Give and Take Winner and My Trip

Hi Everybody!

We got back from our trip and you will be happy to know I feel a bit more sorted out. So much so I got my craft room rearranged and organized too! Pictures to come in a future post.

Thank you for everyone's comments. Blogging is a journey and a learning experience and I really appreciate your sharing your knowledge with me. It helped me understand the WHY a bit more. And how much I need to look at who is visiting instead of who is leaving. That is hard for me and I seem to need reminded often. For the background story on this statement click HERE. So, without further ado, the winner of my prize is...

i very seldom unsubscribe from a blog. the several times I have done so I think because the blog turned out to be more advertising than i assumed it would be when i originally signed up. Good luck to you and belated birthday greetings!
linda patti tpatti@windstream.net

Linda, I will be emailing you to claim your prize. Oh and I finally took a picture of it :)

• I didn't gain any weight! It was HARD because vacation means vacation from everything usually, but I worked too hard to lose focus on my goals. HA! Uh, didn't lose any either though. Oh well, here is to maintaining! 
• Lots of sights...Here are some highlights:

Hiking at the base of a volcano.

the Grand Canyon

A Pueblo

My family at the Pueblo :) 

I was so impressed by the views of our hotel rooms. Here is one, truly felt serene and vacation-y. And sitting on the balcony looking like the angel she is...

Anya

Arizona felt like a different planet. Every time I looked the landscape changed. What a cool state! The static was awful for my hair though...so DRY there. 

This boy turned 7 today. Ben, my only son, my sweet and gentle boy. 

and he can be a bit of a jokester...here he is giving me bunny ears.

Thank you :) 

I Give You Something (GIVEAWAY), and You Give Me...

Hi Everyone,

Let's catch up.

March 4th I turned 37. Somehow I am now older than most people I meet. When did that happen? I am experiencing a major struggle to lose weight too.  Bleh. My face shape is shifting, my eyes appear smaller..is that even possible?

Right now, I am in Arizona visiting the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Four Corners and some other landmarks for the kids Spring Break. It has been fun vacationing and relaxing for a change. Still orienting to the new job which is quite detailed oriented (something I am not used to) and have a few weeks to go. I think when it is all over and I am on my own working 5pm-130am, I will enjoy the peace and quiet. My family is a complete stimulus overload which is more noticeable on vacation for some reason.

I took this picture on the way to the Grand Canyon, but it does look symbolic now that I write this post.

My struggle with my weight has lead me to Weight Watchers, a place I turned to in the past and was reminded of that from an old friend (thank you Tiffany if you are reading this).  I have lost 5 pounds on the program and am getting in 4 work outs a week thanks to a bet/encouragement from my blog buddy Elena Roussakis (Just Me Prints). Losing weight coupled with a thyroid condition is a total uphill battle, but I am confident that by putting it higher on the priority list, I can reach my goal. Therefore, crafting has taken a bit of the back seat while I try to gain a better footing on managing the rest of my full life with crafting. When I first started to blog, I loved the thrill of the challenges, meeting new people, and being creative. That pursuit led me down a path in which my every free moment was devoted to card making in some way: thinking about card design, looking at cards and products, or actually crafting. A year or so later and I realize that I am not happy with the way I look  and feel and need to stop crafting as much in order to make room for the gym, time with my family, and overall happiness with the rest of my life. In other words, I need to craft pendulum to go back to center. I am sure many of you have already been down this path and can relate.

So about the ol' blog...in the last week, I have also lost a slew of followers. They always seem to leave in groups. It makes me feel like I did something wrong. Has my evolving style turned off viewers? Is it my decreased number of posts? What is it? I can handle one here or there but the mass exodus has me scratching my head. (PS in case some of you tell me that they are just leaving because reader is becoming obsolete, they were email followers) I need answers and since emailing them and asking them directly is a bit extreme (no matter how tempting it is), I thought I would ask the public.

Sooooo....in honor of my birthday....and since my blog has been a bit neglected....and because I need to know some information, I am offering up a prize.

Leave a comment here by Friday March 29th  at 1159 Mountain time on why you chose to unsubscribe from a blog and I will draw a winner when I return.

The prize includes a 6x6 paper pack, if I recall it is from MME, and some other goodies which I can't remember and have no picture of right now since I am away, but I promise it's good!

Thanks for helping and listening,

Wida

ABNH Mission Ignition #2

It's that time of the month (why does that sound wrong?) 

For the next few weeks I will be on the A BLOG NAMED HERO site discussing color. Each week we will tackle color, but to change it up a bit, I thought it would be fun to consider color with another design element. First up:

Join me on the blog to see what I created for you this month!

Here is one of the cards I made and I show you how I made it and how I find my inspiration on the blog:

PS. Still orienting to the new job and last week I joined weight watchers. So basically I am confused and hungry a lot :) love and miss you all. I hope to be back to normal next month where I can visit your blogs again.

Iron Chef, I mean Craft

Long ago, I had a lovely lady wanted to join CASADIA. Her name is Chaitari Narla and she did a fabulous job :) A while later she emailed me asking if I would like to join in HER idea. I said sure, I like a good idea, right?

Her idea was a take on the show Iron Chef where she goes to battle with another designer and creates a card using the same elements. In this case we decided on a camera die cut shape (Design ID #2761) from the Silhouette and a paper pack that I adore, Take Note by Studio Calico/Hero Arts. And the Iron Craft was ON!!!

So go over and check her's out. I think the idea is super fun!! 

I am going to enter this in the Moxi Fab World Speech Bubble Challenge, my latest favorite thing (next to Bossy Joscie flair which I conveniently added to my card too).

RIC #32

I was so glad to be able to craft after so long. I am knee deep in orientation for my new job. Learning the ropes has been a challenge, but I am glad for the challenge :) I even saw a few of my patients from my family practice jobs who were sad that I left and that made me feel nice!

I think if I didn't have some design team deadlines my blog would be neglected right now, so here it is another fab Runway Inspired Challenge.

 It looked city and I LOVE GLITTER...so:

this bow brought to you by the awesome Claudia (Clouds) Shadler :)

I ran the skyline silhouette file through my sticker maker, then sprinkled pink, black and silver glitter on it. 

When you open it, it reveals 2 tickets to a broadway show...ok movie tickets for most of us! This is how I like to paint the town when my husband and I get to go out :)

WHaT 'SUpp:

Die--Absolutely by Simon Says Stamp, Silhouette folded card Design ID #35845, skyline Design ID #24276

Stamp--PTI- mini blooms

Other: glitter by Martha Stewart, ribbon-Michaels

And the fab design team who inspires me every time...

Nina

Virginia

Tasnim

Pamela

Laura

Aga

Jennifer 

An Ellen Hutson gift certificate is up for grabs to the winner! And I don't want to brag, but we have some of the MOST TALENTED players around!! Can't wait to see what the design team and players make this time!!! 

And thanks to a tip from my bloggie friend Miriam, I am going to enter this in the Moxi Fab World Ombre Challenge! 

Feelin' the Love

I have been busy with the other things in my life but I wanted to catch you all up on some blog love I have been getting lately!

My blog friend Susie was kind enough to declare a blog crush on me and it just made my day. You can read about the kind words she said here. There were less than 30 entries for the contest sponsored by Clear and Simple stamps as part of the Spread the Love Campaign and I felt honored to be chosen as someone worthy of a crush!


My Runway Inspired Challenge design teamie Tasnim turned the tables on me and interviewed me. Usually I am full of words, but I wasn't feeling chatty but did my best. If you want to learn more about me and read the interview, click here

I know many of you make cards purely for fun, and I do too, but I am a goal oriented kind of gal, so I had a bucket list of sorts for myself and one of them was to design for a manufacturing company. Well my dream came true. I will be designing for GCD Studios. The announcement was made in the latest edition of The Paper Cut emagazine-a free online publication by GCD Studios showing projects from their latest release. You can read the issue here, as well as check out the rest of the DT.

I am going to leave you a picture of my life right now because I know it will make you laugh. It makes me laugh too as I plow my way through life and count my many blessings along the way. Orienting to a new job and my 4 kids and and and...

When I am commenting on your cards, you can picture the above photo. My girls who are 19 months apart fight for attention like twins, so usually one takes the right lap and the other the left. My daughter Sophia is having fun crafting at the table (off camera) and my son Ben is goofing around in the background (he's the green blur). My craft room is messy but my heart is happy :)

Thank you for always commenting, encouraging, and supporting me. MWAH!

RIC #31

Time for Runway Inspired Challenge...

I love this image. It has so many possibilities.

 I sat down and this is what happened.

After I was done I thought, who am I going to give this to?

I suppose you could switch out the monster for a flower or something, but then I felt like I was moving away from the inspiration and I had the perfect paper pack to go with this one.

The lesson? Sometimes your creativity leads you to a card with no purpose.

And the more I look at it, it kind of sounds insulting. "I am in awe of your monsterness." Sometimes I really need to just stop analyzing, but darn it, the switch doesn't shut off so easily!


WHaT 'SUpp:
Paper--Monstrosity by Sassafras Lass
Die--Absolutely by Simon Says Stamp, Silhouette Design ID #35514 
Stamp--Absolutely coordinating stamp set
Other: glossy accents


I know I say this every time, but seriously folks, these ladies (and entries every week) is some serious eye candy!

Nina

Virginia

Tasnim

Pamela

Laura

Aga

Jennifer 

the winner gets a gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!!

Saturday Afternoons #8

It's Saturday...which means I get to share another creation make with October Afternoon products...

So...here's the thing...

I been kind of busy. 

So, sadly, my Saturday Afternoon Posts have to go MONTHLY and while I am at it, I think I have to do the same with Diagnosis Design.

See, I don't mention it much, but I got like a million kids and they have been busier than normal. Sick little ones and birthday parties and them wanting to "do" stuff. I also am getting a new job that has taken up my time. So I had to make some adjustments...

using Rocket Age

Not thrilled with the photo...but ran out of time! grrr...

SATURDAY AFTERNOON STORY TIME:
Instead of a story, I am gonna sneak in a photo of Karina, my baby. Monday I start orientation for my new job and also the advanced photography course given by the awesome Maggie Holmes!

she has a double ear infection and is SO grumpy!

Signed,

Wida Miller

Swedish Medical Center Cardiovascular Services Nurse Practitioner :)