Create 09 Weeks #4 and #5

This is our last January prompt for Create 09. I can't believe we are already 5 weeks into the new year. Crazy how fast time flies these days. My prompt for this week is "Winter Rituals." What's something that is part of your winter routine. Since we don't have a traditional winter here in Phoenix, my card is all about my unnecessary love of winter gear. I love winter coats and would buy a few each year if I could/needed too. I also adore sweaters. Because of my new found obsession with knitting I also love hats and scarves. I've got patterns galore for winter woolies, but no reason to use them. So sad. This adorable little coat is courtesy of the Anthropologie catolog.



Last week's prompt was "What do you want to remember from January?" I apologize for not posting this card sooner. I decided to go with the inauguration, as it truly was an historic and momentous occasion. These little cards don't allow much space for journaling, so I plan on creating a scrap page around this theme where I can reflect more on my thoughts.



Alright, I must go blow dry my hair and eat some breakfast before heading to work.
Happy Friday!

Tuesday 10

1. Had a cancellation today so I got to stay home until 1:30. Spent some quality time with Shawn, vacuumed the house and scrapped a page all before heading to work.

2. 10 days till I visit the Oregon girlies!

3. Shawn bought a ridiculously large TV today...the good news is this means some of my to do's get done, because he doesn't want me to be mad about this purchase...a new TV falls LOW on my priority list.

4. Had a craving for a cookie and detoured myself to LGO for an apple oatmeal cookie in between kids. Delicious!

5. Wanting to stay home and do stuff around the house. Since changing the beds around, I am motivated to move furniture, hang pictures, clean and purge.

6. Looking for new curtains for the extra bedroom in white or red....looking for a deal.

7. Waiting for the kit reveal at Studio Calico tonight...I shouldn't buy anything, but you never know if I might NEED an add on or some stamps....

8. Desperately in need of a haircut and color, but the earliest appointment I can get that fits my schedule is Feb 24th....sorry Jess, I'm gonna have crazy hair in your shower pictures!

9. Researching some travel plans in hopes of a trip with Shawn this spring.

10. Looking forward to watching Fringe and reading my book this evening.

Crafty weekend

Did a lot of crafting this weekend and not enough of the other things on my to do list...although really, crafting was on my to do list since I had some DT commitments and some baby shower crafties to prepare.

This page was inspired by Tina Aszmus's page posted on the SC blog and a good way to break into the Fountain Square kit, which I had yet to play with. It's a new favorite page, so thanks Tina for your inspiration!


Since I was bummed I couldn't make CHA this year, I started an impromptu CHA weekend crop at Scrapgal. I posted a couple of lifts, including the one above of Tina's page, and a challenge. My challenge was to make room in your stash for the new CHA releases by using a whole sheet of embellishments (or whatever you have left in an old package) on a project. You can still play along if you like, the deadline to post and be entered in a RAK from me is tonight 11:59pm PST. Here's mine...I used the remains of some epoxy circles I've had for quite awhile.


I also used up the last bits of my Scrap for a Cure January kit on this page. I sure did love the colors and products in this kit.


I also managed to check some projects of my list by playing with the Scrap for a Cure February Mini kit. I have the mini kit this month instead of the full kit and at first I was a little stumped at how I was going to manage several projects using just the kit, but I've got two done and one in the works. I'm loving the colors in this kit. Here are a couple of sneeks.



I'm hoping to get a lot done today that did not happen yesterday, but truthfully, I really want to go scrap some more. Here's my to do list, we'll see what gets done.

Take my mom to her doctor's appointment...she can't drive with one arm casted
finish up my thank you notes
switch beds and haul out old one
vacuum and clean bathrooms
spackle in bathroom
work on Michelle's birthday gift

I better get moving.

Surveys, Forwards, and Randoms

So there seems to be a resurgence of the personal information survey on the internet these days. In the past couple weeks, I have received several forwarded emails filled with nonsense surveys and been tagged at least 3 times on Facebook with surveys or "random things" about you fill ins. I've decided, since I've got nothing else to blog about today, that I would post one said personal survey here. This one came to me twice...once from Preggo Pop and once from Macole. Here it is and all it's silly personal information:

Six names you go by:
1. Erin
2. Erin-O
3. Erin-E-Erin
4. Chicken
5. Music Erin
6. Chickpea

3 things you are wearing right now:

1. black corduroy pants
2. dark green t-shirt
3. my wedding ring

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. some energy to go scrap some more...I was on a roll and pooped out earlier than I wanted to
2. a glass of wine, but it's not a good idea for the reflux

Two things you did last night:

1. played Pathwords on Facebook
2. watched a movie with Shawn

Two things you ate today:

1. half of a tuna sandwich
2. black bean, brown rice and avacado burrito

Two people you last talked to on the phone:

1. Shawn
2. the receptionist at the hair salon

Two things you are going to do tomorrow:

1. Work on the banner for Preggo Pop's baby shower
2. take down the full bed and set up the queen bed in the extra bedroom

Three of your favorite beverages:

1. water...what I drink 99% of the time these days
2. caramel apple cider from Starbucks (about the only hot beverage that doesn't the reflux)
3. wine, though I rarely drink it these days

Tuesday 10

It's been awhile since I've done a 10 on Tuesday post.
Here are 10 things from my life today.

1. Spent the morning watching inauguration coverage. I have to admit I got a little emotional. So very inspiring. I thought Obama's speech was excellent and loved how he put everything in an historical perspective. I loved the quartet and the John William's piece. I thought Melia and Sasha looked adorable. I loved the invocation. I was amazed at the multitudes of people there and the number of young people in the crowd. I loved seeing the faces of the Tuskegee Airman up front. I could go on....

2. Wearing my new favorite t-shirt today.

3. Playing around with this site:


4. Heard some lovely tunes created by a 3 year old today. Several original compositions along the lines of this one "Oh froggy, oh froggy, what do you eat? You eat bugs. Oh froggy, oh froggy, do you have friends. Yes you do. Now it's the end." You should of heard her "Oh sun, oh sun" song...several rousing verses about the sun coming up and going down and hearts are all around and the birds are asleep and the people are awake. She got the rhyming down though, which is pretty impressive for a speech delayed three year old.

5. Engaged in a brief conversation with a man heading into Target who asked me how I liked my car. The conversation ended as with him telling me my husband was a lucky man.

6. Helped my poor one armed mother wash, dry and flat iron her hair today. Let's just say it's a good thing I am not a hair sytlist!

7. Enjoyed some home made granola this morning that I made yesterday from this lovely cookbook and a gingerbread muffin courtesy of a Fresh and Easy mix.

8. Came home with an achy body and sore throat...I am NOT getting sick. Can't, won't.....

9. Hoping to work on my 2009 scrappy calendar project tonight, but because of said achy body not feeling it.

10. Wanting this gorgeous knitting book.

Scatter brained

Ok, I'm not really scatterbrained, I just think maybe my brain is on overload, about to overheat... You know, like when you've got so much going on that you kind of move from thing to thing to thing and get a lot done, but don't finish anything? I think this is partly my doing. I've become very ambitious all of a sudden and start my mornings off with so many plans for the day....problem is I never get as much accomplished as I think I will. Basically, I've just got projects galore and want to get it all done NOW, but it's not happening...not even realistic really....

Today, I got a lot done, even if I spent several hours this morning on the couch. I managed to read the newspaper...ok really, I mostly read the ads, the arts section and yesterday's home section....purged several magazines--tearing out ideas, inspiration and recipes, mopped floors, cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, watered plants, finished a scrapbook page and started another one, got Shawn to purge a lot of boxes, took out the recycle and the garbage, did 7 loads of laundry, stripped the extra bed in preparation for switching beds, made lunch and dinner, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, downloaded some new tunes, surfed the usual websites, posted a few things.....are you tired yet? I've still got plans to change the sheets (they're currently in the dryer), meal plan and write a grocery list, knit and watch some TV.

I had hoped to get the beds all switched and set up in the extra bedroom, spackle the walls in the bathroom, dust and vaccuum....there's always tomorrow...

Shawn and I did manage to watch two movies this weekend. We saw Gran Torino on Friday and Slumdog Millionare yesterday. Both of which were excellent movies. I highly recommend them both. There sure are a lot of good movies out right now. I've seen more movies in the past month than I saw all of last year I think. In addition to these two, I have also seen Seven Pounds and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Valkerie. I enjoyed all of these movies. There are several I would still like to see, including the Reader, Doubt, Australia, Bride Wars, Defiance, Last Chance Harvey, Marley & Me, Revolutionary Road....I can't even remember the last time there were so many good movies out all at once.

Ok, I'm off to knit and check the dryer.
Hope your weekend was lovely!

Create '09 Week #3

I can't believe we are already on our third prompt for the year...time is flying already! With all the focus lately being on resolutions, goals and wishes for '09, I thought this week we'd focus on the things we already have going for us. The prompt for this week is "What is something you are happy with about yourself or your life?" Here's my take:



I forgot to post my week #2 project. The prompt from Judean was your bucket list for this year...your 9 things to accomplish or do in '09. Here's mine:



It's not too late to participate in this year long challenge. For more information and to see what others are creating go here.

Sweet Cheeks

Want to win this cute "Sweet Cheeks" kit from Scrap for a Cure? Go check out Ali Edwards blog, it's part of her fabulous Wednesday giveaways today. Have I told you this kit is my favorite SFC kit so far? You want one, for sure!

Stichy stitch stitch

I spent most of the weekend working on baby shower invitations for Jessie's shower. I spent a lot of time stitching these little felt cupcakes. Who's bright idea was it to stitch 27 cupcakes? Oh well, they're awfully cute...



Haven't been keeping up with my grateful album, because my to do list is so long, so here's some more grateful notes for me so I can catch up later.

Jan 9-cancellation and lazy morning in my pj's
Jan 10-online communities and friends
Jan 11-spending the day crafting and baking
Jan 12-delicious meals and time with Shawn
Jan 13- spurts of creativity

Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Shawn
Happy birthday to you!

Here's wishing you a fabulous 31st year!
I love you!

Scrapping Away

We're having a crop this weekend at Scrap for a Cure. There's lots of fun challenges, games and prizes. You should come check it out. I'm hosting a "Make it New" challenge. The challenge is to find something you've been saving or have had stashed away for awhile, with the intention of making it beautiful and actually pull it out to make it new using your supplies. I found this old metal tile stashed amongst boxes, tins and random pieces of metal and plastic that I have stashed away as things to alter. I paired it up with some bits from the SFC January kit alcohol ink, ribbon, and buttons to create this little Love wall hanging.



The January kit, "Sweet Cheeks" has been revealed and it's a good one. It's my favorite SFC kit so far and I love working with it. Here's the pages I've created so far:





This kit is full of fun colors, patterns and embellishments. I'm pretty sure I'll be using my kit until there's nothing left to play with.

If you're looking for something to do tonight, I'm hosting Bingo at SFC at 7pm. Come and play!

Crafties and Gratefuls

Life is busy around here, but I thought I'd share a few of my latest projects. Here's a calendar that was inspired by Celeste and the KI Memories Blog. You can dowload the calendar template here. I used yummy Amy Butler papers and love looking at it sitting nice and pretty on my desk.



Here are my projects for the Scrapgal newsletter. A little home sweet home banner


and some wishes for 2009


Created this one about my birthday awhile ago with the Studio Calico November kit. Love those Studio Calico Noah stamps, which I borrowed from Ally and hope to own someday....


I'm also trying to keep up with my gratitude album. Here are some notes for myself about that last few days, so I don't forget. Today I'm grateful for:

Jan 5-the new washer and the fact that we could go buy a new washer
Jan 6-quiet time at home after work
Jan 7-friends who listen when I need them
Jan 8-the little things that make my job so wonderful, sudden expressions of affection, contagious smiles and laughs, fully engaged eye contact....

Around Here

Here's what's been happening around here the past few days:

-the taking down and putting away of Christmas
-the acquisition of a new king size Tempur-Pedic mattress for free
-the moving around of beds and furniture necessary to accommodate new mattress
-crying my eyes out through Seven Pounds at the movies today
-the death of our washing machine, mid cycle
-lots of crafting, including baby shower invites, calendars and playing with new goodies
-Scrap for a Cure January kit sneaks:



it's an adorable little kit full of fun, cheery papers and cute little embellishments. We will be having a new kit and new site launch party and crop next weekend, Jan 9th-11th. Come join us for lots of games, challenges and prizes.

I'm off to investigate new washing machines....

Create 09

I am co-hosting a creative project for 2009 at Scrapgal called Create '09. The idea behind this project is to document your year, one week at a time, in a creative way. I will be using my 7 Gyspies ATC spinner, but this project could easily be done with any ATC's, a deck of cards, a mini book, an art journal, or full sized pages. We will be giving a weekly prompt designed for you to use as inspiration for documenting your week. Prompts will be posted every Friday in the challenges forum at scrapgal. I'm really looking forward to this project and can't wait to see my ATC spinner filled with weekly cards. Here's what it looks like so far:


So far I have created a "Happy 2009" intro card and my first prompt card.


The prompt for this week is "What do you wish for in 2009?" I decided to use my Ali Edwards one little word as the basis of my card. Balance is my word for this year and here is my first Create '09 card:


The back of my card houses some journaling about my word choice. I have chosen balance becuase I would like this year to be the year that I learn to balance all that I do. I seek balance between work and play (generally my life is pretty work heavy), constant motion and stillness, stress and relaxation (here's my biggest challenge), doing things for everyone else and time for me, friend time, family time, marriage time, etc. I think this was a perfect way to start this new project.


Prompts for Create '09 will include journaling prompts, challenge prompts, technique based prompts and a few guest artists. Please come join us on this creative journey for 2009.