Ten on Tuesday

Wow, it's been a week since I last posted. Unfortunately, it's because it's been a really tough week for me and yesterday was particularly difficult. I've intentionally not talked about my work on my blog and I won't get into it too much now either, but on Election Day, I lost my job. Just like that. Now, I'm looking for another, in this economy. A lot of emotions are running through me. The ones you'd expect; fear, shock, anger, sadness. The one that dominates is fear. Fear of the unknown. I'm not a person that thrives well in uncertainty and change.

So, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season and to remind myself of the good in my life and to not let the fear win, today's Ten on Tuesday is all about what I'm thankful for right now.

1) I'm thankful for my support system, my family and close friends. I have people who I can talk to, who I can cry in front of, who lift me up and love me. I have people who will edit my resume. I have people who have offered a place to live, if all else fails. 

2) I'm thankful I got to see the movie Megamind with my sister, brother-in-law and nieces. I needed to laugh and escape for awhile. 

3) I'm thankful for the great weather. I've been able to soak up the last bits of warmth and stock up. 

4) I'm thankful that my nieces and I had a sleepover. It was perfect timing. We had fun just hanging out and being together. They both fell in love with my electric typewriter. We inhaled Punch pizza. We read and cuddled (very) early in the morning. They are the best reminder that I'll be ok. 

5) I'm thankful for hot tea. I've been enjoying the comfort it provides. 

6) I'm thankful for West Wing episodes. For some reason, I watch it when I'm feeling down and it always lifts me up. 

7) I'm thankful for scrapbooking. I have been processing what's been happening by cutting up paper and getting messy. It's very cathartic. 

8) I'm thankful for the opportunity to imagine my life in a different way. 

9) I'm thankful for warm baths with tons of bubbles. 

10) I'm thankful for this life and the potential for much happiness to come. 

Happy Birthday R!

My awesome sister celebrated her birthday yesterday! I am incredibly blessed to have her as my sister and I'm thankful for her everyday. I wish for her a year of all her dreams coming true, big and small. She deserves nothing less.

Hello November

I love the start of a new month. It's like a mini New Year's Eve. The chance to make new plans and new lists. The chance to reflect on the previous month. October was a great month. I did everything I thought I would and more, except the bowling. Will try to remedy that soon, because I do love the bowling.

What's in store for November? I'll be voting. (You should too!) I'll be ushering in colder weather. I'll be celebrating my sister's birthday (Yay! for birthdays). I'll be attending several plays/concerts. I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with my entire family (Can't wait). I'll be taking some time off work. I'll be going to a movie alone. I'll be having a sleepover with my nieces.

What's in store for you this November?

Park Fun

This week's American Crafts challenge is to create a boy themed layout. I, of course, scrapped about my nephew. I don't get to see him or his sister as much as I'd like and so I look forward to the week we get to spend together every year. We spend a lot of time at the park. I think it's so cool that we play at the same park that my brother, sister and I used to play at growing up. Thankfully, they replaced the equipment a few times though.

I used the Abode line, which I find myself using a lot when scrapping about my nephew. It has great, bold colors and fun patterns. I chose to keep it simple and linear. I punched out a few circles from the patterned paper and used the negative to house a few details. My apologies for the poor photo. Natural light is few and far between these days.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great Friday.

Supplies used
American Crafts: Paper: Abode, Thickers: Apartment and Dear Lizzy Fantastic, Flair: Abode Sugar and Spice, Chipboard: MyHouse Abode, Puffy shapes: MyHouse Abode

On The Easel

I've been eyeing the Studio Calico kits for several months now. I love their blog and the projects created by their design team. I find a ton of inspiration there. I finally decided to purchase one of their kits last month. I must admit I love the idea of receiving a box full of scrappy goodness every month.

The kit is called On The Easel. Honestly, I didn't love this kit. I created three layouts with it, but each one was somewhat difficult for me to finish just using the supplies from the kit. There wasn't as much there as I thought there would be. I think you're supposed to purchase the add-on kits to accompany the full kit, but there's an additional cost for each add-on. That adds up! So, the verdict is still out if I'll subscribe or not. But I will certainly continue to visit the blog and enjoy the talent of the design team.

Now, onto the layouts.

This layout is about my first time playing on a clay court. I was expecting the bright red clay, but apparently the US doesn't make their clay courts like that. Bummer. I was hoping to get red clay all over the back of my shirt like Nadal when he falls onto the court with joy after he wins the French Open. The kit came with a bunch of window chipboard shapes from Maya Road. This was one product I was having difficulty with, never quite knowing how to use it. I also used a few strips of the decorative tape, which I have no problem using. Love it!

This layout is my favorite of the three. I do love the color orange. There is a polaroid stamp as part of the kit that is really neat. I stamped it three times and then placed a small photo in each image. I'm a huge Crate Paper fan, so, I liked the few sheets of patterned paper that was included in the kit. Lastly, I fussy cut out the Market part of the title from a 12x12 piece of patterned paper, which was fun.

First up, my apologies for the poor photo. The weather has quickly turned this week and there has been very little natural light. I love the photo in this layout. A picture of my nephew trying to avoid an ostrich at a animal reserve. The animals had no problem coming up to say hello. I painted the white number stickers yellow. I'd never done that before and I liked how it turned out. I also used one of the window chipboard pieces to house part of the title. I painted this chipboard the same color as the number stickers. I like the little bits of yellow and red throughout.

Thanks for getting this far! If I decide to try out another kit, I will definitely share here. Do you subscribe to a scrapbooking kit? Do you like it? I'd love to hear what others are doing.

Ten on Tuesday

I spent a long weekend with my brother and his family this past weekend. Here are the 10 things I'd like to remember about the trip.

1) Jamming to the Glee soundtrack and listening to John Stewart's Earth on audiobook made the drive there bearable.

2) I had a nice welcome when I arrived.

3) I get to cross off #2 on my 33 list. It may seem strange to go to a taping of a radio show, but it was really enjoyable. I was surprised by all the ad-libbing that won't make it on the air, but done only for the audience. Mo Rocca and Dick Van Dyke were very entertaining.

4) We went out after the taping to a cozy little restaurant. A delicious meal, great conversation and splurging on desserts made for a great way to end a fun evening.

5) My nephew and my Dad played Stress Free Chess for hours.

6) I went to my nephew's ice skating lesson and my niece's ballet class, (which the teacher didn't allow me to stay in the room for. Yes, I'm bitter)

7) We hung up Halloween decorations and carved pumpkins. 

8) I ran another 5k. This time I ran with music and I ran a bit faster than a few weeks ago. Wahoo!

9) On the way home, I stopped for a quick visit to see a good friend. We ordered pizza and ate ice cream and thin mints and played with her baby daughter. It was so good to see her and I'm thrilled she lives closer again. Hopefully, we can do that more often.

10) One downside to the trip was I missed my Dad receiving a lifetime achievement award from the MN CPA. A much deserved recognition for a wonderful man. I'm very proud of him.

And So It Begins

When I saw the American Crafts challenge for this week, I knew what I wanted to scrap. I snapped this photo of my niece this weekend texting to her friend. She doesn't have a cell phone, but figured out a way to text on an old iphone. She was even texting with her friend while in the same room together. Hilarious. I also had to tear her away from it to play a game. And so it begins...

I used the Blue Skies, and Dear Lizzy Spring and Enchanted collections. I love these papers! I can't wait to get my hands on more of the Enchanted line.

I really liked how this layout turned out. It's one of my all time favorites.

Product used
American Crafts
Paper: Cardstock, Blue Skies, Dear Lizzy Spring and Enchanted
Ribbon: Lovely, Leafy and Butter
Thickers: Dear Lizzy Fantastic, Berry and Bliss
Brads: Pearl Baby Boy
Echo Park
Letter stickers: Walk in the Park
Making Memories
Journaling page: Noteworthy Spiral Notebook