My favorite layout of the weekend

My scrapbook weekend was a success. I got a total of 16 layouts done and i finished scrapping 2010!!

This was a page that i did this weekend. Its a photo of me and my favorite author Charlaine Harris. She writes the books that the  HBO series True Blood is based on. It was an awesome experience that i will never forget, so i wanted the layout to be something that i have never done before. The inspiration behind my page is the paperback cover to the first book in the series . I printed the fangs from the internet and cut the from card stock. Then i just added the red glitter paper to the tips. I am really please with how this turned out.

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One of my favorite layouts

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I love this layout!These pictures were taken moments after Nicholas was born. It is also the first layout that I have ever done that had a shaped paper as the base. I really like how it turned out. I happened to get this paper at the scrapbook expo(held every year in St. Charles IL near the end of August)and I am glad that I bought it...and for about .25 cents, it was worth going out of my comfort zone a bit. I wish that there were more clearance papers there last year, but I guess that it is a blessing that they didn't because I have way to much paper(I may have a problem..haha) A little info about the items used: the flower was made by my dear friend Celina, the chipboard letters at the bottom were bought at Archivers about 6 years ago. They were ugly colors and I think I paid a dollar for a box. I peeled the colored part off and inked them with a lighter shade of blue and the covered them with glossy accents. I also did the same thing for the chipboard swirls. Thanks for peeking in today!

Monster cake

Where has the time gone? Nicholas is 2! When I was trying to think of a theme for his party, I had no idea what to do. So I turned to pinterest. There I found someone who did a monster party. It was perfect. So I found some banners at target that were on clearance that had monsters on them, the goodie bags were silly straws and a spiky monster(those soft spiky balls with eyes that you can get at the $1 store) and I made a monster cake. I saw THIS

cake and I thought that I could do that. It was a fun cake to make and everyone loved it! Nicholas had a great birthday and he really enjoyed his monster cake!!

I DID IT!!!

If you would have asked me back in January "Wanna run a 5k with us?" my response would have been " You're joking right..." Mid January my husband and I joined Lifetime fitness. We both just wanted to lose a few pounds and have a more active lifestyle. I went to the gym for the first time nervous and overwhelmed. There is so much going on there. Row after Row of machines, weights, classes both group and private, boot camps....and more. I had no idea where to begin. I hate the scale (they are evil little machines) so I gave myself a fitness goal. I told myself I was going to run a 5k! My neighbor gave me a work out plan called the Couch potato to 5k runner. It seemed easy enough. Three workouts a week and it told me exactly what I need to do, and I liked that. I had a reason to go to the gym everyday. Jump ahead to April 29th. Its the day of the race(we ran the Celebrating differences 5k in Oswego, benefiting children with disabilities)...and I was worried. I had not been able to get to the whole 3 miles yet. Would I be able to do this? I really wanted to run the WHOLE thing...no walking. My running partners were the best! My neighbors Julie S(on the left) and Julie G(on the right) were my encouragement! They kept me going. Around mile 2 I wanted to stop so bad. My knees were feeling it and so were my hips. But they didn't let me. It was hard... not going to lie. I am not a runner and I know this, but I was not going to let this race beat me, I was going to beat it. And 35 min 24 seconds later I crossed the finish line RUNNING! I ran the whole thing. And it felt great. All my hard work paid off. The icing on my cake was after my race I got on the scale. I felt better about my appearance. I stopped drinking all soda in January, and I didn't feel or look bloated anymore. But I knew that I had built muscle up in my legs so I didn't expect the scale to reflect much. It was not a lot....maybe 7lbs, but I feel good about it all. Now I go to the gym 6 days a week. I take a Pilates class, and a spin class and I am hoping to try Zumba too. Joining the gym was one of the best decisions that we have ever made. I will be running more 5k's. BUT...they will be for charity. Seeing as I don't necessarily find running to be fun, I do find that I enjoy running for a cause. I think that my next race will be the Zoo Run Run help at Brookfield zoo on 9/23/12. All money will go to conservation efforts. Enjoy your day, and thanks for stopping by!

Remember and Enjoy...

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SO I don't get to scrapbook a lot anymore :(. Every time I try and sit down at my desk Nicholas thinks its time for him to play with mommy's papers too. So starting last fall my neighbor and I have been going to my sister-in-laws scrapbook retreats. Every few months I get 3 days of uninterrupted scrapbook time!! I love that I can get lost in the paper and enjoy scrapping again. But I am also almost 2 years behind on my books...Ahhhhhhhh. This is not like me and its driving me nuts! So I decided at the last retreat that I was going to be getting back to the basics. I just want to get the pictures on the page and journal...after all to me the handwritten part on every layout telling the story about my pictures is the most important thing. Over the next few days I am going to be post some of my favorite layouts that I have made at the last couple of retreats. I am also going to try and post layouts from my phone while I am there. Thank you for stopping by today...P.S check back often...I have something pretty cool coming up that I will post as soon as I can!

Diy...clorox wipes

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I have been trying to cut my spending, and one way I am doing that is by making my own cleaning supplies. Not only are they CHEAP but they are better than breathing in all that nasty stuff and better for the environment. They also DO NOT require you to have to re-wash the surface when you are done using them. Have you ever read the bottle of clorox wipes? It tells you to re-wipe the surface after you have cleaned it with the wipe. That is an extra step I am not interested in doing.

So the search began for something that would disinfect, that was cheap and where the materials were easy to find.

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2011/11/homemade-clorox-wipes.html?showComment=1321206144001#c7156161311817350679

(please copy and paste the link into your browser, blogger is being difficult)

All you need is a baby wipe tub, a t-shirt cut up into squares about the size of a baby wipe, HOT water, white vinegar and castille soap, it also suggests tea tree oil, I was able to find the castille soap that had tea tree oil in it already...so It killed 2 birds with one stone. I found my soap at Whole Foods, its a HUGE bottle and is $15.99.

Mix together and that's it! I "spring cleaned" my WHOLE kitchen using these and Miracle cleaner ( HOT vinegar and Blue Dawn dish soap) No other chemicals and I DID NOT USE ONE SINGLE PAPER TOWEL!

Try it...

My new favorite colors....

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I am pretty sure that I need an intervention. I am in love with the color combo yellow and grey. I mean I LOVE IT! I even switched the colors on my desk (pencil holders, files, ribbon accents) to yellow and grey. My newest addition is my new nook cover (you can find the tutorial that I used HERE, and a new coffee cozi...tutorial that I based my finished product on HERE.

They are both super simple to make...I guess that is why I have made so many. Now everything matches my Dark Denim Cindy tote with my Awesome blossom scarf from ThirtyOne.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter!
Kathy