Happy New Years Eve!!

Today on Facebook,
I saw sooooooooo many people posting
about how awful 2009 was
& how glad they were to see it go.
That made me kinda sad.
Though I have NO idea
what these people dealt with in their lives,
I'm very thankful for my 2009.
Yes, it was a difficult year.
Financially, it was the hardest
year I've ever experienced.
BUT, I know the Lord NEVER
gives me more than I can handle
& for that I'm very grateful.
This past year made me realize
just how blessed I truly am,
I can do without,
& areas of my life that needed some cleaning out:)
So having said that,
I hope people will take the time
to really think about some positive aspects
of this past year.
I guess we could all say......."it could have been worse!!"
Anyway, enough from this soapbox,
here's my last two 2009 layouts.
On the first, I took inspiration from
the talented Nicole Samuels.
I won't post her layout,
but you can see it here.
I'm sure you can tell
which one I got the inspiration from.

And to end my post,
I'd like to paste a little blurb
about New Years Resolutions.
It's rather lengthy,
but worth the read.
For me, this puts things in perspective:

Question: "What sort of New Year’s Resolution should a Christian make?"

Answer: The practice of making New Year’s resolutions goes back over 3000 years to the ancient Babylonians. There is just something about the start of a New Year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. In reality, there is no difference between December 31st and January 1st. Nothing mystical occurs at midnight on December 31st. The Bible does not speak for or against the concept of New Year’s resolutions. However, if a Christian determines to make a New Year’s resolution, what kind of resolution should he or she make?

Common New Year’s resolutions are: to quit smoking, to stop drinking, to manage money better, and spend more time with family. By far the most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, in conjunction with exercising more and eating healthier. These are all good goals to set. However, 1 Timothy 4:8 instructs us to keep exercise in perspective: “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions, even among Christians, are in relation to physical things. This should not be.

Many Christians make New Year’s resolutions to pray more, to read the Bible every day, and to attend church more regularly. These are fantastic goals. However, these New Year’s resolutions fail just as often as the non-spiritual resolutions, because there is no power in a New Year’s resolution. Resolving to start or stop doing a certain activity has no value unless you have the proper motivation for stopping or starting that activity. For example, why do you want to read the Bible every day? Is it to honor God and grow spiritually, or is it because you have just heard that it is a good thing to do? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it to honor God with your body, or is it for vanity, to honor yourself?

Philippians 4:13 tells us, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” John 15:5 declares, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” If God is the center of your New Year’s resolution, it has chance for success, depending on your commitment to it. If it is God’s will for something to be fulfilled, He will enable you to fulfill it. If a resolution is not God honoring and/or is not in agreement in God’s Word, we will not receive God’s help in fulfilling the resolution.

So, what sort of New Year’s resolution should a Christian make? Here are some suggestions: (1) Pray to the Lord for wisdom (James 1:5) in regards to what resolutions, if any, He would have you make; (2) Pray for wisdom as to how to fulfill the goals God gives you; (3) Rely on God’s strength to help you; (4) Find an accountability partner who will help you and encourage you; (5) Don’t become discouraged with occasional failures; instead allow them to motivate you further; (6) Don’t become proud or vain, but give God the glory. Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”

May you have a Blessed & Happy New Year!!

nearing the end of 2009

How was everyone's Christmas?
Good I hope.
Ours was wonderful.
The girls were soooooooooooo excited this year.
We believe this is the last "Santa" year"
for our 9 1/2 year old.
Too many questions this year,
not to mention she found 2 Santa gifts,
for her sister,
we subsequently had to let family give:)
But, all-in-all, it was blessed.
I am still in my very unmotivated state.
But yesterday I suddenly had an inspiration attack
and ended up doing 5 layouts.
I'm only showing 3,
though the other 2 are my favs!!
These pics are 2 years old,
but when I came across them,
I smiled & realized how much I miss this age.
This is the "diaper wearing, running stiff-legged,"
2-year old age!! You know what I'm talking about!!
This next one is pictures from Christmas morning.
LOVE the look on my 5-year olds face.
In her words, "this is the best Christmas ever!!"
I did use some mist on this page,
which resulted in the warped edges.These pics are from Christmas 2006.
With the Cosmo Cricket chipboard,
I wanted to create a layout about her gingerbread house.
Nothing fancy & I still feel it's lacking,
but it's already tucked away.

I'm already anxious to get our Christmas decor put away.
We're having a New Year's Eve get-together
& could use the extra floor space.
Unfortunately, I think hubby wants to wait until Friday.
So, I guess that leaves me
to clean some more & scrap.
What else is a girl to do:)
Hope you have a wonderful New Year!!

it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas:)

I live in sunny, FL,
so it's hard for me to say
it "looks" like Christmas,
when we have no snow:)
But, it's definitely getting closer isn't it?
Are you ready?
I'm not, but getting there.
This past weekend
I spent time making layouts.
I decided to duplicate some layouts
for my sister & brothers.
These pertained to family,
so I thought they might want
one for their own albums.
I ended up making a total of 14,
including the two below,
which were not duplicates.
LOVE how these turned out.

I still have a few gifts to pick up
& even more to wrap,
but I'm not stressing about it.
I probably won't post again before Christmas.
I hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas
& enjoys time spent with family & loved ones.

So Sketchy's Farewell

I'm sad to announce, Ally, at So Sketchy,
has decided to discontinue the site.
As a final farewell,
she asked all of the So Sketchy Sistas to participate.
Here's all the information concerning the contest & prizes.
For my card,
I used some old K&Co Christmas dies I found,
a Bazzill border, sprinkled with Flower Soft
& embossed Bazzill.
It's hard to see,
but the red cardstock is embossed too.
I hope you'll visit the site
& see all the other creations
& participate in the final contest.
Good luck to Ally in her future endeavors.
I also have some Christmas projects
posted at Scrapscene today.
I didn't plan it,
but 2 of these projects were made
using The Cutting Cafe templates.
So many cute cutting templates.

That's all for now.
I'm hoping to be back
with more projects,
but I've been baking & baking!!
So, we'll see.
Happy Monday everyone!!

I Kid Not

For how long now have I been saying,
"I have projects to upload,"
yet you haven't seen them?
Welp, here are SOME of them.
I forgot to retake pictures,
so these are ones I finished up
last night & today.
The others will remain unseen for now.
These will all be gifts to family.
The first is my annual ornament.
I got this idea from Jenni Bowlin 4-years ago.
I make them for my tree every year
& decided to make this for someone else.
Mine's already on my tree,
& I'm too lazy to get it for a picture:)

These next projects
are an idea I got here.
I used a larger size chalkboard ($1.99)
& on this first one,
I used Asian coins,
but I didn't glue them down.
To adhere the ribbon,
I used a regular stapler.

My local scrapbook store
wanted me to make one,
but she asked me to use these clipboards
she already had in stock.
So I did & it turned out great.
To adhere the ribbon,
use a Crop-o-Dile to punch holes
through the pressed board.

I still feel like I have so much to do.
I have other gifts I'm planning on making,
but some involve home-made cookies,
which won't get made until this week!!
And,
I haven't done any Christmas shopping
*sigh*

*hehehehe* just a post

Hey,
no pictures to show,
but wanted you to know,
I have some projects to show,
BUT,
the pics are just plain yucky.
So, Friday my job is to get better pics
& I'll hopefully load that night.
Thanks for sticking with me!!

somebody help find my motivation

So, I have absolutely NO motivation.
I haven't been in my scraproom
in over a week.
I have so many ideas swimming in my wee head
for teacher gifts, tags & cards,
but it's hard to do anything when I won't come upstairs.
Below is a layout that has been on my desk
for OVER a week.
In fact, it's been finished,
except the flower I added today.
It's definitely nothing fancy,
but you can see I'm keeping things simple.

I did go to my lss, Scrap Happy, today
& picked up some fresh packs of
8.5x11 Bazzill cardstock.
Nothing like fresh cardstock to get the juices flowing!!
Christy wants me to do some projects,
so it looks like my days of slacking are over:)
I did get my Christmas decor up,
minus the tree.
We're getting that Saturday.
Ashlyn is also taking her first karate test.
She'll be testing for her yellow belt
& her instructor thinks she'll do fine!!
So we have another busy weekend,
but I'm determined to get something accomplished!!

A productive weekend

Thanksgiving break is over
& I'm sad.
My girlies have to head back to school
while I count down til Christmas break.
Oh how I love having them home with me!!
I was actually productive this weekend.
Not only did I get to scrap,
but I used a commercial carpet cleaner for the first time.
My carpets look new,
& my body will be soooooooooooo sore tomorrow!!
We're getting the house ready for Christmas decor,
so it's another busy week.
Here's 2 layouts I did on Saturday
with a 3rd on my desk.
My sewing maching is messed up
so it's lacking the extra sewing I usually have.
I guess I could hand-stitch,
but didn't feel like it.

I hope your week is off to a great start.
I'm looking forward to mine!!

Christmas project

So I did get a chance to scrap today.
After cleaning my desk,
I spent the day completing this project.
Sadly,
I had the box almost completed,
so I didn't have much to do.
I'm having the hardest time
motivating myself this year.
Anyway, I purchased some great templates
from The Cutting Cafe.
This box was one.
LOVE their templates.
It comes with an envelope & card template
but I didn't use them.

I completed this layout
a couple weeks ago?
I did some others,
but the pics didn't turn out good.
This pic was taken
on Camryn's 5th birthday!!
She's using this grin for ALL her pics.
Not sure where she got it from?

The girls are going to the
movies with my mil tomorrow.
I'm hoping to exercise,
clean carpet & scrap more.
Not even ready to break out
Christmas decorations yet!!

A Card a Day by PaperCrafts

It's Black Friday,
& I bet a lot of you are out shopping!!
NOT me:)
Me & my 2 girls are home.
I'm actually cleaning
& wanting to scrap.
My desk is a complete mess right now,
so I'll be cleaning it up
& hoping to get some projects completed.
In the meantime,
I got my copy of this magazine in the mail:

I'd been anxiously awaiting it,
as I have 2 cards inside.
One in the month of April
& one in the month of November.
TONS of great inspiration & talent!!
I hope you're having a wonderful Thanksgiving
& if you're shopping,
getting tons of great deals!!
Hopefully I'll have something to share
later today or tomorrow!!

Mary Kay & Christmas gifts

Hey everyone,
I'm still alive
& buried under my own thoughts.
I'm trying to come up with
inexpensive gifts
& ways to make extra Christmas money.

Anyway, a friend of mine is a Mary Kay consultant.
She's offering a good discount
because she just wants to stay active.
So, if anyone was thinking of ordering Mary Kay
for Christmas gifts
or to stock-up on personal make-up items,
please contact me
or leave a comment on this post.
I'll return with an email.

This is NOT a gimic in anyway, shape or form.
Just trying to help a friend
& pass along the savings to anyone else out there
that could use a little savings of their own!!

Have a blessed day!!

CPS 141

Oh wonderful Wednesday,
1/2 way to the weekend
& we just had a 5-day weekend:)
I'm so giddy that Friday
is only 2-days away!!
I so love having my girlies home with me!
So, last night I had the entire night to scrap,
IF I wanted.
And,
I wanted.
BUT,
the juices weren't flowing*sigh*
My first card uses CPS 141
and I actually did it yesterday afternoon.
I have these K&Co Christmas sentiments.
An entire pack to be exact,
that matches the new CC line exactly:)
So, I used it for this card.

This last card is the fruit
of all my labor last night.
Pretty lame, hu?

So, I'm off to work on 4th grade social studies.
We're studying the state of Florida.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,
I wonder why?

unexpected 5-day holiday!!

It's Tuesday
& we were bracing
for a HURRICANE in NOVEMBER?
What?
Yep.....that's Florida weather for ya!!
So, Ida didn't do much,
BUT
she did manage to get the girls a
5-day holiday.......WOOHOO!!
So, they both had friends over last night,
which gave me some scrappy time,
plus made for a very sleepy mom today:)
This first card uses the current
2 Sketches 4 U-Kazan 39 sketch.

I finally broke down & ordered
this sweet Cosmo Cricket Christmas line.
Thanks to Danni Reid & Embellish It Scrapbooking,
I got 20% off these goodies,
so I bought enough to make my cards this year.

This next card absolutely would NOT photograph.
This was my 5th attempt
& each was just as blurry as the first.
But, I did use the current Card Patterns #40.
NOTE: did you see my 3 brads*gasp*

Hubby has a dr. appt. early in the AM,
so the girls have to go to Grammie's for the night.
Along with my new Cosmo Cricket,
I also got the new Pink Paislee Amber Road & Mistletoe.
YES, I will be scrapping tonight:)
Hopefully more later.

I'm lovin' life right now!!

*warning*photo heavy

I have been so busy,

BUT,
it hasn't been too terribly bad.
I've gotten so much accomplished
& have grabbed a few minutes here & there
for scrapping & my girls.
It's a wonderful feeling to stretch my time.
This weekend is my sister's birthday.
As I like to tell EVERYONE,
"my much, much, much older sister:)"
To get the juices flowing,
I decided to use the latest

2S4U - Kazan 38 sketch.
Have you seen their new design team?
AMAZING!!!
I cannot wait to see their creations every week.
For the following 2 cards,
I used NOTHIN' but scraps from my scrap box.

This card is for a party Ashlyn is going to Saturday.
I decided to use Card Patterns #39 for this card.
This was a great sketch,
as the 1/2 circle thingy stretched me.

You might remember last Friday,
my mil was sweet enough to get the girls for me.
I had some time to scrap
& worked on nothing but layouts.
Here are a few I made:
This first one is about our cat & dog
we lost this past May/June.
We lost both within a 1 week time period.

I ADORE this photo.
It was taken at a friend's house
& these 3 are such sweet friends.
It warms my heart to see my girls
make friends with school mates.

This is my traditional "birthday" layout.
Every year I make a layout
with a picture from the previous year
& a current picture.
Then, I let all the party attendees sign.

These are just random pics
I caught of Camryn one night.
She was waiting on me to take her to bed
& I turned around & she was sound asleep!!
This is very unusual for her!

And that is it my friends.
We're going to watch my nephew
play his last game of flag football
& my neice cheer him on tomorrow.
Then we'll be celebrating Anna's bday.
I hope your weekend is full of blessings too!!

I haven't gone away...........

I've just been busy:(
I'd like to say
it's been FUN, exciting busy,
but it hasn't!!
I told a friend the other day,
I find myself continually saying,
"as soon as things calm down this week."
Yet, with each week,
nothing changes
except the various activities I attend!!
I did get some scrap time this weekend.
I haven't had a chance to photograph yet
AND,
all I worked on were layouts.
I am having a friend over Thurs
so I've been cleaning
& organizing to get ready!!
I want my time to be
as productive as possible.
I'm blessed
I'm happy
I miss my blog
& hopefully I'll post something soon!!
Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

guest designer Card Patterns #38

Happy Saturday everyone!!
It's a gorgeous day here
& we're celebrating
my youngest's 5th birthday.
Technically she's not 5 until Thursday,
but who's counting!!

So last week I was selected to be
the guest designer at Card Patterns.
I was honored to be chosen
& I hope you like my card.
I loved the sketch
& immediately knew I wanted to use
this large Jenni Bowlin rub-on butterfly.
The "delicate cycle only" label
came from JoAnn's.
I got a bunch of them years ago
on clearance.
They're labels made for clothes
& I thought it went great w/this butterfly.

"THANKS AGAIN" to Card Patterns
for having me as their guest designer.
I hope you'll play along with the sketch this week.
I'd love to visit you & see what you created.

CPS 138 & a birthday!!

Happy happy Friday!!
We are getting ready for a birthday party!!
My baby will be 5 next Thursday,
but we're having her party tomorrow.
There will be a bounce house, games,
pizza & cake!!
She is sooooooooooooooooo excited
& I LOVE IT!!
I'm getting ready to make
my traditional birthday layout.
Each birthday I make a layout
with 2 pictures of the birthday girl.
One picture showing her on the previous birthday;
and one current picture.
Then I let all the birthday guests sign the page.
Now that Ashlyn is older,
she enjoys reading what everyone writes her.
While prepping my mojo for a layout,
I tackled CPS 138 sketch.

Tomorrow Card Patterns will be posting
my Guest Designer card!!
I hope you'll stop by to visit.
I enjoyed the sketch
& the card I made!!
Gotta get busy on a layout
& then
we're making a Hannah Montana cake!!

new card

I'm trying to adjust.
Seems my life isn't settling into a routine.
After working my part-time job for 3-weeks,
I'm now working,
at home,
as a virtual assistant.
It's only 10-hours a week,
but those 10-hours
are when the girls are gone.
Once I'm finished,
I pick them up from school
& we start our "after-school routine."
This new schedule is like having a full-time job
& of course,
being a stay-at-home mom is a full-time job.
I was just used to the "me time"
I was able to grab here & there.
Seems I'm not getting it much anymore.
But tonight I decided I would.
I love visiting the CARDS blog.
Here is my card for their latest challenge.

We're having Camryn's 5th bday party Saturday.
It's supposed to be a gorgeous day
& I'm hoping she has a good turn-out.
She's so excited & counting the days.
Today is also my 12th wedding anniversary!!
We don't have anything planned,
but maybe we'll get a date night another day?
Hope your week is going great!!

Card Patterns #37

Another GORGEOUS day here in sunny FL.
It was very windy,
so that made it a bit nippy,
but gorgeous, nonetheless!!
Both girls had playdates over
& they spent all afternoon outside.
I still have bday invites to make
for Camryn's party NEXT Saturday:)
But decided to get my mojo going
with the new sketch from Card Patterns #37.
Instead of using a 1/2 circle,
I decided to use this Making Memories paper
I had hand-cut awhile back & never used.
So, it serves as my 1/2 circle.
I also used the yummy Prima bling
that I hoarde like crazy.
And does anyone recognize
the sticker sentiments?
They are like 50+ years old:)
I can't even tell you how long I've had them.

I was also pretty excited to see this.
I hope you're having a blessed weekend.
We still have a book report to finish for Ashlyn
& then we're home-free until Friday!!
Thanks for visiting me.

*2S4U* rainy Wednesday

Happy Hump Day to you!!
It's been raining *buckets*
since as early as 4:30 this morn!!
I have to get both girls to school this morn
& I hate that I can't walk Ashlyn to class.
Her bookbag is so heavy & it's so wet outside!!
Here's a card I made for a friend's son.
He & his sister are having a joint bday party
& I decided to use the current 2S4U - Kazan #37 sketch.
Made this with more of my Sassafras stash!!
At least I'm getting it used up.

I still have 3 bday cards to make
& bday invites for Camryn's party.
Guess I need to get busy.
Hope you have a wonderful day!

hocus pocus

Halloween is a holiday I don't celebrate
as I would other holidays.
I don't decorate my house,
make goodie bags or cards.
In fact, when I decided to make a card,
I went through to see what Halloween stuff I had.
I found 1 1/2 sheets of paper:)
Yep, just 1 1/2 sheets
& one was a Daisy D's piece.
I decided to use Cheryl's Bonus Sketch
over at 2 Sketches 4 U.
Yes I turned the sketch
& I used a rectangle instead of a circle.
Anyway, I did hand draw the legs & boots
& used these Making Memories chipboard pieces.
The bat is a Basic Grey rub-on.

So, I don't think it turned out too bad
& I have some of the cutest monster stickers.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,
maybe I'll make a few more Halloweenish cards?

M's sketch challenge #1

Happy Monday everyone!!
As I was blog hopping last night,
I visited Savitri Wilder's blog.
Not only is this girl uber talented
but it seems Ms. M has got the "talent" too.
Ms. M was inspired by a 2 Sketches 4 U sketch,
of course, who isn't:)
And decided to hold her very own sketch challenge.

M's sketch challenge #1

She created her own sketch AND card,
plus she's providing the prize!!
Her sketch is awesome
& I couldn't resist playing,
so here's my take.
I immediately knew I wanted to use
the pear scallop circle sticker.
If you knew how much OA & Sassafras
I have sitting around unused,
you'd probably hate me!!
BUT, for this card, I yanked some out.
Love how it turned out,
except for the crappy picture upload.
I've been having this prob w/my pics,
& originally thought it was
my lack of photo taking skills.
But, as I was browsing some pics yesterday,
I realized the "crappiness" happens AFTER
I upload to my blog.
Anyone else having this prob?
This picture looks TONS better
in the file, on my computer.

THANKS MS. M!!
I enjoyed your sketch very much
& can't wait for the next one.

CPS 137

Happy blessed Sunday to everyone!!
It's a gorgeous day in our neck of the woods
& yet I know in Kansas,
the temps are in the 40's *yikes*
It's also my father's "real" birthday...
"Happy Birthday Ogi!!"
The dinner went great
& he loved the card I made,
as seen here.
Only prob?
He turned 61, NOT 60 *oops*
See, he's technically my stepfather,
& from year-to-year
I rely on my older sister to tell me his age:)
So, she told me it was his 60th
& I believed her:) Silly me!!
Anyway,
I've had a chance to scrap some more this morning.
I used the current CPS #137
& these great Studio G $1.00 stamps.
I got them to use with this Cosmo Cricket
& finally pulled them out for this sketch.
Ashlyn thought the bottom of the grill was an alien,
which it could be used for, so I'll probably try it,
but it also looks like a red Pac-man too!!

Not sure what else we'll do today.
Girls have been motorcycle & gator riding.
The weather is so nice,
I think I'll get myself out there too!!

Card Patterns #36

Yes this is my 2nd post today,
but I got a card made for my fil's bday
& wanted to go ahead & post it.
I used Card Patterns #36
& it definitely challenged me.
So, sketches are used as "inspiration"
& though you might not be able to see the sketch,
it was definitely instrumental in this card.
It has a velcro closure
so we can add a gift card inside.

I've got supper prepped
& a chocolate cake made & iced.
All we're waiting for are the party guests!!