March 2012 Goal Update

HI everyone, today I am sharing how I am doing on my goals for the year. First up is project life. I am very happy to say that I am on track! I started the month slightly behind but was able to catch up this week. There were some real milestones this past month, Tyler lost his first tooth, my mom went and had luch with Tyler at his school and my cousin had her first baby, a litte boy named Zachary. I haven't done my layout for this week yet -- I will be sure to include the glass pan exploding in my oven!

I read 2 books this month! Woo hoo for me. The first is Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich. I think that I must be over Stephanie Plum because this book just seemed to drag. I think that Evanovich needs to wrap up Stephanie Plum and call it a day because all of these books seem excactly alike. She needs to just marry Joe and settle down to being a Burg wife because I don't think that I can read another one - - even though I am trying because I already had the next one on my Kindle and I don't want it to go to waste.
Now, this other book is from an author that I like very much. She usually writes Romantic suspense and Cry No More is a great book by her and a tiny bit of a tearjerker. This one was also on my Kindle so I decided to go for it. It's very different, the main characters are dark and from the outset very unlikable. There is a paranormal/afterlife sequence which is really not my bag but I actually thoroughly enjoyed the book. I felt the story was not your usual rehashed plot and the characters were redeemed. I will warn you that the first part of the book has a VERY sexy love scene which some people might not like so just a warning there if you decide you want to try it.

Eating out...I have had a lot of success with this one. I had lunch out with my sister (crepes, yum) and we broke down and got takeout one day but that's it! We've eaten at home the rest of the time. I won't lie, it was so hard! We did have to buy more groceries, but overall, I think that it was a savings of roughly $300. I did spent some of the money splurging on some designer clothes (Does anyone else love Anthropologie?) -- but no worries, I bought them on Ebay!

Using my stash -- super proud of myself on this one and it has just been really difficult restraining myself. I did buy some scor-tape but for the most part, I have hardly spent anything on crafting.

I am wondering how you are all doing? Remember if you fall off the wagon, the beginning of the month is always a good time to get back on! Have a great March!

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Leapin' Lizards

Since I have been going to a gazillion birthday parties lately, I decided I should have some little boy birthday cards handy. This one was made with some leftover paper from a scrappin' kit. The dinosaur and volcano were cut from Create a Critter cartridge. The sentiment is from Pink By Design.

Recipe:

Create a Critter cartridge

Embossing folder

White gel pen

Crikey by Pink By Design

Also, I didn't want to forget Happy Leap Year! Today is my Uncle's birthday. He only gets one every 4 years so I hope he is enjoying his day. I never met anyone else who had a birthday on this day. Don't forget blog candy here.

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Picture Perfect

Another scrapbook layout today, getting them done! This is from a layout kit that I had purchased from a CTMH rep. I was very excited to find it in my stash because I was ready to scrap my Lily's birthday pictures from last year! If you have a huge stash like I do, shop it every so often, you don't what gems you've forgotten you have hidden there.

Don't forget blog candy here!

I also thought that I would share a bread making catrastrophe with you. I got this book called Bread in 5 Minutes. My dad is using it and the bread really is amazing. Anyway, to make a crispy crust it recommends steam and to put a pan with hot water in it under the pan with the bread. Well, apparently I don't know much about chemistry because I used a glass dish which exploded in my oven. No one was hurt but we had to take the oven apart to clean up the glass. Lesson learned!

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Feeling snappy?

Today's card uses a bunch of scraps that I had in my very huge scrap bin. The cardstock was ripped and I stippled with some cocoa ink. The crab and sandcastle are from Create a Critter and has some accents from my white gel pen. The dp is retired SU from a mini a couple of seasons ago. The sentiment is from Pink by Design.

Recipe:

Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge

DP from SU

Crikey stamp set from Pink by Design

White gel pen

Modern label punch

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Tea for two

Agnes is the winner of my last bi-weekly blog candy. Please email me with your address to claim your prize. This time I am giving away this Fancy Pants paper pad. You have two weeks to enter. Just leave a comment on this post and you may leave a second comment if you are a follower. I will select a winner using random.org in two weeks.

This is a shaped card made with this month's favorite cartridge, Once Upon a Princess. The cart had a design on the front which I hid using my Gypsy. I cut this cute flower also on this card and put it on the front instead. It looked so plain, so I used my black pen for a bit of stitching. The top of the teapot has been embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder.

Recipe:

Once Upon a Princess Cartridge cut at 3.65

Martha Stewart black journaling pen

Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Pear & White cardstock

Scrap of dp

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Just a Disney girl

Yeah! Today, I am sharing a 12x12 layout that I made in a class like two years ago but never got around to putting pictures in it. We finally had the most perfect pictures to use. I love these pictures and we even had a picture taken with Minnie! Thanks for looking today.

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Hip Hip Hooray Pluto

I made today's card to a birthday party that Tyler was going to. The invitation was Mickey Mouse so I was hoping that the little boy liked Disney. My stepdaughter went to the party and told me that everything was Disney. The Pluto cut is from Mickey and Friends, the paper is from Creative Imaginations and the sentiment is from CTMH.

Recipe:

Mickey and Friends Cricut Cartridge

Creative Imaginations DP

SU Punch

Card Chatter Birthday - CTMH

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Hello Kitty Love

Today, I am sharing my Valentine's card to my Lily. She likes Hello Kitty so I cut this fun image from the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge. The sentiment is from You're My Best Buddy - Creative Time stamps and the cardbase is from Just Cards Cartridge. A simple but cute card.

Recipe:

Just Cards and Hello Kitty Greetings Cricut Cartridge

DP from SU

You're My Best Buddy - Creative Time stamps

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Sweet Baby Shower Card

Today's card is a case and I can't remember from who. If you know please let me know so that I can edit this post to give proper credit. I made this card for my cousin who is expecting a little boy after trying to have a baby for 5 years! The crib and outfit is from Baby Steps and I can't remember what cart I cut the teddy bear from because I tried a couple of bears before deciding this was the one. Some of his teddy bear parts have some fluff on them. The dp is all from SU and I just love how it came out! Edited to add: Please visit Crafting with Katie. She is the one I cased this lovely card from. Thanks to the blog reader who alerted me to who it was.

Recipe:
Baby Steps Cricut Cartridge

Hostess dp from SU

Bashful Blue DP from SU

White gel pen from Ranger

Olive green, White, Bashful Blue cardstock

Swiss Dots Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug

Blog candy can be found here.

Also, don't forget that it's SU sale-a-bration time. Get free product, including exclusive stamps and papers for every $50 you spend. If you spend $150, you also get a free SU tote bag. I am offering a 20% discount on all orders during sale-a-bration. My sidebar has the catalogs and also my email address for ordering.

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Happy hearts day

Happy Valentine's Day. Kiss someone you love (furbabies count). Thought I would do a quick post and show you guys the Valentine's gifts that I made for my children. I made tags for all of them and gave them a little bit of candy and a fun gift.

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All About Me

Today, I am sharing a scrapbook layout that I made from a pre-made kit. Before I got really involved with my Cricut and scrapbooking using a diecut machine, I had bought quite a few pre-made scrapbook layouts from a scrapbook store that has since gone out of business. Part of my "use my stash" goal is to try and utilize some of these pre-made kits. The idea was to use these to get caught up. This kit had the colors I was looking for. It is a layout of Ty's Pre-K graduation. I thought about changing title and jazzing it up but I ended up leaving it just the way it was.

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L-O-V-E

Hi everyone! I hope that everyone is happy because today is Friday! Nothing special planned forthe weekend just the usual. But I have Monday off and will be going for a massage and a facial and then DH and I are going out to dinner for V-Day! I have this paperpad to giveaway, to win leave a comment on this post and you will have two weeks to enter. If you are a subscriber or a follower you may leave a second comment.

The winner of my last giveaway is Julie E! Please email me with your address. My email is under my picture. Also, the winner of the February resolutions giveaway of a box of paper is Lisa from Lisa's Creative Niche! Be sure to email be so that I can mail you prizes to you!

Today's card is a simple one. I used my Bo Bunny valentine paper, pink organza ribbon and cuts from Once Upon a Princess and I think this is from Sweethearts. I stitched around the outside with my white gel pen. It was a CASE but after I made it, I don't "love it". That's a quote from Lily. When she likes something she "loves it" and when she doesn't "she doesn't love it." The other day she was eating her dinner and she told me "I don't love it" mama. She has a dramatic side for sure. Thanks for looking everyone!

Recipe:

Sweethearts and Once Upon a Princess cartridge

Crazy Love DP from Bo Bunny

Pink Organza ribbon - just loose in a drawer

Cherry Cobbler cardstock

Ranger white gel pen

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Somebunny Special

Today's card allowed me to use this cute rabbit cut from Create a Critter and sentiment from Go Green - Pink Design stamps. It's also on an action wobble and I used these cute Peachy Keen Everyday Characters face stamps. I always forget to use these because I have to hide the face features on my Gypsy before I hit cut. I'd love to get more of these but I'm still using my stash!

Recipe:

Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge cut at 3.5

Crazy Love dp from Bo Bunny

Sentiment from Go Green - Pink by Design

White gel pen from Ranger

Chocolate and Blushing Pink cardstock
Action Wobble

Button from PaperTreyInk

White taffeta ribbon by SU

Everyday Character Faces by Peachy Keen Stamps

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Hogs and Kisses

I have been wanting to use this fun sentiment for awhile. I am thinking about giving this card to the secretary at work - she LOVES pigs! Just the cute ones of course. This cut is from the Create a Critter cartridge. If you got a Cricut recently and are overwhelmed by what cartridges to get. I highly recommend this one because you will have a high level of success with this cartridge. It layers nicely and easily, there aren't a ton of tiny little pieces like some carts and there are not just animals on here but other fun cuts too.

This cut had 5 layers. There were 3 layers to the main pig but I only cut 2 and just put some hot pink cardstock behind the ears instead of cutting a whole pig. The other layers were the skirt and the nose. Super easy and cute.I put some stickles on the nose and cheeks because I had the perfect cotton candy stickles and some light doodling. The sentiment is from AMuse art stamps and fit my image perfectly. I added some silver Viva Decor dots on the side of the sentiment because it just looked like it needed something.

Recipe:

Create a Critter Cartridge

Cotton Candy Stickles by Ranger

White gel pink by Ranger

Crazy Love DP from Bo Bunny

SU cardstock - Blushing Bride and Cherry Cobbler

Martha Stewart Valentine ribbon

Heart Border Punch

Farm fun from Amuse Studio

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Blog candy reminders

Hi everyone, I hope that everyone is having a fun weekend! I just wanted to remind you of the blog candy that I have on my blog. To win a Free Bird paper pad, visit here. You may leave a comment on each post for extra chances. To win a box of misc. paper from my cleaning out and paying it forward stash, visit this post.

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Kiss Me

We've all kissed a few frogs in our lifetime - the key is to find the one that turns into at least something that resembles a prince! Today's card uses the Once a Princess cartridge and this fun cut. The dp is Crazy Love by Bo Bunny. I was so proud of myself because I could not find a stamp that said 'kiss me'. Now, I am pretty sure that I have one somewhere....normally, I would see that as a sign that I needed to buy a new stamp set. INSTEAD....I wrote the word - I could've typed in on my computer but at the time my husband had just set up my brand new computer and my work processing program wasn't installed yet so I wrote it. I also was so happy to use this little doodad that fit my color scheme perfectly.

Recipe:

Once a Princess cricut cartridge

Blushing Bride and olive cardstock by SU

White gel pen by Ranger

Candy Cane stickles by Ranger

Modern Label punch by SU

Doodad by SU

Crazy Love by Bo Bunny

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Puppy Love

Isn't this a cute little card? So simple to do. I think this heart is on the Sweethearts cart which I've been using quite a bit but the dog definitely is. I used my Gypsy to make sure that the dog fit in the heart. I used a little bit of stickles on the dog's nose and tongue and the heart embossing folder was a gift from my friend Melissa. The sentiment is My Pink Stamper More Punnylicious stamp set. I started really buying these stamp sets last year to make more cards with my Cricut but then I didn't make the cards that I thought I was going to. That's going to change this year! I added a tiny bit of doodling for an accent and I was done!

Recipe:

Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge

Crazy Love DP by Bo Bunny

Candy Cane Stickles by Ranger

Cherry Cobbler and Blushing Bride Cardstock

White Gel Pen by Ranger

More Punnylicious by My Pink Stamper

Heart Embossing Folder by ProvoCraft

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February 2012 resolutions

Happy February! I don't know about you guys but January was over in a flash. So today is the day we take stock on how we are doing with our resolutions or goals for the year. One of my main goals was to read at least 1 book a month. I am happy to report that I did indeed finish one book and am exactly half way through a second book. I find that when it's been awhile since I've read it's easier when I jump into a book with familiar characters. J.D. Robb aka Nora Roberts has a futuristic series that I have been reading for years. I think there has been over 30 books in this series. I enjoyed it but I did not find the storyline as interesting as past books in the series. Lt. Eve Dallas' partner Peabody overhears a dirty cop and must find a way to bring her to justice before other cops get killed. I just found it a little slow. But yay for me in finishing a book.

Project Life - here are my 3 layouts fully completed for the month. The last layout of the month is just waiting for pictures. What I want to point out is that every single thing on these layouts is from my stash. I used retired SU paper, I printed the journaling onto white cardstock and cut out the sizes that I needed, I used stamps and my Cricut. I also used the horizontal pocket pages from CTMH.

I spent a little bit of money this month but in tracking my spending from last year, I spent 75% less this month than last January so I'm good there. I also tried out for a couple of DT's, submitted some projects in challenges. Still working on eating better but baby steps with that one.

To win a box filled with designer paper (time to clean house) leave a comment on this post. Let me know how you are doing on your goals for the year. I will select a winner next Friday.

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