The making of a working, homeschool mom...

So I got a job. Well, I already had a job, of sorts...but this is a job where I have to get up, shower and dress and be out the door by 6:45 (because I live 10 minutes from work), instead of sleeping until 10:00 am and lounging in my PJ's until I have to take Emma to karate or run to the grocery store.  The first week I had flash backs of boot camp...remembering that feeling of standing at attention on the sidewalk in front of the barracks at 0500 wondering what the HELL I had been thinking when I enlisted.  The same feelings went through my brain every morning the first week of my new job.  The part about getting up and being presentable by 7:00 am is the hardest part, next to learning a job that is entirely foreign...knowing the US Tax Code doesn't help out with Warranty Administration.

Luckily I already knew everybody at the workplace before I started, so those first day jitters aren't there and I already knew most of the names.  I've gotten to know all of them better.  You see, I am working FOR my hubby.  Yes, FOR.  (at least that's what he thinks...hehe).  It's been a test in patience on both of our parts...it's hard for me to bite my tongue and I tend to say things I would NEVER say to a "real" boss...and he handles the tongue biting thing better than I do and doesn't tell me to "piss off" when I'm annoyingly bitching to him about a process that's not working (at least according to me...lol!)

So that's where I've been...this is my 3rd week (started May 5th)...I have some scrappy stuff to take pics of and post here.  My scrappy times are more scarce...I've been doing training on the weekends with one the girl that had the job 3 people ago...It makes me treasure the time I do have to scrap all the more.  It's supposed to be a  part-time or 3/4 time job...so far I've been working 40+ hours.  Hope that improves soon...the job is putting a real cramp on my scrappy time...lol.  The kids are not enjoying the additional chores they have acquired...(although it isn't hurting them and they really should have been helping more anyway...).

Anyway, off to get ready for another work week...end of month at that!  I'll post some pics soon of some scrappy stuff.....

XO!
Von

Scrappy stuff

Finished up a 12x12 layout the other day..

I also made this card-thought I'd play with my new Lawn Fawn alpha dies.  (Love them!)

...and finally this card (had to play with some Silhouette files in addition to my other dies:

Thanks for coming by!  

Cold & Yucky!

It's a cold, sleety (is that a word?) day here in central Virginia...we're just snuggling on the couch with a cozy fire, hot cocoa and movies.  The Bassets were forced to go out for a quick break...they weren't very happy about it and promptly did their business and came back inside. 

Thought I'd post about what I've been working on lately...loving playing with some dies and stamps to make some pocket page cards:

I love how they turned out!  I have some other projects to post soon!  Stay warm and happy scrappin'! 

Von

It's been forever...but....

this is a great way to jump right in!  Thought I'd post about a fun 11-day Holiday Crafting Extravaganza!  (my term for the '12 Days of Christmas Blog Event').  This should make you wanna get your craft on!

Enjoy!

My Journey with "Project Life" like scrappin'

Ok so I decided I would try my hand at Project Life.  Only not "Real" Project Life...of course I can't leave anything alone and just go with the flow.  If you know me you know I spend a lot of time going against the proverbial tide.  :0)  Instead I thought I would continue to snap pics throughout the month and scrap them using the pocket page protectors. (If you're not familiar with Project Life as it was created-you're supposed to take a picture a day and then do a two page spread per week in a 12x12 album with those pics using pocket page protectors.  My whole thing with scrappin' is that it remains enjoyable and I figured the stress of taking a picture a day and then keeping up with the scrapping of those pics would be too much to deal with...thus not making it fun any longer.)  Again, doing my own thing, I decided to use a smaller format and opted for Simple Stories Sn@p! binders and pocket pages.  I also did a few 6x6 pages using American Crafts' 6x6 page protectors (they fit in the Sn@p! binders).

I'm going to have to do two different books...I was able to get January-June in one binder and then will use the second for the remainder of the year.  Book one is all done!  I love the way it turned out...here's the cover:

Here's a few pages from the inside:

I'm planning on using the 12x12 sized albums to put all those pics in that we have in boxes...pre-scrapbooking days...of course I won't have dates but I have what year and will just separate them that way. I'm also working on a baby album for each of the kids using the Sn@p! smaller albums (this size...6x8).  I LOVE this way of scrapbooking. American Crafts has some page protectors that are various sizes so I can do a layout that's a bit larger every now and then. Thanks for looking (and sorry for the awful pics...some of them aren't so great but you get the idea).  I also discovered an app for my I*phone called Day One...it's a great place to jot notes down about the day or the pic (you store the pic for that day in it).  Love it!

...off to get dinner out of the way so we can be ready for Big Brother (we're so boring around here...what can I say?)

TTFN!
Von

Back to the blog....

Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  (I think I covered everything since I last blogged! LOL!)  

One of my goals this year is to do a better job with keeping up with my blog...so here we go.  :) 

Today I was starting on my Project Life album.  I'm not planning on creating anything like the "real" Project Lifers do...my album isn't going to be made up of two pages per week or anything set like that.  I'm planning on converting my scrapping style (for the most part) and kinda doing things on the fly.  No set number of photos per week/month...just whatever pics I end up with.  A few months ago, some friends and I ordered all of the new SN@P! items (Simple Stories).  I broke out those items and started looking through my January pics and discovered that unfortunately, I had some awesome 4x6 VERTICAL pics that couldn't really be cropped down to the 4x4 size.  (The 6x8 SN@P! page protectors do not have a vertical 4x6 pocket. I was going to use the horizontal pockets and just have the photos in there facing the same way and the album would have to be turned to view the pics).  I have a pack of 6x6 American Crafts page protectors that I keep picking up because they keep falling off the shelf they're on.  I looked over at them (on the floor), picked them up and had a lightbulb moment...first off they actually fit into the SN@P! binder.  (Score!)  So I measured 4" over (a smidge more because I know I can't sew straight) and ran them through my sewing machine.  Now I have a vertical 4x6 protector for my photos.  They aren't the 6x8 size (but I love that look anyway), so it works for me.  Here's some photos to give you a better idea of what I did:

I'll be sure to show the finished product when I get this group of photos scrapped.  (Pics of the first snow of the season). 

Happy Scrappin'!
Von

August sketch at Inspired to Scrap!

I can't believe Summer is over...it's almost OCTOBER already!

Finally I've got my collective stuff together and have been able to post my layout for the August sketch at Inspired to Scrap (no thanks to my Netbook, which crashed, losing all my pics for the past two months...let me introduce you to Google Cloud...if you're not familiar with it...check it out-free storage for all those pics that you don't want ot lose when your hard drive crashes!)  Anyway, here's the sketch (which I really love):

 

and my take on it:

So if you want to play along, please check out the message board over at Inspired to Scrap and upload your layout to the August Monthly challenge thread by nidnight, October 7th. 

Happy Scrappin'!