Simple Scrapper - Simple Tip Saturday (yep, that's me!)

I was so excited to be featured on the Simple Scrapper blog this past weekend for their Simple Tip Saturday.  Here's a screen shot.

I just joined Simple Scrapper as a member a couple of months ago and have found it to be an incredible community of supportive crafters. There is a private FaceBook page, a ton of sketches and starters, along with prompts and awesome classes.  Check out Jennifer Wilson's upcoming class Before Your Story.

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive and encouraging about the post.  You are the best.

More with May and June

Here is the progress from my photo printing session yesterday.  Lots accomplished with a mix of the May and June Cocoa Daisy kits.  I am gonna kill those kits yet!  

Love it when a page comes together the same day or the day after an event - it is fun to get it down right then and there. Plus there is a little part of me that thinks - I am caught up - not that anyone ever is and, honestly, I don't want to be - that's too much pressure.  Also, I am going to submit this page for the stash busters challenge at Cocoa Daisy - this is for the first prompt to use stars on a layout.

This page has been sitting around half done for a while now.  Finally got the journaling done and added just a few touches - washi and the dots and stickers.  It has been feeling a little bare for a while and now feels more finished.  Love the contrast of the first and last days of school on this page.  I saw this idea on a layout in a gallery somewhere and I am super excited I remembered to take the photo that morning (even though we were pushing it to get to school on time) so this layout could happen.  

And finally, this layout, also prompted by that challenge going on at Cocoa Daisy. This one was to do a layout about yourself. I had taken this fun selfie a while ago and had played around with the black and white when I had posted it to Instagram.  I decided to use it and have included some hidden journaling about my love of vintage hats and my frequency at funerals due to my job as a development director with many older donors.

Ok - off to see what else I can pull of tonight and then to see what I can get lined up for this week.

May kit layout count - 6

June kit layout count - 2

Look who's featured on the Cocoa Daisy Blog today!!!

Holy smokes - that's ME on the Cocoa Daisy Blog today.  Took a quick photo on my phone cause I was so excited. I have always loved being a part of this amazing community.

Friday is kit reveal day - getting excited . . .

2013 Recap

So 2014 - apparently you are here to stay.  That whole beginning of the year newness haze has burned off and yet somehow I am still wishing people Happy New Year.  Guess I need an new opening line - oh yeah, I have one - it's Girl Scout Cookie time!

So about 2013 - it was a good but stressful year and I am working hard to capture what I accomplished so the achiever in me can smile and get on with the 9 months left of 2014!

This is just a start:

Scrap-wise:

Completed album on my grandparents -
            from birth to heaven (number of 12 x 12 pages - 56)

Major push forward on Vintage Album
           book #2 in progress (number of 12 x 12 pages - 68)

Easter tags for CPS group - 24 handmade tags - will attach a photo

Christmas tags for CPS group - 24 handmade tags -

Handmade valentines made with kids - 19 for Wyatt and 21 for Elsie

Project Life 2013 - all weeks DONE just finishing the end page now

Completed Project Life 2012 - was five months behind on Jan 1 of 2013

12 x 12 pages outside of Vintage and Grandparents album - need to look this up

Blog posts - 25 - I fell off the face of the earth here about mid year

Work:

Nearly $4M raised for Rice University as the Director of Development for the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies

Took on an additional job at Rice for Resource Development - really long title
   Senior Director of Talent Management and Organizational Development

Home and other:

Cleaned out dining room

Keep the house running - that's an accomplishment right?

Kept Sunday School Class running (mostly)

Girl Scout Troop Leader for Daisy troop 20909

Hosted a baby shower and a 70th birthday party

Nearly at $24M raised - Job took over for a while

Well, I am close, so close I can taste it. When you are a fundraiser, it is all about a goal or a dollar amount or a project - my current position is everything all wrapped up in one.  I am within $1 million of the dream, the goal, the reality of a new building.  So, somethimes work just takes over.  I didn't create this blog to apologize, so here I am.  I post when I can and work like there is no tomorrow. 

Now - back to scrapbooking.

On Deck for Friday Night

For my scrapbooking friends - prepare to laugh:

So my DH said to me today that he has a home work assignment for his online class for fire officer II that he hasn't been able to work on yet that is due soon.  Then he says that even though he is off HFD (Houston Fire Dept) tomorrow he is teaching a class during the day and won't have time during the day tomorrow either. 

Not sure where this is going so I ask, so when are you going to work on it?  Then he replies, well, I really need to work on it Friday night (pause) could you possibly find something to do in your scrapbook room to work on so I can have time to do my homework? 

Ummm, yeah, I guess I can do that for you sweetheart.  I will see if I can figure something out . . . .

Hahahaha!  This is already on the table, papers picked out and a few sketches next to it that might work to push me along.  Yippee.  Thank goodness for homework! 

In case you are wondering - no, that is not my husband.  That, my friends, is the biker from the Village People!!!!!!  And yes, the feather is from the Indian!  But that is a story for another day!!!!  YMCA, Macho Macho Man . . . .

Just not sure and an update on things around here

So I am working on this page about my two silly kiddos and something about it isn't working for me.  I like everything but the accent spots.  I tried buttons already but decided it needs to be something other than a circle.  I just put the tickets on there and I can't decide.  There is no glue on this page at all, everything is changeable.  I am just not ready to commit.  How silly is that?  I think I should just adhere it and call it a day.  I need to channel some Shimelle Laine here and make it work. . . Any advice?  I am thinking more and more I need to take that class of hers.  Wishing I would win a spot on the blog hop they are doing. 

Other than this little project, I am pleased to announce that we think our little guy will get into the bridge program at school - yeah!  One drop off and one pick sounds soooo devine.  Just registed them for zoo camp and have been thinking about what they will do this summer.  Looking for crafts and activities for them - maybe I will head to Pinterest tonight. 

Thinking about getting these books - "Money Doesn't Grow On Trees" by Neale Godfrey and something work related for me - "Read This Before Our Next Meeting" by Al Pittampali. 

Working on Project Life - still need to do last week.  Didn't take any pictures last week - need to do a better job this week or just run around the house taking some timeless photos.  Thanks to my DH for taking photos today at the dentist.  What a doll. 

Ok - back to work! 

Mommy - can we have coffee?

This is Wyatt's favorite phrase recently.  And I have to admit he is smart - figure out what mommy likes and then beg her to do it daily.  So once a week or so, we stop for coffee after dropping Elsie at school, just me and Wyatt.  As we pull out of the STES drop off alley, he says, "It's just you and me, right mommy?" and then he starts, "Mommy, can we stop at Starbucks?"  Some days the answer is no, mommy has a meeting or we are running late, but some days I relent and take him.  We don't stay long.  He always orders the same thing - milk and a petite vanilla scone.  But he loves the time with me.  And so do I.

Friday - I can say it was a good week

It is Friday - late Friday afternoon and I can honestly say - what a good week!  I am on track with goals and a few other things so I am pretty happy.  I hear the faint call of happy hour in the background, wait, you here it too?  Oh, good!  I'm not crazy. . .

I have too much stacked on my desk and a prospect list a mile long with nothing exciting in it.  But I have a plan for the weekend and it involves a date night tonight (oh yes, my planner friends, it pays to have a calendar with crap like this already on it.  I even have the menu from the restaurant printed out with my picks - hey, it is a tapas restaurant - there are lots of choices), time at home with my little people, and maybe even some time doing a project or two on my list (oh yeah, the Christmas decorations, ugh). 

A recap of the day:

I got a good cup of coffee - a latte to be exact.  It was like heaven in a cup.  You know, I LOVE coffee, but what I truly love about it, isn't the drink itself, it is the time I spend enjoying it.  I used to guzzle a venti soy latte in 15 minutes flat.  Now, I skip the soy and just enjoy the flavor of that yummy warm goodness taking a few minutes to think and prepare for the day.  My DH does not understand my love of coffee.  I think what he is missing in the equation (ugh, I just used a math word) is the time I somehow manage to take when my hands are full and my mouth is shut.  Sigh - happy thoughts. 

Today, I was made fun of for bringing my lunch to a meeting when everyone else was eating from a massive buffet.  I have to admit, it looked really good, but I ate my insanely good tuna with cranberries from Whole Foods with my crackers and grapes and I am still perfectly full - not stuffed and tired like I would be if I had eaten the buffet.  Plus - I get dessert at dinner at the yummy tapas place, well worth it in my book. Double happy. 

A little more:

I made another LO last night and posted to Two Peas in a Bucket - so happy that I am doing this, even if no one notices or comments, this is about my goal to do something for me.  The page was about me - which is a rarity.  Another happy thought.  Here's the LO for you:

Staying on Track - Goals

Well, we are 11 days into the year and, suprisingly, I am still on track (check back in another 11 days and we shall see if I am so proud).  Vitamins have been taken and devotionals have been read every day - ok, I have to admit to reading the weekend ones on Monday to catch up - but seriously, who wants to take it home and bring it back on Monday?  And as tech savvy as I am, I still don't want to read it online.  I am reading The One Year Book of Inspiration for Girlfriends by Ellen Miller and The Upper Room too.  I am on double devotional duty - so there.  I have been scrapping a lot and my contact reports are all caught up for January so far.  The fun of being a fundraiser - not only do you spend your lunches working - you spend your work time wrtiting reports about your lunches!  Plans have been made for two scrapbook retreats this year - one in Jan and one in late Aug.  And I have a plan for the kiddos valentine cards.  So with a whopping week and a half of 2012 under my belt, I am feeling like this is actually the start to a good new year.  (Ok - so I have to admit that the Christmas decrations are still up, but that will be remedied this weekend.)  Also, in super nerd fashion, I have co-created (with the hubby) a list of cuisines and activities that have been typed up, cut out and will soon be placed in something so when we have one of our planned monthly date nights and have no clue what to do, we will just pick two and make a run for it (after kissing the kids goodbye eight times and promisnig the babysitter that we will return of course).  I have nearly completed last weeks Project Life spread - only two pictures short.  I am super excited about that.  I will post it soon along with my title page when and if someone ever takes a picture of ME to include.  How come no one (read my husband here) never picks up the camera to take a picture of me?  I have 5,000 of the kids and him and just hime and just the kids, but nada of momma! 

How's your year? 

Calendars and Such

I stopped in this morning at Dromgoole's in Rice Village for my yearly visit.  Why only yearly?  Well, I hope that I am not revealing too much about myself when I say that I love office supplies and it is best to limit my exposure to them for obvious checkbook related reasons.  I especially love good office supplies.  I also get huge happiness out of new notebooks and the fact that office supply stores are open ridiculously early.  So I went this morning to purchase my paper calendar refill - yes, paper.  I live in the frustrated university world - cuaght somewhere between Microsoft Outlook and the dreaded paper calendar.  I have both, but alas, no exchange server to render the paper calendar obsolete.  And don't forget the multiplication of this calendar drama - the family calendar on the fridge and the completely seperate calendar of my "old soul" of a husband that still uses paper.  Just remembering to purchase three paper calendars is enough to drive any sane girl to the office supply store with a strong longing for at least a pretty paper calendar.  Mine is lime green leather, small enough to fit in my huge purse (which isnt saying much) and only accepts pencil.  Now I sit at my desk transcribing back and forth from paper to electronic and back again only to do the same when I arrive home tonight with both the fridge calendar and the hubby's calendar.  It is a miracle I have not scheduled myself to be in Canada and California at the same time!  P.S. I did manage to sneek a small purchase in along with my calendar refill (it is only fair since the purchase alone was torturous enough) two small moleskine volant "legnedary" notebooks in two sahdes of pink.  Just the idea of the blank pages is thrilling. . . too bad they will probably only see phone numbers and grocery lists - but at least they are pretty.   

Well, here I am.  I have a couple of goals for this blog.  1. A place to think.  2.  A place to write (yes I write in my spare time of which I have none).  3.  A place to share family stuff  - photos, funny thoughts, and ideas.  4.  A place to be scrappy, as in my true scrapbooker self.  5.   I will throw in a little fundraising for good measure - since that's my day job.  Let the games begin . . . .