inspired {blogs}

There are so many blogs that I'm inspired by...it always amazes me the awesome people out there and the fabulous things they blog about. So much creativity, inspiration, wisdom and love. It's one of my favorite things about the internet. There's quite a lot that has inspired me in the past week so here's my list with all different topics & themes:

Sam & JT Plus Three - Samantha is a local mom that I know IRL and in addition to her three adopted children (ages 2, 3, and 4) she's recently taken in a baby that came to them in the middle of the night via Safe Families. Her most recent post is a wonderful example of her heart and love that she has. She's younger than me, but I have learned so much from her. She has so much love and she is just about the closest I've met to a person who lives like Jesus. She's truly an inspiration to me.

My Top 10 Tips on Running A Business via Becky Higgins - Anyone who's followed me for a while knows that I love Becky and Project Life. Her scrapbooking system is revolutionary and I'm so grateful for it (even though I've done horrible with the start of 2012). Last week she put out a post about tips for running a business and I have to say that all 10 are SPOT ON. She shares so much wisdom and even though I've been in business for 9 years, I've learned a lot from this post.

Autism Awareness: Helping a Friend in Need via Sew Chatty - My friend Elizabeth is paying it forward. A while back she was gifted an iPad to help her autistic son with wonderful results and now she's helping to raise money to help a fellow blogger with 4 children that has Asperger's. I love Elizabeth's heart...can you help?

Discerning Your Strengths via Tiny Twig - Hayley is doing a Passion series on her blog this month and this post really resonated with me. Sometimes I feel like I'm pulled in so many different directions and just plain tired. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm not focusing my energy on only the things that mirror my strengths. I'm thinking that this book is going to be on my "purchase" list the next time I order books!

Dancing in the Rain via CaronlineG - Carrie is so inspirational. She's a dreamer and is living out her dreams right now. I'm so amazed by her, her enthusiasm for life and her desire to help others live out their dreams. This post talks about how the rain comes and how she's learning to dance in the rain instead of letting negativity consume her. "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning how to dance in the rain." I love this girl!

What blogs are inspiring you?

Please share - I'd love to read them!

Pay it Forward {with guest, Laura}

Laura McPherson is one of my amazing sponsors and the owner of Labors of Love.  She's going to share with us today a topic that's dear to my heart: paying it forward. This is such an important concept! I could go on and on, but I'll let Laura tell you what it means to her...

***

For as long as I can remember, I have been the most likely one out of my family and friends to make a gift by hand rather than buy one. There’s something about giving someone something that I’ve personally made that makes it even more thrilling; and to know that there’s only version of that gift just like it is neat too.

Every year, I make a New Year’s resolution (like everyone else) to work toward, but I’ve noticed that I have become increasing able to really stick to mine. Last year’s was to say “I love you” more and yes, I did it – not just verbally, but in gesture (for those who are wondering why you didn’t hear it spewing from my lips). I found that by spreading my love a little more, life was a lot more satisfying, rewarding, and pleasurable. So, when the end of December rolled around this year, I wanted to continue my trend of showing others how much they are cared about – even if they were someone that I didn’t know incredibly well.

I vowed to Pay It Forward at least one time a month for the entire year. Although paying it forward can be as simple as smiling at a stranger or holding the door for someone, I decided that I wanted it to be a challenge – because the more work that I put into the little surprise gifts that I have given, the more rewarding they have been. I want to motivate people to take the gift they have received and use it as inspiration to pass that on to another person. My first endeavor was a silver half-marathon bracelet for a non-greek sorority sister who has made a resolution to ring in a new version of herself with the new year. When the surprise arrived via snail mail, this was the gift I received in return (a facebook announcement of her reaction)…

I am unsure of her physical reaction since I could not experience it in person, but I’m almost positive that when I saw this message on her facebook wall that we had almost identical ear-to-ear grins. And that is what makes paying it forward worth it. It may be a simple wave hello or a project that costs a little bit of cash and an hour of your effort, but who can say the effort’s not worth it when it brings such intense happiness to multiple people? Now, I know that I have made a difference in the life of another. I touched the lives of two birds, one being myself, with one gesture.

I’m hoping that with my twelve challenging gifts that come in the New Year, and many other small ones, that my sense of self-worth and gratitude grow exponentially – as well as those who are on the receiving end of my creativity. Giving gifts is already one of my favorite things to do (as anyone who has seen me around Christmas time can attest), but surprises are SO much more fun. I encourage anyone and everyone to take a second to brainstorm something that you can do to pay it forward. It can be for a friend, a family member or a complete stranger, but have no doubt,YOU will make a difference and inspire them to continue the trend that everyone should be a part of.

I encourage you to {get inspired, be creative, and make a difference.}

***

Thanks Laura for sharing with us today! How will you pay it forward this month?

The Dream Has Come True

Where do I even begin? God is so faithful! I'm sure many of you have read the reasons behind why I do what I do. I'm a hard worker, but I love being busy so working hard is not anything new to me. It's my personality. Many people ask me how I get it all done and tell me that I need to take a breather but I ENJOY doing things all of the time. My life has finally gotten to a point where I'm working 4 days a week, hanging with the kids till bedtime and then after bedtime I get working on jewelry.

This past week has been really revealing for me. Last Tuesday as I was paying myself from the biz for the month of April I heard God say, "How many months do I have to provide before you'll finally trust Me?" Wow. Talk about a slap in the face. Other things happened in the last week that just proved to me that this was God's time to take that leap and do the business full time. Dave found out that he'd be getting insurance from his company (I have been the insurance provider throughout our marriage). God has given us a peace (for the most part...not gonna lie that the extra income has been nice for us because we love to travel). It's come out that many, many people have been praying for over a year for this to come to fruition. Everything is just falling into place.

So on Monday I put in my notice at work. I'm taking the leap. I'm going to work until June 2nd after which I will enjoy my kids at the pool, spend time to fully focus on them without feeling like I have to do emails or promote or network (i.e. multitask when I should be focused on my children) and maybe even take a nap. I'll finally clean the house, get caught up on laundry & Project Life, focus on my husband in the evenings, spend time with God and grow my relationships with my friends. All of these have been sorely lacking lately...to my friends and family, I'm so sorry for that.

I'm so grateful for the last 9 years that I've spent at White River Christian Church and how they've taken care of me over the years. I'm thankful to our Sr. Pastor Tim who has been such an encouragement and like the big brother I never wanted. I appreciate the time I've gotten to spend with "the other Amy" - sharing an office with Amy M has been such a joy and she is one of my most trusted friends. I have worked at WRCC with some of the best, most godly, passionate people that I've ever met and I will truly miss them. But I will see them every Sunday as I come to worship and I'm sure I'll be popping in the office every once in a while (especially during the Christmas season when there is an abundance of homemade goodies lying around).

Thank you to all of YOU for supporting my business, praying for me as I go through growth, leaving me encouraging notes & posts, and just loving me. You all are such an encouragement to me and I'm so excited that my dream has finally come true, 8 years after opening my little beading business. A new journey has begun and I hope you'll join me on it!

Tuesday Tutorial: Chore Charts

I finally got the chore charts done! They are REALLY easy to make - you only need a few things: paper, Mod Podge, clip boards, hooks, eyelets (optional), and cards or cardstock for the chore cards.

Basically you Mod Podge the patterned paper to the clipboard and let it dry. Then you measure out where you want your hooks and make a small indentation with a nail (not all the way through). Screw in your hooks. Punch a hole in the chore card and put in an eyelet if you want added security. Glue on a picture of the chore and attach some cute stickers on the back for when you flip it over. That's it!

I decided to show you the finished project instead of taking pictures of each step since it's pretty basic. I attached a small scrap of ribbon to each for some extra prettiness. Super easy!

Big E's Chore Chart:

clean up toys, make bed, feed the dog, help do the dishes
extra cards courtesy of my 2010 Project Life album

I was out of laminating sheets so I used an eyelet to make the hole more secure.

I love ribbon!!

when she completes all of the chores she sees all princess stickers

Little E's Chore Chart:

take dishes to the sink, clean up cars, put books away, put clothes in the basket

this ribbon is all boy and matches perfectly with his paper

Little E was so excited to see his stickers...he'll want to do the chores
just so he can see all of the transportation stickers!

cute stuff!

What are you guys making today??

 I'm hanging in there in the top 25 mom blogs...can you please vote? You can vote once a day until May 2nd. Thanks! 

Creative Estates {managing chaos}

While at Creative Estates I had a booth at the handmade market and I got to meet a TON of creative ladies.

Source: sandyalamode

I looked up and saw the sweet Megan from Brassy Apple (who I love) walk in with Becky Higgins!! I was so excited because I love Becky and her baby, Project Life. Thankfully I was right by the entrance so as she was walking out I stopped her and thanked her for making such a great product. She took time to have a conversation with me about how I use project life and also my business. I told her my name and she said "I know Amy Cornwell" and I about fell over. THE Becky Higgins recognized my name! Granted, she didn't know WHY she recognized my name, but I choose not to think about that ;) Megan was gracious enough to ask if I had a camera for a photo-op.

While at Creative Estates Becky, Megan, Melanie (Above All Fabric) and Becki (Whippy Cake) were on a panel talking to us about balancing motherhood and your business. It was such an informative talk and I wanted to share a few takeaways from that session because I know almost all of us business owners (and just moms in general) deal with how to balance and DO IT ALL.

Source: sandyalamode

Here are a few nuggets from the session called "Happy Chaos":

• one family calendar - on the Mac so that it synchs on iPhones, iPads, etc (Becky H)
• share your talents with your children - if you need to craft, let the kids craft too (Megan)
• plan meals for the week on Sunday (Melanie)
• achieve your own level of success, it'll come in its own time - "It took 5 years to become an overnight success" (Megan)
• don't be hard on yourself for letting your kids do what other parents don't (i.e. TV). be true to yourself. (Becki)
• one notebook for everything: task list, ideas, etc (Becky)
• rewards to stay motivated - date nights, family outing, pedicure - when you complete a goal (Becky)

These ladies know their stuff and had some great ideas for us all. The great thing is that they're not perfect and don't have all of the answers - they're just like us. But I'm grateful for each of the 4 ladies for sharing with us and making me think outside of my box that I've built. Thanks Becky, Megan, Melanie & Becki! 

Hubby's Valentine Card

Dave told me to make him a Valentine card this year, so I did! It's simple and manly (I think) - that's why I didn't use any ribbon or glitter or girly stuff. I love the red and gray together and the mini file folder is from the stash that I pulled out of the garbage at work last week :).

The Loving Life and bottom stamps are from Ali Edwards

I added the hearts by hand to add some color. Paper is leftover from Project Life.

I love this man!

Did any of you hand-make your valentines this year?

Ellie's POV

Our 5 year old takes over 600 pictures in the span of a month with her little kiddie camera. She takes multiple pictures of the everyday things in her life like breakfast, her Barbies, herself or the dog. It's always funny to see what her point of view is and what she's taking pictures of. One of the pictures from this last set was me with a towel on my head and around my body - needless to say that one won't make it onto the internet. But I did create a collage of some of the funny ones to put in my Project Life album. She's my little artist!

Project Life - January 2011

I'm so excited to be doing Project Life again for 2011. I love to scrapbook, but traditional scrapbooking just takes me too long with all of the other crafts I like to have my hands into. So Project Life was perfect for me in 2010. When I saw that Becky had two designs for 2011, I jumped right on the Amber Album. It's beautiful and I'm so excited to print my January pictures and get them in the album (as well as finishing 2010). Here are some of my favorites for this month.

Big E loves to play on her Daddy's iPad. I love the glow on her face!

I have many pictures like this, a favorite before-bed pastime.

You think she's like her mother? She loves taking pictures (and self-portraits).

It never fails that I wear my flats instead of boots on days that it snows.

Mimi brought us all Starbucks! Great day!

Making a tent with the kitchen table and curtains.

He wanted to sleep in his tent for naptime. Wasn't sure how it would work out but
he did great. Didn't get out to play or anything. We haven't tried a second time yet.

Big E amazes me. She loves to write and do math. I gave her 7 problems
and she got them all right. She'll do so well in Kindergarten next year.
She adds IN HER HEAD. Not on her fingers. I can barely even do that. :)

$3 Give Thanks Frame

This past week I was inspired by this Blessings Board I came across from Less-than-Perfect Life of Bliss. It is much larger than what I did and has more flowers, but I wanted mine to be simple and quick. I think we all need a board like this to remember to count our blessings and thank God for the things He gives us. I can't wait until Ellie can spell and write her own blessings on the frame. This would also be a great project for an older kids room, almost like a dry erase board for their room. You can make it in any size that you find at a discount store or garage sale. Paint the frame, use fabric behind the glass...the possibilities are endless!

$3 Walmart frame

It looks like wood but it's actually plastic - shhh, don't tell!

Cut scrapbook paper to size and add stickers for the text.

I made a flower out of fabric and burlap, attached them with a brad and
scrunched up some tulle for the back. I adhered it to the frame with Gorilla Glue.

I used a simple dry erase marker but want to get some of the chalk markers.

Quick, easy and inexpensive project to remember our blessings!

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Don't forget to support Breast Cancer Research

Create: Project Life

I've been needing to catch up on my Project Life album and also work on my "Day in the Life" from last Friday. I know I say (or maybe I just think) this all of the time but Project Life has been an amazing gift for this year. I'm so glad that I happened upon it. I'm current in my scrapbook for 2010 because it's so easy. Granted, I'm only 1/2 way through my traditional 2009 scrapbook and am on 9mo with Bubby's book (he's 21 months now), but I try not to think about that.

I wanted to show you how the baseball card holder fits into my 12x12 album. I like adding the inserts for Sissy's cards, her point of view and new things like A Day in the Life. It'll be interesting to see how thick my album is when it's all said and done because it's pretty thick now, but it might be okay. It's fun if nothing else!

A Day in the Life...

Today we didn't have anything concrete planned which I love. Two of my favorite scrapbook bloggers are Ali Edwards and Becky Higgins. Becky is the designer of my Project Life album that I am doing for 2010. Ali is doing a "week in the life" scrapbook where she documents pretty much everything she does in one week of the year. It's super cool. I love seeing what she's capturing during the day.

So as an addition to my Project Life album I decided to put in an insert for today as my "Day in the Life". We did a lot today and I took a lot of pictures. It was fun to take a picture from each event and document it for my album. I'm going to put the pictures into a 9-section basketball card holder. The day is not over so I'll add a few more once Hubby gets home but this is our day so far. I think some of the text [color] is going to have to be changed, but I won't know that until I print it out.

POTD: April 16

My POTD (picture of the day) for today for my Project Life album is a sweet one! We went on a 10 mile bike ride this morning then to Chick-fil-a for lunch followed by grocery shopping. When we got home the kids took their naps a little late. Hubby was laying on Sissy's bed waiting to give her a hug before nap and she said "I'm going to lay with daddy and sleep" and daddy said "no, Daddy's not going to sleep with you." Fast-forward 30 minutes. I was hammering out some orders when I realized it had been very quiet and I hadn't seen anyone come downstairs. I crept upstairs and found this:

What a sweet shot for today! Sissy loves her Daddy! She won't nap on the weekend so if this is what it takes - I'll take it! Sweet slumber...

Project Life for March 14-20, 2010

Friday I caught up on the last 3 weeks of Project Life. I still have to add a picture from the week of March 7th when Dave was on his annual Flight School Bahamas trip. Shown is my spread from last week which is complete. I received my vintage 1960's typewriter this week from a wonderful seller on Etsy named SarahAntiques so I used that for a few of my journaling cards.

Decoupaging Glass Jars & Bottles

My friend Chrissy asked me to post a tutorial on decoupage and I've been holding on to some glass jars for a while now so I finally decided to go for it and craft something new!

I started with a 12x12in piece of paper that I had from my stash of paper that was included in my Project Life album. I knew I wouldn't use all of the paper included for my album so I'm using some for other crafts. It's a beautiful dark orange and purple and I thought it would be great on a glass jar. I took my Cricut Expression and made an 11 inch scalloped square with the Accent Essentials shape cartridge.
 

Then I measured my jar and cut the paper down to size. I sprayed adhesive on the back of the paper and wrapped it around the jar.

Then I took Classic Modge Podge (glossy) and decoupaged the entire jar. Decoupage simply means painting over the piece with Modge Podge to seal it. When the Modge Podge was dry I glued a piece of ribbon at the bottom line of the paper. (picture 1)
I added a few sticker definitions of the words "sparkle" and "achieve" and a rub-on of the word "inspired". (picture 2)
I knew the jar needed some sparkle so I attached some Hot Fix Swarovski crystals to some of the petals on the flowers. (picture 3)
This jar is the perfect size for some Sharpies that I use for my "thank you" cards when I mail out orders. This was a simple project that just took a few hours to complete (with dry time). (picture 4)

I also made Ellie a jar to put her spare change in. I did pretty much the same thing as the above jar, but on hers I also added some glitter chipboard letters. To help the letters to stay curved as the glue dried, I used masking tape to secure them. Once the letters and decoupage were dry I added some Scripture and fairy stickers.

This post is part of my series for 2010 where I create something as often as possible (I realized that every day was unattainable for me).