April - Month in Review

Another month has flown by!! 

• Spend more quality time with my husband - check!
• Organize my printed photos and print new pictures on a monthly basis - I found more pictures to get organized. I haven't printed any newer pictures but I did finally finish printing the wedding ceremony/reception pics! I think that just leaves the getting ready pictures (hair/makeup).  
• Take the Copic class that I won on FBW in September 2010 - I watched a few videos. Now that I took the in-person classes with the fantabulous Suzanne Dean, I think I have a better understanding of the copics and can complete the online class.  Here is a pic from the class on the 16th - yes, I am short plus Suzanne is wearing heels!

• Complete the Sketch 106 class from November 2010 - I completed 2 of the 10 sketches so far! 
• Complete the Colour! Or is it Color? class from November 2010 - no
• Unpack and finish moving stuff from my mom's (seeing as I've lived here over a year!) - ha, ha, ha.
• Get my scrappy room in working order so I don't feel so overwhelmed in there - I was able to get rid of quite a few piles and make the remaining piles more managable. I also got back to work on recording my stamp inventory...extremely necessary since I accidently duplicated some stamps.
• Complete one item on the house to-do list each month - I took a few days off from work and I was able to get our closet, the guest room closet and my dresser cleaned out.  Got rid of quite a bit and made the rest more easily accessible.
• Pay off 50% of my debt by December 2011 - This isn't going to happen...still working at it but I'm going to take this off the list for the rest of the year. 
• Read more books - Only 4 this month. Shades of Grey by Laura Childs, Strategic Moves by Stuart Woods, The Knitting Diaries by Debbie Macomber and others, Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay.  I did start 2 others but am only about a quarter through each one.
• Commit to making less commitments!  - ha, ha - I think it's time to take this off the list too! I gave it a good try for the first few months of the year!

My Word ~ Create

• Create a healthier version of me - Edited to add ...Went on 3 family walks this month with our puppy and I got to walk a few times during my lunch hour, hoping to get outside even more in May!
• Create a tidier home - still working on that...
• Create for myself - I did! I got some layouts done for my butterfly book :)

Total Craft Counts~ 

Cards - 14

Pages Scrapped - 7

Pictures Scrapped - 16

Other Highlights~

• I tried something new - gamsol with the prismacolor pencils. I don't know what took me so long LOL! I need to practice a lot more to be able to add depth & shading (just like the copics!!) I am glad i finally got over whatever was keeping me from starting lol!
• I started a new book blog, nothing fancy but I wanted a better way to keep track of the books I read plus share mini reviews of them with others that like to read. You can check it out HERE, if you are interested.
• Looking forward to May because I signed up for Layout A Day plus May with May and 28 Days of Sketches.  I should have lots of scrappiness to share soon!!

March ~ Month in Review

March

• Spend more quality time with my husband - Yes, we've spent a few weekends outside cleaning up our yard together and another weekend we spent some time at a home show getting ideas for future projects. We also had a movie night :)
• Create my wedding thank you cards - for those that don't know the wedding was in September 2010! - Happy to say these are DONE and can be taken off this list, yay!
• Organize my printed photos and print new pictures on a monthly basis - I did get some organized in February and forgot to note that.  I haven't printed any pictures yet as I need the time to edit/organize pictures. 
• Take the Copic class that I won on FBW in September 2010 - no
• Complete the Sketch 106 class from November 2010 - I did get the sketches printed out, that's a start!
• Complete the Colour! Or is it Color? class from November 2010 - no
• Unpack and finish moving stuff from my mom's (seeing as I've lived here over a year!) - No
• Get my scrappy room in working order so I don't feel so overwhelmed in there - We relocated the boxes yet again, this time to the spare room. My scrappy room is starting to look better again. I am in the process of finally unpacking crop bags from February. I did clean my desk off completely and wiped it down. It's nice to start with a fresh surface once in a while!
• Complete one item on the house to-do list each month -Yes! We finally cleaned out the dining room closet...what an eyesore that was.  There is still a bit of organizing to finish up but we got rid of some stuff and relocated a lot of things to where they belong.  We also got a shelving unit to place things on in there instead of opening the door and tossing stuff in! I can also get to the filing cabinet now so I have a year + worth of stuff to get filed!
• Pay off 50% of my debt by December 2011 - Um...I've been avoiding this goal. I have no idea where I stand right now....My name is Kristie and I am a shopaholic!
• Read more books - 6 books, woohoo! Up to 12 for the year!

         Gunpowder Green by Laura Childs, Always the Baker, Never the Bride by Sandra Bricker , Baby Bonanza by Maureen Child, The Blue Bistro by Elin Hildebrand, One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly and The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis. The last 2 are new to me cozy mystery series - can't wait to read more of them. 

• Commit to making less commitments! Have done okay with this. I decided against signing up for a few blog hops to give myself a break. April is another story lol...I've got a mile long list going!

My Word ~ Create

• Create a healthier version of me - still slacking here...sigh.  
• Create a tidier home - The outside is starting to look good again!
• Create for myself - Not this month! 

Total Craft Counts~ super slow month for me! But I've spent my time reading and working on the house so it's okay!

Cards - 8

Layouts - 5

Pictures Scrapped - 12 (I am happy that my # of pictures scrapped to the number of layouts I did is much higher. I am really into making multi photo layouts!)

Other Stuff~

We got our taxes done, yippee!!
The launch of Birthday Sundaes was fantastic! I am enjoying running this challenge so much. I have a fantastic team helping support me. 

Project Scrap Our Stash - February

At the end of January, I signed up for Project Scrap Our Stash on Denise's blog HERE.  I really should have known better LOL!

I blew the no spending part of it in the first few days!! Digi stamps..then I pre-ordered some Basic Grey stuff...then I got to go to a stamp store that I haven't been to in about 3 years. I was a VERY bad girl!

However, I DID use some stash so hopefully that redeems me just a bit LOL!  I made a card or two with some extremely old paper and then I made 7 cards from one of my Taylored Expressions kits from last summer. Yay me!

I did not sign up for March...I know me, I love to shop!  However, I still plan on working on paring down my stash so there is hope for me yet :)

February Month in Review

A few days late but I'm checking in with how I did with my goals for February!

February

• Spend more quality time with my husband - Yes :)
• Create my wedding thank you cards - for those that don't know the wedding was in September 2010! - Still haven't mailed them out. Definitely making it a priority for March as we will be married for 6 months on the 18th!
• Organize my printed photos and print new pictures on a monthly basis - no
• Take the Copic class that I won on FBW in September 2010 - no
• Complete the Sketch 106 class from November 2010 -no
• Complete the Colour! Or is it Color? class from November 2010 - no
• Unpack and finish moving stuff from my mom's (seeing as I've lived here over a year!) - We relocated boxes from the hallway to the scrap room - that's as far as it went lol
• Get my scrappy room in working order so I don't feel so overwhelmed in there - I did make some progress until I had to move the boxes in there!
• Complete one item on the house to-do list each month -yes, we finally got the flooring down in the dining room and moved all of the clutter out!!
• Pay off 50% of my debt by December 2011 - I paid off one small credit card balance...as for making the goal, not to sure on that I did add to my debt with some CHA pre-orders (oops lol!!)
• Read more books - 2 books. I read A Killer Plot by Ellery Adams, new series for me. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and the town that the book is based in. I also read The Island by Elin Hildebrand. I read through this book quickly, it was definitely an enjoyable read - fun characters and a great family storyline.  As of the end of February, I have read over 1,500 pages this year! Even though I use the Kindle primarily I look up how many pages the print book is and add it to my spreadsheet.
• Commit to making less commitments! ha, ha! I think I need to take this off the goal list lol!  I decided to start a new challenge blog, Birthday Sundaes, so have been working behind the scenes on this. 

My Word ~ Create

• Create a healthier version of me - still need to work on this!! I can't wait for the warmer weather so I can be active outside. Working out inside is so boring!
• Create a tidier home - My home is definitely cleaner!  Not as clean as I ultimately want it, but soooo much better than it has been!
• Create for myself - I didn't get as much done for me as I would have liked but hey it was a short month!

Total Craft Counts~ definitely a slower month but that's okay!

Cards - 18

Layouts - 5

Pictures Scrapped - 11

January Month in Review

Checking in with how I did with my goals for January!

January

• Spend more quality time with my husband - Yes :)
• Create my wedding thank you cards - for those that don't know the wedding was in September 2010! - I made them! Now to just write in them and mail them out.
• Organize my printed photos and print new pictures on a monthly basis - no
• Take the Copic class that I won on FBW in September 2010 - no
• Complete the Sketch 106 class from November 2010 - no
• Complete the Colour! Or is it Color? class from November 2010 - no
• Unpack and finish moving stuff from my mom's (seeing as I've lived here over a year!) - Unpacked one box so far
• Get my scrappy room in working order so I don't feel so overwhelmed in there - working on it!
• Complete one item on the house to-do list each month - yes
• Pay off 50% of my debt by December 2011 - paid off 2 Christmas bills and am on track for my goal
• Read more books - 4 books (a few cozy mysteries - Death by Darjeeling (I've read books #5 & 6 before starting at the beginning - great series), A Killer Plot (great start to a new series - can't wait for the next one in March!), Gingerbread Cookie Murder - love Joanne Fluke & Leslie Meier- (great addition to their series).
• Commit to making less commitments! - so far, so good! I did sign up for Project 2011 Scrap Our Stash for February - hopefully that will keep me from buying, I was a bit bad with the clearance sales this month LOL! Also got to visit a stamp store that's kinda far and I bought a lot there!

My Word ~ Create

• Create a healthier version of me - def. need to work on this!
• Create a tidier home - making some progress!!
• Create for myself - I had myself a grand time this month!

Total Craft Counts~

Cards - 50 (38 of them the wedding thank you cards)

Layouts - 8

Pictures Scrapped - 27

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year!!

I'm hoping this year will be a great one for me both personally and creatively!

In reviewing the goals I set last January...I didn't meet a single one {sigh}. In realizing this, I've taken some actions to reduce the commitments/stresses in my life so hopefully this new year will be a more productive one.

Here are some of my goals...I am trying to be more realistic in setting and approaching them, wish me luck!

• Spend more quality time with my husband
• Create my wedding thank you cards - for those that don't know the wedding was in September 2010!
  
• Organize my printed photos and print new pictures on a monthly basis
• Take the Copic class that I won on FBW in September 2010
• Complete the Sketch 106 class from November 2010
  
• Complete the Colour! Or is it Color? class from November 2010
  
• Unpack and finish moving stuff from my mom's (seeing as I've lived here over a year!)
• Get my scrappy room in working order so I don't feel so overwhelmed in there
  
• Complete one item on the house to-do list each month
• Pay off 50% of my debt by December 2011
  
• Read more books
• Commit to making less commitments!

I'll be reviewing this list here on the 1st of every month to keep myself on track!