Time Out

Okay, tomorrow I go in for sinus surgery. I am told to expect a four to ten day recovery. I am told to expect a lot of discomfort for several days/weeks afterward with the discomfort easing a little each day. I am to avoid strenuous activity while recuperating...so of course, what am I worried about not being able to do...crafting!

So I will have to see how I feel afterward to gauge if I can create my bits of happiness, after all - paper and embellishments aren't that heavy...its just a matter of the movement and such...so I will be on a time out from the craft room (as well as everything else) I am hoping the recovery won't be too long, but I don't want to get my hopes up either.

I finished up some projects last night to give me a little craft boost to get me through until I feel up to creating again. I completed some ATCs for an online swap, and I have a set started for when I am ready to get back at it!



These are two of the sets that I did, I really like the pink one!!

Okay, as soon as I am able to lift my head up and function well enough I will post again. Until then I can use all the positive thoughts that can be sent my way!!
:) Have a wonderful day!!

Fun!

Here is Jaime's book with all the papers, photos, and embellishments picked out and ready to be completed.

All the items needed for each page are in the sleeves with the exception of things for fine tuning like ink and small embellishments to fill in spots that I feel like filling in. I've even made journaling notes and have those in the sleeves as well, so I'll be able to do the journaling right away when I make the page instead of putting off doing the journaling later.

I took my mini Paris book with me yesterday to a friend's house to scrapbook, and it was so wonderful to have everything already selected, it may have taken a bit of time at home - but it made the process of completing the pages so much easier. And I only had to take three things with me. My tool kit, my embellishment tower (it holds my journaling pens, bling, and journal spots), and everything I needed fit into my rolly kit. It was soooo refreshing to not have to make more than one trip to my car!!


Last night was also filled with some incredible fun! I went to see a stage performance of my most favorite story ever written.

I laughed, I sighed, I was so delighted. I was teary at the end of it, which made my friends laugh at me because, well - the story never changes, it always ends the same way. But I'm such a sentimental fool that it always seems to move me to tears.

About an hour ago I worked on this project

I had seen this tape dispenser at a store and right away thought of my friend Nic, she loves shoes, she is dedicated to raising money to benefit breast cancer research, and she would love a pink shoe tape dispenser! I added some bling and some other little details. I know she's going to love it!

Tomorrow I am setting aside time to work on some more ATCs while I work on taking care of some chores and such. It will be exciting to see what I create.

As for tonight, I have plans to paint some pottery, of course we might get distracted and have fun just hanging out instead, either way its going to be a great night!

This Weekend

This past weekend was full of birthday excess. So this weekend is going to be full of nothing but kicking back and relaxing with a little bit of chores sprinkled in here and there and with expectations of crafting the rest of the time.

I have started working on a mini Paris album, mostly because 7 full 12x12 albums is hard to go through for anyone, so I figured a 8x8 "best of" album would be good to have for anyone who is interested to see our trip. Yes, I know its been three years now since that awesome vacation took place (which I find so hard to believe its been that long...) and I keep seeming to milk it out, but why not? I enjoyed it too much to just let it fade away. And it keeps me motivated to look forward to when we can go again, which may be a little longer than I'd like - but we'll get there!
So for the mini Paris album I have some pages already done, and for the rest I have the papers and embellishments all picked out and organized. I just need to print some pictures - then all I have to do is assemble the pages.

I am also working on updating Jaime's first year album. I got the first couple months of her life with us captured, but now I need to catch up. I've picked out all the papers and embellies needed up to now, but I need to get photos printed for this book also.

So the first project to take care of: get some pictures printed.

It will be nice to have the books organized so completely - all I'll have to do when its time to go to crops is to grab the books, my tool kit, and hopefully one bag of extra essentials like ink and such. It will make hauling items to the crop so much easier! And I won't spend an hour there picking out the paper for the page I'm working on. Why didn't I do this before???

If I can keep up with this plan/strategy I am hoping I can incorporate it into all of my scrapping organization for the other projects/events I'm scrapping. We'll see how it goes...

Other than scrapbooking, I am also going to work on some more ATCs. I am doing another swap on the scrapbooking site and I'm excited because I'll be doing some seasonal ones this time along with a few "generic" ones.


And now to share the highlight of last birthday weekend.
Friday Edana and I went to visit the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades. It was a nice crisp cool day and we got to see a lot of very interesting antiquities. We didn't know how much there was to see there - it was an immense collection. We had a nice relaxing day wandering through the exhibits and marveling at all the items, we hadn't realized how much time had run away from us while we were there, its just marvelous the way the whole "time flies" scenario works.
The gardens there were very pretty too. And there were some amazing sculptures throughout the museum. Overall it was a wonderful day spent with an absolutely wonderful person!

It's My Birthday!

Well, its a little after 1am on my birthday.
So far, its a great day!!

I have had a wonderful birthday weekend so far!
I spent Friday with Edana at the Getty Villa. It was such a pretty place and the weather was cool and clean. I took lots of pictures and hope to have some up soon.

Friday night, friends Rebecca and Jason came over and we all hung out and watched some fun TV, played cards, ate yummy snacks, and spent a lot of time laughing and just kicking back.

Saturday we slept in, then went out for bagels for breakfast. Then we took the pups to the dog park. Afterward we came home and just relaxed for a little bit. I went out in the evening to have dinner with some more friends. It was a lot of fun and so relaxing!

Still two more days of the weekend to go and we have plans to spend more time with family and friends, so it looks like its going to be a lot of fun!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Some Recent Pictures

I have to admit, I haven't been too organized lately. So I am giving myself a few personal challenges to see if this will get me re-organized and focused. So I am going to get on here at least twice a week, and if I don't have anything exciting to share - well then, I'll just post some recent pictures that I had taken, even if its just fuzzy blurry ones...hopefully I will have something fun and pretty - but I can't guarantee that.

So here is one of the most recent photos I've taken...


And here is one of the projects I've been working on...just to keep with the crafty theme/intention of the blog...

Some Halloween ATCs that I made to swap. I had also worked on some other ATCs but I am going to post them a little later.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Yes, Yes, I know...

Well...it seems that I feel off the face of the Earth, again. But I assure you, I haven't.
Recently I have fallen down on the expectations I have for myself and I am now striving to get back to the level of prolific creativity that I have had in the past.
I'm working on setting myself some new goals and working towards them.
Lately I have found myself battling with my self doubt which always seems to shake me up and I let it hold me back. I know that I am my own worst critic, and I need to not be so easily flustered.
I love the things that I create, I enjoy the creative process in making them and I always find myself surprised when I hear positive feedback for my creativity from others. At the risk of sounding too conceited, I have to admit I like hearing it. Who wouldn't?

I will be back soon, and in the meantime I will share my most recent creation that I am so very proud of and that I am hoping will lead to more excitement.

I love these little rose buds! I still am beside myself with joy when I think of how detailed they are for their size.
I can't help but grin when I think, "I made these!"

What I've Been Doing Lately

Other than being under the weather and taking care of either John or Steve who have been experiencing ickiness and owies in one form or another I've been scrapping!
Surprise? I thought not. Hee hee

So here is some of the happy things I've created most recently.

This page was created to showcase Mac, a cat that I owned previously.
The hidden journaling (behind the large tag) talks about how unique of a character Mac was and how heartbroken I was to have to leave him behind with a friend when I moved.


This page was created to use up some scraps from my stash and to play with a hand held sewing machine that I was given a while ago.
I started applying the scraps to the background paper before I really knew what I was going to do with the page - then when going through my pictures I came across the large one of John - and since green is his favorite color it was fitting that I do a page about him.


This page is a direct lift from a magazine: Scrapbooks, etc. The Aug/Sept '06 issue - Jamie Waters' "Little Fish" page. I created it for an online challenge that was to do a monochrome page with light blue as the main color and the twist was "out my backdoor" in some sort of interpretation. I used a white pen to write in part of the lyrics of Creedence Clearwater Revival's song, Looking Out My Backdoor, in the line underneath the photo. While working on the page for the challenge the song just kept coming to my head so I thought I'd go ahead and add it.


There is a lot more than those, but I thought I'd just share a small bit.
I've also been gathering items for a Mad Tea Party next month and I'll be working on making all kinds of decorations and party favors for that.
I've also been working on helping a friend with some of her wedding accouterments, which I enjoy doing very much!

The Scrapbook Expo is next Friday, so it will be fun to see what comes of that.

Lastly, John and I went to Disneyland for our anniversary a couple of weeks back, we had a wonderful time and enjoyed ourselves immensely!
Here is one of my favorite pics of the day.


Now I've gotta run...I need to pack up some items, I'm going to a friend's house for some scrappin' time!
I hope everyone is well!
Until next time, take care! Sending out lots of happy vibes to everyone!!
~Ren

Jaime and Scrapbooking, of course...

For those who have not met her yet, here is Jaime.
She has been with us for almost two weeks now.
We found her at the Orange County Shelter after several months of looking for a room mate for Steve.
She is a two year old Chihuahua/Cocker Spaniel mix, and has a very sweet temperament.
She passed her first vet appointment with praise and an "a-ok!"
However, she did give Steve a cold. :( But he is going to be just fine! :)

We have seen a definite improvement in Steve's behavior since we brought Jaime home, which is great because that was one of the things we were hoping for.
So all is good!
And now I have another subject to scrapbook about!! ;)

Also, I recently got the opportunity to go to Disneyland with my nieces.
It was a very fun day and I took LOTS of pictures, but who didn't think I would?

I especially like how this photo turned out!!
So I have even more to scrap about!


And while I'm on the subject of scrapbooking and craftyness...
I am participating in 12 online challenges for January, along with 2 share threads.

And I had a very positive experience for December.
Out of 13 challenges that I had joined, two of my layouts made it to the polls - and this page WON!!

It won in the Monochrome challenge for the Gold category.
I'm so pleased!! :) I put a lot of work into the page and I was so happy that it was well received.

Yay!
I hope everyone has a fantastic day!!
~Ren