Life Interrupted!

CHAOS!!!
That is my life these days! From re-grouping for the business to go from a physical location to an online store; to catching up on laundry; to re-organizing the entire house so that I can work on the Hubby about moving to a bigger house & nicer neighborhood (he's coming around!)...I feel overwhelmed & chaotic on a daily basis!

It's so hard to focus on what's important when things are a mess, don't ya think?

My first goal was to tackle Maggie's room, which was a complete nightmare! To say that she has a lot of stuff is an understatement! I'd say that she has as many toys, books & animals as I do crafting supplies (well, not quite! {wink}) But her room was definitely over-run! And, I was tired of it bleeding into the rest of the house! Yes, it's inevitable that she will want to bring toys out to play with in order to be with all of us, but I couldn't take the messes in every room anymore! So, $200 later at the Container Store (LOVE THEM!!), she now has plenty of room to spread out & play!

I even managed to move all her art stuff in there & got rid of the easel in the family room! I still need to re-hang her dragonfly lights & re-arrange some stuff on the walls, but what a huge improvement!

Then I moved on to my studio! Another disaster!! From early October I have just been letting the various bits from business projects pile up & hadn't really had the time to put things away. So I spent all day yesterday cleaning & organizing! As soon as I'm done writing, I will finish putting some new My Minds Eye Papers in their place & I will be ready to start on the next design for the business! Boy, does that feel good! I think I can actually focus on all the ideas floating in my head!

Next on my list & in no particular order!
     1. clean walls & cupboards in the kitchen to finally re-paint it in a new theme. I'm so over the textured yellow in there!
     2. finish the family room walls - stupid pine paneling that my husband had to have! We're 1/3 done!
     3. clean out the garage & take stuff to consignment, goodwill, craigslist - whatever! Maybe one of us could park there by spring!
     4. clean out the back bedroom that used to be Nick's computer room! It would make a great guestroom or work out room! But I have to motivate the hubby for that project!
     5. Start working on all the little improvements that need to be made in order to list the house in (hopefully) near future! Like, re-painting doors & trim, touch up other walls, de-clutter, clean the carpets. Basically grunt work!
     6. work in the yard! We need to clean up the yard & give it some pizazz! We're in serious need of some curb appeal! I hope to finally plant some shrubs outside Maggie's window & maybe a little something by the front door. At least that can wait until the weather turns warm again!
I'm sure there's more, but that's all my brain can get a grip on right now!

I'm looking forward to living my life again! Getting together with friends, crafting for fun, working out regularly & just feeling better about things in general!

Off to work...

Local Goodies

I promised to share my goodies I found yesterday at the local scrapbook store here...I am so addicted to the vintage-style that I seem to gravitate towards it!!

...Adorable "playing cards" from October Afternoon for Christmas layouts...

...I also found myself drawn to the Valentine's papers with the new year right around the corner & found some fabulous vintage pages from Fancy Pants' Vintage Valentine Collection! SOOOO Cute!!!
 
  ...They had tons of "Heartwarming Vintage Collection" Stickers & embellishments! I found a fabulous domestic goddess postcard collection with a little stamp set & a sheet of mini-calendar images that the store had used on this great Maya Road flip book!



...And here is the little make-n-take I did yesterday too. It was really quite clever! They had taken an office memo pad & cut in 2-inch strips with a paper cutter.

Then we used paper to make a little cover over it & embellished it with an adorable owl & a 2010 little calendar inside!

...This is the little frame that I did for Nick's business partner & the other is for the lady that takes care of my MIL.




That's it for now...Catch ya in 2010!!

A surprisingly good day!

Greetings from Topeka!

I had a surprisingly good day today even though it started off a little iffy with the hubby in a "mood." But I had already told myself that I was going to get out today & do something for ME & I did!

First, I went to the local scrapbook store - Scrapbooks, etc. It is really a nice little store & I got lucky enough to come in on a day that they were doing a great little make-n-take! (I'll post photos tomorrow as I don't have my camera with me right now.) I found some fun little treasures to share with my "partners" at home (aka mom & Kim) & got a feeling for some products that aren't carried at home that maybe the Scrapateenies could work into some kits!

After that, I headed to Barnes to pick up a couple of my favorite publications by Somerset; grabbed a coffee & lunch at the cafe & then off to the store for chili fixins!

When I got home I collaged together a couple of frames for last minute Christmas gifts. It felt good to craft & get away from all the negativity at the homestead!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve & we have "early" dinner reservations in this "party" town.

So, Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you all a bright & prosperous 2010!!

Raise a toast for me too as I'll be sawing logs by midnight!

Complaining from Kansas

Oh what a joy it is to spend time with the in-laws! {wink, wink} My sister/brother-in-law aren't too bad to hang around & they have so graciously opened their home to us so we don't all have to crowd into the MIL's (mother-in-law) house w/one bathroom for 8 people! And the older cousins are fabulous with Maggie!

But, when it comes to spending days with my MIL I could just shoot myself in the foot in order to get away from her constant negativity! She could find the downside to any situation or thing! Like today, she was glancing through the photos on a wall calendar. The image she stopped on was a sunset over the desert in Africa & a single elephant in the foreground. Instead of the typical, "wow, what a beautiful shot!" she said, "Now isn't that sad? That poor animal out there all alone!" HUH??!!! And there is absolutely no reasoning with her on things! She just gets more defensive & then accuses you of attacking her! She was grumbling over something that happened between her & her caregiver (Edie - who is a saint to put up with all the BS, but a little odd in her own right!) & when Nick tried to find out what was bothering her, she bit his head off & accused him of criticizing everything she (MIL) does! She's nuts!

I am hoping to get out for a little bit tomorrow & the next day to wander through some thrift shops & the local scrapbook store. I need to find some fun little trinket for my mom & sister to make me feel less guilty for what they are going through right now as I write all this!!

On the Home Front (Scrap-a-Teeny Girls)
They are busy pulling our merchandise out & moving the furniture we lugged in to close our little shop at The Barn by the 1st. We went in so excited to be there; to start a new community of paper-crafters in the area, teach & carry unusual items. But we just weren't getting the kind of traffic, support or interest we wanted. We found ourselves scrambling every week; working our tails off to get more stuff into the shop, that we weren't even enjoying it. We found that we were spending money on things that had nothing to do with scrapbooking - like furniture & decor nic-nacks just to make rent each month. We were promised by the manager that she would help promote us & our classes, but when I asked the advertising person to send out an email to the client list, it wouldn't get done. We know that if we could have afforded to stick it out longer, we would have gained a little more of a following through word of mouth & such, it was just too time consuming on the things we didn't want (furniture, working the front register, etc.) & too expensive to keep going in that venue. So, after the first we will re-group. We will take some photos; put together more kits & organize some classes (not sure where we will teach them yet!) & get our "store" filled up on Etsy.

I am looking forward to re-grouping at home too. I consider myself a pretty good multi-tasker, but with all the business stuff, I was really feeling overwhelmed! Now that we don't have to scramble to find the odd thing to fill the shop & can focus on kits, books & such, I should be able to get a better handle on things again! And because I have been so busy trying to make this business thing work, I have had to drop EVERYTHING else - including some friendships that have been pushed aside. (I know I've been just as guilty of not checking in with people over the last few months, but I believe that I am not the only one that has a phone or email address these days!! Huh, sometimes you learn the hard way who really supports you & who doesn't in your endeavors. Sorry to bitch, but I am tired of feeling guilty for being busy & working hard on a dream!!)

Whew! Sorry! Went off on a tangent there! I need to get off of here for a little bit or this entire post will turn into more of a bitch-fest!

Catch-ya later (probably still in Kansas)!

Red & White Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

There's about 6 inches of snow on the ground here & it's still snowing off & on! Yesterday we had near blizzard conditions here in Topeka, Kansas! Crazy rain/snow mix for the morning quickly turned to snow by mid-morning & didn't slow down until "sun-up"!

We drove out from Denver on Wednesday ahead of the storm hitting town there to visit with Nick's mom & brother for the holidays. The drive was a little intense in some areas until we reached Hays, Kansas with icy roads & strong winds. But despite
the conditions, we made it in 9 hours!

Yesterday I captured these beautiful cardinals pecking at the seed still visible in the snow. Cardinals just signify Christmas to me! Aren't they gorgeous against the snow! I hope to capture a few more shots today when the sun comes out!

We're getting a slow start this morning at my brother-in-laws & Maggie is anxiously awaiting us to get dressed & head to Grandma's to see what Santa has brought for her. We are still waiting for my other brother-in-law to arrive from Utah this evening to finish up the festivities.

Although I miss my parents & sister back in Denver terribly, it's nice to be with some form of family & loved ones during the holidays!

I wish every one a Very Merry Christmas with loved ones & I'll check in throughout the week from here!

On Vaca Next Week

Things have been so crazy this week that I thought I'd better get on here real quick to let everyone know that I will be on vacation next week.

We are taking our annual trip to Maui & although my hubby will have his Mac, I don't plan on getting on it too often.

So, if ya don't hear from me, "see ya" in a week!

In the House of Scrooge!

Every year it seems that Christmas time sneaks up on me! I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is this week & Christmas is only 1 month away already!





Since we go to Maui every year the first week of December & then trade off going to Nick's family's home in Kansas every other year, I always debate about putting all the decorations out to only enjoy them for 2-3 weeks. I love to have it all up & get my Holiday Mojo going, but I am the only one that does it in our house! My husband is a Scrooge! His family always celebrates the holidays, but they never had any traditions!

I have so many fond memories of decorating the tree with my family as a child & melancholy ones of taking it all down after the new year. Every year on Christmas Eve, my sister & I were allowed to open one special gift before we went to church. Then we'd be up so early that we'd have to wait for mom & dad to get up lest we get in trouble sneaking downstairs to see what Santa brought us! We always started the morning opening stockings, then have a traditional breakfast of Eggs ala Golden Rod (egg whites in a white gravy over toast w/the yolk sprinkled on top! The BEST!). We would spend the rest of the morning tearing through presents & laughing at the reactions. After that, it was hanging out in our pjs until about 3 when we would get ready for dinner - usually a big Smithfield Ham & all the trimmings. I loved those days & I want my daughter to have as many fond holiday memories as I do.

This year has already been no exception for my scrooge of a hubby. But I had the wonderful help of my 3 1/2 year old this year to hang the ornaments on the tree instead of taking them all off like last year at this time! We didn't even get a "hey, that looks great guys!" (Albeit, he had other things on his mind when he got home at 7pm, but still! Bah Hum Bug indeed!!) I am determined to show Maggie all the magic of the season & maybe her joy will bring her silly father around to our side!

Happy decorating!