New Etsy Treasury…

It started with a little black dress...

Black Dress Fitted One shoul... marcellamoda $59.00	Heavy Black Tourmaline Stone... brasslady $9.00	A Walk in Central Park - New... inthisinstance $28.00
Cell Phone Case with coordin... FancyFerris $18.95	Black Butterfly necklace - G... BeautySpot $22.00	Large Scale Ocean Black and ... PenumbraImages $50.00
Black Lace Fabric Soft Eyela... wholeport $9.99	black and white flower flora... blackandwhitej... $18.00	MATTE BLACK ONYX Matte Finis... tamarascottdes... $6.85
Black Cotton Twill Mini Ruff... tippythai $39.00	Vintage Long BLACK / BLUE LE... vintagous $25.00	Vintage 1950s I Love Lucy Sh... LoLoandRubys $79.00
Ornate Little Black Lamp Sha... Antiquelampsan... $21.95	Victorian Black Rose Ring in... robinhoodcoutu... $24.00	black crystal quartz necklac... Novella $42.00
BIG SALE - Modern Abstract T... artbyrosemary $75.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Technorati Tags: Etsy Treasury

New items!

Florida Family Vacation Scrapbook

                 

All Things Grow Better With Love Scrapbook

                 

 

Technorati Tags: Etsy,apicketfencelife,Florida vacation scrapbook

And the year winds down…

 

This week always feels like a little bit of “limbo land” to me.   The time between Christmas and New Years.  All the craziness of December falls away and I can finally revel in some down time.  It would be wonderful…except I don’t do “down time” very well…unless, of course, I’m laying on the beach!  :)

One of the perks of my job is that I have a little bit of time off at Christmas.  I was done on the 22nd and don’t go back till the 3rd.  Every year, as I’m looking forward to the time off, I always think I’ll get so much done around the house or I’ll do fun things with the kids while they’re home.   Then I remember that my kids are actually looking forward to some much needed R&R after a hectic and exhausting schedule at college.  They can’t wait to have some time to sit around and relax.  So, we watch movies and play cards and then everyone retreats into their own space.

I typically spend a lot time inside my head during this week, thinking of the past year with its good points and its mistakes.  I think ahead to the new year and to all the things I want to do differently.  And, I spend time thinking about my new word-of-the year.  I haven’t quite decided on my new word yet…but I’m hoping to nail it down sometime over the next couple days.  Last year’s word was CHOICE and it was so helpful to me that I’m kind of reluctant to leave it behind.  I get that way about “my word”.  Very attached.   This will be my fourth year of choosing a word.  It all started with ACTION, then CHANGE, and then CHOICE.  Looking back I’m pretty sure I should have done them in reverse order but oh well!  I plan to bring a little bit of each of them along into 2012 anyway!

The end of the year also gets me thinking about how I want to move forward in the new year with my business.  Some upcoming changes are going to present a few challenges to my usual scrapbooking routine but I’m hoping to work through it…or around it.   One constant in my life is that I have always NEEDED a creative outlet.  At times it’s the only thing that keeps me sane!  :)  I’ve had some new ideas floating around in my head for awhile and this just might be the year to expand and try something “outside the box”. 

For now though…here are a couple new books that have found their way into my Etsy shop. 

 

Remember to check out the SOLD (SALES) section in my Etsy shop to see other books I’ve done or to get ideas for a custom order.

Enjoy your day!

:)

Technorati Tags: Etsy,scrapbooks,Swim Scrapbook,Marathon Scrapbook,Word of the Year

It’s Christmas time….how stressed are you?

 

The time
to relax
is when
you don't have
time for it.
~Jim Goodwin

 

So, it’s less than a month (I don’t want to actually count the days!!!) till Christmas.  How stressed are you?  Are you running around the malls like a crazy person trying to find the perfect gifts?  Cranking out Christmas cookies like a well-equipped factory?  Decking the halls till there’s not one spot left untouched by holiday “magic”? 

Christmas has gotten a whole lot less “crazy” around here since my kids have gone off to college.  The years of making enough cookies for an army are gone.  So are the days (nights) of staying up till 2a.m. making gifts for dozens of teachers and coaches…and planning school parties.  I seemed to thrive on it back then but to be honest, it feels kinda nice to be doing less (or none) of that now. 

There is still a pile of scrapbook orders waiting to be completed and I have a few gifts I’d like to make in time to stick in Santa’s sleigh…but I’m keeping my expectations in check and trying to not stress so much about it all.

I didn’t spend Thanksgiving weekend putting up my Christmas tree and pulling out all my decorations.  Instead I spent it watching movies and playing cards with my girls.  We hung out and talked and relaxed.  

So now it’s a week later and I still don’t have my tree up!  I probably should have done that this week but instead I enjoyed dinner out one night with my daughter and two more nights out with friends.  Somehow spending time with the people I love feels more important right now than trying to WOW them with the superficial stuff.   

If I could get away with it…THIS is the tree I would put up!   But I’m trying to decide if it would take longer to construct than putting up an actual tree.  Hmmm.  Definitely less stuff to pull out of the attic at least! 

Technorati Tags: christmas tree mobile,christmas stress

 

New Disney

Disney Vacation Scrapbook

                 

Available in my Etsy shop!

 

Technorati Tags: Disney scrapbooks,paper bag scrapbook,Mickey Mouse,Minnie Mouse

So Inspired…Rudolph

 

 

Never underestimate
the power of dreams
and the influence
of the human spirit.
We are all the same
in this notion:
The potential for greatness
lives within each of us. 
  
- Wilma Rudolph

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windy Spring Art

This beautiful painting by Windy Spring is available here.  Be sure to check out her other amazing pieces of art too!

Once again, Saturday arrives and I have so many things I want to do that I don’t know where to start!  Since it’s a “holiday weekend” I feel like I should kick back and relax…but first I need to get caught up on some things….some fun stuff like scrapbook orders…and some not-so-fun stuff like laundry! 

My girls are still home for another day before they head back to college tomorrow.  It’s so nice having them around….even if a big chunk of our time together has been them doing homework and me scrapbooking.   This has been the first Thanksgiving that I’ve spent without my son.  It is definitely hard having him 2,000 miles away.  Fortunately we have some family that lives near LA so he was still able to spend the holiday with them.  I can’t wait to have him home for 2 whole weeks at Christmas!  I am literally counting the days till that plane lands in Chicago!

So, yesterday….maybe because I was missing Elliot…I worked on some “boy” books.  Toy Story is one of his favorites (yeah, a kid’s movie….I’m sure at 22 years old my son will also be sitting in a theater sometime over the next few weeks watching The Muppets!!!).  I couldn’t decide who to feature…Woody or Buzz so I did one of each.

Toy Story – Woody

                       

 

Toy Story – Buzz Lightyear

                      

WAY before he discovered movies, Elliot loved cars.  Of course, he mostly used it in the parked position so he could “read” his books…but well, that’s Elliot!  :)

I probably have dozens of photos I could use to fill this scrapbook…but I thought I’d share it with you instead…

Love This Little Boy Scrapbook

                   

Hope you’re enjoying your holiday weekend!

Technorati Tags: scrapbooks,Toy Story scrapbooks,Buzz Lightyear,Woody,Windy Spring Art,a picket fence life,Etsy