Can't believe it has been almost a month!

I haven't had alot of crafting time lately but did manage to get a bit done this weekend. I started cataloging (inventorying) my stamp sets; which are many. So far in the past two weekends I have gotten about 40 sets stamped and started a binder to be able to look through for inspiration and oh yeah remember what I have...lol. 21 of these were on Friday. On Saturday (yesterday) I made 5 cards; most to have sentiments added as needed.

I also created one page of an Amusement Park album yesterday from our family trip to Hershey Park last year. Today I was able to get three more pages completed, but only have photos of two of them to post today. The sunlight started fading before I finished the last one; so watch for a posting of that tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek! I hope you all had a good weekend.

More to share

Believe it or not I have another Layout (LO) to share. I know it seems hard to believe; but my creativity seems to be on the return for now at least and I just have to share. This is a LO for a challenge at Colorful Creations The Twisted Blueprints Jan 21. Here is the sketch to work from:

And my LO using my granddaughter's preschool photo this year.

I used an 8x8" size as this is an album for her and is a good size for her to be able to look through. Thanks for stopping by.

This album I titled "Antics" and shares the antics our two Elves on the Shelf got into while visiting for the Holdiay Season. Our Elves were named by my granddaughter, Jaiden; she decided the male Elf was to be called Petey and he had been with us for two years now. The female Elf is Christmas and is Petey's sister. Jaiden even told Santa about some of their mischief. Here are the photos from the "Antics" album.

It has taken a while but I'm beginning to start creating again. This is a card I made last night using a sketch from Mojo Monday. This past weekend I attended a crop with a dear friend, Paula in Maryland. It was a wonderful day spent with a fantastic group of ladies. During our time there on Saturday I completed 13 pages of an 8x8 album highlighting the antics of our Christmas Elves on a Shelf; Petey and Christmas. Sunday here at home I completed another 4 pages which completed the album. I hope to upload them soon. I have also made a list of the projects I hope to complete this year; some will be new projects and some will be UFO (unfinished objects). Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful year ahead. Please stop by again soon to see other projects as they are uploaded.

A New Year: Is it a New Beginning?

The thought of a new year being the start of a new beginning is definitely a pleasant thought. It goes right along with the saying of "This is the first day of the rest of your life". Certainly is true in alot of respects. We have the power to make ourselves into the person we want to be and making New Year resolutions is a way of stating our goals and for alot of people that includes writing them down. Although writing them down is only part of achieving them, we have to have a plan of action and work to make them happen. For many this is where we fall short and give up on obtaining them. I myself am guilty of not following through on these things. I am a list maker and and that part of writing down my resolutions and goals is an easy thing to do. Plans of action also goes into my lists so even with that taken care of why do I find myself falling short. Life is something that is full of unexpected moments that often derail our lists and goals. This is where things become complicated in my achieving my goals; I often let the unexpected moments get in the way and instead of picking myself up and starting again I let them build and give up on my goals. All this being put out there on this blog is a way I am going to strive to be more accountable in achieving my goals. So with that said... Here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2013: 1. To be on time with follow through. 2. To spend less on frivolous things. 3. To de-clutter the excess in my home and life. 4. To show loved ones more respect and love in all aspects. 5. To loose weight. Yes I know this is the classic resolution....but needs to be done. 6. Complete at least 5 projects that are already started. Ultimately I believe that your New Year's Resolutions are there to make you a better person. Whatever your resolutions are I wish you the very best of luck to achieve them and the very best in the New Year.

The Lost Art of Writing Remember that excitment when you received a card or a letter in the mail? In this day and age it doesn't happen often; and I find that sad. I know most of what I receive in the mail are things I really don't want: junk mail and or bills.....yuck! Reading a blog post (the Crafty Donkey http://craftdonkey.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-lost-art-of-writing.html ) a few minutes ago reminded me of those letters I used to share with Penpals and friends that lived so far away. No matter if the day was a good day or a bad day, the whole world seemed so much smaller and more friendly seeing something with my name on it in the stack of mail. I'm guilty with the rest of the world of not writing and sending letters and cards to my loved ones because the internet has replaced that and everything is so much quicker and instant now. NO matter how I say I'm going to try and write so many letters each month or send out cards each month.....I fall flat. I will strive to be better about writing and sending cards and letters out to my friends and family....after all the price of a stamp although seems to rise often really isn't that much. The smile and joy it will bring to them is worth so much more. Please go to The Crafty Donkey blog and remember those days of unexpected mail and the joy it brought.

Mixed Media Arts

I decided to try my hand at this ever growing in popularity craft. So far I bought a small 6"x9" watercolor notebook and used Gesso on the first page. I decided to Gesso both sides so the back was primed for using later. That was yesterday. Today I have created my first background in my Art Journal (or really inspiration Journal).

Using some Radiant Pearls I purchased many years ago I first brushed and swirled the color Peacock, then used Sweet Apricot to add some contrast. Next I decided to highlight using the color Frosty Iris, which I liked but was super light, so I used Royal Satin to add the purple it seemed to be calling for. This is the result.

I really think I like how it is going for now. I know I plan to use some quotes and sayings I saved many years ago from High School that were very dear to me and I want to preserve them in a special way. I now have to decide if I plan to embellish the pages in some other way. Please follow along on this journey into the world of Mixed Media Arts.