Patience comes in scraps...

She's eagerly awaiting Spring, and so am I. Oh how I hate the snow, the cold, the wet, but most of all, how I hate the DARK. I am sooo happy that the time change is this weekend, it'll mean coming home and having an extra hour of light, which will make such a huge difference. It can be dark all it wants to be in the morning, but at night I really need that extra sunshine to keep me awake and functioning. Bring on spring! My patience is wearing thin.

I am also attempting to be patient with my friend Jelena, although it's so, so hard because I am eagerly awaiting her email letting me know if my vacation dates to go see her (July 30-August 13) are ok with her vacation schedule, because if so I am buying my tickets and GOING TO ITALY!! Just 1 little word, I just need to hear her say "yes", or "ok", or "si", whatever it takes for me to get over there! It's so close, I can taste it, feel it, I'm already pulling out my Italian book in preparation, I just hope she's ok with it!

(The reason I need her go-ahead is because I will be staying with her in Padua for 2 weeks, but she said that she can't take any holidays until August, but she didn't tell me when in August, so I'm waiting back to hear if the first 2 weeks will be ok with her, since my seat sale only works for the first 2 weeks of August, and also I wouldn't want to be over there while she is working, she wants to be off so that she can take me around the town near Venice where she lives and take me to her hometown in Croatia...oh my word this has to happen!)

So yeah, I'm checking my hotmail like every hour to see if she has replied, the anticipation is killing me...patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue...

Anyway, that's about all that's going on with me, waiting for things to happen. I've managed to scrap a few things in the meantime though that I'd thought I'd share.

Here's my little mini book for Emily Falconbridge's 52Q: A Year of mini Art journaling. This is turning out to be really fun, I still need to catch up on the questions but I'm enjoying doing them, the small size (5X7) is less intimidating to me, and I'm making it a rule to use up old supplies and to get them done in no less than 30 minutes to keep the stress to a minimum. Just concentrate on the questions and the words.

Here's the cover, I used a little metal duo-tang thingy from school to hold it all together, but the pages are better presented when they are out of the holder. The back cover is made of cardboard, so it's almost like a little clipboard for the 5X7 sheets.

(back inside cover and back cover)

And here are my first 2 questions, Hopes for 2009, and Are you Afraid of Change?

I already have about 20 5X7 sheets of patterned paper and cardstock cut out, so each week I just pick one out and go to town on it. Simple and fun :)

I also scrapped a few layouts, one for Effer Dare #129, "Guilty of..." I said that I was guilty of too many vain self-portraits, which I think many of us scrappers/photographers/365-ers can attest to...

As I mentioned above, I'm really trying to use my old stuff up, things that I've had forever but don't really want to give/throw away. This next layout is basically a "use-up-some-old-stuff-even-if-you-don't-love-it" page, but you know sometimes that's ok. I find though that when I use old stuff I scrap "old style", like I used to, which I'm trying to branch away from, but if it works I say use it. This layout was for the latest Mojo Challenge, which was to use the phrase "For the love of ____". My kitten is ridiculously cute sometimes, so I had to document that.

See, old-school. That flower sticker is like 5 years old, and those letter stickers came from a baby page kit, and the papers come from a-gasp-slab! And Primas, are you kidding me? And brads? And K&Co Chinese box tags?! Yeah, that's right, I used 'em.

In non-scrappy news, I have my living room nearly finished, Dan hung the shelf above the new loveseat and I re-did my photo cluster (it different from this picture still, I added some more pics and swapped some out), so now all that's left it to get some new curtains, pillow covers and fabric to re-upholster the two chairs Heather gave me (I'm thinking they are going to be brighter, bolder patterns since everything else is pretty neutral, I need a pop of colour!) I may also whitewash the coffee table and of course we will eventually get rid of the hideous huge TV and entertainment center for a more style friendly flat screen and sideboard, but that'll probably come after a certain trip is taken :)

Looking at it from where the dining room table should be.

Well that's all for now, Dan bought Rockband with his part of the tax money and is enjoying the drums immensely. We are on the 3rd Season of the Sopranos and loving it. Work is frustrating almost everyday but there are small reliefs here and there that make it bearable. We are heading to Sussex this weekend, I'm looking forward to a night out at Germingle's (German restaurant in the country) with the fam, taking pics with my sis and starting my blanket with my mom! And on Monday I have the day off so I will going to visit my favourite little baby and his mama, Judah and Sara. So all in all life isn't so bad, now is it?

Off to scrap a bit, have a good Tuesday night!

G.