Inkin' & Thinkin'

So Inspired! Can't wait to get messy now!

I sat down to quickly check my messages and thought I'd spend a little time with Google Reader since it's been months since I ventured there and well, wouldn't you know it?  I was sucked right in! 

As I neglected to cook anything and directed my children in the decluttering and cleaning of the main floor of the house from my cushioned planting in front of my computer screen, I came upon this blog simply called Huh? and haven't moved since.

I was really looking for something that would spark some creativity for me and well, this blog has my heart pumping and my fingers dying to feel paint and glue and ink all over them.  My nails are crying out to be plunged into something messy!  Oh yes, I think I found some inspiration here and I can't wait until tomorrow night to start creating.  I have oodles of creativity just begging to be used right now and I must put it off until tomorrow. 

Of course, if I dare to go to the craft house I may have to clean it first which would put the creativity off for at least another day or two.  Hmmmmm, maybe I can just sweep a table off and spend one little night being crazy crafty....will anyone really notice that I added another projects mess to the mix?  I doubt it! 

Go give it a looksy and see if you can't find something to be creatively inspired by...I dare you!

Here are a few things I'm so jazzed about....

 

Thinkin' About A Project for 2010

So last year I tried to do Project 365 where you take a photo a day and capture your life in daily photos.  Well, I think I made it through the first month and then lost interest in it.  I just don't find my daily life that interesting I guess.  So I was thinking I would like to start a new project in 2010.  I may finish it and I may not but hey, who's to say I can't start it?

So as I was sitting here thinking about it this morning, I came up with a few ideas and I'm not sure which one I want to do...here's what I came up with so far...

365 People In Troy Montana ... This one sounds so intriguing (and most tempting) to me.  I would love to make up a little survey for each person to fill out and take a few pics of them working, hanging out, hobbying, whatever.  Then I would create a page about each person using their photos and the information I got from them in their survey and conversation.  Why do I want to do this one?  Because I think there are a lot of very interesting people in this small town and after living here for 10 years I still don't feel like I know many people.  Why do I think it might not work out?  I'm pretty shy, believe it or not.  I don't talk to strangers very easily and if I am going to do this project I want to be able to capture their true personalities and quirks.  Beyond that, would 365 people actually let me follow them around and capture them on camera and tell me about themselves?  I think it would make a fabulous scrapbook that I could read over and over.  Therefore, it's #1 on my list of what I would really like to do...now to see if I have the guts to do it.  Any volunteers to get me started?  LOL!

365 Places in Troy MT ... This could be a lot of fun and a little less invasive than my first option.  I'm thinking about capturing the obvious places in Troy and then working out from there to capture some of the not so obvious places.  This could be homes, businesses, nature spots, ball fields, you name it....just whatever I am in the mood to shoot each day.

365 Things In My Home ... yes, there are many more than that lingering around the house but I was thinking this could be a fun way to just capture the things that surround us and the why of it all.

365 Projects in 2010 ... It's a lofty goal but I'm thinking it would be fun to see if I could actually finish 365 projects in a year.  Sure there will be days when I don't do anything but then there are times when I complete a few a day.  This could be anything from home improvement projects, cards, scrapbook pages, knitting projects, beading projects, painting projects, photo projects.  I think it could be done but the question is, do I want to document it all?

365 Photos of My Children ... Probably very easy to do for me but wouldn't it be fun to open a book and have it be nothing but photos of your children ... the hard part?  I would put it off until the end of the year and then try to choose my favorite 365 and would probably give up because I would be doing it all at once and it would be overwhelming and then I would be trying to be a good mom and make it fair so they all had the same amount of face time in the book.  Hmmmm, maybe not as fun as I originally thought.  LOL!

365 Meals ... I thought about doing this last year but then didn't shoot some of my less exciting meals.  This could be a good project for my health because there's no way I'd want to document me eating a bowl of fudge for dinner.  LOL!  I think it would be fun to add recipes and have the pics to go with them.  On the other hand, I have been working on a fun recipe book project for a couple of years now and it's still not done...so maybe I shouldn't start another! 

365 Best Parts Of The Day ... Every night at dinner we ask our kids what the best part of their day was and as everyone shares, we get to have a little conversation about just the good things.  I was thinking it would be fun to give each of the girls a book with all of their Best Parts of the Day at the end of the year.  It would be a fun read I think.

365 Worst Parts Of The Day ... As you can imagine, this is just the opposite.  We do this at dinner time too.  Most of the time it's that they have to eat Gravy or that they know they have to do the dishes after dinner but it's always a good time to let them vent a little about what went wrong in their day.  We usually get some good laughs and I'm thinking that a book capturing all the bad stuff would be funny to look back on in a year!  LOL!

365 Quotes ... I love a good quote as anyone that is my FB friend will tell you.  I find myself randomly adding them to my FB wall all the time.  I also have a book that is full of random quotes I've found in the past few years.  So maybe this project isn't really necessary for me since I pretty much already do this. 

So that's what I have on my mind for my 2010 project.  Now cross your fingers that I have the guts to do my first choice because that is the one I'd really love to do.  I just need to seriously get some guts and go for it.  I think the end result would be fabulous to read ... maybe I'll start with the survey and maybe someone will read this and volunteer to be a part of my project...who knows.  I'm excited about it but a little scared.  I guess that's what makes the best projects though...it wouldn't be worth it if it didn't make your stomach twist a little, right?

December....hmmm

Well, I have to tell you that I have spent the last couple of weeks without a computer and I have amazed myself with all that I have been able to get done.  I have hand made over 20 Christmas gifts, I have read 5 books, I have messed around with my camera, I have cleaned out and decluttered most of my house and man does it feel good!  I can't believe how much I got done just because I couldn't sit on the computer all day and night.  LOL!

So while I was decluttering my house I decided to declutter my life a little as well and have stepped down from all of my CT positions and will also be leaving Close To My Heart at the end of the year.

I have been a CTMH consultant for the past 6 years and it has been such a blessing in my life.  However, the time has come for me to move on.  I still think the products are great, I still think the company is great.  But I don't think it's the right fit for me anymore.  I have been able to make some amazing friendships during the past 6 years and I'm hoping we'll still be able to get together and scrap 'til we drop.  I will miss teasing you with the new catalog and spoiling you with CTMH goodies!  But, like I said, the time has come for me to move on.

I will be starting out on a few new adventures in the coming year and I can't wait to share that with you when the time is right.  Until then, you'll just have to wait it out. 

I will also be pursuing my love of photography a little more this year and hope to really turn it into something more.  I have been doing quite a few photo shoots lately and it will keep me busy in a way that I really enjoy spending my time.  I have created a new blog just for that as well as a facebook fan page.  Both of these were just started today so be patient and I will get more loaded as soon as I can.  

So....this blog will become a little more personal again and I'm looking forward to that as I'm sure my mom is as well!  LOL! 

Later Gators!

October News

These past couple of weeks have been insane at our house.  Between soccer and all of us being sick, I haven't had much time to do any creating.  I apologize for a boring blog lately.  I have decided to step down from almost all of my Creative Team commitments this month.  I so thoroughly enjoy being on those teams and working with the fabulous designers I work with but I have been so busy lately that I don't feel like I'm doing them any justice. 

I'm looking forward to some great winter projects and can't wait to get my beads out and start making some jewelry and gifts.  My friend is putting together a giant bead order through Fire Mountain Gems if anyone locally wants to add some beads to the order.  The more we order, the better the prices will be.  If you're interested let me know asap.  She is putting the order in on the 14th so you'll need to have your order and money ready by then.

There is this creative genius of a friend of mine that I seem to follow everywhere she goes.  Jeanne was the first person to pique my interest for Digital Scrapbooking and little did she know at the time that I would dive in head first!  LOL!  Well, over the last year or so she has been knitting and as I have watched her blog, I have really felt the desire to learn how to knit.  So yesterday, I took a knitting class at The Cultured Purl in Libby and I have to admit, I may be hooked!  If you want to learn, I highly recommend getting into TCP and taking a class with her.  It's awesome! 

How about some class news for October.  The only thing that has changed is that tonight's class has been canceled.

I also have a few new kits for sale!  I made these last month and didn't get a chance to add them to the blog just yet.  So I hope you like them.

This is a 109 pc kit plus full alpha (not all pieces are shown...I decided to add a little more after finishing the preview!  LOL!)

$3.00

Here are a few layouts I've created with Mish Mash

This next kit was part of a blog train last month so I thought I'd offer it in case anyone missed it and still wanted it.

$3.00

Here is one layout I made with Lina's Joy...

I also made my most favorite kit ever last month...it was so big (168 pcs!) that I had to make a very large preview for it!  LOL!

There are also 3 more papers that didn't make it into the preview!  Sometimes I just don't know what else it needs until I start playing with a kit.

$5.00

Here are a couple of layouts I've made with this kit so far...

Here's a little QP for you as well!  Enjoy!

You can grab your QP here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Don't forget that you can pick up hundreds of freebies every day at DigiFree!

Saying Goodbye

I am so sad today.  I received yet another letter from one of the designers I love to work with that she will be retiring from designing.  That makes it 1 store and 3 designers that I ct for that have called it quits this month.  Another designer is seriously struggling and is unsure of her design future at this point.  I work with several other designers that I haven't heard from in months so I'm assuming they have thrown in the towel as well. 

I understand the economy sucks and I understand that no one is spending money on unnecessary items right now.  I get that.  We're in the same boat.  It just really breaks my heart to see these ladies that are so incredibly talented having to give up their dream.  

I will miss working with each of them so much.  They have made me laugh and cry and they have become my friends.  I truly hope we'll stay in touch but I know that when you're not working with someone it's easy to let that relationship fall by the wayside unintentionally. 

You still have time to grab some amazing deals from them as they retire all of their products.  Please take a moment to support them if you can.  They are so talented and their designs are worthy of your hard earned.  You never know what a difference your $5.00 purchase can make in someone's life.

Farrah is having an amazing sale at her store this month and I know she would appreciate any support you can give her.  In fact, if you purchase $10.00 from her store this month, send me the receipt and I'll gift you both of the kits I've made.  I know it's not much but it's all I've got to offer at this point.  I found Farrah while blog hopping one day and immediately asked her if I could be a part of her CT.  I love the visual interest and texture she puts into her designs.  I have found her kits to truly stimulate me and push my creativity to new heights. 

Shannon is having a buy my store special and holy smokes...why wouldn't you?  I have long admired her talents and found her designs to be so beautiful and classic.  I remember when I first worked with one of her kits.  I almost couldn't stop myself.  I made about 5 pages and a couple of QPs before I did!

Stacey is also having a buy my store special and well, just check it out, you know you love her designs as much as I do.  I kinda forced myself on Stacey.  LOL!  She had worked on a collab with Teri and well, after working with her designs I just kind of adopted myself into Stacey's family.  She very graciously accepted me as one of her own and I'm so thankful.  I have enjoyed the conversations we've had and feel blessed to have worked with her.

Teri will be having a great special starting in August as this will be her last month.  You've heard me say time and again how much I love this lady and her designs...so be on the lookout for some amazing deals!  She gave me my first ct thrill when she asked me to join her CT Team.  I had long admired her work and was too chicken to ask her if I could be on her team.  But then out of the blue, she emailed me.  I am telling you that I screamed, jumped up and down and woke Andy up to tell him.  He didn't get it but I didn't care.   I was so excited to be a part of her team.  I think I've been closer to Teri than any other designer and I have been blessed to count her among my friends.  She is an amazing woman.

I am so sad to see these ladies leaving my digi world.  Please support them as much as you can during their last month.  Grab up those buy my store specials and get while the gettin's good.  Once these designs are gone, they are gone forever. 

To my beautiful designers I say thank you for opening a world of creativity for me.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with your delicious designs.  I truly appreciate the faith you had in me to do your designs justice.  I have enjoyed every moment of it and I will truly miss you.  You have enriched my life and I feel blessed to have been a part of yours.

Happy Memories

It's 1 am and I just finished a two hour chat with a long lost friend.  I got an email telling me I had a new friend request today so I went to check it out..didn't recognize the name (he changed it) so I looked at the face and about jumped out of my chair. 

The last time I saw this friend was right after Lexi was born.  We were shopping at Target in Msla and ran into a couple of my friends from high school.  I have often wondered since then what happened to my good friend.  I have searched online with no luck and had really given up for now on ever finding out where they were today.

So I accepted him as a friend and decided that since I was there I should probably update with a few of the pages I've done lately (little did I realize how many I hadn't added yet so I was there a while).  And then it happened...a chat button appeared and there was my friend with his ever famous, "Yo Blondie" that I knew so well.  Of course, I use to be blonde when that was being used so often. 

We chatted for two hours and it sure made me miss Missoula and all of the good times I had there.  I couldn't tell you exactly when I met my friend, Rick, but I can tell you that he, Steve, Brent and I had been friends from day one and that if a girl could ever wish for amazing guy friends, they were it. 

We talked about our lives now and about all the good times we had growing up.  We laughed and then laughed some more.  I don't think I've honestly laughed so much in such a long time.  Of all my friends from Missoula, I've probably missed these three the most. 

I met Brent on my first day in 6th Grade and it was like we had been friends our entire lives.  I still run into him every now and then as we meet in our travels and I still love him like a brother.  Of course, now he'd rather talk hunting with Andy.  LOL!

I'm thinking I met Steve during my freshman year.  We were in the same Earth Science class and I remember he use to come to school with the biggest hickies on his neck.  He was a rebel and a smart mouth and he made me laugh. 

Soon we were hanging out and he introduced me to Rick and I loved Rick from the moment I met him.  He had this crazy grin that always made me second guess him...I was never sure if he was being serious or if he was about to deliver a punch line.

Now these two use to sneak over to my house in the middle of the night and try to persuade me to come out and run with them.  They would knock on my window and whisper my name through my window.  I would lay there completely paralyzed because I was sure my dad and mom were going to hear them at any moment and kill me!  I never did sneak out...of course had I known that my parents were dead to the world when they went to sleep, I might have...good thing I was scared!

I remember them telling me about jumping on my trampoline in the middle of the night while we were all sleeping.  There was a time when they sat in my driveway and watched our tv through the window as we all sat oblivious to them being there. 

We camped out in the back of their trucks in the rain.  We partied.  We laughed.  And we laughed even more.  We listened to Adam Sandler CDs and sang along.  These were my boys.  These were the people I loved like brothers and I knew that they would always be there for me.  Always. 

Well, it has been about 10 years since I've seen Rick, about 12 years since I saw Steve and about 2 years since I've seen Brent.  But I have to tell you that chatting with Rick tonight made me realize just how awesome they were and are and just how much I have missed all of them.

It brought back a lot of fun memories I had long forgotten and for that I'm thankful.  Those were the days and I was a lucky girl to be surrounded by such crazy wonderful friends.  It surely made me want to drive to the top of a mountain, kick back and listen to some Adam Sandler and reminisce.  Of course, no one would get the humor like we did back in the day!  Happy times, good memories, great people.  What a way to end my day.

A Little Eye Candy....

Ok...since I made you read my Easter story this morning, I decided I should provide you with a little eye candy this evening.

These three pages started with Lexi's latest obsession with celebrity boys.  I knew this day was coming but I really was not prepared for it to come so soon.  She is madly in love with a few celebrities and while we were discussing this, she asked me who I thought was hot. 

I watched as she stared at me blankly as I told her who I thought was hot.  She only knew who a few of my celebrity crushes were so I looked a few up while she was at school so I could show them to her when she got home. 

Well...light bulb moment...why not make a page about them?  Hmmmm...why not, indeed?  Then why not get it printed out wall size and plaster my craft house wall with it?  LOL!  Okay...so I didn't go that far but the possibility is there.  ;o)

So I wondered what kit I would use to create this magnificent work of art and then I happened upon Late Night Scrap's kit Into The Fire.  Now I put aside most of the fireman gear for later but those flames and hoses sure came in handy! 

Well, of course we had to make a page with Lexi's celebrity crushes too...same kit, totally different look!

And you know that Andy wouldn't be left out of the fun so here are his celebrity crushes...again, same kit, different look!  Love it!

When I asked Kaylee if she wanted to make a page she informed me that all boys are ugly and she didn't think any of them were hot.  So no thank you.

Izzy wanted to make a page so I asked her who she thought was hot.  She looked at my page and said, "I like your boys mom...they're all hot...I pick them."  Ohhhh, the girl has taste!  LOL!

So hopefully you found some kind of eye candy in those layouts to make up for my really long winded post this morning. 

Sweet Dreams!

Just because I haven't done one in a while...

You Are Chocolate

You are dramatic, charming, and downright addicting. You have a strong personality, and and people are drawn to your fabulousness. You are stimulating and exciting. It's hard to get tired of you. You are incredibly likable and popular. You live a glorious life.

Are You Chocolate or Vanilla?

You Are Dare

You are outrageous, adventurous, and wild. You live to have fun. You are all about taking risks and pushing limits. You love the rush of doing something forbidden. Like most daring people, you are highly intelligent and creative. That's why you get bored so easily. You need a lot of stimulation and novelty in your life. You aren't satisfied with the mundane.

Are You Truth or Dare?

You Are Chinese Checkers

You live a hyper, fast paced life. You rarely ever slow down. You are good at juggling many things at once. You are the ultimate multi-tasker. You enjoy being in a group - in fact the bigger the group, the better. You are an enthusiastic competitor, and you can be a little ruthless when you play games.

What Board Game Are You?

You Are Paper

Crafty and creative, you are able to adapt freely to almost any situation. People tend to underestimate you, unless they've truly seen what you are capable of. Deep down, you're always scheming and thinking up new plans. Your mind is constantly active. You are quite capable of anything you dream of. You can always figure out a way to get what you want. You can wrap a rock person up in your sheet of trickery. A scissor person can sneak up and cut you to pieces. When you fight: No one can anticipate your next move If someone makes you mad: You'll attack them mercilessly when they're unprepared

Are You Rock, Paper, or Scissors?

You Are an Astrologer

You tend to be a fanciful, spiritual person with many interesting theories. You are always trying to figure out how all the pieces of the world are connected. You have a knack for predicting the future and reading people. In modern times, you would make a good self help guru or a director of a non profit.

What's Your Medieval Profession?

Your Workspace Says You Work Best With Others

You are generally fairly organized, but you have occasional slip ups. You find keeping organized challenging. You tend to work at your own pace. If this means things don't You feel like you neglect your family and friends when you're working. You may work a bit too much. You are still trying to figure out your ideal career. You could quit your current job on any given day. At work, you tend to be an extrovert. You enjoy working with other people and drawing people into your work space.

What Does Your Work Space Say About You?

What Wendy Means: W is for Warm

W is for Warm E is for Emotional N is for Nervy D is for Dorky Y is for Yummy

What Does Your Name Mean?

A New Look

I've been promising a new blog look for a while now and today I decided to do it.  I have had the same header forever so it was time for a little face lift around here.  I hope you like it.

I used this beautiful kit called Euphorbia created by Fran.  I think she makes some very beautiful kits and I just love the natural and funky feel of them.  Go check her out when you get a chance.  She really is a fantastic artist.

 

The 6th Picture Challenge...

I've been challenged!

I've been challenged by Jodi over at Throwing Some Scraps Around.

 These are the challenge instructions:

•Go to your photo folder in your computer.

•Go to the 6th folder of the photos.

•Go to the sixth picture.

•Put the picture on your blog and description of it.

•Invite six friends to join the challenge.

•Link them in your blog and let them know they have been challenged!



I made this little bag for Lexi as her lunch bag in 2004.  LOL!  I remember spending a very good amount of time making this for her as well as a little card to go with it that I tucked into the bottom of her lunch bag.  She was so cute carrying this to school and when she got the card she couldn't wait to call me and tell me that she loved me too.   She was such a sweet little girl in 2004.  Now she's full of preteen attitude.  Maybe I need to make her another lunch bag!  LOL!

I'm tagging the following people...

Brenda (you know you need to blog anyway...August 6, really?!)
Kristan (um, hello....a little something on your blog, please?)
Amy (another no update day from you just won't do)
Sydney (you know you want to!)
Teri (because I know you have some great photos to share)
Stacey (I'm sure clicking a few mouse buttons won't hurt any joints or muscles)