Countdown to Christmas

Here's the Christmas Calendar I'm working on. I used an old type drawer as a base for the calendar to create a unique shape and space for each of the days. The papers and elements in the calendar are from a scrapbooking program I designed, along with adorable mini ornaments from Michaels.

 {Cinnamon scented pinecones topped with glittery red birds really bring the feel of Christmas to the entryway of our home}

{This cute tin bucket holds the key holder/numbers and all the elements for the calendar while adding a little festivity of it's own}

HAPPY HOLiDAYS!

Breathe...just breathe.

For those of you who read this blog, you already know that I often get sidetracked by the many things in my life these days and forget that I have a blog to attend to. Sporadic as it may be, I find that it's cathartic to write and want to be more dedicated to doing this on a regular basis.

In fact, several months ago I was told by a counselor (who specializes in the challenges facing parents of multiples) that I should journal everyday. (let's just clarify, with a normal infant that's difficult, with twins dang near impossible but with twins who were 11 weeks premature, one of whom has health issues that require full time nursing, it's downright ridiculous to even get a minute to THINK, nevemind write your thoughts out longhand!) I smiled and nodded at her but in my head the snarky sarcastic me thought - "uh huh, I'll get right on that - after cleaning up the baby barf, doing laundry, rocking, feeding, and changing a multitude of poopy diapers...seriously you think I have time to journal when I can't even get a shower everyday?!?". Regardless, I was going to see her since we had a new family, which was a major adjustment for a couple of 40-somethings like Dave and I so I thought I'd gain some insight from a professional who herself had twins. I know she meant well but a lot of the tips and tricks were not applicable to our situation and missed the mark of being helpful.


In addition to this doctor's not-so-helpful "promise me you will do this" list of  "take time for you" exercises she had one well-hidden and disturbing attribute that surfaced about 4 weeks into our sessions. {Cue the villianous duh-dun-dah music} She was a hugger. Not the casual kind of hugger who takes the universally understood "end this hug now" back pat hint. We're talking prolonged hugging, compounded by her telling me to "breathe....just breathe...". This is the hug that makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable. In truth it was the ANTI-HUG. Hugs are intended to bring comfort and a warm fuzzy feeling...this imposter hug failed to meet any and all hug criteria. Can you say AWKWARD? I left there thinking "that was weird" -  "and unprofessional" -  "and, yeah, weird". So I went home, feeling rather unsettled and, yeah, just weird. 


A week passed and being the forgiving type that I am, I thought it might be a one time thing and decided to keep my appointment for that morning despite the risk. So I went, and talked until the 40 minute mark  when I stopped talking as she gave me her new to-do task list, then abruptly, I made a beeline for the door. Much to my surprise, she was ready with counter measures deviously cloaked as courtesy. I smiled as I thought she was simply opening the door for me but she put her hand on the knob, then body-twisted 180 degrees to face me and, you guessed it... pulled me into yet another hug! I was in a state of disbelief and a"why the hell didn't you anticipate and prepare for this" thought when the "breathe...just breathe" words hit my ears, again. So, I responded, "It's fine, I'm fine, everything will be fine" thinking, "okay she needs a verbal cue". Nope, didn't work. There I stood, stuck in the constricting arms of a woman half my height, powerless to escape unless I surrendered to her wishes...so I exhaled, really loud, with a sigh and it was like the parting of the Red Sea. Without warning her arms and office door magically opened! I could see the inviting flourescence of the hallway lights and smell the musty odor of the sad, white noise infused, windowless corridor that served as a waiting room. Seeing my chance, I quickly made my way through the door jam, past the unsuspecting victims sitting in the mismatched secondhand waiting room chairs, into the main hall and down to the elevator...I could almost taste the fresh air of freedom when all of a sudden the moment of bliss was broken by a crackling voice saying, "You can pay at the front desk. See you next week." Then in a flash, (similar to those 'getting sucked backwards at warp speed through a tunnel' shots you see in the movies) I realized my feet had not left the floor at all and the counselor was still standing there with one hand on my shoulder looking at me like I was this poor pitiful creature needing further guidance. Yet another mistaken perception on her part, I was just lost in my anti-hug escapist day-dream. I guess a hug only last until the 45 minute mark, or in counseling terms, your hour is up! Needless to say, after that I never went back.  OH, but I digress...

Even though I may not be able to do this everyday, if I can get a couple of posts done each week it will be a fun break for me, (and it's my acknowledgment that the counselor was right in some respect). It's good to talk, and vent and get things out, and here, on this page, I'm assured of no prolonged awkward hugging!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! 

I love Halloween for all it's spooky good fun, and, of course, candy! Here you can grab a sugar-free treat, jpg paper files and pngs of the apothecary labels I designed just for you to print and use(for personal use only - no commercial use at all will be permitted). All I ask is you send me a pic of your cool projects to post if you use the files :)

First year in review

As if the last blog post date didn't give it away, I've been very busy over the past year with my new job as full-time Mommy of twins. It's been an extraordinary journey this far and I expect will continue to be so as the days and weeks go by. Our twins decided to arrive 11 weeks earlier than planned and spent much of that time in NICU. We quickly realized that babies are God's way of reminding us that we are NOT in control, and that is okay.

The recap isn't a good way to sum up all that has happened over the course of a year but while loading photos onto a digital photo frame this week I realized just how far we have all come in such a short time. Our daughter, Delaney, has grown from 2 1/2 lbs at birth to 16 lbs of joyful, inquisitive, patient, and goofy chattering girliness. And our son, Beckett, has earned the nickname "The Bulldozer", bulking up from his 3lb starting point to a muscley 22 lb boy who explores everything through hours of bulldozering over, under and through everything (even his sister) as he crawls with wild reckless abandon! Together they will be unstoppable, and the love they share is abundantly apparent when they talk to each other while bouncing in sync in their adjacent bounceroos. It's a language only they will ever know but we enjoy the interaction and are amazed at how much they respond to each other's voices and touch.

I guess if I had to sum it up I'd say this year was the fastest year full of the longest days I've even known.  Broken into moments; some were good, some scary, some exciting, some quiet, some loud, some happy, some sad, some tender, some overwhelming, some silly, some mad,  but all of them, every last one filled with love. The pictures tell the stories that sometimes our hearts and heads forget, and serve to remind us that it has, indeed, been a great and wonderous first year as a family.

Total Blog Fog!

I'm in a bit of a blog fog today. Truthfully I'm in a total fog today! I stayed up watching the Olympics last night and obviously did not get enough sleep to sustain sufficient brain power to write anything remotely interesting. Therefore, I am sharing a digital scrap page that simply and sweetly captures the sleepiness I feel right now! 

My kitty Chase, affectionately called M-WOWZer (because when he meows he says "M-WOWZ"), had a super sleepy face in this photo and it's perfectly summing up how I feel on this snowy day, fireplace blazing and hot chocolate buzz wearing off...oh to be a cat, if only for one day.

 

WILD CARD WEDNESDAY!

Tell me why you should win a free SkiDaddle hat by 7:00 pm est today and one person will be selected to win a hat of our choosing. Only 1 person will win! You have 45 minutes to get in your comments!!! Happy Wild Card Wednesday!!! GOOD LUCK!

NOTE: You must be located in the Continental US to win and must provide mailing address upon notification that you've won to receive your prize.

Prize will be shipped in 2-4 weeks time. If you wish to receive it earlier you will need to provide a fed ex number and cover the cost of shipping.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead I - The Puzzle Queen

When I came up with the title for this post it didn't occur to me just how much I've really done over the past 10 years and how ridiculous it would be to try to recap all of it in just one blog post...So I think I will break it into a few posts spread out over the next week or so. :) I'll start with inspiration for a major undertaking...Mosaic Table Tops...


When I was young, elementary school aged, I was constantly put to shame by my sister who excelled at puzzles. She'd blast through a 1000 piece puzzle in two days flat and strut around the house like the puzzle queen. She even went so far as to buy the puzzle preserver one time to savor the victory of finishing one of her fabulous puzzles. She was relentless in her pursuit of the perfect puzzle. She quickly advanced from 1000 piecers to 2500 and 5000! Her puzzles would take up the entire play table and I couldn't do a darn thing about it. So one day I devised a plan to curtail her love of the predominant puzzling that was taking over my craft area...


We went to the store and I watched Karen pick out her next victim...a 10,000 piece puzzle. I was bound and determined to take the puzzle queen crown so I waited patiently until she got home and opened the box, carefully pulling out all the edge pieces, which, everybody knows, is the ONLY way to start a puzzle...and while "helping her" pick out the edge pieces I silently and stealthily pocketed one little piece from the center section of course. Then it was all patience...who knew how long it would take her to finish this beastly puzzle, 10,000 pieces could take days...but I waited and lurked and waited some more until finally she was almost done. There she was holding what she thought was the last piece in her hands. She placed it in the puzzle and slowly started to realize the puzzle wasn't done...there was a gaping hole in it! But it was a new puzzle! How on earth could there be a piece missing already?!?! 


When she started to huff and puff, my parents and grandmother rushed in to help look for the missing piece. My moment of glory had arrived. To a full house,  I excitedly made my entrance, and with the boldest, most grandiose gesture possible, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the piece and snapped it into place! At last!!! Victory was mine. I was through the roof as I announced loudly enough for the neighbors to hear "I FINISHED THE 10,000 PIECE PUZZLE!!! I'M THE PUZZLE QUEEN! I FINISHED IT ALL BY MYSELF!" (which, really wasn't a lie, because I did finish it all by myself, I just didn't do the rest of it). I was promptly sent to my room until dinner.


It was a hollow victory that stayed with me all these years until one day a wind storm blew into town and knocked over our deck table, shattering the glass table tops. Here was my golden opportunity, the opportunity that I'd been waiting for.  A chance to redeem myself and rightfully claim the puzzle queen crown as my own. I immediately went online and found a mosaic supply store. Such beautiful glass tiles in a glorious array of colors! No puzzle could ever compare to what I would create. AND...no piece would ever NOT fit...I bought nippers and the proper glue and grout and sealant (my version of the puzzle preserver) and then I slaved over the table top for months through out the summer and one day,  I stood back and smiled...it was done. It was beautiful, and it was indeed, worthy of the crown. 

Cupid draw back your bow....

Well, as promised here is the the fabulously fun Valentines craft I mentioned yesterday. It's a spin on the traditional Cupid Love Arrow only gentler. Getting shot by an arrow to fall in love didn't seem so romantic, but getting tapped by a magic wand on the other hand.....enchanting!!! I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do! It's really sweet!

To begin I purchased foam hearts with adhesive backs (you could use chipboard too). I gathered my selected papers and stuck a heart to the back side of the page and cut out. (again if you have a cricut, silhouette or other fancy die-cutting machine, you could save yourself LOADS of time here by adhering your paper to chipboard and cutting the hearts out with the machine instead of by hand!

Once the heart is cut out, simply adhere it to the dowel rod by using a second foam heart which you would peel and adhere to the back of the first heart sandwiching the dowel in between. (chipboard users would apply adhesive then follow the same step)

After the heart is firmly attached begin wiring your festive hearts and beaded floral embellishments and ribbons around the dowel too then cover by tying a feather boa around the wires and ribbons to conceal the mess - OR you can tie on your feather boa first then tie ribbons and push them up to the bottom of the boa. I've done tried both methods and found it to be just matter of preference. The boa is the key though, because it hides the messy part and protects your fingers from those wired ends that stick out.

Once the boas are on, arrange your wired bangles and ribbons and VOILA! Your wand is complete! I found an adorable little tin pail for a $1.00 at Michael's that I filled with colored paper clips and added a boa around the top to stand the wands in. You can use any vase or pot with floral foam or sand or sugar....any medium which will give you support for the wands. (NOTE: These are not suggested for use as toys for small children as the wires could cut little fingers and the bangles could cause a choking hazard - use for decoration only)

Cupid craft project coming tomorrow!!!

Hey All you crafty cats, get ready for some BIG Valentines fun tomorrow! Here's a sneak peek of the materials I've gathered for a very festive project. Can you guess what we're making? 

Love unlocks doors and opens windows that weren't even there before.  ~Mignon McLaughlin

Defining moments defining me...

A funny thing happened yesterday when I went to create the cover for the first of my two new creative journals. Let me backtrack slightly... I decided that one journal would be mostly dedicated to me and my life and the other would be dedicated more to creative ideas and thoughts, inspirations, sketches, design concepts, etc. That being said, I set forth to create a cover for the first journal and thought it would be interesting to tear apart my old dictionary and use it as the base for the cover. You know, find words that defined me, tear them out and collage them on the cover. So here's the funny part, I walked to the bookcase and grabbed the dictionary which I have not used since my college days and my thumb slipped into a page when I grabbed it....here is the page it opened to...

I kid you not, my jaw dropped when I saw the title word was craft! I took it as a sign that I was on the right track, despite being a bit conflicted about tearing apart a perfectly good dictionary. It was a defining moment. Needless to say I was now off and running. I started thinking of words I identified with and tore the pages out of that dictionary until I had enough for the cover of my "defining me" journal.

After tearing out the pages the real fun began.  Mod Podge is something I never really used as a kid. It was however, my sisters favorite craft supply as she loved to decoupage. This was because she couldn't really draw so well but she could cut and Mod Podge Holly Hobbyesque pictures onto precut and stained little wooden plaques which were then proudly displayed throughout our home, while my multitude of drawings stayed firmly rooted in my sketchpads due to the fact that nothing, and I mean NOTHING was ever magnetically attached to our refrigerator for fear of scratching that beautiful brown Kitchen Aid appliance, and you could forget about ever using tape  or tacks on doors too! This is not to say my parents didn't applaud my creative endeavors. The most certainly did, and look where it's gotten me today! - oh yeah, where I am today...sorry, I digressed. Anyway I thought, in the case of collaging the cover of my new journal, Mod Podge would work beautifully (or so I hoped) So I found an old paintbrush with bristles pointing every which way and started coating the cover with the podge, positioned pieces and applied more mp as needed. And when all the pieces were placed, I mod-podged over everything one more time until I was left with this...

The hardest part was... WAITING FOR IT TO DRY! - I, of course, cheated and held it in front of a space heater to speed the process :) Once dry, I trimmed the edges and added a few crafty touches including some clear cut frames and words from a program called Love Letters designed by a friend and former co-worker Lori Marek for Little Yellow Bicycle. Although it was a Valentines program, the black elements worked fabulously with the basic black and white of the text and the back cover a black spiral binder. I finished it off by applying a few flocked chipboard pieces and rub ons,  ran a ribbon along the rough left edge along the binder to clean up the look then topped it all off with a few ribbon ties on the binder (noting that I will probably want to completely cover the binder with many more ribbons over the course of using this journal).

Here is a view of the finished cover.

After cleaning up the mess I had made I realized I had a few leftover pieces that I didn't want to lose or forget so I decided to make a pocket for the inner front cover of the journal. I used a gorgeous flocked brocade paper (again from Lori's Valentine program) trimmed it to size and cut a decorative edge on the top edge of it for the front of the pocket. Then I chose a great lined notebooky style paper to complement the flocked piece, cut it to size and sewed the two pieces together then adhered the pocket to the inner front cover and voila, adorable and stylish storage pocket! You can see the pocket below.

This was a super easy project that transformed a standard black sketchbook into a journal that truly defines me.  Now I can start writing again :)

A brand spankin' new creative journal

Oh the excitement that comes with the purchase of a brand new journal...I LOVE it! I love them so much that I actually bought two yesterday, mostly because I had a gift card from my nephew from Christmas 2008 that I had yet to use and thought, hmmm what do I want to treat myself to at Barnes and Noble...and after much searching around, it hit me. I don't need another book to read right now, I need a book to write!

So I found the cool journal and sketchbook wall and picked out two. I wanted ones with blank covers to make them my own. Also, I prefer to use sketchbooks for journals because typically journals are lined and I don't  like to write on the lines (again, not a linear thinker... it's too confining for me).  I like the freedom of writing random thoughts anywhere at all angels in fun and crazy font styles combined with magazine clippings, phrases, quotes, art elements, paints, colored markers and pencils etc...I am sooo anxious to mess them up. They're just too pristine and empty right now. See?

There's my shadow, but soon I will put my own personal stamp on them and post for comparison.  Creative Journalling is all about artistic expression along side of traditional handwritten thoughts and ideas. To start I tear apart magazines with phrases that I can relate to and think I will be able to use for journalling prompts in the books. Here are a few I tore out just now.

1.  Guilt is not one of its ingredients.

2.  Any similarities to real life flavors are purely intentional.

3.  Feed their curiosity.

4.  Some relationships are meant to be.

5.  WAKE-UP CALL no. 9

6.  move closer to your goals NOW

7.  Wine needs time to breathe. People do too: How Do You Breathe

8.  Kinda beats stirring fruit up from the bottom, doesn't it?

9.   NEVER HIDE

10.  ARE YOU IN MINT CONDITION?

These were all from ads.  Can you match the phrase up with the Company that placed the ad?

a.  Ray Ban

b.  Oscar Mayer

c.  Special K

d.  Altoids

e.  Danskin

f.  Sun Chips

g.  Jelly Belly

h.  Pepperidge Farm

i.  Turning Leaf

j.  Edy's

Now forget the ad and try to think how you would apply just the phrase to your life and what it would bring to your creative journal. Here's where it gets fun! Yeah, play time, get out the sissors, glue, pens, pencils, ribbons etc...it's time to make a big mess!!! Fun Fun Fun. Explore, enjoy, and exercise your mind.

Oh what, you want the answers? alright...scroll down:

(1f, 2g, 3b, 4h, 5c, 6e, 7i, 8j, 9a, 10d)

Me Time

A while back I made a page that was intended to inspire me to spend more time playing and crafting just for fun. Since that time I have not created another page or project just for myself and the pure enjoyment of losing myself in the process of crafting.

Yesterday I took a photo of the page as a reminder that some of my time should be focused on me. Thus the Me Time page...And although I LOVE designing new and fun programs, sometimes I need to just have fun for me and not for any ulterior motive.  So today I'm taking some time to cut and paste and play. I encourage you to take some time out of your busy day to enjoy something just for yourself too! Drop me a note and let me know what you did for fun today. :)

This week I'll start posting Valentines cards projects with directions. But for today I'll leave you with this quote:

We do not stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing.