until I was 7 years old, and I remember not wanting to move out.  I pitched many fits, because I didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house.   I mean, who would want to leave, when you had a Grandma and Grandpa that spoiled you?

Some of my earliest memories include Grandpa.   When I was younger we would go camping way up north, out in the middle of nowhere.   You either bathed in the lake, or used a sun shower.   All meals were cooked over the fire, or occasionally using the small stove in the camper.  For bathrooms, we used a port-a-potty that we brought with.

I believe it was when Grandpa was up re-building or remodeling Hungry Jack Lodge after a fire.  I remember there being a huge long dock, and Grandpa and I sitting at the end of it, casting my pole with a worm on the hook, and catching sunfish after sunfish.  I used to love going on boat rides in Grandpa's old Lund finishing boat.

During the summer Grandma and Grandpa had a HUGE garden.  Grandma made freezer jam, canned, froze, and gave away the goods from the garden.  Nothing ever went to waste.   One of my favorite things when I was younger, was once the pumpkins started to grow, Grandpa would take each grandkid out there, and have them pick out a pumpkin and with his pocketknife he would either carve our name or initial in them.  Then each Halloween we got the pumpkin.  Either to carve, or display as is.

Another summer activity at Grandma and Grandpa's house was the sawmill.  Just thinking about it brings me back there...the scent of sawdust, the sound of the trees being cut down to slabs to be made into something.  Grandpa was out there as much as he would be, typically overseeing everything, as after his surgery, he wasn't able to help out much at the sawmill.

Even after I moved out of Grandma and Grandpa's house, I still went back and visited them often, spending the night.  Whenever I would get there, Grandpa would say, "Come on over and give me a squeeze."  He never called hugs, hugs, only squeezes, as far as I remember.

One of my favorite things was each morning when Grandma and I woke up, Grandpa would bring us coffee in bed.  Cream and sugar in mine of course.  Then Grandma would get up and cook breakfast.  She usually had cream of wheat.  I still love that.   Grandpa would have bacon, eggs, and toast, and of course, I had to be like Grandpa and have the same thing.   There was an occasional bowl of Wheaties with a bit of sugar and cut up banana on it.

Grandpa also used to go into the Duquette General Store and have coffee with some guys in the back room.  When I stayed over, he would buy me a lottery ticket to scratch off.  If I won, he gave me the cash, and let me keep the quarter that I scratched it with.  I always managed to con Grandpa out of quarters and dollar bills when I was younger.

Sometime before Grandpa's lung surgery, he always laid on the floor and would ask me to give him backrubs.  Back then I wanted to be a masseuse, and Grandpa said I would be a good one.  He also taught me how to play blackjack back then too.

I loved it when there were family weddings or places that we could go to dance.  I remember Grandpa letting me stand on his feet and he would dance with me.   I always knew that Grandpa would walk me down the aisle on my wedding day.   I'm so happy that he was able to do that.

Grandma taught me how to sew buttons on, and before long I was charging Grandpa to sew buttons on his shirts.  Back when he was doing construction, he always wore button down shirts, and the buttons would come off.

Grandpa loved to be out in the shop and build things.  When he made each of the Granddaughters a hope chest one year for Christmas, I cried. It is gorgeous.  I will cherish that hope chest forever.  Grandpa would love to show me the shop and what he was working on.   As he got older, the less he did in the shop, but he still carved his canes and build bird houses.   He loved carpentry and building things.

On the weekends Grandpa loved to watch Hee Haw and of course the hunting and fishing shows.  Then every night at 6:30 p.m. we all had to sit down and watch Wheel of Fortune.   Dinner and dishes had to be done by them, so the show could be watched.

I remember being younger and Grandpa convinced me that Boxcar Willie (an old country music singer, if you didn't know) would make the deer come out in the field.  He would turn the music on, and sure enough the deer would come out to the field to eat.   I didn't realize until years later that he played the music at the same time every night, as the deer came out at the same time.

Song mix up

I don't know what made me think of this today, but this is one of those things that I have to blog so I don't forget about it. :)

The Scene:  Mama Jenny's Kitchen.

Who:  Mama Jenny, Justin (her son), Jessi, and I.  (I think Megan or Mandi were there too...they are Mama Jenny's daughters.)

The story:

Mama Jenny: Do you know this song?  She starts singing, "Sweet Cherry Pie bom, bom bom"

*Jessi, Justin and I all look at each other a bit puzzled, then it dawns on us.*

Jessi:  I think it's "Sweet Caronline."

*Cue hysterical laughter from all of us, and going on a long time.*

For your listening pleasure:

Sweet Caroline:

Sweet Cherry Pie:


Now whenever I hear one of these songs, I get a chuckle. :) Makes my day. :)

I sewed!!!!

I'm not the best sewer, more like a wanna-be sewer.  But Jessi was talking on Twitter about checkbook covers on Etsy.  I started browsing them and realized the ones that I really liked looked fairly easy to make and thought I could make them instead.   Now, I say this often.  I can totally make that.  But do I ever follow through?  Nope.  That's why I'm a wanna-be sewer.  I've been itching to sew after catching up on a ton of blogs.  I went searching online and found a pattern on this blog to make a checkbook cover.  I will totally be checking back on her blog since it looks so neat and fully of inspiration!!

Anyway, I started printing the directions at 3 p.m...waiting for all 8 pages to print since I'm lame and didn't want to bring my laptop into my craft room.  I dug around in my room looking for fabric and fusible interfacing to use, but I couldn't find any interfacing, so I ran to a sewing store down the street and came back.  I had to clear off my table in the craft room in order to make room to sew and cut, lol.  I really gotta clean that soon.  I spent a good 15 minutes trying to find my foot pedal for my sewing machine too.  Anyway, by about 4:25 I was done with my little checkbook cover!!!  I was shocked as I didn't think it would be that easy, but it really was!!  I was hoping to finish it before I left for work at 6:30.  I surprised myself!!

Here are the pictures I took of it.  Now, keep in mind that it's totally not perfect, but I am loving it so far.  Though if I make it again, I'm going to increase the width to about 7.5 inches or pay a bit more attention to my seams as it ended up being a bit too snug for my liking, but it works!

Here is the checkbook cover open:

And here is the outside view:

Not a bad first try, I don't think!  And isn't that fabric bright and fun?  I love it! :D

The Life Audit

While wandering around my local library a couple weeks ago, I happened upon a book called "The Life Audit."  I'll be honest, I didn't read the synopsis or anything before checking it out, it sounded interesting enough to me.

The book sat neglected in my library book bag, while I flipped through some sewing books I got and finished reading some fiction books that I got.  Last week I pulled out "The Life Audit" and started to flip through and read skim a few pages, and read the introduction.   Wow, it sounded fascinating.  I took Saturday to make photocopies of the charts in the back of the book.  (Yes, I debated going through and re-creating these in Word or Excel, but decided that was too time consuming and I was too cheap to spend the $15 on just the charts on the website.)

Today is the first time that I'm actually going through and starting to write my information down on the charts.  Granted, I haven't gotten very far yet, I've only filled out two pages, and already need to make another copy, but I have a feeling that this is going to be a fabulous thing to go through.

Examine me.  Examine life.   Get some direction back in my life, hopefully.   I am just feeling so hopeful.

Now I need to go and renew the book from the library as I know I won't be done with it, by the time it is due back on the 21st.  

I know that I'm not going to post lots of my answers here on my blog, but I'm hoping to do a few posts as I'm going through this.  

I would love to hear your thoughts on doing a "Life Audit" (even if you didn't use this book, or any book for that matter.)  Does anyone care to join me in this adventure?

Baby

Many of you know of the struggle that Jason and I have gone through trying to get pregnant. We have tried for years and haven't been able to succeed. A couple of years ago we sold all of the baby stuff that we had bought on clearance, at garage sales, etc. since we needed the money. I had thought that I had put it in God's hands, and handed the issue over to him. And that I was fine with that, and that if it was His will, then I would get pregnant. I have even told people that...and that if it happens, it happens. Sure it was still hard to hear news that people were pregnant, but I was genuinely happy for them, and still am. But this brings me to today...

Today while running errands, I had in one of my Glee CD's and since I don't know what songs are on what yet, I just let the CD run. Then on came this song.

I had heard this song before, on Glee in even, and it didn't effect me. But today this song did. I immediately started to cry as the song played. Stopped a red light. Literally sobbing. I was a mess. I had one of those deep down gut feelings that I would never get to experience being pregnant. Having a baby. Being a mom. That no one would ever say those words to me.

Now I'm sure that someone is going to say something to the effect of "You don't know that." or perhaps, "You could get pregnant." And you are right, I don't know for sure. But it was one of those deep down feelings that I would never get to experience this wondrous event.

Happiness

I found this somewhere in my online travels and made it my itouch background. I need to live by this. Need to remember it.

Layout Share!

Way back in January or February I took a few of pictures of my scrapbook layouts to share here on my blog. Well it's now May and have I shared them yet? Nope, of course not! Here they are, I hope you enjoy!


This layout was made using the January Kit from Jen's House of Scrap. (Link in my sidebar) I have never seen the corrugated letters before! I fell in love with them. Gorgeous. Ink them for a bit of added texture or leave them plain. Love them!!! So fun!

Another layout using contents from Jen's House of Scrap January kit. It's hard to see it in the picture, but I sewed around each of the color circles on the page. I have been loving the look of sewing on my pages lately.

Very simple page, made using Cosmo Cricket paper and one of the Making Memories Vintage Findings packets. Those are so fun!!! They include so much stuff for only $3.99.

I have been loving doing the 8 1/2 x 11 pages lately. I don't know why, but they are just a fun size to do. Using all American Crafts paper and Flair. Oh how I love American Crafts. Yum.

Another page using the January kit from Jen's House of Scrap!

The Beautiful Besties page was a challenge page at RSC! We were given the dotted patterned paper and had to make a layout using the paper. Then the croppers chose a winner. I think we had an hour or less to put this together. Those of you that know me, know I take that long to choose my pictures!!! I do like how this page turned out and then the croppers chose me a winner! I was shocked as there were so many great layouts that people made up!

Oh how I love this little shelf. I picked it up at the $1 store and didn't know what I would do with it. I cut apart and cut down the element cards from Jen's House of Scrap kit and made this fun little thing! I want to go back to the $1 store and pick up a couple more of these. I envision making these for holiday's and having them displayed through the season.