Here's a great way to start the week:
• Online shopping for the deals above runs from midnight Sunday (March 30) through midnight Monday (March 31) -- Central Standard Time. (There is a category called Markdown Monday on the left of the page. Click it to see a dropdown menu with the different Markdown Monday deals!)
• Local shopping at SG's Springfield store is 10 am - 6 pm, Monday, March 31.
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It's download day and there are a ton of new sketches available for download! I am hoping that maybe these Spring downloads will encourage the weather to be more Spring-like. It's been so cold this week so far! Fingers crossed that this is the last of it until next Winter.
• Mini-bundle: Spring (one-page sketches) - $2.29
Five Spring themed one-page sketches. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
• Mini-bundle: Spring (two-page sketches) - $2.29
Five Spring themed two-page sketches. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
• Four Pack - $1.79
Four two-page sketches all featuring 10 photos. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
• Trio - $1.29
Three two-page sketches from an Allison Davis kit. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
• One-page sketch - 49¢
One, one-page sketch. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
• Two-page sketch - 49¢
One, two-page sketch. You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
The next one isn't a new bundle of sketches but I wanted to share it too since it has a Spring theme.
• Spring bundle - $10.00
The Spring bundle has 6 one-page sketch, 6 two-page sketches, 6 embellishment sketches, 4 card sketches, Spring title ideas, and Spring quotes.
You can get more information or purchase by clicking here.
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I might have a small addiction to Pinterest. It's my go-to for when I'm drinking my morning coffee and at night when I'm winding down after we've tucked in the boys.
Here are a few of my favorite pins I found this week:
• Turtle Cake (source) - Turtles are one of my favorite candies. I really had to fight the temptation to lick my computer screen when this one wound up in my search. The only thing that stopped me was knowing how often I clean (or don't clean) that screen.
• Alphabet Scavanger Hunt (source) - I thought this would be such a fun outdoor activity for the boys this summer.
• Personalized photo map (source) - I can't even begin to describe how much I love this. We are making plans to travel halfway across the country this summer and this map would be such a cute way to document it. The blogger who made this gives great step-by-step instructions for making it too.
• Weathered hues (source) - Such a pretty color combo.
• Mixer Mess (source) - this picture makes me laugh every single time I see it. I love having a board full of things that make me laugh. It's good for those days that I'm in a funk.
Got a favorite pin? I would love to see it! Share a link to it in the comments!
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• Reading... The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game. (You don't have to be a professional fighter or in MMA or martial arts, etc. for this to be a good read. It's such a good book to help you better understand how to mentally fight anything.)
• Watching...Breaking Bad. Mike has been trying to get me to watch this series for awhile and I'm so glad I finally started. It's so great! (Disclaimer: I don't support the use or distribution of meth.)
• Trying...Hyper martial arts. It's insanely hard. It's all trick kicks like the butterfly (my favorite!) and the tornado. Google it and then have yourself a good laugh as you imagine me trying to do it.
• Cooking...Healthy food. (I was going to make a joke inspired by Breaking Bad but I thought that I might want to stay away from jokes about drug making/use.)
• Eating...Sugar free, gluten free, low carb, high protein, high fat. Never felt better.
• Drinking...Water, water, and more water. I take my weight, cut it in half, and drink that amount in ounces everyday.
• Texting...my sister. We send the most random texts to each other all the time. Our text conversations sound like either two hilarious people or two total nut jobs. I can't tell which one. We both laugh a lot though so I guess that's all that matters.
• Pinning...cheesecakes, brownies, cakes, etc. All the things that I don't dare eat but I drool dream about.
• Scrapping...layouts for my next Sketch Support article for the April issue of CREATE magazine.
• Making...a ton of new sketches. I'm working on some sketches for a new 6x6 ebook that I'm pretty excited about.
• Loving...martial arts. I've never felt stronger, more confident, flexible, happier, healthier. It's so great. And fun! Mike, my husband, does it with me and we have decided that couples therapy is a waste of time. Go take a martial arts class together. Who needs to "talk it out" when you can choke/punch/kick each other.
• Hating...the static electricity in my work space. You know the little backing pieces on foam adhesive? When I'm at my table they refuse to get off my hand/finger/face/arm until I very violently fling them across the room. My floor is covered in little white squares.
• Discovering...muscles I didn't know I had. Side kicks = undiscovered muscles.
• Enjoying...the Spring-like weather we've been having so far this week. I'm so done with Winter. Done.
• Feeling...ridiculously happy for absolutely no particularly reason. Just in a really good place in my life right now.
• Celebrating...a 40 pound weight loss over the last six months. Go me!
• Finishing...the move of my scrap space from my home to SG. I've worked from home for the last few years and while I love certain parts of that, it's so nice to have some separation of work and home. I'm so much more productive this way. There isn't an inner struggle over whether I should do laundry or work on my downloads or clean the kitchen or work on kit club layouts. Plus, I have so much more space!
• Starting...to go to bed during normal adult hours. I used to be such a night owl but these days I'm out like a light before 10:00 p.m. I feel like such a grown up!
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(This was taken after Mike and I tested for our green belts and stepped up to the intermediate level in our martial arts class. Don't we look tough?)
The other night I had this horrible nightmare. I was at our martial arts class, doing a drill in front of the whole class when I tripped over someone's foot. Seconds felt like minutes as I stumbled and stumbled and stumbled trying to stop the inevitable from happening. I was going to fall flat on my ass in front of the whole class...
Oh. Wait. That wasn't a dream. I actually did that.
I fell in front of a lot of people. People that I see all the time. An ugly, horrible, embarrassing fall. A tons-of-momentum, can't-stop-it, fall-flat-on-my-ass fall. In my head I heard the lyrics from Ke$ha's song Timber, "It's going down. I'm yelling timber..."
I laid on the floor for what felt like forever. I think I was waiting for it to swallow me. I wish there was a way to explain how embarrassed I was because mortified doesn't even begin to do it justice.
After class was over I bolted out of there, got in my car, and cried. I told Mike that night that I was never going back. At that moment I couldn't imagine ever being in the same room with all those people without feeling completely humiliated and stupid.
I've always wanted to be one of those people who just brushes off things like that and doesn't let it phase them. But, I've never been that way. I'm sensitive, worry way too much about what people think about me, and I'm shy. I'm not one who likes to venture far out of my comfort zone or feel vulnerable.
But, guess what happened? Sometime during the night the courage fairy must have sprinkled some of her magic dust on me. (Or, I have actually been paying attention to what we are told in our martial arts classes!)
I woke up the next day, eyes puffy from crying so much the night before, and decided that I am going to be that person that just brushes herself off and doesn't let it phase her. Why not? I don't think it's written in stone that I have to be shy or scared. Who says I can't be brave and outgoing? I'm the only one who can allow myself to feel scared or humilated. I decided on that next day that I wasn't going to be embarrassed about it anymore. Instead I was going to laugh. And, most importantly, go back to class that very next day.
You know the crazy part? It was easy. People shared their falling-in-class stories and we all laughed about it. The biggest surprise was finding out how much empowerment it gave me to simply get up, brush myself off, and get back at it. I felt like a whole new person.
No, that's not it.
I am a whole new person. A better person. All because I fell and got back up.
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And, it's packed with beautiful layouts, card, tags, mini albums, and more! Here's why you need to check it out:
• There are 223 pages of awesomeness (including projects from the Teresa Collins design team and a stellar reader's gallery.)
• It's free!
What more reasons do you need!?
Click here to check it out. If you haven't had a chance to look them over yet you can also find the January and February issues on the same page.
Enjoy!
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Monday is the big day! The March issue of Scrapbook Generation's CREATE magazine will be available! There is so much to see in the whole magazine from so many people. These six little pictures are just from some of my articles (Do you see that circle picture? Who says cutting your photos into shapes is out of style!?)
Just wait until you see everything else that our contributors did! It's going to be another fantastic issue.
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I've got a new Life Documented sketch available to download at Simple Stories right now!
If you want to download the full sketch with measurements and placements be sure to visit the Simple Stories blog and check out my post. You can find the link to download the full sketch right under the picture of the sketch.
With 10 photos, this sketch allows you to include not only a good amount of photos but also a wide variety of photo sizes. I especially like the photo block on the left page. You could play around with a lot of different photo combinations in that space. I look at photo blocks as a puzzle and try to find out what combinations will work in that space. For example, with this sketch, the photo block is 7 x 9" so here are some more photo sizes and combinations:
• 7 x 5", 3 x 4" and 4 x 4"
• 4 x 4", 3 x 4", two 2 x 2", 3 x 2", 3 x 3", and 4 x 3"
• four 2 x 2", two 3 x 2", and two 3-1/2 x 5"
• 3 x 5", 3 x 4", 4 x 3", and 4 x 6"
There are so many ways to add more by using smaller pictures or if you need to use less photos, just simply use larger photos. Photo blocks are always a great way to incorporate you own ideas into a sketch!
Here's a look at my layout based on the newest sketch:
* You can see more pictures of the details in my post at Simple Stories.
Last year after we wrapped up our annual Christmas card photo shoot (that the boys love so much), Drew and Jackson were being really goofy. Since I already had my camera in tow I snapped a bunch of pictures of them being typical brothers. Drew dancing around, making funny faces behind Jackson. Both of them making funny faces together. Jackson getting a little extra squeezy hug from Drew. It was just a fun little few minutes of them having fun as brothers.
I take pictures of them together all the time but sometimes it's hard to capture certain feelings or relationships when it feels pushed or staged. Especially with little kids, or at least my kids. They tend to freeze up or get annoyed went I ask them to be in a picture or two. (Who am I kidding? I've probably never taken just two pictures of something. A more accurate number would probably be eighty.) I loved that with these pictures, even though they might not be the best quality or the cutest, they are a great representation of Drew and Jackson and the relationship that they have.
I hope you enjoy using the new Life Documented sketch!
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He's always right by my side. And I mean right by my side. Like smushed up against my arm, right by my side. It can be while we are sitting there watching Drew's martial arts class (like we are in the picture) or when he climbs into my bed in the middle of the night or when we go out to eat and he has to sit by mom. Is it bad that I hope he never outgrows this? I guess, technically, I hope he does at some point because I can't imagine the ladies taking intrest in a boy/man that has to lean up against his mom all the time.
I guess what I mean is that I wish I could freeze this time and just enjoy it a litte longer before he grows up. I wish there was a way to remember, after he's grown, exactly what it feels like to have his little body curled up right against mine. The weight of his head leaning on my arm, the warmth, the sense of happiness that floods over me, the comfort of having this person in my life that needs me, a person wants to be that close to me.
We can take pictures to capture a moment or a video to re-live the times in our life but I wish there was a way to capture exactly what it feels like to have Jackson right by my side.
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