Happy Tuesday!

Michael and I went to see "New Moon" tonight and we both thought it was awesome! I don't want to be a spoiler so I won't talk details, but I will say I can't wait for the next movie! I haven't read the books so I don't know what happens next!

With it being date-night and all, I didn't do a big art project, but I did get my journal entry done:

December 7th...
Kelly's got her new class description up on her blog, and it looks fabulous! Check it out here if you're interested. It really is a fabulous deal, and I can tell you from experience that her Prompt-A-Day class has really gotten me going on a daily art journaling path.

That's it for today - I hope you have a fantastic day, and thank you so much for visiting! See you tomorrow!

A Cool Bird, Fun Music and Stuff...

Hey all! Happy Sunday! I saw the COOLEST bird in the yard today and he was HUGE!!! I didn't have time to snap a picture, but I think it was a Pileated Woodpecker - here's a pic I found on the internet...How COOL is that? I was so excited I went running up stairs yelling "Michael, Michael look out the window!!!" and of course it was gone by the time he got to the window. AARGH. Oh well, it was exciting while it lasted!

I'm just getting started on my project for the evening, but this morning I did my journal page and here's how it turned out...


The new song is up at Scrapping The Music! It's Smile by Uncle Kracker!!! I had a lot of fun using it for inspiration! Here's what I came up with...
When I listen to the chorus of this song it make me think of that dance where you lean back and hold hands and twirl each other around and around; so I tried to put that feeling into the design of the lyrics. I used the "Cotillion" kit from Studio Calico, plus some orange spray ink, and red oil crayon for the heart.

I hope you find "Smile" inspiring too! Come on over and play along! You've got two weeks this time! We are giving people extra time this month because of the busy holiday season.

I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks for visiting!!!

We Get The Pie and He Gets The Peel...

Michael made a fabulous Apple Crisp Pie again last night - YUMMYYYYY!!! Whenever he does that, the peels go out on the lawn for the animals. Usually the deer enjoy it right away, but this morning, about half of it was left, and I found this little guy enjoying his own little apple crisp treat (click on the image to see him better)...
Little things like that just make my day!

So, on to my art journal Prompt pages...

December 4th...

and December 5th...
I saw on Kelly's blog today that she is announcing a new and different online class this coming Monday! It will be fun to see what it is!

Oh - maybe you all will have an idea for this: At my New Year's Crop in January, we will be receiving a MyBook 2010 Planner - click here to see what it looks like. It's a super cool gift, but for the life of me, I can't figure out something fun to do with it. I already have a 2010 datebook, so I want to think of some other use for it - something creative and fun. Any ideas? Have any of you ever worked with these before?

I have two secrets that I can't wait to share with you! They are both scrappy-related, and I hope to be able to tell pretty soon!

Oh, and one more thing - Julie Fei-Fan Balzer has a tutorial on her blog today about how to make your own stamps. I've always wanted to try that, and she makes it look pretty easy - check it out here! Thanks for the inspiration Julie!

Alrighty - now I'm off to work on today's project, which I think will be my Honeymoon Two Travel Journal. Have a Super Saturday! Thanks for visiting!

The Freedom of the Creative PROCESS...

I am absolutely LOVING the PROCESS of journaling every day. There is something almost magical about how it feels. This might sound a little "out there," but the more I do it, the more the pages almost talk to me, tell me what they need. It's very centering and I love that. Maybe what it is, is that it allows me to simply play. Kinda like in high school, when I didn't feel like listening to the teacher, so I would just doodle in my notebook instead. I'm also liking the confine of doing just one page, and fitting my thoughts about a subject into the open places of the collage. Oh, and also - I am LOVING watching the book fill up! I've only got a few pages left and then I will post a pic of what it looks like full. Here's the Prompt-A-Day page I finished tonight...

December 3:

And speaking of books filling up, I am filling up my ABC journal too! Here is the latest page...

T is for Tasty...
It's my favorite little red-billed duck friend again! The one I met at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The picture was taken by Michael. I love the memory of feeling this little gal's bill grabbing the food out of my hand!

I got my shipping notices for my Studio Calico kit AND my Happy Tape order today! I should get them both by Monday I hope! Yeayyyy!

Okay, gotta go, but I wish you a Fabulous Friday and I will see you tomorrow for another update! Thanks so much for visiting and especially for your comments - I really appreciate hearing from you!

I've Been Busy...

I'm getting excited about my December crop with my girlfriends! It's another 16-hour doozy -- should be a lot of fun!!! I am soooo very thankful to have girlfriends who share my interest in scrapbooking - can't wait to see you wonderful women!

In the meantime, I've got a couple of things to share:

My December 2 "Prompt-A-Day" Page. I'm starting to feel like I've got a system going for these. It makes me soooo happy to finally have a daily art journaling ritual! I have literally wanted to do this for YEARS, and thanks to Kelly - it's finally happening! I've only got five pages left in the current journal and it will be full! I'm so excited! anyhoo here's the page...

and I've also been having fun with my "Yearbook" kit from Studio Calico. I completed this layout for the current Lotus Paperie challenge...
The only things that aren't from the kit are the Stampin Up Gray cardstock, the white "chit chat" thickers, and the clouds which are drawn on an old dictionary page.

The next thing on the project list is the "T" page for "A Year In The Life of an Art Journal." I've got some catching up to do on that project for sure!

Have a fabulous Thursday my friends, and I will see you tomorrow for another update! Thanks for visiting!

Cute Little Wilbie plus more...

I couldn't resist sharing this with you - How cute is this???!!! That's my little Wilbie taking a nap in his semi-new holiday bed. It's amazing how flexible cats are. I could never roll up in a ball like that!
and speaking of cute cats, I just have to share this youtube video my sister found - oh my WORD it's adorable!!! Check it out here.

I've got a couple of new journal pages to share from A Prompt A Day...

November 30:

and December 1st:

Oh - and I started my journal jar! I got this nice big jar at WalMart for like $4.50 or so, and I printed out a bunch of prompts and stuck them in the jar. My goal is to have that jar chock full by the end of December. So far, so good!

Also, I want to answer a question I got in the comments recently. Kathy K had asked if my thrift store vintage label maker came with tape, and sadly, it didn't. BUT I am hoping that regular dymo tape will fit in there. I haven't tried it yet tho, so we shall see.

Well, that's all folks! I hope you are having a fabulous week so far! I will see you tomorrow with another update! Thanks so much for visiting!

November 29th Journal Page and Project 365 Catch-Up...

Today is the last day of the November Promp-A-Day class! I'm anxious to see what's coming up for December! In the meantime, here's my page from yesterday...

November 29...

Now - on to the subject of Project 365 - EEK I'm really starting to struggle! I keep forgetting to take pictures! I know I can keep it up til the end of the year - I just have to!!! Anyhoo, what I'm doing is just trying to take as many pictures as I can. Some days I take a bunch to make up for not taking any on other days. In the end I WILL have 365 photos! This is a good exercise in stick-to-it-iveness! So, here are some photos to catch you up:

Tuesday, November 10th: Willie - portrait of a scraproom cat...

and Johnny with the packing paper from my latest shipment of scrap supplies. I think he likes it when I get happy mail, even more than I do!

Friday, November 20: A scene from inside my favorite thrift store. They have treasures galore!

Friday, November 20: After doing the art journal page about how I was always the kid with the loud pants, I came across this old picture of me as a kid wearing LOUD pants!

Tuesday, November 24th: It was a grey day, but beautiful to see the geese flying in formation on my way to Chisago City...

It was my first time going to Chisago City - what a cute little town it is!

Thursday, November 26: The atmosphere was festive at the Rydell family Thanksgiving gathering...

Sunday, November 29th: I finally broke down and ordered some happy tape. I have been wanting some of this stuff for a long time. I got this set of plaids...
and this set of black and whites. I can't wait to use them! (Photos borrowed from the happy tape website)...

So, that is it for now. I am re-commiting myself to finish out the year strong with my Project 365 photos! It's only five more weeks til the end of the year!

Alrighty then - the next thing on my list is to do a challenge! Hmmmmm, I'm off to check out some challenge blogs and find something to participate in!

Have a fabulous Monday my friends, and I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks so much for visiting!

November 28th Journal Page...

Michael and I finally rented "Twilight" and we both thought it was great fun! I hadn't read any of the books, but was anxious to find out what the deal was and now I get it! I can't wait to see "New Moon" in the theatres - maybe on our next date night...

I'm still busily working on my projects. I finished my layout for the TATS blog, but I can't share it until December hits - drat. Oh well. I can share my latest art journal page:

November 28...

as I move into the new December "Prompt-a-Day" class, I am thinking that I will follow the painting and collage prompts more and more loosely, so that by the end of the month, I am doing those parts completely on my own. That will help me make the transition to doing my own thing come January. I am LOVING and NEEDING the journaling prompts tho, and I will stick with them til the end. My plan is to start a journal jar during December. During the month I will collect and think up prompts, and put them in the jar. Then when January comes I can use the jar to grab my prompts from - it should be fun!

Okay, I'm off to catch a few zzzzz's. See you tomorrow!

What a Fun, Relaxing Weekend!

It's 2:20 am and I'm creating like crazy while watching tv on Hulu.com. I'm currently checking out the remake from the 1990s of the soap opera "Dark Shadows." I didn't even know there was a remake! It's kinda corny so far, but fun cuz the original was my favorite as a little kid - I thought it was so scary! Barnabas Collins the vampire and his brother Quentin Collins the werewolf were the main characters. Do any of you remember that show? Okay, I digress...

I finished two more art journal pages from Kelly's class...

November 27th...

and November 26th...

and also my Project 52 ATCs for October (weeks 40 - 43). For these I used photos from Honeymoon three, and as the base of my cards, I used four hotel keys from our trip!




Tonight was reveal night at Studio Calico, which was also fun! I actually resisted getting any add-on kits this month, but I did get some of their new calendar pages, which I think will be PERFECT for Project 12 2010! They also have some super cute months of the year stamps that I will go perfect with the calendar pages! You can see the calendar pages here, and the months stamps here. Yeayyy!

Alrighty then - the next project on my list is my layout for the December TATS sketch. I'm off to get started on it! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

My Fave Decade...

I woke up at 3:00 am this moning and was so excited about my long weekend of scrapping that I had to get up - I couldn't sleep! I feel like a kid at Christmas! HA! So now it's only 7:47 am and I finished my Fave Decade layout - The decade I chose is probably no surprise to those who know me...
I was in my teens in the 70's and I still love so much about those years. I used the Studio Calico "Yearbook" kit for this layout, and the image of Elton John is from the cover of Time Magazine's June 1975 issue. I kept it all these years because I loved the illustration! I think the reason it took me so long to finish this layout is because there is So MUCH I love about the 70's it was hard to figure out how to sum it all up. I finished before the deadline for the Fave Things challenge tho, so it's all good.

I hope you all have an awesome Friday, and if you are in the U.S. and participate in Black Friday shopping - I wish you fabulous deals!

A Thursday Hello to You...

Oh my - I've been doing so much art journaling lately, that now I am having a hard time getting back into doing layouts! I mean, I WANT to, and I'm trying to, but, I'm having a hard time coming up with anything! I have been working on my "Fave Decade" layout for three evenings now, and it's been a struggle! I finally got something going, but it's now almost 4 am and I must get some sleep! AARGH!

So, in the meantime, I am excited to share my journal page for November 25...


I'm getting excited to actually finish my current journal and start another one - yeayyyyyy! I have all these journals I've made that have been just sitting on my shelf, and now I get to use them - I LOVE IT!!!

Alrighty then - I must get some sleep. Have a wonderful Thursday everyone and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate the holiday! See you tomorrow!

Developing A Ritual...

Yesterday I signed up for the December edition of "A Prompt-A-Day" (Kelly Kilmer's Art Journaling class). Like I told Kelly, I've been wanting to get a daily art-journaling ritual going, and I am actually doing it now - thanks to her class! My goal for December is to learn as much during the month as I can, about what works for me, so that I can continue on with my own art journaling ritual after December is over. Yeayyy!

So, here are my pages from the last three days:

November 22...

November 23...

November 24...
The journaling on this one is hard to follow - lol. It says...

"I could spend hours and hours creating in my scraproom. I never tire of making stuff."

I've got all of my backgrounds done for the rest of the month, and tonight I am working ahead on the collages. Then I can do the journaling on a daily basis, and hopefully, will have enough focus to also complete my scrapbook layouts!

So, what about you? Are you able to jump from one type of project to another in one evening? Or do you also have to focus on one thing at a time? I'd love to hear your approach to things!

I will be back tomorrow with another update - thanks for visiting!!!