Day 8-- {Thirty Days of Thankful}

Today I am thankful for date nights with my hubby. We don't get them too often because we just can't really afford it, but he got his bonus from work yesterday. So, we splurged a bit.
We ran into my sister, Kim, and Jason at the restaurant tonight too. Which is a little funny because we have only been to The Pizza Factory twice in 12 years lol.
So, we all decided to share a table and do double date night instead!

 

Day 7-- {Thirty Days of Thankful}

Today I am thankful for the compassion of Shane's new Workman's Comp doctor, Kirk Leininger. His previous case doctor had a seriously bad bedside manner. He assumed everyone who was coming to him had a problem with pain medication use, and would not give him anything for pain at all. I know my husband. He does not abuse medication. He doesn't even take it before the "every 4 hours as needed" is up. Even if he is in pain and needs it. He isn't a drug addict. He has a serious back injury, and it hurts to watch him hurt. He doesn't ask for meds often. Only when he has to have his back injections, like today.
I get that some people do abuse prescription drugs and that doctors have to be careful about how and when it is prescribed. But this last doctor would never even listen to him when he said he was having pain. His solution was always to discuss surgery, which Shane is terrified of. He has a couple of friends that had the same surgery, and they were both worse off afterword. He'd rather deal with the pain than be disabled.
So, to have a doctor who listens to him and who talks to him and understands his needs is just really awesome. Doctor Leininger takes the time to explain things to us both and makes sure all of our questions are answered. I am so thankful that Shane was able to switch to him.

Thirty Days of Thankful Days 1-6

I am doing a Thirty Days of Thankful journal in an 8X8  Project Life pocket style album. I thought it would be nice to blog my thankfulness here for you all to share in.
Obviously, I am starting the blog entries late. But here are my first six things to be thankful for. I will share my photos of the pages as they are completed as well. I know you're technically supposed to work on those daily, but I don't really have time until the weekend.
So, here goes.

Nov 1--I was thankful for a handy hardworking hubby and son. We had an electrical issue that soon turned into a bunch of issues that they found while fixing the electrical. Plumbing problems mostly.
This could have easily cost us anywhere from $500-$1000 that we just don't have. But we have awesome friends that gave us supplies that they happened to have from previous jobs of their own. And my hubby is super smart and knows how to fix nearly anything. So it ended up costing us around $200 in supplies only. So happy they could do it. They weren't happy having to get under the house and deal with the yuck. But we're all glad that we didn't have to hire someone.

Nov 2--today I am thankful for hunting because it is one of the things that bring my son and hubby together. And because they do it outdoors, which can be a rare thing for all of us sometimes.
They don't always get along, but this is something they can bond over. And that makes me happy.

 

Nov 3--Today I am thankful for the beauty of the area that I live in. This photo is taken a little over an hour from our house. But we literally have many beautiful canyon drives similar to this within minutes of our home as well. I don't think I could ever leave this place. It is in my bones now.

Nov 4--I'm thankful for the little bit of snoozing our dog, Angel, and I do after Dad leaves for work each morning. Shane leaves about an hour and a half before I have to get up and get ready for work. So I cuddle with my doggie and snooze for a bit during that time.

She is getting older and starting to show it. She might not be around too much longer, so we will cherish our time with her while we have it.

Nov 5--I love family movie and pizza nights! Especially now that my son is nearly 18. He is my only child, and I have come to appreciate the times that we spend with him more than usual. I know that soon he will be gone. He will begin his own life, and before I know it, I will see him having his own family nights. I want to slow it down. Life goes by too fast. But for now, I have family movie nights.

Nov 6--Today I am thankful for E-Books. I don't think I have read an actual paper book in about a year now. Don't get me wrong....I love real paper books. I like the smell of the paper and the crack of the spine on a brand new book.

However, we have no space to store actual paper print books in our home. I have to check them out at the library and return them 2 weeks later. And, they are hard to carry around sometimes. Plus, an electronic book is easier to hold while reading in bed ;)
I love that I can read an e-book on my Nook tablet, or on my cell phone. Even for just a few minutes. Like when I'm waiting in the dentist's office. Or, when I'm on break at work.
I can bring a limitless supply of books to read while camping. It's a pretty amazing thing. If someone had told me this would be possible when I was in high school, I'd have thought they were dreaming.

Some Project Life Stuff to Share......

As I said in my post a few days ago, this pocket page scrapbooking is REALLY starting to grow on me. It gets pics in albums fast, and the every day stuff that may not ever get scrapped otherwise, gets into books too. I'm loving it.
I decided to do a pocket style album for this year and see how I like it. I am only doing it by month right now because, and if y'all know me you'll understand :), I can't really picture myself being able to keep up with weekly at this point. And daily is never going to happen :)
Anyway, I wanted to share some pages I have done recently. So here they are.

January 2014

 February 2014

 March 2014

 I also joined some Project Life groups on facebook to get some ideas and maybe even join some swaps or challenges.  I just joined my first challenge, which had a theme of "Summer is Here". The challenge part was that you could only use regular cardstock (no patterned paper), and you had to use at least one each of stickers, stamps, flowers and bling.
I didn't ask, so I hope it is ok, but I used ink as well. That may get me disqualified because she said to only use the things she put on the list. But, you have to use ink to stamp. So I was hoping I could scrape by on a technicality. I was having a really hard time coming up with some designs.
We were to do a 3X4 and a 4X6 card for this challenge. Here are my entries. Tell me watcha think?

3X4 Entry

 

4X6 Entry

 

That's all I've got to say today. Please leave me a comment if you've gotten this far :)

Make Your Own Washi Tape?! .........Yes Please!

Sorry I've been a bit absent. Busy last couple of weeks in my family.

Anway, I don't really have a lot of time to post today, but I wanted to share this fun little tutorial I found on YouTube and what I made with it. It was so easy!

I haven't really invested much in washi tape. Because I don't think I'll ever use a full roll of one design. I don't want all of my pages or projects to look the same. That's why I never buy paper stacks either. Too many of one pattern. Or, even worse, a bunch that I don't even like.

I digress.  I found this fun and really simple little video from Beckie Lehman on how to make your own washi tape yesterday and decided to give it a go.......Totally Worked!

 

Here is the fruits of my labor. Isn't that fun?! It probably requires a bit of advanced planning due to drying time. But I could totally wip up a bunch using all of my lovely scraps that I can't bare to throw away :(

 

Hope this post inspires you. If you got this far, please leave a comment!

 

Kinda Loving It.......

I have to say that I am really liking this Project Life style of scrapbooking. I got 7 pages done in about an hour on Saturday. This amount of pages would have taken me days in the past! Which is why I never get anything done. I don't have a lot of time these days to devote to scrapping.
I will still do some traditional pages for important and special events, or things that mean a lot to me. I'm not saying that family vacations don't mean a lot, they do, but we pretty much do the same stuff every year. And, I kinda like the focus on the photos aspect of this style of scrapping as well.
Anyway, I got all caught up on the 2012 hunting trip yesterday. Now I can try to get caught up on previous years. Maybe I can get my hunting book all caught up before we go again this year lol.

 

Most of what I used here is the  Echo Park collection called Photo Freedom Volume II. But some of it came from the 24/7 kit from Simple Stories. And a couple of random patterned papers from my stash that I really don't know where they came from

Manly Monday Cowboy Card

Today's Manly Monday card was actually made by me a few years ago. I really loved this stamp set, and I think it makes great cards for men and for boys. It is retired now, but I still have mine. It is one of those I think I will keep forever.
I had made this card to give to my father-in-law for his birthday once, but I ended up using a different one. I just found it again in my card stash, so maybe he'll end up getting it after all :)

 I always like to decorate the inside of my cards a little bit too. 

Hope you liked it! And, if you made it to the end of this post, please leave a comment!

Stamps: Wanted and Boho Friend (Wheel)--Stampin Up!
Paper: Rust, Kraft, Chocolate Brown, and White Cardstock From My Stash (not sure of manufacturer)
Ink: Chocolate Chip-Stampin Up!
Accessories: Imaginisce I-Rock Tool and Hot Rocks Jewels (Look Like Copper Brads)

Some Graduation Cards

Yup, it's that time of year again! Graduation usually happens in May (at least 'round these parts), so I thought my next card swap was a great opportunity to try out this card top I've been wanting to make with my Silhouette Cameo machine.
I imported the star punch from the Stampin Up My Digital Studio software into my Silhouette software. Then I traced it and made into a cuttable Studio file. Then I just made a rectangle shape in the dimensions I needed for my card top and added some stars to it. Pretty easy, and I love the result!
Too bad I don't really know anyone who is graduating this year. But, I didn't put a year on them on purpose so that I could save one for later, and the ladies in my swap group can save them as well.
I asked the ladies what colors they would need for graduations coming up so that I could make less boring cards lol. Black and silver turned out great, but I really like the colored ones a lot.
And, as always, this idea is not my own lol. I got the idea from a card I found on Pinterest here. I just used a different method to make them :)

The yellow looking paper on this one is actually a soft shimmery gold.

 This one is my favorite. Probably because it is my favorite color, my high school colors, and my son's high school colors (not the same school).

 The black and silver just in case I missed anyone's color request.

 I like this one too, but it is the colors of a rival to my high school, so it isn't my favorite lol.

 And, finally, this last one is my hubby's high school colors.

If you have managed to make it to the end of this post, I would sure appreciate a comment :)

Stamps: Blue Ribbon-Stampin Up!
Paper: Cardstock is all from my stash (in other words, I really have no idea who the manufacturer is.)
Ink: Basic Black-Stampin Up!
Accessories: Silhouette Cameo machine, Star Punch SVG files from Stampin Up! My Digital Studio software, 1-1/4" Circle Punch-Stampin Up!, Designer Label Punch-Stampin Up! (retired), Large Oval Punch-Stampin Up!

Manly Monday

I didn't really have time to make a new manly card this weekend with the holiday and all. We went to Fountain Green and spent Saturday with my family for Easter. It was beautiful weather, and we had such an amazing time. I really love our blended family :)
Then yesterday we spent time with our neighbors out in the beautiful sunshine and had a fun little barbecue salmon dinner. Surprisingly, even though I hate fish, it was very good.
But, I do have a manly card to share that I made a long time ago. I copied this card from someone on Splitcoast Stampers. I usually save that information to give credit, but I seem to have lost it. So, I apologize, but I am not trying to take credit. This is 100% not my idea (most things aren't lol).

I used an old retired stamp from Stampin UP called Noble Deer. I love this stamp set. This is one that I will never ever give up. It is so versatile and can be used for so many things. And I have a lot of sportsmen in my life, so it has paid for itself already!
This card was super easy and quick. I made like 10 of these for a Father's Day card swap in about 20 minutes time. Don't you love when things work out like that?
Anyway, here are some pics from our Easter holiday. I hope yours was full of fun, family, and love just like mine!

My sister Lacy and her family

 My sister Kim and brother Andy. Kim loves this picture, ha ha!

 My siblings and me (I am in yellow)

 My two brother-in-laws, Dustin in black and Jason in green, and two of my step sisters (Leena and Kaitlyn. Leena (in blue) is engaged to Dustin, but Kaity and Jason are just playing partners. Jason is Kim's hubby.)

 Dad and brother-in-law

 Mmmmm........olives :)

 Watching horseshoes (me and my sis with her daughter and my son)

 Sister Kim with our niece, Jordyn

 Nephew-Ryan, brother-Andy, and niece-Jordyn

My Son, Garrett

 My hubby, Shane, and our nephew, Ryan

 

My pops and his wife, Diane

Trying Out This Project Life Thing...

So, once upon a time (when I was a buyer at Robert's Crafts--that'd be nearly 4 years ago), I was introduced to this thing called Project Life. It is a scrapbooking system developed by Becky Higgins that utilizes pocket pages (pretty much like photo album pages) and printed card inserts to go along with them. You just slide in the cards and your photos, maybe embellish (or maybe not), slap on a bit of journaling, and your done. It can be a simple and fast way to keep your everyday memories but still feel like you are making pretty pages at the same time.

Now, the reason I said 'can be' is because I seem to make everything more complicated than it really is lol. Someday I may get the hang of the fast and easy part. But these pages took me forever! I am really happy with them though. I really love this style and will continue to use it. It takes the 'where to place my picures' dilemma out of things. That is a huge hurdle for me.

 The date on this one is wrong! Lol. I just realized that.

A lot of people do Project Life on a daily or weekly basis. And there are even kits and groups you can join to help with that. I don't think I could ever keep up with it that much. Although, I may try to do monthly pages. Maybe. But I really like the simplicity and style of it and will use it to fill in with some of my more traditional pages done for special occasions and events.

This seems to work especially well for me on things like camping pages. I don't feel the need to do traditional pages for camping anymore, because we go on the same trip to the same place every year. I still want to document things. But I don't think I need a beautiful, award winning layout to do that lol. These pocket style layouts are pretty, simple, and (can be) quick.

Most of what I used here is the 24/7 kit from Simple Stories. But some of it came from an Echo Park collection called Photo Freedom Volume II.

Vinyl Butterfly Car Window Sticker

I have been wanting to try cutting a vinyl window decal with my Cameo machine for a while. I was just intimidated by it. I have had a Cricut machine before too, and I never cut vinyl with it either lol.

Well, the store bought butterfly I have had in the back window of my car forever finally died lol. I think I scraped most of it off with my snow scraper in winter.  So, no time like the present....

So silly! Nothing to be intimidated by at all. It was super easy! I just looked up some tutorials on YouTube, got the general idea, and went for it. I did mess up a couple of cuts, but eventually I got it.

I think this is a little huge, but I still like it. I'll keep it for a bit and see if it doesn't grow on me. If not, I'll have to make a smaller one.

Whatdya think? I had taken a few pics of my vinyl cuts and the process of putting it on my window, but I accidentally deleted them from my phone---ooops! I actually had to download this pic from a Facebook post I made about it :)

Manly Monday

I thought I might start a new thing on my blog to get some inspiration going for masculine cards. I know I have a hard time making cards for boys or men, and I have heard the same from many of my friends. We'll call it 'Manly Monday', unless I can come up with some better super brilliant name at a later time :)
Today I am sharing a really fun masculine card using the Stampin Up! Thinlets flip card dies. I am loving these things. They are so fun to open! My husband is really tired of watching it LOL. Every time I make one, I make him look at it flip back and forth. I'm sure he is not as entertained as I am ;)  And, if you own a Silhouette or other cut machine that can cut SVG files, there are loads of cut files for these things on the internet. I bought a couple of them from Lori Whitlock, and there are a bunch in the Silhouette store too. Super fun!
Anyway, here is my card. I hope it helps inspire you to create a manly man card today!

Stamps: Ciao Baby (Happy Day)-Stampin Up!, Lovely as a Tree-Stampin Up!, Retired Sentiment Stamp Set (don't know the name)-Stampin Up!
Paper: Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper-Stampin Up!, Brown and White Cardstock From My Stash (not sure of manufacturer)
Ink: Chocolate Chip-Stampin Up!
Accessories: Thinlets Card Dies and 2-1/2" Circle Punch-Stampin Up!