Taking Time To Catch Up

It's hard to believe that two weeks have flown by since my last post. It feels like a whirlwind! I decided that the finshed basement was better suited to my crafting needs than the guest bedroom. So, I packed up my belongings & moved downstairs. Wow...what a difference! I have space, space & more space! Tons of space to hold all of my creative passions! As of now, I am still in my "unpacking" stages, but as soon as I get settled in, I'll post pics of my new home.

This week's challenge is trying to accomplish all that is on my list. I have several items on my upcoming calendar, including (most importantly) Andrew's 10th birthday. Yes, TENTH birthday! I feel so old! I remember those last few days before he graced our family just like it was yesterday. Oh, how time has flown!

In an effort to celebrate Valentine's Day, I have created a couple of layouts using the new Heidi Grace & Cloud 9 lines from Fiskars. Take a peek & tell me what you think:

I've been TAGGED!

So Miss Queen Vanna has tagged my blog with the the "I {Heart} Your Blog" award. So sweet of her to think of me. (Really she did this so I would have more things to do, cuz she knows I don't have ENOUGH already.) But she knows I love her blog too!

I am now supposed to answer the following questions with a one word answer:
1. Where is your cell phone? purse 2. Where is your significant other? working
3. Your hair color? blonde
4. Your mother? working
5. Your father? heaven
6. Your favorite thing? snuggles
7. Your dream last night? shopping (for Wii)
8. Your dream/goal? travel
9. The room you’re in? cluttered
10. Your hobby? crafty
11. Your fear? pain 12. Where do you want to be in six years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you’re not? greedy
15. One of your wish list items? organization
16. Where you grew up? Torrington 17. The last thing you did? email Vanna
18. What are you wearing? jammies
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? Jake
21. Your computer? on
22. Your mood? groggy
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? navy
25. Something you’re not wearing? pantyhose
26. Favorite store? scrapbook
27. Your Summer? busy
28. Love someone? always
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
31. Last time you cried? monday

Now I have to pass this award along to other worthy bloggers...but none of my other friends (you know who you are!) have blogs. Only Vanna. So, this week's challenge is to find some new "Blog Friends." Stay tuned!

Upcoming Classes at NESC

I had plans to go over my friend Sue's last night to crop with friends. But, after packing my bag & deciding which jammies to wear (it was a pj crop), my puppy decides he has other plans. He spent the day sick, which left me having to stay home to "clean up" after him. It was not pretty. So, instead of going out, I had to adjust my plans. Here's what I have been up to:

I am spending the weekend getting ready for upcoming classes I am teaching at NESC.













This is for my "Daytime Scrapping" class in February. You can catch the details on the NESC calendar.















And later this month I am teaching Disney Autogragh Book class.

Looks like another storm is a-brewin' and I'll be indoors while we get 8"-12" of snow by tomorrow. But I have plenty to keep me busy.

A Scrap Challenge

Here is a post I found from http://just-a-scrappin.blogspot.com:

"Our calendars are being formed for the new month so right now, get it out and write in at least one hour a week for designated scrapbooking time. Yes you can find it. It is there. Plan for it. Write it in and DO it. SO you have to give up reruns of CSI or Friends....No more wishful thinking....grab that time before it slips away. Make your time work for you. Use those supplies like papers and stickers. Zip out a few pages. Your family really does NOT want to have to dispose of 3 carts full of paper at an estate sale after you are gone....They would much rather look over your finished albums full of treasured memories. Ü"

And this is why I am scrapping a layout a day. Today, I completed 3 more:

These stem from a page kit from Sarah Milne of Scenic Route. She was teaching a class back in September at the CKC Convetion in Hartford. Vanna & I were her TA's. She was so thoughtful. For all of our hard work, she rewarded us with this lovely class kit! Three more layouts...DONE! (I am ahead one layout for the month...woohoo me!)

Scrappin Happy

It was a productive day! I wasn't able to get quite as many layouts done as I had originally hoped, but I did manage to create a few while cropping with my friends today. Here are some of the pages I completed:

My friend Debbie, a teacher at NESC created these pages last year for some of her classes. I just adore her work!

Here are a couple more:

My hope for tomorrow is to get photos on them, some journaling & Wa La!

*Editor's Note*:

I inadvertently left out my DEAR FRIEND Vanessa's name from my earlier post. Vanna, if you are reading this blog, PLEASE FORGIVE ME! Vanna was one of the friends I cropped with at NESC today. :)

Happy 2009!

Out with the old & in with the new, so they say. But I want some of the 'old' to stay. This year is all about balance for me...work, home, life, love, passions, wants and needs. And on the 2nd day of the new year, things are off to a pretty good start.

We started out the year by re-arranging Andrew's room. "Santa" brought him a brand new desk, one that can accommodate his computer and still give him some homework room. In order to fit all of the furniture in, we had to move his bed and bookshelf around and put the desk in a different corner from the original. But everyone seems happy with the new configuration and hopefully this will help Andrew keep his things in order. We shall see...

Next, I have been hard at work creating new designs for Scrap Can Do! Some late nights & some early mornings have been the only times when I have had opportunity to work (considering I have my full-time gig at NESC and managing things here at home.) And despite my lack of sleep, I have managed to create a couple of cute new mini albums. Vanessa & I will be updating our site, newsletter and Etsy sites early next week. Check things out when you get a chance.

Another goal for me this year is to scrap 365 layouts, one for each day of the year. I have set aside a bit of time tomorrow to start that goal and my hope is to get 12 layouts completed. I'll let you know how that turns out. I also have a full plate this month, since I am teaching a few classes and have a lot of design work to get done. I think it would be fun to post some of my designs here on my blog so you can follow along with what I am up to. If you want to see, be sure to check back often!

To all of my family & friends, have a happy, safe and healthy new year! Much love! xoxxoxox