I finally did it!! I completed a layout for myself…now this may not sound like a huge deal to you but I haven’t done a regular, 12 x 12 layout for my personal albums in over 18 months!! Yep, 18 freakin’ months!! I’ve spent the past year and a half doing swaps, circle journals, mini albums, and gift items, putting my personal scrapping on the back burner. It has always bugged me, I really enjoy scrapbooking and although I love to do all the extra paper crafting that has come along with this hobby, I have truly missed doing some regular scrapbooking. One of my goals this year is to scrapbook more for myself and yesterday I did just that (can you hear the chorus of angels right now? LOL)…I spent all day/night yesterday at my lss with a group of my scrap pals and it was FABULOUS! I was able to finish one gifty item that I had started ages ago (can’t say anymore in case person that said gift is for reads this..hee hee), and then I started and almost (did the journaling today) finished a real, bonafide layout! The pictures are some of my favorite ones of Roger…everytime I look at them I get those fluttery feelings all up inside of me (shucks), and I have wanted to scrap them for literally years!!! They were taken two years ago while we were in Finland, on the little island of Suomenlina.



Anyways, just glad I’m able to share with you my happy accomplishment! I’m feeling inspired…I feel another layout just calling to be created…and until next time…

Blessings!

So the new year is rolling along and things are going well, we’ve had our share of colds and sore throats in the family these past couple weeks but everyone seems to be on the upswing and that’s good! Here I sit in my studio with my new tv that Santa (aka Roger) brought me for Christmas this year. I finally got DirecTv out to hook it up and can I just say what an awesome addition this is to my ever changing space! LOVE IT!! I’ve also had time to scrap a lot these past two weeks, finishing a layout for Shelby’s circle journal (I know, I know, I swore off cj’s but when Shelby, cute Shelby, asked me to contribute one to her journal, how could I say no??) and a Rolodex card swap for my Pops girls. I took pics of my cj layout but unfortunately I was in a hurry and it shows so therefore I can’t share it with ya’ll..bummer..Shelby’s theme was “Why I Like Living In America?” ( why is it that everytime I say Living In America, I hum the James Brown tune LOL??) and it was a paper bag album. I did a two page layout focusing the journaling on one page and in the pocket of the paper bag I added an accordion fold album which hold pics that I took during one of my trips (my first trip) to New York City (my favorite city). I also included a photograph of my grandparents. They immigrated to this country from Sweden and without their courage to seek out a new life in America, I would not be! I used a Red, White and Blue theme and am very pleased with how it turned out, I hope that little Miss Shelby will like it too! My Rolodex Card I can share! The Pops girls are a great group of ladies that I have had the pleasure of hanging out with daily now for the past, almost five years!! I can’t wait to get this swap back with everyones cards..what a totally cool address book this is going to make! For my card I used Crate Paper, Bazzill Cardstock, Bazzill Wings flower and brad, Stampin’ Up! Stamp and Colorbox Chalk Ink. The backside has my personal info, address, phone number, email and birthday!
I am happy to say that I am beginning the Artist’s Way (actually started this week), with a group of girls on 2peas. I can’t wait to begin this journey, and am looking forward to what it will bring for me. I’m sure that you will hear me discussing my new adventure here! Besides that, life is just rolling along and ya know what..it feels good!

Until next time,
Blessings!

Okay, so I’m a day late in wishing all of you that read “My Little Corner” a happy 2007 but, I tell ya, this holiday season just wore me out!! Don’t get me wrong, I so enjoy the holidays and I had a great Christmas and New Year’s (with the exception of Roger leaving on New Years Eve), but there is a small part of me (okay, a big part of me LOL), that is ready for my normal life to return.

I made some gifts this year and was really pleased with how they turned out. For my mother I made an altered clock, now I need to make one of us! I also made my mother-in-law a gift card/photo holder and for my sister, I did a recipe album that has some of my grandmother’s most sweetest treats! I had been dying to share pics of them here but they visit my blog on occasion and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise for them. I can share now!! Here are just a couple pics of the clock and recipe book.

So, on to my New Year. I don’t typically make resolutions, I kinda think the pressure of them tends to be defeatful (is that a word??), but I made myself a “life list”, adding to it some of the changes I want to make through this year, along with some other tiny projects. Some of the things on my list are as follows: to exercise daily (which I am happy to say I’ve been doing successfully since September…my elliptical is my best friend these days!!), to scrapbook more for myself and less on swaps and stuff. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the swaps and circle journals, Lord knows I am seriously addicted to them but they have taken up over a year and a half of my time and I can sheepishly admit that I’ve not done one single layout for my albums since June of 2005!! That has to change!! I also want to submit a few layouts for publication, just for shits and grins, to see what happens…more for just the courage then the actual need to get published. The biggie for me is to learn to not let all the petty stuff get to me, I tend to get so caught up in it that it bogs me down and takes away the enjoyment of life….I want to enjoy the life I have and, I am. I made some big changes in my life last September, and finally, for the first time, just a week or so ago, I saw a difference!! That is sweet I tell ya!! It gives me the motivation to continue on in the direction I’ve chosen and I can’t tell you how much happier I am. Like I said, I consider these more life changes than resolutions and am feeling positive that they will be things I’ll be able to succeed with. It’s taken me my lifetime to get to this point, I used to think that you needed to wait until January 1st to make any changes you wanted, but I realized last September, that any day can be your January 1st! So, humble advice from me, don’t wait…do it now!! Today is the first day of the rest of your life!!

Okay, enough of my soapbox! Finally, you’ll notice I made another music video change…how I love my Mariah Carey Christmas song but, alas, the holiday is over so she must go! I have added this new one in honor of Mandi. Roger, Mandi and myself are over the top for this band. Roger got a couple of their cd’s over Thanksgiving and we have been hooked ever since. My Chemical Romance is the band…an alternative/punk band that, I’ll admit, is somewhat dark and brooding but they are FABULOUS!! I hope you enjoy their sound as much as we do, so without further adieu, here is “ Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance!!
Until next time, Blessings in 2007!!