The Power of Writing Down Goals...

I've been sitting here thinking about last year's scrappy goals and how this year will compare. What I am about to write is not meant to be boastful, but to hopefully inspire you to set/reach for your goals. When I set them last year I really didn't think they'd all happen (afterall, I can't control other people's decisions) but I was hopeful. For the first time ever, I decided to write them down and I think that really made all the difference.  Writing them down and keeping them in plain sight here at my scrappy desk really helped me navigate and focus on what I wanted to accomplish.  I never really set goals like this before but now I can see how important it can really be.

My 2011 Goals:

• Make a manufacturer design team - thank you Imaginisce & Lori Allred. For the record, there were teams I tried for and did not make as well.
• Design for a kit club - have you seen the kits from Scrapbook Circle and Birds of a Feather?
• Become a Sketchy Thursdays design team member - I have loved getting to know the team and players this past year!
• Get published in an online magazine - Thank you ScrapStreet.com & Scrapbook News & Review
• I didn't write this one down, thinking I'd save it 'til 2012 but it was in the back of my head - High aspiration goal to get published in a print magazine - See page 14 of Creating Keepsakes January 2012, picked up mid-2011. 
• I even accomplished a few things that weren't on my list - other great challenge blog design teams like The Studio and a guest designer spot for a new manufacturer, Simple Stories, etc.
• Make new scrappy friends and grow bonds with my "old" friends - see my blog roll to the left.

 
So here I sit pondering this year's scrappy goals. I don't have them all ironed out yet but I'll share a few:

• Make a new manu design team and/or secure guest spots; submit projects to be "spotted" 
• Participate in more online challenges
• Take a photography class to get off auto mode; maybe a scrappy one too
• Get published in at least two leading print publications - must remember that I have to actually submit my work in order to meet this goal!
• Take a photo a day - Project 365
• Q&A sessions with each member of the family
• Participate in Project Life or Project 12
• Hoard less, giveaway more...
• Do more, faster so I can have more time to make memories with my family! This is the most important of all - more time with the family!

What are some of your goals? Leave me a comment or link me to your blog so I can read about your plans for 2012. As I clean out my scraproom I might just find some scrapilicious goodies for a RAK.

Before you go, I meant to post my "Best of 2011" projects on New Year's Day but better late than never, right? Here's a few of my FAVES in no particular order. Click to Enlarge.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Don't forget to share your 2012 plans in my comments! I'm going to sit down with my family and do this exercise as well. I think it will be a great learning experience for us all. When doing it with the kids, I add some short term goals in with a long term goal because I think we all know 1 year is a long time to the kiddos.

2011 December Daily & LYB News

I am so excited to say that I made the Little Yellow Bicycle "Paradise" Cycling Team.  I cannot wait to create with their new Winter CHA "Paradise" collection in January.  See the announcement and who else made the team on the Little Yellow Bicycle blog.

I'd also like to show you some of my December Daily mini album.  This is the first year I participated and it won't be the last.  I created it with my Birds of a Feather December kit, which included the album and lots of Fancy Pants & Lily Bee papers and embellies.

Note: the pages do not have dates, photos or all of the embellies on them.  I have taken lots of photos each day so I decided my post-Christmas task will be to go through them all and add them to the album after Christmas, adding additional pages as necessary.

Cover - I painted it red and misted over it with Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mist. Once dry, I heat embossed with CTMH Olive Green embossing powder. I put it on heavy because I wanted it looking distressed (aka lumpy). I outlined the numbers with a black sharpie.

The Insides - I kept the photos small since there's so many. Click to enlarge.

There's always a to-do list for the holiday season...

 I'm planning to put a photo where the banner is missing in the photo below.

 

 I misted over a transparency in the photos above and below

 Used my Imaginisce i-top 2.0 and small brad daddies to create this Christmas tree on the tag

 A pocket and mini pages...

 I was going for presents under the tree here

 A little envelope...

 Mini pages and a giant tag

 The stockings were hung...

 The tag above is made from filter flowers that I ripped apart and adhered to glue on the back of a rolodex card.

 Finally, Christmas Day - presents and trees...

Whoo Loves You Baby?

OMG, I just realized I haven't yet posted one of my favorite new layouts yet so I am sharing it with you today. I remember that I was holding it back because I had found these adorable little owl hats and had to get one for my girls and one for my friend, Audrey's, newest addition and I would have probably slipped up and mentioned it.

Both of my girls immediately put their hats on as soon as they arrived so of course I snapped a few shots.  WHOO could not resist this adorable little owl (and the hat too)???

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Note to Self December 2011 kit: American Crafts Chap Cameron Paper (background), Tab Bits; Jillibean Soup Sweet and Sour - Raisins, Crushed Tomatoes, Die-cut Shapes; October Afternoon Sidewalks - Marbles, Red Light Green Light, Word Stickers, Little Flyers, Basic Grey Indie Pom Poms, Echo Park Happy Days Bottle Caps Paper, Alpha stickers (small alphas); Pink Paislee Wood Shop Sawdust alphas (large alphas). Not in kit - Studio Calico Mr Huey mists.

I just love these Wood Shop alphas by Pink Paislee.  It's thought about leaving them raw but they weren't showing very well on the background paper so I misted them pink to match the hat and then unscrewed the tops off the blue and green misting bottles  lightly touched them to the wood and watched the ink spread in the grain.  The alphas don't come with a question mark so I turned it into a statement and made a kind-of exclamation point out of the hearts. It was an experiment but I'm happy with how they turned out.

I also wanted to use this green circle frame but it's so big that one pattern paper just looked odd and it looked worse to leave it empty so I punched a bunch of strips of paper, layered them and then adhered the green scallop circle over it. I added a sentiment, flower and butterfly to top it off!

Thanks for stopping by today. If you love the Note to Self kit as much as I do, run over to Scrapbook Circle while you can still get one!

xoxo Heather

Easy Last Minute Christmas Treats

I wanted to show you a few little treat bags that are super quick and easy to make and can really dress-up a little token of appreciation you may be giving. We made a few for my daughter to pass out to the people she interacts a lot with at school (nurse who helps her with her medicine, registrar who has taken her under her wing, etc). She also wanted to give them to her teachers so we added one to each of the gifts we had bought for them.

The cool thing is that Imaginisce and Clear Snaps teamed up and did a little product swap so I got to play with several of their products and the Imaginisce Santa's Little Helper line. 
This first treat bag uses the Clear Snaps Smooch Spritz in Ice Rink and Ginger Ale.  I also used their Design Adhesives, which has double sided patterns that you can apply glitter, embossing powder, etc. to.  I used the Winter Frost glitter. Why is glitter so hard to photograph?

For this next project I made a little wrap to go around a Blockbuster gift card and microwaveable popcorn. We gave these to our mailman, my daughter's bus driver, our pest control guy, etc. I used Santa's Little Helper again and then added some bling to it using the Glue Gloss - adhesive on a stick - glitter and the Sparkle Fibers.

I glittered the snowman, birdie hat and peppermints. I added Sparkle Fibers to the ginger bread house in an attempt to make it look like icicles as well as the garland on the trees to go for the tinsel effect.

Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure to hop over to the Imaginisce and Clear Snaps blogs and participate in the blog hop for a chance to win some goodies for yourself.

Optimistic

I originally decided that the word "Optimistic" would be my One Little Word for my oldest daughter in 2012 because we are finally getting answers to things we've been speculating about for years.  The hubby and I are optimistic that we now have direction and can do things to make life easier for her and us.  I'm sure I'll share more about that here on my blog eventually. 

Anywho, the current challenge over at Scrapbook Circle is to create a project about your 2012 goals - be it Project Life, a resolution, your One Little Word, etc. I created this layout  for my One Little Word.

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle Note to Self kit: American Crafts 12x12 Chap "Jim", Jillibean Soup Sweet&Sour Crushed Tomatoes, Jillibean Soup Sweet&Sour 12 X 12 Page of Die Cut Shapes, October Afternoon Sidewalks Word Stickers; Not in kit: Bazzill Grey and Red cardstock, red folk art paint, misc. thread, Black pen .05, Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro

The I Love My Life tab at the top is actually a hidden journaling card that pulls out to reveal my private journaling.

I used bright yellow Thickers for the alphas and used a paint dabber to match them to the mustard yellow in the paper. I added stitching, paint and kept the embellishments to a minimum on purpose.

I just love the typewriter paper so I fussy cut one out and used it as an embellishment since it tied in so well to the documenting goals. Of course, I just realized I wrote her birth year below instead of this year. Whoops, off to fix that.

Don't you just love all the goodies included in this month's kit? Some of it is sold out in stores so head over to Scrapbook Circle and get one for yourself for Christmas!
I have since decided that Optimistic won't just be my word for Rheagan; it will be my OLW in general for so many reasons. Make sure to share your projects with us on the Scrapbook Circle Facebook page by December 28, 2011 for a chance to win the limited edition the Jingle All the Way kit.

Faux Snow Day

We don't see much snow down here in the houston suburbs so we have to improvise.  These photos were taken years ago when my oldest daughter was just 3 (she's 8 now).  Our neighborhood has an annual Chirstmas party and the kids just love that snow is brought in.  It's really chipped ice but no one cares.  We had a great time making tiny snowmen and throwing snowballs aka ice-balls. 

It's super cold here now so I am hoping there's a chance for a bit of snow this year.  fingers crossed!

Supplies: Pink Paislee Snow Day Collection: Cozy Sweater, Fireside, Warm Mittens, Snowball Fight, Frosty papers; Ephemera, Wood Shapes, bitty blocks alphas; Studio Calico Mr Huey white mist, Imaginisce i-top 2.0 and small brad daddy; Martha Stewart punch.

I did a lot of distressing on this layout and tucked in coordinating paper here and there in the exposed areas.  I couldn't resist adding the heart shaped "i love snow" ephemera at the top.  I also misted the wood elements with white mist and added a little paper for added touch.

 A quick shot of my journaling spot and layered elements...

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you are staying nice and warm on what appears to be shaping up as a cold winter.

Beautiful Mess & DIY Candy Stocking Stuffers

I have two completely different reveals for you today, which comes with two chances to win some yummy scrappy stuff.

First, my silly little girl loves to get all glammed up in her twirl dresses...yes, the amount of twirl is what she measures her clothes by. Anyway, she was dolled up in her headband-wearing-leopard outfit and I should have known something was up because she was quiet. She called me over to her to show me her "art", proud of it and all. She didn't write on her clothes, walls or carpet so I embraced it and snapped pics of course. This isn't the first time she's created masterpieces on herself and I know it won't be the last!

I used my Scrapbook Circle December kit, Note to Self, and this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch to show of my sweet little beautiful mess that she can be.

Supplies from Scrapbook Circle December kit "Note to Self": Echo Park Happy Days collection: Retro, Bottle Caps, Journaling Cards, Alpha Stickers, Not in kit: Studio Calico Mr Huey mist (white), Imaginisce i-top 2.0, large brad, Zig .05 black pen, Glue Arts Pro Glider
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Here's a few close-ups:

Make sure to play along with us at Sketchy Thursdays for a chance to win some fabulous scrappy goodies!

Did you know? Imaginisce is celebrating Christmas this week so I made a few few stocking suffers with my Santa's Little Helper loot from Imaginisce.

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I cut the paper using my new Cricut Imagine and the Winter Frolic cartridge. The candy cane and tree measure about 6.5" inches tall and the stocking and ornament are about 5.5". To make these I simply cut two of each design, stitched them together leaving an opening to intert the candies and then completed the stitching. They are all funky lumpy because they are packed with as much candy as I could fit. I then adorned them with a bit of bling and trim. Leave a comment on the Imaginisce blog for a chance to win an i-rock sampler pack!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Detachable Ornament Christmas Card

We are celebrating Christmas over on the Imaginisce blog this week. Today we are featuring Christmas cards.  I just love seeing all the DIY holiday wreaths for the front doors and walls, specifically the paper cone wreaths.  I decided to scale that idea down and use it on a card.   Here is the end result:

Supplies: Imaginisce Santa's Helper Pattern Paper, i-top 2.0, 28mm brad, Imaginisce i-rock, Imaginisce red foam adhesive, Martha Stewart punch, Clear Snaps Glue Gloss, Clear Snaps Sparkle Fibers, Doodlebugs Christmas Twine, Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro

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Here's a closer look at the wreath.  See that twine? I made it so that the wreath can be detached from the card and hung on a tree as an ornament!
 

Edited to add: here's how I made it detachable: I cut a large circle for the back of the ornament, adhered it to the back and slid a bobby pen behind the circle and through a little paper loop I added to the card.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Make sure to head over to the Imaginisce blog to see more card inspiration and to enter to win the i-rock sampler giveaway!