2 firsts...

So Magda and I are power watching all the seasons of "How I met your mother" and we're about 2/3 done with the first season...LOVE this show and highly recommend it ! In one of the episodes we watched today, this young couple was worried that they won't have any more "firsts" and it got me to thinking..wouldn't it be nice if, everyday, we did something new, something different then we've ever done before. Now I'm not talking huge things, like a cruise or a trip to Las Vegas, but little everyday things. We can choose to celebrate those moments, those everyday "firsts", we just need to stop for a moment and identify them as special...that brand new recipe you've never tried before, the first time you've ever gone to a sporting event where your team was "away" (and they crushed the Devils, but that's a different story...) I think that's why I love paper crafting so much, each time I sit down to make something, it's brand new and never been made before. This evening I had 2 firsts in my scrap room. For the first time I made a card using flower soft (ok, this stuff is fun!) and I made a "tall" card, inspired by a challenge on Caardvarks. How exciting to think of all the "firsts" just waiting for me everyday!

Dilemma

Either I make way too many cards, or I don't send nearly enough.

Since I have no intention of stopping my card making habit I decided to figure out what the problem is. I sat down with my card box (full of cards ready to be sent) to choose a couple to send out. As I rifled through them, discarding one after another, it finally dawned on me what was wrong. each and every one of these cards wasn't finished. I spend so much time making these cards, just to leave the inside blank - no sentiment, no spot for a handwritten note, nothing. In fact, most of them are made from dark cardstock, so I couldn't even write directly on the card if I wanted to! If I would just finish the cards before putting them in the box, there would be a better chance of actually choosing one and sending it to someone...Seems simple right? So I decided that from now on, all my cards come complete with the insides. I quickly put my card box away and pulled out some paper (Some Jenni Bowlin Front Porch and Cosmo Cricket Early bird were calling my name last night.) and I made these two "all occasion" cards - complete with an ample spot for a handwritten note.



These adorable journaling pages by Jenni Bowlin are perfect for the inside of an all occasion card (they're pretty cute on the front of one too!)
Now to go through the rest of the the cards in the box and finish them all! I can't help but think that Sharon will be proud of me (she always checks to see what's on the inside and back of cards)

Phew!!

Boy it's been crazy lately in the Ostrowski Household, but it looks like we're finally coming up for air! We've got wonderful, exciting news and I couldn't think of a better way to announce it here than on a layout :)

My eldest, Monika, is engaged! They don't want a long drawn out engagement and are planning for a spring wedding, so the craziness of wedding planning will have to kick into high gear pretty quickly! While scrapping about Monika's true love, I decided to do a layout about her first love too:

And finally, I thought I'd leave you with an adorable idea I heard about: Did you know that if you take an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk and boil it for three hours it turns into caramel? Well, I had to test this out so I tried it tonight, and it really works! So scrap a "caramel" label, put it in a basket with some apples and a corer, and call it a gift!

A bit of Halloween

Last weekend at scrapcamp I got a chance to play with the AC Bailey October Goodies kit, and I finally scrapped some pics of Halloween that have been in my "to scrap" pile forever! (well...since last Halloween ) I'm not much of a halloween scrapper, but I had so much fun with this kit and really liked how everything came out!

Three layouts:
A set of Halloween and Thanksgiving cards:




And a little fold out picture wallet, all ready to add this years halloween pics and some journaling:


And I still have a bag full of scraps to play with!!!

Good Morning from Scrap Camp!

Good morning everyone, having a wonderful time, wish you were here! :) Here's the view on the walk from the sleeping quarters to the lodge where we scrap at:
And here's where I'm going to spend the next 3 days, with very brief breaks for naps:
And my view out the window while I'm scrapping:

And finally, a little wall hanging I made last night, playing around with some grungeboard and studio 490 stamps

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to come by AC Bailey tonight for the start of our "Fall into Scrapping" online crop!!!