A few months ago, I made some handmade tags for Julie’s handmade for the holidays series. There were six tags and one set of downloads. I will post all of them one at a time during this week.
For all my tags I used manila tags I bought at Office Depot. You can always cut your own tag from cardstock and punch a hole as well.
Here are the steps to this simple tag:
1. For this tag, I wanted to experiment with embossing. I stamped some snowflakes into my background with embossing ink.
2. I embossed using sparkly clear embossing powder.
3. I then inked the tag using blues and greens. The embossed sections resisted the ink.
4. I added the big snowflake and changed the button with a bigger, more ornamental one.
5. I glued on ribbon on the bottom and added a sticker with Season
Supplies used: The Girls’ Paperie Tinsel and Twig vintage buttons, sticker market, trims, and flower market crepe paper. Broken China and Shabby Shutters distress ink.
And here’s a movie where I demonstrate how I made the tag:
This was originally posted at Julie Fei-Fan Balzer‘s blog as part of handmade for the holidays series.
I know we’re smack in the middle of Christmastime but I have this Halloween layout I made because I knew that if I didn’t make it, I would never make it since I am not a fan of Halloween at ALL.
Journaling Reads:
Despite the fact that I am not a fan of Halloween I do like seeing you guys dressed up and specifically seeing Nathaniel wear David’s old costumes. Seeing two different chickens makes me so happy and it makes the rest of this holiday worthwhile for me.
All products are from The Girls’ Paperie Toil and Trouble (except for the green button which is from Tinsel and Twig)
As you can glean from the previous post I’m still cranky today. And yet I’ve had wonderful moments today, too. I love Nathaniel.
Especially his sense of humor. (the cut on his eyelid is from the computer he dropped yesterday.)
And I love David and how much he loves to read.
And how interested Nathaniel is in his brother. How much they love each other. Nathaniel gives him like a million hugs a day.
I love that despite my inexplicable grouchiness they are perfect, wonderful, kind, generous and loving. To me and each other. I love that my husband is so kind with me. HE helped me accomplish two huge tasks today. I am so thankful for the kindness of friends. I am just feeling full of bliss and joy amidst the grouchiness. And I am holding on to that feeling as hard as I can.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got tickets for CHA! I am going alone this time. Thank you Yona for showing me it’s ok to travel without my family. That I can survive it and so can they. Let’s hope it’s true in January too. So grateful for the kindness of Caroline. And that everything came together so smoothly. Knock on wood.
2. I am grateful that Christmas presents are done! Ok I still have Jake but the rest are done done done.
3. I learned something new at work today. I love learning new things. I love doing them however small. I am grateful for the help of coworkers so I could learn and grow.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a piece of chocolate at school (Hannukah geld) {* his pick for the journal}
2. playing a game in PE class
3. reading my library book
There’s a bad place where all your thoughts are negative. The place where you’re mean to yourself an everyone around you. You wallow in self-pity or resentment or anger or frustration. You take everything from the worst possible angle. You make mistakes and then get angrier. You snarl at the people you love and then feel disappointed in yourself. And the cycle goes on and on.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who goes to that bad place.
I’ve been living in that place for the last couple of days. I am not entirely sure how I got there or why I’m stuck there but here I am. I’ve been grouchy and mean and having major meltdowns over the smallest things. It has not been fun and I go to bed each day determined to snap out of it and wake up each morning back in that place.
But here’s the thing: even during these dark days, I’ve had amazing moments of gratitude and joy.
People have been kind and understanding and generous with me. I’ve had moments of laughter. I’ve felt good about accomplishing a task and finishing some todo item. Even if they were fewer and far in between, they were there.
So if your week or day is going like mine have been, I urge you to pause and pay attention to the moments of gratitude you have in the middle of darkness. To me, those are little bits of hope seeping in to remind you that life is not nearly as bleak as it seems right now.
That’s what practicing gratitude is all about: paying attention to the good. Because some good is always there.
A few months ago, I made some handmade tags for Julie’s handmade for the holidays series. There were six tags and one set of downloads. I will post all of them one at a time during this week.
For all my tags I used manila tags I bought at Office Depot. You can always cut your own tag from cardstock and punch a hole as well.
Here are the steps to this simple tag:
1. I wanted to stamp on a transparency because I love the unique look it creates. When you do this, you need to make sure you use the rough side of the transparency.
2. I used a big script stamp I had and stamped using Statz-on ink.
3. Then I grabbed three different colors of felt. Two shades of green and one brown. I cut two triangles and one stump. I gently glued the pieces to the transparency so it stayed in place.
4. I then stitched around my tree.
5. I glued on some round beads for ornaments and a star sticker on top.
6. I covered my star with some distress stickles.
7. Finally, I added Merry Christmas with tiny alphabets and stitched them in place.
Supplies Used: Red Statz-On Ink, The Girls’ Paperie Tinsel and Twig Sticker Market, Antique Linen Distress Stickles, beads, felt, script stamp, transparency.
This was originally posted at Julie Fei-Fan Balzer‘s blog as part of handmade for the holidays series.
One of the many advantages of doing the daily diaries is that I get to see some of the patterns in my life. One thing I realized is that I definitely go through phases where I am unproductive, negative, and uninspired each month. Sometimes they last a few days, sometimes longer. But it happens each time. More significantly, it passes each time. It comes and it goes. Knowing that it will go again really helps me tackle each new one a bit more calmly. I don’t feel as desperate because I know it’s ephemeral.
I’ve been in one of these slumps lately. I feel tired and negative and sad and worn out. Even though I tell myself to rest, I scold myself for resting. For not getting things done. But alas….this too shall pass.
I must say, even in my most uninspired days, I am still exercising every day. I am still taking photos and writing my gratitude down. These things are now ingrained in me. They are not negotiable. And that makes me happy.
It also makes me happy that Nathaniel’s learned to smile at the camera. He’s going through the terrible twos lately so these photos are that much more precious to me.
I spent my day working and trying to let myself mope. Jake was home so he went to get David and it was library day so they read his book on minerals together.
Then we did some paper snowflakes. I’d been meaning to do them with him for ten days and we finally managed to do it. I followed the five point instructions here.
While mine turned out to be nothing like these amazing ones, they were cute.
Especially after I cut them down.
While I did the others, David wrote in his gratitude journal and then ate his veggies.
I did four of them and they all turned out differently as is the case with these projects.
Nathaniel was jealous so I gave him some paper and crayon and he went to town.
David then started his project of coloring/decorating them any way he wanted.
Tomorrow we hang them. I must admit doing this put me in a better mood and I feel less like the grinch. But still whiny. I am going to go work on my December Daily now and then I have more writing to do. I hope you’re less whiny than I am and having a more inspiring day.
oh and I keep forgetting to mention!! I now have a newsletter. The first one will go out on January 31. (I might do a short one for December 31, not decided yet. But definitely one for January.) My plan is that it will only be once a month. It will give you a list/summary of what’s been posted here and elsewhere. It will have som more content special to newsletter subscribers and it will have a free digital download link. That’s what I have planned so far. I might do some photography downloads, too. Like a wallpaper. Not sure yet. If you’re interested in receiving them, you can sign up on my blog, at the top of the right column. If you cannot find it, just email me (karen AT karenika DOT com) and I will sign you up. If you have ideas of things you’d like to see in the newsletter, feel free to let me know!
Also, I added an about page to the left column and I plan to add some FAQ pages, too. On my list. Oh the things on my list.
Happy night to you!
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake was home and helped me. He helped me so much both in errands and emotionally today. I love him so much, he’s my rock and my heart.
2. I am grateful that Nathaniel is ok. For one second today we were in the garage and he pulled on Jake’s laptop’s cord and the whole thing came crashing down on him. He has a small gash on his eyelid but he’s ok (thankfully!) and even though this broke Jake’s adaptor he was so kind about it and I felt so very grateful.
3. I am so grateful for kindness. For each of you leaving kind words here and emailing me and saying nice things. I feel so undeserving and yet I work hard to squash that feeling and replace it with gratitude. I am so so thankful. Thank you Marnie for doing all that reading for me and your kind kind words. And Monika for all your generosity. I am a lucky lucky girl.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a book from the library {* his pick for the journal}
2. watching TV
3. doing snowflakes with mommy
A few months ago, I made some handmade tags for Julie’s handmade for the holidays series. There were six tags and one set of downloads. I will post all of them one at a time during this week.
For all my tags I used manila tags I bought at Office Depot. You can always cut your own tag from cardstock and punch a hole as well.
Here are the steps to this simple tag:
1. Using two different shades of green distress ink, I colored the background of my tag.
2. I stamped two snowflakes to light blue paper.
3. I picked two facets and glued them on top of the snowflakes, using glossy accents, which dry completely clear.
4. I dabbed a small amount of blue and green alcohol ink on the facets to give them a blueish glow.
5. I put some baker’s twine through the holes of the facets and glued the whole thing down on my tag so they looked like dangling ornaments.
6. On the bottom of my tag, I glued a blue ribbon and put a sticker with red type on it.
7. I spelled the word “blessings” with small letter stickers on top of that.
8. Finally, I stitched all around the tag and on top of my tiny letters just to make sure they don’t fall off in the mail. I also like the texture stitching adds to my projects.
Supplies Used: Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks, Tim Holtz Idea-ology Facets, Tim Holtz Shabby Vintage Paper, The Girls’ Paperie Tinsel and Twig stamps, The Girls’ Paperie Tinsel and Twig Sticker Market, Stream and Meadow alcohol inks.
And here’s a movie where I demonstrate how I made the tag:
This was originally posted at Julie Fei-Fan Balzer‘s blog as part of handmade for the holidays series.
We had some chores lined up for today that we’d been putting off for a while. So as soon as I woke up and got over the super-tired feeling I have each morning, I drove to my local Weight Watchers and bought the new points calculator. Then we took both the kids for their haircuts. David was way overdue with sideburns that we too long. Last time, he was really upset but this time he seems to have taken it all well.
It was Nathaniel’s first time and he started by sitting on dad’s lap and did not handle it well at all. He wept and wept so I told Jake I’d have him sit on me. Which calmed him down a bit so the guy could cut.
I distracted him by spraying the water bottle so he would watch and then even laugh a tiny bit.
Thankfully, it was all pretty quick and within minutes we were back home and he was playing with David’s toys. (While Daddy did another long overdue chore of changing the carseat belt location.)
When David realized what he was playing with and took it away, we had another meltdown.
But then TV came to the rescue, of course. Nathaniel’s become quite adept with the tivo remote.
After we put Nathaniel down, David worked on his gingerbreadman chart and I did a layout for the final creative therapy of 2010.
Now I am going to work on my december daily for today and then do some preparation for 2011. I have some blog posts I need to get ready and I’ve been putting that off for a while, too. Some more snuggly time tonight with Jake and our weekend will come to an end. All in all, a magical one.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for this weekend full of creativity and family time. My two favorite things in the world. I also exercised and finished a book.
2. I am grateful that Jake will be home tomorrow which means he will help me with the kids and so I can focus better on my work.
3. I am grateful that we got so many of our long-put-off todo list items done. It feels great to have them checked off.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. coloring my gingerbread man chart {* his pick for the journal}
2. playing wii
3. getting my hair cut
I have three pages for today again. I love this pajama page so I didn’t alter it much. Just added the word-stickers.
On the back, I put the photo of me with my three boys and added the title Gilroy Gardens on top of the photo and a few more word stickers.
Second page starts with this photo of David I love.
Journaling Reads:
David, it’s likely you won’t remember tonight in a few months. But thanks to you, I will remember tonight forever. The way you screamed “awesome, awesome, awesome!!” as the train drove through tunnels tonight will remain etched in my heart for the rest of your life.
I must admit that we do a lot of these holiday events because I love them. I’ve learned a while ago that it’s best to do them for myself and if you guys like it, too, all the better. This is the only way I am always happy we went. But those times when you enjoy it just as much as I do, if not more, are the times I cherish more than anything else.
And when I look back on these days, I will not remember how tired I was or how many times you asked “how many more minutes till we’re home.” I will remember the joyful way you shouted awesome and the excitement that overcame you as you ran from one ride to another, trying to decide which one to go on first. Thank you, my son, for being my best present.
The back of that page is a photo of Nathaniel.
The third page is just a collage of all the other photos I love from the day.
More on the back.
And that’s day eleven.
I must say even though it’s simple, I love love love my December Daily already.
A LOT of photos today. A Lot! It appears these things go in waves. I just wanted them all so I couldn’t decide which ones to get rid of. In the morning, there was a lot of hugging. I love that even though he’s engrossed in his Wii, David still hugs him back and doesn’t ignore him or yell at him.
After the hug was done, Nathaniel signed “finished.” He loves signing that.
He also loves yelling and making loud noises and does them both often much to my dismay.
He’s just figured out how to sit up on the chair and loves to do it. Then yells “mama!” so I can see him up on the chair.
At 3pm, we all got in the car and drove down to Gilroy Gardens so we could see the magical lights. If you’re an old reader you might remember last year’s adventure at the park where I almost broke my nose and we had to go to the emergency room. This year, I was very careful but most importantly, it wasn’t raining. In fact it was the first time we were there ever with clear skies. And we arrived well before sunset which was wonderful cause it meant I could get some photos.
Like these of my wonderful kids.
This was the shot I wanted to take last year before I kissed the floor.
And this. See how I am in the photos more? I told you I was going to do it!
Since we’d never been there during daylight before, I wanted to take photos of the trees that make Gilroy Gardens famous. Like this one.
And this one. Isn’t it amazing that they are grown this way and not carved?
David then got to go on his first ride. Which he loved, of course.
While Nathaniel watched.
Then we stopped to eat some quick dinner. After that, we took the train and got to see the whole park. As we passed through dark and lit up tunnels, David kept shouting “awesome! awesome! awesome!” with so much jubilation that I got choked up. Those two minutes or so were worth everything to me. After the train, we went on the carousel. I love the carousel. And so does David.
I took a mirror shot. More photos with me in them!
Jake and Nathaniel sat in a couch/seat thing in front of us.
Jake and David went on race cars after that and David did a few more rides. As the final event of the night, David wanted to this water-gun-racing thing. Jake helped him.
And of course they won.
On the way out, David walked into this “little elf” hut. I know this is a imperfect photo but I love the way he looks sitting at the table so small like that. He’s so cute.
As the final act of the night, I followed through on my promise to get him a light saber. It was the first thing he asked for when we walked in and I told him we’d get one on the way out so we didn’t have to carry it the whole night. He picked a green one, of course.
Jake then drove us home safely and the kids went to bed (Nathaniel actually fell asleep in the car and didn’t even wake up when Jake carried him up to his room.) Jake and I snuggled up together and watched the first half of Eclipse. And now I am off to bed. Another magical, wonderful day when all I can think of is how grateful I am. How very blessed. I love this season so much.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went to Gilroy Gardens. Before we left, I was grouchy, I hadn’t accomplished anything, my exercise went poorly and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, but Jake encouraged me and we went. I am so so so glad we did. It was by far our best time in Gilroy Gardens ever.
2. I am grateful that I have another weekend day. I feel so relaxed and happy and I love to extend this feeling. I have a bunch more days off next week but not Monday. I have work and possibly a stressful day on Monday so I am grateful for tomorrow.
3. I am grateful that I get to play with more scrapbooking stuff tomorrow and maybe even get to work on some of my 2011 projects. And I get to do crafts with David. Yey!
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. getting a light saber {* his pick for the journal}
2. going to Gilroy Gardens
3. playing wii
