Getting to Know You

I can't say they're best of friends yet, but they do seem to enjoy checking each other out! Merlin is almost a year old now, and he's tolerated the addition of our little Smokey quite well.

I've been having fun doing Project 365 this year. So far so good - I'll post more here whenever I can.

I still plan to post photos of my scrappy weekends in the next few days, so check back soon!

Simplifying Stamp Organization

I'm celebrating my 2012 One Little Word, which is simplify, in a different way every month in 2012. For January I'm focusing on simplifying all of my documentation.

My intent this month is to simplify my workflow in all areas of my life: my office daytimer and filing, the home organizing systems for everything from our taxes to permission slips and homework, as well as my memory keeping activities - from photo printing to journaling more on my pages.

One related project I took on at home over the holidays was simplifying the way I organize and store of all of my stamps. Pictured here are a few of the many wood mount stamps I have, along with my clear acrylic, red rubber, etc, etc... I've created an inventory list of these, sorted by category, making it so much easier to find what's there.

I'm no where near done, but at least it's started, and I have a system to help me locate that particular stamp I want for a particular project. It's already made me feel more organized and helped me to re-discover stamps I own that I had almost forgotten about! In the long run, this will definitely help get more memories documented more quickly.

Speaking of forgotten - yes, as part of my documentation goals, I still want to get my postal address list updated and get my Christmas cards into the mail. So if you were wondering - no, I didn't forget you!

I will update more details of what I simplify throughout the rest of 2012.

I also have details to post about the fun I've had on the past two weekends - I was lucky enough to have been scrapbooking during both of them, and I have plenty of pages to photograph and get posted. Stay tuned! :-}

Cropping and Creating

I'm packed and ready to head out for a weekend of scrappy fun with Sue, Lori and Jen at Crop and Create this weekend, and I'm so excited! I haven't been to a crop far tooooo long! I'm also looking forward to seeing Virginia there, and if you're also on your way later today, let me know and we can visit too!

I'll admit, it was a bit of a late night last night getting organized - but look at how light I managed to pack! Yay me! I've never packed this light for a crop before. I'm hoping it's a bi-product of my OLW this year - Simplify, which, by the way, is also Virginia's word this year - don't great minds think alike? :-}

When you consider that a big part of what you are looking at in this photo is my camera bag, iPod speaker and laptop, there's really not all that much there! I packed three projects, quite a few photos, and I'm taking three classes while I'm there, so I managed to keep myself focused on only what I'm sure I'll need. Hopefully I'll come home with everything I brought finished!

Oh, and in case you were wondering - no, Merlin isn't cropping with us! He's staying home, and was just hanging out with me while I finished packing :-}

So check back next week and hopefully I will have some project to share. Have a great weekend!

December Daily 2011 Peek

This year I decided to journal right on the image for my December Daily photos. I was inspired by my friend Lee and the gorgeous December Daily photos and albums she has been putting together in the past few years. Here's a hint at what the finished photos look like.

The photo above says Welcome Home and the text is Nothing says Welcome Home like a wreath on the front door. This was this year's Christmas wreath. The title for this photo is Time for Relaxing and the text says Boxing Day was made for chilling with your family in your Christmas PJs and enjoying your gifts.

I'm well on my way to having all my December photos selected, edited and the text written, and I hope to have a slide show put together before the end of the week. Take a peek back soon for a look at the rest of our December.

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Welcome 2012

Wishing you a wonderful and Happy New Year!

We are all excited about 2012 at our house, and looking forward to the many wonderful blessings the year will bring. We have had a fun-filled Christmas break so far, and are lucky enough to have another full week off ahead of us all. Over the holidays we all learned to ski - Stephen only needed a refresher since he skied in high school and during the years that followed - but the rest of us couldn't stand up on skis at the start of the week.
We've had a fantastic time, though, and are all progressing well. We will all get in more skiing next week before heading back to school and work.

The photos in this post are of the 2012 calendar I mentioned in a previous post. I made this for Stephen as part of his Christmas present. He was thrilled when he opened it and we all enjoyed looking back over photos of last year together.

I've put together a slide show below of the entire calendar. Enjoy! I created this using the 2012 Calendar Kit from My Mind's Eye. It's a bit larger than the Basic Grey calendar I previously used (which I couldn't manage to get my hands on this year). I found this one at Home Sense, and they may still be in stock there if you are in need of a 2012 calendar (or an extra scrappy project!) :-}

I am hoping to get a fair bit more crafting done in 2012 than I managed to fit in last year, so I look forward to having more projects to share with you in the coming year.

I also plan to post my December Daily photos in the next little while, so be on the lookout for a peek at our Christmas season.

Wishing you a year filled with joy, health and blessings! Thanks so much for making this little blog a part of your day!