Deck of Cards

I have started on a new project. LOL... what's new? Anyway, this is a challenge off the blog of Emily Falconbridge*e*. It's an art journal challenge, but the twist is to use a deck of cards, one card for each week of the year. How cool is that?

We'll see if I actually manage to complete all 52 cards, but so far it's a lot of fun, because I decided to "play"... as in try out new techniques, products, colors, etc.

Here are the first three weeks of the year.

Week one

week one back

week two

week two back

week three

week three back

So... check out her blog. It's very cool with lots of neat stuff.

Some new LOs

I think I may have promised to post some layouts. These two were done for a sketch challenge over at Pencillines Sketch #14. I initially wasn't sure I'd like the sketch, but I ended up doing two LOs. Go figure.

Here's the first one. PP is all Piggy Tales I love the papers. They are so bright and fun.


















The second one I did using Pink Martini available at Bananafrog. Love the paper with its bright colors and fun designs. Other "stuff" I used are Pressed Petals and Imagination Project chipboard alphas, and CBX velvet stickers.



Other than that, the weekend has been dreary, to say the least. Lots of rain, wind, ickyness. Oh well, better than snow, I guess. Off to scrap some more. Have a good one.

After the storm

Oye... that was something yesterday. I don't know that I remember a storm like it, other than when I still lived in the US. But we came through just fine. I had to pick up Trouble #1 and Trouble #2 from daycare early, because they closed down. I got the call to pick them up, while I was waiting at the airport for my dad to come in. Luckily his flight came on time, ahead of the storm, and all was well. Getting the kids to sleep last night was a bit more difficult than usual. We live in a corner apartment on the third floor... you can imagine the wind howling around the building. Trouble #1 finally fell asleep with headphones on her head, listening to music to drown out the howling.

Hope you all fared okay as well. More later.

It's a challenge! Part II

Well, what can I say? I am WEAK. Weak, I tell you. I so caved. But what can you do when there is a 50%off sale? With flat (reasonable) international shipping, to boot? So... just because I don't want to feel guilty all by myself... head on over to Cactus Scraps. It is yummy.

It's a challenge!

Yes, it is. Remember that "no spending on scrapsupplies challenge" I have going for myself. I am still going strong. 25 LOs done as of yesterday, but geez, it is hard. Now, I guess I had a bit of a "fix" on Monday when my Scrapologie kit came, and that's probably the reason I dove right into my new supplies. There are so many new paper lines and embellies coming out. Then there are sales. The big annual "Sell-A-Bration" by Stampin' Up is going on until the end of February. I mean, this is probably the first year in 8 or so years that I haven't bought stamps during SAB. It's been a bit easier this year, as I have really been doing a lot more scrapping and less stamping, but still. It is HARD!

On the bright side, I have 25 LOs done so far. That means, I am 1/4 of the way to my goal of 100 LOs. I worked on LOs for the Jumpstart January Challenge.... up to date on that one, and I worked on a few that I am thinking of submitting to a couple of different mags and sites. Obviously I am not going to post those LOs until they have been rejected (I know, always optimistic, right?) but I will post the other ones in the next day or so.

I am heading off to spend the day at the unemployment office. Remember that whole "boulder lifting" thing? Well, it also means I have to figure out what to do with myself when I grow up. And unfortunately a few people think that I am plenty grown up so I really have to get a job or at least a lead or two. So, wish me luck. Hope your day is more enjoyable than mine is going to be.

Kit Club Love

Yesterday was like Christmas all over. Actually, better than Christmas because my Christmas was kind of lean... I got all kinds of useful things, which is great, and I needed them, but fun things.... fun things are just that, FUN.

As I said, yesterday was like Christmas. My Scrapologie kit arrived. And was it ever fabulous! Ranjini knows how to choose paper, cardstock and embellishments like no other. Every month I keep saying "oh, this is my favorite kit" and then.... here comes another. And of course it is never enough to just get the kit. There are her amazing supplements. One more wonderful than the other. I don't know that I know of any other kit club where the members chomp at the bits every time the kit supplements go on sale, because inevitably, they sell out with lightning speed. I don't know how many times I stayed up WAY past my bedtime just to make sure my order went in on time. But... those sleepless nights are well worth it.

This is a LO with some of the papers from a recent kit (I think it was December). My favorite picture of Trouble#2 at the beach. PP Scenic Route and Creative Imagination. 7gypsies stamp, I even got out an old sun punch. The polka dot background PP has scallopped edges, but of course that got cut off.

So, if you are in need of a new "addiction" LOL, check out Scrapologie.

A little funny about Trouble #2

Well, it probably isn't funny by the time I write this down, and unless you know Trouble #2, it probably isn't terribly funny anyway, but I have to get a good giggle out, and nobody else is home right now to listen to me.

Trouble #2 is 5, so technically not old enough for first grade. But, both her teachers at Kindergarten and I thought she definitely should be tested to see if she could start early. She is way ahead of the game at Kindergarten. She went to testing, saw the principal, saw the school physician, all was well, yes, your child is definitely ready to start school this coming August.

Today, I got a letter in the mail from the school, confirming that indeed, my child is ready for first grade. BUT... they highly recommend speech therapy. Now, in this letter there are three boxes to mark, one basically recommending some sort of therapy for fine/gross motor skills, one for speech, one to increase concentration. Now, I can see maybe needing something for fine/gross motor skills. Trouble #2 can at times be clumsy. I swear, there is not a portrait taken where she doesn't have a bump, bruise or scratch... and that's just on her face. I can definitely see the need to increase concentration. She does not have a long attention span, but then, she is only 5 and quite active. But speech?

Now, this is the child whose grandfather was worried about her needing speech therapy, because she didn't really start speaking until she was almost 2. Very late compared to her sister. But then there was no stopping. The child spoke in complete sentences and has a vocabulary that amazes me every day. When she first came to Germany and knew very little German and her daycare provider didn't speak any English.... she was the one who would explain words to the daycare provider several different ways to make her understand. She was the one who would translate or describe words for Trouble #1. She can explain the most complex situation or circumstance without breaking a sweat. She soaks up language like a little sponge. And, I always know when she is asleep. That's about the only time when she DOESN'T speak.

So.... this child needs speech therapy. I, of course, was quite surprised, and called the school. The principal herself answered the phone and proceeded to tell me that they had noticed her needed help with her vocabulary and grammar, that she paraphrased, or circumscribed words and text. Uhhhhmmmm, yeah, and the problem is?

Anyway, the way I see it... it's a waste of resources. There are children (i.e a friend of Trouble#1)who would benefit from this but who are not getting the help , no matter how hard their parents try. And then there is my child, who will probably talk circles around the teacher by the end of the first week of school.

But who am I to question the school?

I will leave you with a picture of Trouble#2 when she isn't talking.

AEzine weekly challenge: Word of the year

Ali Edwards suggested picking a "word of the year", a word to sum up what I want for myself in 2007. Any word, as long as has personal meaning to me.

Well, I decided my word is TIME. It is probably an obvious choice, because... when do I ever have ENOUGH time? So I guess it is a matter of making a conscious effort to MAKE time. Time for things that are important to me, time to laugh, time to cry, time to heal, time to be silly, time to love, time to mourn, time to relax, time to just do nothing, time to do something for myself.

I guess... in the grand scheme of things, that little word "time" is really a big word, a HUGE word.

Anyway, Ali Edwards first weekly challenge involving this word was to create something, anything, to celebrate the chosen word for 2007. I made a LO, using my favorite paper (almost), the half-sheets by Rouge de Garance (available here).
I cut out the letters from the colored side, then mounted them on the black/white side of another sheet, and then mounted the whole thing on black CS. I am going to put it in a black frame, it's about 8 1/2x11 in... I think it will look good and remind me to take time.

So, with this said, I am going to take some time for tea. Have a good one.

You know that proverbial "boulder"?

The one that seems to weigh you down? the one you can't seem to shake off? Well, it's been lifted.

After 4 semesters I decided that going back to school is NOT for me, at least not at this point in time. Exams start next week. There is a termpaper due on Wednesday (I though I had til next week to finish it) and then 6 exams over two weeks, 4 of which cover two semesters each.

I haven't been feeling all that great anyway, and after receiving some not so great news on Saturday, everything just got to be too much. So, yesterday I decided that school is not good for me right now. The constant worrying about not getting enough study time, about failing classes, about not getting done on time.... was making me feel worse than I wasn't feeling anyway, which culminated in me having an anxiety attack yesterday. Not something I want to feel again.

And once I actually said it out loud.... you know, I was feeling better already. Corny as it may sound, but yeah, I was feeling better. I am still going to sit for three of the exams. I attended the lectures all semester, so I would think at least something stuck in my brain and I should be able to at least pass them. After that, I am done. And that damn termpaper? Nope, I tossed what reasearch I had done.

Well, while making this decision feels good... now I have to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. In the meantime, here's a layout I did a week or so ago. My scrapping friend Nat is going to be a guest DT member for Dream Street and I still had some Dream Street papers sitting around, so in her honor, this is what I came up with. PP all Dream Street, some American Crafts alpha stickers, Tim Holtz Walnut ink. The journaling is probably impossible to read, so here goes: I admit, I am a total city girl. Yes, I know the milk in the carton comes from a cow, but when it comes to a dairy cow's daily life... I am clueless. Imagine my surprise (and giggles) when I saw these scratch (?) brush contraptions at a local dairy farm. Who knew? Wellness for Bessie?

Spending challenge... or rather "no-spending" challenge

Well... New Year's resolutions aren't really my thing. I don't much care for failure and why set myself up for CERTAIN failure?

Lose weight? Yeah, right. Study more? Considering that I am thinking of quitting school... not likely. Work out more? I am doing the best I can timewise, so not happening either. Scrap more? Working on that anyway.

But, I am challenging myself... like so many other scrappers, I am sure, to stop spending so much $$$ on supplies and actually use what I already HAVE. Okay, I have to qualify the whole "not spending" bit by saying that I sub to two monthly kits (check them out, they are fabulous: PaperPosies and Scrapologie)and I don't want to/can't cancel either one right now. BUT, other than that, I will not buy new supplies. Does adhesive count as supplies? No, that's more of a staple I think. So... if I run out of any kind of glue, I will restock.

Anyway, I am thinking of doing 100 layouts before I am allowed to buy new "stuff". How does that sound? I am participating in two challenges right now, I have exams coming up, we will be moving next month, Trouble #1 is going to have a birthday party, but I should still be able to crank out a fair amount of LOs... so, all things considered, I shouldn't really be counting on being able to buy new stuff until April, at the earliest. Yikes.

So, wish me luck... I will need it to remain strong.

Off to a good start...

Well, it seems like the year is starting of right. I was reading one of my favorite blogs Kelly Lautenbach and just on a lark left a comment. I love to read her blog, because, since she lives in Omaha, I sort of feel connected with what used to be "home". Anyway, I left a comment and it turns out she drew names for a RAK (lots of delish ribbon) and I WON! How cool is that? And, to top it off, she also is sending a copy of the Designing with Color book. I've been wanting to get that book for the longest time but held off on ordering... you know... budgetary constraints and all. Good thing I did, right? So.... there should be a wonderful mail day coming up.

And, just because I am on a roll with scrapping, here's another LO
CS new Bazzill Bling, PP MOD black bird-isn't it cool? Also MOD epoxy stickers, and my lovely Marabu glitter paint pens. Can't seem to do a LO without a bit of bling and glitter these days. It's a good thing.

In 2006

Here's my first LO of the year. There's a great challenge over at 2Peas called "Jumpstart January Challenge". It's a fabulous way to get a good scrapping start into the year. I participated last year (and won). If I remember correctly, I finished 39 LOs just for the challenge, never mind the others I got done. Now.... exams did suffer a bit, but it made for a much happier me to be able to be creative (rather than dealing with Accounting and Programming).