Card swap round 1, month 4

Leslie was our hostess for the last month of this round of the card kit swap. She included a variety of papers and embellishments in various themes (look! I remembered to take a picture of the kit!)

This first card isn't quite done. Everything you see is from the kit. I can't find the embellishments I want to add, but I don't, I'm sure I'll find something else to use in the stash.

Everything but the ribbon is from the kit in this next card. I cut out the words from the patterned paper and used it like the old MM Wordfetti.

I used my own card base in the next card (not that you can tell the difference from the white cardstock in the previous photo, lol). Notice a theme in my design? I think I need to branch out. I added the dots using Ranger enamel accents. I wish Ranger sold this is other colors or sold just the black separately. I'm sure I'll go through the black much faster than the white.

This last card is also all from the kit, except for the "celebrate" rubon from American Crafts. I had a heck of a time getting the rubon to stick. I'm not sure if it was because my rubon is so old or the texture/finish of the cardstock repelled the rubon. I would have gone to punched letters, but I was too lazy to dig out my

I think I need to make one more card so I can make use of the pink buttons Leslie included.

Since Leslie doesn't have a blog, I've included them here.

Here are Susan's cards. And Katie's cards. Stop by their blogs and leave them a little comment love.

We'll have some new swappers joining us for the next round and I'm busy putting together the kits. I didn't make my goal of not being the last to post my cards, but at least I did it before the end of the month.

One box gone

I made a trip to the post office yesterday to mail my cards to Operation Write Home. I didn't make as many as I had hoped so I only had 50 to send (that's over a year's worth of cardmaking). But at least I made one goal for the year. Maybe I can send another box before the end of the year.

Verification

Sorry to announce that I've added word verification to comments. I dislike having to decipher the codes and assume you do too. But there's been a ton of spam comments on my blog and I need to stop them somehow.

Operation Write Home Card Drive

One of my 2013 goals is to send a box of cards to Operation Write Home before the postage increase and OWH giving me a reminder:

Free download: Dave Ramsey's Guide to Budgeting

My first finance post of the new year...here's a free download to Dave Ramsey's Guide to Budgeting. I don't know if this download is always available or if this is a one-time offer, so if you're interested, I suggest downloading it now.1

Hello 2013!

Two thousand thirteen? Twenty thirteen? The bigger question is where did 2012 go? I'm not big on resolutions, goal setting, or making big plans for the year. I did have some career goals for last year and they fell by the wayside. No worries about work; they were personal career goals and had the potential for taking me in a different direction. I'm still mulling over what I want to do when I grow up.

I considered choosing One Little Word, getting a new planner (decided I didn't want to spend the $), and not saying anything publicly about this year's goals. But I think a little public accountability could be motivating, so here are my goals/ideas/hopes for 2013.

Blogging:

• Blog more often and more regularly.
• Blog more about finances. This is one of my secret passions and I think I need to bring it to the forefront.

Health:

• I still have the same pesky five pounds that I've been trying to lose for the past several years. At least it isn't ten, like some years. So I'd like to lose those last five, forever!
• Walk more often. Maybe I'll start walking at lunch again. Or maybe I can get Mr. Fix-It to walk with me after dinner. Of course, that means I'd have to get home at a decent hour, not 8:00 pm as happens all too often.
• Eat more fruit and vegetables. We probably don't eat enough fruit (we eat plenty of vegetables; today was a meat-free day) and I'd like to experiment with different vegetables.
•  Maybe join a gym? There is a women's-only boot camp down the street that looks interesting. Or go back to the yoga studio I used to attend. Of course, that means I'd have to find the time and money for either one.

Home and Finances:

• Save more $. Oh my. This could be a blog post or two or three by itself. More on that later.
• Live off the the SNAP allotment for a month. But I need to figure out what it would be first.
• Do another round of 100 things. Maybe even two.

Of course, there are several for scrapbooking/crafts:

• Send a box of cards to Operation Write Home before postage goes up later this month.
• Sell enough of my stash to pay for whatever I buy this year. Unfortunately, I'm off to a bad start since the LSS is having a clearance sale and I special ordered something for organization.
• Finish the wreath I started last month.
• Be a better swap hostess (don't the be last to finish and post my cards).
• Apply for a design team. I miss the comradery of being on a team and the push to create. I applied for a team last year and obviously didn't make it.
• Submit a card or layout for publication or contest. That might help with the previous bullet.

Feel free to nag me or ask for an update. I could use the push!

Card swap month 3 - Leslie's cards

Here are photos Leslie sent me for December's card swap:

And here's a close-up of each of them:

Thanks for playing and I can't wait to receive your card kit.

Card swap month 3

I'm finally posting my cards for December's card swap. (I'm a bad swap hostess since we're supposed to post our cards by the end of the month and I'm usually the last to post.) December's hostess was Katie and she sent an awesome batch of goodies. I finally remembered to take a picture before I tore into everything, unlike previous months.

See that yummy paper in the upper right corner? It was so pretty, I couldn't cut into it, but I hope to do it justice soon. I've got a few ideas floating in my head.

My first card was 95% from the kit. That crushed velvet ribbon is so pretty! The only addition was the rhinestones in the upper corner. Katie did include some that were the perfect size, but I decided I wanted them in color and then when I found these square ones in my stash, I liked how they played off of the grid pattern on the paper.

For my second card, I added the Prima flowers(that red flower looks pink in person, really!). I was going for a pseudo fireworks effect. The embossing was from a Quickutz die.

My last card (and favorite) was all from the kit except for the stamp, which is from Papertry Ink. I had a little trouble with the vellum butterfly sticker and ended up placing it on some cardstock and then cutting it out.

Here are Susan's cards. You can see the beautiful blue paper there.
Here are Katie's cards. Check out all those Spanish sayings. ¡bellísimo

It was another great month! January is the last month for this group. We should be getting our supplies from Leslie soon. I will be opening up the swap again in February and will have multiple groups if there is enough interest. Let me know and you'll get first crack at a spot.

Happy New Year!

This usually is the time when bloggers reflect on the past year and set new goals for the new year. And I've got lots of thoughts on both, but just haven't gotten around to putting them down in words. I'll just say that 2012 passed too quickly and I think I need be more mindful in 2013. And thankful. Thankful for you, my faithful blog readers (all six of you, lol), and thankful for good neighbors. They sent over these treats earlier today; they're filled with red bean paste, yummy!