One Tough Mother

{Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner}

2012-02-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

Today's post is short and sweet - super sweet if you are one of the people who entered to win a FREE AD SPACE on the blog for the month of March!

So, I was giving away 6 Free Ad spaces...and I ended up with 7 people who entered. So, rather than cutting out one of you, I've decided to award ALL of you!

The following people will have a 190x190 FREE AD:

Pitter and Glink

Kim

The following people will have a 190x350 FREE AD:

Tracey Sebastian

Lynn at Scrapity Anne

Melissa at Silly Bee's Chickadees

Emilie

The Dedwylder Family

Congrats everyone! Email me - kthompson0412@gmail.com - and send me your ads ASAP!

And for the blog - I'm taking a couple days off. We've been SOOOO busy around here - Marley turned 10 last week and we had her party over the weekend, so I'm very behind on everything. Plus, I'm now a Thirty-One Independent Consultant (YAY!) so I'm trying to sort through all the cool stuff in my kit and start booking parties. I'll be back March 1st to preview the new sponsors and hopefully have some fun stuff to share!

Have a great day!

{Get Lucky} - Win a FREE Sponsor Ad for March

2012-02-23T06:00:00.027-05:00

No, I haven't lost my mind. I'm completely sane (well, some would argue that...).

I am GIVING AWAY 6 Sponsor Ad spots on One Tough Mother! Here are the details:

For the entire month of March, your ad will run in the right sidebar of the blog.
Each sponsor will receive a shout-out both on the blog and on Facebook at least once during the month of March
All ads will be sized to 190x190 pixels unless you agree to do a giveaway for the fans at the end of March. If you agree to do a giveaway, I will upgrade your ad to the larger size 190x350 pixels.
If selected, you will also have the option to continue running your ad for a discounted rate.

RULES

***Please leave your first name and the city where you live in each entry***

Leave a comment below telling me that you want a FREE AD SPACE on One Tough Mother
Be a fan on Facebook, then come back and leave another comment telling me you did so
If you would like to do a giveaway at the end of the month if you are selected as one of 6 winners, leave a separate comment telling me so

(That means you have up to 3 entries!)

If chosen, you agree to post a One Tough Mother blog button in your sidebar for the entire month of March.

If chosen, you will send me your ad already sized to the specifications mentioned above no later than Tuesday, February 28th at 5:00PM Eastern.

ALL ENTRIES DUE BY SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH AT 8:00PM EASTERN! Any comments received after 8:00PM Eastern time will not be included in the giveaway. Winners will be announced Monday, February 27th, both on the blog and on Facebook. I will also email you, so be sure you are NOT a no-reply commenter. I need to get in touch with you.

I hope the Luck O' the Irish comes your way!

One Proud Mother - Happy Birthday Marley!

2012-02-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

Ten years ago today, I was blessed with the most amazing little person ever. My sweet, beautiful daughter Marley celebrates ten years of life today. She's incredible, really...ask anyone :)

I'm so proud of the young woman she is becoming, and I'm honored and humbled that God has given me the task of being her mom. Rather than filling this post with lots of words about how awesome she is, I decided to just show her off to all of you with lots of pictures :)

Happy Birthday Marley! Mama loves you more than you will ever know!

{Not So} Tough Tuesday's #18

2012-02-21T02:00:00.003-05:00

Welcome to another edition of {Not So} Tough Tuesday's! So glad to have you here! I'm busy preparing for my daughter's 10th birthday so things are a little buys around here this week. I'll share details with you after her party on Saturday :)

In the mean time, let's see what links were the most-clicked last week:

{Reusable Activity Books} by Reading Confetti

{Photoshop Tips} by Life on Walnut Street

{Dollhouse} by Caught My Fancy

Way to go ladies! Be sure to grab your button to show that you were featured:

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Now let's get to this week's party!

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
LEAVE LOVE BEHIND FOR OTHER LINKS PLEASE
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

{Project Life} Week 7

2012-02-20T06:00:00.002-05:00

{Title Card}

There was a lot to document this week - 12 on the 12th, Valentine's Day, my mom's birthday, and a party for a friend of ours who is going overseas for work.... A lot of little pieces of memorabilia to keep, too.

{Left Side}

I really only have one "normal" page this week. I included a photo of the super cute Valentine's cookies I ordered for Marley's class, a photo of my hubby and his girlfriend Dakota (who thinks she's human rather than canine), a photo of the book I read in 2 days flat (The Hunger Games - awesome!), and a photo of all the boys together at a party for our friend who is going overseas.

{Memorabilia}

I used one of the 6x12 page protectors by Becky Higgins to wrangle some of this week's memorabilia. Marley won 4 tickets to the Atlanta Zoo so I made a color copy of the 4 tickets and included those in the album. Also included - a sweet card from one of my friends and Marley's Valentine's card from my mom.

{12 on the 12th}

Just as I did on January 12th, I took 12 photos on February 12th - a day in the life kinda thing. I took all 12 with my camera on my phone. So much easier for this kind of project.

{12 on the 12th Side 1}

{12 on the 12th Side 2}

I printed each photo as a 4x4 square image and arranged them in a We R Memory Keepers page protector. I made the journal cards on Picnik using the same process I used to make my printable charts.

{Valentine's Day layout}

Another We R Memory Keepers page protector here. I included a photo of Marley handing out Valentine's at school, as well as a photo of my gift from Mark and a picture of the two of us. The 6x8 space was perfect for the card my hubby gave to me. I filled the final 4x6 space with a journal card that I embellished.

{Valentine's Day journal card}

I used chipboard letters (M for Mark and K for Kirsten) to show M + K = <3, and threw on a few heart stickers around my journaling.

{Mom's Birthday layout}

Thursday was my mom's birthday and I surprised her by inviting her friends over for a card night. She had no idea :)

{Birthday journal card}

I used this really cute PNG file from Plucky Momo's Celebrate You kit to create a 6x8 journal card for mom's birthday layout.

We had a great week, and another one coming up. My daughter's 10th birthday is the 22nd with her party on the 25th, so you can bet that next week I'll have several more pages to share!

{Simple Things} Sunday

2012-02-19T10:59:00.000-05:00

A simple kiss on Valentine's Day.

This was a fun picture to take. We had to do several takes to get it right....and it sure was fun trying! :)

DIY Dry Erase Weekly Planner

2012-02-17T06:00:00.006-05:00

I'm really excited to show you this little project! I made this for my mom for her birthday present and I was tempted to keep it for myself :)

I got this 16x20 collage frame at Home Goods.

I love this matstack that I got at Michael's a while back. The patterns and colors are fabulous. I also grabbed my little alphabet stamps.

After selecting my mats, I used the paper that came in the frame as a guide to lay out my papers. Once I got the placement the way I wanted it, I simply taped them inside the mat of the frame.

Once all the papers were placed and taped, I grabbed my little stamps.

I stamped each day above the proper spots, and added "notes" and "groceries" in the middle, like this:

Pretty cool, right?

I cleaned the glass and put everything back together (and seriously considered keeping it for myself, but then realized I would have nothing for my mom on her birthday...).

I wrote a little love note with a dry erase marker on it, and mom's gift was ready to go! :)

Fabulous!

Pin It

Happy Birthday Mom! I Love You!!!

2012-02-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

That awesome lady up there, the one on the left in all those crazy pictures, is my momma. And today I am dedicating my entire blog to her wonderfulness :) You see, it's her birthday. And she's quite fantastic, so I thought I would share how super great she is with all of you! (But I won't share my momma, she's all mine.)

(Me and mom sometime around 1981 chillin' at home in Savannah, Ga)

I'm kind of her favorite kid (we'll leave out the part where I'm also an only child).

(Easter Sunday with mom)

(On vacation in California...around 1988 or so)

My daughter thinks she's kinda cool. The two of them have this incredible bond like I've never seen. Almost 10 years ago, when Marley was born, she spent the first night of her life wrapped up on my momma's chest sleeping soundly. I think their souls made a connection that night because they are almost inseparable to this day.

("Momma" and her Marley - Feb. 22, 2002)

(Summer 2002, Momma and Marley)

My mom and I have always been super close, except for those few random years where I was a crazy hormonal teenager who didn't like anybody very much...and through all that mess, she loved me anyway. Isn't she great?!

(Me as a blonde and my pretty mom, 2001)

We lost my dad to a heart attack when I was 19 and it rocked my world and mom's. They would have been married 25 years that year. It was the hardest thing we have ever been through together. But we are closer now than we have ever been. My mom is truly my best friend. (Ok, I'm starting to tear up a little now...this is pathetic.)

(Mom and Dad at our house in Savannah, early 90s)

I have always loved and respected my mom, but I truly discovered the love of a mother when I became one myself. I never knew how difficult and equally rewarding motherhood could be. I never knew how you could feel someone else's pain like you do for your child, or love someone so deeply you would cross the earth and back on fire for them, quite like you would do for your child.

(Marley and Momma, 2004)

(Marley and Momma, 2008)

Thank you mom, for being so cool. You're funny, beautiful (although a little on the short side!), supporting, stronger than I can ever hope to be, smarter than I give you credit for, a woman of God whom I aspire to be like one day, the best mom and grandmother in the entire world. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

(Three Generations, 2008)

(Mom and me, 2011)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2012-02-14T06:00:00.002-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 14 days of Showing Some Love! Thank you to all the fabulous ladies who participated in our little blog hop. In case you missed any of the love, here's a quick recap:

{Day 1} {Day 2}

{Day 3} {Day 4}

{Day 5} {Day 6}

{Day 7} {Day 8}

{Day 9} {Day 10}

{Day 11} {Day 12}

{Day 13}

And now for {Day 14} - a quick and easy last-minute DIY Valentine card:

Grab some cardstock, a pencil with a good eraser, and paint in your lovely colors of red, pink and white.

Make your little designs using your pencil eraser.

Done and done! (See...told ya it was quick and easy!)

Now go enjoy your Valentine's Day! (And link up in {Not So} Tough Tuesday's now through Wednesday at midnight!)

{Not So} Tough Tuesday's #17

2012-02-14T02:00:00.001-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Hey ladies! Sorry I missed last week - it was kinda crazy around here. I want to feature the top-clicked links from two weeks ago so you get your due credit. Here they are:

{Food Storage Closet} - Adventures of a DIY Mom

{What's Your Design Style?} by The Brown Eyes Have It

{DIY: I Love You Because...} by Measure Once, Cut Twice

Congrats! Grab a button:

Now let's see what you've got this week for Valentine's Day! Remember the rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
LEAVE LOVE BEHIND FOR OTHER LINKS PLEASE
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

Project Life Week 6 & {Show Some Love} Day 13

2012-02-13T06:00:00.005-05:00

Well, Week 6 of 2012 is in the books! And what a week we had... I'm so thankful that I'm not holding myself to the Picture of the Day thing, because this week would have killed it. I didn't take a single picture Monday through Thursday. Yea. It was that kind of a week.

Fortunately, I took extra pictures on other days and I ended up with a full layout and a half! Here's what I ended up with:

This is the front side of Week 6, all taken on Sunday, February 5th. Our new little church is growing and we had our first service in our new home, so I snapped a shot of that for sure - so exciting! Then we had Super Bowl, of course. I made Mark made the sausage cheese balls because I was super busy (what's new, right?!). The Super Bowl party we attended was a lot of fun, mostly because the kids were so entertaining. :)

This is the back side of Week 6. The top 2 photos were taken Friday when Mark and Marley had their date night. I used an adhesive heart paperclip to attach their movie ticket stubs in between their pictures. The other photos are from Saturday. We picked up Girl Scout cookies and sorted them. Then we delivered some of them to the home where we celebrated New Year's. We ended up staying for dinner, and I spent a lot of time in front of their windows taking pictures of all of their birds at the feeders.

As I said, I didn't take any pictures Monday through Thursday, but there was a lot going on - some too personal to share here. I also got hit with a nasty flu bug, so I journaled all about it in a folded journal card.

I added a small photo of one of the birds in a journal card slot, then put the rest of my bird pictures in a separate page protector.

I did an entire front page with photos of the birds. Here are a few in better detail:

They're so pretty! :)

Anyway, let me wrap up Project Life....

On my bird page, I split one horizontal 4x6 picture in half to fill a couple of the smaller slots. I also decorated a journal card to fill the last space.

I love the route I'm taking this year. It's a lot more free and creative than last year, and I'm able to use all of my photos, not just one per day. I'm diggin' it. :)

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Hey don't forget we're still blog hopping around here. Today, I'm really thrilled to have Anna from My Life and Kids participating in {Show Some Love}! Be sure to stop by and say "hello"!

Then come back here tomorrow, on Valentine's Day, where I'll be wrapping up our 14-day blog hop! WOO HOO!!! This love fest has been SO FUN!

See you tomorrow!

{Show Some Love} Day 12!!!

2012-02-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

Ok, we're down to Day 12! Lynn at Scrapity Anne is showing some love today! Head over there to check out what she's created for Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow, the always funny Anna from My Life and Kids will be sharing in the Valentine's love fest!

On Tuesday, the big VALENTINE'S DAY, I'll be wrapping up the blog hop! Woo HOO!!! :)

I'm taking a break from my normal blogging schedule today, so no photos to share. I'm soooo far behind in my blogging, photo editing, Project Life-ing....and, well, everything, really, so I'm hoping to spend most of today getting somewhat caught up. See you tomorrow! Happy Sunday!

{Show Some Love} Day 11

2012-02-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

I am seriously loving all the Valentine's goodness we've been sharing since February 1st. LOADS of inspiration for your special Valentine! And we're not finished yet! Today, head over to Growing Up Gabel where Camille will be Showing Some Love!

And tomorrow, be sure to visit Lynn at Scrapity Anne!

{Show Some Love} Day 10!

2012-02-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

I can't believe we're almost completely through our 14 Day Valentine's Blog Hop! It's been amazing so far, and today is no different.

Head over to visit Elena at Bird & Tree for today's loveliness :)

Tomorrow, Camille at Growing Up Gabel will be Showing Some Love!

{Show Some Love} Day 9

2012-02-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

Head over to JYipp Photography for today's {Show Some Love}!

Tomorrow, Elena at Bird & Tree will be joining the Valentine's fun :)

*On a side note: I had every intention of sharing a craft with you today, but I got slapped in the head with a nasty flu bug, so until this crap decides to go away, I'll be down and out. I'm having a really hard time being the one in my house being taken care of - not usually the way it goes. But, I'm trying to enjoy the time of rest that I'm being forced to take. :) Hope to be back to my old over-productive, over-committed self soon!

{Show Some Love} Day 8!

2012-02-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Hey there! I'm really excited about today's blog hop! Karyn at Pint-Sized Baker is going to make your mouth water! Go check it out:

Tomorrow, head over to J Yipp Photography!

Happy Valentine's Day!

{Show Some Love} Day 7 - Dude Valentine

2012-02-07T06:00:00.007-05:00

Hello lovelies! I've decided to forgo the linky party this week - so sorry. I've had way too much on my plate and it was hard enough to get my post done, so we'll get back to {Not So} Tough Tuesday's in the next couple of weeks. (Next Tuesday is Valentine's Day, so I'm thinking of skipping that day, too!)

Have you been following the love fest so far? There have been some awesome creations by some fabulous ladies! And there's more to come! Tomorrow, Pint Sized Baker is taking the cake, so to speak, so be sure to head over there and say "hi" to Karyn!

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Anywho - Today, I'm the one Showing Some Love, and this creation is all about the dude in your life! It's so easy, and you know he'll love it.

Get a 6-pack of beer and a couple of steaks, then do this:

Cover the 6-pack carrier in scrapbook paper and decorate to your heart's content (pun absolutely intended!).

Here's the mess I made decorating mine...

I used a 1" hole punch to cover the tops of the bottles, and used my stamps to make "Love Potion No. 9" on the front. :)

I found a 2-pack of heart-shaped tins at Wal-mart for somewhere around $3. So, I wrapped two steaks in tin foil and placed them inside one of the tins.

I slapped a felt heart sticker on the top and voila! Instant Dude Valentine!

Won't your man be surprised to open the fridge and see this waiting for him? :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pin It

Ginger Snap Crafts

Project Life Week 5 & {Show Some Love} Day 6

2012-02-06T06:00:00.004-05:00

I seriously feel like I got tricked out of a weekend. I was so busy... But, I managed to get my PL Week 5 done, thankfully. I had to do part of it late Saturday night and the rest between church and Super Bowl on Sunday. *whew*

Before I get to Week 5, I want to show you a quick revision to something I did last week. Remember I mentioned that I like to include news stories, so last week I included the passing of Joe Paterno? Well, during the week, I came across some cute digital journal cards by Plucky Momo that are perfect for this, so I changed my news story:

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}

Here's the whole collection - go check out all of the cool kits HERE:

{By the way, Emilie at Plucky Momo gives away freebies every single Friday that go hand-in-hand with your PL album! Just cuz she's super nice!}

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On to Week 5:

Since I used a black and white title card this week, I used multi-colored stickers for the date. And since February is the month of love, I used a little heart clip :)

I made myself get in front of the camera a few times this week. I'm not a fan. But I promised myself that I would take at least one self-portrait each month, and these turned out good enough I suppose....

I didn't take a picture on February 1st, but I did kick off a Valentine's Day blog hop, so I used the button from my blog as my picture that day. Also this week, I used a 4x6 journaling card to document my Saturday because it was so crazy. It included a hair cut and color, so...another self-portrait in the book! (Done with that goal for February - nothing like killing two birds with one stone!)

I used an insert this week as well. I cut a 12x12 page protector in half - it originally had room on each side for 4 - 6x6 images. I am using half of this page protector to include a note from my daughter and 3 images from my Scavenger Hunt Sunday challenge.

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I was asked to do a tutorial on how I do my journal cards since I use Avery labels, but honestly, I ran out of time. So, I PROMISE I will do that for you next week. I'll even share my template with you so you don't have to make your own...cuz I love ya!

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By the way, we still have our "Show Some Love" Valentine's Blog Hop going on all the way to Valentine's Day! Today, head over to visit Kimbery at The Brown Eyes Have It!

Tomorrow, come back here to One Tough Mother. I'll be "Showing Some Love" and hosting my usual {Not So Tough} Tuesday's linky party! WOOT WOOT! :)

Simply Scavenger Sunday & {Show Some Love} Day 5

2012-02-05T06:00:00.016-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

This week was insanely busy... The weekend didn't help, either - equally crazy. But, it was all good stuff, so I'm cool with that. It's time for another picture share - YAY!

My picture for Simple Things Sunday is also one of my Scavenger Hunt pictures, so let's just get right to it:

Simple Things - {HOBBY}

On Tuesday, I came home from work and Mark was playing his guitar. Normally he'll play for an hour or so, then we're back to our usual nightly routine. But on this particular night, he played all night - until we went to bed. It was awesome! He played all kinds of songs, and I sang along. So much fun!

{STRIKE A POSE}

If you read the blog on a regular basis, you would have seen this shot on Wednesday when I showed you how to make Gumball Jewelry. A girl's gotta show off her bling!

{FOOTWEAR}

I love my boots. They've been beaten up, covered in mud, but they are by far my absolute most comfortable pair of shoes I own.

{SHINY}

It was 70 degrees outside this week - seriously. We have not had a winter (and trust me, I'm not complaining). I drove home the other day with the windows rolled down, radio turned up, sun shining on my shades....

{COLOR ME GREEN}

Ok, it's a stretch...but it is green! Green means "go" and Saturday, I went. Everywhere. I left my house at 9:15am and finally finished all my errands and returned home around 8:30pm. *sigh* So freakin' busy! Which explains why my gas light is on...

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Don't forget - we still have our Valentine's Day Blog Hop going on! Today, we're throwing it to Hilary at Measure Once, Cut Twice!

And tomorrow, Kimberly "Shows Some Love" at The Brown Eyes Have It!

Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday! Go PATS!!!

{Show Some Love} Valentine's Blog Hop Day 4!

2012-02-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

We're kicking it over to Katie at My Amazing Chaos of Life today!

Tomorrow, Hilary will be showing some love at Measure Once, Cut Twice. Yay!

{Show Some Love} with Pitter & Glink AND A Valentine Tutorial!

2012-02-03T06:00:00.007-05:00

It's Day 3!!! Bethany is rockin' it over on Pitter & Glink - go say "Wassup!"

Tomorrow, we're kicking it over to Katie at My Amazing Chaos of Life! Lots of love going around!

------------------------------------------------- So, Wednesday when we began this wonderful Love Fest here on the blog, I showed you the Valentine's craft I'm making for Marley's Girl Scout troop - Gumball Jewelry. I also mentioned that I have a second craft that I'm working on as well. This one is for Marley's 4th grade class. I'm sure you've probably seen these all over Pinterest by now - they were done originally by Simply J Studio. That's where the idea came from. However, I could not find a tutorial...just the image. So, I figured it out, and I'm sharing with you today - along with a free printable if you're so inclined...

{SUPPLIES}

Yellow cardstock
Pink scrapbook paper
Aluminum foil
1" hole punch
paper cutter
Scalloped-edge or zig-zag edge scissors
Rolo's and Hershey kisses
glue dots
2-sided tape
Scotch tape
Scrapbook glue

{INSTRUCTIONS}

*Disclaimer: After I made a couple of these and took pictures, I realized it would be best to go ahead and cut the paper to 5", not 6". See, you're learning from my mistakes!

Ok, your yellow cardstock needs to be cut to size. The size I found best to work with is 5" by 3 1/2" for each pencil.

Fold ridges into your paper to make it look more like a pencil. This is done horizontally along the 5" wide part of the cardstock.

It should roll up nicely to look similar to the body of the pencil when you're finished folding. (If you plan to write anything on your pencil, now would be the time. I wrote "No. 1 Valentine" on ours.)

Use your pink paper to make the eraser. Cut a strip 3 1/2" long (to match the width of the yellow paper) and about 1" wide to allow for some overlap.

Cut a 1" circle for the top of the eraser as well.

Cut strips of aluminum foil roughly the same size as the pink paper. 3 1/2" long to match.

Use glue dots to attach one Hershey Kiss to the Rolo's. Cut the flag off of the Kiss, too.

Use your zig-zag or scalloped scissors to cut along the 3 1/2" side of the yellow paper.

Using regular scotch tape, attach the foil first, then the pink paper to the FLAT 3 1/2" end of the yellow paper (not the scalloped end - that's where the point of your pencil will be.)

*Tip: I attached tape to the foil, then laid the foil face-up on my table and carefully placed the yellow paper over the top of the foil. You want to be able to see some of the foil and then some of the pink paper above your yellow paper, so it helps to look at it while you are attaching these pieces. Does that make sense?

Trim any weird eges - it's starting to look like a pencil!

Using 2-sided tape, attach the pack of Rolo's to the inside of your pencil. Be sure that the Kiss is slightly inside the scalloped edge of your paper.

Put a strip of 2-sided tape on the inside of each 5" edge of the yellow paper and roll it tightly around your Rolo's. Seal with regular scotch tape for extra hold if you like.

Dab some Scrapbooker's Glue to the top of your eraser and place the 1" circle on top.

Done!

I'll also be attaching a little card to each one to let Marley's class know who these are from. I've made a card for you, too! Enjoy!

{Right-click on the image above and save to your computer. Print as many as you like!}

*Revision: I had a not-so-nice comment this morning from someone posting anonymously, harshly pointing out that I mistakenly left out the apostrope and e from "you're" above and criticizing me for handing this out to children with a grammer mistake. To "Anonymous" - please don't be the grammar police. I take a lot of time and put in a lot of effort to read and re-read every single post on my blog to check for proper grammar and spelling, and I am by no means perfect so occasionally I miss something. However, I have corrected the mistake, and thank you for pointing it out.*

I'm done with my rant - sorry :) Happy Valentine's Day!

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{Show Some Love} Valentine's Blog Hop - The D.I.Y. Dreamer!

2012-02-02T07:00:00.002-05:00

Hop on over to visit Christine at The D.I.Y. Dreamer today! She's Showing Some Love!

{Here's a sneak peek}

And tomorrow, be sure to visit Bethany at Pitter & Glink!

{Show Some Love} Valentine's Blog Hop BEGINS!

2012-02-01T06:00:00.010-05:00

WOO HOO!!! It's finally here!

Last week, an idea popped into my head and I immediately went to work to make it a reality. I contacted several wonderful fellow bloggers to see if they would be interested in participating in a 14-Day Valentine's Blog Hop with me, and they said "YES!"

I am super excited to have such wonderful ladies involved in this project. Our ultimate goal is to inspire you all and fill your head with tons of inspiration to make this Valentine's holiday truly magical for you and your family. I hope you'll visit each day to see what we all have to offer. The schedule is below:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

My Amazing Chaos of Life

Day 5

Measure Once - Cut Twice

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Pint-Sized Baker

Day 9

J Yipp Photography

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Scrapity Anne

Day 13

Day 14

Whew! *wipes sweat off brow*

That's one heckuva lineup, I'll tell ya! So buckle in, and stay tuned! For the next 14 days we'll be "Showing Some Love"!!!

Pin It
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Ok, since I'm kickin' off this love fest, let's get to craftin'!

I guess when you become a mother, Valentine's Day, and every other holiday for that matter, becomes more about the kiddos and less about you and your hubster. And the older my daughter gets, the more involved in other activities outside of school she becomes. All that adds up to a TON of Valentine's this mama has to make. (sigh)

Who am I kidding? I love any excuse to craft for other people.

Any-who...this year I'm making two different Valentine's crafts - one I'll show you later. This particular craft is for all the cute little girls in Marley's Girl Scout troop. What kind of girl doesn't love jewelry!

It's super easy - check it:

Gather all your supplies. I found a big bag of small gumballs in Valentine's colors at Target. You can use any color and any size, but this is what I was able to grab real quick.

Get your skinny ribbon, scissors, a metal skewer (like for kabobs)... I also used a metal loop and hook that you would use for real jewelry (that's what the needle-nose pliers were for).

Very carefully, push your metal skewer into one side of the gumball. DO NOT PUSH ALL THE WAY THROUGH! It will shatter your gumball and then...well, you'll have to eat it, and that just sucks. (tee hee hee)

After you push through one side, rotate the gumball and very carefully push through the other side. You'll have two holes directly across from one another in your gumball.

I used a little straight pin to dig out some of the gum goo until I could see straight through my gumball. It makes it easier to thread.

To thread my gumballs, I used a straight pin with a little flat head to hold onto the ribbon while I pushed the pin through the gumball.

See? Went right through - easy peasy...

Tie a knot on both sides of each gumball.

You can make bracelets and necklaces. And they're super cute! Dontcha think? ;)

(Yes, I'm a ham.)

Have fun, be creative, and don't eat all the gumballs!

Be sure to visit Christine at The D.I.Y Dreamer tomorrow where she will "Show Some Love"!

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{Christine is hosting her first ever linky party RIGHT NOW, too!}

Sugar and Dots, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple

{Not So} Tough Tuesday's #16

2012-01-31T02:00:00.008-05:00

Hello friends! I am going to go ahead and apologize for any sporadic behavior you may notice coming from my direction because I am seriously excited to kick off our Valentine's Day blog hop tomorrow! I'm a little distracted, so...sorry 'bout that!

If you didn't hear the news --> go HERE to get all the scoop, then come back TOMORROW to see Day 1 of 14 Days of "Show Some Love"! YAY!

WOOT WOOT!!!

So, I had a craft to share with you today, but I've decided to hold off til tomorrow to share it with you... Be patient ;)

Without further ado, here are the Top 3 clicked links from last week's party:

Crafting Desk by Measure Once - Cut Twice (no surprise...this ROCKS!)

{By the way, Miss Hilary is one of our bloggers participating in "Show Some Love". Look for her post on February 5th!}

Organization Station by look.find.inspire - very cool!

Alissa comes to us all the way from South Australia! She's a newbie here on One Tough Mother so make sure you visit and say "G'day mate!" :)

We had a tie for 3rd most-clicked:

Mini Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes by Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats

Welcome Audrey! She's a newbie to One Tough Mother, too - so go say "Hi!" (Try not to salivate all over your keyboard - she's got some scrumptious stuff just waiting to be devoured.) Don't say I didn't warn you!

Jewelry Stand by The D.I.Y. Dreamer

Hey look! Another participant in our "Show Some Love" Valentine's Blog Hop! YAY! Christine is awesome - you'll see her blog post on Thursday, February 2nd.

Go girls! Grab your button :)

--> Having issues with my button for some reason. Here's the code:
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQx2Q9AeXGY/TxyEqkp5bqI/AAAAAAAAFO0/3kts6Kn1JeQ/s1600/featured+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nfa="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQx2Q9AeXGY/TxyEqkp5bqI/AAAAAAAAFO0/3kts6Kn1JeQ/s200/featured+button.jpg" width="200" /></a>

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Ok ladies, now it's your turn to show me whatcha got. Abide by the rules and play nice! ;)

Rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
LEAVE LOVE BEHIND FOR OTHER LINKS PLEASE
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

See you tomorrow for the kick-off of "Show Some Love"!

Project Life Week #4 and a Valentine's Day Announcement!

2012-01-30T08:25:00.001-05:00

I have to get this out of my system before I explode with excitement - I'll get to my Project Life Week #4 in a minute.

SOOO giddy about this - Ok, ready?

Beginning THIS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST, One Tough Mother will be hosting a 14-day Valentine's Blog Hop! Shut up!

I have been scrambling to get it all put together, along with some other fabulous ladies who will be participating. Here's the schedule - stop by and say "hello" and be sure to come back here on February 1st!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink

Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice

Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography

Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel

Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids

Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

Thank you ladies for agreeing to participate! I know it was kinda last minute, but sometimes that's just how I roll :) Glad you were willing to tolerate the crazy so we can do this together!

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Ok, now on with the Project Life share!

We didn't have a lot going on this week (shocking, I know!) but that's why I love Project Life. It's interesting to me that no matter what's going on, you can document it - even the small stuff. As I've mentioned in week's past, I'm not trying to take a picture each day. It makes the pictures I do take that much more meaningful because they're not forced. This week's layout is a prime example...

{Week 4 - Left Side}

I cleaned out my jewelry box and realized I have WAY too much owl jewelry (seriously, though, can you really have too much?). My dog Dakota eye-balled my beer, and I got a mani/pedi.

{Title Card}

I ate at Panda Express for lunch one day this week and my fortune in my fortune cookie read, " Step-by-step you will ascend the staircase of success." Now that's a fortune worth keeping! :)

I used "Thickers" for part of my date in a glittery teal color for this week's title.

{Week 4 - Right Side - Front part of Design B}

I used my first Design B page protector for this page. It was perfect for the snapshots I took one night this week while Marley was (supposed to be) doing homework.

Marley was too busy being silly instead of doing her homework, so I pulled out the camera and snapped some pictures. Eventually, she made me crack and I got silly right along with her. She liked watching herself in the mirror while I snapped pictures.

I printed directly on one of the journaling cards to document the day I took all of these pictures and put it in one of the vertical 4x6 slots in Design B.

This is a note Marley gave to me the other day. I cut part of it so it would fit into the other 2 4x6 vertical slots on the top part of Design B.

{Week 4 - Left Side - Back of Design B}

I like to include news stories in my Project Life album, so I saved part of the story of JoPa's death, formatted it into a 4x6 image, and printed it vertically, along with a photo of JoPa. (In case you've been under a rock, Joe Paterno, former long-time head coach of Penn State, died last Sunday.)

This filled the 3rd vertical spot in Design B. I didn't journal about this picture - simply typed right on the image itself. Sweet tea is my favortie addiction. (What can I say?! I'm a southern girl!)

This is the bottom of Design B. All 3 of these pictures were taken Saturday - busy day! I journaled about each image and placed the journal card above or below it's corresponding image.

It's funny to me that, in a week where nothing was going on, I ended up with a left side, right side, and another left side layout. Crazy!

This is why I love Project Life. The simple things in life are documented, and will be fondly remembered and shared for (hopefully) generations. My daughter will be able to look at these images with her children and remember the silly times she and I laughed together. We'll have those news stories that impacted our lives and our world. We'll have life...documented.

Simple Scavenger Sunday

2012-01-29T06:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday!!!

The Simple Thing from the past week occurred when Marley asked me to sit with her while she did her homework. I pulled out my camera, and this is the insanity that followed:

After trying desperately to be serious and remind her to continue doing her homework, I caved and participated in the silliness :) She has that effect on me!

Life Made Lovely

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I didn't shoot much this week, so I had to pull from my archives for a couple of these scavenger hunt shots:

{SMILE}

Dakota smiles at me when she wants something, and on this night, while enjoying my beer, she wanted to share. So I got a smile :)

{STAND ALONE}

Ok, first of all - I promise I'm not an alcoholic. Second, this one came from the archives - I took it a couple years ago as part of my 1st attempt at a 365. So there.

{RUSTY/OLD}

I took this a week ago...but it still applies. Love the depth of field on this shot.

{ARTIFICIAL}

Another from the archives - makes me giggle every time I see it. A little "Duck, Duck, Chicken" anyone?

{REPEATING PATTERN}

I bought these sweaters at Goodwill yesterday. I'll be using them to make leg warmers later this week. Love all the stripes.

Happy Shooting! See you tomorrow :)

14 Days of Valentine's

2012-01-28T18:12:00.000-05:00

Got something exciting in the works!

Further details to come - GET EXCITED!!! (I know I am!) :)

DIY Printable Chart Tutorial

2012-01-26T06:00:00.028-05:00

Hey thanks for linking up the past couple days everybody! Great stuff! Ya'll are so clever ;)

As promised, I want to show you how to make some really great printables that you can use for any occassion.

First let me preface this by saying that I am extremely upset that Picnik is closing in April. I really don't know how I'm going to do all the things I do... But, until April 19th, this tutorial is still valid.

1. Ok, login to Picnik and upload a plain 8.5x11 inch jpg file. (If you don't have one, you can save a blank Word doc as a PDF, then go HERE to have it converted to JPG.)

2. In the "Effects" tab, scroll down and select "Duo Tone". It will automatically turn your image yellow.

3. Simply select the color you want your edges to be, make it the same in both boxes, and click "Apply".

4. Now scroll over to the "Stickers" tab and scroll down to Basic shapes -> Geometric. Select the rectangle.

5. Stretch this rectangle to fill almost the entire document, leaving just enough color around the edges to be decorative.

6. Change this rectangle color to white using the color box on the screen.

7. At the top right of your screen, you should see what looks like a little wheel. If you click on this, it gives you two options - select "Combine Everything." This will allow you to do further edits without moving or changing what you have already done.

8. Now here's where you get creative. You can do one of three things here.

8A - At the bottom of your screen, you can pull up the Photo Basket and upload a picture from your computer to use on your new document. For example, one of my lists is for my blog, so I saved my blog header as a PNG file (clear background) and added it to my new document as my list header.

8B. In that same Photo Basket, you can choose your Picasa albums from the drop-down menu, and use an image you have saved in Picasa.

8C. Finally, you can just use one of the many images in the "Stickers" section on Picnik. For this tutorial, that's what I'll be doing.

9. Once you have your image selected, move it, change it, any way you like until it's where you want it.

10. Ok, now you want to add your title. Scroll over to the "Text" section, type what you want in the box and apply it. Change your text color to black so you can see it.

11. Play around with different fonts and colors until you like what you see. Then place it on your document in it's permanent home.

12. Next you'll tab over to "Save & Share". Change the file type to PNG and save to your computer.

13. Open a new blank document in Word. Go to your page settings and customize a margin setting. You need all of your margins to be "0".

14. Insert the PNG file that you just created and it will automattically fill the entire page in Word.

15. Now you can add text boxes and make your list or printable however you like. Go to "Insert Text Box" and select "Draw Text Box" to create a custom box. You can change the outline to "None" and the fill to "None" if you want it to be transparent.

16. Customize according to your needs.

17. SAVE AS PDF FILE. Let me say it again --> SAVE IN PDF FORMAT.

18. Did you save as a PDF? Ok, now that your gorgeous PDF file is open and you're ready to print, you have to tweak your print settings first. Under "Properties", make sure you change your settings to print Borderless Photo on 8.5 x 11. This will ensure that the entire page prints.

19. Also make sure that the "Auto Rotate & Center" is checked, and Page Scaling is set to "None".

20. Enjoy your cool new printable! Now you can create them for every possible need!!!

You're welcome!

Here's a little close-up of mine so you get an idea of what you can create:

I made one for Project Life, one for my blog, one for my Etsy store, and one for general projects.

I'd love to see what you create! Send me a link in the comments. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

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Somewhat Simple

Thirty Handmade Days

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Whipperberry

Skip to My Lou

Mod Podge Clipboard Tutorial & {Not So} Tough Tuesday #15

2012-01-24T02:00:00.015-05:00

It's {Not So} Tough Tuesday! Welcome to the party! Here's my addition this week:

If you caught my PL Week 3 share yesterday, you might have noticed this:

The image on the left is what I'm going to share with you today - Mod Podge Clipboards.

Here's the deal - I am notorious for taking on too many projects at once, and it's sometimes difficult to stay focused and prioritize each one. I needed a way to keep all of my projects in view so I don't forget anything. I decided to hang clipboards in my office and attach a list for each project to each clipboard.

So, I found these clipboards at Target for $1 each:

I also grabbed a 6-pack of Command hooks. I already had the Mod Podge and scrapbook paper. Here's what I did:

Trim a 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper to the size of the clipboard. For mine, I trimmed to 9" wide. The 12" length was perfect.

I applied Mod Podge all over the clipboard up to the clip section and applied the paper.

I used my fingernail to make a crease where I needed to cut around the clip. Then I grabbed my rotary cutter and made the cut.

Put Mod Podge on the remaining section of the clipboard and stick your paper down around the clip.

Add a coat of Mod Podge over the top of the paper and allow to dry for about 15 minutes.

I did 6 different papers on my clipboards, then hung them on the wall over my desk.

I love how they look. Even if I don't have anything on them, they're cute. But of course, with all of my many projects, they are now covered:

Easy, right? And cute! This would be great to use to keep chore charts at the ready for each child, or to put your grocery list on, or your workout routine, or....well, you get the idea. There are TONS of uses, and you can customize them any way you like.

Come back Thursday where I'll share a tutorial for how to make these super cool printable lists for your own projects!

Fingerprints on the Fridge

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Now, it's party time! We had more amazing links last week - saw lots of new faces, too. Thanks so much for linking up! Here are the top 3 from last week's party - be sure to grab a "Featured" button below.

Hide Your Craft Clutter by Backless Shirt

DIY Picture Postcards by Reading Confetti

Cabochon Ring by Loopy Loop Creations

Great job ladies! Here's your button:

Rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
LEAVE LOVE BEHIND FOR OTHER LINKS PLEASE
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

Come back Thursday for a tutorial on the printables. See you then!

Project Life Week 3

2012-01-23T06:00:00.009-05:00

I'm pretty sure I said this last week, but I am thoroughly enjoying Project Life this year. I loved it last year, but there's something different about it for me this year. I'm not trying so hard to take a POTD. Instead I'm just enjoying photography, enjoying the day-to-day of our lives, and enjoying the stories that show themselves in my pictures.

I'm also really enjoying the embellishing this year. I didn't embellish much at all last year, but I am loving it now!

{Week 3 title}

{Left Side}

I love using a combination of the CY365 prompts, along with searching for my Sunday Scavenger Hunt photos, to document my week. On the left side of Week 3, here's what I did:

Jan. 15th - CY365 Prompt - "In detail". We had just taken my hubby's bandages off from his surgery, and counted 28 staples down an 8 1/2" long incision. Yummy, right? Sorry. But, the staples in detail actually made a pretty interesting picture.

Jan. 16th - CY365 Prompt - "Remember". Granted, it was MLK Day, but I didn't document that. On my way to work, I was greeted with this amazing sunrise, so I snapped a picture of it while I was stopped at a red light. I "remember" God loves me, no matter what.

The owl picture was a gift from my daughter, and it was perfect for one of my scavenger hunt photos - "Color".

Jan. 17th - I took my hubby to Wal-mart and he rode in the little scooter since he still can't walk for 6 more weeks. I filled another slot in my scavenger hunt photos - "A Day in My Life".

{Right Side}

Jan. 18th - Scavenger Hunt item - "Sunset". I love this picture. I chased down this sunset after dropping Marley off at gymnastics.

Jan. 19th - CY365 Prompt - "Tattered and torn" - I photographed the worn-out bottoms of my favorite jeans. They are well-loved.

I didn't take a picture on the 20th, and personally, I really don't care. :)

Jan. 21st - Scavenger Hunt item - "Black and white" - My hubby sat up from his chair to love on one of our black labs, Dakota. I have never in my life seen a dog love a man as much as she loves Mark. They have a connection that's just undescribable. It's so sweet :)

I took these on the 21st as well - this was Saturday's little craft/organization project, which you will see more of over the next few days. (Yes, that means tutorials are on their way!!)

{Extra addition to Week 3}

So, like I said, this was a busy week for me. I had a couple of lunch meetings with some amazing women, so I added a flyer that I was given from one of my meetings simply by punching holes in it. Then, I used a 4x6 flip pocket to write a journal entry about my meetings and the busy-ness that is my life these days, stuck it to the flyer, and voila! :)

If you want to get in on some super cool photo prompts, I listed several great resources in THIS POST, including CY365. I found the Sunday Scavenger Hunt last weekend and I'm loving it - I shared all of my pictures in detail YESTERDAY, and there's also a link to Ashley Sisk's site where the linky party is hosted. Be sure to stop by - there's some great stuff in her blog. She's a fabulous photographer.

Remember, tomorrow is our {Not So} Tough Tuesday Linky Party! Be sure to link up your crafy creations. I'll be sharing Part 1 of my weekend organization/craft project with you.

See you tomorrow!

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Simple Scavenger Sunday

2012-01-22T06:00:00.004-05:00

I've decided to make Sundays my day to share some pictures I've taken in the week prior. Normally I post one photo for Rebecca Cooper's Simple Things Sunday, and I plan to continue this tradition. However, last week, while browsing other posts linked up to Rebecca's party, I discovered Ashley Sisk's Sunday Scavenger Hunt. I gotta tell ya - I was excited.

So, on Sunday's, you'll be seeing more than one picture from me from now on. I hope you don't mind the extra sharing :)

On with the show...

On the way to work Monday morning, God painted this amazing picture in the sky for me. I couldn't help but pull out my camera and snap a quick picture while I was at the red light.

Life Made Lovely

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This week's Scavenger Hunt - here's what I found:

{SUNSET}

Gorgeous, right? I chased this one down on Wednesday. I was taking Marley to gymnastics and didn't have my camera on me. As soon as I dropped her off, I sped back to the house, grabbed my camera, and drove to the entrance of our subdivision and snapped this picture. I almost missed it. Good thing "almost" only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

{BLACK & WHITE}

So sweet... My hubby Mark and his baby girl Dakota. She loves her "daddy" so much :)

{A DAY IN MY LIFE}

This is really our first outing since Mark had surgery on his leg. He still isn't allowed to put weight on it for 6 weeks, so when we went to Wal-Mart, he had to use a scooter. Made me giggle :) Especially when he went in reverse and made it beep. Silly hubby.

{FOUR}

I've been crafting and organizing and crafting some more. I've got so many projects on my plate that I had to make lists for each one to keep them straight. These are the four printable lists that I designed this weekend. Love them already :)

{COLORFUL}

Marley had Monday off from school for MLK, so my mom took her into Atlanta to visit the GA Aquarium and to run around IKEA. While there, Marley picked up this awesome owl picture for me! She's so cool! It's perfectly "colorful", dontcha think?!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my Week 3 Project Life share!

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A Few Random Things...

2012-01-19T06:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, first, THANK YOU to all of you who linked up this week! You ladies continue to amaze me with your crafiness :) Be sure to keep checking the Facebook page, because I will continue to share links through the weekend.

Now, I've got to share a few things with you real quick:

I'm adding inventory almost daily to my Etsy shop, Gertrude & Matilda's. Lots of cool printables, and I'm hoping to get more ribbon creations done soon, but it's kinda busy around these parts!

2. Starting (hopefully) next week, I will be writing for Today's Mama! I'm so excited beyond words... I'll be writing in the Atlanta market for the "Out and About" category, so I'll be sharing the link for that once it all gets set up. YAY!

3. I've joined the Tip Junkie Creative Community as a contributor! I'll be sharing tips and tutorials on Tip Junkie from time to time - very cool!

4. And, because of all that stuff, and the fact that I'm working on a lot of handmade goodness for my daughter's upcoming 10th birthday party and a "Favorite Things"/housewarming party for a friend of mine, I'm taking the rest of the weekend off. I'll be back on Sunday, so bare with me while I take a couple days off. I promise to have lots of cool stuff for you next week and the weeks afterwards. Right now, I need to organize my thoughts and projects and regroup.

*Breathe in, breathe out*

Thanks for the support - I'm so thrilled to see so many new readers, new Facebook fans, new subscribers to the newsletter, new contributors to {Not So} Tough Tuesday's.... I never in a million years thought that this little blog would take me to all these cool places and allow me to "meet" so many wonderful people! Thanks for letting me be a part of your day from time to time. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Ok - enough sappy stuff :) Have a GREAT weekend, and I'll see you back here on Sunday!

PEACE OUT!

{Not So} Tough Tuesday's #14

2012-01-17T02:00:00.009-05:00

(SO sorry this didn't publish when I told it to! Stupid blog) :)

We had a lot of new faces in our little party last week - thanks for linking up!

Our Top 3 from last week were:

Bedroom Remodel by One Thrifty Chick

Today Is A New Day Printable by The Brown Eyes Have It

Craft Nook Remodel by Mom 4 Real

And Bethany from Pitter and Glink linked up a little late to the party, otherwise I totally think this would have had more views - LOVE this little revamp:

I finally got around to making a cute little "Featured" button for y'all so grab one if you were featured here!

By the way, I made something special for you gals, cuz I love ya!

See? Love is a verb. :) It's best printed in 4x6 size. You're welcome!

Now let's get to this week's party:

Rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
Leave love behind for one or two others please
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

MY Project Life - Weeks 1 & 2

2012-01-16T06:00:00.011-05:00

2012 began my 2nd foray into Project Life. While I'm still technicaly a newbie with scrapbooking in general, I'm not a newbie to documenting the life of my family. I have always been the one following everyone around with my camera, taking it everywhere we go. I'm always journaling, filling page after page with memories and little moments that make the ordinary so extraordinary.

I first discovered Becky Higgins and Project Life about a year ago and immediately ordered my first kit - the Amber edition. I quickly caught up for 2011 and managed to fill 2 full PL albums containing our entire year. B.P.L (Before Project Life), I made an annual digital album for each year on Shutterfly. While I still love those albums, there's something to be said for the paper version, with all the little pockets for scraps of memorabilia and hand-written notes.

A layout from my 2011 PL album:

I thoroughly enjoyed putting together our Project Life album last year, and I love the finished result. However, I have made a few changes to the way I'm approaching it this year. Last year, I tried hard to do a picture each day, and for the most part, I did it. I think I missed 5 or 6 days all year. I wrote a note for each picture, threw in a few momentos, and that was that.

This year is different. This year is a little more involved...structured, but not. More creative, I think. I'm still shooting for 365 daily photos, but I'm adding to the 365 theme, too. I'll show you what I mean:

My 2012 Project Life cover page:

This year, I did more of a custom-designed page for our family rather than using the cover cards as suggested in the core kit. I also added a few embellishments.

I used a grid journaling card centered on one of the cover cards in the core kit. Then I used glitter adhesive letters for our family name, the number "3" because there are 3 of us in our family, and a cute chipboard heart.

I really like the way I did the year. On New Year's Day, I had Marley do some light painting with sparklers and spell out the year. I printed two images onto one 4x6, cut it in half, and inserted each digit in one of the 3x4 journaling card slots. *See "Resources" below for an easy way to do this.

1st half of Week One:

I'm also printing a few pictures to fit in the 3x4 card slots. I like doing this - adds a little different dimension to my pages.

Another thing I'm trying this year that's different for me is creating the week headers. Last year, I used the date stamp that used to be included in the core kit and stamped the dates on each week's card. This year, I'm embellishing them instead.

Since I printed one of my daily photos in 3x4 form, I filled the remaining horizontal pocket with notes that Marley gave to Mark and I on New Year's Day. She's always leaving little love notes around the house for us. That girl goes through some Post-it notes!

New Year's Day party pages:

One of the problems I had last year was including pictures from events, parties, etc. that weren't pictures of the day. I'm still building scrapbook pages for all of those for my 2011 album because I take a TON of pictures and want these in my album. So for 2012, I decided to just include these as I go through the year instead of trying to do anything really fancy with them.

We spend every New Year's Day at the same friend's house watching football, putting money on football pools, eating lots of yummy food, and hanging out with dear friends, some of whom we only see on New Year's Day each year. I made a front/back 2-page layout for these photos.

I also added a couple of random shots of the little squirrel that hangs out in front of my office window everyday. I put a bowl of water out for the squirrels and they love it.

I had one more 4x6 slot to fill, so I asked Mark and Marley what they want to see happen in 2012 and wrote a few of our thoughts down. It'll be nice to look back on next year to see how we did.

2nd half of Week One:

1st half of Week Two:

One of the pictures I printed was square, so I embellished the 4x6 card that I put it on in order to fill the pocket completely.

Another embellishment using the scrapbook paper for Clementine edition.

2nd half of Week Two:

I included 2 pictures for January 13th for two reasons: (1) I took the family photo, then later spent several hours revamping my craft room and wanted to include that in the album, too, and (2) I did something kinda special for January 12th which left me with an empty 4x6 pocket in my layout to be filled by an additional picture.

12 on the 12th:

As I mentioned above, I did something kinda special for the 12th. It's something I'll be doing every month on the 12th of each month. This is new for me, too, but I really enjoyed it. It's called the Take Twelve Challenge. I had heard about it in blog world so I thought I'd give it a shot. My cell phone camera made it possible, and the square format of the images makes it cool. I documented an entire day, beginning at 7am on our way to school, to 9pm when Marley went to bed, and all the randomness in between (even a turkey wandering my office parking lot!).

One last thing I'm doing differently this year that I'd like to share: In 2011, I thought it would be cute to use various colors of fine point Sharpie's to write on my journaling cards. Well, about half-way through the year, I didn't like it, but I continued through the end of the year to make it look cohesive and complete.

In 2012, I decided to clean it up a bit. I'm using Avery Clear Easy Peel Shipping Labels, size 2x4. I created a template in Word and changed the direction of the print to go vertical. Each day, I open Word, type that day's journal card, and once I have my week's worth, I print them out and adhere them to journaling cards. Neat and tidy and legible.

RESOURCES for Project Life for 2012:

Avery Clear Easy Peel Shipping Labels on Amazon

Photosheet by Photility - FREE app for your computer which allows you to easily put 2 images onto one 4x6 print. This allows you to print 3x4 images to fit in the small pockets of your PL album

Take Twelve photo challenge - a link to Ella Publishing which offers templates for your Take Twelve. Also offers some good information about this project, and a monthly linky party to show your images.

Capture Your 365 - So far, most of my photos for each day come from my daily prompts by CY365. Sign up for a daily email list, or print off the monthly list and use the ideas whenever you need more inspiration.

Marcy Penner's PL Planning Pages - These are a lifesaver, especially if you are doing something other than the traditional POTD idea. Great printable planning pages for every possible layout. (While you're there, check out her whole blog - fab.u.lous!)

And, in case you missed it, I did a blog post last week with a LOT of good information to help you with your Project Life and/or 365 pictures. Good stuff --> check it out HERE.

See you tomorrow for {Not So} Tough Tuesday, our weekly craft linky party where you can show off your latest creations!

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Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-15T09:30:00.004-05:00

There's not much about being at work that I enjoy, but wearing my red high heels definitely makes my day a little brighter :)

Life Made Lovely<

Veggie Recipe - Spinach Manicotti

2012-01-13T06:00:00.007-05:00

I mentioned to you at the beginning of the year that one of my goals for 2012 is to eat veggie during the week. I also promised that I would occassionally share yummy veggie recipes with you. Well, the hubs even liked this one, so I had to share it.

First let me say, unless you have an hour to spend in the kitchen, plan to do this on the weekend. It's yummy but it does take a bit of time to prepare.

Spinach Manicotti

Ingredients

1 box of manicotti noodles - 14 noodles total
2 cups Italian blend cheese
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1-10oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 tsp. red pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 egg, slightly beaten

First, using a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta according to box directions:

After boiling, dip each noodle in cool water and lay out on a cooling rack.

While those little puppies are drying, grab a mixing bowl.

Add 1 1/2 cups of the Italian blend cheese... (hold the remaining 1/2 cup for later)

...1/4 tsp. red pepper...

...15 oz. ricotta cheese...

...your thawed and drained spinach...

...2 cloves crushed garlic... (I use Gourmet Garden - 2 Tbsp. = 2 cloves - Easy!)

...and your egg.

Mix it all together:

Grab a 13x9 glass pan. Pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan...

...and spread it around to cover the bottom.

Now, let's get back to those manicotti noodles, shall we? They should be nice and dry by now.

Grab one manicotti noodle at a time, and hold with your finger along the bottom to keep the stuffing from spilling out while you fill them:

Stuff spoonfuls of your cheese/spinach mixture into each noodle.

(It took about 3 good spoonfuls to fill each manicotti...)

As you fill each manicotti, lay them all snuggled together in the pan.

Use the rest of your spaghetti sauce to cover and spread over the stuffed manicotti.

Cover with tin foil, and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, uncover, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese, and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

And DONE!

Yea...YUMMM.....

You're welcome ;)

Today's Creative Blog

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Blog Conferences 2012 Preview

2012-01-12T06:00:00.110-05:00

I have been researching blog conferences lately with great interest because I am determined to attend at least one this year. If you are considering attending one yourself, or if you just want some information to help you decide, hopefully this post will give you some valuable information. I've also noticed that most of these conferences offer Early Bird specials, so now is the time to book your conference.

Blissdom Conference 2012

February 23-25 in Nashville, TN

In it's 5th year, Blissdom '12 offers 2-hour sessions of interactive presentations and hands-on small groups. Topics range from photography and Etsy to entrepreneurship. Businesss speakers at this year's conference help you in the legal field, leadership, brand-blogger relationship, and much more! Other speakers specialize in photography, writing and life development.

Also this year, Blissdom '12 will host its first ever Handmade Marketplace!

BlogHer 2012

BlogHer offers 3 different opportunities to mingle with your blog counterparts in specialized fields:

BlogHer Entrepreneurs - March 22-23, Santa Clara, CA
- designed for women who want to kick off their own business, or to help you more efficiently run your own company
BlogHer Food - June 8-9, Seattle, WA
- a conference specifically for food bloggers
BlogHer '12 - August 2-4, New York City, NY
- for bloggers of all kinds to come together to learn all there is to know about the business of blogging

EVO Conference 2012

(There's no button for 2012 yet....)

July 12-14, 2012 in Park City, UT

This is the one I want to go to. What really sucked me in are the family-friendly activities each night. You can make a vacation out of it, spending the first part of your week doing family things, then spending the last 3 days at the conference. In the evenings, they have cookouts and activities for the entire family. Cool, right? Canyons Resort even offers amazing childcare during the day with age-appropriate activities for the kiddos.

At Evo '12, you'll enjoy seminars ranging anywhere from photography, social media, Wordspress & analytics, marketing, branding and lots more. There are also break-out sessions and hands-on workshops.

Bloggy Boot Camp

Lace up your boots at one of four Bloggy Boot Camp locations for a full day of learning! When you register for one location, for a small additional cost you can get video education for all 4 boot camps - very cool.

April 21st in St. Louis, MO - Learn about PR, Giveaways, SEO, and Engaging your audience
May 19th in Philadelphia, PA - Topics include putting together a media kit, ebooks, vlogging, and hyper-local blogging
September 15th in Dallas, TX - Dive in to business information, entrepreneurship, inspiration to write, and going from blogger to brand
October 13th in Las Vegas, NV - Educate yourself on media kits and PR, time management, niche blogs, and using your blog as a springboard to a business

SNAP Conference

April 19-21, 2012 in Salt Lake City, UT

SNAP is perfect for creative bloggers. This conference is organized by some women you may recognize...Char from Crap I've Made, Becca from Blue Cricket Design, Jennifer from Tatertots and Jello, Mique from Thirty Handmade Days, and Shelley from House of Smith's, among others!

All of these fabulous women have come together to bring you a super amazing creative conference with super cool speakers like Becki from WhippyCake, Heather from Dollar Store Crafts, Cindy from Skip to My Lou, and TONS more. Sounds so fun!

The Creative Connection

Ok, so I don't have the dates for 2012's Creative Connection event, but I sooo want to go. I was fiending to go last year and wasn't able to work it out. Basically, it's where amazingly creative women come together in a handmade marketplace that also offers cool learning opportunities. There is so much involved in this conference that I can't even begin to touch on it, so just check out the website, ok? Ok!

So there you have it - a brief synopsis of some of the blog conferences you have to choose from. I want to hit so many of them, if only time and money weren't an issue....

I did tell the hubs the other night that I want us to go to Park City, UT for vacation this summer - he looked at me like I had two heads. But, after I told him about all the cool stuff to do at Canyons Resort, and that I really, really, really want to go to EVO '12, he kinda sorta started to maybe think about it. :) Here's to hoping!

So, which one(s) are you hoping to make it to this year??? Have you been to any of these in previous years? I'd love to hear all about it!

{Not So} Tough Tuesday's #13

2012-01-10T02:00:00.005-05:00

It's that lovely time of the week again!

Link up your loveliness below - can't wait to see what you got!

Rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or linky parties please
Link up to your blog post, not your home page
Only post your own creations, not third party
Leave love behind for one or two others please
Link back to One Tough Mother, either by text link or show our cute button:

Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook, too! You might see your post featured there throughout the week!

By the way, I finally got around to creating the 2012 calendar pages for the Mini Personal Binder - find all the downloads for both the mini and the full-size Family Binder HERE.

Valentine's Day Banner

2012-01-09T06:00:00.009-05:00

I spent some time in my craft room this weekend, after bringing my hubby home Saturday from the hospital. He had a plate and seven pins put in his leg to hold his tibia together - sounds fun, right? Yea. :)

So, after spending all day and night Friday in the hospital with him, and most of the day Saturday, I was ready to be home and de-stress with some crafting. That always makes me happy!

I decided to start decorating for Valentine's Day, so I made a cute little banner. Here's how:

I cut 2 patterns of cardstock into 4" x 6" strips, then made triangles.

Then I cut these 2 patterns of cardstock into 3 1/2" x 5 1/4" strips, then made triangles.

I laid them out and layered the triangles.

I used red glitter cardstock to cut out X's and O's and a heart.

I used glue dots to attach the X's and O's to the layered triangles.

I used decorative elements - pink and white rhinestones and a fabric brad.

Finally I strung pink ribbon through each piece and hung it on the wall!

It looks cute hanging over the picture from our wedding :)

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I didn't stop there. You might have seen this awesome idea floating around Pinterest from Eighteen25, so I made it, too:

Aren't they cute? Four years of Christmas cards are now in these beautiful little books.

I felt so much better after spending time crafting. (Don't worry, I took good care of the hubs, too.) My craft room is my happy place, so I'm officially happy now!

Today's Creative Blog

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Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-08T08:00:00.007-05:00

I have a verse written in my journal that I refer to often in times of stress or struggle. I've read this verse to Marley several times. The other day, she sat down with her Bible and asked me where that verse was in the Bible so she could highlight it.

Warms my heart to see her so strong in her faith at 9 years of age.

The verse:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever.

Amen."

1 Peter 5:6-11

Since Rebecca over at Simple As That isn't hosting today (I pray everything is OK with her - I miss her!), I thought I'd give you a chance to share your precious moments here today. Feel free to link up your Simple Things Sunday below. This is for photography sharing only - this is not where you link up your latest crafty creations - we'll still do that on {Not So} Tough Tuesday, so please come back for that:

Life Made Lovely

Facebook Giveaway Winner Announcement!

2012-01-07T09:18:00.000-05:00

I am sooo excited! My first ever giveaway!

So, we didn't quite make it to 125 fans (that's OK, I still love you all) but we'll get there! I decided to do the giveaway anyway...

So, here's what one lucky winner will get:

FREE admission in the Big Picture Classes self-paced workshop "My Happy Little Inspirational Goal Book", and I'll even mail you the 4x6 album to get you started!

So, I've tallied up all the entries...and the winner is:

Christina Roney (Go you!)

Congrats!

Jennifer, shoot me an email at kthompson0412@gmail.com and we'll hash out all the details.

Thanks bunches to all the new fans - have a fabulous weekend!

Photograph Your Life, Day by Day

2012-01-05T06:00:00.009-05:00

Psssttt....We're having our first ever giveaway! "Like" us on Facebook to win your spot in "My Happy Little Inspirational Goal Book", a self-paced workshop on Big Picture Classes!

Ok, on with the show....

I'm a big fan of documenting daily life, even before I was introduced to Project Life, Capture Your 365, One Little Word, Project 365 etc. Usually, I'm the one with the camera in my hand no matter where we are or what we are doing.

In 2010, I attempted Project 365. I made it just over 90 days consecutively before I gave up. My goal was to take an artistic and technically great picture every single day for a year. I had no idea how hard that would be. But, even in those 90 days, I'm so glad to have the images that I ended up with - here are a few (you can see the whole set HERE):

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A lot of people make New Year's resolutions to take better pictures, or take more pictures - maybe you got a new camera for Christmas and you want to use it fully. For whatever reasons you may have, and whatever your goals may be, there's a resource to help you stay motivated.

365 Project

This is a fantastic site for anyone doing a 365 Project, but especially if you are stretching your photography wings to improve your technique. You can interact with a community of like-minded people doing the same thing and stay motivated and get inspired by some amazing photographers. I used this site in 2010, and let me tell you, once you connect with people, they really hold you accountable to stick to it.

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Capture Your 365

This is my first year as a member of the CY365 community but I like what I see so far. Again, there is a sense of community, so you connect with other people doing the same thing you are. You can sign up for daily prompts, too, to give you ideas of what to photograph each day. Katrina Kennedy puts together a monthly list of prompts that you can print out and keep visible - refer to it daily, weekly, or whenever you just need an idea of what to shoot. Do them in order or randomly - it's totally up to you!

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Shutterfly

Yes, Shutterfly. Their blog, to be more specific. I have been a member of Shutterfly for...oh, I don't know, 7 years-ish? Something like that. Their blog is a great source of inspiration for photo inspiration. Here are a couple links that I've come across recently:

Slice of Life: Kids Were Here...
A Daily Treasure Hunt by Jessica Deane

This is so cute. She challenged herself to take pictures of her kids...wait for it...without her kids being in the pictures. Messes they made, things they created, toys left in their usual spot, etc. You can incorporate this into your 365 - perhaps once a week or once a month, photograph a little something left by your little one.

My Life in 5 Pictures: Ali Edwards' Everyday Moments

The Shutterfly blog has several "My Life in 5 Pictures..." from different people, but I really like Ali's take on it. Sweet images. To incorporate this into your own 365, you could take one week each month and document things happening right now, in that moment, that make your life sweet, blessed, and just worth living.

Project Life: Documenting the Everyday

by Becky Higgins

Now that Becky Higgins has partnered with Shutterfly to carry her digital Project Life albums, it's only fitting that she offer her advice on documenting life! And since I'm seriously one of her biggest fans, I had to include a link to her recent blog post on Shutterfly. She shares some great tips for capturing those moments in between the posed shots, and reminds us to let go of the camera sometimes and be in your own photos! (I need to take that piece of advice myself!)

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Simple as That photo checklists

by Rebecca Cooper

I love me some Rebecca Cooper - she's so stinkin' sweet! But she's a super talented photographer, too. And because she's so sweet and talented, she has come up with several checklists for different seasons to give you ideas of memorable Kodak moments that you might want to capture. These lists would be great to keep handy for those days when you just can't think of what to photograph. Refer to her list and you've got tons of ideas, instantly!

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Creating Keepsakes

365 Days, 365 Photo Ideas

This is a simple 2-page PDF file with 365 ideas for photos to document the everyday. Another great resource for brainstorming.

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As for my own 365 + 1 (it is a leap year, after all!), I have been scribbling some ideas of my own. Here's what I have so far:

Monthly

- Marley's height

- a family portrait

- a date night with Mark

- self-portrait

Weekly

- my feet where I stand (different perspective)

- picture taken with my phone

- evidence of life being lived (borrowing from Jessica Deane's idea)

- representation of my One Little Word, strength

Special Days

- 2.22 - Marley's 10th birthday - A photo of her holding the number 10

- 2.29 - Leap Day - A photo of us jumping, of course!

- 12.12 - Some form of triple 12, or maybe 12 of something...

My list is ever-evolving, as will be my photos this year. I love having some direction and inspiration. It will definitely keep me focused. And when I go back and look at my 90+ photos from my first 365 attempt, as well as my 2010 and 2011 albums, it reminds me that it's worth it. I wouldn't trade these memories for anything in the world!

Happy Shooting!

One Little Word Preview

2012-01-04T06:00:00.020-05:00

How many of you are participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word class this year? Have you done it in the past?

This is my first year, and I'm already loving it. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out all the details HERE - you can sign up anytime, and it lasts all year long.

My word for 2012 is "Strength".

This is my cover page for my album. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I was very happy to be off work Monday (duh) and I spent a good portion of my day off working on my January prompt from Ali. Before I show you what I did, let me give you a little background:

2011 was, well...a crappy year for my family and I. Not all bad, mind you, but big picture, not the greatest ever. We faced a lot of loss, injuries, personal and emotional stress....on and on. It seemed as though we would take one step forward, and then a giant leap back. We couldn't win for losing.

Through it all, though, we have held onto one another and our faith. I honestly couldn't have survived the year we had without my Father and my husband.

So, this year, in 2012, my focus is to be stronger. Stronger physically - I will be exercising and eating healthier. Stronger emotionally - I will be a rock for my husband and daughter. And I will be able to let things roll of my back.

I started collecting images and quotes of strength on Pinterest a few weeks ago once I decided on that word. You can see my full board HERE.

I used several of these images and quotes in my collage:

And, my self-portrait for my album:

I'm really excited about this little project for 2012. I'd love to know if you are participating as well so we can follow each other on this journey.

Good luck in 2012!

{Not So} Tough Tuesday Linky Party #12

2012-01-03T02:00:00.029-05:00

Happy New Year Y'all!

I am sooo happy that 2011 is over, and my family and I are really looking forward to a fantastic 2012!

While we still have a few challenges to overcome that carried over from last year, we start this year with a positive outlook, knowing we can make it through these challenges together as a family.

I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year festivities with friends and family as much as we did. Did you have time off from work? Were you able to get crafty?

What have you made lately? I'd love to see!

You know the rules:

No Etsy shops, giveaways, or other linky parties - simply link to your blog post (not home page)
If you made it, you can link it up
Please comment on a couple other links
Your post should contain either a text link or our party button

Simple Things Sunday

2012-01-01T12:07:00.001-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

We rang in the new year surrounded by friends, chowing down on great food, and having an awesome time. The kiddos even made it to midnight!

Looking forward to a great 2012!

2012 Project Life Prep

2011-12-31T06:00:00.010-05:00

This is my last blog post of 2011. Wow! I'm really looking forward to 2012. Lots of goals, as I mentioned the other day...

One thing I'm really excited about is continuing my Project Life. 2011 was my first year doing Project Life, and I fell in love with it very quickly. For 2012, Becky Higgins (and her design team) have outdone themselves with the new designs and updated products.

As one of my most favorite Christmas gifts, I was given the Clementine edition. I realize that there are still a few people who are unfamiliar with Project Life and all it's awesomeness...and even if you are familiar with it, you may not have seen the new Clementine edition yet.

So, a tour:

This piece of lovliness is the Clementine edition binder in all its glory :) Becky partnered with We R Memory Keepers to make the new binders and they are fantastic. Nice and shiny and sturdy and fabulous!

Here's the Clementine edition Core Kit - full of goodies! This is the box that holds all the necessities - journaling cards, stickers, and title cards. Here's a closer look at all of these things:

These cute boxes hold all of your 3" x 4" journaling cards.

These are the cards you use to fill one journal card slot on each week's layout. The cards displayed on the bottom are part of your first and last page layouts.

Here are your title cards, and larger first and last page cards. Aren't the designs just scrumptious?!

First and last page cards

Title cards - one for each week's layout.

These are the folded journaling cards. Each card has a design on the front and the back, so you end up with 8 designs to choose from. Use these when you have a little more of a story to tell than will fit on your regular journaling cards.

Here are the stickers - some sheets have the days of the week, both in color and transparent; other sheets have just numbers, again in color and transparent. The orange sheet of stickers is arrows. You can use these on your journaling cards to point to the picture you are writing about, or any other creative way you can think of.

Becky thought of everything! This is inside the binder - it keeps the pages nice and sturdy and helps the book close easier.

I always keep my Becky Higgins boxes - as you can see I'm kind of an addict :) The boxes themselves are super fantastic, too. The big ones in this picture hold all of the keepsakes from my daughter's school days, from preschool through 3rd grade (she's in 4th grade now). Not sure what I'll use the small box for yet, but I'll think of something!

So now that I've unpacked all my goodies, I organized it so it's easy to grab and go. I got this cute divided fabric tray at Target for $5.99! Shut-up! Yep, $5.99. And it's the perfect size for all the cards and stuff.

See? Perfect.

Journaling cards here...

Stickers and folded journaling cards here...

And title cards and pen here!

I've got a dedicated and organized space for my 2012 Project Life. I'm ready!

Come on 2012!

Happy New Year!