Scrapbook Space

I'm realizing that though I have a perfectly adequate scrapbook space (our upstairs attic), I am not using it to its full potential. When we were looking to buy a house there were quite a few things that put this one at the top of our list; the upstairs attic space was high on that list. The current owners were using it as a 3rd bedroom, but I had dreams of turning it into our creative little nook.

We've put a lot of work into it so far with painting and adding shelving. But it still needs those little extra touches to help me be more organized when I'm scrapping.
After my wonderful hubby built the beautiful shelving, we still put all the ugly boxes of stuff back into it without really organizing it. Since we moved in my parents loaded us with boxes of ours that were stacking up in their houses. SO you can imagine the kinds of things that are in there. I had thoughts of it becoming a beautiful space with colorful baskets of embellishments and paper and also some decorative vases, stacks of books, art, etc. We have lived with the ugly boxes for far too long and this weekend I got in way over my head and started pulling out boxes and throwing away anything and everything we don't need or use anymore. Heck it’s only the two of us right now so I better do it before we start adding even more stuff! I SO envy those that can throw away things before they begin to add up. (Did my husband reeeally call me a hoarder yesterday?! Yes, I think he did – not very nice since half the stuff was his.)

Anyway, though I am so glad to be getting this done I am a little disappointed because this was supposed to be my weekend to scrap and scrap and scrap and begin my new design venture (more on that later *wink*). So instead I am getting organized, and best of all Mr. Husband shared with me yesterday that he wanted to share the space with me and put a drafting table upstairs! I just love that he said that. I had no idea he wanted to share my crafty space and now I have these cute thoughts of us working together upstairs, me on my scrapbooking and him on whatever architect stuff he has going on…and yes I realize that probably won’t happen but hey, I can hope can’t I?

I’ll leave you with some inspiration I found on Pinterest.

I just love how bright and colorful this room is!  So chic.  The green reminds me of my space.  Can't wait to post some pics!

xo,
Jocelyn

Crate's May Sketch Challenge

Spring just keeps trying to make its entrance, but ultimately the clouds start rolling in and it gets chilly again. Today my husband and I enjoyed the sun while it was out and bought a few more plants for our yard. I’m SO thankful for this 3-day weekend. Though hubs has to go back to work tomorrow due to some deadlines at work. :( He's been working so hard lately!

I just entered in my second ever scrapbook layout contest. These are the sort of things I am trying to do more of this year so I can get my name out there in the scrapbook world. And let’s face it, it’s fun! These are a few pictures from our honeymoon in Jamaica in January/February for Crate's May Sketch Challenge.

Portrait Collection: Alpha’s, Chipboard Accents, patterned paper – Bridesmaids, Honeymoon

I used my Slice machine to for the title “Honeymoon”. I have to admit I’ve had a lot of problems in the past with that machine. But I finally feel like I have mastered it and it has been working quite well! Plus the design cards are just so darn cute.

Thanks for stopping by!

xo,
Jocelyn

Oh How Time Flies

I cannot believe over a year has passed since I've posted. And what a crazy year it has been! In April 2010 we moved into our first house and had the pleasure of doing little fixes here and there to make it ours {direct your attention to the "Mona Lisa" flower to your left, from our garden} . Last fall we definitely had our downs with my grandpa and grandma passing away {both, who are on seperate sides of my family, had been very sick} and right in the middle of that my sister had a horrible hiking accident where she fell down a 40 foot waterfall. She is on her way to full recovery, however - more on that later.

Back on a higher note, I married my best friend on January 22nd of this year. It was the best night of our lives and we wouldn't change a thing. We celebrated the beginning of our life together on our honeymoon in Jamaica! Neither of us had been to the Carribean before which made it that much better.

Scrapping and cardmaking was put on hold {I got a little burnt out after putting together our wedding invitations - which I'll share at a later time} and has now taken off again at full force. I made my first 12x12 baby girl album for a friend at work, and am now making her a baby boy album. I had to use less embellies to the layouts due to budget, but here are a few sneaks at Halle's album.

"Just a Nibble"

"Baby's 1st Christmas"

"Easter"

"On The Way"

"1st Haircut"

My goal this year to put myself out there in the scrapbooking world so I can hopefully get noticed and maybe try out for a design team! With my design background I have missed being able to use that creative outlet, which I am NOT able to expand on at my day job.

I am signing off with my first page using Crate Papers' Portrait Collection. I just love the Crate Paper line! I bought the whole Portrait Collection from scrapbook.com for our wedding album. I actually submitted the below image to their Royal Blue, Sky Blue and Lavender color challenge a couple weeks ago. I'm completely and utterly addicted to their blog!

Thanks for stopping by!

XO,

Jocelyn

A New Beginning

About 5 weeks ago we started looking for our first house. About 3 weeks ago we put our first offer on a home we loved. And about 2 weeks ago our offer was accepted on said home! I cannot believe how fast it went but here we are, less than 2 weeks away from moving day and we can hardly wait. The home is older, a beautiful craftsman built in 1924.

As if planning our wedding wasn’t expensive enough, we decide to take one more step (a much more expensive step) and could not be happier. I have never seen my fiancé act this way; almost giddy with excitement that one! And somehow we were able to continue our wedding planning during this time (we may have finally found our photographer).

I have put my scrapbooking and cardmaking on hold since getting burnt out during Christmas and was just about to get started again, but it will have to wait a bit longer until we get settled. But I’m super excited that I will have my very own scrapbook nook in our upstairs attic area. I can’t wait!

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This holiday season snuck on me so fast! Thanksgiving has come and gone. I’m still recovering from Turkey day!

I was thinking I had all this time to prepare myself for my first Etsy holiday season, and now all of a sudden it’s the weekend after Thanksgiving! I put together my inventory a few weeks ago, and am just now getting together all of my listings to post on Cyber Monday.

I spent a big chunk of this weekend taking photos, editing photos, working on item descriptions, and updating existing listings for my holiday sale. You should see my craft room right now! I was supposed to clean it up this weekend, but I’m afraid to even go in there! I’m in my computer phase right now (versus my scrapping phase) and during this time I only step in that room to grab a pair of scissors or a ruler!

My work place had a craft fair a couple weeks ago – only open to employees – and I didn’t have much success. Which in a way is ok with me because now I can list everything on Etsy and hopefully kick off my store with a good Etsy holiday season!

How was your weekend? Did you spend lots of time with family? Get any Christmas shopping done? Have you gotten any snow yet?

Craft Gawker

I came across a website that features various artists and crafters. On Craft Gawker, artists submit their items hoping to be chosen out of the many talented people who submit their items as well. So…I decided to try it out and submitted one of my listings. And 2 days later, it showed up on the front page! The picture you see here is the item they accepted.

I urge you to give it a try. You never know what can happen! I’m going to submit a few of my other cards as well. I’ll keep you updated on their progress. And make sure you check out Craft Gawker to see all the amazing talents out there!

Happy Halloween!

It’s Saturday morning again – my favorite time of the week – and getting ready to start baking my first apple pie…EVER! It’s no secret I love to cook, but baking? I’m not such a pro. I’m prepared to change that though. Well, maybe. We’ll see how it goes.

Today is Halloween and I’m looking forward to hanging out with my fiancé where he’ll probably get me to watch a scary movie. I am not a fan of scary movies. They creep me out and when I’m by myself I always end up thinking about them! This is the first year we will not be going out on Halloween and I’m definitely looking forward to it. We just moved into our new apartment where there are a lot of kids. So who knows, maybe we’ll get some trick-or-treaters?!

In light of the holiday, doesn’t this look yummy from tetoncocoacompany?