Help [ME] Ronda

My December Daily & RAK

Can you believe December is here?  I have my December Daily ready to go.  Just finishing up the last couple of foundation pages.  I made two covers using the Countdown to Christmas kit from Cocoa Daisy.  I have a feeling i know which one i will use. 

   




I have punched the holes & added them to my album.  I am so ready for this year.  It will be complete!!! I had fun creating the title pages.  You know me, heavy on the technique.  I also added in some Living Room Floor numbers/tags.  You can spot some number ones on pages 5, 11, & 15.  I have a bunch more waiting to fill up my pages. 

And guess what, you could have some too!  I have a RAK (Random Acts of Kindness...prize drawing) for one of you from the Living room floor.  A gift certificate for $25.  All you have to do is leave a comment by 11 pm Dec 1st.  I will draw a random winner & post it on December 2nd. 

Peace & Love,

it's beginning to look a lot like...

Winter.  Winter Magpie that is.  Cocoa Daisy's December kit. 

Lexi leaves me little facebook notes of love on my wall.  The other day she jacked my phone, took a picture of us, and posted it on my facebook wall with the caption "My lovely daughter & me."  Sneaky Sneaky she is.  Love that aqua cardstock but didn't want it too glaringly bright so i added some Mister Huey White & Dark on the background. 

Can you see why this room makes me so giddy?  Detail pictures coming later this week!  Loving grey cardstock.  I think it is in a race for second place with Kraft cardstock.  So yummy.  The tiny rips are held together by the tiny attacher.  Really digging the pink paislee parisian stamps. 

Memories of Homemade cocoa from my childhood still stick with me.  Love that my kids now request it at the slightest drop of temperature.  I use the Hersey's Cocoa Recipe with some slight modifications....vanilla sugar.  Vanilla sugar is simply granulated sugar with vanilla beans.  I keep a container of it right next to the regular sugar.  It adds the pefect touches to those sweet treats!  Check out the mica border around the cocoa picture.  i am pretty pleased with it.  Sparkly!

 ok these next 3 are actually from the November kit.  I realized i hadn't posted them yet.  This was for my crop challenge of using dinner plates for inspiration.  Love the paint in the background. 

This one was for the crop as well, a CD music challenge.  I cannot believe i got to hold a sea turtle.  I need to add that to my life list so i can cross it off.  Lots of painty & misty goodness in the background.

This last one i am sure you are saying, its that your's ronda???  No mists, no spray, no mess?  Yes it is mine.  The challenge was for a "clean" layout.  I cannot tell you how hard it was for me.  Emily had to hold my hand through it and she even slapped it a couple times when i reached for the mists & paint brushes.  I am please with how it turned out.  I think it still looks like me. 

yesterday i...

I made two pies.   One french silk pie using this recipe from Martha Stewart.  Just the filling part.  I have my own pie crust recipe.  The other one is a pumpkin pie using Paula Deen's recipe with some tweeks.  I cut down on the cream cheese & added more pumpkin.  I also added & uped the spices, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp cloves.  I also made a pumpkin cheese cake roll.  it is so so good & my favorite.  I love baking & being in the kitchen.  Andrew so generously took the photographs of me working, while i took the pie shots.  So happy to have my story documented.

Scrumptious Love

Happy Thanksgiving

Today

i woke up with the pups snuggled up against me

i have been weighed down by work stress, eager to get things off my desk

i realized i need a better schedule for what i do, better time management

Andy worked on his honey do list with a little over a week left here

the kids came home from school excited to not go back until monday

i chatted with a dear friend who gave me some great feedback & let me share my worries

i booked tickets for CHA winter

i made some lists to unclog my brain & to get things checked off, it's amazing what a little check mark can do for my mood

i know a bath is in order for tonight

i made roasted red pepper soup & some homemade chicken salad with apple chunks

i remembered to breathe

Yes to Me

I have deadlines & commitments.  I have so much to do.  BUT i know i have to say yes to me every now and then.  Self Care before Self Destruct.  So i finally looked at that stack of art journals in progess and finished one.  I placed a little reminder in the center so i know that i can take a day for me! 

and since i took a day for me, i am granting you permission as well.  You can use the lines, "Sorry dear but Ronda gave me the day off.  I think i am going to _____________" (shop? read? do nothing?).  It covers it all!!!

Self Love

Dark & Difficult Times

Things you should know before going to a midnight premier.

• There will be lines.  You may be sitting, you may be standing.  It's all part of the experience.  So bring comfy shoes. 
• People will be in said lines at 4 in the afternoon for a midnight showing.  No joke. We usually get there sometime around 7 pm.  Our theater has lines outside until the recent movies have cleared out and then we move inside for more lines. 
• People tend to dress up for fantasy/sci-fi movie genres.  I've seen it with the Twilight Series & the Harry Potter Series.  Anthony actually dressed up when he was 6 or so with the second movie.  The kid looked so much like a little Harry Potter.  It's cool to see what costume people picked & how elaborate the costumes can be.
• Games are a must.  Chatter ensues.  You just need something to pass the time. 
• People really get into the movie.  These are the diehards so they know all the details about the movies &/or books.  They cheer.  They clap.  Its almost like a broadway play.  There is the whole interaction with the movie screen.  I dig it.  i mean everything in life should be celebrated with this kind of enthusiams. 

I really enjoyed Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, pt 1.  Its deliciously dark, scary... i mean jump out of your seats during some parts, and quite a bit of funny.  They did a good job of bringing in all those little missing pieces from the previous movies.  About 3/4 of the book was covered in this film so the next one should be rich in details.  Tell me what you think!

days go by

2 weeks.

That's all that left.  2 weeks. 

Andy is set to depart to Doha, Qatar on Dec. 2nd.  He actually starts his job on the 5th.  No we won't see him for Christmas.  In fact the most likely time we will get to see him next is somewhere between 3 to 6 months.   He has been home since November working hard on a honey don't leave me list.   We suddenly realized that it just two weeks away.  We still need to get things pack up & sent there for him.  We have lists to go over about the house, the car, & all the little things he does that add up to a lot of things.  The kids are ok.  Lexi is a mess just thinking about it.  She is very upset by the idea of "daddy" not being around.  Anthony says "I don't know how i feel about it, he hasn't left yet."  and me....well truth be told i try not to think about it.  When i do i cry.  Maybe i should just let go & cry a bit and quit holding it all in.  I know things will work out.  I know we find ways to make it work.  I know its the next big adventure for our family.  I can so many positive aspects to this move.  There is just one big thing right now for me....I am going to miss him & snuggling in his arms.  You can't quite do that on skype. 

Love

Counting it Down

 


This is what i am working on this week.  I am so excited i can hardly stand it.  This year will be the year i finish my December Daily/Journal your christmas.  I always start them but sadly don't finish them.  This year is different because i am taking a page from the incredible Ali and prepping before hand.  She is too right...i have way to much going on during December to try to create the whole album then.  I am building my foundation now and i am using my Cocoa Daisy Countdown to Christmas Kit. It comes with an 8x8 7 gypsies album that already has some great cream pages as a base i can build upon. 

I like combining the two projects because i love Shimelle's prompts.  They generate so much thoughts & feelings into my December Daily.  The cool thing is once you purchase the class, the following years are free.  This is my 4th year (I think).  Love it.

I have purchased Ali's December Daily 6x8 Overlays from Designer Digitals.  I haven't decided if they are going to be for my photos, my journaling, or both.   We will see what comes when i start digging into it.  I just knew they were too cool to pass up.

Peace & Love

Ferris Bueller you're my hero

I usually try to take off during the weekends.  I am getting better at shutting the craftroom door and doing other things like hanging with the family.  There are a few weekends that slip in here or there but i admit i do love them.  The online crop at Cocoa Daisy was this past weekend.  It was a blast....lots of laughter, lots of inspiration, lots of prizes, and to be honest lots of work....planning, organizing, running, etc.  So i am taking today, Monday, off.  Andy & I are going to go play, hang out, and just be.

While i am out playing, here's how i put together the above Christmas Banner using Lily Bee Christmas Town & October Afternoon Very Mery lines.  I created it for the Cocoa Daisy Crop knowing i wanted to hang lots of garland around the house this holiday season.  I am thinking of creating a couple more, maybe one for the tree. 

Punch a bunch of shapes.  I used stars & circles, approximately 2.5 & 2" respectively.  I actually used my die cut machine to cut them.  You need even pairs. Mine are cut from double sided pattern paper.  You are going to see the backside of the paper.   My best estimate is there are approximately 176 shapes total.

Make sure you have a full bobbin ready to go.  Take two of the same shapes and put them together with the same pattern on the outsides. If you are a sewer then put your wrong sides together & rights on the outsides.

I put all the shapes in stacks by color. I randomly pull the shapes to stitch. What helps me keep the stitches going is having a line up of shapes to feed through the sewing machine.  Now you are ready to start sewing. You will stitch through both shapes and the feed the next shape. You can leave a little space...its ok.  The machine can handle it. Just be patient and remember slow & steady wins the race.  If you need to pause to add more shapes into your line up, pause when you have a shape in the sewing machine.

My banner is really really long so i found stacking it shape on shape easier so it wouldn't twist up.  TRUST ME you don't want it to twist up.  Right Pop?

Take the first shape in your banner and fold the sides towards the center.  Do this with both sides of the shape.  Keep going until you have done this with all the shapes.  You will end up with this cool 3-D banner just in time for the holidays. 

I am planning to fold the pieces flat after christmas and stack them on top of each other.  I will hold it together with a clothes pin & store it in my christmas bins.

Happy Creating....