It's a New Day...

Make something...

It's been a long time since I've made something just for fun. I forgot how much I love scrapbooking. I haven't been buying many new products, so I loved the convenience of the Studio Calico printables and my Silhouette Portrait!

For the circle calendar on the page I used the Studio Calico Here & There Digital calendar stamp. I opened up a word doc, placed the PNG image where I wanted it on my layout and then just ran it through the printer. Super easy and no clean up required!!

I played with my Silhouette Portrait (on sale now at Amazon if you've been waiting to get one!!) and the Studio Calico Snippets Printables. I love the convenience of being able to immediately have something super cute I can use and that I can setup the portrait to cut it all out for me!

If you are new to the Silhouette I used this super helpful tutorial from findingnana to learn how to do the print & cut technique!

Happy Monday!

xoxo Lisa

 

Thrive...

Have you seen Thrive yet?

We watched it last week after learning about it at Church. 

I am still trying to wrap my head around it.

It's one of those things that I have a hard time even talking about. Consipracy theories kind of scare me. Even though it's all backed up, it's still one of those things that I can't bring myself to completely believe in because of not wanting to come off as being completely looney or looking like a fool!

But, how can you watch this and not believe in something. I at least believe in the things we should be doing to help make life better for ourselves and everyone. But I don't want to believe in all the damage being caused. 

If you've seen it, I'd love your opinion. If not, you should watch it (be warned it's really long though so set aside almost 2.5 hrs!)...and then let me know your thoughts. Has it changed how you think about things? It keeps popping into my head all the time but I really don't know what to think...I guess that's part of the point of the movie!

Book exploration #1...The Aladdin Factor

One of my goals for 2013 is to read through this stack of books. I've set a goal of 2 books per month. Some of these I've read, some I've started and some haven't even been cracked open! I'm excited about the wisdom each one holds and that I've set aside time in my life to make them a priority.

I started with The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. I borrowed this book from a colleague. It's a little bit older and was kind of humorous to read, like stepping back in time for awhile.

I loved this book. It was written in a very easy to read format (like Chicken Soup for the Soul). It made me think. It brought to the surface many things I knew, but sometimes need to read someone else say, to feel it and believe it.

The concept of this book is to write out 101 wishes, then ask for them! It explores why we think we can't ask for things, how to over come that, and then helps us learn how to ask for what we want. For me the biggest thing I explored was, what is it that I want? Writing out 101 wishes when you aren't sure what you want for your life was an eye opener. The exercise was a great experience. I did a lot of soul searching and growing while reading this book. It was easy to start with the concrete things I want, but it got a bit harder the more I wrote because that was when I hit those bigger things in life.

At the beginning of the year, I set another goal to do a Smash book and fill it with all the things I want to attract into my life, and mix it with all the things that make me happy and grateful. One of the exercises in this book is to make a Dream Book to help visualize the things I want. Thought it was a crazy coincidence that the book recommends something I was already working on...talk about being on the same wave length!

I'm not sure I'll write up a blog post about each book I read because it's harder than I thought, but I hope to!

Do you have any self-help/soul searching type books you recommend?

Any books that have a made an impact on your life?

Share!!

xoxo Lisa

It's a new day...

I love this image from http://notsalmon.com/blog/ (great blog too by the way!)

It pretty much sums up where I am at with my life. Where I am at with this blog. I want to change things up a little bit. I want to focus on everyday being a new day. Everyday being exactly what it is. Not what it was yesterday or what it might be tomorrow, or a year from now.

I haven't been blogging because I have set expectations for myself in the past that I haven't met. Expectations like, I'll be back this week, which now was a couple weeks ago, to update on how I'm catching up on my PL, but since I haven't prepared a post for that I haven't been back. I set myself up for failure sometimes because I don't have a clarity around what I really want to do. What I really want this place to be about. Just because it's been about one thing in the past it doesn't mean it has to be about that now, or in the future. And just because I want it that way right now doesn't mean it has to be that way in the future.

I've been learning lately that everytime I think I want to do something right now, I get so caught up in the future of it, or even the past, and I become frozen and end up not doing it at all. But, I want to blog. I want to blog about my journey into the new. About my One Little Word (OLW) for 2013 which is AWAKE. About who I am and where I am going for the year. I will stumble. I will sound foolish. I will say one thing one day and change my mind the next. I will put myself out there for my growth. 

So I am working on my goals for this blog. First, I am changing the name from 'Day by Day' to 'It's a New Day'. I want the word Day in my title because it's fun since it's my last name. But the title of 'Day by Day' feels to me that it needs to be about the same thing day after day. I know it doesn't, but the name feels constricting to me right now. The name 'It's a New Day' gives me the freedom to write about whatever I want, to move past old mistakes, to be new each day.

Yes, I am rambling. I am just writing because I want to put it out there so I can tell myself it's time for change. It's time to embrace each moment as being new and NOW. It's time to let go of the past and not worry about the future. So here's to 2013. Here's to a year where I find out who I am and what I want and not worry about what other people think I am or what they think I am about. I've been trying to mold myself into the image I think other people have of me and that's restricting and most often way off base. It's time to find out who I am and what I really want.

Here's to a new day!

Peace!

xoxo Lisa

Trying to find my way back...

I've been gone for so long I'm sure I'm going to be talking to myself right now. I'm trying to find my way back to blogging and scrapbooking and sharing how I'm trying to live a happy life. So here it goes...

For most of 2012 I stepped back from scrapbooking and from blogging and from connecting with creative minds online. I needed to step away so I could find my way back to what I enjoyed about this. Time away was good. It took longer than I would have liked, but I gave it the time it needed. I'm finding now that I miss being online. I miss blogging. I miss connecting. I miss scrapbooking. I miss seeing and playing with new products. I miss recording memories. I'm happy I'm missing those things, because for awhile I couldn't even stand it!

I started Project Life in 2012 but at the end of the year I only had 6 finished pages to show. I loved the pages I had done. I am going to try again for 2013 and I'm working my way back through my 2012 album to get caught up. I will be sharing my process next week for anyone else that fell behind but isn't quite ready to call it quits...there's still hope! Hopefully I can share some tips that will help!

I'm working on my next Big Picture Class that I'm super excited about, but I took so much time off I've missed all the newest trends. What's your favorite product, trend, color, line, technique, etc. PLEASE SHARE!!

Where is everyone hanging out online these days?

What's your favorite kit club?  

CHA is happening, what are you most excited about?

Share with me what's been going on!

Hopefully there's someone out there...incase there is, I'll be back soon...anything you want to hear about from me? 

Happy 2013! It's going to be a great year!

xoxox Lisa

My daughter is psychic...

(edited to change the title to say psychic...not physic...geez!!)

So yesterday I introduced you to our soon to be new puppy! Let me tell you a cute story about how we came to choose him!

We wanted to rescue a puppy and ended up falling in love with a dog named Nigel. We applied and went through all the hoops of adopting him. While we were doing that Katelyn kept asking if we could change Nigels name. I said we could and asked what she would rather name him. She said Peter. I asked her why Peter because that's such a unique, out of the blue, dog name. She said Peter as in Peter Pan. I thought it was weird and didn't think we'd ever name our dog Peter Pan...I mean really, who names their dog Peter Pan!

A couple days later we were approved to adopt Nigel, but the problem was we were going on vacation for a week and they couldn't hold the puppy for us to return. I didn't want to take a puppy on a week long beach vacation because it would be too much for us and the puppy. We discussed it with the agency and they told us about another liter they just rescued and it had the cutest male puppy in it that wouldn't be available until after our vacation.

We needed to think about it still because we really loved Nigel. They told us they'd send us a picture of the new puppy and let us decide. Well, they sent us a picture and told us the puppy's name. I didn't even need to see the picture to know which puppy we would choose. It only took seeing his name to know which one was right for our family.

Can you guess what the puppy's name was?? Peter Pan. For real! I didn't tell anyone outside of our little family about Katelyn wanting to name our puppy Peter Pan. It's total fate that this little puppy is going to be part of our family.

Noah was a little bit upset because he really wanted Nigel still. But, it only took one visit for him to fall completely in love with Peter Pan too!

So that's how we came to choose adopting Peter Pan!! 

Where have I been...

I've kind of dropped off the face of the internet and scrapbooking world. 

I got overwhelmed.

I needed to step away from everything before I drove myself crazy.

It got the point where I couldn't even stand the thought of creating one more thing.

I needed a break. 

I hated not wanting to do something I once totally loved.

I needed to step away to see if I could find my way back to wanting to create. 

I stepped down from all of my design team responsibilities. It was a hard decision to make, but one I knew I had to make. For me, and for the teams I was on, because my heart just wasn't in it anymore and that wasn't fair to anyone.

Life is busy and I just didn't have the room for 'extra' work. 

I wanted to get back to creating because I wanted to. Making things that meant something to me. I was tired of it feeling forced. 

It's been a couple of months since I stepped down from everything.

I expected the desire to want to create and my passion for scrapbooking to come back by now, but it's not happening. At least not as quickly as I wish it would. But, I do feel it creaping back into the corners of my life. 

I can almost feel it coming back. Almost. Not enough to grab on to yet, but it's almost there.

I'm kind of starting to feel that excitement come back.

I'm looking forward to coming back into it with a new perspective. Coming back into it for me. Not for deadlines or any of that. But just because I want to. I don't think I'll ever want to be on another design team.

I wouldn't change the years I've spent being on DT's, but I don't think I could go back to it. I think I'm to a point where that part of creating is behind me. I just want to do it for me. For my family. For the memories. With no stress or pressure.

I want to still teach at BPC because that's different. That's always been about teaching instead of designing (well not only about desiging anyway!) what I want to create, using products I want to use or even items that have been in my stash for years. It's been about watching other create and love this hobby! I love what I get to do there so I'm still holding on to that part. Stepping down from DT work has actually made this part of me want to teach more because it's bringing back the passion I have for it. I was actually dreaming up new class ideas last night and I was getting excited!

Anyway, I'm rambling now. I just wanted to let you all know where I've been. 

Does anyone still read here? I've thought about shutting this down too, but lately I'm feeling the desire to want to start blogging again. Blogging for me...not because I have to do that either. I want to be more authentic. I want to be more me...does that make sense. I want to say and write about whatever I want. I don't want this part of me to feel forced either. 

I'm hoping you'll stick with me while I'm on this journey because I can see only good things on the other side! 

On another note (and because this post is too long not to have a picture with it!)...check out this sweet little puppy that is coming into our family in one week. I'm terrified and excited! We have only met him once but we are all totally in love with him. I've never had a dog before! More about him soon!

Sketch Class Blog Winner's...

I have two winners to announce tonight.

 

The winner from my blog for the 28 Days of Sketches, Round 2 class is 

    April W http://scrapperforever.blogspot.com/

and the winner from my Lynn's is

    Laura T http://www.mom2nick.typepad.com/

 

Congratulations winners, I've emailed both of you!

 

28 Days of Sketches, Round 2 - blog hop and giveaway

Good morning!

Today I have a fun blog hop to share with you and a giveaway for my new Big Picture Class - 28 Days of Sketches, Round  2.

For this next round of sketches class I have 28 brand new sketches. Each sketch will come in 12x12 size, 8.5 x 11 and double page layouts. In addition to the exclusive layout or card I will be sharing with you I have 7 wonderful guest designers joining me this time to share their amazing work with you...and I do mean amazing!!

Today I have asked them to share their thoughts about sketches and share some sneaks of what they created! They will each have a spot to giveaway in the class so stop by each of these inspiring blogs below and enter for a chance to win a seat in 28 Days of Sketches, Round 2.

 

Jaime Warren

Lynn Ghahary

Kimberly Neddo

Sasha Farina

Jenni Hufford

Michelle Wooderson

Virginia Tillery

I have a seat to giveaway too so make sure you leave a comment here and I'll draw and notify the winner on the 16th!! 

 

Big Picture Classes - Kidding Around 3 GIVEAWAY

I haven't blogged in soooo long...yikes!! Life has been crazy full. We've been so busy I haven't had any time for blogging and I really miss it. I need to be more deliberate about making time for it!

I have a lot to catch up on, but first I want to tell you about my next Big Picture Class and I have a giveaway for you all!

My first 28 Days of Sketches class was so much fun and I got a ton of great feedback so I decided to do a 28 Days of Sketches, Round 2. I am so excited for this class to start. There's a lot of new things for this round of the class and I have 7 awesome guest designers with me. I'll be posting more about this soon and doing a bit of a blog hop with the guest designers. I just wanted to let everyone know that the class is open for registration. I told quite a few people I'd let them know when it was open!

Now, onto the GIVEAWAY!!

I have seat to giveaway for Big Picture Classes Kidding Around 3 6-week workshop that starts 6/14/2012 and a Smashbook to use for the class!!

Here's a little bit about this fun class (which I will be taking myself!):

For way less than the price of summer lessons, camps or even taking the family to the movies, you get six weeks of playful prompts to entertain and engage your youngster during those long, hot, school-free days.

Big Picture instructor Tami Morrison brings her unique brand of fun to this class, along with a child development degree, 15 years of teaching experience, and 26 summers of “mommying”. That adds up to plenty of clever ideas to keep kids amused over the summer break. They'll be having such a blast documenting their exploits, they won't even notice that they're honing skills in writing, creative expression and memory-keeping.

This memorable project is sure to make a splash with the pint-sized creative in your life…and be a treasured keepsake for years to come! Sign up today – all the cool kids are doing it!

Read rest of class description and register here

New to Big Picture Classes? Learn more here

If you would like a chance to win a seat in this class AND a Smashbook, please leave me a comment here by Friday, June 8th! Goodluck!