Template 52, Scrapping News, and Some Projects

Life's been crazy busy as always! Until tonight, I hadn't scrapped at all this week. I've been busy trying to get things ready for Emma's birthday party - which includes a much-needed hosing down of the apartment. Well ok, I didn't actually use a hose...but I've been cleaning like crazy. And taking frequent breaks to rest because I physically can't handle as much as I normally could. 3rd tri will do that. And it seems like as soon as I clean something, it magically gets dirty again! Frustrating! I just cleaned the sink again (for the 2nd time in as many days) and it already needs cleaning again. Gyah. At least I like the smell of my cleaner!

But first, remember the Super Scrappin' 7 challenge from my previous post? (If not, scroll down.) Well, those who completed the challenge got entered into a drawing to win a $7 gift certificate at godigitalscrapbooking.com - and I WON!!!!! I'm SO excited!! I NEVER win these things!! There are so many for-purchase kits I'm drooling over but could never justify with my budget. To be honest, I've paid for ONE kit in the year I've been digiscrapping and I had a very specific need for it. But now I get to pick $7 worth of goodies to buy! Yay! Of course now the problem is, what do I get? I have to be VERY selective. Ah, decisions decisions. Good thing I have till the end of the year to make my choice!

Speaking of GDS, it is with a heavy heart that Kimi's Kreations is closing her store and retiring from designing - at least for now. See her blog for further explanation. I completely understand and support her reasons 100%, but I don't feel it is my place to explain them:)

The good news, however, is that her entire store is 50% off until November 30th. Her DSD grab bag is open and individual pieces are now for sale. Check out these awesome goodies over at her store.

Speaking of open grab bags, geniaBeana's is open now, too. Check it out over at her GDS and Elemental Scraps stores. Lots of cute stuff, so be sure to check it out!

So what have I been up to this week? Other than cleaning, that is? I've had a few projects to do. In order to clean, I had to put my sewing machine away - but I still had things I needed to use it for. So I finished up those little projects and put my sewing machine back in its little cabinet. None of the sewing projects are photo-worthy; just hemming John's jeans, sewing a button back on his suit (well, that didn't require the machine, but it still needed doing), mending some holes...you know, boring stuff. Like I said, not really photo-worthy. But now it's all done:)

I also got to do a couple of craft projects. We made some cute letter blocks at Relief Society this week using paints, scrapbook paper, and modge podge. Mine turned out really cute (please ignore the ugly flash-on-TV-screen):


Then, I made a birthday crown for Emma. I totally stole the idea from a couple of my BAM friends:) They sewed theirs - I cheated and used my neighbor's hot glue gun instead:D It was way easier and more in my skill range. Had I tried to sew it, the 2 would have been horribly crooked, and I'd have been insanely frustrated with the whole thing. No, glue was a better choice for me:) Didn't it turn out super cute?


And as you can see from that pic, I wrapped some birthday presents as well. I love wrapping presents! It's so fun. I'm excited to start wrapping the Christmas gifts. One of those is John's birthday present, since his birthday is only 8 days after Emma's. The rest of Emma's gifts are still in the mail (aren't grandmas the best?).

On Friday night, John and I rearranged our living room. As it was, there was no way we could comfortably fit everyone we'd invited to Emma's birthday party. Heck, we're still not sure just how comfortable it will be with that many guests anyway! We wanted to invite way more people, but it just wasn't feasible in our tiny 600 square foot apartment. But anyway, we LOVE the new arrangement. It really opened up the space! Of course, I didn't think to take a before pic (I never do until AFTER the fact), but basically the table and couch were switched. Here's how it looks now:


Oh, if you're wondering about the piano on the table...we're borrowing it from John's sister Jessica since he's in a piano class this semester. I'll be honest; I can't wait for the semester to end so we can give it back! We just don't have the space for something like that. We move it to eat, of course, but it ends up on our bed...or the kitchen counter...yeah, I want to give it back now! I think I'm going to put a blanket over that ugly treadmill in the corner, too.

And now for a couple of scrapping projects I did tonight. I made a new FHE chart! Yes, I already had one, but I was really getting sick of it. My scrapping has improved SO much since then. Plus, I wanted to add a couple more categories. I also redid the little magnets. Instead of random papers with our names written on them, we now have pictures! But I'll spare you those;) After all, they're pics I've already scrapped with anyway. Here's the new chart:

Credits:
Doodlebug, Kimi's Kreations (full kit and add on)

I also made a new clean or dirty sign for the dishwasher. The original magically disappeared one day. Methinks a little fairy named Emma threw it away...she kept pulling it off the dishwasher to play with it. She loves to throw away "garbage," after all. (99% of the time she only throws away actual garbage, but every now and then we catch her throwing away something that is NOT garbage.) I'm going to have John get it laminated at school tomorrow. That way, when Emma plays with it, she won't be able to bend it as easily. Hopefully she'll leave this one alone...but I doubt it. In any case, I wanted to make a new one regardless, so it's no big deal. Here's the new one:

Credits:
Hoo's My Boy, Kimi's Kreations and geniaBeana Scraps
Bark alpha, geniaBeana Scraps
Best First Date Ever, Kimi's Kreations
Gratitude, Kimi's Kreations
Rainy Days, MeganB Designs
Down by the Lily Pad, A Work in Progress

I have a new template to share today, too! Template 52 is a single page, 12x12" 300 DPI template in PSD format. It's based off the first of Emma's 2 Month pages. Here's the preview:


You can download it here.

Aaaand I should go to bed. I've got a busy day ahead of me: visiting teaching, grocery shopping (last minute items for Emma's party on Tuesday), more cleaning, and family home evening. It's gonna be busy!!