Love With All Your Heart

Happy Sunday! 

It is an insanely gorgeous day here in Texas!  After church and lunch we ran by the house, picked up the puppy, and had a nice family time at the park.  It was amazing to be out in the sunshine and fresh air after being home sick in bed for the past week.  

Last night I was itching to stamp, so I decided to participate in a few challenges.  I started out wanting to participate in this week's Color Throwdown Challenge but no matter what I tried I just couldn't make it work.  So I decided to just stick with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and go more simple on my color scheme.

Verve Stamps has another amazing digital freebie set!!!  It is available for download from now until February 14th called Love From Me and I LOVE it! ;) 

I still do not have a printer but my wonderful cousin let me use her printer so I could get my hands on these wonderful digi stamps!  I was so excited!  

I colored one of the hearts with my Blush Copic marker, cut it out, and popped it up on dimensionals to give it more depth. 

For the half circle I used a doily that Julee had included in my last Verve order (thank you sweetie!!) and the paper is from an old Stampin' Up! stack called Banbury (which after a quick Google search I realized is completely nonexistent).

I wanted a little more bling than just the gingham bow so I added some silver metallic thread just to add a hint of shimmer but I think I let it get away from me.  

I still love this card and think it will be a wonderful feature card at my next stamping class. :)

I am off for some more family time.  The boys want to play Life.  We played Monopoloy last night and I won big time so I think they're ready for payback. ;) 

Stamps: Love From Me Digital Set (Verve Stamps)

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Banbury DSP (SU-Retired)

Ink: R20 Blush Copic Marker, Pink Pirouette (SU)

Accessories: Dimensionals, Lace Doily, Silver Metallic Thread (SU), Sponge Dauber, Wide Black/White Gingham Ribbon

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With Love My Friend

Life has been a whirlwind in 2017 for me!  It doesn't help that all last week I came straight home from work and went straight to bed.  These allergies are about to kill me!  I knew if I didn't rest that it would turn into another upper respiratory infection or bronchitis so when my body said rest I listened.

I'm still not great but I am thankful that I have today off to get some work done around the house and spend time with my boys.  We are all feeling pretty blah today.  :(

Yesterday our family went to my sisters house for a Dallas Cowboys birthday party for her mother-in-law, who is also a friend of mine.  The Cowboys losing was a tough loss for me since I do not like the Packers but spending time with my friends and family and celebrating my friend's birthday was very nice.   Going home, however, was super scary thanks to tornados touching down right near our house.  Gotta love that unpredictable Texas weather!  Thank goodness no one was hurt and we were all safe but it freaked the boys out so much that we had a campout in the living room.  No wonder we are feeling blah today!

I did manage to squeeze in a little stamping time Saturday night so I could make my friend a card for her birthday.

She is such a wonderful and sweet woman who loves all things vintage which was the direction I was going for when I started to make her card.  I thought about doing some distressing and using darker colors but decided against it.  I wanted bright to match her personality so I guess this is my take on "clean, happy vintage." Haha!

I've been pinning a lot of old sketches on Pinterest lately and when I saw this Mojo Monday sketch from a few years ago I thought it would be perfect to use my new Wavy Hearts Die Set.  I am in LOVE with these hearts!

I was able to snag this Love Blossoms designer series paper before it retired from Stampin' Up! and I love it!  How can you not with all those hearts!  The ribbon is some scrap ribbon that I had saved for awhile hoping to use one day and I cannot believe how well it matched my color combo!  Verve Stamps is having a Love is in the Air sale with many love stamps and dies 30% off INCLUDING what I used on my card! :)

It felt amazing to stamp and I can't believe it's already the middle of the month and I am just now getting a chance to stamp.  How sad is that?!  I always thought the older the boys got the more time I would have but it seems like the opposite!

Stamps: Chevron Love (Verve Stamps)

Ink: Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Candy Cane Lane DSP (ret), Love Blossoms DSP (ret), Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Assorted Grosgrain Ribbon, Assorted Swarovski Crystals, Circle Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Hole Punch, Triple Banner Punch (SU), Wavy Hearts Die Set (Verve Stamps)

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Focus

Last January I started out the year sick.  This year I have managed to stay relatively healthy so far but I have been insanely busy!  I guess that's what happens when you're off work for 2 weeks and everyone is back to school and all is normal again.

Every year I have a word.  It is a word that I prayerfully consider before choosing and it is a word that sticks with me throughout the entire year.  I am tired of New Years Resolutions.  I am tired of feeling guilty for not accomplishing what I set out to do that year.  Most of the time God's plans are different than mine anyway which is why I think the word/statement for the year works.

For 2016 my word was STRONG.  Reading back through what strength I wanted to accomplish in 2016 I realized that I hit the mark in several areas.  That makes me happy.  Accomplishing something is better than accomplishing nothing and where I have grown stronger are total game changers for me and my family.

This year I wanted to continue to build on STRONG but to add another facet.

My oldest son has ADHD.  While we were getting him tested I started to realize that I too might have ADHD.  I have always struggled with staying focused on anything for any length of time.  I get bored very easily.  I will start out super excited about something and fizzle out.  I think that's why reading is so perfect for me.  If I get bored reading one book I'll just stop and pick up another one instead.

My lack of focus shows in every aspect of my life.  I lack consistency and it drives me nuts.  On one hand, I am a total perfectionist.  On the other hand, I am all over the place.  It's very frustrating and extremely hard to accomplish anything.

When I sat down to really think about what I wanted to do in 2017 I got overwhelmed but what I realized is if I FOCUS on smaller goals and not the big picture I didn't feel so stressed.  These goals could be something small that could be accomplished quickly so I don't get bored.

When I thought of FOCUS I started to get excited.  Ever since January 1st I have just thought the word FOCUS and I instantly get back on task.  Maybe 2017 will be the year that I make some significant changes in my life.

Here are some things I am FOCUSING on for January:

• My fitness FOCUS is to get up and do something 30 minutes every day.  I am proud to say that I have hit this goal almost every day so far.  I've got my Fitbit back on, have chosen my two 10K races for the year, and have started my 10K training back to the beginning.  No sense trying to catch up since it's been so long.  Since I've gained so much weight (15lbs since this time last year which puts me starting 2017 at 215lbs), working out is a lot harder than it used to be so I'm starting slow.  My first 10k is at the end of February and I have a feeling I'll have to walk the entire thing but my next race is in June which gives me plenty of time to train so hopefully I can jog the entire time in that one.

•  I have been FOCUSING on my carb count and my portion sizes to help with my weight loss goal.  I know that what I eat plays a huge factor in my weight loss success this year but when I think about all that I have to do it gets overwhelming so I'm just focusing on carbs and portions right now.  I want to eventually start logging in MyFitnessPal again but right now I think it would be too much so I want to wait until I'm ready.

• My FOCUS as far as my stamping is concerned is to just have fun and not take anything seriously.  I would love to build my Stampin' Up! business and have someone sign up under me so I can start building my team but right now I just want to get back into a stamping groove.  What I would really love is to get back on a design team.  I miss designing so much so I am praying about that and am FOCUSING on doing more challenges so I can get my name back out there and just have fun!

• My final, and most important, FOCUS is living my faith.  Ever since Dylan's diagnosis I lost myself for a bit and that included my quiet time, prayer time, and even volunteering and going to church on a consistent basis.  It wasn't until I sat down to think about my goals that I realized just how much I let it all go.  Maybe it was because my faith was so severely tested?  I honestly don't know why but that ends in 2016.  This year I have already signed up for an online Bible study with the Good Morning Girls that starts on Monday, made it to the first church service of the year (it was amazing!!), and have a new devotional that I just started.  I have even been getting up a little earlier so I can have a quiet time.  I cannot wait to strengthen my faith.

So far 2017 has been pretty good!  Today is freezing here in Texas!

Seriously?!  I'm actually looking outside my office window right now and it's snowing!  It's only little flurries but maybe some will stick! :)  Luckily, I only have one place I have to be this weekend and the rest of the time I will be bundled up in front of the fireplace with a good book and my puppy. ;)

So, what is your FOCUS for 2017?

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