September 2012 Roundup

Roundup – September 2012

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Last to Die – Tess Gerritsen

Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud

The Happy Introvert – Elizabeth Wagele

MWF seeking BFF: my yearlong search for a new best friend – Rachel Bertsche

10-10-10 – 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years – a life transforming idea – Suzy Welch

The Gatecrasher – Madeline Wickham

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

Iron Jawed Angels

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

We have been busy with school (Brent, Bailey and I), Daisy Girl Scouts (Bailey and I), work (Dave, Brent and I) and keeping the house (me).

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?

September 28^th is my birthday and this year it was a BIG one (50).  I got taken out to dinner twice.  I received flowers twice and got some charms to put on my Pandora bracelet.  I really enjoyed both dinners and spending time with my family.

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I purchased a Silhouette Cameo but have not found the time to use it.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Nothing of any great concern.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

Trying to keep up with everything is all I could accomplish this month.

8.     What were my disappointments this month?

I have gotten used to my new responsibilities at work and things are much calmer  now.

9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)

I only completed two layouts (both digital) this month.

10. Anything else noteworthy to include?

Nothing too exciting this month.

                               
           

28 Days of Sketches

So, I have fallen a bit behind on my class I am taking over at Big Picture Classes BUT the way I look at it, some layouts done are better than no layouts done.  This first layout is from sketch 15 and I am not loving this one at all, but it's done.

The sketch on the diagonal is sketch 18.  The sketch with the title is from Valerie Salmon.

Sweetie is sketch 17

Mr. Multitasker is sketch 19.

Sketch number 20 is complete but since it is dark out I can't take a photo of it.

We had a busy weekend - getting ready for the big birthday bash and then the actual bash.  Mom, Dad, Diane, Jordan, Nicole, Brandon, Sam, Brent, Bailey and Bella were here.  We were celebrating three birthdays - Brandon's was June 27th, Bailey's was July 31st, and Mom's was August 4th.  I made Korean Beef and roasted zucchini and carrots.  I made two different desserts -  one was a Banana Coconut Upside Cake and the other was a Cream Puff Cake.  All the recipes were ones I got off Pinterest.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  Bailey stayed with Nana and got to play with some of her new toys.

I am off to have a piece of Cream Puff Cake and head to bed.  Back to work tomorrow - yuck!

Monthly Roundup July 2012

Roundup – July 2012

1. What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Dead Ringer – Lisa Scottoline

Killer Smile – Lisa Scottoline

A Sweethaven Summer – Courtney Walsh

Finding Veronica – Louise Forster

Save Me – Lisa Scottoline

Marriage Rules – Harriet Lerner

Introvert Power – Laurie Helgoe

Come Home – Lisa Scottoline

Look Again – Lisa Scottoline

Quiet – Susan Cain (still reading)

People July 2, 2012

Creating Keepsakes September 2010

All You July 27, 2012

2. What movies, television shows, plays, etc. did I watch this month?

One Day

Weeds Season 7 Episodes 3-13; Season 8 Episodes 1-3

Criminal Minds Season 3 Episodes 13-20; Season 4 Episodes 1-8

The Yellow Handkerchief

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Reality of Love

21 Jump Street

Drop Dead Diva Season 1 Episodes 1-13

How I Met Your Mother Season 1 Episodes 1-22

3. What fun things did I do with my family and/or friends?

I spent a week watching Bella and Bailey came over as well.

4. What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Bailey’s birthday was July 31^st but we are celebrating in August.

5. What special or unusual purchases did I make?

Bought two new pairs of shoes at Beall’s, a couple of dresses at Beall’s Outlet and went Goodwill shopping a couple of time.

I purchase another class from Big Picture Classes called 28 Days of Sketch Round 2.  Each day I receive an email along with a sketch and it has been very inspiring.

6. What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Nothing of any great concern.

7. What were my accomplishments this month?

Got most of the guest/craft room organized and I have been scrapbooking a lot.

8. What were my disappointments this month?

Eric quit at work and I am really going to miss him.  I have been asked to take over some of his duties and work full time.

9. How did I do on my goals for the month? (Or any current short or long term goals)

I did really well on my scrapbooking goals – I completed 24 scrapbook layouts.

10. Anything else noteworthy to include?

Brent went on a cruise with his dad and had a great time.

  

Inspired

This week was my first week of full-time at work.  Eric was still there but we had lots to go over and I have plenty of work to keep me busy a full 40 hours a week.  It will be great to get the bigger paycheck.

Even though I have been working more hours I still got some scrapbooking done this week.

I have been watch Lain Ehman's 31 Days videos and one day she talking about using up scraps and showed a layout with punched circles on it.  This layout was inspired by her layout and video,

I am still going strong on the 28 Days of Sketches Round 2 over at Big Picture Classes.  Here is my layout for Sketch 11

Sketch 12

Sketch 14

Sketch 15

Sketch 16

I have signed up for two more classes at Big Pictures Classes.  I actually won a spot in the 28 Days of Sketches class but had already enrolled so they gave me a gift certificate.  I enrolled in Multi Photo Solutions and Kit-astic.  I really enjoy being pushed to create and taking a class pushes me.

I have been bookmarking many scrapbook sketches and ideas for inspiration.  I have so many pages saved and I have been feeling very inspired and crafty lately.  I love it when I am wanting to scrapbook.

Have a great Sunday and I will be back later with some pictures of my favorite five year old.  

Layouts to Share

Both the girlies are gone. Brent took Bailey home last night and Sammie came and got Miss Bella this morning. The house has been very, very quiet. I got the living room all straightened up and vacuumed and the kitchen is clean as well. Tomorrow I will finish up laundry.

I have some more scrapbook layouts to share.  The first one is from a sketch posted on Basic Grey's blog and is designed by Valerie Salmon.  I love her sketches so this one was an easy one for me.

 And here are more layouts based on the sketches from Lisa Day's class at Big Picture Classes called 28 Days of Sketches Round 2.  This is the layout I made from Day 5's sketch.

 A double page layout from Day 6's sketch.

 Day 7's sketch with some very old photos.

 And more old photos with Day 8's sketch.

It is great to be using up supplies and getting some older photos on layouts.  I have both Day 9 and Day 10 started and I will get them finished either tonight or tomorrow.

Hope the rest of your weekend is awesome!

 

Sharing Joy - The Girlies Way

I have realized once again that being a few months shy of 50 and having two active littles in the house exhausts me.   I love having the girlies here but after a few days of togetherness we all start to get stir crazy.  So, this morning we all got up, got dressed and headed to Goodwill.  Little did I know how a couple hours out of the house would refresh us all.  And in ways I never imaged.

A few years ago my word of the year was JOY.  I loved living that word.  I found joy in so many unexpected places.  Today my world is still filled with joy and my granddaughters bring so much of it into my life.  What I tend to forget is how much joy that can give others.  As I am walking through the aisles with Bella in the stroller and Bailey walking along side we can across a lady who started a conversation with Bailey.  Bailey is very friendly so she found out the lady's name and told her that Bella wasn't her sister but her cousin and shared their names and how old they are.  Carol told me she had 9 grandchildren aged 21 to 15 months.  We chatted for a few minutes and off we both went, me with Bella and Bailey both waving bye to Carol.  At the checkout two older women both wanted to wait on us, because of the girls.  When we were done checking out, the clerk didn't want us to leave as she was having some much fun the the girls.  Joy - I got filled by watching the interaction between my girlies and strangers - and the strangers got filled just from talking to the girls.  Amazing.

Here's a funny little story from last night.  I was sending Brent out for McDonald's and I asked Bailey what she wanted "a cheeseburger or chicken nuggets?"  She replied "a cheeseburger".  I asked her to ask Bella what she wanted and Bailey told me she didn't think she knew Bella's language.  I laughed and told her she was the best one to translate Bella's language since was the closest in age to her.  Very seriously, Bailey leaned down and asked "Bella, do you want chicken nuggets or a cheeseburger" and Bella answered with a baby babble.  Bailey looked up at me and said "Bella wants a cheeseburger, Nana!"  Love, love, love those girlies and those moments.

So as tired as I am and as messy as my house is, I treasure and cherish these moments.  The children of my children - the best gift of all.
 

Playing Mama

I have baby Bella with me this week. Mommy and Daddy went to the Keys to catch some lobsters and I get to enjoy this sweetie all week.

Having her here reminds me so much of raising my kiddos.  I was fortunate enough to stay home for 15 years with my kids.  I love puttering at home, taking care of babies and being a Mama (or a Nana).

I have some layouts to share that I completed a week or so ago.  With all the thundershowers we have been having I haven't been able to get photos of them, but here they are:

A single page layout of Bailey just having fun.

A double page layout a month after Bailey was born - August 2007.  My Aunt Ruth was visiting from Ohio and we got together a couple of times while she was here.

 And another double page layout featuring Bella.

I am taking a class at Big Picture Classes  - 28 Days of Sketches Round 2.  Sometimes all the motivation I need is a daily email reminding me to be creative.  Lisa's emails are even better because each day along with an email I get a sketch.  I am loving this class.  Here is Day 3 Sketch:

 And Day 4 Sketch:

Each day Lisa not only gives you a 12" x 12" sketch but an 8 1/2" x 11" sketch as well as a double page layout.  Awesome!

I am going to go and play with my grandbaby and then pick out some pictures for my Day 5 sketch.  Happy Monday!

Two Weeks

I cannot believe how bad my good intentions have been. I was planning on doing a blog post at least a few times a week and here it's been two weeks.

This morning I found our missing cordless phone.  I have one of those systems with one base phone and three cordless handsets.  One of the handsets was in the couch and has been for some time, but I found it this morning.

I am taking Lisa Day's class 28 Days of Sketch Round 2 at Big Picture Classes.  Each day you get a new sketch to play with.  She has 12" x 12", 8 1/2" x 11" and a double page sketch.  I will probably use mostly double page sketches as that is how I scrapbook.

Here is Day 1 sketch

And Day 2 sketch

And I have my photos picked out for Day 3 sketch.  I am usually drawn to the more layered and embellished scrapbook pages (think Shimelle Laine) but I am really enjoying the simplicity of these pages.  And any scrapbooking that is completed is good scrapbooking.

My job situation is changing - our Operations Manager is leaving and I am very sad.  He and I work really well together and I really like him as a person but I totally understand why he is leaving.  So, my boss has asked me to work full-time and take over some of his duties that are administrative.  I don't mind the new duties as I am always up for change but the extra hours might be difficult.  Right now I am working 32 hours with three afternoons off a week.  After next week I will be working 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. each day.  BUT the extra money will come in handy and I am getting a raise so can't complain about that.

I am keeping baby Bella next week while Brandon and Sammie go to the Keys.  I love having her and she is such a joy to have around.  Bailey is coming to visit part of that time as well.  I plan to take the girlies to the pool one day but other than that we have no big plans - just play and enjoy each other's company.

Well, I have lots to do before my girlies arrive so I am off to straighten up and vacuum.  Have a great Saturday and see you soon!
 

Another Rainy Saturday

So, with the weather being what is has been for the past few days - rainy - I haven't gotten a chance to take photos of the layouts I have finished recently.  Hopefully tomorrow I will find the time to get the photos taken.

Yesterday I got caught up in a book and read for five hours straight.  No crafting of any kind.

Today I had Miss Bella for a few hours so I played with her.  I am trying to put together some kind of weekly menu planner and worked on that a bit while she was here.  I had a headache from the weather so took a nap after she left and when I got up I sorted my completed pages.  The stack of pages on the bottom of the photo are 2007 pages and each stack is the next year up through 2012.  The stack not in line is older pages than 2007 and pages that have no date on them.  I want to get each years stack in chronological order and get then in albums.  They were taking up a good deal of space in my craft area.

Dave took me to dinner at Watermark Grille which is one of my favorite restaurants.  Afterwards he took me to JoAnne's.  I want to make a t-shirt quilt and needed some fusible web.  I needed a 36" robe zipper in black but they didn't have that.  I got a 1 3/4" circle punch for a mini album I am working on.  Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to get a few crafty things done.

Have a great rest of the weekend.