First Page For Christmas

This year we finally went and had photo cards made. I make my Christmas cards every year so getting photo cards wasn't really in my plan . AND I never had really nice photos to use on the card either.

This year the planets aligned and I got some awesome photos from Shawn of Gypsy Isle Photography and an awesome deal on photo cards from Snapfish (20 cards for 20 cents). We loved the way the card turned out so I scrapped it at the WhoGAS New Year's Crop a few days ago. Cosmo Cricket and Making Memories had the perfect paper to match the card this year too! The punched snowflakes are Martha's. And the sticker alphas are American Crafts. The holly stickers are Stampin' Up!.

So it is day 3 of 2009 and I have 2 layouts done. Time to make another tonight. Club 365, here I come!!

Five Fridays #19 - Five Challenges To Get More Out of 2009

It's a new year so that means time to reflect on what we did last year and figure out what we'll do different this year. I know at the top of my list are always some scrappy goals to get more done, stay organized, and do more fun activities with my family so I can get more and better photos.

Here are some challenges to get you started on meeting your scrappy goals in 2009!

A Photo A Day or a A Page A Day
Set a goal to take a photo every day. This makes you get your camera out and make memories from the "everday". You can adapt to the be less than a photo a day if you want. For example, I am setting a goal to make one day trip to a fun touristy place in So Cal every month. So as part of that I want to try to get better pics on those trips so I have something to scrap. Also, Xaver and I each have cameras now so I want to try to "tell the story" from two different perspectives when I scrap this year as well.

For the last few years I've set a goal to create 365 pages a year. This is part of an on-going chalenge in WhoGAS and most years I am succesful but last year I was not. The idea is if you have alot of photos to catch up on or are scrapping for multiple people besides your own kids (like me) then it is a good way to try to get caught up. You don't literally have to scrap every day but set a goal to get 365 pages done.

Use an Idea Book
There are lots of idea books with challenges:

• Elsie's 52 Scrapbooking Challenges...
• 40 Moments to Scrapbook...
• The book from the Effer Dares girls...
• And TONS more...
  

Take the number of ideas in the book and divide it by the month or weeks in a year to figure out how many challenges to do and how often. Then schedule some time each week to get a page done. WhoGAS, the group I am in, is doing the Elsie 52 Challenges. That is a challenge a week and it is 52 more pages that will get done this year!

Join an Online Challenge
Lots of online scrapbooking stores have forums and people on those forums host challenges. Scrapbook.com , SO Cal Scrap, and 2Peas both have LOTS of challenges going on all year long. You can even join a Yahoo Group for challenges. Set a goal to join one or more challenges every month, then when you scrap use the guidelines from the challenge like an assignment to get your pages done. Many challnges challenge you to try new products and techniques or even to use 100% scraps so there is something for everyone!

Enter Contests
I go to PubCalls every few weeks to check out what contests are being offered by various manufacturers and websites. Then I go to the contest and either see if I have a page that already fits the requirements or I use the requirements as an assignment to get a page done. Worst case scenario is that you get another page done. Best case, you win the prize! And with everyone being on a tight budget, this is a great way to get more supplies!! For free!

Stay Organized
There are lots of ways to do this but the biggest one is to clean up regularly. If you bring in something new, something old has to go out. That means either you use up some supplies before you buy new ones to put in their place, give them away, or sell them in a yard sale or online. And when putting away supplies after working on a layout, put them away completely. I tend to leave stuff in bags piled up or just throw things in drawers without putting them away properly. Taking that additional one second to "do it right" makes all the difference, preventing you from spending HOURS later on reorganizing every thing. And isn't is inspiring to work in a clean, organized space?

Here's to Happy Creating in 2009!!

Happy New Year!

I just got back from cropping with my friends in WhoGAS!! The year is off to a great start--I already got 20 cards and 2 pages DONE!! Woohoo!! It is so great to have a wonderful, talented, loving, and exciting group of ladies to crop with, chat with, and just be "scrappy" with all year long. I love you WhoGAS gals!!

I finally completed my New Year's Resolution Page for the WhoGAS challenge:


Yes, it is a day late but hey, better late than never, right?

P.S. I just edited my post from this AM. I am really writing this at 6pm. He he he...

It's All New!!

We got a new car!!

Okay, but before I get into that, you have to go to Disneyland's website and sign up to get a free ticket on your birthday in 2009! Today is the LAST DAY to sign up so don't miss out. Thanks Anne for reminding me ;)

Sooooo... yesterday we bought a new Rav4 from Quality Toyota in Corona. We got a great deal and everyone there was nice to deal with and really went out of their way to make sure we got the car we wanted and the deal we wanted. Woohoo!!

I have not bought a new car since 1997 and Xaver hasn't EVER bought a new car so this is soooo cool! We haven't had any car payments since 2003 so this was a BIG deal to take on. We are sooo not typical Californians when it comes to cars. One of the guys at the dealership was telling us the average Californian keeps their car for 2.9 years. We keep them until they BLOW UP. Really, we do! The Camry just hit 200K miles and is still going strong. I am totally planning to have this RAV 4 be Katie's car when she gets to High School, OMG. She will be driving in only 6 years. YIKES!

My dad drove the car this AM and totally wants to go to Quality to buy a car--really, this was a really great car buying experience!! So here is our new car:


Matthew really likes it:




Off to see the Festival of Lights at the Mission Inn!!! Xaver only wants to take the new car on trips now - LOL!!

He's Crafty!

This year Xaver made gifts for everyone in his office. I offered to help but he insisted on doing his own thing. He did a great job. He heat embossed, die cut, stamped, chalked, inked, and even used Copic Markers! Tim Holtz, move over! LOL

Check out Xaver's handiwork:





I uploaded these into my gallery on scrapbook.com talking about how Xaver made them--some of them even got marked as favorites by people!!! How cool is that?!

Just Scrappin' and Thinkin'

Yes, I've been scrapping!! Here's a page I did for Polka Dot Whimsy a while back that I keep forgetting to upload:


Today I met my friends from WhoGAS for lunch at Red Robin and then some major scrapping at Collective Journey in Redlands, CA. In case you didn't know, you can crop for free at CJ's any time there is not a class, event or crop - just call ahead to make sure you can come. Seeing how we are all on a budget after Christmas, we decided to scrap there since it was free. I still got some great deals on some Christmas goodies even though I tried to stay controlled -- they were having a sale!

While at Red Robin, I finally met Yvette from our little Yaho Group. She looked SOOOO familiar! So I asked her if I knew her and she said I looked familiar too. Come to find out she is friends with my ex-aunt (long story there) and went to nursing school with that aunt and my dad in the same class. The last time I saw her I was pregnant with Katie and Yvette's family, my parents, my aunt & uncle, and Xaver and I were on a charter bus turnaround trip to Laughlin for my 21st birthrday. LONG time ago!! Small world, huh?

So anyways, we cropped at CJs for a good 5 hours!! I got to use my new alpha dies I just got - Chemistry and another one (name escapes me right now) from Quickutz that I got at Scrapbook Boulevard's Clearance Sale this weekend.

Maria Getz recently started her own Stampin' Up! Design Team here in the High Desert and I am honored to be on her team! She gave me some of their Winter/ Christmas collection to work with--LOVE it!

Stampin' Up! has felt diecut snowflakes called Felt Flurries that come in three colors, three sizes, and 23 different designs all in ONE package. Everyone was oohing and ahhhing over them today at the crop. I also love the papers--all double sided and really pretty. The cardstock was awesome to work with as well--diecut beautifully on the Revolution. On this layout I used the Little Felt Flurries #113697, Old Saint Nick Rubons #112844, and Simply Scrappin' "I Wish" Kit #112193.

I'm working ona few more layouts, just gotta put the finishing touches on so I'll have those up soon too.

After CJ's, I met PJ at Michael's for a little shopping. I got a pre-lit Christmas tree for $50!! It was the display so it didn't have a box so PJ helped me and the guy from Michael's try to cram it into my car. I am so glad I listened to Xaver and waited to find a good deal. I've been trying to buy a new tree for the last couple weeks and Xaver kept talking me out of it. Yeah Xaver!

I also ran into an old friend at the checkout and said hello to her and her girls. We used to hang out and scrap all the time but things just got crazy last year and I stopped talking to her. Yeah it sucks but at the time I did not know what else to do with the situation. Our husbands are still friends and have been trying to get us to rekindle the friendship. I don't know what to do about it. Who really knows what to do anyways, you know?!

This kind of thing just really gets me thinking about friendships, how long they last, what kind of friend I am, why do some fade and others just get stronger and stronger over time....pretty fitting since I am still trying to work on the things I want to put on my New Year's Resolution page. Hopefully I can get it all put into words and get that page done in time for the challenge for WhoGAS. I've already got the paper too--just gotta figure out all I want to say and make it fit on a 12x12 layout. Ha!

It's also weird because stuff like this (running into people I used to know) makes me think that God is somehow trying to tell me something. But I don't know if I am getting the message!! I can't figure it out!! AHHH!!!

Yes, I know, I need to pray about it, but still, that is easier said than done. I am too analytical for my own good. Gotta figure stuff out on my own, you know! I wonder if this is a sign to give people second chances. But are they ready to give me a second chance? Am I ready to give them another chance? And maybe sometimes there just is no way to repair stuff. But then again I am shown over and over again that people can forgive, that I can forgive, and that things can be repaired and buried in hopes of a better future. Just look at my marriage!

So I just don't know what to do with all these "signs" you know? Shoot, maybe they aren't signs. Maybe I am just such a busy body and going here and there that I am BOUND to run into SOMEONE I know. You never know!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!! I've got to go work on some more pages and projects. And ponder this whole resolution thing...wish me luck! LOL