sketch challenge & february desktop...

Hi blog friends!!
Today is gonna be another "quickie" post! I had a few moments on Saturday morning to stamp a couple of cards, so I decided to play along with the current Clean & Simple Sketch Challenge. I haven't played along in a while~so it was fun to get back into it. I really do like this layout, and will probably use it again. It is perfect if you need to make a lot of cards, because it goes together really quickly.



I also downloaded the free desktop calendar from Shabby Miss Jenn (love her stuff!!). You can get yours here. You do need a photo editing program to complete it (I edited mine just a bit to fit my photos. I use Photoshop CS4, but you can use Picasa for FREE)~just drag your photo layers under the calendar layer, resize them if needed and viola!!. Here is mine~with my two favorite kiddos!!


Enjoy your Monday Friends!!

Organization Day 4

Good evening!! I am a little late with my Day 4 Organization post~it has been a busy weekend for me. So you know what they say...better late than never...here we go!

Day 4~Clean the Fridge:

Each week before I head out to the grocery store, I usually clean out my fridge of leftovers that never got eaten, brown lettuce, moldy cucumbers, you get the picture, LOL! Well today we are going to really give the fridge a scrubbing!! I took everything out of my fridge~drawers and all and washed them in warm soapy water, I used this and a little elbow grease. Here is my before photo (looks pretty clean when you are far away, LOL!)



But once I pulled out the drawers...lookie what I found~EW!! GROSS!! I have no idea what it was, but of course when I asked the boys~neither one remembered spilling anything. Luckily whatever it was, it was dried up and easy to clean out.



Once everything was washed and shined up~I loaded everything back in. It is so nice looking in there now~I found myself just opening the door to admire the cleanliness ;)



now it is your turn!! Clean out your fridge!!

best wishes...

Hi' ya'll! I am soooo happy today is Friday (I know I say this every single week, LOL!)!! It has been a long week for me. Today post is gonna be kinda quick...

I have worked as the office manager in a doctor's office for the past 8 years, and today is the last day for one of the Doctor's in our office, he is closing his practice. I sure will miss him in the office!! I wanted to make up a little going away/thanks for being a great boss gift for him, so I filled this jar (which I purchased here), with some York Peppermint patties~yum!! I also made up a quick tag for the front of the jar with my most recent go-to stamp set/die, and made a color coordinated card for a Starbucks gift card. I left it on his desk last night~so he will get it first thing today when he comes into work. I love being secretive like that, LOL!





I will have my organization Day 3 post up a little later today (which will be posted below this post)~I would love to know if you like/dislike these types of non-stamping related posts~please drop me an email me/leave a comment.

Happy Friday!! Have a terrific weekend!!

Organization Day 3

Happy Friday~again!!

I hope you are feeling good in your progress of organization~it always makes me feel happy to look at things that are in their place :)

Day 3~Tupperware Storage:

Ok~let me just start this off by saying, I used to have a terrible problem with Tupperware!!! I had every piece imaginable~just ask my mom when she helped me move~it was not pretty!!! While I have nothing against Tupperware, I find it to be one of the most challenging items to store!! With that being said, I have, over the years donated most of my Tupperware. I would be afraid of..."what if I have 100 items of random leftovers with not enough Tupperware??" Well that has NEVER happened to me, LOL!! And if it did happen, I could just use a bowl with plastic wrap. I am not saying you need to get rid of your Tupperware, this is what has worked for me, with my limited storage space.

Ok here we go!!
Take out each piece of Tupperware/Rubbermaid/plastic container and make sure you have a matching lid to go with it. Get rid of any pieces that are yucky, cracked, or lid~less.

I found these dish pan type containers at my local Dollar Store (you know how much I enjoy organizing containers!!). I stacked all the "bottoms" inside.



Then I used a plastic shoe box to house all the lids.





I store them on the shelf in my island cabinet. This is where I keep all the items I use the most, so while I was organizing the Tupperware, I pulled everything out and wiped out the cabinet then put it all back in it's place (I am noticing a little bowl addiction going on here, LOL!). Here is a view of the finished project.



So far this Tupperware system has worked out great for me~I love that I can pull out the entire container to find the right size item/lid that I need.

Ok now it is your turn~go tackle that Tupperware!!!

Organization Day 2

Hi Friends,
Did you get your junk drawer cleaned out yesterday? Here is your task for today:

Day 2~Computer Desk

Today's task is cleaning and organizing your computer desk/area. Since I am at my computer a LOT!! (photo editing/graphic design for my church/blogging). This area stays pretty organized, because that is how I roll!!

I actually had a before photo for this task. Notice the pile of junk next to the desk...it sat there for 2 weeks (and drove me BATTY), Mike needed to transfer files from our VERY old computer onto an EHD. The other stuff was from our closet turned pantry that needed a new home, which I am happy to report, has happened!! *notice the gloves and scarf? Yes we live in AZ, but it does get chilly at night, so Josh uses them when he rides this toy of his. And our crazy kitty Dewey, who sits at the computer with me 75% of the time*




I took everything off my desk and dusted the entire surface with these (it was pretty dusty), then I used my screen cleaner to clean my LED dual screens (an awesome gift from my hubby), keyboard and mouse. Then put everything back in it's place.



I found the little wire basket at the Target dollar spot, which was perfect for incoming bills for Mike to pay, LOL!!



I also used the same Rubbermaid containers (clear plastic) I used in my kitchen junk drawer for the computer desk draw (if you haven't noticed...I {heart} organizing containers). Once I was ready to dig in, I had plastic bins for items I wanted to donate, another for things that needed to be put away/filed in the filing cabinet, and a trash can for junk. Then I was ready organize!! It really only took me about 30 min to do the desk top and drawers~not really too painful!!





Now it is your turn...Have fun organizing!!!

*I will have a double post tomorrow (organizing/stamping) *

organinzation~day 1

Are you ready for some organizing??? I know I have said this before, but organization makes me really happy (sick I know). I just like to know that everything has a place and when I am looking for a specific item~I will be able to find it easily.

I have been on an organizational kick this month (January always does that to me). And because the rest of my family (Mike and Josh), don't share my love of everything organized...sometimes things don't get returned to their correct home, so that is why it is an ongoing process, LOL!!

I have been following an organizing schedule where you organize one area every day for a month. Now that is all fine and dandy, but sometimes I don't have time in my day to squeeze in some organization (even though it makes me happy), so here is what I did: If I had the time (and motivation) on the particular task day, then I went ahead and tackled it. If not, than I added it to my ongoing to-do list for projects I want to get completed. Then on the weekend or my day off, I could tackle one, two or three of the projects.


So lets get started!!
Day 1~Junk Drawer

I figured that we could start off small, so we can build momentum for some of the bigger organizational tasks coming up. The junk drawer is one area that constantly needs to be gone though in our house~I guess that is why it is called a "junk" drawer~it houses JUNK!!

Since I started my organizing a few weeks ago and wasn't really thinking "blog post" I failed to snap a before photo. But the after is what matters anyway, right??

Here is my organized junk drawer






I purchased some of these containers at Target (in black) a while ago, which fit pretty nicely in my drawer. So all I really needed to do was take everything out, wipe out the drawer (with this yummy smelling cleaner), purge, then re-organize~viola!!

Ok friends...Enjoy today, and go clean out your junk drawers :)

so sweet of you...

Hi blog friends!
Another weekend has come and gone (very quickly I might add). Did you do anything fun and exciting? Mike and I went out for dinner here on Friday night~so YUMMY!! I am so glad that WW puts extra points into their program, because I think I used mine all up on Friday night.

I have been busy organizing, which makes me feel good, especially after I watched a few episodes of this over the weekend, it is so sad to see people attached to "junk" that they would rather live alone than with their own family.

I am putting together my organizational list for those of you that may be interested. I find that when I tackle things in smaller chunks I get less distracted/overwhelmed. I was hoping to have it ready for today's post, but I didn't get the photos taken. But I promise it will be up on Wednesday. (I know there has to be a few other crazy OCD people like me out there, LOL!).

Mike and I watched this movie last night~while I wouldn't say it was an awesome movie, it was however, very interesting in how Facebook came about.

I didn't get much stamping time in this weekend *sad face* but I did make a quick card for a friend of mine that did something very sweet for me. I CASE'D (copy and share everything) the stacked cup idea from Maile (that girl is so talented!!).



I hope your Monday is Fantastic!!

charlie the dog...

Happy Friday!
I hope you had a great week~I know I am looking forward to the weekend!! I have been on an organizing kick lately (which makes me feel so good!!), purging and re-organizing does the mind and body good (that is my motto anyway, LOL!).
I have been following a 21 day plan to organize in small bits and pieces (which is less intimidating and pretty easy to keep up with); I will post it next week in case you are interested, along with photos (even better right???). Unfortunately I didn't take too many "before" photos, so it will just be mostly "after" (but those are the ones that matter anyway!!).

In the office building I work in, there is a gal named Colleen (in the suite next to us), who brings her dog Charlie to work with her on a regular basis. He is an Airedale Terrier, and such a sweet natured doggie. I found out last Friday that Charlie had to be put to sleep due to a liver problem; SO SAD!!! He was 12 years old, in human years (which is pretty old in doggie years). I will sure miss seeing him for his regular visits to our office.

I wanted to make a card for Colleen to let her know how much I will miss seeing Charlie. Here is what I came up with, I only have one dog image, which I purchased a few years ago from Cornish Heritage Farms (which is now closed), which made me realize, I need some more pet stamps!!



Here is a photo I found online that looks a lot like Charlie; I am so glad that all dogs go to heaven!!! RIP Charlie :(

Give your pet a hug today!!!

warm happiness too...

Happy Wednesday!!
I am gonna have another quick post for you today...Mike and I have a few shows to catch up on (Tuesday night is when I am typing my actual post), (boy I LOVE my DVR!!!).

My MIL celebrated her birthday on Sunday, and since pink is one of her favorite colors, I had to go with a bright pink color. I was also anxious to ink up my new PTI stamp set, Warm Happiness Too, and since my MIL is a coffee drinker, it was a done deal. I also used my new Circle/Scalloped Circle Nestabilies (which I purchased with a Hobby Lobby holiday gift card), and popped the coffee mug up with a pop dot. Not sure if you can tell from the photo...but I also added some Crystal Effects on the stamped coffee area, which made it look like real coffee inside the mug *the things that get me excited, LOL*.



And I am slowly but surely plugging away at editing my November/December photos~just had to post this one of me and Hershey (I LOVE that little doggie!!).



Have a Wonderful Day!!

another mat stack 2 card...

Howdy,
Did you have a great weekend?? Mine was pretty uneventful, just the usual "weekend" stuff. I did get some stamping time in~so of course that always makes me happy; but since I was making another sympathy card (which is getting kind of old for me, 3 in the last 3 weeks), I was thinking about my dear friends who have lost their loved ones !!

This card is for my friend Judy (from high school). Her dad passed away a few days ago, she was so close to him (he lived with her and her husband, so she could take care of him); I wish I lived closer, so I could give her a big hug~but since I am across the country~I made her what I like to call a hug with a fold in the middle, a.k.a.: a card.



I used my Mat Stack 2 stamp set again (I promise to put it away for a little while, LOL) on this card; I also paired sweet blush and scarlett jewel (both PTI colors), and really LOVE the contrast!!

My hubby has today off (MLK day), so I decided to take the day off too :) Not sure what we will do (I have some organizing projects, which I am sure he will love~NOT, LOL!), but I just LOVE having Monday's off!!

Have a Terrific Day!!

better late than never...

Hi all, sorry I am late with my post!! Last night I ended up spending some time with my hubby watching this show, and was too tired to finish my post.

Yesterday was a stressful day!! It all started out pretty normal, until I grabbed my purse to go to work; it felt lighter than normal. So I looked inside and didn't see my wallet *insert sick feeling here*. I checked next to the computer (sometimes I leave it there if I purchase something online~which I did not), and it wasn't there. Well, I didn't really have time to search for it or I would be late for work. I called Mike in a panic. He asked me what I did yesterday....I went to work and picked up a few things at Walmart...so he suggested I call Walmart to see if it was turned it (which I highly doubted, but figured I would give it a shot). At this point I am remembering that I had lots of Christmas gift cards and the $$ Josh gave me to pay for his insurance in there (which made me even more sick to my stomach!!). Since I go to work at 7am, I had a hard time getting a hold of Walmart's customer service. Finally at 8am I talked to someone and they said they would check for me. After 5 LONG minutes on hold~they said they had it!!! I almost screamed with delight!! I asked if they could tell me if there was $$ inside, and they said they could not go through it...but either way, I was just glad my wallet was found!! Once Ashley came into work at 9:30 I drove over to Walmart to pick it up~can you believe that EVERYTHING was still inside?? I was delighted!! I asked the manager who turned it in~and she said a cashier found it. I wanted to leave her a $$ reward, but they would not let me (against store policy)~and unfortunately I can not remember who the cashier was that checked me out on Wednesday (cause I would have gone back to give her something~I am a rebel like that, LOL!). I told them to make sure they told her how grateful I was!! I always think the worst~and I thought for sure that my credit cards/cash/gift cards would all be missing, but to my surprise, there are still honest people in the world!! Thank you honest person for turning in my wallet!!!

I have reconnected with several of my friends from high school on Facebook, which I think is so cool!! I love that I can stay connected with that part of my past. One of my friends from way back, just lost her mom this week. I immediately sent her a message and asked her for her address (in a non stalker way, LOL!), so I could mail her a card. Sympathy cards are not fun to make, but here is what I came up with for my friend Christin.



I don't know about you, but I am so glad it is Friday!! Enjoy your weekend!!

HB to my niece...

Hi all~How is your week going? We are at the half way mark *woot* Friday is right around the corner *woot woot* (double woot on that one).

Today is gonna be kinda quick...
Here is a quick card I made for one of my favorite nieces, Allison, who is celebrating her sweet 16 TODAY!! Happy Birthday Alli!! I cannot believe that both of my nieces are 16 now~Boy, time sure does fly!!

I am really having fun with my new PTI goodies!!! Loving this new mat stack 2 die.



And last night I finally got my Christmas photos edited~whew!! I sure did take a lot of pictures, but I narrowed it down to 60 or so to edit (that was enough, LOL!). If you want to see them, they are here. And YES!! I am a crazy paparazzi mom who makes everyone pose with their presents~Even Nate has become a great "present model".

Make today a great one!!

WW, Celebrating Life, Pantry...

Hi all,
Happy Monday to you~did you have a nice weekend? I am still fighting this cold that my hubby shared with me last week~yuck!! I am hoping I start feeling better this week!!! I am tired of blowing my nose every 5 min!!

On Friday, even though I was feeling kinda yucky...I decided to go to my local WW meeting to find out about the new Points Plus Program. I was a little hesitant and nervous, since I had so much success with the old program; but the 0 point fruit was really making me CURIOUS!!! I am so glad I went, because I think I am really gonna like the new program!! Change is good, right?? (sometimes, LOL!!). So I picked up my new materials and one of these (*note these are cheaper at the ww meetings; I paid $16 US dollars) and have been eating way more on this plan than the other one~which makes me happy *smile* I don't really have much to lose, just a few holiday pounds~but I love how WW keeps me on track.



Saturday I went to celebrate the life of my friend Mark Cain (who passed away on 12/24/10). What a nice service it was~celebrating his life and hearing my good friend Cindy talk about him as a husband and dad. He served on the Hospitality team with me at church, and I will deeply miss his smiling face and willing heart to serve.

I made this card for Cindy, and will be mailing it to her today. She is such a strong person and has been through so much~just want her to know how much I enjoy her friendship and how I love her!!



And as promised, Here are the before and after photos of my closet to pantry makeover. It is still considered pretty small in the pantry world~but I am LOVING the extra space for all my canned goods and other food items. And my OCD is just loving the can organizers!!! It is still a work in progress; Mike is going to extend the top shelf (which isn't pictured), and maybe do something on the side walls. It is so nice when I go to Costco now~if something is on sale, I can buy it because I now have room to store it *smile*

Before:




After:



Notice...
*the gingerbread house that never got decorated at Christmas
*I was too lazy to paint the shelves, LOL!!
*we like rice :)

Have a Wonderful Monday!

an easy peasy thank you...

Happy Friday friends!!
Today is gonna be quick~my sweet hubby shared his "cold germs" with me this week, so I have been a little under the weather (isn't he so nice to share?? NOPE); I think I am on the upswing though *hooray*, so that is good news; because my PTI order arrived last night *smile* Hopefully I will have some time this weekend to play with my new stuff!!

Today I am off to my local WW meeting to find out what the new Points Plus is all about (I am a little nervous...because change is always a little scary, but I am so excited about the 0 point fruit!!). And I am hoping the weigh in isn't too painful after the holidays!!

I will have my pantry photos up on the old blog on Monday (I wasn't up to taking photos last night...sore throat/headache/tired/blah!); stay tuned.

Here is another easy peasy thank you card.



Enjoy the weekend Friends!!

masculine thank you...

Hi all,
How is your week going? Since I worked a half of week last week~this week is a piece of cake for me, not like last Monday, which felt like it would never end, LOL!

I am happy to report that Monday after work I went for my walk (My New Year Goal off to a great start), I even brought Josh's dog Kodi with me...let me just say~He walked me (that doggie is CRaZy and STRONG)!! I got quite a work out; and I had my new toning shoes on (which I wasn't sure if they would work or not; let me just say "they DO"), I couldn't go for my walk last night because my legs were killing me!! I guess that is a good thing right? I plan on going out again today~but without Kodi, LOL!

I am also making progress on my new pantry, and it is almost photo ready. Our new can organizer boxes arrived on Monday and my sweet hubby put them all together for me last night.

While I was stamping my thank you cards last Saturday, I remembered that I needed some "guy cards", which are always a little challenging for me. I used my new circle and Scalloped circle Nestabilities Dies (purchased with a gift card from a sweet friend), as a focal point, then just stamped some snowflakes on the circle and used a greeting from one of my favorite PTI sets Signature Greetings. I also used some retired SU! designer paper and retired cardstock. And I just had to add a button for fun!!



Enjoy Today!!

2011, thank you card & LOTS of chit chat...

Are you ready for the work week? (this said in the Monday night football sort of way), LOL!!.

I hope you, my sweet blog readers, had a Marvelous holiday season and are excited as we look forward to 2011. Did you make any resolutions? I personally don't~I just set goals for myself (much easier for me to achieve that way!!). My number one goal this year is to get back into walking every day, and to start counting my WW points more strictly (anyone out there using the new program?? curious what you think of it). I bought a pair of these to help me out~not sure if they really work or not, but worth a try right?? And they were on sale (gotta love that!!).

I tackled a lot of organizing over the past 4 days (it feels so good to get that stuff done!!), Mike and I never got to the garage re-organization, but you know, there are other weekends for that. My new pantry is coming along nicely (just waiting for these to arrive so I can take an "after"photo). Since we turned our downstairs closet into a pantry...all the "stuff" we kept in there had to find a new home (luckily we got rid of a lot of it).

My word for this year is "simplify" and for me lists help me to do that; I love writing things I want to accomplish down, so then I am ok to forget it, because it is on paper (it doesn't have to stay in my brain). I found some great lists you can download for free here. I am loving the pocket docket, since it isn't as involved. I write down my daily tasks and check off 3 MIT (most important tasks, for me to tackle first...that way if I don't get everything done~it doesn't drive me crazy!!). I even started a list for some bigger jobs that I would like to complete; like go through the old scrapbooking stuff stored under my bed, organize my wrapping paper/boxes/bags/ribbons, and re-organizing the garage (since it didn't get done last week) etc. That way it is written down, and if I have some free time and feel like taking on a project~it is right there for me.

I whipped up a few thank you cards on Saturday (it felt so good to get back into my craft room!!), for some really special people who blessed us this holiday season :) Here is one of the designs, I forgot how much I love that little button birdie!!



I am hoping to wrap up my DDA in the next week or two (great project btw, I will most likely do it again next year too). I am so glad I didn't put pressure on myself to keep up with it on a daily basis, (because that was just not happin-in'). Once I get it completed I will definitely post photos.

Ok, sorry for all the chit chat~but I have really missed blogging!!!
Enjoy your Monday!!