Category: Random

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Where, oh where…

Where, oh where, has my time for blogging gone?! I think I usually just let the days get away from me. I get busy with little projects and this sits here neglected. I am open to ideas on how to blog more consistently. I think I need a plan and a schedule that I work on sticking to.

It’s a super busy time of year for me. If you don’t know, I am a high school special education teacher, and this is the season of the IEP. I am covered up in paperwork and meetings, and will be for about the next month or so. I love what I do, but the paperwork is a chore sometimes. It’s also assessment time, so I have that to deal with as well. C is not playing baseball this year, so I do have my evenings back. But I sincerely miss sitting at the ball field, even if it meant I was behind on the rest of life.

I am also now officially behind on PL for the first time this year. I need to sit down and get caught up on the last three weeks or so. I have my photos organized, so all I really need to do is get them in the pages and do a little journaling. If nothing comes up tomorrow I may do that and then update here. I’m also going to work on coming up with a more consistent blog schedule as well.

With all that said, I’ve added a new project to my list haha. I started #the100dayproject. To quote their page:
“#The100DayProject is a free art project that takes place online. Every spring, thousands of people all around the world commit to 100 days of exploring their creativity.”
For my project, I decided to take photos. I have not picked up my Nikon for months and was really missing it. I am taking at least a photo a day with it and my goal is to get back in the habit of taking photos! I’m going to create a page for it in my Random Photos, but here is what I have so far:

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They are not fabulous portraits or anything, but that’s not what I’m shooting for here. I just want to start using my camera again and practicing every day.

I’m headed now to update my Scrap Pages for the week and then add the photos to their own album. I hope to be back to share more in the next day or so! Thanks for looking and I hope you have an amazing rest of your week!

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I Want Less…

I absolutely adore Sara Gleason of Plant Your Story. Her designs are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen and she is a true story teller! She also believes that each and every one of us has a story to tell, and one that is worth telling. She is such a wonderful source of inspiration!!

She is currently doing daily prompts on her Facebook Page and her Instagram that I have been following and that I have decided might be a good jumping off point to get me writing on this blog more regularly!

Today’s prompt is I want less…. I don’t really need to follow that up with anything! I just want less…mostly stuff! It’s getting to be the time of year when my home really starts to get on my nerves. I need to clean and clean out. Closets are jam packed, cabinets and drawers are an absolute mess, and everything seems to be weighing down on me. I am in need of some serious declutter time. I usually wait until summer, but this year, I just have an overwhelming need to start tackling things.

I have also been following Landeelu on Instagram and I adore her decluttering and organizational strategies. She even has an Email Series on decluttering, as well as a Facebook Group – Clear the Clutter and Breathe. It has all been really inspirational for me and I’m hoping that I find some time soon to tackle at least one small project!!

When I first read this prompt, I was thinking I needed something deep or philosophical, but nope, not this time. I just need less stuff. That’s what’s on my mind most of all. Maybe I will even document my progress, we’ll see.

 

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New Year…

Wow, I didn’t actually realize how long it had been since I posted here. I honestly think the whole month of December was a blur! I have thought about it quite a bit, just never made the commitment to sit down and post. I’ve spent the last day or so reorganizing everything, creating new pages for the new year and coming up with ideas to get me posting here more often. We’ll see if it sticks!

I finished up my Life in Pockets for 2017 and you can see it all HERE. Well, all but one week I am finishing up. I’m not sure why I got stuck on that week, but I’ll insert it when it’s done. I also started my Life in Pockets for 2018. I have the cover done and will start on pages next weekend. I’m excited for a new year.

I also started and finished Document Your December for 2017 and you can see that HERE. I only went through the 25th because honestly we haven’t done a whole lot since then.

I’m not going back and add all the layouts I’ve done in December. I’m just far too lazy. But I hope to keep up better from now on. I plan to add the blog to my list of layout upload places and that should make it easier :).

And if you’re looking for some excitement – It’s MOC time at The Lilypad! 31 days, 31 challenges! If you complete them all you get a $20 gift certificate to The Lilypad and a chance at a Polly spot! It’s a sweet gig, I tell ya! Under my scrap pages, I added a section just for my MOC layouts! I love participating and stretching myself out of my comfort zone! It’s always exciting to see the challenges pop up every day! If you haven’t signed up, you really should! It’ll be fun, I promise!

Ok… I’m out for now. Just wanted to post a little update and get myself on track! Hope to be back soon! Until then, peace, out…

 

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Darkness…

So, in an attempt to do a little more with my blog beyond just advertising the fabulous designers I work for and showing off my scrapbook pages and occasional crafts, I’d like to trying just writing about random things. No specific topics right now, I’m still working on that. But in the meantime, I’m picking up some daily prompts that just encourage me to write. Maybe other ideas will come to me and maybe they won’t. We’ll see. For now I’m just taking it one day at a time, like everything else.

The prompts are coming from The Daily Post and today’s prompt is Darkness. The first thing that came to my mind is the song Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
‘Neath the halo of a streetlamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dare
Disturb the sound of silence

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said “The words of the prophets
Are written on subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence

Wow, does this song speak to me right now. So many walking around in darkness, not really even seeing or hearing each other…listening, connecting. Garfunkel once said the song is about “the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly internationally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other”. The “neon gods”, the tv, the media, celebrities, and material things…so many listening without really hearing, talking without really speaking. This song is 50+ years old. Can things change? Will they?

I know lots of people are hating on Disturbed’s cover of the song, but I’m really digging it.

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Room Makeover

I’ve been saying I was going to get here with photos of the transformation of M’s room, so here I am with it. I am still finding things I want to do and change, but I’ll get it done a little at a time. These are cell phone photos, so hang with me, they are not the greatest quality.

This is where we started (after I took things off the wall and had primed the window frame which had also been pink) – Bright pink walls, ugly nasty light blue carpet, and giant lava lamp. I painted R and C played on that keyboard :/ This room is straight back from my front door, so it is always seen when you come in the house and there has been a pink glow everywhere for years.

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I knew I was going to have to prime the walls to cover that pink and this is where I slacked on photos. I got to in to it and didn’t take any pictures of that process.

Now comes the paint. I started putting this on and thought maybe it was too dark, but I really love how the color came out:

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1000% better already! And no more lava lamp!

Then I got really adventurous because that nasty blue carpet was really bothering me in the fresh painted room. I don’t want to go all out on flooring just yet, so I decided why not paint the sub floor and add a nice throw rug. The absolute worst part was removing all the tack strips and staples from the floor. After that was done, I had to do a lot of sweeping, wiping, sanding, and then priming.

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Looked so much better, even with just the primer. I used Killz brand because there were a few dark spots and imperfections in the wood. Now for paint! I chose a darker color than the walls because I knew I wanted to use a lighter colored area rug. And again, I got carried away and failed on the photos of just the painted floor. So, I’ll just skip to where it stands now. The rug is a little smaller than what I wanted, but it will do for now. I chose the blue accent color last. It’s not exactly what I  planned, but if I decide I don’t like it I can change it. Here is the room now:

Old kitchen chair that had been sitting in my laundry room for years, freshly painted.
Old kitchen chair that had been sitting in my laundry room for years, freshly painted.
Chair and M's old desk that she didn't want, so I'm putting it to use with printers and my Cameo.
Chair and M’s old desk that she didn’t want, so I’m putting it to use with printers and my Cameo.
My desk space. Notice the creepy head on the shelf. I had hid him away, but M insisted that she crafted him in art class, so he belonged out in my craft room.
My desk space. Notice the creepy head on the shelf. I had hid him away, but M insisted that she crafted him in art class, so he belonged out in my craft room.
Another view of desk area.
Another view of desk area. Creepy head still peeking.
I claimed this shelf off the wall at my dad's old office, along with the little boat shelf. The big shelf was an ugly gray construction color. Fresh paint and it's a beauty and functional!
I claimed this shelf off the wall at my dad’s old office, along with the little boat shelf. The big shelf was an ugly gray construction color. Fresh paint and it’s a beauty and functional! I just have things kind of thrown on there right now.
My latest wine bottle project to add a little accent to the black shelf.
My latest wine bottle project to add a little accent to the black shelf.
Another set of shelves with the other wine bottle I did. Nothing really arranged right now.
Another set of shelves with the other wine bottle I did. Nothing really arranged right now.

And that’s where I am right now. Just guessing, but I would say that I did the whole thing for less than $150. I love it and I love coming in here…alone! R has claimed the old office we shared for himself and it is still a work in progress. It has the same nasty blue carpet and while I would love to dive right in and rip it up now, it’s back to work on Monday so it will have to wait a bit.

Thanks for looking! Peace, out…

 

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It’s going quickly…

Summer vacation, that is. It’s been a short one this year. “They” decided that the school calendar needed adjusting, with school starting and ending earlier. But in order to make that happen, we have to deal with a couple of unusually short summers. I have a couple of weeks left, but, most of this coming week, I will be spending at work on some extra duty building a new curriculum for the coming year. That will leave me with one week to fill with all the things I haven’t been able to do yet. I have accomplished quite a few things, but there is still so much to do. Never enough time. C and I took off last weekend and went to Carowinds with A, his wife, and daughter. We had a blast, but were worn out. I love that we’ve been able to get away some this summer, but it seems like it takes days to get ready before we go and days to recover when we get back. I’ve spent some time working in M’s old room some more this week. We tore up the carpet in there and are almost done painting the sub floor. I just need to get my big area rug and move all of my stuff in there. It will be nice to have my own private space. I’m going to try to post some pictures of the process when I am finished.

It’s an exciting month in my scrappy time. I’m guesting this month at The Lilypad! Also, one of my favorite people, Etc. by Danyale, is also guest designing there this month. I’m super excited. I need to get my gallery here all caught up and get back on track with my Life in Pockets. These are some of the layouts I have created since the last time I was here:

All Year Round: Relaxations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio
All Year Round: Relaxations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio
Messy Marla by Amy Wolff Junk Drawer Frames by Amy Wolff Giddy by Amy Wolff
Messy Marla by Amy Wolff
Junk Drawer Frames by Amy Wolff
Giddy by Amy Wolff
On The Street We Live by Etc. by Danyale NSD 2015 Grab Bag by Sara Gleason and Cyrstal Livesay
On The Street We Live by Etc. by Danyale
NSD 2015 Grab Bag by Sara Gleason and Cyrstal Livesay
Girls of Summer by Traci Reed
Girls of Summer by Traci Reed
Work Day Bundle by Sahin Designs
Work Day Bundle by Sahin Designs
July Wolff Pack Papers by Amy Wolff July Wolff Pack Messy Marvin by Amy Wolff July Woff Pack Alpha by Amy Wolff
July Wolff Pack Papers by Amy Wolff
July Wolff Pack Messy Marvin by Amy Wolff
July Woff Pack Alpha by Amy Wolff

Now to get them added to the gallery and finish up that floor! It’s also a beautiful day, maybe a little trip to the pond with C for some fishing is in order. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday! Peace, out…

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I’m Baaaack!

Holy cow, I really didn’t realize that I had not been here in so long. I honestly think about this blog every day and open it to start a post and then BAM something or someone distracts me. We were gone for a week to the beach and I didn’t have as much online time there as I thought I would have, and most of the time the internet sucked. I am planning to add some pictures to my Photos page when I have a little patience time.Since we’ve been back, I’ve jumped in to a couple of project that really needed taken care of.

First of all, I painted my daughter’s room. I could not stand another day with the bright a$$ pink that was in there. It is one of the first things you see when you walk in the house, and there was always this pink glow every where. Here is the before and after:

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I absolutely love the new color! I am going to rip up the nasty carpet in there and have decided that I am going to try painting the floor underneath and adding a throw rug for the time being. We’ll see how it turns out and I will try to remember to take photos of that as well. Can’t wait to finish the process of turning this in to my new office/craft space.

Yesterday, I cleaned out my incredibly messing junk laundry room. It is a huge room and I would love to come up with some neat ideas for fixing it up. I think I need to hit up Pinterest!

I have scrapped some…not a lot, but some. I’m not too far behind on my Life in Pockets and I will update that page as well as my Scrap Pages. Here are the pages I have done since the last time I was here:

Destination Mini Kit by Amy Wolff Messy Marvin Vol. 5 by Amy Wolff
Destination Mini Kit by Amy Wolff
Messy Marvin Vol. 5 by Amy Wolff
This is June by River~Rose
This is June by River~Rose
Giddy by Amy Wolff
Giddy by Amy Wolff
Limited Edition by Valorie Wibbens and Lauren Reid
Limited Edition by Valorie Wibbens and Lauren Reid
Curated: Wander - A Pixels and Company Collection curated by Celeste Smith
Curated: Wander – A Pixels and Company Collection curated by Celeste Smith
Sprinkles V37 by Valorie Wibbens Worth Melting For by Valorie Wibbens Worth Melting For Journal Cards by Valorie Wibbens Pocket Topography No. 1 by Valorie Wibbens
Sprinkles V37 by Valorie Wibbens
Worth Melting For by Valorie Wibbens
Worth Melting For Journal Cards by Valorie Wibbens
Pocket Topography No. 1 by Valorie Wibbens
Travelling Home by MEG Designs Color Me Autumn Templates by MEG Designs
Travelling Home by MEG Designs
Color Me Autumn Templates by MEG Designs
Dawn's Early Light Papers by Amy Wolff Dawn's Early Light Elements by Amy Wolff Topography No. 19 by Valorie Wibbens
Dawn’s Early Light Papers by Amy Wolff
Dawn’s Early Light Elements by Amy Wolff
Topography No. 19 by Valorie Wibbens
Get It Girl by Traci Reed
Get It Girl by Traci Reed

We are supposed to head up to my dad’s old office today and move some furniture and finish cleaning it out. It makes me a little sad, but I know that my mom will be relieved to not have to deal with it any longer. She needs to relax a little. Have a wonderful Wednesday!! Peace, out…

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Sweet Sunday

A day of rest. At least I hope to make it that way! It’s been a busy couple of days. We had C’s end of season pool party with his baseball team on Friday night. They are a really great group of kids and everyone had a blast. The moms that worked to put it together did such a great job and the cake was awesome! There were even little jersey shaped cookies with the kids names and numbers on them.

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Yesterday, I spent the day cleaning out two rooms of the house. M had come and picked up her bed for her new house, so her room was a complete disaster. I worked most of the day in there. The next step is to paint her BRIGHT pink walls! I’ve been wanting to do that for years!! And then I’m hoping it will become my new craft room. Today, I think we are headed out for a while to eat and just get away from the house.

But first, I wanted to come by and share a couple more layouts that I worked on for this week. Both use All Year Round: Destinations Collection by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio at Sweet Shoppe. The first is a pocket style page and the second a more traditional layout (using a retired template by Zoliofrope).

All Year Round: Destinations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio
All Year Round: Destinations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio
All Year Round: Destinations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio
All Year Round: Destinations by Traci Reed and Jady Day Studio

I’m looking forward to using this one again when we go on vacation in a week! I’m so excited!! We didn’t get to go last year for various reasons, but this year I am ready to get out of here for awhile!!

And one more reminder that it’s the last days to get in on the fantastic deals from Etc. by Danyale before her store closes at SO. Make sure you grab what you can before it’s gone for good. And make sure you are following Danyale, either on Facebook or by newsletter to find out all the exciting things to come!

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And I am out of here for today. Hope everyone has a sweet Sunday! Peace, out…

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Flashback Friday and Move Forward

Flashback:

I totally missed the whole “Throwback Thursday” thing this week, so I’m going to Flashback on Friday. Seriously, no one will find this quite as amusing as I did, but I’m sharing it anyway. And please ignore the rug.

CaptureIt’s a little hard to see because it was one of those capture it really quick moments. This was 9 years ago, and to this day, every time I make spaghetti I giggle about it. My husband was interfering  being helpful and was going to put the noodles in the pot for me. He opened the box and went to pour them in. Well, I’m a little OCD about how things are done and I always break them before I put them in the pot, and he hadn’t done that. So, as he goes to dump them in, I yell, “WAIT!”. I must have scared the bejeezus out of him because he jumped and slung that box of noodles all over the kitchen! I swear to you, I still giggle every single time I make spaghetti.

And Forward:

I had to take a minute to share that these are the last days for Etc. by Danyale’s sale at Scrap Orchard. So much is going to be gone forever and you just can’t beat these prices. Grab up all the goodness!! And make sure you are following Danyale for all the exciting things that are coming!

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I have one layout to share today using new stuff from Amy Wolff Designs – June Wolff Pack Papers and June Wolff Pack Messy Marvin:

June Wolff Pack Paper Pack June Wolff Pack Messy Marvin by Amy Wolff
June Wolff Pack Paper Pack
June Wolff Pack Messy Marvin
by Amy Wolff

I’ll have more new stuff tomorrow. Today I am off to grocery shop and to C’s end of the year baseball pool party. Have a great Friday! Peace, out…

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And here I am…

Yep, it’s been awhile. I honestly have thought about coming by every day, and then every day something comes up and this blog just sits. I am working on a few changes to my routine and life that will hopefully help me to become better organized and keep up with this a bit better as well. Streamlining, if you will. School has been out for a week now, and baseball is over as well. I have spent most of this week getting ready for C’s birthday. He has not always had the best of birthdays. My dad and my father-in-law both passed away within the week surrounding his birthday, so I’m trying to make this one a little extra special. There won’t be a lot of people, but I’m hoping he will love it just the same. I’ll share photos when it’s over. Next week, we will get in to the fun stuff, like pool time!

I’m pretty much keeping up with scrapping time as well, and my Life in Pockets is only behind by a week! I do want to share that Etc. by Danyale is closing her shop at SO and is having one fantastic sale! Make sure you get by there and grab up some of her goodies at ridiculously low prices!

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I didn’t do a whole lot of scrapping this past week, but I did manage to get in a few pages. Here’s some of what’s new:

All About A Boy by Amy Wolff Press Plate No. 40 by Paislee Press
All About A Boy by Amy Wolff
Press Plate No. 40 by Paislee Press
Painted Canvas Papers, Corrugated Alpha, and Finishing Touches Elements by Amy Wolff
Painted Canvas Papers, Corrugated Alpha, and Finishing Touches Elements by Amy Wolff
Foto Face by River~Rose and HGD by Laurie Ann Fuss Free: Play It Again 18 by Fiddle-Dee-Dee
Foto Face by River~Rose and HGD by Laurie Ann
Fuss Free: Play It Again 18 by Fiddle-Dee-Dee

I’ll also be updating my Life in Pockets later this evening or tomorrow. Traci Reed’s Pocket Life for June hits the store, and it is awesome!!

Have a wonderful weekend! Peace, out…

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