4 Simple Goals

So I'm jumping on the bandwagon created by Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess to list 4 simple goals to do before 2011.  Since I've been really slack on doing my monthly goals this summer, I figured it would be a good time to check back in and see what little things I can start doing now to make the rest of the year extra special.

So here we go, my goals:

[1]  [2]  [3]  [4]

1. Journal: I've struggled with keeping a decent journal for years, and honestly I don't think that I'll ever get to the point where I will write in a journal everyday.  I am just too darn lazy.  BUT I have realized that in order for me to keep some memories and special events alive, particularly in regards to Victor and all the things that he is doing (many for the first time ever), I will need to start keeping track somewhere other than this blog. I just can't remember it all for my monthly posts/updates, I need to record things as they happen.  When I did my A Week in the Life project back in June (2 months ago already!), I found the journaling to be hard at first but after a few days I was automatically reaching for it and jotting things down, and I would lay in bed at night and think of things to write in it the next day, so I think that I could easily get into that habit, as long as I didn't require myself to do a 'dear diary' post everyday.  I just need a spot to write down my lists, random thoughts, funny stories and most of all, Victor's life.  It's my job to capture it and I want to do a good job; this is my first step.  (Unfortunately I won't be able to use a cute little art journal or moleskin like some people do, I need something with spirals and a hardcover-practical, ruled paper, decent size, easily accessible. That's just how I roll.)

2. Finish decorating the apartment: We still aren't sure how long we're going to be living here, so there's still a part of me that wonders if I should bother pretty-fying (and spending the money) on decorating, but at the same time, I say that about every place I've ever been in, so I just need to go for it!  So whether it's working on a few little projects for every room or re-doing an entire room (like our bedroom), I just need to do what I can, because I do enjoy the process and also the results (I'm very much someone who is affected by their living space-I need light, colour, texture, space, comfort, etc to be happy.)

3. Finish my photography portfolio: Of course, it can never really be 'finished' because I will be continually expanding on it, but I'd like to have enough shots and sessions under my belt by the end of this year that I can comfortably begin thinking about creating a website in 2011.  There are still some gaps I hope to fill in during the next few months, and tweaks I need to make, and TONS of practice and learning left to do, but it's something I already think about daily so writing it out as a goal doesn't seem like such a huge leap.

4. Cook/Bake/Sew/Homemake: I've been saying this forever, I know, but I want to get into this whole 'stay at home mom' thing more than I have in the last 6 months.  I still don't cook, bake, craft and do as much as I'd like to (I do clean enough, though, thank you!)  I'm so inspired by people I see online but when it comes right down to it, I have a hard time pulling my butt off the couch and into the kitchen or craft room.  I know that the Fall will bring more of the 'housewife' out in me, it always does, but I want to keep this in the back of my mind for the rest of the year: live simply. be a mama. enjoy.

Are you making any goals for the upcoming seasons? I'd love to hear!

Until next time,
G.

52Qs X4

Happy Friday everyone! To be honest the days are kind of running together for me now so it doesn't make much of a difference that it's Friday, the only good part about it is that Dan will be around tomorrow and Sunday, so hopefully the days won't seem so long. I'm thinking that I need some sort of out-of-the-box activity to do so that I don't fall too much in a rut/slump, I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, over the past week I've been working on my 52Qs, which I'm ridiculously behind on (only about 50-60% of them done), but I'm having a good time making them so I don't mind having them to do. Here are my latest 4:

Question 42: What's my favourite holiday?
I didn't have any Halloween themed stuff left except for the small bit of paper, but I tried to capture the general feeling of Halloween in the colours and collage stuff (plus the gross green paint).


Question 45: What song do I have on repeat?
Easy answer, I've been obsessed with these 2 songs for months and months now.


Question 50: What do I love most about where I live?
There could have been so many answers to this question, but what stuck out to me the most was the fact that we have 4 very distinct and wonderful seasons and that we have sooo much space (something I've really been missing since living in Hali).


Question 52: What magical thing happened to me this year?
Easiest answer ever :)

Ok that's all for now, I'll probably aim to get 4 or 5 done a week from now on so hopefully they will be all done before I have to pack up my scrap space in Feb. I technically didn't start this project until Feb-Mar last year, so technically I'm not behind, it hasn't been a full year yet, right? Technically...

Any scrap (or other crafty) projects that you're currently trying to catch up on?

G.

Proof...

...that I actually scrapbook from time to time. I haven't been nearly as productive lately, not sure why, I was working on my 365 mini for so long that all my other projects fell by the wayside. Got this one done tonight though, it's for the One Little Word Challenge, which was the word "Two". I love these pictures of Heather and I, they were the last ones we took together before she moved out West in Feb...yes I miss her.

This layout is based on Sketch 133 from Pencil Lines, though I altered it a bit. Sometimes I just need that extra little boost to get me going, you know? I used one of the Shabby Chic journaling tags I won from The Creative Type Challenge, they are so cool, and just the right size for me! I also used another one of those home made grid transparencies that I love so much, and a bunch of other stuff too :)

I'm thiiiiis close to finishing another one of my 52Qs, I've been really slacking in those lately, I gotta catch up! And the Effer Dare this time looks super fun, your "signature piece/jewelery". If any of you have noticed from my pics, I wear my 7 silver rings all.the.time. They never come off, so this will be quite easy/fun for me to do. Hopefully I'll be posting those later this weekend :)

Well I better get cleaning, we are having some (unexpected) visitors coming for the weekend, and the place is a mess! Should be fun though, I heard talk of a brewery tour...

Happy long weekend everyone! (or at least the Canadians...)

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.

Sometimes all you need is a good Challenge...

Alice took up the fan as the hall was very hot. She kept fanning herself all the time as she was talking. "Dear dear, how queer everything is today. And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think, was I the same when I got up this morning? Or if I'm not the same, then who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle."

Here is a layout I did tonight for 2 Challenges; first off, the ScrapMojo Challenge this time was to use Alice in Wonderland as your inspiration, and also to use some lace. I absolutely LOVED Christina's darker interpretation, very much my style, so I took inspiration from that in many ways. I was also inspired by this print that I saw earlier today...again, darker, but I love it. I chose to use a quote that was used in an episode of LOST this past Season (ha), and I also used a few items from the story, including a key and the watch, and the title "Through the Looking Glass" (also the title of an episode of LOST-haX2). Purple and gray are my fav winter colours right now, so great!

The second Challenge was a new one I've never played before called The Creative Type. It's all about type and text, I love it, and this week's Challenge (#6) was to mix up your types. I used 5-7 different types on this layout (background patterned paper, computer type, Dymo labeler type, word sticker type, strip of paper type, as well as date stamper type and question mark type.) Christina was the Guest designer on this as well, so she's been a huge inspo to me tonight! Thanks Christina!

Well, off to bed now. Night all!

Effer (for a change)

I am a scrapping machine! (Getting 2 layouts done in a week qualifies me for being a machine....maybe it's because my cable and Internet went out a few days ago?) Anyway, I saw this lovely lady play the latest Effer Dare I thought to myself "I need to play!" I haven't done an Effer in a really love time, but this one seemed fun and easy to do, it was to scrap about your beauty routine (or in my case, lack of one), or about beauty in general:

Again, sorry for the terrible pic, I really really, REALLY need to get my photo stitch back, since I'm heading towards doing 12X12 layouts again (odd, I know) and taking pics of them at 10pm with the flash ain't workin' for me.

Anyway, pretty easy layout, I've had this vain self-portrait pic forever, and I never really knew what to do with it, but I liked it and wanted to use it, so I knew it would fit for the Dare (it's obvious I'm not wearing make-up as well, ha...hello shiny forehead!). I hand-made the title letters with woodgrain contact paper and used a really old sheet of SLAB paper (that's right, slab!), so I'm very happy about that. 3 scraps, 3 die cuts, 3 flowers, 1 little lady, 3 rub-ons and and 4 brads later, there she be. Journaling's below, basically talking about how I try to wear make-up but never seem to be able to be "one of those girls". I wish I could be, I know it would be better to be one, since I could definitely use the help, but I just can't seem to get my lazy butt in gear when it comes to make-up.

I made her a skirt :)

Peace!

Oh my word...

...I scrapped. It's a friggin' miracle. And, even more, it's a 12X12! And, gasp, I used a REALLY hard sheet of BG patterned paper that I would have otherwise never been able to use. But I've decided during my weeks long hiatus that I'm not going to be so hard on myself when I scrap, I'm not going to compare myself to the girls I so admire, I'm not going to worry about technique or which products I'm using or if everything looks exactly perfect, I'm just going to sit down, scrap what I can manage and be happy about it. And you know what? It worked.

I have a bunch of pictures from my sister's wedding, and since her colours were pink, black and white, most of my pages will have those colours and nothing else. I also decided to play in the the OLW challenge, which was "Love". Easy peazy.

[Story behind the journaling: My sister decided to make cupcakes for her wedding instead of a traditional cake, so she spent hours making around 80 cupcakes, and I helped her ice them all. Then, when the wedding day came, we brough them over to the site and stored them somewhere to keep cool, since it was August, and then with the hussle bussle of the wedding and meal, everyone completely forgot about them. By the time they remembered, everyone had gotten up from their tables and were scattered all over, making it impossible to eat them. So, all those cupcakes went to waste. So sad, but true. Also, so Daphné.]

Supplies: B&G & Love Elsie, Sassafrass flower, MM letter stickers, office label, Hello Kitty sticker, Wal Mart ribbon trim, K&Co die cut shapes, Hambly overlay.

Thanks for looking! Hopefully there will be more to come soon! :)
G.

BE

Here's my layout for the One Little Word Challenge, this time the word was BE, a really fun and easy word that could be interpreted many different ways.

(sorry for the blur by the bird, he is up on a pop

dot, the scanner didn't like it)

Again, a lot of the elements on this page are from my Sweet Twee Labs kit, including the book page, the letter stickers (La Di Da), the bracket (Office Lingo), and the little velvet rosette thing. I also used some of my K&Co Die Cut shapes, I love these things to death, I got a box at M's for like 5$, there are so many cool ephemera shapes to use, I can't wait to dig in! I also got to use some old Stash, like my MM foam letter stamps and these little vellum clouds that I got for Christmas and had no idea how to use...well, I used them, and I like it!

On a side note, my husband did the sweetest thing today, he brought me home a bunch of roses for nothing! Walked out into the kitchen to see him there holding them. Just said he always wanted to do it but never had the chance until now...he then proceeded to make supper, as he always does. I am the luckiest girl in the world! Love you babe :)

More scrappies later this week I hope! Scrapjack and ScrapMojo and TAIF, oh my!

Night all!

G.

Scrapjacked

I played the Scrapjack challenge this week, even though I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to, it was kind of a difficult (though tremendously beautiful) layout to jack. I took most of my inspiration from the cut-out photo, as well as the general playful feel of the layout. Anyhoos, la voilà:

I'm so happy that I got to use my little strips of leftover paper (mostly from when I cut 12X12 sheets down to 8.5 X11), I'll definitely be doing that again...

And, to end on a photographic note (ha), here's my latest 365...I'm only averaging about 1 picture every 3 days or so, but I've decided to just let it come naturally, if I feel inspired to shoot, I'll shoot, and if I don't, I won't beat myself up about it. As long as I pick up my camera once a week at least, I'm happy.



Haven't been showing my face alot lately...hmm, subconscious decision?

More non-scrappy pics and posts later this weekend.

Happy Friday!
G.

2 in 1

Here's my layout for the OLW and ScrapMojo challenges...it worked out really well when I saw the Mojo Challenge this time, because it was to ask someone close to you "If you had a million dollars...", and it just so happened that the OLW this time was "IF"...how awesome is that?! The Mojo challenge also asked to use a pen or a pin, and I used both :)



Most of the stuff from this layout is from my Sweet Twee Labs kit, including the polka dot Love Elsie Paper, Sassafrass flower buttons and orange felt ribbon. The little jar is a K&Co Wild Saffron tag that I cut out (and put on a pop dot), and the little letter stickers are MM (my new favs!) Throw in some sparkly Thickers, woodgrain contact paper, a label from M's, and there you have it! I'm happy with the way it turned out :)

Up next: Scrapjack!

Tomorrow is my day off, so excited, going to get some shopping/decorating done I hope, and some scrappin' of course. We might go see the Dark Knight tonight, we will have to see.

Happy hump day!
G.

Scrappies (Mojo and TAIF)

Ok, so I'm posting 2 layouts I made tonight, for 2 different Challenges. The first is for the Scrapmojo challenge, which is super fun, the Challenge this time was to use lyrics from a Ditty Bops song, and to doodle, à la Elsie. I had never heard of this band, so I downloaded one of their albums...quite cute and catchy and fun! Anyway, I chose some lyrics from their song called "Fall Awake", and I doodled a bit (although not that well, it's tough!) I also used a little Love Elsie heart, in honour of Ms. Flannigan :)






The little chipboard man is from RiffRaff Designs, on Etsy, they have super cute chipboard shapes, check 'em out! Had alot of fun with this one, mixing different things together. Cool.

K, the next layout I made was super quick, it was an emotionally driven layout for sure, just couldn't get it on the paper fast enough. It's also for the The Art is Found prompt this week, which was to use Notebook paper...so easy, so fun, LOVE the look of it!

Here she be:







Not much to it really, had to splatter some paint, had to tear some paper, had to write some words...[and had to fill some black space with ribbon, I couldn't help it!] Scrappin' from the mind and heart.

'Tis all for now! Will post more later on non-scrappy stuff. Have a great night!

G.

one little word...one big reveal

**Routine**

Ok, so here's my entry for the One Little Word this week, the word was NOW (sorry for the crooked picture, I miss my Photo Stitch program so much!!)

I knew immediately what I wanted to do when I saw this word, but it took me awhile to actually do it. Why? Fear mostly. Fear of getting this out, of letting people know, of revealing how I feel. Of looking stupid for scrapping about this kind of thing. But it's good. It's good to get it out, to document it, the good with the bad (and the unknown.) Like I said, in a few months this could all turn out to be a big nothing, but right now, in the midst of the frustration, the word NOW really seemed to resonate with me.

Also, I finally used a piece of scalloped paper! I've had it forever so I'm glad. Use up that Stash people, it feels great!

Last night I helped my friend paint an old coffee table she got off of Kijiji white, it looks great...tonight it's my turn, I have a chest that I want to paint white as well. I also have a plan for it, we'll see if it works...Me + paint = good times.

My 365 from yesterday, according to my calculations (which could be off), it was Day 100, a milestone if you ask me! So far I have missed 19 days, which is almost 1/5th, so not too too bad, hopfeully I'll get back on the train and the next 100 will be better than the first!!

Yep, my bum.

Well that's all for nowsies. I'm seeing all kinds of great things being done with the new Dozens kit, makes me want it soooo bad!! Maybe maybe someday.

Peace!

G (in a dress)

Rad Jacked

Here's a layout I finished last night for the Scrapjacked Challenge. They jacked a really cool layout (and chick) this time, it's simple, but fun and cluttered, just the way I like it. I took inspiration from the picture placement, journaling tag, PP placement and use of tape (I used masking instead of duct.) I also did some paint splattering, something that Michelle does a lot, and something that I really love the look of and will be doing again in the future on my layouts.







I LOVED using my chunky MM letter stickers, 7Gypsies journaling tag and Love Elsie paper, all so bright, so fun!!

Next up, the OLW Challenge this week is the word NOW. I have a page that I'd like to do, but it's a bit scary, topic wise, so we'll have to see if I can get it out. But that's the Challenge I guess.

Ok, that's it, happy Friday everyone!
G.

Summer Mini

As promised, here is the mini I made this week. The inspiration was 100% old lady, both her style and her cool new Challenge blog called The Art is Found. I decided to try these challenges out because they were fun and different. The first prompt (I'm starting at the beginning baby!) was to use Packaging, which to me could mean any sort of recycled materials. So I took some currogated (sp?) cardboard from our bedframe packaging and some Toast catalogue pages and made this mini about the summer (the cover page was my starting point, I loved the surf picture that said "High summer 2008"). I also used old buttons from clothes, old packaging from an Etsy purchase, lots of white paint (heart) and some misc. scrapping stuff.

I'm also submitting this to the Scrapjack Challenge, which works out well because they jacked Kara this time! The jack was of a mini she made for Art class at school, and had lyrics in it. I'm not sure if I did the jack right, because I didn't make my mini about lyrics in particular, but I did include lyrics in my mini, and the mini itself was inspired by hers. So I'll submit it and see what the girls say :)

Ok, 'nough babblin', here it is (I scanned in the pages, since it seemed the best way to show it, but minis are hard to show online, it's so much cooler in real life!)

As you can see it's quite messy and random and fun, which is the direction I want to take, I don't want to take this too seriously, I think that was myproblem before, I thought that everything had to be perfect, so I just couldn't bring myself to do anything, but now that the pressure is off, I can have some fun and just create.

Creating leads to messes like this one. But I love it.

Well I guess that's it for now. Not sure where I'll go from here, probably attempt another page, I still have to print some pictures, that's holding me up a bit I think. the OLW is Strong, which is cool, I'll see what I can do with that. Challenges are awesome, for reals, I thrive on them.

Heading to Sussex this weekend to see my sister's new puppy Quincy and to visit my little nephew Hayden, who I haven't met yet, so lots of new family to meet (and pictures to take)!

**Speaking of pictures, can anyone recommend a good, easy-to-read book about Adobe Photoshop? I tried some stuff and boy, it's hard! I see how people process their pics and I love it, but it seems like you need a degree in computer science and photography to be able to do anything to them! How do I get my pics to look like hers?? Kinda green-ish tint, or a light tint, or "urban action", whatever that means? Any help?? Please??

Out (and back to work!)
G.
xox