Happy New Year and my Goals

Please scroll down for my Frosted Designs challenge from today, use a quote, I like the page so I would love for you to see it!

Happy New Year all. I doubt I will make it to the ball dropping since it is only 830ish here and I am already dragging. I do believe I will be starting off the new year with a cold YUCK! Oh well at least that is all it is! So I am VERY good at making goals/resolutions but not so much on the following through. So this year I decided to set some manageable goals that will benefit my life.

So here we go, are you ready? What are your goals?

1. My little word for 2011 is going to be: ENJOY. I choose this word simply because that is what I want to do with my life, enjoy it, enjoy the young years with C even though they are trying some times. While enjoying my life, I will have (hopefully) less stress, less anger, less anxiety, and more fun and memories. I will be practicing enjoying my life to the fullest since we never know when it will be gone.

2. My first scrap related goal for 2011 is to stay out of the stores until at least March 1st. I would really like to dwindle down my stash, and make more pages so staying out with the exception of Valentine paper (how come I do not have a lot of red/pink at all?) and swap things NO STORES! I am even throwing away the printable ads, and deleting the online ones. I will be rewarding myself though as I scrap with 2.00 a layout, or 5.00 dollars for a double, 4.00 for a card(I don't like doing them!) and anywhere from 5-10 for an altered project depending on the difficulty. That money will go in a jar/account/whatnot and I will be able to spend it on March 2nd OR keep going and save it. I would love to have more in my personal savings so I bet that will be where it goes. I do have a top ten list but only if those items are on clearance or discounted more than 50%; but since they are all new I do not see this as an issue.

3. Get birthday cards out THE WEEK before the birthday, not the day before!

4. Lose 20 pounds before my 30th birthday in June, I would love to lose 50 or more but I am trying to be realistic. It is extremely hard for me to work out since C is so active and when she is napping or taking quiet time I am cleaning, sleeping, or trying to regain patience for the rest of the day. However I hate the way I look and feel so I will be moving more, and hopefully losing weight to make myself feel better.

5. Complete a year in review album utilizing calendar pages and month in review type layouts. I hope to write everything we do on the calendar then transfer them straight to 12X12 layout. Left side would be the calendar and the right side would be smaller pictures from that month, like a highlight page?

So that is it. Enjoy my life, less stress, save money, stay out of stores, birthday cards and year in review all while moving more and eating less.

How about you?

Frosted Designs USE A QUOTE

I am trying to scrap pictures of my tour in Iraq, this is the second in the series. The quotes that I used are found at the bottom of my journaling block : "Freedom is NOT free" and "A battle buddy-24/7-has your back" The pictures are from the first few weeks (top) and last few days (bottom) of my tour. My battle buddy is now Caitlyns "God Father" for lack of a better word, and is a part of my family now.We joke that I will never get rid of him but you know what (and if you tell him I will DENY it) I would not want to. Even though I was the "senior Officer" he really gave me confidence in leading troops I had never met or would meet again in Kuwait and his first destination when he was reassigned to my post was to find me. He never forgets ANY ONES birthdays in our family and jokes that he will marry my Mom. We come from different worlds but as we found out war makes those differences silly and inconsequential. Bonds formed during war, or during any service in the military, are strong, solid, and most of the time everlasting. We are so blessed to have "Uncle Mac" in our lives.

My top projects for 2010

Blogland is full of these type of posts right now so I thought I would join too. Here are my top projects of the year. I thought I could pick one per month but I think there are three months that have more than one. I love looking back and seeing how I changed and evolved in this wonderful craft. What was your favorite project from 2010?


January-I love the little blocks that I made simply because they did not cost me a thing and are so easy to personalize for my scrappy friends. I love love love the ribbon grass and button tree on the Little Soldier layout, I was so happy with this one!
February-I choose this layout simply because I ADORE the pictures and I loved the sketch that I used!
March-I do not paper piece much but I love how this one came out. I love all the white doodling and the title is so fitting!

April-This was my favorite since it was the most detailed and time consuming BUT it is also the creation that landed me an awesome DT spot at the awesome Scrapbookpal.com. Also the girl that I made this for LOVES it so that helps too!
May-May was a busy month as was June and July with all the traveling but I was super proud of myself for re creating this shirt for a fraction of the cost for my Dad, and he still wears it proudly so that made it my top pick for May.
June-I am so proud of this card. I am proud of all the details and the sentiment and so happy that I got out of the box and it was a HUGE success for using Mini Monsters. I adore this card!
July-This layout is framed and hanging in our hallway. I loved that I played with the colors in the photos and was able to achieve (or at least I think so) a vintage/grunge/shabby chic vibe.
August-I did not scrap much in August but I love the above layout with my wonderful niece and Caitlyn. They have such a special relationship even though they only see one another once or twice a year. She is a wonderful young lady and I am so excited for Caitlyn to know her.
September: I participated in the Learn Something New Everyday with shimelle.com and loved it. It was a challenge to scrap a page a day AND take pictures but I love that I have a snapshot of my life right at that moment, the above page is one of my favorites.
October: I was blessed to be a guest designer at ArtfulDelight and was so happy to work with her cute stamps, they were right up my alley. I LOVE these papers and that picture of C is perfect!

November: I could not choose one as I love both of these projects. I am partial to the button tree but all three are smile makers for me!
December: I did not do much scrapping for me this month at all, and what I did I cannot show you until January but I love this second try at digital stamps for Cutting Cafe. I love that EVERYTHING was from my stash and I love white pen so this was a great thing for me too. I am learning and I am glad that I have this opportunity.

So there you have it, my top picks for 2010. I am glad that there is a variety of projects and not all layouts. Did you like them all? Did your "fav" of mine not make it, let me know. I would love to see your favorite list too so link me up in the comments.

Have a very happy and SAFE New Year!

Gingerbread paper ornaments-Scrapbookpal.com

Happy almost New Years Eve. Here's to hoping that your holiday was filled with lots of love, laughter, memories and good will. I hope you are recovering now! This year I decided to start a tradition (or two) with Caitlyn. I purchased this white "fashion" tree at Hobby Lobby (50% off WOOHOOO) and we are going to decorate it for each holiday/season. I love the Gingerbread cart that the awesome Scrapbookpal.com sent me (did you know they have FREE shipping on orders over 25.00!?) to play with this month. Caitlyn and I set down and cut several of the candy and candy cane pieces to make some super simple ornaments for her new white tree.

Here is what you will need:
Expression
12X12 mats
Zig glue pen
White card stock
green and red patterned paper
crop a dile or other hole punch
ribbon
Gingerbread cart
chestnut roan ink
1. Using your cricut (either one) cut out two of each of the candy cane at 1.5 and one candy piece at 2 inches and two at 1.5 inches. Cut both layers using white card stock and patterned paper.
2. Adhere with Zig glue pen.
3. Ink all edges.
4. Punch holes in top/side with crop a dile.
5. String and tie ribbon to make loops.
6. Decorate and enjoy your tree!

You could go further and add more decorations, bling, layers etc but I wanted to keep them simple since they will be in a three year old's room! I can't wait to use my Cricut to make things for every holiday/season this coming year. Happy 2011!!!!

I have been tagged-4 answers

Dawn allowed all her followers to play and I am a huge sucker for things like this, I find them so interesting so OF COURSE I was going to play!

4 shows that I watch:
NCIS, NCIS:LA, SVU, and Desperate Housewives

4 things I'm passionate about:
family, this wonderful country, my friends, and crafting

4 words/phrases I use alot:
Bless their/your heart
Are you SERIOUS?
WHAT are you doing? (said to C mostly!)
Hey stinkpot (again to Caitlyn)

4 things I have learned from the past:
Life is never what we expect that is why it is so fun.
I am too critical of myself.
Speak my mind with tact
Time with family is precious and should be treasured.

4 things you are looking forward to:
Watching C grow and learn every single day
My 30th birthday this year
Seeing my parents/brother again
Possibly going on my first ever and C's first ever DISNEY WORLD trip

4 things I did yesterday:
shopped, tried not to be blown away with the wind, cleaned, and went to sleep early

4 things I love about Winter:
Warm fuzzy blankets that hubby got me
ability to wear sweats almost 24/7 (so comfy, and they are the straight leg ones not the one with elastic on the bottom)
the pretty fresh snow, and building snowmen with C
forcing me to take time off and relax and enjoy things

4 Places I would like to visit:
Australia
Iceland
Disney World
England

Now to pass this on to 4 people:
Everyone I would LOVE if you did this, I would LOVE to learn more about you. If you do it please link me!!!!

Merry Christmas and our Gingerbread house

I wanted to pop on very quickly and tell you all MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy Holidays. I hope this weekend finds you happy, safe, full, and alive. We are so blessed in this country so we need to remember that. Please say a quick prayer/thought for all those that are not with family today away serving to protect us. I wanted to share our gingerbread house with you. This was the first one we have made as a family and it just makes me smile. It is SO C right now! Merry Christmas!

Second Design for Cutting Cafe

SCROLL DOWN FOR MY FIRST CREATION!

So today C FINALLY napped so I was able to get this done. I used the All About Valentines set for this layout. I fell in love with the bold TRULY MADLY DEEPLY and decided to color in one and stamp across the others. With MADLY I stamped with brown ink using a text background stamp; with DEEPLY I used a heart background stamp with red ink. I also use the tree from this set and simply colored it in with bic markits. I hope you like it!

My first Cutting Cafe Creation

This is my first try so please be nice but constructive. I needed to make a quick get well card and I LOVED these images from Rain Rain Go away. I made the umbrella have polkadots since I LOVE polka dots. I obviously have a lot to learn but that is OK I love to learn! What do you think?

WOOOHOOO I CAN SHARE!!!!!!!!

I am so super duper uber excited to tell you the secret I have been holding for a few days now (good thing it was not longer I am not too good at holding secrets!) !!!! I am so HONORED to tell you that I was SELECTED TO BE ON THE AMAZING CUTTING CAFE DESIGN TEAM!!! SQUEAL!!! HAPPY DANCE!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!! Oh my gosh I am so excited!!!! I love love love all the things that Regina puts out and I am so happy! I just hope I can do her designs and the other design team sisters justice! I am still pretty new at digi stamps but I am willing to learn and keep trying!! WOOOHOOOO!

12 days of Christmas swap and a special day

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. We have been through more than "normal" couples our age, or at least I think so. We were separated for the first 18 months or so due to war and training; had to fight tooth and nail to get stationed together after this; endured our time in the army; the hardship of getting and staying pregnant; having Caitlyn; buying our first house; selling our first house; relocating up "north" to start a civilian life; adjusting to said civilian life all while only having one another near and within thousands of miles. I love you J more today than 6 years ago when we stood up in front of our family and a few friends in our simple courthouse ceremony. I love you now, forever, always and to infinity and beyond.

Now I also have some things to share with you. My partner in the swap is moving from one state to another so she already opened her items so I can share them with you! Here you go hope you like them! Since I made almost all the days except day 11 (not pictured) I was able to get her a happy hauntings cricut cart for day one!!!!

Day two: altered candles. The word was white or tree; well my candles are cream but close enough. These are pictures I "borrowed" from her face book of her hubby and DD.

The backside of the candles, I stamped sentiments on them.

Day three: word was ooohh lala: so I made an "I" for her dd's room and included some fancy ribbon;trim.

Day four: You can "call" on me so I did this five page mini for her to put pictures of her DD in but used the word count. I hope she liked it since I loved how it came out!

Day five: Circle I made five circle clear glass magnets for her to use in her room. I also altered and decorated a box that chipboard came in to hold them.

Day 6: Favorite color My partners favorite colors were pink/brown so I made her a little composition book, band aid tin (put Dora band aids in there for her DD; an acrylic post it note holder to do frame, some flowers/bling and a roll of ribbon. The idea jar is for day 12, wrong picture and I also sent her a pocket planner/calendar to alter.

Day 7: water/ice/snow So I made these seven little wooden blocks all covered in Christmas paper, inked up and used my Cricut to make the sentiment. You may have seen these already!

Day 8: If I cant have a MAID I would love....... I made a bath kit (forgot pictures of the inside things) for her to relax.

Day 9: Girly girl This is a dollar tree cork board that I painted black and pink, added ribbon and made the nine pushpin bottle caps! I LOVED how this one turned out!

Day 10: Makes my heart leap She said the only thing that made her heart leap was her hubby's smile and her DD so I made this altered 8X10 (get it!) canvas. I loved how this one turned out too!
Day 12: sounds or memories of Christmas past I started making tags for this one and got frustrated so she has seven handmade tags, a bow holder for her DD, an idea jar and a journal. I hope she enjoyed all the things I made/bought for her. I had a great time doing this Pamela and am loving all the things you have sent me so far! Thank you for being a rocking partner!

Frosted Designs Challenge FAMILY

This week the challenge at the wonderful Frosted Designs was to use the word FAMILY on your layout. Well we all know that I am strange and did not want to do the "typical" family layout so this is what I came up with. Caitlyn is constantly entertaining us. She is so funny and fun to watch. If someone would have told me four years ago that I would LOVE to spend my nights watching her, having tickle fests, chasing her around and generally being silly I would have laughed, but alas here we are.

I hope you join us in the challenge this week! I would love to see your work, link me up!

December Daily 1-13 2010

This is the cover. The first page is an overlay in a mossy green, the cover page is fabric.

December 1: Decorating the tree

December 2: Advent calendars; Dec 3 (needs picture) Mawmaw and Pawpaw came into town.

Dec 4: Nana and Papaw in town; Dec 5 party (will have lots of pics, flips up)

Dec 6: Her birthday

Dec 7: Trees I made

Dec 8: Sulley the elf; Dec 9 : our attempt at making ornaments

Dec 10: letters from all three of us on what Christmas means to us: Dec 11: scanned image of C's letter to Santa

Dec 12: cuddle time; Dec 13 her success and picture with Santa

I need to print off pictures but for the most part I am caught up! YAY!

So sweet card- Scrapbookpal.com

Happy Monday morning. I hope you all had a great weekend and are getting close or already done for Christmas or whatever Holiday you celebrate. Today I am here to share a card I made for Scrapbookpal.com using the awesome GINGERBREAD limited edition cricut cart! I love the images on here, one because they are not too detailed and two because they are so cute and easy to assemble! This is a pocket card that I will use to thank someone for a kindness they show us.

Here is what you will need:
Gingerbread cart
Expression
12X12 mats
ATG with adhesive
chestnut roan ink
Green and red stickles
Kraft card stock
cream card stock
white card stock
three patterned paper of your choice
Martha Stewart scoreboard (or scorer of your choice)
EK success label punch
red pen
ribbon
foam tape
corner rounder

1. Cut Kraft card stock for card base at 4.25 by 11 inches long.
2. Using scorer of your choice score at 1.25 and 5.5 inches to make pocket and front facing flap
3. Decorate flap as you see fit (I used pattern paper and ribbon).
4. Cut second patterned paper to size for front of card, adhere with ATG tape.
5. Adhere flap to front of pocket card with ATG tape, making sure to ink edges if desired.
6. Cut candy piece (both layers) at 1.5 inches in red polka dot and white card stock
7. Adhere together with Zig glue pen, mount on 1.75 inch circle with foam tape.
8. Punch large label with punch out of white card stock, dab on stickles for some bling, hand write sentiment and adhere with foam tape.
9. Ink all edges.
10. Pocket insert is on cream card stock with a 1.5 inch piece of patterned paper on the top, leaving plenty of room to write. The insert measures 3.25 by 5.25.

Super simple and easy. I hope you like it! Did you know that Scrapbookpal.com has FREE SHIPPING on ALL orders (in U.S. ) over 25.00! ? And they are super fast! Make sure to check them out.