TGIF; Thankful Friday #116

I was notified by my DIL that I skipped last week. Yes, I did. LOL

I've been so busy at work and at home - well, not really at home, but I feel a little overwhelmed. So last weekend, my daughter and I went to a weekend scrapbook retreat (YAY!) and when we returned, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my DIL cleaned my shower. Ok, when I say clean, I mean with a hard K...Ka-leaned that shower!

I'm embarrassed to say that it was pretty disgusting. Hubby and I both have bad backs and it's really tough getting down to scrub the shower. Well my DIL worked up some magic potion and probably recited a magic spell because we can actually see through the glass door and the shower floor is actually white.

So this week, thank you Krystal for the amazing job you did on our shower!

How about you? What are you thankful for this week? I'd love to hear about it in the comment section.

I had a great conversation with one of my nephews last week about some depression he's going through. He has many things to be thankful for...a great career, wonderful marriage, awesome aunt - I mean family that loves him, great friends, etc., but every so often he gets depressed. And when I say depressed, I mean clinically depressed. I gave him the advice about finding one thing each day that he's thankful for even as simple as a warm blanket and add one more thing each day.

Guess what, that list will never end. We're alive! We get to wake up each day and see a sunrise, hear the birds chirp, smell grass growing...the list never ends! The next time you're feeling down, sit for a second and think about these little things that we take for granted every day. God provides so many small things and if you stop to think about it, each of these things are huge.

Well that got deep real quick. I hope your list of items is super long and you live a life with lots to be thankful for.

Scrapbooking Weekend!

Hey everyone. I was away for the weekend at a Scrapbooking Retreat. My daughter and I met up with some Facebook friends and cropped the weekend away!

I got a lot done, met some really nice people, ate way too much and had a lot of fun. I was able to complete the layouts of our Acapulco trip, Easter 2019 and most of Disneyland 2019. (Yes, I crop chronologically - or at least try to.)

The person who hosted had a house full of kitties that entertained us all weekend. This little cutie was the one that really caught my eye. Look at that adorable moustache! I always tell me kiddos that God has a great sense of humor and this is another example why...

So cute!

I haven't taken photos of the layouts yet since we just got home yesterday, but here's a shot I did take of the beginning of a card (by the way, we also took a fieldtrip to Tuesday Morning and I bought this build a character stamp set).

Another shot of some of us working hard:

On our way home on Sunday, we passed a billboard that had Kobe Bryant and the dates 1978-2020. We thought that was weird. He didn't play for the Kings (we were in Sacramento) and didn't know why it looked like a death announcement. My daughter then went on her phone and realized he died earlier that morning. WHAT!?! What a tragedy. Kobe, his daughter, six other passengers and the pilot died in a helicopter crash. So sad. He was only 41 years old.

Kobe Bryant

1978-2020

RIP

BBTB2; Something New

I’m hosting the current challenge at Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) site. I chose the theme as Something New. What does that mean? Is there a technique you’ve been waiting to try? Did you get new vinyl or new paper that you haven’t had the chance to use yet? Anything as long as it’s new and you use your Cricut.

I’ve wanted to to create a scrapbook overlay for a long time so I thought this challenge would be a perfect time to experiment.

I started by adding a square using the shapes feature in DS. From there, I added one more square but made it into a rectangle a little smaller than the top third of the square. I duplicated that rectangle two more times. Each of those rectangles were sliced from the original square. The vertical lines were created the same way and then welded to the original square.

The title is the Don Juan font and was welded as well. Be sure to size it so that it overlaps the horizontal lines. The palm trees (Beach Life) were done the same as well but I also duplicated the image so I could layer on top of the base. (I show them apart so you can see what I mean.)

Once this is complete, I sized the image to 11.5x11.5”.

Silly me. I adhered the overlay to the cardstock base first instead of placing my photos between the layers, so I placed the photos a little wonky and now it looks like I did it on purpose.

Added some embellishments, journaling and splatter to finish.  Closeups:

If you have any questions on the process, please let me know. I should have created a video. I know that now but I do have this project saved if you’re interested in it. I can share it with you.

Cuts:
Palm Tree - Beach Life
Font - Don Juan
Shapes in DS for square, rectangle and lines

Now it’s your turn, link your project to the Bitten By The Bug (BBTB2)site.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #115

Good morning and happy Friday!

This week I'm thankful for my hubby. He went on a road trip with his cousin to visit their uncle & aunt in Arizona. You know you truly don't appreciate someone until they are gone.

Hubby does the laundry, takes care of the dog, gathers the mail, charges my cell phone along with a lot of other things that don't fly under my radar.

I'm also thankful that he's coming home tomorrow.

This was taken a few weeks ago at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

Let me know in the comments what you are thankful for this week.

WOYWW #554

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW! I have been trying to keep my work desk clean and clear, but as we all know, it didn't stay that way for long. Every time I work on a new project, my work area gets smaller and smaller.

Here's a look at my work desk:

Why am I sharing this? It's all part of a world-wide phenomenon - WOYWW! Click on over to Stamping Ground and learn more about it.

Just wanted to let you guys know, my hubby is on a road trip and will be gone all week. My daughter and I are watching "Making It" which is a competition for makers. We didn't get to watch it when it originally aired, but thank goodness for DVRs. Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman are hilarious together and these makers are amazing!

New Year Goal 2020

It's still January so I can still say, "Happy New Year!" I did not make a resolution for 2020, but instead set myself a goal.

I make many, many cards for DT submission, challenges and some times just for creative fun but rarely send them out. Although, I do sell them by having Pop Up sale at my work 3x a year, but my box is still full.

This year, I set a goal to send at least one handmade card every week (that's a minimum of 52 cards!). I went through my planner and put in the obvious birthday cards to send and then I'll need to fill in with "Just Because" or other occasion cards for the rest.

If you are interested in receiving a handmade card from me, please send me an email. You can find my email address in the Contact Me tab on the homepage.

I'll post an update every month or so for two reasons...the first is to keep you guys in the know and the second is to keep me accountable & remind me of my goal.

It's only week two and so far I'm on track! :)

2/52 Count Down:
Week 1:  Nephew #5 Birthday
Week 2:  Nephew #1 Just Because (filled w/photos I promised him)

Also, let me know if you'd like a photo of the cards I send out. I'll do a montage every update.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #114

Happy Friday!

What are you thankful for this week? Me, I'm thankful for going back to work. Well, I need to rephrase that. I'm not thankful that I'm back to work, but I'm thankful for the routine of work; knowing what day it is; getting dressed and putting my make up on; socializing; and actually doing something besides laying around in my jammies all day.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE laying around in my jammies all day, but two weeks is a long time to be lazy. LOL

Work is work, but I am thankful for a job that I love and coworkers that don't get on my nerves.

Have a wonderful week!

WOYWW #553

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW!  Happy New Year as well to all my fellow deskers. I’ve been missing for a few weeks now but as most of you, just busy with all the holidays and holiday prep.

My daughter and I had an organization day on Sunday and even though there is so much more to do, we got a lot done and cleared a lot of space on our work desks.

Here’s a photo:

Of course it didn’t take much time for me to fill it for my next project. I scrapbooked a few pages for my 2019 photos.

Click on over to Stamping Ground and visit some great desks and talented people!

BBTB; First Challenge for 2020

Happy New Year! I’m glad you’re here to join the first challenge in 2020 at the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) challenge blog. The theme is Tick Tock (use a clock).

I chose to make a card using the cuckoo clock from the Germany collection. I decided to cut out the clock pieces in shades of gray and made the background super colorful. I used papers that I’ve had for a long time and chose colors to create an ombré affect. I inked the edges with Apricot Appeal ink from SU! I don’t know if it’s still available. I’ve had my ink pads forever!

 I tied twine in two places then hand wrote the sentiment since I didn’t have a stamp. I also added a cute birdie sticker. I mean every cuckoo clock needs a birdie, right?

I know I should have created a New Years project, but I wanted to make something that I knew I would use.

Now it’s your turn, create a project using your cricut with the challenge theme and link it up to the BBTB2 site.

Junk Journal Entries

The best thing about taking time off is playing in the Command Center and more exact, playing in a junk journal.

I made this one on New Years Eve:

And this one on New Years Day:

I used Pinterest for both of these quotes. I love them both! I am no where near finishing the junk journals I made awhile ago. I’ll need to do a flip through so you can see what I’ve done so far.

I love these things and they are much easier to be inspired when the “junk” already has some color/marks on them like these two did.

The butterfly on the second page was just sitting on my work area waiting to be adhered to something. It coordinates perfectly and promoted the quote.

Have you tried creating a junk journal? How about an art journal? If not, why?!

Creative With Stamps: January #46

Happy New Year! The Creative With Stamps  CWS challenge for January is:

I stamped this cute SCARF wearing owl for this month’s card challenge. After coloring the image with some alcohol markers, I selected a handmade background paper from my collection. Most of these were made by using a gelli plate, but not all of them. I store them in a separate container.

Once I made my selection, I stamped the image again on the paper and adhered the fussy cut owl over that. I added the sentiment, some ink splotches, gold glitter pen and other marks to finish the card.

I made a second card as well:

Now it’s your turn...click on over to the Creative With StampsCWS blog site and enter your card for a chance to win a prize.

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog; January

Happy New Year and Happy New Challenge at the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog (LTSCB). This month’s challenge is...Anything Goes. For the new year, 2020, we’ll do a specific theme every other month otherwise it’s Anything Goes.

I put together a two-page scrapbook layout showcasing my random activities for the months of February and March. I’ve just started doing this to record other events besides the major ones each month. I love using different sized photos for these types of layouts.

I was getting a monthly page kit with Scrapbook Generation but they have decided to stop their monthly subscriptions. I love getting monthly kits because s most times the items/lines aren’t something I would normally purchase. It puts me out of my comfort zone.

Be sure to link your project at LTSCB. We get a lot of linkers and I’m sure you’ll be inspired by them and/or the DT.

Love To Craft Challenge Blog; January

Happy New Year! As always, the challenge at the Love To Craft Challenge Blog (LTCCB ) for January is Anything Goes.

I made the iron on for this sweatshirt for my niece:

I created the iron on by using my cricut and a free SVG from lovesvg.

The sweatshirt was purchased from Walmart for less than $10.

Your turn...create a project - any project - and link it at the LTCCB challenge site before January ends!