Organizing My Thoughts in 2013

On Pinterest I came across  a journal comprised of index cards.  There were 365 cards tucked into a bowl. Each day a person is encouraged to write one sentence about their day. The bowl with index cards was cute and I love the idea of journaling a simple sentence every day.  However, knowing me...I need to have my cards bound together. Plus, I want them to be reflective of me.  I wanted something that screamed, "Nacole made me!"  My sister and I headed over to Walgreens. They had the little Five Star Notebooks on sale, buy one, get one free for $2.87.  I looked at index card books, but they didn't quite have enough cards.  I decided this notebook would be ideal. Here is what I started with, a black little notebook.

This project was perfect because it happened to fit in with the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Get Organized Crawl! I started by designing the cover. I had some paper that I fell in love with and purchased on a whim a few months ago.  I didn't know at the time what I would use it for, but this project was the perfect use! The paper is from Simple Stories and is part of their Documented line. As I pieced the cover together, I added some ink to distress, a strip of brown rib, a gear to look like a flower, and of course used my Cricut to cut out tabs, letters, and numbers. The tabs are from the Elegant Edges Cartridge and the letters and numbers are from the Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge.  On the letters I did a shadow to match the tabs and topped with the letters I cut out in chocolate.

After the cover was done, I decided to add just a little more to the covers. This is the inside cover!

This is the back cover. See that last tab? It has a hidden surprise!

I added a secret pocket! You know, for those fortunes out of fortune cookies, special photos, clippings, etc. that sum up that year! I tucked a silly little card in to the pocket so you could see it.

This is how the tabs turned out. I staggered the tabs and the numbers.  Finally, I updated the first three days of January.  My biggest challenge? Just writing a single sentence about the day. I am a very verbacious person, so one sentence is a bit tricky. I planned to use a half of each side of the page per day.  I'm glad I did, because I have been filling up my space! 

This was a fun project and I'm so excited to have a fun way to organize my daily thoughts in 2013!

51 years of bliss

I whipped up this 51st Wedding Anniversary card for some friends of ours. They our ranch neighbors and the Everyday Paper Dolls just fit so well with the Alphalicious numbers. The heart is probably from George and Basic Shapes.  The paisley background was just the finishing touch to this bride and groom!

Card 4 of the 4 Card Blitz!

Sketch number four ended up being my personal favorite card. I have been using more scrap paper lately and these pink scraps were from my Grandma's birthday invitations, so they are extra special to me. I bought the stamp set from friend T. The pearls I had purchased to accent a page about our visit to Pearl Harbour and the beautiful necklace my now husband bought me. Cinderella is my all time favorite movie! I added pearls to the pillow, Stickles to the shoes, and distressed around the edges. My strip of print paper through the middle has been embossed for some texture. Oh and I dressed up my background paper with some Perfect Pearl Mists.

I am so very sad that Taylored Expressions is ending their sketch challenge series, I have so adored it!

Sketch 3 in the 4 Card Blitz!

The third sketch I went crazy with blue and green polka dots accented with yellow glittery paper. My friend T gave me some cute polka dot flowers as part of my Matron of Honor Gift last year, I have saved them for just the right card and as soon as I started thinking about what I wanted on my card, I knew the glittery and polka dot flowers would be excellent!

Sketch 2 of my 4 card blitz!

For the second sketch I used my beloved Basic Gray PB & J papers. I am in love with these papers! I happened to have just the right color ribbon & flower to match. I am not sure who the lucky recipient is of this card, but I sure think it is cute.

Four Card Blitz

I was checking my e-mail when I came across one from Taylored Expressions. I was sad to read this week is their last TE Sketch Challenge.  In order to go out like a bang, they provided four sketches! Of course I had to give all four sketches a shot! Below is sketch one and the next three posts each focus on a new sketch!

For the first sketch I distressed all of the pages of the card with coordinating Tom Holtz Distress ink. I added Stickles to my stamped butterflies, rounded all of the corners, and just had fun playing with a brown, orange, green, blue color scheme. Reminded me of nature and camping...very fitting for Memorial Day weekend.

Hoot Hoot for the Graduates!

This Memorial Day weekend we are celebrating a couple of graduates that we know! This week I decided to make a couple of cards.  One card is for a male graduate and the other is for a female graduate.  I have been able to use more of my scraps lately, because they are all nicely organized by color. Eventually, I may have to post a few pictures of my new craft room, but that will be another post.  For today we will talk about my Hoot Hoot Graduation Cards. To make them I used two different cartridges: Just Because Cards and Everyday Paper Dolls. I cut out the owl from Just Because Cards and the graduation cap and tassle from Everyday Paper Dolls. I used some designer series paper on each card to add a little oomph, some ribbon or twine for texture, and Stickles to make the graduation caps extra special.  I also glossed up the owl's beak and used my Tim Holtz distress pads to give my owls some character.  I think the cards turned out to be a ....hoot! Okay, I couldn't resist that one.  These cards are also being used for the CAS-ual Friday challenge for a masculine card using designer series paper and the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge asking for a "You Did It!" card.  Be sure to click on their links and check out their awesome challenges!