Living Intentionally

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To live with intention.  To be proactive rather than reactive.  


I'm not a natural planner, more of a "wing and a prayer" type, so my last few months of attempting to plan, be proactive and get organized have been a series of hits and misses.  Made some routine checklists, but have only  been slightly effective at implementing them. (Mostly a miss.)  Tracking what I eat and how much I exercise, every day! (Hit! Yay!)  Writing a budget, coming close to sticking to it. (Mostly a hit!)  Keeping my kitchen, bathroom and living room de-cluttered, well, the bathroom is clean. (Half and half.) Finishing my to-do list for promotion at work, every day! (Another hit, Whoop!)


Even though I've made some good progress, I find it so easy to get derailed and disheartened by the things I haven't yet succeeded at.  Thankfully, I have some amazing people in my life to keep me moving and motivated!  My best friend recently relayed a story to me from a blog she had read.  The woman in the blog talked about how she didn't like who she was, (prior to a weight-loss), and that now she knows who she is and likes herself.  Both my best friend and I are on a quest to be healthier people.  Losing weight is a nice side-effect, but we both just want long, healthy and happy lives.  


I like who I am, and even if I stayed at this weight, this level of organization, unable to quite stick to a budget or keep my house clean, I will still love myself.  My goal to be more proactive, organized and healthy isn't going to be measured solely in quantifiable ways, but in the added enjoyment I find from having an extra hour from my planning to spend with my daughter, or an extra $20 for a trip to the zoo, the extra energy I have to play outside with my family from eating healthy and exercising.

~ Liz

Frugal Papercrafting

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably have felt the effects of the down economy this past year. And if you scrapbook, make cards or other papercrafts, you KNOW what an expensive hobby it can be! It can be overwhelming to walk into a craft store on a budget and try to walk out with everything you need for your project without breaking that budget.

Here is a recipe for a 12x12 twenty page scrapbook album that is so gorgeous, no one will believe you only spent $20!!

Supplies:

"Claire"* 12x12 Paper Pad (24pgs) $9.99

"Claire"* Designer Brads $3.99

"Claire"* Diecut Designs $2.99

5 sheets Gray Cardstock $1.25

5 sheets Cream Cardstock $1.25

1 sheet Chocolate Cardstock $0.25

TOTAL $19.72

Now I'm assuming that you already own adhesive, a paper trimmer, and archival pens, so their cost isn't figured in to the above supplies, but you will need them to make this project!

Buying supplies that are specifically created to coordinate will save you time and money. How often have you come home from the craft store with what you thought were the perfect red rhinestones, only to discover that they are three shades different from your cardstock? When you buy products from the same line, you are guaranteed they will compliment each other.

The trick to using only the above supplies to create the following beautiful twenty pages is to cut frugally and SAVE your scraps! I essentially used every square inch of each piece of paper by the time I was finished.

Take a look at the slide show below; all twenty pages created for ONLY $20!

*"Claire" is one of SEI's current paper lines. If you are interested in purchasing the products depicted or any other SEI products, please let me know!

~ Liz

Nonstop.

Well good grief! It's taking my poor little Mac fourteen years to upload photos of my latest work onto Picasa... This is probably due to the rather unreliable satellite internet I'm resigned to use out here in Hicktown USA. Granted, I am undeniably grateful for the satellite internet, as for years we've only had access to AOL. Bleh. I had given up ever using the internet from the house until the satellite came along. Here are a few pictures of my latest projects:

A bright and cheery summertime layout with a pull tag, raised elements, coaster tags, and a slide in frame.


This one is a fall-ish layout, I love the little bird, and creams and browns are my favorites right now.


This "Greatest Mom" chipboard frame turned out so beautifully! The color in this photo is a little off though, the greens are more grassy.



The three lunch bag scrapbooks I made yesterday. I love how much color you can pack into them and they are the perfect size for a brag book!

I've been working nonstop for the last week or so, attempting to build up my inventory. I have a few craft shows/bazaars coming up this season, and I'm trying to get enough put together to have a decent looking display :) Since most of the work I do is custom, I don't often have many "take and go" type projects so I'm concentrating on that. I will also have some of my custom work on display, hopefully to generate more interest/sales there.

Now if I can just get my Etsy store to take off.... I'm working out a swap to get some graphic design pieces done, I'd rather pay/trade someone who already has the programs available, than have to buy a design program or go borrow a computer that has one available to do it myself. It's been so long since I've tried to use a design program, it would take me more hours than it was worth :) So hopefully this trade works out and I get some great branding for my business :)

Order a custom Christmas photo card set from me, get a $10 gift certificate for use in my shop!

~Liz~