A Peek at My Week

It’s Friday, so it’s time for…

A PEEK AT MY WEEK

Something I loved about this week…

I have had a dream for some time – no, I’m not Martin Luther King and this is not that kind of dream. This week, the dream has come together and next week, I’ll be telling my blogging friends more about it. For now, here’s just a little “hint” of what’s to come.

You’ll have to wait until November 9^th to hear more about these Three Musketeers.

Something I learned this week…

I learned the password for my new debit card. Yep, it happened again. A store’s system was breached, so the bank issued me a new debit card. Fortunately there was no “situation” with my account. However, it seems that this is happening way too often.

Somewhere I went this week…

I went to our local thrift store and purchased another Guideposts “Devotional” book so I can make another book angel. (If you missed seeing it, click HERE to see my book angel.) I’m going to put together a tutorial, complete with pictures soon. So keep watching my blog for the tutorial.

Something I created this week…

Every year I make a hand-made gift for every family in our church. It’s usually a Christmas ornament – a Christmas angel. This week, I created the sample for this year’s gift. Now I just need to duplicate it.

Something I’m going to do this weekend…

My birthday was last Sunday. We typically go out for a birthday dinner, but since it fell on a Sunday, that didn’t work out. So my two guys are taking me to one of my favorite restaurants tomorrow – Olive Garden. YUM!

Something I want to accomplish next week…

I am going to be out-of-town three days this coming week. It is a state-wide meeting. Brock is excited. We will sleep in a hotel – which means swimming each night and a continental breakfast each morning. For Brock, it doesn’t get much better than that. LOL!

As for me, I want to experience something I haven’t experienced before. Shortly after moving here over three years ago, we discovered that our church is our polling place. I was so excited to hear that because it meant I merely had to walk across the parking lot to go vote. EXCEPT… every single election since we’ve been here, I’ve been out of town on Election Day and had to go to the courthouse and vote early. This time we will be leaving town – right after we vote.

Did I take the 30-Minute Challenge this week?

What is a 30-Minute Challenge? Basically, I choose something to do – perhaps it’s an organization task that is calling out to me, or a topic I want to research, or (*gasp!) an exercise I want to try, etc. – and I set the timer and invest 30 minutes in that challenge.

Oops! No, I didn’t.

*me bad*

SCORE TIME: Would I give this week a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I appreciate you so much!

Let's Get Organized

Today is the 5th Thursday of October - thematically, that means it is an "Organize It" Thursday. Sooooo... I decided to show you how I keep my blog organized. That's pretty important, so I don't miss any DT responsibilities, etc.

Last December I went to our local Wal-Mart (our only choice for this sort of shopping in our little dinky town) and purchased a "Weekly/Monthly Planner".

The first thing I did was put together a "daily" list and attached it to the front page of the planner. That way I always have a quick reference for what needs to be on my blog.

When I get an "assignment" I put it as a title (top line) on the appropriate date. Obviously, I can do this well in advance of the date the item will be on my blog.

Then, when I make the card/project, I put the specifications of what products I used, so that I will have those handy when I put together my blog post.

I have a little magnetic bookmark to make it easy to find the current week. (It's the little piece with the cupcakes on it up in the top left corner.)

When the card/project has been photographed and the photo has been cropped and saved, I put the "saved by" name at the very bottom of the appropriate date... so I can easily find the photos when it's time to put together my blog post.

This works VERY WELL for me. I'll definitely be doing this again in 2015.

This is another Organization tool I use:

I purchased several of these plastic sleeves at the Dollar Tree near our town. They actually had a student calendar in them, but I didn't need it for my purposes. Instead, I have one of these black sleeves for every design team I'm on and I slip the known challenge specifications inside each one. When I'm given a digi/stamp to use for the challenge, I make note of that, too.

I also have a lavendar sleeve - which I keep a list of swaps that I need to keep track of.

And I have two green sleeves, that I use to keep track of blog group challenge themes, etc.

All of these sleeves are bound together with O-rings, so they flip easily, open flat, and stay together. This is a very handy resource that I look at almost every day.

I love being organized!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Brentwood Santa and Reindeer

It's hard to believe that Christmas is less than two months off. 2014 certainly is going by very quickly.

I know a lot of you make Christmas cards and you're probably already beginning to think about what cards you'll be making this year. I don't typically send very many Christmas cards. However, I do like to make a few each year.

JessicaLynnOriginal Brentwood Merry Christmas Santa and Reindeer is so cute. He makes a fun Christmas card!

Here's the inside of my card:

There are some Christmas-themed challenges right now, so I'm going to enter my card in a few of them:

All Sorts Challenge - Christmas
Christmas Card - Anything Goes with Christmas
Hiding in my Craft Room - Any Holiday
Jingle Belles - Not a Creature Was Stirring


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image: JessicaLynnOriginal Brentwood Merry Christmas Santa and Reindeer
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers, and Zig Wink of Stella Marker
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP True Thyme
Designer Paper: CTMH (stars) and K & Co. Jubilee Magenta Accent
Embellishments: Brads from an unknown vendor

Two Holidays

Have you been to a discount or department store lately? If so, what did you notice??? They have both Halloween and Christmas sections open for the shoppers' pleasure.

So does my blog. Please don't hate me!

First is a fun Halloween card for the {PIN}Spirational Challenge.

Challenge #127

October 28 - November 10

Here is the photo to {Pin}Spire us:

Our sponsors for this challenge are:

Dilly Beans

and

Stamp Art Designs by Kathryn

THANK YOU to our FANTASTIC sponsors!!!

Here's my card:

Image donated by Stamp Art Design by Kathryn

Here's the inside of my card:

I hope you'll participate in the {PIN}Spirational Challenge!


As promised, I also have a Christmas card today. I made this card for the Calendar Girls monthly challenge, which falls on the 28th of each month.

Barb is Miss October and she gave us quite a challenge this month. Here it is, in her words:

This month we are going to do a color challenge. Since this card will be posted a few days before Halloween, I challenge you to make a card using just two colors--Black and One Other Color. I also challenge you to try to not use white or ivory as a base for your image. If you do, it does not need to count as your second color--or it can...... Your card does not need to be a Halloween card--it can be for any occasion. Get your thinking caps on and limit your colors to just two!



Barb, THANK YOU for stretching us - creatively! I loved your challenge!

I was going to try a "chalkboard effect" but then went a totally different direction.

Here's the card I made:

Here's the inside:

Now, let's pop over to the other Calendar Girl blogs and see what they did with Barb's challenge. You can find links to their blogs in my left side bar.

As always, thank you for stopping by my blog today!

Image: Stamp Art Design by Kathryn
Ink: Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Pumpkin Pie
Designer Paper: Cloud 9 Seasonal Paper Pad
Embellishment: Oriental Trading Grosgrain Ribbon

Image: Stampin' UP! Seasonal Sayings
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black and Stampin' UP! Black Embossing Powder
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Real Red
Embellishments: Ribbon and Sequins from unknown vendors

A String Bean Halloween

It's time for a new challenge at MelonHeadz Friends.

Theme: Halloween OR the Colors Black, Orange, Purple, & Green

Dates: October 27 through November 9

I hope you'll participate in the  

MelonHeadz Friends Challenge!

I used an image from the MelonHeadz Illustrating Halloween String Beans Bundle to make my card...

Isn't she an adorable witch???

Here's the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image: MelonHeadz Halloween String Bean Bundle
Sentiment: A Muse Studio Essential Sentiments
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black, Stampin' UP! Pumpkin Pie, and Staples White
Designer Papers: from my scrap file
Embellishments: Michael's Rhinestones

Birthday Greetings

I made a simple birthday card for today's blog post.

Here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Sentiments: MFT On the Line
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Cardstock: Stampin' UP! Early Espresso and Rose Red and Staples Ivory
Designer Paper: Heidi Grace Flower
Embellishments: Gems from an unknown vendor

I Couldn't Resist...

As you know, I'm part of the Sweet Stampin' Design Team, but what you may not realize is the fact that Sweet Stampin' has two groups - the Team Fi Group and the Team Abi Group. While there is a Sweet Stampin' Challenge every week, the design team members only have responsibility for every other week.

I am a Team Fi Group member.... so this is supposed to be my "off" week. However, I couldn't resist participating this week, and Abi graciously allowed me to do so.

Here's a clue of what the challenge is:

Can you guess? Yes! It's Anything But a Card!

Sweet Stampin' Challenge

October 25 - 31

Challenge Theme: Anything But a Card

I can't wait to see what everyone makes for this fun challenge!

I used a book and made an angel:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Images: Flourishes Poinsettia & Pine
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Embellishments: Stickles Glitter Glue

Also needed to make the angel: a book, a plain Christmas ornament, lace, ribbon, and gold cording.

A Peek at My Week

It’s Friday, so it’s time for…

A PEEK AT MY WEEK

Something I loved about this week…

I got an unexpected package one day – from Amazon. I thought, ‘What did I order? I don’t remember ordering anything.’ I opened the package and discovered it was an early birthday present from my daughter. Remember how I told you last week that my husband couldn’t find me an Alaska Starbucks mug when he was in Alaska. Well, when my daughter heard that, she ordered me one from Amazon.

THANK YOU, Brittney!!!

Something I learned this week…

I learned that it’s not too early to be shopping for Christmas gifts. My son texted me one day this week and said he’d purchased a Christmas gift – and it’s for ME! **squeal**

Somewhere I went this week…

My husband was hungry for Chinese food so we went out to eat at our local Chinese restaurant one day this week. The food was delicious, the service was adequate, and the fortune I received in my fortune cookie brought a great big smile to my face.

I have three planned trips coming up in the next few months that will take me south. Hmmm! I think I’m ready to experience some “unexpected happiness.”

Something I created this week…

Well, I don’t know if you’d call it creating or not, but I made (canned) applesauce this week. While I can eat it, I’m not a big fan of it. But oh how I love making it – because it makes my house smell so wonderful!

Something I’m going to do this weekend…

I am so excited! I am going to a Kids Ministry workshop and also to a Vacation Bible School team meeting. I get to have fun for two whole days! WOO HOO!!! (Can you tell I’m excited?)

Something I want to accomplish next week…

I really would like to get some organizing done in my Cubbyhole (craft area) this week. It’s a task that is way past due. I also have some major events coming up in the near future that I need to be studying/preparing for, so that’s on my to-do list, too.

Did I take the 30-Minute Challenge this week?

What is a 30-Minute Challenge? Basically, I choose something to do – perhaps it’s an organization task that is calling out to me, or a topic I want to research, or (*gasp!) an exercise I want to try, etc. – and I set the timer and invest 30 minutes in that challenge.

Yes, I did! Brock and I took 30-minutes one beautiful afternoon and decorated our front porch for Halloween/fall. It was fun doing this with him. He’s so tall that it makes hanging those windsocks so much easier… and he loves helping!

SCORE TIME: Would I give this week a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I appreciate you so much!

"Eye" See You

This is the 4th Thursday of October, which means thematically it's a CASE Thursday. If you don't know what I mean, click here to learn more.

I always have so much fun with the CASE projects, because they require me to snoop around and drool over other crafters' amazing work.

Today I've decided to case a very CAS card... I thought Becky's idea was just adorable! Click here to see the card I'm CASE'ing. THANK YOU for inspiring me, Becky!

Here's my card:

I have the topnote die, so could have used it, but I wanted to change things up a bit.

Here's the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

CASE CLOSED!

Sentiment: A Muse Studio Essential Sentiments
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (for sentiment) and Stampin' UP! Basic Grey (for distressing)
Cardstock: Recollections Black and 110# White
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishment: Ribbon from an unknown vendor

Happy Holidays

When I first saw the JessicaLynnOriginal Poinsettia image, I knew it was going to be appearing on one of my cards. I wasn't wrong. It is such a gorgeous flower! Be sure and check out the stamp set - Celebrate the Season with Santa. It not only has the love poinsettia stamp, but also some other fun stamps, too.

I wanted the flower to be the focal part of my card, so I went with a mostly white card, with just a touch of designer paper.

Here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image: JessicaLynnOriginal Celebrate the Season with Santa
Ink: Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollection Black and Staples Whie
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishments: Colorbok Swirly Rhinestones and Michael's Rhinestones

Winter'y Country Church

There's something so peaceful - serene even - about a little white frame church nestled in the country. Add a bit of snow and it becomes a delightful winter haven. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I love the "Worship the Lord" stamp set from Our Daily Bread.

I decided to try something a bit different and stamp the image onto a subtle piece of designer paper.

I colored it mostly with soft colors and then I added Stickles glitter glue for the snow. The effect really doesn't show up very well in the pictures, though.

Here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Image/Sentiment/Scripture: Our Daily Bread Worship the Lord
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Natural Ivory
Designer Paper: Paper Studio Holiday Wonder Paper Pad
Embellishments: Robins Next Dew Drops, Spare Parts Brads (snowflake brad and tiny white brads), and Stickles Glitter Glue