Slacker

I cannot believe how fast the weeks are going.  This week has been especially crazy.  Monday, The Chocoholic and The Princess started school.  It is so nice to have them doing something besides bugging me!  LOL  No, they have been really good, it’s just nice to have some quiet.

Not that it’s totally quiet, because The Artist and The Teenager are still around, playing video games.  I try to make them go outside and play, but what is a 16 year old going to do outside?  Jump rope?  LOL  He is working a lot, and I have been having them do things around the house.

Yesterday I cleaned out my pantry.  I started it right after the kids left for school, before it was too hot and I was too awake to realize that I was crazy.  I took everything out, washed down the walls and the shelves, organized and got rid of stuff (to the chagrin of my hubby) and put it all back. It only took me 3 hours and it looks so nice.  Now I want to do the kitchen. And bathroom.  And closets.  It’s a sickness.

I have been scrapbooking.  I get stuck because I know how cute people make their pages, but that’s not me.  I am simple and not over the top.  I want my scrapbooks to be about the pictures, not the stuff.  I used to subscribe to “Creating Keepsakes,” but I cancelled my subscription.  The lady that owns the magazine had done a layout and it took me forever to find the actual picture.  It was a 12x12 page and the picture was in the top right corner, overwhelmed by all the embellishments on the rest of the page.  I knew that is not how I wanted my scrapbooks. 

Anyway, so I get stuck because I think I need more, but I don’t.  My kids don’t look at their scrapbooks and say, “Oh, look at that cute fiber!  Oh, look how adorable those buttons are!”  No, they look at the pictures.  The embellishments are there to enhance the picture.  So I am slowly moving along. 

Yeah, so in between all of this, I have been working.  It is easier to go to work when I know I don’t have to take The Princess somewhere to have her babysat.  I am so grateful to all those who have been willing to watch her.  Last year, I just traded with a lady in my neighborhood.  She watched The Princess one day a week, and I watched her daughter one day a week.  It worked out great, but I still felt guilty.  And even on the days I was home, I was sitting on my computer working and not playing with her.  So now I can work and not have major guilt. 

So what has been keeping you busy?

Hi

So I stopped blogging so I could scrapbook, then the kiddos came home, so I stopped scrapbooking so I could do laundry. And more laundry. And more laundry. Then I stopped doing laundry so I could go back to work and do taxes. It's quarterly tax month. Yuck.

So the whole point of all this is that I forgot to come back to blogging. I haven't even written in my journal. It's been crazy. But I will do better...I hope. I won't make promises. :-) I will just do my best.

More to come...

Absent

So 2 of my kids are with my sisters camping until Friday, and tomorrow my other 2 kids are going on Trek. So I will be alone with my hubby for almost 3 days! I am so excited! I was supposed to go on Trek, so I took the whole week off work. Well, now that I'm not going, I just didn't tell my boss and I am enjoying an entire week without work for the first time since June 2007. It is long overdue!

So what am I doing with all my free time?

SCRAPBOOKING!!!!!!!!

I am 4 years behind and I have plenty to do, and plenty of supplies. I am enjoying just being creative. I don't have much creativity, but having done accounting for the past 2 years, it has been building up inside me. I am loving it. I need to make time for it more. I have to have that balance in my life.

Anyway, please forgive my absence. I am so enjoying not working or blogging or doing anything this week! Whoo Hoo!

Scrapbook Room, part 2

Okay, today we will finish the tour.

Again, I apologize that there is mess all over. I am in the middle of that project, remember? You can see my ancient hand-me-down laptop that works just fine because I only use it for printing my pictures. Yes, I print my own. I have a program where I can make them nearly any size I want, from 1" x 1" to full page. And if I goof up, I can reprint the picture. And someday, when they fade, I can print them again. The cubbies help me keep things organized. I also use containers in the cubbies to help. Behind the white binder, can you see those clear plastic holders? Those are all my eyelets and brads. They are inside the holders in little cases that look like TicTac containers. They work perfectly! You can buy them at Walm-Mart. My dad made the cute clock.

This is the other half of my desk. I keep the desktop calendar there to use for scratch paper, and to do stamping and such. When it gets too grungy, I just rip off the top sheet and I have a clean one underneath! More cubbies to hold more embellishments.

This is under my desk. Top drawer is pens and pencils. Second drawer is glue and tape. Third drawer is scissors and cutters. Fourth drawer are Sharpies. I have a slight addiction! Fifth drawer is my small Cropodile and punches. Bottom drawer is colored pencils and glitter glue. I also have a bunch of stuff under the desk.

Okay, the drawers in the front have all my paper scraps. I keep everything that might be big enough to use. They are organized by color. Behind those drawers are more drawers! LOL These hold more embellishments. The drawers on the bottom hold more practical things like batteries and flashlights. The top 3 drawers to the left hold more embellishments. The bottom 3 drawers hold my cards (I am in a monthly card exchange group with my Mom). They are organized in gallon Ziplock bags according to category (Christmas/Winter, Love, Thank You, etc.).

These are bookcases that I got at a garage sale for a steal! They hold lots of things. I will name off what I can see. Oh, I know...let's play I spy! I spy...sticker letters, stamp pads, stamps, glues, stamps, page protectors and binders, stamps, binders, paper and notebooks, paper, craft sticks (more commonly known as popsicle sticks and tongue depressors), binders, ribbon, tea lights, scotch tape refills, Wish Bear, ribbon, and more organizers. LOL A star on the forehead of the first person who can find it all! :)

On top of the bookcases, is my 12 x 12 paper. I love paper. I have a hard time resisting. But there is a lot of paper out there that makes me think, "Really?" The boxes on top are from a monthly scrapbook kit club that I used to belong to. I was in it for 7 months. And how many did I get done? Well, you count. On the left are more organizing bins. Starting at the top and going clockwise, you can see my sewing stuff, paints, hot glue guns and glue, school supplies, and a bin holding fabric for aprons that are needing to be sewed.

On the back of the door, is my ribbon. I love how I organized this. That is jute they are hanging from. It is so easy to see what I need. And easy to get to ones in the middle too. They just slide right off.

Finally, this is the closet. In here is vinyl, gift wrapping ribbon, house decorations, boxes, my scrapbooking totes, old backpacks, baby blankets for gifts, a playpen, my game box, and lots and lots of gift bags.

This is how I organize my ribbon in the closet. They are just loosely tied around a hanger. Easy to see, easy to get off. And yes, those are shirts that need to be ironed. I hate to iron. I have broken my pinky toe ironing. These get ironed about once a year. The Doctor thinks it's such a treat when they show up in his closet! LOL
You have to realize that all the stuff was not bought all at once. I shop the sales only. I don't think I bought anything in there at full price. I can't. I don't have that kind of money! And remember, I have been married for 16 years. It wasn't until 3 years ago that I got this room. I started with just one corner of our family room and taught the kids not to touch.
So that is my scrapbook room.

My Scrapbook Room

I have had several requests from people wanting to see my scrapbook room. So I have taken pictures and will take you on a tour. I will show you the room in general, then go section by section explaining how I organized it.

This is my room, looking in from the door. I realize now that I should have cleared off the desk, but I am in the middle of a project and that is the beauty of having a scrapbook room. I don't have to clean up the project when I need to go do something else. I can leave it and come back to it later.

The is the room, part 2.

This is the room, part 3.
Okay, now for the tour. We will start by the door and head left.

This wonderful chest of drawers holds...movies and CD's. Nothing to do with crafting, but it's the only place for it. I hate it there, because I could really use that space! The cubby's on top hold embellishments. All the CD cases you see are my pictures on CD. When I dump the pictures off my camera, I IMMEDIATELY back them up onto not one, but two CD's. So I have 3 copies of them at all times. When we moved here, my hard drive died and I lost 4 months of pictures, including the last day of school at the old school. I learned my lesson! Sitting on the floor are papers to be filed, and a gift for a special girl in our ward who is going through a really hard time right now.

These are file drawers. I have my 8.5 x 11 cardstock filed by color, all my stickers and patterned 8.5 x 11 paper filed by category (baby, animals, family, Halloween, etc.). I do scrapbook in 8.5 x 11 because it is cheaper. I buy just the simple white 3 ring binders from Office Max and then using paper, I embellish how I want. I also use the clear page protectors from Office Max. Much cheaper! Each person in the family also has a file. There I put their awards, school papers, scout patches, etc. Then when I scrapbook, I just go and grab their file and I can put the papers with the pictures.

My dad made these shelves. Aren't they cute? On the bottom shelf are all my journals. I have written in a journal, nearly daily, since I was 14. I love to go back and read them. The next shelf up has embellishments. The pink box has all my double sided tape refills. The middle shelf has my Cricut cartridges. Also The Doctor's and my diploma's. That is another project...to get them in cute frames. The other two shelves have embellishments and decorations.

Top shelf has my printer and extra ink and photo paper. Also some old dried up flowers that I really need to get rid of. I dried them and now I don't even remember when I got them. The middle shelf has my Cricut, my big Cropodile and my light table. The floor has my Sissix and my tools. Yes, MY tools. And the boys all got their own toolboxes and tools for Christmas so they better stay out of mine! You can also see the TV and DVD player to the left. I love to come in here and watch chick flicks while I scrapbook. I shut the door and no one cares that I am crying!
Okay, that's enough for today. We will finish the tour tomorrow!