I don’t know about you, but Monday’s are usually rough for me. Since I get three day weekends, getting back to work and having to wake up early isn’t always my favorite thing in the world. It probably doesn’t help that I usually don’t get to bed until late on Sunday night….. Today is different though. I feel an extra hop in my step- probably because I had a great weekend with friends. Food, new haircut, laughter, movies, it was all so fun!
Okay, now for the REAL reason you came to my blog…..I have a card to share! I created this one back when I was designing cards for DeNami sneak peeks (back in June), however, I didn’t think it was worthy of making the sneak peek post. I DO like the card, so I thought I’d share it with you all today!
Only two stamps needed for this little card. I used the newly released Three Houses and then one of my go-to stamps, Hello Friend. How fun are those houses?! I just love the versatility of them. You can use them for everyday cards (like I did), or you could color them in spooky colors for Halloween!
As you can tell from the title of this post, I have some DT news to share with you all. I am beyond thrilled to announce that I’m a part of the Young Crafters Unite DT! The ever-so-lovely Britta and Marie were so kind in asking me to join their team, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity!
You may remember, they had a SUPER fabulous Blog Hop last month. The premise of the blog is for young crafters, whether it be literally, or for the young crafters at heart. Whatever the case may be for you, we hope you’ll join us!
Once a month we’ll have a brand new challenge for you to play along with AND every three months we’ll have a blog hop. The last one was a huge success- I can’t wait until the next one! :) Oh, and let’s not forget about the prize for the challenges: a $25 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!
But wait….there is even more! I am so honored to be joining some other designers, some you may recognize. Here are the links to the fabulous ladies:
Our first challenge will start on August 23rd, so you only have to wait one week! We have a super fun theme that just about everyone will be able to join along in. It’s going to be a ton of fun- you won’t want to miss it!
I just wanted to pop in really quickly. I AM still very much alive; I’ve just been crazy busy at work lately.
If you are a crafter, which you most likely are if you’re reading this blog, you HAVE to check out the sneak peeks over on the DeNami blog. We are gearing up for our July 1st release and we have LOTS and LOTS of fabulous cards from the DT over there. In addition, we have some awesome giveaways that you’ll definitely want to enter.
I’ll be back in the next week or so with lots of new cards. I’ve been stamping up a storm, so I have lots to share with you. :)
You all know that I have struggled to have losing weight. I’ve start and stopped diets, had a personal trainer, done a sugar free diet, the list goes on and on. Each with the hopes of losing these unwanted 20+ pounds. With the new year, I am determined to have this year be THE year.
With that in mind, I thought I’d start a separate blog. One devoted to my fitness journey. It’s gonna be a look at my struggles and accomplishments. If something works for me, I’ll share it. If something is a complete flop, I’ll let you know that too. :)
Click image to go to blog.
Don’t worry, I’ll still keep up my craft blog! I’m also hoping that in this year, I’ll be better at blogging than I was towards the end of 2010. I started off strong, but lost motivation. (Lack of comments does amazing things to one who blogs.) I hope you’ll all keep on commenting- it REALLY is the fuel to my posts!
Thanks for joining me in my craft journey, and possibly my fitness one!
With the new year here, I thought it’d be fun to recap some of my favorite memories of this year. (Warning: this post will be fairly long!)It’s so easy to forget what happens during the year, so it’s great to keep a blog highlighting your memories. It’s awesome to click back and reminisce about what has happened.
January
This was the month of the Winter CHA show. I had the great privilege of meeting quite a few of my sweet blog, crafty friends. I had to work during this show, but at least I got pictures with most of them! :) Here is the picture I took with Lisa.
If you have the opportunity to visit a CHA SuperShow, it’s a great experience. There are so many vendors, with many Make ‘N Takes, plus there are classes galore. Oh yes, and you can’t forget the shopping! I’m hoping they have a show in the Summer- I would love to meet more of my blog friends.
One day in February I had the great surprise of being featured by the lovely Dawn. This woman has done an outstanding job with her new company- her stamp sets are fabulous.
In addition to this lovely feature, I officially joined the DeNami DT. Each month we had challenges and Product Spotlights, in addition to lots of yummy cards. I had the best time getting to know the other DT girls and also making cards! :)
This was my card for the first DeNami challenge. It’s amazing how much my style has evolved this year! That’s another great thing about blogging; you can see your card making style change and become more refined. :)
Do you ever have days where you don’t feel like posting a card? I was having one of those days in March and decided it would be fun to do a ramblings post. This was a fun way to give you all a peek into my “real life”. I was SO happy when a few of my blog friends joined in on this idea. I’ve been continuing this feature and will continue to in the future.
In addition to meeting blog friends this year, I have met some of my Twitter friends! I got to meet my sweet friend, Eva. We met at her local scrapbook store, which was a lot of fun. This was the first time of a few that we meet together this year.
It was also this month that I decorated eggs for the FIRST time in my life. My friend, Ginny, had a small egg decorating party with a few friends. I have to say, I got a little frustrated that I had a hard time putting my ideas onto an egg. One of these days I’ll become a pro….maybe….
After many, many requests, I finally got around to posting tutorial videos. I started off with my “Fancy Bow” tutorial. It made me SO happy to see a few of the ladies in blog world start to create these bows.Since then I’ve done more videos….click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
This was the first time I created a scrapbook page for National Scrapbooking Day. I had so much fun creating this page (along with another one), and also used stamps on the pages. I need to create more of these pages- they were such a nice change from my normal cards!
I have participated in the 2 Sketches 4 You challenges for a few years. Laura and Kazan have always done a fabulous job with their challenges. I was beyond thrilled when one of my cards was chosen for “Card of the Week”. Definitely a highlight of the year!
This past year, my youngest sister graduated. (Yikes!) Our friend, Kara, started her business and was in need of some models. Since my sister needed her senior pictures, it was a win-win. Since I tagged along, Kara was nice enough to take a few pictures of me. :)
In July, we (DeNami Design) had our Fall/ Winter 2010 release. This was a great one, I must say. In this release, I was actively posting to the blog and DeNami FB page- it was SO great to see everyone’s excitement about the new collection. Seeing people excited (and reading it) is such a thrill.
This was the month where I became published for the first time! Funny thing is, it was the very first time I submitted! Sadly, haven’t had any luck since then….maybe in 2011….
This was the very first blog post that DeNami Design hosted. We had three special guests, along with all of the DT girls. This one was definitely a favorite for me- who doesn’t love polka dots?! :)
I *finally* got to meet my SWEET blog friend, Michele. I went to Colorado Springs in the Summer and got to spend the afternoon chatting and shopping with this sweet gal. It felt like we had met before, which was awesome. Nothing worse than meeting someone in person and not connecting like you do online! :) In addition to meeting Michele, I got to meet Lisa Petrella and Tenia Nelson. All of these girls were so fun!
In September, I went to my very first conference. My friend, Sarah, was speaking at a local church and I had the great opportunity to hear her. I was able to go with my BFF, Kalyn, and we had such a great time together. Not only did we get to feast on a large array of yummy foods, but we were able to hear an amazing speaker.
I made my first cupcake toppers, along with some coordinating items. The theme: Halloween. Now I’ve never been into Halloween, but with the newest DeNami stamps, I couldn’t stop using these images! Sad that I had to put them away….
After trying months to resist the colored twine craze, I finally gave in. (It was hard not to with all of the creations in blog world using it!) I started out with just a few colors…now I have over 15… *sigh*
Another thing I had hoped to avoid purchasing: a scoring tool. I gave in and now I don’t know if I could go back. I was able to get a great deal on a Martha Stewart one and truly love it. Here was my first card using it….
Living in Washington state, we don’t get TOO much snow. This year, we were in for a great surprise when it snowed in November. It wasn’t a teeny bit either- we got a large (for us) amount. It definitely set things back for lots of businesses, but thankfully we were able to get back to work a few days later.
It’s very rare that I do one-layer cards. I always think mine look boring, so I tend to shy away from them. I didn’t create one I truly loved until November. (How sad is that?!) Thanks to some great sets by Practicing Creativity, I was able to pull off the (almost) impossible.
Sadly, this was by far the worst blogging month for me. I was so burnt out and didn’t feel creative at all. Thankfully by the end, I regained some of my crafting mojo! Here is one of my most favorite baby cards ever… (With the help of WPlus9 stamps!)
I want to give a BIG HUGE thank you to all who have followed my blog this past year. It was such a delight to read all of your comments and emails. It’s because of you all that I have continued to blog. I’m hoping that in 2011 I’ll be able to continue to do so.
I just wanted to pop in and let you know that all is well with me. I know that I haven’t posted in a week…. I have been thoroughly enjoying my time off of work. I’ve been able to re-organize my room, wrap Christmas presents, finish my shopping, then also catch up on sleep! Oh yes, I can’t forget that I’ve been able to spend time with my family! It’s been so nice to watch movies together, going on outings and also just hang out.
I don’t have any plans to post until next week….I’m going to take full advantage of my time off. I hope you all don’t mind! Next week, I’ll have a few cards for the DeNami Design sneak peeks. You will definitely want to be sure to stop by and check it out!
I hope you all are having a great holiday season. Wishing you nothing but love, joy and peace!
I hope you all were able to join in on the DeNami Blog Hop yesterday. If not, there is still time to comment on the blog posts to be eligible for a prize. There was a total of 24 designers (including myself) that joined this time. I LOVE that each time we do a hop, more people join us! We will have another one in January, so be sure to stay tuned to the DeNami blog for those details later this week!
Yesterday, while I was doing my daily browsing of my favorite blogs, I saw my sweet Florida friend, Julie, tagged me in this post. I absolutely love getting to know my blog friends- some of them truly feel like real friends to me. I have had the privilege of getting to know (and meet) so many crafty blog friends….hopefully I can meet more in 2011!
Okay, now onto the fun List of Fours….
1. Four shows that you watch:
~ Real Housewives of Beverly Hills
~ The Biggest Loser
~ Psych
~ Burn Notice
2. Four things you are passionate about:
~ My job
~ My family
~ My church
~ Kids (I love holding babies!)
3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:
~ Gorgeous (It’s hard not to when I browse my crafty friends blogs!)
~ Seriously (I guess if I don’t say, I don’t think people take me seriously! LOL)
~ I’m over it
~ LOVE
4. Four things you’ve learned from the past:
~ Sometimes you have to make your own mistakes to truly learn.
~ Never take things for granted.
~ Some friends are only there for a season, and that’s okay.
~ Parents really do have your best interest at heart.
5. Four places you would like to go:
~ Paris
~ New York
~ Australia
~ Hollywood (I’ve always wanted to see the sign!)
6. Four things you did yesterday:
~ Went to a Christmas party and realized I’m old at heart. LOL
~ Played Just Dance 2 on the Wii and got super addicted.
~ Painted my toes for the first time in MONTHS. (I always get them done)
~ Finally put away some laundry that’s been sitting for a week.
7. Four things you are looking forward to:
~ My two week break from work.
~ Spending the day with my sister and mom on Friday in Seattle!
~ Concerts in 2011.
~ The DeNami Design release on January 1st!
8. Four things you love about Winter:
~ Sitting near the fire with a hot drink.
~ Going shopping with lots of people around (lot the hustle and bustle).
~ Wearing cute scarves with my jackets.
~ CUTE BOOTS! (Copied from Julie!)
Boy, is it chilly here in Washington! We are down to 23* and the temperature it supposed to get colder tonight. Thank goodness for heaters and lots of blankets!
Here are a few snapshots that I took, since I couldn’t get to work today……
This was taken from our deck. Some of the snow had already melted when I took this picture, but you can see on the railing there is still lots!
I have to admit, LOOKING at snow isn’t bad. It’s the driving in the snow and ice that scares me. I was watching the news and there were accidents galore. Decided that even though I have a TON of work to do for the new release, it just wasn’t worth risking my life over it.
Snow in trees is just so beautiful… I took many more of these types of pictures, but thought I’d spare you from having to scroll through them all. :)
Our sad hydrangea bushes don’t know what hit them! Usually our walkway is filled with beautiful greenery and hydrangea blossoms- sadly, that’s a thing of the past now.
Our raspberries are a little bit more persistent. What a surprise to see a few berries still on the bushes! Those berries are like our family- stubborn and determined! LOL
I couldn’t help but have my sister take a few pictures of me in the snow. I don’t particularly like to go out in the snow, but I’m all for good photo ops! Just got this new jacket a few days ago- couldn’t have been a more perfect time!
Judging from my Twitter friends, it looks like there aren’t too many that have gotten snow in the other parts of the US. I have to say, I’m jealous of those who have sun right now! They say the snow will go away soon, which I’m counting on. I would love to still be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the extended family AND hit some Black Friday sales.
Oh goodness, even just typing that title was painful. Yup, you probably guessed it, I’m getting back to the gym….
For those who’ve been reading my blog, you know that I had a trainer and was a “gym rat” for a good 6 months or so. I was at the place where I was seeing results and actually LIKED going to the gym. (Who thought that could happen?!) Well, with some big deadlines for work and just the busyness of life, I set aside the gym. I thought it’d be for a month, maybe two at the max. Well, it has been a good SIX months since I was completely committed to losing weight. After the deadlines, I needed “me” time and then proceeded to come up with a ton of excuses for not going to the gym. Still kicking myself for this. :(
Today I have a session with my new trainer. Sadly, during the time I was away, my old trainer went off to school. I don’t deal with change all that well, so it’ll take me a while to warm up to this new person. She seems super sweet, but has a completely different style than my old trainer. It’s not a bad thing, just something I will have to get used to. Anyways….we had our first session today. It was SUPPOSED to be 30 minutes, but we only were able to do 15 minutes. Why? Cause I’m so out of shape that I felt SICK when my body started lifting weights. Yes, literally sick. I was so embarrassed and also mad at myself. How was I in such good shape and now I’m back to the very beginning? Thankfully she was understanding and didn’t make me feel pathetic. (I was already thinking this enough for the both of us.)
I’m going to try to get back into a routine of going to the gym 4-6 times a week again. Really hoping that I’ll continue to stay motivated…these pants are starting to get snug and I don’t want to go back to my “fat jeans”. I had set a goal to lose weight this year, and I did. However, I gained it all back! I think these extra 20 pounds love me a little too much…..
Today I have a card to share that I made months ago….seriously…. I still haven’t decided if I like it or not; hence it not being posted. Since I haven’t gotten around to editing photos for current cards, you may have to bare with me and see some older, unseen cards. Hope you don’t mind!
I think my favorite part about this card is the color combo and the wrinkled ribbon! For those looking for a good source, I’ve been getting mine from PrairieBirdBoutique on Etsy. This seller is such a sweetie and her products are such great quality. I actually did a whole blog post about the ribbon, cause I really do love it that much. If you need a source for some of this yummy ribbon, you MUST buy from this seller. (No, I don’t get paid to say that….I really just love the ribbon.) :)
Oh, before I close, I just want to mention if you like this airplane stamp set, I have it for sale. (See Items For Sale at the top of blog) I recently cleaned out some of “the stash” and finally put them up. I’ll be cleaning some more, so be sure to keep checking back.
That’s it for me today. Let me just say that this week was super long and I am SOOOOOO glad that my work week is almost over!
