DT Application

I applied to the DT (Design Team, for those of you not immersed in the scrappin' world...) for a stamp manufacturer called Inque Boutique. They were specifically looking for scrapbookers who stamp, and I've considered myself a "stampbooker" for most of my paper-lovin' "career", so I applied. No idea if I'm what they are looking for. I enjoyed the challenge anyway. I worked really hard to coalesce my style, represent it well, and still show that I understand a few things about design, like color theory and symmetry, and the visual triangle and stuff like that.

Here are my entries. They wanted 3 layouts, preferably multi-photo, and they wanted their stamps on the layouts. That's pretty much all I used.

I'll find out Monday if I made the cut. I'll let you know....

a few thoughts on friendship...

The prompt for today on 2peas is to blog about your thoughts on friendship. This struck a chord for me.

What I want most from a friendship would best be described as equality and balance, tempered with loyalty. Meaning that you give as good as you get--that you give as much as you take from me. And you speak with me honestly and openly as I will speak with you--without judgement, and that you keep my secrets as well as I keep yours. This hasn't always happened for me; I value it so much more when I find it.

That's really all I have off the top of my head. Seems simple enough---it's basically the "golden rule." 'Nuff said.

Not quite the other side, but close enough.

Link to MiniBook

HERE at my 2peas gallery.

Enjoy!

Hey Look! I made Stuff!

It's been a blurry couple of weeks. I designed a quick make-and-take project for over 100 women for the store's "Designing Desserts" (a customer appreciation event) that was held on November 8th. I also finished up 4 out of the 5 ornaments for my December Christmas Ornaments papercrafting class (also for the store) and made 3 different MiniBooks for my November Paper School class. I then taught a Christmas Card Bar class (for myself--I teach a papercrafting class once a month here in town) on November 10th. I had to have 125 Christmas cards as pre-made as possible so that those taking my class just had to put the cards together. I also made 3 different tote bags for the school craft fair (The craft fair was November 16 and 17...the bags were my own design, for my etsy shop that I'll get up and running before the end of the year) under my Cerulean Blue Goods label, designed my new business cards, designed my own CD Case calendar ('cause I didn't want to sell the Blueprint one at the school craft fair), {TOTAL SIDE NOTE: my good friend printed my cards and calendar for me--so if you live in the area, go to Alphagraphics for all your printing needs. He's done a bunch of things for me, and always does great work!} made 2 reversible aprons (also for the Cerulean Blue line, also for the school craft fair), and did the planner masters for next year's planners--both the portrait orientation (which I prefer) and the landscape orientation (which other people like). And I made the coolest MiniBook I've ever made--for a class I call "A Little Bit Me." (I'll get you a link after I post it to 2peas--there are a lot of pictures!) I've also started rehearsals for our big, annual Christmas Fireside concert for church, which I am the Assistant Director for (and have a solo in this year as well). Whew! Then it was Thanksgiving. And I worked the whole time as well.

Pictures of the goodies to follow--um maybe. Blogger seems to be acting up....

LOOK! It's my first digital scrapbook page! Thanks to PSE 5.0...

And I need to make my class kits for the two classes I'm teaching on Saturday at Stampin'Cat. Which means I really don't have the time to blog right now (shh! don't tell on me!) I'll try one more time, then I'll just have to post it later....Bye!

Some Yummy Thriftiness!

Found these at Goodwill on Saturday. The green/coral/turquoise vintage fabric will probably be an apron for me. The stripey fabric I'm not sure yet. The bowl is just going to sit around my crafting space and look pretty. I LOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEE that bowl! If anyone out there knows what the makers mark "RP" means, let me know! (that's the only mark I could find on the bowl)

Smiles to all!

Found Jill!

Not that she was lost....

Jill

I've been having some fun thinking of all the things I could PIF you guys!

One of the good things...

about having a full-time job is the ability to get this:

Yep...after futzing around with old, used models, this bad boy is on it's way to my house as we speak. I can hardly wait. Sometimes, I'm a little giddy when I think about it.

And lest you think I've lost my frugal ways, I'll be selling off the extra pieces of the older model I have now on eBay. Heck, my mixer base just needs a $40 part. I saw a mixer base that DIDN'T EVEN WORK!!! sell on eBay for over $50 (before shipping!!!) so mine that works (but needs the part that makes the blender spin) should sell just fine. Plus I have an extra dough hook. EVERYONE needs an extra dough hook! That should knock down the price to the $300 I'd budgeted for it. maybe even $250.

I can smell the bread baking already!

PIF Winners

Here's to Allanna, Aimeslee, and Jill (Jill, I couldn't find your blog) who will get the PIF. I'll be emailing you to get your addys. You could also email me at DianneKNelson (at) yahoo (dot) com with that same info!

Congrats guys! Let me know your favorite colors!

Blog PIF

So I followed a link from Ali's blog to Molly Irwin's blog that led to this: a Blog PIF! I love the idea, and I love the freedom to send out a giftie in the next year. Gives me something to look forward to once the crush of the holiday season is passed. I'll follow the same guidelines--the first 3 commenters will get the PIF, the PIF will be hand-made--but not necessarily paper, and those that comment pledge to send their PIF to people who comment on their blogs. So here goes!

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Enjoy! I know that I will!

So many thoughts, so little time...

Hello faithful blog readers!

It is the eve of my first free Saturday since sometime in August, and I am taking the time to write a little blog post to anyone out there who's reading. I have so much in my head "write" now, so much that I sincerely hope that it tumbles out with some semblance of order and sense.

I'm working full time. It's a big change for me. I've been at home for the last (about) four and half years. I'm working in a preschool/day care center that is housed in a local elementary school. So we get a lot of siblings, and a lot of what we call "kindergarten wrap-arounds" (which are kids that are in our program half a day and in kindergarten the other half, and usually then after school for about 3 hrs or so until 5:30, when we close). It's really made me re-examine my own parenting, as well as my thoughts/opinions on parenting and families and such.

First let me stress that these are my opinions, not judgements. I personally feel that it's really unfair to judge anyone--and as soon as you (I) do, than you'll be held up to the same measuring stick for some judging of your own. Essentially, what I am seeing as I nurture and parent these 4 and 5 year olds for some 8+ hours a day is that the family is falling apart and it's hurting kids in ways we can't even fathom yet. Most of our kids are coming from single parent families--and a lot of those are just barely getting through traumatic separations. I know that these single moms are doing the best they can with what they've got. I'm glad to help them and support them where I can. But I see the other end of things for those 8+ hours a day. Kids so distracted and agitated that they can't focus on anything for even 10 minutes. Kids who are afraid that we are going to leave them on the playground and leave them behind and silently cry or quake with fear at the drop of a hat. Kids who think nothing of hitting, pushing, shoving, punching in the face, or elbowing to get their way or get the toy they want or to simply assert their control over another person (and let me say that sometimes the one pushing and elbowing is my own child as well....). Kids who are simply defiant. It's tough. I don't have answers. I just know that these kids are reacting more to their home life and home situations than their parents probably realize.

I learn new things every day about improving my parenting. I work with a wonderful gal who's done this job for 15 years (I sometimes think of her in my head as "the child whisperer") and I've learned a lot. If you are looking for help in your parenting, I can recommend some great books---"Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelson (I first read this during a college classroom management class) and "Raising Self-Reliant Children in Self-Indulgent World" by H. Stephen Glenn. These are fabulous books that won't make you feel guilty about your parenting. Plain, honest language that will give you more tools for your parenting toolbox.

This job has humbled me in many ways as well. I'm grateful that I'm not a single mom. I have nothing but respect and admiration for those that are. I see moms every day that are doing the very best with what they have. I also have learned that for me, and for my family, things are better when I am at home. I am planning to work full-time through the rest of the school year, but next year, when C. is in kindergarten, I am only working part-time. I'm going to be home when he's home. I try not to think about the fact that I'm not there when my kids are home from school. It breaks my heart a little.

Lots more thoughts are tumbling around, like "why didn't we avoid the financial choices that put us here in the need for me to work...." and "wow, I always said that I could never do daycare, but yet that's pretty much what I am doing. How Ironic..." to "I have so many books and stories running around in my head and heart---I think it's finally time to discipline myself to write them down like I always wanted to do" to "I am happier when I am in a creative job, or at least have the time weekly to have a creative outlet" to "I love to sing! My concert was fabulous! I need to sing more!" and a really big one that I'd love to talk about, but it's pretty raw: for no reason I can fathom, my very best friend is no longer talking to me. Not in person, not on the phone, and not via email. She never showed for appointments we had, and she just stopped answering the phone one day, and never returned my calls and (and we used to talk several times a day...and get together in person at least once a week) It hurts a lot and I don't know what to do about it.

and so on...

Let me just sum this up like this: I wish all of the moms out there, single or not, working outside the home or inside the home, I wish you all peace of mind. I wish you contentment. I wish you support for your choices. I wish you best friends. I wish you the things you wish for. (and I wish the Dads the same things...)

Good night!

Look at Me!

Sweet Home Gala

This is me! I'm singing here in a couple of weeks. They spelled my name wrong in this press release, but there I am!

Guess I'd better practice....

Hello Little Blog...

I know you've been neglected....

I could go on and on about how busy I've been, but truthfully, in this age of Instant Everything, we are all busy.

I could say that I've been too tired to blog, but again, we are all tired because we are all busy.

I could regale you with tales from my workplace, but since my work revolves around 3, 4, and 5 year olds, it's not pretty. And sometimes it smells.

Just know that I'm writing blog posts in my head and I'm practicing saying "no" to all the extra things in my life that I haven't had to say "no" to for the past 3 years or so (once C was past his first year of life, the year we refer to now as "The Year of Not Sleeping") because I had the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom. And eventually, I'll carve out the time to put them here where they belong.

Or else I'll forget them entirely. And then I'll write something else. Eventually

You Know You've Been Blogging When....

So I'm working on a mini-album for my class this last Saturday. It was a "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" class, and focused on making an album map for a theme album. Since we didn't really vacation this year, I chose to do my album on the trip that DH and I took to Boston last May. (scroll down for Boston posts).

The point to this post? I'm writing out my journaling, and every time I come to a key place as I wrote, I found myself wanting to put in hyperlinks.....

Let's Create a Personal Day!

Wouldn't it be great if we could have the power to add another day to the week? Or just stop the world around us long enough to get a little more caught up? I'm so wishing I had a day just for me. A day where I didn't have to meet anyone's deadlines but my own. That way, I'd have clean clothes in my closet (instead of in stinky piles around our family office) and I'd be caught up in projects for my classes at Stampin'Cat. (How nice would THAT be? Instead of trying to do my projects in a semi-lit classroom during "rest time", racing to finish it before my class on Saturday, I'd just turn in a finished sample a month before the class is scheduled. Ah, what quiet bliss!)

Or, instead of rushing around trying to get caught up, I'd just sleep all day....and then I'd sleep some more.

And that's the other side.

Back to the proverbial grindstone

So I've started working full time again. I haven't worked full time in about 4 years. I taught preschool 4 years ago when I was pregnant with C. I'm working again for the same company in almost the same situation--a preschool/care center in a local elementary school. On one hand, I'm glad for a job where I don't have to pay extra for care for C. On the other hand, there are a lot of reasons I liked/chose/wanted to be a SAHM. But little luxuries like food and the power bill got in the way of those.

My plate is extremely full right now. We are going to be in transition for a few weeks while we get used to Mom being gone. And I'm going to have to be extra efficient to get everything done that I need to get done. (If there are other mothers working outside the home, you know exactly what I'm talking about). We have a new dog in our home (not the best time to get a dog, but when you are given a bichon frise--purebred--the very dog you've wanted for years, you say "yes!"). I am managing the music for our church worship services, leading the choir, and leading the music at our main meeting. I'm still teaching 2-3 classes at Stampin'Cat a month, teaching my own class once a month at the community room at Ray's grocery store, and getting the kids to TaeKwonDo a couple of times a week, plus homework for a 7th and 3rd grader, plus Cub Scouts, and so on and so on. I've discovered that I need a little more quick things in my pantry so we can still eat as a family each day. I don't have time to make my own chicken broth, I need it in a can.

Still, I feel strongly that this is the right job for me right now. I've been praying that the right job would come along so that I could make a positive financial impact on my family's finances. I didn't want a job working minimum wage where the government would take, oh let's say $2 of my $7.50 an hour wage (the minimum here in Oregon), childcare would take $4 of it, leaving me with only $1.50 per hour to show for my work. This is definitely the job I was supposed to have. We've set a goal to be free of consumer debt in 5 years (just in time to send J to college!). I created a lot of that consumer debt with my different "jobs" (see here and here) so I really feel like it's only fair to help out. Plus the economy right now is killing us. We re-did our budget recently and found out taht 4 years ago, we paid $50 a paycheck for gas for two weeks for two cars--now, with the SAME cars, we pay close to $200 a paycheck for gas for two weeks. Milk is nearly $3 a gallon--and we drink a lot more of it now. It's just harder to make those elusive ends meet. So I've gone back to work, to a job I had before and like, with people I worked with before and liked, and my only real "perk" is that I don't have to pay a penny for C's care. That's huge! I know that my Heavenly Father is watching out for me right now. And I need the help!

Here's to the Mom's out there who work outside their homes! I know what a juggling act you do each day, and I salute you!

The Power of Paper

I had a wonderful "grandma" aged gal take my "Holiday Memories" book last November at Stampin'Cat tell this story at one of my classes this summer. She made the book for her 15 yo granddaughter. Earlier this year (late spring or early summer) this dgd had a big fight with her parents and decided to leave home. She'd made her grand exit, complete with door slamming and stomping off when she suddenly turned around, slammed her way back inside the house grabbed the scrapbook her grandmother gave her (the small "Holiday Memories" book) and then stomped and slammed out again.

"That's when I knew she'd be back" said her grandmother.

I love that a little paper combined with the time to lovingly create something has so much power.

I don't think that counts....

4 yo DS takes all his clothes off and starts running through the house.

Mom sees him and asks, "Are you nakey?!?!"

4 yo covers up in front and answers, "I not nakey, I have hands!"

(enjoy the laugh for the day!)

LOVE this book!

THIS BOOK is one of the coolest things I've read w/my 4 yo in a long time. It's wonderful on so many developmental levels! You can work on colors, animal names/recognition/sounds, as well as short term memory. On top of all that, it's just plain fun! I know what's going under the tree this Christmas! (We found ours at the library if you wanted to give it a test run...check your local library) Or you can follow the link and support an extraordinary Oregon bookstore.

Thank You Laurel Thatcher Ulrich!

12 yo DD reading a bumper sticker as we drive down I-205:

"Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History. *giggle* *pause* I could make history!"

She didn't realize I heard her. I say, "Go For It!"

Oh Max!

Attention all Max and Ruby devotees! This one's for you!

On the table, a pitcher of Crystal Light Lemonade. Four-year-old C asks in hushed and reverential (but excited) tones, "Is that....Lemonade!?!?"

"Yes," I answer, wondering what all the fuss is about. "Do you want some?"

"OH YES!" He sips his glass and then says, "Is that a hint of mint?"

He drinks again and says, "Delicious!"