My Christmas Gifts are on their way

I am finally getting my Christmas presents. I just signed up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I'm pretty excited and can't wait to get my kit (my Christmas present, if you haven't already guessed) when it comes. All that rubber. Woo Hoo. I'm actually more excited about the ink coming since I haven't bought anything since last June and all my ink pads and spots are dry as a bone.

Virtual Scrapbook Night was a blast last weekend. I'm still recovering from it. I really need to clean my space now. I did go through all my embellishments but the cardstock and papers is another story. Yikes.
I've been playing around with the camera lately. Lavinia has been very stubborn lately and her temper tantrums though few and far between are wild. Instead of yelling at her because I've had enough (which often is the case), I get out the camera. At first I though it would get her more riled up but surprisingly it actually calms her down. It definately calms me down because when she's at her worst I think of the scrapbook pages I can make to show her first boyfriend. I probably would never do that but at the time the thought does make me quite happy amist the screaming and destruction. I should add that about 90% of the time she is the sweetest girl you could ever ask for, but when she's in a mood watch out. Here's one picture of her when she didn't want to take her jacket off when we came home on day. I really like how her refection shows in the floor.

She's also been sick lately and has started falling asleep during the day. This day as soon as I got her out of the tub, she fell asleep in my lap.
I love this picture.

Happy Belated New Year

This past holiday was the most hectic holidays I’ve had in a while. I was totally not prepared. I worked all the way through and had too many commitments during the holidays. I was pretty late thinking of my New Years Resolutions. I actually came up with my list of resolutions last night at work.

1. Stop procrastinating
2. Do not commit to new things or events unless I am certain I can do it.
3. Have a monthly family activity like game night or a family outing
4. Have a monthly date night
5. Get out finances in order
6. Exercise 3 times a week
7. Drink 8 glasses of water a day at least 5 days a week
8. Do extra heavy duty cleaning on a room a month using 2 of my days off
9. Figure out a better way to organize my craft area and do it.
10. Set up a reward system so that I can keep my resolutions this year.

Since I haven’t thought up my resolutions until during the New Year, I’m going to start on Sunday. Although I did start on a few things already, I haven’t started every one and will take the next few days to come up with a plan. I need to find a way to reduce stress and have more fun with my family. Last year I decided to make more crafts and work on scrap booking and card making techniques and challenges. This year I will focus more on keeping the area clean. It is a centralized area so I am forced to clean it periodically but it still is often messy. Here are pics of my stamping area before I cleaned it for Christmas Eve. It was especially messy since I was finishing up last minute presents and cards. My goal this year is to keep it clean more often than not. My organization has always been a work in progress. My supplies or favorite techniques constantly change. I would like an area for completed projects and projects in progress. If I clean out my closet in the bedroom, I think I can manage that. I just want all my supplies in the same area. My current set up was perfect before I had the computer but now I need to find a way to keep everything clean and not take over the entire kitchen. Any great organizational tips are welcome. Happy New Year everyone and good luck with the resolutions.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone. This morning was a very busy morning. It’s just after 11:00 and we’ve already unwrapped presents, had Christmas diner, went visiting and opened more presents and came back home. I’m now just having a coffee and posting before I get ready for work. This year we were a little rushed since I have to work at 12:30 but we did pretty well. We got up around 6:00. We didn’t know how long it would take to unwrap everything this year so we had to wake up Lavinia. She was so tired, poor thing. We unwrapped presents then we took Lavinia up to Nanny Everett’s and unwrapped more presents there. They even had the dinner cooked early so that I had a chance to eat it. Now I’m really stuffed. I have to start getting my lunch ready and don’t even want to think about food right now. Among other presents, Mom and Dad gave her a winter hat and Tanya, Tracey, Mitchell, Matthew, and Julia gave her a pair of crocs. That is what she wore along with her pj's while she was opening her presents. There's a picture before unwrapping and a picture after. Now that I compare, they look really similar. I guess that I should have taken a picture while the wrapping is still on the floor. I'd better get going. I hope everyone has a great Christmas.

It’s been a while since I last posted. I have been creating some new projects for Christmas gifts so I can’t show them until after Christmas. I’m still quite busy working as well. Sunday they wanted us to work extra hours. I chose to tack a few hours on to the end of my shift instead of having to come in on a day off. Saturday night Lavinia was just not going to bed and she finally came into my bed and slept with me. I know, I know she needs to sleep in her own bed, but after midnight, I needed to get to sleep. She was still sleeping when I left for work and she was asleep when I got home. Depressing.

Monday night we went driving around town to look at the Christmas lights as we do every year. Since I work mostly nights, it was the last night we had to go until after Christmas. Lavinia didn’t last 15 minutes before she was asleep. Jason and I kept driving and scooping out the best-decorated places in case we got a chance to do it again during the Christmas holidays.

Last week we went in to town to pick up a few things and Lavinia got her picture taken with Santa. Last year she was too scared and she didn’t get a picture or even tell him what she wanted. This year she wasn’t scared. So we dared to take the picture. If we had a better strategy, she would not have been covered in chocolate milk by the time we got to the mall. We just kept shedding layers and were happy to find the shirt under her sweater was not dirty. She got up on the bench and was staring at him and wanted to say what she wanted first, but they were taking the picture first. It was a little overwhelming for her because everyone telling her to smile. By the time the picture was taken she was ready to leave. Then Santa asked what she wanted, she’d already had enough and wanted out of there. It would have been a better picture if they had just taken it of her looking at him, but at least she isn’t crying this year. We had a pretty good day in town. We ate at Zellers, which although it is not a five star restaurant, it was the first sit down meal we had in a long time and we really enjoyed it.

Now I’m just wrapping Christmas presents before and after work and trying to get ready for the holiday before it passes me by. I hope next year, I’ll be a lot more prepared.

This is a page I did last year for the calendar swap. It’s one of my very first stamping projects and I really enjoyed it. At the time I had nothing to color the picture with so left it alone. It’s a great stamp but it looks so bare. If I had the time before the end of the month, I’d color it in now. I wonder if the other ladies in the swap have colored theirs.

I’ve been very busy working and although we put the tree up last week, I still have a lot to do to get ready for Christmas. I was able to work on a few presents that I will show after Christmas. I still have a few more to make and some more shopping to do. I’m kind of waiting to see what my holiday schedule will be before I think of what groceries we need. At this point, I’m not sure if people are coming over Christmas Eve or if I’ll be working. I’m also not sure if I’m cooking on Christmas Day or if I’ll be at work. It will be easier to get more organized once I know my schedule. Although I have many Christmas cards made, I still did not get any cards done up yet. I really better get at it.

A few days ago Lavinia’s ecxema broke out. She was really itchy and had a hard time sleeping so she was so tired during the day too. Although she still has her active times, she was on the couch more often too. We’ve been really lucky this year because we had a really long stretch we didn’t have to worry about it. I think it let my guard down a bit because I should have been looking for it when the weather changed. I know by now that weather changes trigger her ecxema.

She was at her Nanny’s that last couple of days and although she is usually quite tired when she comes home, I was a little scared that she would wake up when I got home. A couple of weeks ago when I came home from work at 1am, I saw a little head poking out of the window and it would disappear once I got out of the car. She did go to bed great for Jason but would wake up when I got home. I went in her bedroom and we sang a few Christmas songs and she quickly went back to sleep, very amazing for her. Now that I started working those shifts again, I was wondering if she would wake up. So far, so good. She was so still I thought I would try out the night vision lens on the camera. There are so many features to this camera that I really never tried. I really just need to play with it a bit. I now have proof that she sleeps at night.

Decorating the tree

Usually we decorate either the last week of November or first week of December on the first day we have off together. This year I've been preoccupied with work and the November craft fairs, that I was rather unprepared this year. I did have today and yesterday off this week so we decorated a little. Yesterday Lavinia got up early. She usually sleeps in and I really enjoy getting at least one cup of coffee in before she appears. She has a lot of energy and I can barely keep up.

While I was getting dressed she got on the treadmill. Since she was doing well on it, I just let her go at it hoping it would tire her out a little bit. She was really exited because she knew we were going to do the tree.

Last year she had no interest in the tree and the year before she was too young. This year she had lots of fun. Since we have a fake tree I usually put it together and shape the branches and Jason does the lights and the garland. She helped me for a little bit but was bored with it pretty fast.

She then went to “help” with the lights until she discovered the garland. She played with that garland by twirling in round and round on the floor for so long that we had a time getting it untangled. She was very good putting the ornaments on the tree. We had a great time decorating and aside from driving us crazy with the sound of the beaded garland sliding on the floor we were very impressed with her behavior. And we only broke 1 ornament.

My craft fair season did not go well. I had prepared 100 + cards, 9 various stationary sets, 20+ tea matchbooks, 12 envelopes of homemade cappuccino (1 serving size), 12 jars homemade cappuccino, 6 mini notebooks, 6 notebooks with matching pen, and Santa, reindeer and snowman soup. I did sell 2 jars of homemade cappuccino at $8 each, 8 envelopes of cappuccino 6 teabag matchbooks at $1 each, 1 card at $2.50 and 1 mini notebook at $4. Mom had made some coasters for me to set out as well and there were no takers on that. Many of the crafters said that it was a poor year because it occurred before the pension checks were out. I’m not sure how drastic the pension checks affected the sales but I did learn some lessons. The main thing is people here do not like packaging. I had the cards packaged with a matching stamped envelope and the inside verse displayed. The notebooks with matching pen were packaged together as were the stationary sets. There were less than five people who glanced in their direction. All in all, I made just over the cost of my tables and gas. I’m glad I did it just for the experience, but next year? We’ll have to see.

Work is going well. I'm not even out of training and am already getting a 6 day week. I don't mind the job and actually think I will enjoy it once I'm out of training. That will be Wednesday, by the way. I can't wait to just get at it.

Two peas in a pod

Last weekend Mom and Dad and Isabella came to visit. It was fun seeing them and especially watching Lavinia and Isabella play together. This time Lavinia was following Isabella’s lead. It’s very interesting because at home and at her Nanny’s she rules the roost. Lavinia seemed to go to bed well Friday night so the last night we put the two girls together in Lavinia’s bed. They did really good. Realistically I thought Lavinia might keep Isabella up and we might need to separte them but I never heard a sound that night. Lavinia did not “sneak out” that night. Lately she’s been raiding the refrigerator in the middle of the night while we are sleeping. The next morning we’d wake up to find cheese slice wrappers or empty yogurt containers. There were no signs of that behavior on Sunday morning. Isabella still slept in a bit. Mom and Dad were stunned that she was not awake. When she did wake up Mom asked her, “How did you sleep last night?” Isabella said, “Not very well. Lavinia was peeping all night.” None of us really knew what she meant so Mom asked, “ Really. How did she do that?” Isabella said, “Like this. Peep, peep, peep, peep.” Even though Isabella had a rough night, it was a great visit. The two girls were like two peas in a pod.

Stress

I’ve been pretty busy since going back to work. Since working full time I feel really pressed for time. I suspect I will feel this way until the New Year. All last weekend I’ve been packaging the items I made for the craft fair. This weekend we are having visitors. I did not get as many projects done for the craft fair as I would have liked but at least I have something to put on the table. When I worked full time before I didn’t have much else on the go and fast easy meals. Since I stopped working I did a lot more cooking and baking. I had a lot more time to exercise. Lavinia really enjoyed baking from scratch and helping me cook. I have not exercised regularly since going back to work. I still want to continue less fast food, take-out, and pre-made dinners but need to find a way to manage my time. I also have got to take some time to organize the piles on my desk. Time management is key and I need a crash course.

Happy Hallowe'en

Yesterday Jason had all kinds of fun decorating with Lavinia. We usually decorate after Thanksgiving but we’ve had a lot going on lately that today really snuck up on us this year. Even so, this Hallowe’en has been the best one I’ve had in ages. The last few Hallowe’ens I was working. Today I was off at 3:30. I took Lavinia trick-or-treating around the block. Then Tasha and Paul took her and I passed out candy. It’s getting toward the end of the night and we’ve had over 30 kids so far. Much more than before. I’m getting down to the end of the candy. I was searching the cupboards to find what I could give if we did run out. I guess it will be freezies and pudding if it comes to that. Lavinia was a fairy princess this year. She was very shy going door to door. She was a little restless getting ready but we managed to get a few pics. The batteries were dying on the camera so the wait made it even harder to get a good picture.

Training

Training is going well. The material is very similar to what I was doing for my last job. I'm really glad that I already have a good grasp starting out because my brain just does not function that early in the morning. It is very hard for me to get up in the morning. I’m so used to being up late. When I first knew I’d be going back to work I worried about how I would get up for 9am but then found that training started at 7:30 am. It’s been hard but I’ve made it so far and the first few days are always the worst to adjust. Halfway through the training we'll be switching to night training. That is more my style; however, by then I'll be used to mornings. I’m started to get excited about working again. I think it’s going to be fun. I think I’m going to do something fun the first week of every month. I did a little crafting tonight but have no pic to post. I think I’ll just save it for the beginning of the month. It will be a little treat after Hallowe’en. It’s storming here and the power is flickering so I’d better shut down.

Conflicted

I got a job today. I start tomorrow at 7:30. I am of coarse excited about trying something new and making more money. I’m also really sad about not being home everyday. I was really hoping to use my time off to get things done around here. Although we did much more around the house than we have done last year, we didn’t get too far down the list of planned projects. I have gotten used to spending all day with Lavinia. I’m going to miss her. I’m slightly upset because I didn’t want to go back to work before Christmas. I thought we could have Hallowe’en and Christmas together for a change. I couldn’t sleep last night and decided to sort some of my scrap papers.

This morning I woke up before everyone and decided to use the time to create some cards. I used the light green from Basic Grey’s Urban Couture’s pack and the bottom paper was from Stampin’ Ups Holiday mini last year. The image is from Home for the Holidays stamped in Old Olive and the sentiment is from Cute Converse (retired) stamped in Whisper White.

I met with my new employers today and I think I’m going to enjoy working there. Jason actually worked for them when we lived in Charlottetown so I know they are a good company. When I got home Lavinia and I made brownies. I’m really going to miss doing things like this with her at the spur of the moment, without any planning required.

Penny Pinching and Temper Tantrums

I really hate penny pinching but right now it is necessary. I'm getting ready for an upcoming craft fair and need supplies. I'm trying to use up my stash of collected papers, stickers, ribbons, and other embellishments. Still you can't do much without ink and adhesive and I’m running low on both. My last Stampin’ Up order was last May. I am saving up for a large order but I keep putting it off because last minute things come up. I guess I’ll just have to think of how happy I’ll be once that order arrives. I did no stamping or scrapbooking today or yesterday. Just worked on the budget and did some work around the house.

Lavinia has been feeling sick lately and so I’m cutting her a little slack. Even so, what makes this turn to this on a dime? Needless to say after tearing up the living room in 5 minutes, she didn’t get her sticker for picking up her toys tonight. She saw it as too big a job and didn’t even want to try.

Getting ready for the BIG weekend.

I was actually trying to post this yesterday but my computer would not cooperate. The other day we saw ducks on the lawn. That's right wild ducks. I live right in town so I don't see ducks too often. I grabbed my camera and went outside. Lavinia was so excited but minutes before decided she needed to shed all her clothes so she had to watch from the window. Do you see them? I know. Believe me, that's the best shot I got. When I checked later I couldn't figure out what happened with the camera. I put it aside until Friday. Then I started to fiddle with the setting so that I could get a good shot. It had to work because this weekend is Virtual Scrapbook weekend on Splitcoast Stampers. Every 2 hours a new challenge is posted. We have to complete the challenge in 2 hrs and post it in the gallery before the deadline. Challenges run noon to midnight Atlantic Standard Time. Because most of my layouts are 12x12 and my scanner scans 81/2 x 11, pics are the way to go. I tried every setting and could not even come close to fixing the problem. I then called Tasha for her camera expertise. What a lifesaver. There was a smudge on the lens. I would never have thought of that. I thought Lavinia, who sometimes gets her hands on the camera changed the settings. Note to self: take better care of that camera. Now it's just after midnight and we are halfway through our weekend. I will share my favorite layouts in my next post.

My neglected plants

Today it finally stopped raining so Lavinia and I went outside and did some gardening. I am no green thumb. I actually hate the great outdoors but my guilt over my neglected plants reached it's peak and I decided to do something about it. Not only do I not have a green thumb, but I don't even know the difference between a plant and a weed. Last year I had great plans to fix up the yard and learn everything about my plants and how to take care of them. The result was that we kept the lawn mowed most of the time. This was a great improvement from last year since we then had craxy work schedules and most of our days off were rainy. Reality is that I do not like to be outside and avoid it when I can. Out of site and out of mind is usually where my yard is located. Today I can up with a solution for this and also for my own gardening ignorance with a very simple and manageable task. I resolve to take pictures of all my plants once a month. Sounds easy, right? It is. This way I can see what I don't like and want to change. I can e mail pictures to Mom (who LOVES gardening) for advice. That's right. Be prepared for questions, Mom. Another reason for doing this is to see what blooms and when. I just finished sizing my gardening pics for October. There are definately problem areas, but to my surprise there are a few areas I like.

Television

I love watching television. I'm such an addict. The problem is that most shows I like run either at the same time or at the time I'm trying to get my daughter to go to sleep. My VCR has become my favorite gadget. I usually watch them while I stamp or scrapbook. It is rare that I can sit an watch television without doing something. When I was younger, I remember my mother always doing something else while watching TV. It used to drive me crazy because she'd always miss something and I'd end up missing something else while I was explaining what happened. Now that I'm watching a tape it's no big deal to miss something. I just rewind. Now that the new season has started I don't read or watch movies anymore. Just TV. I am a sucker for crime dramas so I've created a poll to see if there are any others out there like me. My absolute favorite is Medium but have left it off since it doesn't premier until next month. What was NBC thinking?

With all this useless talk I thought I would show the results of my television watching last Saturday.


The first group of cards were made with Stampin' Up's Summer by the Sea stamp set. I used generic Costco cardstock and other scraps that I had collected over the years. I am very new to coloring so I have not invested in supplies until I can learn more about shading at the very least. I used my daughter's generic pencil crayons. All images were stamped on Stampin' Up's Whisper White paper. I was very impressed with the results of the pencil crayons on the ultrasmooth paper. I framed most images by doodling with my Zig Millennium Black marker and did faux stitching with my white Souffle pen. I didn't like the Souffle pen at first because it goes on almost clear. I was miffed and tossed my card aside. A few minutes later I was amazed. The pen dries opaque so it just takes a little patience for a great result.

The next group of cards I made because I was trying to use some suede papers that were cut in shapes. I stamped on them with Stampin' Up's Fun Filled stamp set using Whisper White craft ink. Again I really liked the results. All of these cards are pretty simple. I love using ribbons and charms but I was really trying to keep things simple. The middle card is a birthday card for Wade so Darlene, if you are reading, don't tell.

I am experimenting with pics for my profile.

To venture into the unknown

Today I decided to create a blog. My husband has been after me to create a my space page. I found that they were too busy and I did not even enjoy looking at them. I decided that blogging was the way to go.
I've been a long-time scrapbooker (about 6 years) and recently ventured into rubber-stamping a little over a year ago. It is my new obsession - and I mean obsession. I really did not realize people could get so nutty over paper and ribbon until it happened to me.
My intentions for this blog are to showcase papercrafting projects I have made, share various tips and favorite products, and share things I find interesting other than papercrafts. I do not intend to blog every day, but if I have the ability and something to share I shall do so.
I am not a writer. In fact blogging rather intimidates me. Oh the pressure of trying to come up with something interesting that people will want to read. Something meaningful. Something special. No. I'm setting my inhibitions aside and daring to create something I've never dared to create before. Here I come to cyber land.