Too Busy!!

Such a cruel joke. I finally get my 365 kit and I've been SWAMPED over here. Between sick kids, the school newsletter (and school stuff in general), Liam's therapy, Emily's gymnastics and Daisy's, appointments and well, LIFE! I haven't had time to finish anything. I'm working on a few things right now and STILL cleaning my scrap room...oh the horror! Everything looked great and then I decided to get a new desk for Emily. I put that together yet the old desk remains in the middle of the room! Oh man! To add to my insanity...on Facebook I decided to "make something" for five people...well now it's seven. ;) I love the idea so I'm excited to do it. That said, why can't I just make a quick little something? Nope, not me! Without giving anything away, I decided to do a cool project using a Maya Road "coaster" chipboard album (well, seven chipboard albums). I really like all seven people so I don't mind taking the time! Two people are making something for me, so I'll get surprises as well. :)

I'm off to *try* and get more than 5 hours of sleep!! More soon!

365...here you come!

I received this e-mail today...

This email is to inform you that we have received your order for the following items. We will be sending your order via UPS Ground. If you have any questions concerning your order, please contact our Customer Service Department by phone at 1-800-453-1173 or email to CreatingKeepsakesCS@Holdenmss.com

No WAY! I think I'm actually getting the darn Project 365 kit..I'm in SHOCK! Of course I won't believe it until the package arrives. At this point I would have paid for 2nd day air but let's face it, I've waited this long, what's a few more days?

I'm still plugging away, working on my projects. This week I dove into an old QVC kit. Last February I bought the Cosmo Cricket papercrafting kit. It's actually really cool, despite the lack of instructions! I'm working on the "LOVE" banner at the moment and I hope to do the cube soon. As usual I start something and it takes time to finish it. I also have to add photos to that Lisa Bearnson 4 album kit. AHH...I need more hours in the day!! I'm also making progress on my scrap room...I'll post pics of everything as I finish. :)

Working on projects...

I started cleaning my scrap room last week...it's a daunting task. I was actually making a dent when my daughter wanted lunch...and my son...and then diaper changes...turning on movies...the dog needed to go out...then it was 5pm. Needless to say, it's been a week and the dent remained a dent...and here I sit hoping to get something done this weekend. Something good came out of my half cleaned room however. I was able to look at what I had and finally decide to finish MANY of the projects I have started. I FINALLY got my Flip Flop done which is such a load off of my mind (I will post photos tomorrow). Now I have to work on my unfinished CKC projects (I finally finished one, there is a photo on day 51 of my Project 365) and the MANY kits I have. Back in December of 2006 Lisa Bearson had a great kit on QVC. It was a "Year In Review" with four scrapbooks, each one delivered at a different time of year. I finally got those books together and it took longer than I thought! I still have to add the photos but just finishing something felt like an accomplishment. As I was patting myself on the back my daughter wondered in asking what I was doing. I showed her the books and all she could say was..."Mom, KITS?? You never use kits...will you still make it your own"? Yes, my 7 year old knows me so well! It's difficult for me to give myself over to the kit BUT I've learned that if I do in fact "make it my own" in some ways, the kit can be an amazing thing!

Tagged!

Ah, it's my first time getting "tagged" on my blog! OK, Carol...here you go!

I'm supposed to:

(1) Say one nice thing about the man in my life . . . Frank...we have been together for over 18 years...my college sweetheart. He has helped me through some rough times. He is sweet and funny and loving. We haven't seen each other much for the past 6 months, his job keeps him so busy. That said...he is still an amazing husband, father and friend and I love him more than words can say! Oh wait, that's more than "one nice thing". ;)

(2) List 6 ways you measure success in your life . . . This is a strange question. I think "success" is in the eyes of the beholder! I think carrying on a relationship for 18 years is successful...raising two amazing children....having a job that lasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (and still standing)...having a close relationship with my Mom and brothers...being a wife, daughter, mother, sister, friend, doctor, shrink, artist, teacher, musician, chef, keeper of the peace and housekeeper. Yep, I'm a success! ;)

Fun with Blocks!

I know I don't post here enough...I guess I'm not sure if anyone is reading! Well, I was waiting to post photos of my new and improved scrap room. Unfortunately, there has been a set back in the form of a double ear infection! Liam is sick so my room remains in shambles. If nothing else, it will have wait until the weekend. In the meantime, I can share a little project I made....

My friend Tracy has an amazing little boy named Eamon. (I dedicated one of my "365" posts to him Day 34). Eamon celebrated his second birthday and I decided to make him a gift. A while back I purchased some small, square, wooden blocks (they are sold at Oriental Trading Co.) and I finally decided what I would do with them!

Side1: Photos of Tracy's three kids

Side2: Phrases as well as a Happy Birthday wish and the date of his birthday

Side3: Quotes...a couple are my favorite and a few are Tracy's favorite

Side4: EAMON spelled out in chipboard

Side5: Various words such as "Love", "Hope" and "Faith"

Side6: Different textures such as fuzzy, rough, soft, etc.

I know this isn't a toy but I really wanted to give him something from the heart....and it was so much fun to make! :)

Alcohol Ink...

It's been a while but I'm back, I've been giving my "365" blog far more attention! I love alcohol ink and I have about 27 bottles. I haven't used it much but I found a couple of cool things to do so I thought I would share...

I have a ton of Heidi Swapp's "Ghost" shapes and letters. Although my son is 17 months old, I'm still lacking in "boy" scrapbooking products. I decided to ink a clear star and I love the way it came out! I chose a blue, a green and an orange color ink and dabbed each color on one at a time. It still looked transparent so to give it a more opaque look, I added a bit of white acrylic paint on the back. I found another interesting use as well. I'm working on a birthday card with a small, slide mount shadowbox. I wanted to add two very small rub-on butterflies. I transfered the rub-on to a transparency but then of course they were difficult to see. Using Tsukineko "fantastix", I painted on a tiny bit of gold alcohol ink...it gave it the pop it needed. I also colored in a dress rub-on. You can really see the difference between keeping it plain and using the ink!

Making a 365 kit...

I received an e-mail yesterday confirming that I'll be getting my 365 kit. Unfortunately it won't get here until mid-February so I'll definitely play catch up for a while. All of that said, I recruited my friend Lusya to take the challenge with me and she is doing great! She's just getting into scrap booking and loved the idea of this project. Of course I only ordered one kit, which as so many people know, was hard enough to get! I often order extra and then I'm stuck (I have extra school kits and expansion kits) and this time thought I would be "good" . Darn!! Instead of waiting to see if they will make more available (and who knows when that will be) I'm making a kit for my friend. I purchased an American Crafts 12x12 D-Ring cloth album (they also make leather and even corduroy) and We R Memory Keepers 4x6 photo sleeves (25 in a pack). The album is from Ritz Camera (which is running a 20% off sale until the end of January) and the page protectors are from Scrapbook.com . In the next couple of days I'll attempt to print the journaling cards whch were provided by Becky Higgins and we'll see what happens. I'll post photos of my progress just in case there is someone out there that wants to put one together!