Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Craft File: Bumblebee Quilt


Aww...a Work in Progress. I can't tell you how long ago I started this quilt, but looking at Dee Dee's blog got me inspired. I decided to hang this up in my craft space (I have a great before and after of my craft space to show you too!) to inspire me.


We'll see if it gets me back on my machine.



The only problem now is that it doesn't match any of my spaces. I'm wondering if that matters, as it is a quilt-it's supposed to have a little bit of everything and be handed down generations. How do you feel about this subject? Design the quilt around the room, or make it up as you go?

Rachel May

Monday, March 29, 2010

A Note About Goals

I thought I needed to clarify something, to give myself a little bit of credit regarding these goals I've been setting. Although I didn't complete February's goals like I wanted, and didn't even write goals for March, I have been doing some things differently in my life-small feats that I'm very proud of:

1. A few months ago I went to the dentist-this was not fun. But since then, I've been flossing every day. I had my mind set to create a habit, and I stuck to it. For that, I am proud (and so is my dentist!).

2. Savings. One big New Years Resolution was to have enough money in savings to do a Eurotrip sometime next year with my sister. I've always said "I really want to travel," but I'd rather say "ooh..I've been there! It was amazing!" So next year, things will change. I have a goal to reach 5k by the end of the year, and I am well on my way.

3. Working Out. I've always done the cliche New Years resolution of saying "Work out 5x a week, " or "lose ten pounds," but they never stuck. So instead, I decided to get a gym membership (step one). I enlisted the help of my superfit roommate to be my workout buddy (step two). And I went to the gym (the most difficult and crucial step). I've gone to the gym pretty much every other day for the last month, and I can feel it. I'm not setting a goal to workout 5x a week, because when I set goals like that, life happens, I miss an extra day, and I get discouraged. So right now, I'm just trying to go as much as I can.

The main point I want to get across in this post is to celebrate small successes. I think it's really important to give yourself credit. It's also important to admit defeat, to learn from your mistakes, and to grow. I'm trying to do just that.

What are some small successes you've accomplished? Any goals for this year?

Rachel May

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Card Club: First Challenge!

Welcome to the card club! Whether you are here to check out the first challenge, to join the club, or just to look, enjoy!



Here are the details:
1. Each member is required to create one card every other week, following the guidelines given. I will start with posting a blog containing the first set of requirements as well as my card. The requirements can be anything: has to have blue on it, must be larger than 4 x 5.5 in size, designed from an inspirational photo, etc.
2. Whoever writes the guidelines for that week tags another person-there doesn't have to be any order in who you tag. If you are participating, please comment so we can add you to the tag list!
3. You will have two weeks to complete your card. If you are tagged to write requirements, please have the requirements ready by the end of the two weeks, so everyone has ample time to make their cards.
4. Post your pictures on your blog and comment to the person who sent the challenge with a link to it. This part might get confusing-we can work this out once we get started. The group will decide-do we want this on one main blog? Do we want it to jump to each person's blog? Do we want everyone to post all the cards every two weeks? We will need to make some decisions.

And now...onto this week's challenge (no bug eating or tight roping necessary)!

Your first challenge is to create a card for a friend-no specific rules on that, it just has to be designed as something you would send to a friend, and it must be spring-themed. I'm looking for bright, happy, colorful cards, folks!

Here's what I came up with:



This card started out with a kraft paper base. The paper with the grass was a perfect pairing with the tree cardstock you see on the left (and they're both 70% recycled papers, which makes me a happy camper).



I stamped, embossed and colored the Thinking of You portion...



And embellished the bottom right with Prima flowers and button brads. I'm pretty proud with how it turned out.

Due Date:
You have until April 11th to complete yours and post it! Please comment with a link so I can see your creations:)

Tagged: SkyleRae-you're next! Please come up with a challenge and post it to your blog April 11th at 6am (mountain time).

Tag List (so far)
Rachel May (hey that's me!)
SkyleRae
Dee Dee

In the meantime, as I see your creations, I'll copy some of your pictures and create a post to show the outcome of our first challenge!

Have fun!

Rachel May

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Do we dare set April goals? Absolutely!

Although I'm not so proud of my progress with my February goals, I think one of the best things to do is to try again. I am a big believer in goals, so here it goes- my goals for April (you will notice I skipped March, I was on an unintentional blog hiatus).

April Goals


Personal: No candy.
My dentist would be so proud. This is going to be one of the most difficult personal goals I have ever set for myself. I have no idea if I can do it. Not to mention, I have a dish full of chocolates sitting on my desk every day at work and I'm a total sugar addict. I will have to resort to candy substitutes-dried fruit, regular fruit, etc, and I will have to deal. For one entire month. This blog might get a little stressful (Note: this, for me, is the equivalent to some people quitting smoking...cold turkey).

Home: One room at a time.
There are many things I want to do with our cute little rental house, but I do have limited time and funds. I want to truly design our space (I say "our" because it's me, boyfriend, and our roommate living here) and make it into something lovely. For April, my goal will be to pick one room, decide on what items need addressing, and to complete them by the end of the month.

Business: Networking.
I want to be better at it, and I love meeting new people, so here's a goal. I'm starting a card club, and you're invited. The members will determine how the club is directed, right now it's in the beginning stages. If you're into Christmas stampin' all year long, this is just like that-it was my inspiration, actually.

Here are the details:
1. Each member is required to create one card every other week, following the guidelines given. I will start with posting a blog containing the first set of requirements as well as my card. The requirements can be anything: has to have blue on it, must be larger than 4 x 5.5 in size, designed from an inspirational photo, etc.
2. Whoever writes the guidelines for that week tags another person-there doesn't have to be any order in who you tag. If you are participating, please comment so we can add you to the tag list!
3. You will have two weeks to complete your card. If you are tagged to write requirements, please have the requirements ready by the end of the two weeks, so everyone has ample time to make their cards.
4. Send your pictures to the person writing requirements-that way they can post it in their blog. This part might get confusing-we can work this out once we get started. The group will decide-do we want this on one main blog? Do we want it to jump to each person's blog? Do we want everyone to post all the cards every two weeks? We will need to make some decisions.

I will post the first week's requirements starting tomorrow morning, Sunday March 28, 2010. More details to follow. Oh and if you think of a cool name for the club, send me a comment. I'd love to hear your ideas!

Rachel May

Oh yeah...how about those February goals?

You may remember that I had goals for February, then fell off the face of the planet. Was that one of my goals? Heck no! Now I have to fess up to the blog. Here's how I did for February:

I wanted to have 3 goals a month, because there are 3 areas in my life that I think I could always improve upon-Personal, Home, and Business.

Personal: In bed by 10:00pm, up @ 6:00am.
Outcome: Goal edited! Now it's in bed by 11, up by 7...which I haven't been doing to the letter, but I'm making progress.

Home:
Start Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure.
For February, complete weeks 1-4 (of 8).
Outcome: Ouch. I did week 1 religiously, then I got to the kitchen part...where you have to clean your kitchen from top to bottom...and I hesistated...for the rest of the month. I'm not sure if this will stay on the goals list or not. I was thinking of changing this more towards one room at a time-cleaning, coming up with a new layout, redesigning, painting, etc.

Business:
Create a schedule and realistic goals.
Outcome: I did create a schedule, but I haven't stuck to it. My new schedule is to create new items for my Etsy site on the weekends and photograph them, then during the week I will post new items, renew, update bookkeeping, etc. That hasn't been fully implemented, but it looks as though it will be successful.

I'll embellish on each of these as well as progress throughout the month.
Outcome: I lied! Now I have to add a goal: Be a Better Blogger.

Sheesh. This is a rough post.

Rachel May