Leaving Something (Special) Behind.

I quit my job yesterday.

It's bittersweet, really.

Those of you who know me know that I LOVED my job. LOVED it. It was so perfect for me, and every time I was there, it felt like Christmas. Christmas for two years. LOL. I'd be having a bad morning/afternoon, and my mom would say to me, "Don't worry! You'll get to work and feel MUCH better! And when you get off work today, you'll be in a MUCH better mood." And you know, I knew she was right... every.single.time. Not many people can say that about their jobs. I absolutely LOVED being there.

I hate to say it, but I quit for "health reasons." I just couldn't handle them counting on me anymore... knowing that I might be too sick to work. And I found myself resting during every hour I *wasn't* at work, preparing myself for the next shift, so that I could give 150%: my perky, positive, upbeat self. That's not a life, and this *will* be a good thing. It will be. It's the best for me. For us. And I just have to keep telling myself that when I'm missing work.

It's okay though! Jeremy (hubby) has been encouraging me to do this for MONTHS now. We want to have a baby, I want to be a stay-at-home Mom, I want to homeschool, I want to go to church on Sundays, I want to spend more time with Jeremy, we want to travel more, and I want to open an Etsy shop (EEEEEE!). And I want to take care of my husband: cooking, cleaning, doing errands, etc. I *enjoy* that. And I can still go back and visit my awesome co-workers.

And I can still help people organize outside of work, right?!

So yeah... if you have ANY organizational dilemmas (scrappy or otherwise), please don't hesitate to drop me an email or post. I would LOVE to help you. I actually think I'll do a "series" of organizational videos on YouTube. And now, I have plenty of time on my hands to rest, be well, and help people out with organizing!

Thanks for listening to me babble. I just needed to vent about it.

*sigh*

I feel better.

p.s. I don't usually copy and paste blog posts, but this was actually a forum post I wrote. It said everything I needed to say, everything I'm feeling, so I decided to post it here too... so I could look back and remember.

Talking? No, thank you.

I'm taking a vow of silence. Okay, not really. But kinda...

Let the vocal rest commence.

So... I've been on vocal rest for the past... umm... okay, only 90 minutes. But guess what?! I already am feeling better!

The doctor now thinks my breathing problems are stemming from dysfunctional vocal cords (not letting me breathe properly) and causing my cough to be worse (and why I can't stay well for more than a few months). She said that if I give my voice a rest, she thinks I'll feel MUCH better.

Now, for those of you who know me, this is no easy feat. ;-) But darn it, coughing so much has given me too much pain and stuff, so I'm willing to try ANYTHING! Bad news though... if this *does* end up helping, it means I'll have to take *more* vocal rests in the future. *sigh*

Well, you know... maybe it's God's way of telling me to finally be quiet! ;-) Or maybe this really is a sign that I need to become a sign language interpreter (something that I've really been wanting to do for the past 12 years)... ;-)

Or maybe, I just need a break...

Thanks for listening to me ramble! Please let me know if you stopped by... being online is my only method of communication right now! :-D

Sharing My Purse Contents!

Well, I'm still sick. But I went to the doctor, and it turns out I have Ulcerative Pharyngitis (Read: ulcers in the back of my mouth). OUCH! I was going to post a photo, but then I was like, "Ew. Nobody wants to see grossness." So you can Google it if you're curious. LOL. :-p

So since I'm just lounging around in my pajamas, I thought I'd take a photo of what's in my purse. I'd seen a bunch of people do this, and I was intrigued. And then Paige did it, and I was very inspired. So here it is...


1. My Russell & Hazel day planner. Love, LOVE this planner! It's 3-ring, so I can add or take away anything. I love that I can add note paper and a calendar and room for phone numbers and other cool stuff. I also added a pen loop (from The Container Store) to the inside, so it doesn't stick out. :-)

2. My Vera Bradley All-In-One Wristlet wallet (shown here in Hope Garden). The front holds my driver's license and debit card. The back has a pouch for my cell phone. It zippers open for card slots and a coin pouch. It's the best wallet ever because I can just grab it and hook my keys to the loop if I want to leave my purse in the car!

3. Eco-Lips - Mint. I'm not going to call it Chapstick because technically, it's made by Eco-Lips. :-p This cute little sleeve stays attached to my wallet, so I have it with me AT.ALL.TIMES. :-D (Note: I, technically, edited the contents of my purse. There were THREE other lip moisturizers in there! LOL! One can never have enough, I suppose.)

4. Water Bottle. I HAVE to have one. HAVE TO. ALWAYS. It's either Reduce or Nalgene. I never leave home without water.

5. Cell Phone. It's small. And almost 2 years old. I don't have a smart phone. I don't need one. I like this one for three reasons: 1. It's small. 2. It's blue. 3. It's Samsung. I heart Samsung phones. :-)

6. Throat drops. I'm addicted to Sugar-Free Halls throat drops. Really. I've talked to my dentist and doctor about this, and they're just fine with it as long as they're sugar-free. Tee hee. :-p

7. My ID card to The Container Store.

8. My inhaler. Just in cases. ;-) (If you think I added that "s" on accident, you would be wrong. See this movie if you don't know what I'm talking about. :-)

9. A cereal bar. Umm... I always need a snack, and gluten-free cereal bars are SO easy to just throw in my purse! It's ALWAYS changing. There are so many out there, and I like to mix it up!

10. Mints. Never gum. Ew. I hate gum. But I love these mints. Ice Breakers Sugar-Free Wintergreen. Yum. I also LOVE Wintergreen Tic-Tacs! (I also keep a pack of mints in my apron at work... LOL.)

11. Sunglasses. My pupils are always dilated, so I have to wear sunglasses all the time. Sometimes, I even have to wear them inside. So silly, I know. :-p

p.s. Most times, I also have this little reusable bag in there. It wasn't in there today because I just used it, and I haven't emptied it yet. Tee hee. Sometimes I'll throw my camera into my purse too! And sometimes, I will leave my planner at home... on purpose. ;-)

And that's all. I have a separate purse when I go to work. My purse I bring to work is large enough to hold a 32 oz. water bottle, plus my lunch and other necessities when I'm gone from the house for a while. That's a post for another day. It's RIDICULOUS how much stuff I carry in there. But I like to be prepared!

And what's in YOUR purse?! :-D

Suffering.

I'm a sickie.

Jeremy was sick for two weeks. I was shocked I hadn't caught it. Turns out, it was just waiting for my parents to arrive. Hmph.

Ah well. At least I was well for the first half of their visit. :-) They're on their way back to Colorado now. We had a great time. The time flew by much too quickly.

And now, I'm going back to bed. And I'll probably go to the doctor today. I think I may need some anti-biotics.

Being sick... is ew. But as Jeremy says...

"It's great being sick! I like it! It makes you appreciate how good you feel when you're not sick!"

We're meant to be. :-)

Awaiting the Arrival...

... of my parents! Ha! Gotcha, yes?! ;-)


They are driving from Colorado, and they will be here in just a few short hours! AHHHHH! I haven't seen them in nine months (man! I could have had a baby in that time! LOL!), and they've NEVER been to Texas.

I'm BEYOND excited for them to visit this place. And see our new house too. So... I will probably be gone for a week... away from the online world... having LOTS of fun and eating LOTS of good food in Austin. :-D

Stepping Back Into Blogging.

Three weeks?! Can that be right?! I haven't blogged in THREE weeks! ACK! Okay, so a run-down of what's been going on in my life...

1. I actually haven't scrapped at all, but I've been doing other projects around the house... painting, altering, organizing. It's great! And coming along well. This is my new trash container for on top of my nightstand. Hey, if it's going to be on your nightstand it's gotta be CUTE!

I got it on clearance at Ross (because the top had broken off, and there was a hole). It was $2. I spray painted it this antique white, and then I drilled a hole through the top, and added this Anthro drawer knob. I LOVE how it turned out. The cutest trash ever! :-)

2. My hours at work have been doubled. That's not saying much, however. I'm working just under 30 hours now, but it feels like a lot. LOL. It's still fun though, so that's a great thing! :-)

3. Jeremy has been sick, SICK, and I've been well. 'Tis strange, yes. Thanking God I'm healthy, so I can take care of that poor sickie. :-)

4. A cat got hit by a car in front of my house and died. I had to break the news to the owner (after I found a poster for said cat). We both cried. It was sad. Poor little Beau.

5. Then the next day, I witnessed (and gave the 911 emergency person a play-by-play for about ten minutes) a car out of control (at 70 mph on the highway)... ending in a bad crash. The guy WALKED AWAY unharmed. Seriously, I'm pretty sure Angels guided his car the whole (nearly) 7 miles. (And thankfully, kept this truck from NOT rolling on top of my car.) At the end, Angels also picked up his car (with only the two back wheels) from an inclined grassy null, and placed it back on the highway, facing me. CRAZINESS. This was VERY traumatic... to say the least. Sheesh.

6. My work is home to the most caring, understanding, compassionate, and FABULOUS group of people EVER seen in a workplace. Ever. This was a breath of fresh air after my near-death experience on the highway. My boss gives great hugs. Just sayin'. :-) I could not have made it through work without them.

7. The weather is SO nice! 70s and 80s EVERY day. It will be like this now till October, and I.AM.STOKED! Mmm.... love me some Texas weather! Ruby, Amber and Kissa are spending LOTS of time outside. Kissa is so funny: She just sits on the deck the whole time... doesn't wander off at all. I love seeing her enjoy the sun. :-)

(This picture just makes me laugh. I love this kitty!)

8. FINALLY found a great doctor after mine moved away. FINALLY! It only took eight months... LOL. Had several "ah ha!" moments at my appointment yesterday. YAY!

9. Babysat for a FABULOUS family with two little girls (aged 8 and 5). They are SO awesome and SO fun that I didn't want to put them to sleep... because I'd miss them. LOL. My biological clock is now in over-drive. (Note to God: I'm ready whenever you are! ;-) )

10. Hubby and I decided on a boy's name... if we ever have a boy. Providing he *looks* like this name, he will receive the name. Nope. Sorry. It's a secret. But it's cute. With a cute nickname to boot! Hint: It's a Disney character. :-)

11. Went to visit my friend Bethina and her new baby, Elissa. Had SO much fun with her and the kiddos. I need to visit more often. How cute are they?!

Sean, the oldest:

Bryce, the middle:

And new baby, Elissa Grace:



She is SUCH a good baby too! I was there for four hours, and she barely fussed at all. And talking to Bethina, I am now officially wanting to have our kids in a birthing center, as opposed to a hospital. There is SO much I didn't know! And to have a birth that *I* want... and what *I* say goes?! No IV?! No sterile, uncomfortable environment? I can get up and pee? Or walk around if I want? Be in any position I want? Yes, please! :-D

If you're having a baby, and you haven't already, look into a birthing center (also 1/4 the price as a hospital) and a midwife/doula for your birth! :-)

Umm... okay, that was a lot of stuff. I'll try to update more often.... with progress of the house and my projects. I'm having fun organizing and decorating! :-D

Sharing Some Favorite Things.

I already have a super-cute bathing suit, but I really love this one from J Crew. The Seaside color is so pretty!

I also really like it in peacock...

If I got the Seaside top, I could probably wear it with bottoms I already have. LOL. It may match... ;-)

And here are my faves at The Container Store right now.

This Daisy print is SO cute. Only this one is available online, but in the store (in our Closet department), we have SO many different sizes. Perfect for scrap storage, I think! ;-)And I bought this file to hold my current month's Studio Calico kits (I'll try to take a pic today). I don't put file folders in mine. I put all my embellishments/alphas in the front slot, my patterned papers in the middle slot, and my cardstock in the last slot. It takes up VERY little room on my workspace, and I can thumb through it as I like without making a big mess on my work space. LOVE it. :-D

Our Brocade line is SUPER cute! It's so shabby chic! LOVE it. :-) I love that this board can be used with both magnets and tacks.

I have TONS of these magnets. I love them for the fridge and in my scrap room to hold up notes, photos and my layouts. They are SO strong, and they're the *perfect* size to stick a glue dot and a chipboard shape if you want to jazz them up! ;-)

And this next item (from the Serenity line), I'll admit, I didn't like from the photos that Corporate sent to us. But when we got them in, I was singing a different tune. They are SO much cuter in real life! And they look *awesome* with our orange Stockholm line. Unfortunately, none are large enough to store 12x12 paper, BUT I have a bunch of the Stockholm boxes (in red, orange and white) all over my scrap room for embellishments and ephemera, and I LOVE them)!

Most of these items are on sale right now for the Work Smart Office Sale, and they will be for the next week (ending on March 28th).

Also! There is a 20% off coupon for The Container Store in the April issue of Real Simple! You can't use it on top of the sale price, but you can use it on anything that's *not* on sale... like elfa. :-)

Budgeting Scrap Supplies.

This morning, I have our budget/finances open (in Microsoft Money), and I'm inputting transactions from our online bank statement into the Microsoft Money program, and I put in a transaction from Archiver's (for only $11.16, thank you very much), and after I push "save," it pops up with a little message...

"Would you like to set Archiver's up as a recurring transaction?"

As in, you spend money there so frequently that you may want to think about adding this as a weekly/monthly transaction. Umm... tee hee.

p.s. It's not as frequent as Studio Calico, but then again, SC *IS* set up as a recurring transaction... LOL.

Recording Uncommon Traditions.

Usually, journaling is pretty easy for me. I'm long-winded. I talk a lot. I tend to babble and provide you with irrelevant details. I come by this honestly though... you should talk to my dad's dad! You want a rundown of any family member's minute by minute plans, you go to him. He's our family crier! ;-)

Anywho, there I go getting off on a tangent again... I digress.

This month's Journal It challenge actually made me *think*... quite a bit. It was easy for me to come up with Christmas traditions, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I thought of EVERYTHING I possibly could. I flipped through quite a few family albums, looked at hundreds of photos. Then I called my sister, and she re-iterated everything I had come up with. LOL. But one stuck out for both of us, and she encouraged me to run with it. (Plus, I loved this photo, and thought it would look awesome with those Dear Lizzy flowers! Tee hee.)

She and I pretty much lived at Disneyland when we were kids. We were 4.5 miles away, we had annual passes, and seriously... they really lost money on us! We went ALL.THE.TIME. And sometimes, all we did was eat lunch. LOL.

Anywho, this layout records that time for us and our tradition of eating clam chowder in bread bowls in New Orleans Square. (Photo is summer 1996.) Do you see my hidden Mickey?! ;-)

(Cardstock is Bazzill Basics. Papers and Thickers are American Crafts.
Butterfly punch is Martha Stewart. Ribbon is Maya Road. Pearls are Crystal.)

After I turned in the layout, I added the yellow mat and ribbon. (Hopefully, they'll update it, but if not, no worries. :-) ) I really like how it turned out... clean and simple, keeping the focus on the photo and story. :-)

Do you have an uncommon tradition? I love hearing those! :-D You should totally join in the challenge!

Listening and Creating.

Okay, so for like... WEEKS now, I kept hearing this song at work, but I could never figure out the words *enough* to look it up. And I couldn't get back to the back of the store to see who sings it or what it was called. But today... I did. :-D

*sigh*

I was positively GIDDY after I found out. The thought that I new *exactly* what it was, and I could get it on iTunes the second I walked in my front door... awww... bliss. Pure bliss. Seriously, I think my co-workers though I was high or something because I was literally *bouncing* up and down excited about this song...

Crack the Shutters by Snow Patrol (I don't like the video, but I LOVE the melody and lyrics.)

Poor Jeremy... I will have this song on repeat for the next month... LOL. (Best $0.99 I've spent in a while! ;-) Tee hee.)

And here are a bunch of pages I've done with Studio Calico's March kit:

That layout above (all papers are Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl and one from JoyRide) is from Halloween 2008. My sister, her best friend, and I went as the Three Blind Mice. :-) SO fun! I love homemade costumes! We got those glasses from an eye doctor (for free... LOL). The ears were from a costume shop, and the canes were just dowels from Home Depot. We stuck them in the grass and spray painted them black. LOL. We had HUGE band-aids on our bottoms... where the tails *should* have been. ;-)

And this layout about my nieces (all Sass papers, except the type which is SC), and how I tried SO hard not to cry as I left them... to no avail...

And the next layout is my FAVORITE layout I've done in a *long* time. It's just *so* me. If I had to choose a layout to define my "style," this would be it. And it totally defines me too... I'm so goofy and dorky. ;-) (And I LOVE, LOVE this paper from Sassafras. A new fave for me too! What is up with me and their blue paper?! Blueberry Grove is also a FAVE! LOL.)

Can you tell I LOVE this paper? I've already used it on three layouts, but I had to devote this next layout to it. Oh, and this adorable photo of Kissa! LOL. (This blue, though, does *not* photograph well. It's more like a pale navy in real life. Ah well.) And what I think every day when I see her, I had to put on this page... it says: "I am so glad she found us."

And a layout about a Jeremy-ism. :-D He says this ALL the time to me, and I love it. I'm going to make it a point to scrap all the silly things he makes up and says to me. They're so cute! (Look Steph and Paige, I used TULLE! Yay!! Go me. :-D )
Only the papers are from the kit (exclusive SC this month)... the others are stuff I had in my stash. :-)

Thanks for stopping by today! What's your favorite song these days?

Fawning Over My New Nephew.

So... I never announced my new nephew here on my blog. It was probably because I didn't have any PHOTOS! LOL. I know, I know... I could have announced his arrival though. (I did on Studio Calico, so that's probably why I forgot here! LOL.)

He was about four weeks premature and in the NICU for about three months after he was born. That was VERY scary. But now? Totally thriving and ohmigosh, this is the first time I've seen *real* photos of him (not in an incubator), and seriously... how CUTE is he?!?!?

Gauge Steven Amos Klein*
born June 10, 2009 - 6lbs 13 oz
(sheesh... what if he had been to TERM?!)

Here he is with his mommy, my brother's wife...

And here he is with my cousin, Summer...

And oh my, I could just kiss him all over!

I'm not sure when I'll get to meet him. Probably August?! He'll be 14 months old by then! Sheesh!

Anywho, just wanted to share. I can't get over how CUTE he is! And it's funny... he looks like an exact mix between their two other kids! (Which makes sense because Cullen looks JUST like my brother, and Reysa looks JUST like her mom. LOL.)

Thank you for stopping by today! :-D

*His name is pronounced like "Gage," but they spell it "Gauge" like the gauge in a car. *sigh* My brother for ya. ;-)

Announcing the Winner!

So okay, to be fair, I used Random.org's True Random Number Generator. I put in the numbers, and clicked the "Generate" button only once. ONCE. I didn't keep trying for a certain number. That would be cheating. And I'm just going on and on about this because you will NEVER guess what number it randomly spat out...


Eight?! Seriously?! It's my EIGHTH Blogiversary, and it gave me EIGHT?! Hey, folks, you can't make this stuff up. It's random. :-p

So... that makes the winner...

Congratulations Valerie! YAY! Please email me your name and address, so I can get this wonderful prize package out to you! :-D

And you know, I always feel bad for the first and last commenters. I feel like they are never "randomly" chosen. I feel like they're always left out. So you two will get some earplugs sent out to you as well, kay?! :-)




And well, I do have more earplugs to give out, so let's just pick a few more! :-D
Poor thing! She REALLY needs them. :-)

And look! It was her birthday yesterday, so she should get some...
Looks like Melina and PaperDiva need some earplugs too...


I wish I could send stuff out to EVERYONE! I really do. I'll do more cool giveaways again soon. Promise. :-)

Thank you EVERYONE for commenting. I really appreciated each and every one. Thank you all for reading my ramblings. You all rock. :-)

Creating Into the Night.

I stayed up LATE last night. Why? Because I got my Studio Calico March kit! WOOHOO! Well, I missed out on the Main, but I got the Wedding Ring add-on, and all the paper I could POSSIBLY get! HA! LOVE, LOVE these papers. Oh my!


I love taking my puppies in the car with me. Ruby enjoys it a *bit* more than Amber does, so I actually take her with me more often, but in these photos, we went to visit Jeremy while he was working in McAllen, TX. It was a 5-hour road trip to visit him, and they were SO good the whole time. :-)

As soon as I saw those Jenni Bowlin journaling cards, they looked like photo mats to me, so this idea instantly popped in my head. And I had tacked up these photos to remind myself to scrap them this month... perfect. :-) Alphas and that Dear Lizzy brad are American Crafts. Twine is Studio Calico... which now I'm thinking perhaps I should have used red twine instead of yellow. Ah well. :-p I went with yellow because I wanted a softer look.

And I totally didn't get around to posting this layout I did a couple weeks ago. I LOVE Dear Lizzy! LOVE.

All this stuff is Dear Lizzy (paper, alphas, Flair badge, stickers)... except for the October Afternoon mini alphas. Don't those match so well?! I was totally stoked on that! :-) Also used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch and a Marvy scallop square punch to make the photo corner. :-)

That's all for today. I feel totally wasted. I'm going back to sleep until work tonight. :-p

Celebrating EIGHT Years of Blogging!

Happy Blog-iversary to me!!

Eight years ago today, I started my blog at Diaryland. (It was called "Trail-Mix... a little bit of everything." Tee hee.) I have since moved all my entries to Blogger (though, I have still to transfer 2006... *sigh* Ah well... I'll get around to it).

Very exciting.

So I thought I'd do a giveaway*! Yay! :-)

First, I have some Autumn Leaves stamps by Katie Pertiet. She was kind enough to send some, so I thought I'd give a bunch away! :-D (These *are* taken out of the hard plastic because they would not photograph, and they would be too bulky to ship in original packaging. Brand new though!)


And then here is a bunch of scrappy stuff from past Studio Calico kits. One of the coolest things?! These vintage, mini Kentucky postcards! They're from the Simon Says add-on in May 2009, and they are SO cute! There are also a bunch of *exclusive* Studio Calico kit papers! WOO!

(Other stuff is Cosmo Cricket, Paislee Press, Jenni Bowlin, Crate Paper, My Mind's Eye, and Collage Press.) I'll actually throw in a whole bunch more scrappy stuff! Rub-ons, Maya Road pins, rhinestones, pearls, etc. And most likely, some Dear Lizzy Thickers... :-D

And of course... I could *not* do a giveaway without giving away stuff from The Container Store, right?! Of course NOT! Here are a few things I love for organizing scrappy items. Lock-ups hold buttons, ribbon, pins, etc. Amac boxes (in several sizes) can hold smaller odds and ends or... your kids' lost teeth! ;-) (Hey, I had a customer who bought the teeny ones for that very reason!) And those cute, lime-green bins? There are three! How cute! :-)

All this was given to me by The Container Store for their National We Love Our Employees Day. I'm spreading the love because I already own most this. :-)

Ooh, we're getting to some of my favorites! Micro-fiber cloths are awesome for cleaning your computer screen, photos, etc. The wash bag can hold delicates and hand-wash clothes in the machine. LOVE this! (Oooh, maybe I'll throw in the Bra Bag too!! Would you like that too? I LOVE mine!) And that awesome bag-gripper also is an ID tag. :-)

Three of my VERY favorite products are next! The book light (super fab!). The BRAND NEW Cord Catch by Good Grips. This is AWESOME to keep by your computer to hold your camera cord, cell phone cord, etc. LOVE this. :-) And the iSlice... you can use it to open up mail, Thickers packaging (tee hee), cut coupons, even cut scrapbooking paper! AND it doesn't cut your finger, so you don't have to worry about it getting into little hands! :-)

And my "sponsor." Tee hee. Sleep Pretty in Pink! Remember my layout about my earplugs?! Well, the company's president/CEO saw it, and he decided to send me a WHOLE bunch of earplugs to share with you guys! (Thanks, Doug!!) YAY! I'll have enough for future giveaways too! LOL. Seriously, BEST.EARPLUGS.EVER! There's a nice sleep mask too!

Last, but certainly not least... everyone loves The Container Store, yes?! Well, here's a $30 gift card for you! Even if you don't live near one, they do ship, so you can still use it! :-D You'll be organized and happy in no time! ;-)

Thank you SO much for reading! I can't believe it's been eight years that I've been recording my life online. Craziness. LOL. It's been SO much fun!

Please leave a comment to be entered to win the giveaway! ONE lucky person will receive everything! :-D

You have until the end of the day on Thursday, March 11th, and I'll choose a winner on Friday, March 12th! :-)

*Sorry giveaway is only open to people in the US. I do love you guys outside the US though! :-)

Creating a Mantra.

I'd been feeling kinda down... *so* not me. I needed a motivational and inspirational mantra. I saw the quote, "Be you. Find you. Be happy with that." on Elizabeth K's blog. I liked it, but I needed to change it a bit to fit *me*...

"Be inspired to be you. Be inspired to find you."

Hakuna matata, yes? ;-)

I decided that I wanted and needed to look at this every day. But I wanted the colors and patterns to be inspiring too! Enter greens, blues and yellows... and throw in some white cardstock, some October Afternoon papers (Hometown is my absolute favorite paper line of all time), and a super-cute birdy stamp. ;-)

Alphas: American Crafts and Basic Grey, cardstock: American Crafts,
Patterned papers: October Afternoon, stamp: Studio Calico, punch: Fiskars

Oh my! How stoked am I?! (Tee hee. That rhymed.)

Can't WAIT to hang this baby in my scrap room. Now to find a place for it... :-D

Do you have a mantra too? A daily affirmation or words to live by? Please share! I'd love to hear. :-)