Monday, December 30, 2013

New Year's Intentions 2014...

'Tis the season to recap where I ended with last year's intentions and what my new ones are for this year.  It wasn't a fully successful year with my 2013 intentions, but I made a decent go of it...not too shabby in a year full of major life changes, including an out-of-state move and a change in jobs!

2013 Recap

1) Learn stuff - take 3-4 classes for fun.  Did it!  I took a cooking class, a doodling class, and several online classes including (but not limited to) a photoshop class, a journaling class, and hand-lettering class. 

2) Take the vacation I earn.  Meh.  That's sort of a big ouch on that one, although it's mostly not my fault.  I had a week and change of vacation ready to go for a summer trip when I was at Archivers' and unfortunately when I left, not only did I not get to take that vacation, they also never paid out the time due to their Chapter 11 filing (argh).  Then when I got to World Market, I've been earning time, but for most of the time I've been there I either was in my probationary period and ineligible to take it, or in black out period for holiday time.  I did manage to sneak a couple of days in between those two.  So, mostly, I'm considering this a success (even if it is sort of a sad and depressing one).

3) At least 2 days a week, use my break at work to actually take a break and not do work!  Just so-so.  I was pretty good about this at Archiver's, and the last couple of months at World Market I've been better.  The first few months here, I absolutely was not though.   At least I'm getting back on track!

4) Make cards for every major holiday.  Did it!  Made it through even though I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it for more than a few holidays!  May have cheated a tiny bit with the copy machine at Archiver's, but alas...they got done!

5) Make sure moving to Iowa doesn't prevent me from seeing friends & family.  Solid performance!  Since I moved here, I made a trip to Michigan, Cassy, Josh, Heather and Ashley have all been out to visit me, I've been back home a lot and even got Mom out here once.  I think this one is a pretty decent success. 

6) Read 52 books.  Close enough, considering.  I made it to 30 books, which considering the insanity I dealt with after the job change, I'm considering to be a fair accomplishment anyway. 



2014 Intentions

1) Keep up with my blog.  At least 4 posts a month. 
2) Keep up with my crafty plans...Project Life and cards for every major holiday.
3) Read 52 books.  I know it's probably a stretch, but I'm feeling unreasonable today.
4) Take at least 5 classes of some kind for fun (i.e. NOT work-related).
5) Take every opportunity to stay on track with my career goals...including getting transferred back to Chicago and talking to the right people about a position in HR.
6) Maintain a better work-life balance.  Take my days off, take my breaks, take my vacation, and don't bring too much crap home to do!

That's all for now!  :)

Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Year of Cards...

Well, I've been utterly atrocious about updating my blog for a quite a while now.  I have every hope that I can get back on track in the new year, but that remains to be seen.  It's been so crazy at work, I just haven't had the time or energy to keep it current.  On the other hand, I recognize more daily that I need to figure out a way to MAKE time for it...for my sanity's sake.  So that'll probably be in my New Years' Intentions list for 2014 when I make one.  Anyway, I DID do some crafty stuff this year...I got my project life done up through the middle of October...and I completed all my cards for all the major holidays!  I didn't want to post the cards before people received them, so I decided to wait till the end of the year and post them all...here we go!

New Year's Card


























Valentine's Day



























St. Patrick's Day






















Easter






















4th of July

























Halloween






















Thanksgiving






















Christmas

























Excuse the photography...it's all on my phone, and I just didn't have the heart to run them all through photoshop!  lol :)  Anyway...Merry Christmas all...more blogging again soon...hopefully :)







Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Picture Everyday: Surface...

Today's challenge was surface.  It was also my day off.  Considering the hellish allergy attacks I've been dealing with lately, I opted not to leave my house.  It was pretty much the perfect day...slept in...took a shower...changed into a clean pair of pajamas and sat around for the rest of the day...woot!  Here's what I came up with :)

We had a squeaky toy massacre...whoops...


















The surface where I spend most of my time at home...


















I like it when my surfaces say: comfy, crafty, with a sense of humor


















Kinda fun challenge for today  :)

Picture Everyday: Seating...

Yesterday's prompt for my class was Seating.  If I wouldn't have been stuck at work for 11 1/2 hours, I might've driven around looking for some park seating, but I decided I rather complete the project than put it off.  Life's been a little crazy lately, so putting it off winds up being an indefinite ordeal...so here's what I came up with around the house :)

Millie's claimed the chair in the livingroom for herself...this is one of the rare moments she relinquished it in favor of the couch...

















I've officially taken over the diningroom table as my scrapping area...I haven't even bothered to clean it up since Ashley was here in August (yes, that's right...perhaps my OCD is letting up a little...or perhaps scrap-cleanliness has been downgraded in favor of work-insanity...either way...lol)...


















I always feel the need to put a seating area in my bedroom...I don't really know why since I hardly ever use it, but Lucy likes to hide out there when she's crabby, so it's okay :)























Today's prompt shortly!

Picture Everyday: Threshold...

Monday's prompt was Threshold...

The view my dogs get, because there's always a gate up to the extra rooms...otherwise, they're in there causing trouble!























My Silhouette Cameo vinyl design I put at my front door :)























First apartment I've ever had an extra bathroom in!  Yay!























More pics that it wouldn't have occurred to me to take on a normal day...fun :)

Picture Everyday: Saturday Bonus Prompt...

Well, today we went to Boggio's in Granville, because it's FALL!  My favorite time of year!  While I love fall, I also have a strong aversion to lines and large groups of people, so we decided on this weekend before all the corn maze nonsense begins!  Got some good pics out of it :)































































































































That's right...even Mom got in on the action!  :)























And a pretty pic from the drive home...























Plus one of the windmill at the pond :)























More soon everyone!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Picture Everyday: Rest

Friday's prompt for my Picture Everyday workshop on Big Picture Classes...rest!  Something I've been dramatically short on lately!  Well the pups and I finally got some snoozy time on the couch and the decided to be semi-cooperative about holding still for pictures...here they are!

Daisy...taking a momentary break from killing a squeaky toy...


















One more of Daisy...because I couldn't decide which one I liked best :)


















Lucy...snoozy time on the couch is pretty much her favorite thing aside from snoozy time in bed!


















Millie...looking considerably perkier than her 4am wake-up call earlier in the week ;)


















More tomorrow probably :)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Picture Everyday: Serve...

Today's challenge was "Serve."  I close at work tonight, which means I pretty much do nothing in the morning besides sit around my apartment.  Sooooo...the closest thing I really had to "serve" was serving breakfast to the pups this morning....here it is:

Filling up the water dishes.


















Food dishes all lined up...complete with Lucy's "slow bowl" because otherwise she gets too excited and eats so fast she chokes!


















This picture isn't that great, but it just makes me laugh.  Lucy gets so excited she does a little happy dance!


















And that's it for today...tomorrow's prompt is "Rest"!

Picture Everyday: Dine...

Yesterday's challenge was "Dine"...here's what I came up with!

It was a helluva long day...so it was important to start the evening off on the right foot.























A little comfort food never hurt anyone either...tuna noodle casserole...yum!  Also, I love my blue bowl...so pretty :)


















I spent my whole childhood toting around juice boxes because I was allergic to milk.  I was always sooo jealous of all the other kids who got to drink milk.  After I (mostly) grew out of my allergy when I got to adulthood, it's one of my favorite things!


















Next up...Serve!

Picture Everyday: Wash...

Next challenge...Wash!

It may be a little silly, but I think the Tide Pods are kinda pretty.


















I'm soooo not gonna miss pumping quarters into a machine every time I need to do a load of laundry.  Next time I move, an in-unit washer/dryer is on the list of non-negotiables!























Ahhh...the never-ending pile of laundry.  Even as you're doing your last load, you're wearing something that's going to need washing...the cycle continues!


















Next up...Dine!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Picture Everyday: Wake...

Well, I started taking a new workshop at Big Picture Classes.  This one is Picture Everyday, and it's basically about capturing the little things that you do every day in a different way.  I haven't been super about actually taking the pictures everyday...they're getting grouped together a couple days later...it's been a little (LOT) hectic this week.  But here's my first assignment...Wake:

My bedroom...the coziest room in my house.  Don't even have a TV in there, because it's all relaxation all the time in there...a good night's sleep, afternoon naps, and snuggles with the pups.
















Millie...at least as anti-morning as I am...and not thrilled to have a camera in her face at 4am, methinks.

















My hideously ugly (so I'm told) slippers that make their way to my feet the moment I'm walking around the apartment in the morning.  I'm sorry...cozy wins over fashion on the slipper front.
















Next challenge: Wash...coming soon!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Crafty Chicks September Blog Hop...

It's that time again!
Time for the Crafty Chicks "School" Hop!
 
Haven't been to a Hop before?  Here's the deal:  Every month we have a different theme, and offer a prize to one lucky winner.  If you would like to qualify to win the prize, just leave a comment on each blogger's site.  Then, on the rafflecopter below, click "did it."  That's it!  After you do that, a bunch of other options to earn more entries will appear, if you feel so inclined.  After a week of entries, the prize winner will be announced on Jessica's Page.  We will also contact the winner, so make sure your comment includes your contact info.  The winner will have one week to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.
 
The prize this month is a $25 gift certificate at 3 Girl Jam!  That's a lot of adorable ribbons and flair, my friends :)  Check out their Facebook Fan Page too if you have a chance :)
 
 
And now, on with the Crafty Chicks School Hop! 
 
******{{You're probably coming from Elizabeth's Blog, but if you stumbled across this page, and you want to start at the beginning of our Hop, you can head back to Jessica's Page and start there!}}****** 
 
 So, I'm massively obsessed with this whole chalkboard trend.  I've been adding bits of chalkboard paper and chalkboard tape to everything...jam jars, cards, pages, meat and cheese trays...you name it, and I have a chalkboard accessory for it.  I even bought a chalkboard wall decal AND a chalkboard easel for WORK...because I'm just that crazy about chalkboards.  Here's how my extreme love of chalkboards evolved:  I spent my entire youth writing all of my Mom's planned assignments etc. on the chalkboard in her classroom...and then...they switched over to the dreaded whiteboard.  Yes, it's less messy.  Yes, it's easier to read.  Yes, it means your hands don't get all dry and powdery.  But there's something so perfectly charming about an ACTUAL chalkboard.  Yep.  :)
 
Anyway, so I made a little school-themed card for my project.  The chalkboard pieces are Fancy Pants chalkboard stickers.  The stamps are some older Stampendous wooden stamps.  I find occasion to use these little guys almost every year at back-to-school time...they're so cute!  The paper is just some cork patterned paper I had laying around (sorry...I didn't have the strip anymore...I'm guessing it was a Simple Stories one, but I've been collecting an awful lot of cork patterned paper lately).  I used a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to staple on the ribbon (it's from American Crafts), and then I pop-dotted on the top pieces.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You may notice (or maybe not...as someone who is not always particularly observant, I'll totally give you a pass if you didn't) that the writing on the two chalkboard pieces look different.  On the top one, I used a white bistro marker...something about the finish on the chalkboard stickers wasn't really agreeing with the drying time on the bistro pen though.  I wound up liking the broken look it finished with anyway, so I left it as is.  For the inside though, I wanted something cleaner, so I switched to a white Recollections chalk marker.  Oh, and I colored the little characters with Copic markers :) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
All in all, I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I like that it could  be for someone with first-day-of-school jitters, or it could  just be a cute school-themed card for anyone who's having some trepidation about what they're working on.  Anyway, that's all I've got for the hop this month...hope you enjoy it and the rest of the girls' great projects!  More craftiness coming soon!
 
******{{If you're continuing on the hop, head on over to Nicole's Page.  And don't forget to follow any of the blogs you like on the hop...we'd love to have you stick around!}}******
 

 
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