Work on it Wednesday

Wednesdays are days for accomplishing things. It's not drag-yourself-out-of-bed-Monday, it's not TGIF, it's not a funfilled weekend. It's a no-excuses-gotta-get-something-done day.


So today, I'm working on one of the advent calendars. Not scrapbooking, all the little pieces in felt is very scrapbook-ish. My current step of the project is to sew on all the numbers to the pockets.


For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I'm making 2 advent calendars for my nieces. They are felt with pockets that have hand-cut felt numbers on them. Each pocket has some type of embellishment on it (buttons, crystals, applique, etc) as well. All the embellishments have been attached at this point, but I'm only up to sewing #7 so far with the numbers. I'm doing all the numbers with a blanket stitch, so it's easy to do in front of the tv, on the porch, in the living room, or where ever I might be. It's not hard, it's just a LOT of little steps to complete this gift. The idea is that we will give the advent calendar as a gift this year, and then next year, send 25 little packages to fill the pockets. I'm hoping it will be a fun way to get closer to these 2 little girls that I don't get to see very often.


Here's a sneak peak:





So, what are you working on today? Getting anything done? Feel free to leave a comment about what you're working on if that will help you be more accountable to actually getting it done!

Happy scrapping!
HeatherQ

Tuesday Tip - free classes online

Ah, summer. It's a whole different mindset, isn't it. Somehow at our house, we manage to pack more activities into the summer than any other season, and yet it feels more relaxed. I suddenly seem to have time I want to fill up with fun. Are you feeling that way? Need something good to fill some time this summer?



Tuesday Tip -- Free Classes online



Photo editing: I just signed up for a free class from Jessica Sprague. You can, too! Check it out!



Other places to find free online classes:

Two Peas in a Bucket has several classes available, including topics like photo editing, using sketches, making cards, and more!

Big Picture Scrapbooking has a few free classes, including summer photos, all about me, and intro to digital.

Scrapbook.com has two free classes. Topics are techniques and elements/design.

HP has lots of free digital photo classes on their site, from beginner to advanced, including a Photoshop Elements 7 class!

Get it Scrapped (with Debbie Hodge) has a fun little lesson on doodling for free. I tried it and did all the little doodles. For me, it was a lot of fun and I wish I could afford to take the rest of the lessons!

Get it Scrapped has more classes HERE with topics like scrapping everyday life, page parts, you, travel, and more.


I know there are TONS of classes out there to pay for that are well worth the money, but in this economy, it's hard to afford them. I've got a wishlist of the one's I'd take if I won the lottery! These free ones can certainly keep me busy for a long time.

Do you know of any other free classes? Post them in the comments and share!

Happy Scrapping!
HeatherQ

Monday's Moment

I got this idea from Ali Edwards's blog today.

Monday Moment

Outside my window... my tomato plant has blooms on it! I'm very excited!!

I am thinking about... my NEW HOUSE! (We're supposed to close on it on Friday. Hopefully this will go smoothly.)

I am thankful for... free classes. At Home Depot, online from Jessica Sprauge, and other blogs.

I am wearing... capri pants and a short sleeved top.

I am creating... Christmas presents for my nieces. I know, it's June, but I want to be ahead of the game this year!

From the Kitchen... chicken, pesto, pasta, veggies -- somehow put all together.

I am going... to go back to school for my master's degree.

I am reading... book 3 of the Twilight series.

I am hoping... that I'll be able to convince my husband that my method of moving into the new house is the "right" one. :)

I am hearing... the tick of the clock, reminding me that I need to get things done today!

Around the house... there's a funny smell coming from the kitchen. Must be the dishes and the garbage that both need to be taken care of. Guess that's what I'll be doing next... ugh.

One of my favorite things... CSA shares, fresh from the farm veggies!

A few plans for the rest of the week... blog more, contact my university advisor regarding my transfer credits, close on the house, interior paint class at Home Depot, pack some boxes, sew some more on the gifts for my nieces, bake Kale Chips, and go back to the farm on Thursday for more!!

A picture to share... this is the BACK of the new house. We don't own it yet, and I don't have a good picture of the front yet... I don't know how I missed that, but oh well. I'll get a good picture of it soon!!

My One Little Word -- Finally!

So, I picked my One Litte Word (for 2009) way back at the beginning of January. I kept forgetting about it though, which is bad considering my word choice! I chose the word...

ACCOMPLISH

I decided that I needed to make a constant reminder for myself, so I made this:

and hung it on the wall in my crafting space. I hope it'll be that constant reminder to Accomplish everything I hope to do this year!

Just had to share! Did you pick a One Little Word for this year? Check out Ali Edward's blog post for a description.

Happy Scrapping!

Tuesday Tip -- Page Planning organization

When I go scrapbook somewhere else, I love to have my pages pre-planned with coordinating paper and embellishments ready to go. Then I can bring only 1 bag and my tool caddy into the crop. I've been amazed at how NICE this has felt lately!! See, I used to be the kind of cropper that would bring EVERYTHING I could fit in the rolling tote, plus 2-3 bags/boxes, etc. It often took me more than one trip from the car to get everything into the cropping space. And then it took me so much time to unpack (and then pack up at the end) that I lost valuable cropping time.

So, a few years ago, I decided I needed to be better organized for my cropping time. I looked around and found these great tools from Cropper Hopper. Now I can unpack and clean up in less than 5 minutes and carry everything in one trip easily. It makes my cropping time so much more productive and gives me a chance to actually finish a lot at the crop for all those "oohs and ahhhs" from the people sitting near me. Plus, if I don't finish a page, I put everything back in the organizer and it's ready to go next time I scrapbook, and with the card

Tuesday Tip -- Page Planning Organization

I absolutely LOVE my Cropper Hopper Page Planner Organizers!!

There are 3 pockets:

One small pocket in the front for photos and page planning cards.

One medium sized pocket in the back for

embellishments, stickers, accent papers, photos, etc.

One large pocket in the middle for your 12x12 paper and large items.

Then you have the page planning cards, too! I love these -- they are roughly 4x12 inch cards that are folded in half to fit in the front pocket. There are spaces to jot notes about your page plan, including title ideas, supplies needed, page size, sketches, journaling notes, color schemes, etc.

Now for the price saving tips...


I love the cropper hopper ones and have many of them. They are so sturdy and have the perfect sized pockets. But, I couldn't afford them many of them when I first started using them. I started with just a few to see how they did it. Then I took some 12x12 page protectors and put a 6x6 page protector inside. I was able to separate the big pieces from the small ones and photos. Then I printed a bunch of my own version of the planning cards onto 8.5x11 cardstock.


I really prefer the cropper hopper style because they're sturdier than a page protector and the pockets don't get lost inside like smaller page protectors do, but the page protectors will do in a pinch (or a down economy).


Happy Scrapping!
Heather Q

Tuesday Tip -- more money available for scrapbooking

I've been trying to squeeze the budget lately. There's little money for scrapbooking, but there's all kinds of stuff I want!

Tuesday Tip -- more money available for scrapbooking

Have you heard of The Grocery Game? In our area we also have Savings Angel.
Both of these sites help you manage your grocery purchases and coupon usage, but for a fee.

Coupon Mom does this for free, but with fewer services and not as detailed. I use this site.

The whole trick is to clip you coupons and use them at the optimum time. I cut out the ones that I know we would use. Then, I wait until the item goes on sale and use the coupon. As long as I don't NEED it, I can wait. I saved $92 on my last grocery bill and $95 on the one before that. This includes food as well as cleaning supplies, paper goods, and pharmacy items.

Let me give you an example. I know we will eventually use the boxes of rice that actually cost me 25 cents each. They were on sale at the store, buy 2 get 2 free, plus I had a coupon for $1 off. All four boxes for a buck!

I bought a "Warm Delights" for free. The store sale was 10 for $10. I only bought one (would've been $1) but had a coupon for a dollar off. So it was free!

I bought boneless ribs in the family pack because coupon mom pointed out the great savings. I got 5 pounds for $5 and ended up making several meals out of it!

I highly recommend the free Coupon Mom site. See if any of the stores in your area are on the list.

If your store is not on the lists at any of the sites, you can use the same concept at your own store. Clip coupons for things you'll use and put them in a coupon organizer (or a set of envelopes you've clipped together). When you're at the store, if it's on sale and you have a coupon, stock up. If it's not on sale and you don't NEED it right now, save the coupon for another day. Look at the family packages of meat and freeze in smaller portions.

With all the money you save, you'll be able to get that ______ you NEED for your next scrapbook project! I had a great time shopping at a Scrapbook Garage sale this past weekend and found all kinds of deals. I wouldn't have been able to go if I hadn't saved some money at the groceries this month!

Happy Scrapping!

RAK Winner! and Tuesday Tip -- Pen storage

Congratulations to the winner of last week's RAK

Wannabescrappin said...
I love finding new blogs to follow! I saw yours in one of your e-mails for the LOM Yahoo group.
March 8, 2009 6:08 PM

Please email me at TheScrapTrap@yahoo.com with your mailing address!

All of you that signed up to follow my blog, add some other blogs to your following list. If you used blogger you can go to your "dashboard" and see updates, rather than going to each blog to see whether they've posted or not. I used to have a list I checked every day, but so many didn't post every day. Now I just check the one place. I'm so happy with blog following -- I hope you'll all find it helpful, even if you decide to quit following me! :D (But none of you will want to do that!!!)

Tuesday Tip -- Pen Storage

I've heard from multiple sources that the key to a pen/marker's long life is to store it horizontally. I used to use a pen caddy that held 75 pens on a collapsible stand (I think the one I used was from Cropper Hopper). I out grew that one years ago, and have been keeping all the other pens in a large zippered pouch, also by Cropper Hopper. This was so frustrating because I could never find the pen I wanted and had to check multiple locations for pens. I finally decided to change my system and make it more user friendly!

I spent a whopping $6 on a set of 5 plastic drawers at Walmart. Each drawer is sorted by colors.

Drawer 1 = Red, pink, orange
Drawer 2 = Yellow, green
Drawer 3 = Blue, Purple
Drawer 4 = Brown, Black, White
Drawer 5 = Metallics, Red Eye, Disappearing ink, and other specialty pens

(this is my "specialty pen" drawer)

It can now sit on my desk, I can easily reach it, AND I can find the colors I need FAST.

Bonus Tip:


You may be wondering about how a "prudent" scrapbooker can have so many pens. A great tip I got years ago -- Michael's sells a 100 marker set in their ARTISTS section (like by the paints and canvas -- not the craft paint). My pens say Fibracolor on them. They were $15 regular price when I bought mine 6 or more years ago now, and they all still work beautifully! I used a 50% off coupon to buy them during one of the holiday sales, so it cost me less than $8 to have every color of the rainbow. I'm pretty sure they're still available -- I saw them within the last year, but don't know how much they're selling them for now.


I love the look of "creative lettering" on my titles and journaling. When I go back and look at my older pages, I love the look! It makes me happier than alpha stickers, stamps, rub-ons, or even computer printed.


Hope this post gave you lots of helpful tips tonight!

Happy Scrapping!