A new beginning...again!!!

I wonder how many times you can decide that your next task or adventure is really your new beginning...hmmm. Well let's just say we all get one more chance and tonight I am getting mine started! 

I just joined the FREE Ultimate Blog Challenge & got 7 Ways to Get Your Blog in Motionhttp://bit.ly/blogchall #blogboost

For the month of January it is my goal to participate in the blog challenge over at http://ultimateblogchallenge.com

In order to participate you must post something on your blog everyday in the month of January. You must also post a link to facebook and twitter which I have to say I am excited about but also very nervous because I tried to challenge myself to do this on my own in the month of December and looking back I missed several days. OOpps guess it is best to not look back but only forward! You also comment on two other blogs that are participating in the challenge. I am really hoping to get more followers to my blog. 

To help me keep track of my posts I have set up a separate FiloFax (yes I am one of those nerds that loves the paper planners thanks to my big sister who pushed me into trying it). I have even started jotting down ideas for posts that I haven't even begin to write. I am sometimes a procrastinator but more on that later! 

Looking forward to this new challenge and adventure!!!! 

I would love for you to become a follower on my blog!!!

11/22/63 by Stephen KIng Book Club #1

So my family book club has chosen 11/22/63 by Stephen King to be out first read in our new book club. At the time of the selection my mom was the experienced one when it comes to Stephen King books and let me just say that we should have heeded the warnings and went with a different author. At least we all agreed that our little book club will NEVER read another Stephen King book...or at least not for a very long time.
There are four of us in our book club, my mom is an avid reader and goes through something like 1,000 books a year, my sister and I have jumped on all the popular bandwagons and read the latest and greatest book that everyone is talking about, and my brother reads occasionally. So for a book club made up of family we have already started out with four completely different levels. We all have different likes when it comes to books, mom liking Si-Fi and my sister liking Trilogies while my brother seems to lean toward Biography books and me liking everything except Si-Fi.
To get ourselves started on one of the largest books I have ever read, we decided to break the book into the different parts. We were to have parts 1-2 read by December 8th. Well that didn't happen so we decided to meet last weekend and we were to also have part 3 read (we met but not everyone had the book read). This book has been a struggle for all of us!
 Why were are struggling??? The man uses too many words to explain the scene....it shouldn't take 4 pages to explain that the wind was blowing out of the north. At this point in the book he has taken us all over the place and there doesn't seem to be anything that is tying the characters together or the plot (if there is a plot at all).
 This is not a book I would recommend to anyone. I am halfway through the book and it has now become a chore to read and we are all feeling the same way.

You can see my mom's book review at the link here:
(This link will come available when the blog is completed)

Can't seem to get my room clean...

For some reason when I am working in my scrapbook room...everything comes flying off the shelfs and lands right next to me. Am I the only one who tends to work with piles and piles of stuff around them? It is like my stuff gets lonely and needs to come sit with me like we were old friends.

DD#82 Rich Pink and Green Challenge

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.com/2013/12/dd82-rich-pink-green.html

So it has been awhile since I have popped over to the Dynamic Duos Challenge site and since we are experiencing another snow day here in the Ozarks I thought I play along!

My entry is a paper wreath! The paper I used is from Stampin' Up!, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the paper pack that I purchased (which is frustrating because I want to get some more).

You will need:
12' foam wreath (I got mine at Michael's using 40% coupon so it was only a couple of dollars)
6 12 x 12 Double sided scrapbook pages cut in 1/2" stripes
Straight pens (about 180)
Cutter
Bone folder
Chocolate...lots of chocolate and maybe a few band-aides

How to assemble:
 1. Cut paper into 1/2" stripes
Note: It helps to keep your stripes in stacks so when you go to assemble you are not grabbing two of the same colors.
2. With your bone folder curl your paper (just like you curl a ribbon on a gift)
3. Begin pinning the paper to the wreath
4. Remember...there are no mistakes!

My finished wreath:

Thank you for stopping by and I would love for you to become a follower or at least leave me a comment!

MOJO Challenge #323

http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/2013/12/mojo-monday-323.html

So it is snowing once again here. The kids get another snow day tomorrow and so do I!!! Guess this is one of the perks of being a teacher! With that being said, my DH had to go out in the snow and knock off the gathered snow and ice from our Internet dish (one of the downfalls of living in the country). But what a sweet man he is for doing that for me all so I can post my entry to the MoJo challenge blog!

Today's sketch that they provided is:

I am still new to this whole blog challenge entry thing so I still haven't figured out how "out-of-the-box" I can go with my interpretation of the sketch. Besides I am kind of a rule follower kind of person so even if I was a super experienced blog challenger I would probably stick pretty close to the provided sketch!

Here is my interpretation of their sketch:

Materials Used:

Card base: 4 x 51/2 by The Paper Studio

Very Vanilla card stock by Stampin' Up! cut at 3 7/8 x 5 3/8

Raspberry Ripple card stock by Stampin' Up! cut at 3 x 5 1/4

Red/White Twine by American Craft

Patterned Paper cut using 2 1/2 Circle Punch by Stampin' Up!

Very Vanilla cut using 2 3/8 Scallop Punch by Stampin' Up!

Raspberry Ripple cut using 1 3/4 Scallop Punch by Stampin' Up!

Stickles: Burgundy and Platinum

Merry Christmas Sticker by The Paper Studio

Thanks for stopping by and always I would love for you to leave a comment and hopefully start following my blog!

365 cards challenge Day 339 Tag You're It

Over at www.365cards.blogspot.com they have a challenge from Thursday December 5th to create a tag using nontraditional colors on your Christmas tags. I know I am a little behind on joining this challenge but this morning I sat down and decided to make some tags.
Last week my DH needed to go to Lowe's for something manly so I decided to hang out in the paint department. I am forever seeing where people take the paint sample cards and create all kinds of cute projects with them so I went to collecting come samples. I didn't get a lot because a part of me felt like I was being naughty by taking so many....shhh.
All of my tags were created using the paint samples that I collected! I also used some different wash tapes to decorate them up. The 'To' and 'From' words were stamped using Stampin' UP! Basic Black ink and the stamps were an alphabet I purchased from Michael's for $1!

Sorry about the picture quality, I have been having problems with my camera.

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to become a follower on my blog or at the very least leave me a comment. 

I am linking this to:

www.365cards.blogspot.com

So disappointed in myself...

So I was doing so well with posting everyday (okay so it was only a few days in a row but that was progress). And then we get a snow day here and I completely forget about posting. But in all fairness, I spent that time with my boys playing in the snow, making hot chocolate, and laughing!

Tuesday Challenges that I have found!

Here is a small list of blog challenges that begin on Tuesdays:

www.twistedtuesdaychallenges.blogspot.com (They post a new challenge every other Tuesday)

www.clearitoutchallenge.blogspot.com (They post challenges on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month)

www.365cards.blogspot.com

Can't wait to head over to these sites and see what they have for us to play with!

The weather is going to be a little rough here (gotta love that Ozarks weather) so I am thinking that this weekend will be full of playing around on blog challenges! My DH and boys are planning on watching the big MIZZOU game on Saturday so that means I can hide in my scrapbooking room all day and PLAY!!!!

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would for you to become a follower to my little blog or at the very least leave a comment (those just make my day)!

Monday Challenges I have found

In my quest to start changing some things in my life, I have decided to start participating in some blog challenges. With that being said...there are a ton out there in the world wide web and it appears that there is something out there for everybody! Some challenges begin on Monday and end on Sunday, some are just once a month. Some blog challenges have tons of rules while are others have simple rules to follow. Some blogs just have the rule of "Just have fun" and allow you to create whatever project you feel like making such as cards, scrapbook pages, paper crafts, wood crafts...the possibilities are endless!
With that being said I have complied a small list of blog challenges that I would like to try in the month if December. Now I know that I will not be able to get to every single one this month but won't it be fun to try?

Monday Blog Challenges:

http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com
www.craftypassionchallenge.blogspot.com
www.craftycardmakers.blogspot.com
www.365cards.blogspot.com
www.alwaysplayingwithpaper.com
www.thepinkelephantchallenge.blogspot.com

I would love to hear of different challenges that you have tried, just leave a comment below so that we can all join in and play!

Thanks for stopping by and as always I would love for you to follow my blog but the very least leave a comment below!

MOJO322 Challenge Contest

www.mojomonday.com

New challenge every Monday!!

So this weeks challenge over at www.mojomonday.com they are offering a prize for every 50 entries! I have participated in a few of their challenges but as my life changing goal I have put it in my FiloFax to  make this a regular site to party with!!! I am getting my mojo on!

Below is the sketch that they gave us to party with...how stinkin' cute is it! I have come to realize that I am a very simple card maker. I really do not like my cards to be busy, not sure if it is because I cannot justify the cost that goes into one card when you add all the bling and embellishments or if it is that I just do not like to make a busy looking card. 

This is my creation! 

Love the 3D look, I think it gives it a little something something!!!!

Materials used:

Card Base: Pre-made card set in Primary Colors by The Paper Studio 4 1/4 x 5 1/2

Ornament paper by The Paper Studio cut at 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 and 2 5/8 x 3

Old Olive paper by Stampin' Up cut at 3 1/2 x 4

Tempting Turquoise paper by Stampin' Up cut at 2 1/4 x 3

White Ribbon by The Paper Studio

Distressed paper using Old Olive ink by Stampin' Up

Whisper White card stock by Stampin' Up cut at 2 1/2 x 2 7/8

Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set by Stampin' Up (Merry Christmas)

Stamped in Old Olive ink also by Stampin' Up!

The Prizes: We'll have one winner for every 50 entries, up to a max of SEVEN winners!!! Winners will receive the Verve Stamps set of their choice.

How to play: Just upload a creation using this week's sketch to your online blog or gallery. Then leave a direct  link to your project in the linky widget at the bottom of this post.  If you upload to online galleries, please also use tag/keyword MOJO322. Our challenge is open to everyone, Verve stamps are NOT required to participate, and you can enter as many times as you want.  As always, if you don't have a particular shape, feel free to substitute.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I would love for you to become a follower or at the least leave me a comment and tell me what you think!!!

Get Whale Soon

Get Whale Soon!
I used all Stampin' Up products to make this card and I think it turned out really cute. The water was made using a plastic baggie and dawn dish soap and a little bit of water. Not sure how well this card would travel through the mail but it would be a really great card to give to someone close.

Products used:

Whisper White card stock for card base

Midnight Muse paper and Ink Pad

Big Shot (Love it)

Ovals Collection Frames

Oh, Whale! Stamp Set

Whale Framelit

Dawn Dish Soap

Water

Baggie (snack size)

ATG Gun 

Hope you like the card, I got my inspiration from Dawn over at YouTube but for the life of me I can no longer find her page :(

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment (I love those)!

I dare you....no I double dare you!

I cannot believe it is already December 1st. We have been on Thanksgiving break for 5 days now with one more to go and I have to say that it has been so relaxing. 

My mom, sister, brother and myself have been trying to get together at least every other Sunday for craft day. This has taken place at my house so far because everyone seems to laugh because they call my scrapbook room "The Store". 

We have made a paper wreath and last weekend we made or at least attempted to make Christmas cards. The girls have started using FiloFax Day Planners (I do not own the name brand FiloFax but it works just fine without the label). We discuss our schedules and decorate our planners. The four of us have also decided that we will start our own book club so we have began reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Our goal is to get through parts 1 and 2 by December 8th and we will meet at a coffee shop and discuss the book. I have to say that I finish both parts and I am dying to get to the next section. This is normally not a book I would have picked up but now that I am into it...WOW!

So with all of that happening I have also decided that I want to get going on my blog. I have had this blog for a few years and if you look around you can see that I have not been really good at posting to it.  I found a challenge blog called The Ultimate Challenge blog at www.ultimateblogchallenge.com and they have quarterly challenges to help get traffic to your blog. The next one is set to start in January!!

So I have decided to challenge myself to see how many posts I can do in December. The Ultimate Challenge blog wants you to post one post a day in January, which for some or maybe most bloggers that won't be too difficult but for me I am hoping that I can get at least one or two posts made each week for the month of December. (I even wrote this in my Day Planner!)

I will start out by entering in a few blog challenges and hope that I can go from 9 followers to 18 followers in the month of December.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my crazy thoughts!