My One Little Word for 2019 was refocus. I had so much going on that I needed to pare things down to what was realistically do-able and refocus on myself, my family, and my goals. And then 2019 disappeared in a blink and I was stuck trying to figure out my OLW for 2020.
I’m still refocusing on myself, my business, my goals… and the recurring thing was that I really needed to simplifythings so that I can keep running full steam without burning out. Simplify my routines, purge the material things in my home and get rid of the clutter, and like I said last year, strip away all the things I was holding on to that didn’t necessarily maximize my potential to do what I really wanted to do… I really just need to simplify my life.
(found via Google Search)
So my OLW for 2020 is simplify. The amount of things I am doing is not going to lessen this year; I’m still working multiple jobs (4!) while finishing my masters degree, running my business and making sure I have time for family and friends. And that’s okay. I can hustle and breathe at the same time. haha.
Goals for 2020
2019 was a crazy busy business year and I struggled to keep up with demand for classes and kits but was able to bring in a couple new manufacturers and expand my lines. And at home, while we didn’t go out and do a lot of things, we got a lot of family time and QT in spurts… hoping to make family time a more regular thing.
Crafty Goals:
color 1-2 images a week. I am sorely out of practice and my coloring feels stagnant and this is somewhere I definitely need to grow!!
create and mail out cards to friends every month, especially on birthdays.
participate in Project Life (monthly). This means dedicating time to collecting & printing the pictures and stories that mean something each week so that I have them ready to go at the end of the month (or beginning of the next) when I sit down to put them together.
scrapbook a couple layouts a month. I really, really miss this. And my kids really, really love looking through their old albums.
Participate in a crop every month. I did pretty well for the bulk of 2019 and it was so much fun to meet people and make friends. And once in a while I got work done too. haha!!
Personal/Blog Challenges: (All challenges are combinable):
blog again. I just checked and my last blog post here was in March. MARCH!!!!!!!!!!
and make videos again. It’s so much fun to do, and I hope people enjoy watching!!
“What It’s Worth” Card Challenge – Make at least as many cards as a stamp/set is worth in dollars (rounding up to the next dollar). Each individual card counts as $1. So if I buy a stamp for $4, I need to make 4 different cards with it. If I buy a stamp set for $20, I need to make 20 cards, trying as hard as I can to use each stamp in the set evenly. I looked at the stamp sets I have and there are some that will make it hard to use every single stamp evenly… but I will try! The rule: No buying stuff to make these cards. I have to use what’s already in my stash or leftovers from other projects.
Business Goals:
maintain retail store. Itʻs up but not updated.
maintain locker more regularly.
participate in craft fairs/expos. Do at least one every other month.
continue teaching papercrafting classes.
make a kit every month, either card or layout or something else!
Home Goals:
clean and purge until there’s more storage than stuff – downsize craft stash, clean out boys room and my bedroom.
fix up garden, add to garden and grow things! Hubby worked hard to get it started for us again. Goal is to eventually become more-or-less completely sustainable for home and family.
between me and the hubs, cook 5x a week. We spend waaaaay too much money on takeout/fast food.
bake 1x a week.
Personal Goals:
work on my fitness! Get in shape. Be able to run with my kids.
lose 80 lbs. I gained weight last year. ugh. But SERIOUSLY. I think of it as 25-ish lbs per kid. haha.
spend time with friends/extended family at least 1x a month.
Financial Goals:
start saving up for next trip. Goal is to be able to take a trip every year, including traveling internationally every 2 years. Although it looks like traveling domestically is more expensive so we might have to switch it to being able to travel domestically every 2 years haha.
For this card, I thought it would be super cute to give to a friend who just adopted a new furry family member! So this is kind of like a welcome card to that pup!!
The sentiments come with the set, and they can be paired so many different ways… initially I was going to put “to your new adventure, home sweet home” but then dropped the adventure stamp and gave up looking for it so just went with “to your new home sweet home” which works even better, I think!! haha. And no worries, I found the “adventure” stamp clinging to the edge of my desk so it’s back with the rest of its set, safe and sound lol!!
That pup is just too adorable. LOVE. Make sure you come join us over at the Kindred Stamps FB Group to see the amazing makes everyone else is sharing!!
Sharing a couple projects today for the March New Release over at Kindred Stamps featuring this new set, Stick Together!
This first card uses the hearts and prickly little fellers to make a quick card for my friend who is due to give birth any day now!! I thought this would be perfect as a baby girl card but it definitely works for a lot of other occasions too!
This second card was definitely a quick and easy kinda card for me!! I definitely wanted to keep the focus on the sentiment because it is SO PUNNY and SO CUTE!!!
The entire Kindred Stamps March release will be available Friday, March 22nd at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to check out the Kindred Stamps blog on Friday for the full product release as well as the complete line up of all the Kindred Stamps Design Team projects from release week! If you visit and comment on all of the designers’ blogs this week, you could win $15 in Kindred Stamps shop credit! So join the Fan Club and release event, show the design team some love, and get ready to empty those wallets this Friday!
I colored her up with my Copics and added her to some layered stitched circles (the honeycomb is the backside of the bee paper!). The last thing I did was add the “club” sentiment from the We’re In A Club stamp set and emboss it using some super find white embossing powder… and then fishtailed the end of the sentiment strip and added a shiny yellow heart epoxy dot to the card.
And make sure you come join us over at the Kindred Stamps FB Group to see the amazing makes everyone else is sharing!!
I colored them up with my Copics and tried to keep a more simple layout to keep the focus on this cute pair. I stamped them on a postage-type rectangular diecut and then added the “adventure” sentiment from the We’re In A Club stamp set and some epoxy dots before slapping them down on the card.
And make sure you come join us over at the Kindred Stamps FB Group to see the amazing makes everyone else is sharing!!
I went again with the Halloween paper for this card and it’s definitely a lot more Halloweeny!! haha. And I had to add glitter to his wings… wings should always be shiny and fun!! haha.
After I colored him up with my Copics I added him to the card in a polaroid-type die scene with more Halloween paper behind him too! The last thing I did was to add some baker’s twine and the sentiment on some pop-up dots.
I used just one of the three dudes in this set and paired him with some starry black PP… it’s actually Halloween paper but I thought it worked perfectly with this set! And then I added some of this number paper… I was going more for the tan/brown color than anything, but thought this sketched out number pattern worked really nicely too!! So lucky I have been hoarding this paper for the past 10+ years, just for this card. HAHAHA!!
After I colored him up with my Copics I added him to the card on some 3D dots and then added some dark red epoxy dots to the top corner of the card to finish it off.
Are you ready for another amazingly adorable release?!?
The entire Kindred Stamps February release will be available Friday, February 22nd at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to check out the Kindred Stamps blog on Friday for the full product release as well as the complete line up of all the Kindred Stamps Design Team projects from release week! If you visit and comment on all of the designers’ blogs this week, you could win $15 in Kindred Stamps shop credit! So join the Fan Club and release event, show the design team some love, and get ready to empty those wallets this Friday!
This adorable pair is from the new Bon Appetit set, and I adore them! His freckles!! And I got to make 2 cards with them!
I stamped that cheese wedge all over the background but kept it inside the circle… maybe I should have put it all over instead lol! And I smudged some black ink to the right of the freckled chef and instead of starting all over I decided to use these adorable enamel heart stickers to cover it all up! I definitely wanted to stick to my color scheme but didn’t have the same bright yellow… I think white still worked out perfectly!
This next card I definitely wanted to use that “say cheese” sentiment. And I had this polka-dot plate die that I thought would work nicely with it!!
Once again I went with yellow and white and enamel hearts… but this time my coordinating color was black instead of blue!! and I didn’t stamp all over the background this time… the holes in this polka-dot die were too small for that I think! But I did add a small strip of black cardstock to give this pair a floor so they weren’t just floating around the card.
Yaaaah I love them!!! Make sure you come and join the Fan Club and release event to see the rest of the new release… so much to add to my wishlist!!
I used a hillside die to cut some scrap paper in rainbow colors and then used my brand new heart backdrop die… and put them together and there’s a bright and fun background for this happy dude!! I colored him up with my Copics and added him to the card with some pop-up dots… they’re super old though lol so I think I need to get some new ones!
The last thing I did was add one of the sentiments from the Play Pretend stamp set and then add in an enamel heart to finish it off!
And make sure you come join us over at the Kindred Stamps FB Group to see the amazing makes everyone else is sharing!!
Hello friends! Sharing another card using an amazing digi from the Kinda Cute by Patricia shop! This is the Llama Set and I couldn’t pick just one so decided to go with all three!
Seriously, how cute are they?!? I just love how they came out and how easy they were to color up! Just add a simple sentiment and done!
