An Update

Hello, Everyone!

I trust you had an awesome Christmas.  I sure did!  We worked way too much, but we did have a wonderful time with our family and friends…and that is what is most important about the holidays!  I am hoping the New Year brings lots more time with them, and I hope you all have a wonderful New Year as well.  I wish you all health and happiness!

I know I haven't been around in Blog Land much lately, and I am truly sorry.  But, I thought I would take a moment and let you know what I have been up to.  First off, I have been in a bit of a crafty funk. I have lost some mojo.  I think that work stress has taken a toll, and I have had to take a breather from crafting.  I have done some things, and here is a brief summary of my activities.

 Jackie and I went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in November, and had a blast!  We both worked on our December Daily albums, as we did every crop time they offered.

I also spent some time working on my Christmas Cards.  I found this polar bear card at the Silhouette website, and it turned out sooooo cute!

 My Mom and I went to a sewing expo the very next weekend and did this pumpkin make and take.  We loved them so much that I bought a kit and made some more, and created the centerpiece below for my Thanksgiving table.

I think it turned out super pretty.  I put large candles on upside down taper candle holders, and added mini pinecones to the pumpkins.  

 Speaking of December Daily, this is mine for the year.  I found a book tutorial on YouTube by papercrafter45.  You can find her video on the finished book here, and there are tutorials on how to make it.  She calls it the Index Card December Daily.

 I altered the pattern a bit, and made my book bigger, 8"x11".

 I love her idea of using index cards, but I also wanted to be able to add more to the daily pages if I wanted to.

 The pages flip out, and has a waterfall set of pages on each one.  The back page is meant for the 25th of December.

But, as I said before, I lost my mojo, and have been really stressed out about work.  I made the full book, but when I realized that it was December 20th and I haven't done one single thing to the book, I decided that I wasn't going to do a December Daily this year.  I immediately felt a sense of relief…Imagine that, I was stressed out about a craft project too!  I did take lots of pictures, but this year, they might just end up in a nice little keepsake box instead.

 I crocheted some play food, with patterns that I found for free on the net!

 I have a Pinterest board of knitting and crocheting patterns, and you can go there by clicking this link and then if you are interested you can see the patterns and print them and use them yourselves!  If you want to just see the patterns…the sandwich is here, and the eggs and bacon are here.

The beetroot is here, the broccoli is here.  I made bunch more, but you can find those patterns on my Pinterest board, besides, I didn't get pictures like a dummy!

 My BFF, Jackie, shared this pin with me, and I thought it would look lovely on her, so I made her one.  It turned out beautiful, and I was right, it looks gorgeous on her.  The pattern is here.

Last, but not least…our 20 year old dryer finally went to the great appliance store in the sky, so we decided to get a brand new set.  We got these, and I love them!  They aren't really what we wanted to spend our money on right before Christmas, but we needed them and they are purty!!!

As far as my planner stuff is concerned…I love the size of the happy planner, and the papers and stickers are divine!  But, I am still not a fan of the vertical layout.  I have tried all sorts of different options, and I have gone back to my tried and true layout that I had been using in the past with my ARC planner.  I have decided not to share my monthly/weekly pages for 2016.  However, if I come up with cool new inserts or ways to organize things, I will definitely share with you those ideas and templates.

So, that's what I have been up to.   I am hoping my mojo comes back full force and I will start designing projects again.  I think my brain just needed a break.  Maybe in the new year, I will get reenergized.

Stay crafty my friends, and have a safe and wonderful New Year!