I love Ella Publishing! They have some wonderful and inspiring products! I just downloaded this one yesterday. It has a lot of great ideas for scrapbooking a whole years worth of events. I think I've downloaded every publication they've put out so far. They are completely reasonable in price - most under $5.00.
I also just signed up for this great class on Big Picture Scrapbooking. Another one of my favorite place to find great inspiration and wonderful classes from some of the Scrapbooking world's superstars like Cathy Zielske, Ali Edwards, Stacy Julian. I'm gearing up for a year of creativity and inspiration. I'm so excited. It reminds me of the first sewing class I took in summer school when I was 7. That's when I got hooked on arts & crafts!
OH! And I just signed up for this one too! I'm going to be busy!!!
Today is the last day of November! That means - the first day of Christmas starts tomorrow!! AGGGHHH!! How is it possible that every year, Christmas always falls on December 25th, but every year I act surprised - like it just snuck up on me! Well, this year I wasn't going to let it get the best of me. I actually pulled a fast one and did all my Christmas decorating yesterday! The only thing I haven't done yet is decorate the tree. I'm waiting for our tree trimming party with my family on Sunday. That's been our family tradition for the past 17 years. I had great ambitions to do this great project by Ali Edwards, but I don't have the time to gather that much stuff and be that creative all at once, so I'm opting for a more practical project by Stacy Julian (I love her). I have pretty much all the supplies - I just need to print out the pictures and type up the journaling and I'm good to go! So much to do, so little time!
I'm starting part of my new year's resolution a little early this year. One of my goals is to be more creative. I came close to getting the boot from my little shabby shack a few months ago, but I was recently assured I'm safe from such a fate for a while (thanks mom!) Anyway, I want to take advantage of the beautful and inspiring space I have and use it to create!
During on of my recent blog surfing expeditions, I came across this great blog by Elsie Flannigan called A Beautiful Mess. What an inspiration.! While reading through some of her most recent blog entries, I came across this entry. I really enjoy taking online classes and this one looks like it's right up my alley! I'll be keep you all posted on my progress through out the class!
I first discovered "Where Women Create" when I was in the process of renovating my storage apartment into what is now my sanctuary known as my Shabby Shack. I can't remember where I first saw the cover of the book, but I KNEW I had to have it. So I went online and ordered it immediately. It came in the mail a week later. I tore open the package and ran my hands across the cover. But I didn't want to just open it up - I wanted total uninterupted time to enjoy every single page. So I put on the tea kettle, made myself a nice hot cup of Earl Gray, curled up in my cozy little reading nook, and got lost in the beautiful pages of this gorgeous book. You see, I can spend hours looking at other people's blogs and getting inspired by their talents, but if there is a beautiful studio to go along with it? Well, that's just pure heaven!
So imagine my delight when I recently discovered that "Where Women Create" became a periodical. Now I get enjoy these beautiful studios on a quarterly basis. Of course, these days with the popularity of Social Media - I also get to enjoy them on Facebook, Twitter and their website!
For those of you who know me, I'm a complete gadget junkie. Well, I just discovered, via a good friend who firmly believes in referral marketing, that Google has come up with yet another tool I HAVE to have. The best part is that it's FREE!!
What is Google Voice? Well, I think the video can explain it more succinctly than I can, and they have cute little graphics. But here is what I like about it:
1. I can customize my calling list so that the important people that need to get a hold of me will be able to ring through to all of my phones. I simply give them my Google Voice telephone number and all of my phones will ring. Of course I can customize it on the fly so if I know I'm going to be on vacation, and I have a phone number at the hotel, I can program that number as well.
2. The other nice thing about customizing is that I can also BLOCK callers I don't want to hear from or I can have their calls just go directly to voicemail. This is especially useful when someone asks for your phone number, but you don't really want to give them you "real" number. It's just another way to help screen your calls.
3. I like that I can check my voicemail from my computer or iPhone just by logging into my google voice mail account, which looks very much like an email box. From there, you can either read your email or listen to it. This is convenient when you are in a meeting and totally bored ;)
4. I was lucky enough to acquire a vanity phone number: (xxx) UK4ME-XX - I think I was most excited about that lol.
5. The only way you can get a Google Voice number is by invitation. I have a secret way to get one, so leave me a comment and I'll let you in on it ;)
As you can see, it's been a while since I've updated my Blog - but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf - isn't that what birthdays are for? Anyway - here's my newest add. Last weekend I purchased Adobe Photoshop EElements. Wayyy more easier to use that Photoshop CS3! I was up late last night trying to get the right amount of pictures to line up to the music. Here is the final result. I think I found a new hobby :)
With a new year, comes new goals. Yes, I've started my list just like everyone else:
1. Lose Weight 2. Be better organized 3. Spend more time with the family 4. Make more time for my creative arts! 5, Update my blog every day! Well, at least try to ;)
Not necessarily in that order, and there are definitely subcategories to all of the above.
One of my the projects that I am undertaking this year is called Project 365. I first learned about this project from one of my favorite blog sites http://www.cathyzielske.typepad.com/. I thought it would be a fun thing to do and what a great way to chronical a year! I'll be posting some of the work right here. I'll also try to post the progress of my goals - I'll try to keep it interesting!
So - I'm very fortunate that every Wednesday I get to work from home. That means I get to sleep in an extra hour, stay in my jammies for most the day, and work from the comfort of my cushy sofa! I get to put my hair in a ponytail and forego the make up. It also allows me time to be very domestic and cook a nice meal for my little family. Today I decided to cook a macaroni casserole (it's a favorite of my boys) Then, as the afternoon progressed, I was feeingl a bit June Cleaver-ish, and thought I'd make cookies for my little boy before he got home from school (well, he's 13, but he's my youngest so he'll always be my little boy). Needless to say he was more than pleased to come home right as I was pulling them out of the oven. He screamed "thanks mommy!" Then begged me to let him lick the spoon ;) - what kind of mom would deny their child the joy of licking the spoon? Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what I did differently this time when making my cookies. It's the standard Tollhouse(R) Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe found on the back of the package. I always use real butter - shortbread and margarine are not allowed in my cookies! But they came out so perfect. They were crispy around the edges, and soft and chewy in the middle...yummmm - had to limit myself, and finally stopped after 3 ;) (avoiding the scale tomorrow!!)
Oh how I love the little town I grew up in. We moved there in 1975 - the population then was only 7,000. Today it's well over 35,000. Back in my day, everyone's phone number started with 779 - which was cool because we only had to dial 9 + the last 4 numbers. You really couldn't go anywhere in town and not run into someone you knew. The movie theater always showed a double feature - for .50 cents! The town was so small that you couldn't even buy a set of sheets, mainly because there was no department store. We did have a Sprouse Reitz, which was one of those general store type stores. But they didn't carry sheets.
Well, today, my big sis and I decided to go shopping in my little town. It's still a small town, but it has some great little boutiques. What I especially love is that I know many of the shop owners - all wonderful gals. I'll have to remember to snap some shots of these stores!
