THE QUEEN OF QUIRK

getting back

into the swing of things. It's been so long since I've worked a full day that I'm finding it difficult to get back into it. I didn't realize how taxing it was to sit at this desk for 7 hours a day until I had a 2 month break from it. ;)

BUT I'm dying to get some designing done and get some new goodies in my shop! :)

I've decided to order my Project Life photos once a month from Shutterfly. I also signed up for one of their prepaid plans and so now all I have to do is pay for shipping. That will put me 4 weeks behind in actually creating the pages but since I'm keeping a journal I'm hoping that once I get the photos I can just sit down, jot down my notes and scrap a bit and then pop the photos in and be done.

This constant rain and dreary weather isn't helping though. I'm really hoping for some rays of sunshine today. That would at least make this particular Tuesday a little more bearable.

I hope you had a great weekend!

 

cleaning out the office....

AGAIN.

It seems I have to do this quarterly because we are so incredibly bad about picking up after ourselves in the office.

This is midway through. Ick.

My plan of attack? Top to bottom. So, the top of the cabinet and the windowsill were the first to get hit with furious scrubbing and sorting.

After that, I cleaned out the big cabinet and was left with a massive pile of junky junk on the floor.

But at least I was making progress. I actually started this yesterday. I ruthlessly purged my scrap stash and promisd this HUGE box of goodies to the girls if they could get their art room cleaned up before bedtime tonight.

I snuck downstairs and peeked in on them and they were all getting along so well and being really helpful. It was lovely to see. It's a nice break from the catfights. ;)

But I can now say that after 2 days of intense purging and cleaning, my office is finally a place I can function in.

To the left of my desk:

The little red journal is my 2011 December Daily album. I can't wait to get the photos! I am so ready to get that scrapbook completed. :)

And to the right:

That little drawer unit is my "nook" I've carved out for Project Life.

The bottom drawer holds adhesives. The next drawer stores my stamps, ink pads and mounting blocks. The top drawer is where all my punches and cutting tools live.

The next 3 drawers hold my paper (along with a little tub full of the 3x4" pieces I cut), my alphabets and my page protectors.

On top I'll keep my PL journal and the camera.

And lest you think I just shoved everything into the cabinet...

Everything is all purdy and super organized now. This is where I store all my blank cards, paper scraps, glitter, flowers, rhinestones, labels, stickers, markers, ribbon, work supplies and mail stuff.

I am sooooo freakin' happy that my office is done.

Now all I have to do is lock everyone else in my family out of here and then hopefully it will stay this way.

Yeah right. ;)

project life 2012 : cover page

So excited about this project! When I first saw it, I can honestly say that I was less than impressed but after seeing so many different variations on this project over the years, I can now say that I am totally hooked and ready to put my own spin on this thing!

So, I raided my stash (which is shamefully old because I haven't bought patterned paper in over 3 years!). But what I did buy, I still love so I'm happy with the outcome. I also had some wrapping paper inspired by antique wallpaper. It was weird finally cutting into this stash of paper but it felt good because I am using my stash and putting minimal money into this project. Basically the only thing I bought were the page protectors, glue runners, and photos. Nice.

I kinda love my paper gator now. I hadn't used it for a couple of years but I am so glad I hung onto it. It's come in very handy for all that corner rounding I've done (and will need to do in the future).

And it'll come in handy even more when I get that stack of photos from Shutterfly. ;)

So, here's my cover page.

Top left: gloss embossed wrapping paper from a German stationary store + MM looking glass sticker

Top right: MM paperie glitter alphas in mocha + MM tiny alpha + confetti heart

Middle far left: vintage wallpaper inspired wrapping paper

Middle left: American crafts "a la carte" paper

Middle right: MM paperie glitter alphas in gold + MM tiny alpha + creative imaginations sticker + daisy d's paper

Middle far right: by me

Bottom left: MM paperie glitter alphas in gold + MM tiny alpha

Bottom right: K&Company vintage map paper + 7gypsies label stamp + unk. alpha stamps + confetti star

It's very simple but I wanted to just have a couple of my favorite photos from Christmas and some condensed "goals". They're more like intentions that I want to keep on the front burner. Hopefully seeing them everyday in this album will keep them fresh in my mind.

Right now I am using a We R Memory Keepers album in sandstone but I am going to switch to the American Crafts albums because I need a 3 ring album. The pages were a total pain to put in and the thought of unscrewing this album everytime I want to use a different type of page protector (I have 4 kinds) makes me kind of cringe. So, I'm switching. :)

Altighty, I'm heading out. I've been scrapping all morning (haven't done that in years!!) and now I need to get some designing done and then I have to clean my house. I kind of only did the essentials while we had company. I have quite a dust bunny battle ahead of me. Wish me luck! :)

products used:

p.s. I tried to list sources but most of my products are so old that they aren't even available anymore. So I'll link to newer products when I update my scrap stash. Sorry! :(

hello 2012

Wow. We're almost a week into the new year and I haven't been around at all lately.I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We had an absolute blast. It's been nonstop fun for almost 2 months and I think my brain is ready to settle down to a less hectic routine. LOL

Well, the 7 weeks of houseguests is at an end and I'm ready to get back to my normal routine. It's sad and strange, though, to walk around my house and have so few people here. There aren't as many coats hanging by the front door and the extra chairs at the dining room table have found their way back to the kitchen. I don't get to hear my sweet niece's laughter every day and I miss my brother and sister in law terribly. I think having an empty house is going to take some getting used to. :(

On a bright note, though, I have actually been keeping up with my projects and scrapping over the holidays. Shutterfly had an amazing offer for 101 free prints so I printed all my December Daily photos through them and am just waiting to get my hands on them to get my album put together. I chose a really fun red spiral album with black pages. It looks really different but I am loving it.

Also, I'm working on a Project Life album. I am soooo excited about it. My amazing friend, Liz, convinced me to do one this year and so I've been gathering supplies for that as well. It's amazing how much I am looking forward to paper scrapping. At first I thought I would be overwhelmed with trying to design and digiscrap and paper scrap but it seems to be balancing out very nicely.

Now all I have to do is carve out a little nook somewhere where I can have all my Project Life stuff in one place and then I think I'll be good to go.

I love the New Year! The possibilities always seem endless! :)