Happy Halloween!

Hello Blogger friends! I hope you are having a spook-tacular day! It took the Halloween to get me to my craft table. This time to make cards!It has been a very long time since I've handmade any cards. I found these cuties (basic white die cut skull cards) on the sale rack of my local scrapbook store. I didn't even pay attention to them except my friend Connie brought them to my attention. I only purchased them because they were clearanced and marked down even further making them $0.25 for a pack of 8!! Yes, I admit I only purchased them because I thought atleast I would have 8 envelopes for 25cents, what a bargain even if I didn't use the skulls!! What a deal. Again, I had NO idea what to do with them! Until I thought I should hand doodle day of the dead and make them sugar skulls! Oh, what fun! Each one is very different. Each one is hand doodled, colored, have embellishments glued to them... these were a tremendous amount of fun! And, I was reminded of the doodling class I took online sometime back! Reminds me of the good ole days when I would hand draw on my layouts.

 

 If I've been doing anything consistently crafty lately it has been my newest obsession of scrapbooking Project Life style. But, when I say Project Life style I do not mean scrapbooking everyday but rather, using the pocket pages to scrapbook. And, I have to say, why did it take me so long to get on the bandwagon with this?? Because I was waiting on one of my friends to tell me all about PL! If it weren't for Connie (again) I would totally be in the dark. Maybe because I'm back to work, keeping up with my 4 year old & just generally busy!! But I just haven't been paying attention to the crafting industry. I barely keep up with my beloved Stampin' UP! so sbing just hasn't been on my radar. 

When I was able to accomplish putting my back log of one entire year into my album over a weekend I was hooked! Now, to be fair, I should add that the pictures are in the album HOWEVER, only a few pages are completed. BUT, the pictures are in the album and I'm in the process of adding journaling, embellishments, etc. Which is a better place to be in than pictures in a box! I feel this way of scrapbooking will help my OCD ways helping me have less stress in the long run. Because, as all scrapbookers would likely agree, what looks unfinished to me may look completely done to another. Anywho, on with my show n tell... these are just a sampling of a few pages that are more complete than others... lol!

I have a lot more scrapbooking to do. But, I hope to relay the excitement I have been experiencing over my beloved craft hobbies. Recently I even joined 2 (new to me) monthly scrapbooking kits: Freckled Fawn & Studio Calico. If you know of any other's to check out please let me know!
 
Thank you for stopping by! See you soon! Julia

Delicious Canning

A few weeks ago I came across the BALL CANNING GUIDE COOKBOOK in my local Walmart. I've been feeling the pull of the cute mason jars on the canning isles for some time now. Maybe the universe was trying to tell me it was time to fulfill an item off my bucket list and try my hand at Canning! One thing I've learned about my self is when I get it in my head I'm like a dog with a bone. Nothing was gonna hold me back from giving it a try. I immediately set out to buy all the necessary equipment (and cute jars). I spent some time researching recipes & watching tips on youtube before I got my nerve up. My first attempt at homemade applesauce was such a success I moved on to Concord grape juice jelly. Again, another success story! So I spent several nights watching more youtube videos on making orange marmalade (which folks is a 2 day process) and again, OMG like I am hooked!! My next recipe in waiting is Cinnamon Syrup Apple Slices!!

Also, FINALLY, after 3 missed summers I made my very first batch of garden fresh pesto. I've learned a few "secrets" that I'm writing down so as to perfect my pesto next summer. But, it has been a delicious addition! OMG, why did I wait so long to harvest my basil? Little did I know, before now that is, that I should have been harvesting the young tender leaves all summer to produce the best quality tasting pesto.

Hoppy Easter

Blessings to you on this Easter day! Easter is my 3rd favorite holiday! (Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter) I love that spring is in the air, and The Resurrection is in our hearts! I felt so behind when making this years Christmas & Valentine's day cards. So, I got started on these earlier than usual. I made the following 2 cards for my nieces. I was inspired for both cards from the wonderful pinterest site. I "pinned" both ideas a few years ago, I could stand it no longer, I knew this was the year I would make them!! The top card was made from the Stampin' UP! "top note" die. And, both cards are pieced together from various Stampin' Up! punches.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is my 2nd favorite Holiday! I love-- LOVE! And, I love telling those I adore that I love them! Valentine's Day is the perfect holiday for me to make my handmade cards to mail out. This year I made 2 different ones. The first 2 pictures are of cards I mailed out to my sons grandparents. Hand/foot art is something I very much enjoy creating. And, as usual, I got this idea from pinterest. Flip down the hand and it says "Blowing kisses your way this Valentine's day". I came up with that sentiment all on my own, lol. I am very proud of this next card. Mostly because I came up with the design all on my own (usually I am one who copies great ideas). Seems to me, in the crafting community the "Chalkboard" technique is very popular. So, I gave it ago with a few of my favorite stamp sets. I hope it looks like a chalkboard...to me it looks like a chalkboard. The chalkboard technique was so much fun to do. I've been looking in my stamp set stash and have pulled out a few sets that may make for a cool card. Also, recently I picked up another set that should work beautifully with this technique. Be on the look out for more chalkboard cards, lol, I'm focused and ready to get more made! Thanks for visiting! xoxo

February Hostess Club Projects

I have been having a lot of fun with the new Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration & Mini catalog stamp sets & accessories! I certainly wanted to make the February Hostess Club Projects from items out of the two newest SU catalogs. As usual, I was inspired by the online community gallery for both of these cards.

One of the coolest things about this card was using my ink pad to add color to the Vanilla Flower Trim (last row, 2nd square) & the builder brads. This collage card was a lot of fun to make.

I am in love with the Cloud embossing folder! It just adds that certain something to this already adorable card! Thanks for visiting!

Card Swap, Valentine's Day Theme

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that the new year is in full swing. I have been busy with other things and not able to do anything crafty since my very busy crafty December. One of my card swap groups has a meet up next week and I still had not had an opportunity to do anything! My day began feeling forced to be crafty. But, once I got a little ink on my fingers it all came back to me. By the time I completed making my cards I was in full swing and didn't want to stop. But, my toddler forced me to change gears and make dinner. I am very pleased with the outcome of my first crafty time in 2013. As usual, the picture really doesn't do the card justice. It is truly much prettier in person. I realize that one of the reasons why I had fun with this card is because of all the stamping that it required. It feels like it has been a long time since I made a card! This was FUN!

Next I need to create the two projects for the upcoming SU Hostess Club meeting in February! Luckily I already have the ideas I just need to get busy. And, if today was any indication it will be another fun time! Thanks for visiting my blog! See you soon, J

I have posted this post on my family blog but because it also falls in the crafty column I thought I would repost it over here too... I have a LOOOONGGGGG list of crafty "to do's" all thanks to my love of the internet site called pinterest. I have been very very busy trying to get all this done. We have had so much fun with all these projects!! Cinnamon Applesauce Potpourri Can I say, "OMG OMG" well, yes OMG OMG!! This is so easy, smells absolutely delicious & Zachary LOVED to cut the shapes. We will totally be doing this again! All it is: 1 C Applesauce, 1-1/2 C Cinnamon & 2Tb ground nutmeg. OMG OMG!! so so fun!!

Stringing Homemade Garland We have never taken the time to do this before. I think as a child I remember stringing something one time but I'm not sure what it was. I thought the popcorn would be easier than it ended up being- the pop corn cracked and it was very easy to poke yourself. Obviously we didn't want our 3 year old to string with a real needle so I just made a faux one with tape on the end of a string. And, we had a lot of debate over what type of food he could string easily...we initially looked for dry noodles but couldn't find any that were colored so we stuck with the good ole favorite cereal fruit loops. Zachary would string one and eat three. Cranberry

Zach's "needle" fruit loop string

upclose & personal

Mantel

Focus on the garland

Gingerbread House Poppi gave us a gingerbread house at Thanksgiving. We sat down one evening to decorate it. Zachary absolutely loved this!! It sits in the center of our kitchen table and we have a lot of discussion over who maybe inside (Elfie is the big favorite). Zachary looks so proud in this picture :))

Snowman Door. This decoration was so easy, and it's one of those ideas where I think to myself, "why did I not think of this?" I made this with just card stock & punches. And, I hand cut out the carrot nose. Zachary helped put the buttons on the snowman and after we were done he said, "our house looks like Christmas" Now that, is what I wanted to hear :))

Thanks for stopping by! Have a very Merry Christmas!!

December Stampin' Up Hostess Club Projects

A few weeks ago we had our bi-monthly Stampin' UP! December Hostess Club gathering. We had a great time playing with Heat n stick powder. I have to say, before the projects I did not have favorable feelings about Heat n stick. There is a small learning curve to using the product and I had not figured it out yet. After creating these projects & doing my due diligence researching skill of "HnS" I now feel like I get it why several of my scrap booking friends swear by it! Not that I want to pull this tool out all the time but I see it has a purpose in the crafting sphere. If you want small glittered detail, "HnS" is the way to get it! Well, with out further ado , here are the 2 card projects:

The SU Stamp-a-ma-jig was a BIG help in aligning the second glitter stamp over the blue ink stamped image. It took several mistakes to get it right. But, I like the outcome! Thanks for stopping by, Hope you are all having a crafty Holiday Season!

Handprint, footprint...art

Hello Crafty blog friends! I have planned for this post to go up on my family blog next week. But, I couldn't help but share it here as well... This season has just flown by. As does most of the year. However, I have found this year, for the first time ever, that I want to slow the clock down and savor every moment. Having our son home I want to experience holidays (and every day events) to their fullest. Because of this I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the beginning of December...motherhood by itself certainly brings plenty of reasons to feel over whelmed. For some reason, this Christmas season just seemed to start with me already running around chasing my tail. I was determined to get it all done. And, though I didn't get it ALL done, I certainly achieved as much as I possibly could. The bright side to this has been many memories and new traditions have started in our household! I have always admired artwork made from children hand print, foot print (& thumbprints). Whether that is on paper, in clay, on glassware or canvas, anywhere where a moment in time is captured and preserved!! As most of you know, now a-days there are stores where you can paint on canvas or paint a plate, etc. It's hard to get out of the house and go to these places when you have a toddler in tow. So, I thought I would find some projects that I could do at home. I found canvas on sale at my local craft store 2 for $8. And, after choosing colors in the paint isle I spent several days at my kitchen table painting away. It maybe obvious but from left to right the feet are: Matt, Julia & Zachary. And, a little ornament adorns the top right corner with "The Millers, 2012". I had so much fun doing this that I'm already planning making one for Easter too.

After painting the canvas I just couldn't stop. I saw this idea on pinterest of making a cloth banner. The fabric is very cheap but the outcome seems priceless to me :)I couldn't help but pull out my sewing machine and add a little extra trim. I love love these!

Hello friends! I have some exciting news to share, I did it!! This past Monday I accomplished a BIG goal of mine, I reached the 50 pound loss mark with Weight Watchers. To celebrate I took a picture with my class leader. And, I whispered in her ear that we will take pictures again when I reach my 75 pound mark. I am so proud!! I have never loss more than 30 pounds and I feel like I am going strong and I want to continue. I am not sure where my final scale destination is. But, I will know it when I get there. Until then I am taking it one day at a time, visualizing my future and enjoying the journey along the way!

Notice that we are both wearing 5K shirts from Sunday's Lake Lanier Run with the lights 5K! A lot of friends and WW participants walked/ran the race. It was a fun but tiring evening! And, I actually ran (a little) during the 5K. The course was VERY hilly and I was unprepared. Because of a previous injury I only run when the ground is flat. So, there wasn't as much running as I would have liked but just being able to run at all during the race gave me a sense of accomplishment for sure!! Now I can't wait to find my next 5K! Any ideas?

Hello! I thought it was a good time for me to share a little of what I've been up to. I may not have been posting as much on my blogs in 2012. But, I have been busy crafting and bettering my over all health. My focus this year has been on myself. And, I've made quite an accomplishment & I would like to share a little detail with you, my devoted :)) blog readers. Inspired by my friend and weight watchers partner, Monica, I thought I would post a few pictures http://mybusybusylife.blogspot.com/. We both joined WW the first week of January 2012 and will have lost 50 pounds this coming Monday! I am able to confidently say this because in my mind it has already occurred :) I believe in the power of visualization. We are both only a few pounds and or ounces away so it's a given if it doesn't happen for us this week it will the following. Either way, I would like to share my before and after (current) pictures. I noticed it is not easy for me to see the change in myself. And, some could say I am having "success amnesia". But as the saying goes, a picture says a 1,000 words. So, drum roll please.......

This coming Monday should be a celebration for me at WW. I hope to be earning, another 5 pound star, my 50 pound charm & a 5K charm. Sunday we are walking/running in my 2nd 5K!! I hope to be running parts of it! Wow, how my life has changed. :)) With the weight release I have found the confidence to mark a few things off my bucket list: Ride a Mechanical Bull, Complete 5K, Run, Zumba Dance Classes & Take a Gun Safety Class. Since I'm quickly checking off bucket list items I've also added a few to the list for the future: Ride a motorcycle, Zip Line& Karaoke. I wonder what 2013 will hold!

Welcome back to my craft blog, I am glad you are here! I've got some scrapbook layouts to share with you. I have been busy working on the completion of our China trip. I think the scrapbook is going to end up being two very large albums! I've been focusing on it a lot lately because I am almost done!! I saved these pictures for the last of my scraping this trip because they are so important to me. I feel like they could not be perfect enough, no matter how hard I try. I put so much importance on the pictures that I may never be pleased with them.But I realized there has got to be a day that I scrap them and move on to more recent pictures that are quickly piling up, creating a different kind of stress :)) . Gotcha Day was one of the most important days in my life, I will never forget it. I hope to express my love in these pages for my son. SO, enough already, on with the layouts! Gotcha Day. The very first moments with our son. Wow, they bring back all the emotion!

Nap, Zachary quickly fell asleep in my arms on the bus ride from Gotcha Day to the hotel!

Page 2, this is the complimentary page to the nap above. It shows us getting off the bus headed to our room & then our first official family picture for the VISA.

Our Boy, this picture so reminds me of all our day excursions. Zachary would stay awake as long as he could. He would keep his eye lids open until he could no longer. No matter where we were he was happiest when we were out and about. And, he is like that even to this day!

Forever Family, these pictures were taken in the lobby of the orphanage. I was so wrapped up in my son I didn't even notice the wall. Luckily my Father directed us to stand under the Murial. These are some of my favorite pictures of Gotcha Day.

There is a certain joy from a warm homecoming! So Happy together. These pictures are absolutely precious to me. They capture the first moments that our entire family sees Zachary for the first time!!

Home of the free, land of the brave. This land was made for me and you!

USA, Let's go HOME!! Perfectly captured, us relieved to be in familiar surroundings and anxious to get home!

I'm BAAACK!! :))

Hello my crafty friends! Thank you for being loyal to my blog. Though I obviously have not been blogging I have totally been crafty! I've been taking pictures along the way with thoughts of eventually sitting down to share some creations with you. Today, I have a VERY long blog that should catch you up on everything I've made sitting in my craft room! My Stampin' UP! Hostess Club is still going strong. With out them I may not take as much opportunity to create cards and craft projects. These following Halloween pictures are of projects from my last two SU club. Pumpkin Treat. I always enjoy paper piecing and using my punches to make cutesy figures. So, when I saw this idea on pinterest I knew it was perfect. I changed it up a little to make the pumpkin more 3 dimensional by using both sizes of the SU scallop punches for the pumpkin.

Halloween Card, this card uses the SU Googlie Eye Kit. And, the little mummy moves from side to side. I adore the colors of this card! SU Grey card stock matches with so many colors!

Another project using the SU Halloween Googlies Eye Kit, this one is a Treat Bag. What makes it unique is the goody bag was dry embossed with an embossing folder & the big shot. The SU Kit comes with everything to make this. Total cuteness!

Onto Christmas Cards. I made this card to be a project in my most recent SU Hostess Club. The Christmas ornament is heat embossed & then cut out with the matching framelits die. In fact, there is currently a special at SU for the stamp set & framelit dies. check it out here:http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/juliacmiller/promotions

For the first time ever, we held a card swap with the hostess club. The theme was Christmas cards. And, this is what I came up with (inspired by split coast of course)

Another card I created for the club was this beautiful vintage collage card. Club members decided if the card would be a birthday or anniversary card. I made mine for a friend who will be turning 40 soon.

This card is out of my comfort zone. But, the technique I was playing with was distressing. Which is something I do a lot of in my scrapbooking. But, I tend to make cards with a cleaner look. Also, the flowers are pretty cool. They can be colored, stamped, embossed, distressed, you name it! On this card we stamped in the center.

Also, somehow I found the time to make Easter Cards. I absolutely adore this card. It is so cool that the back ground embossing folder on this card is actually a Christmas poinsettia folder. But, just add a few yellow dots to the center of the flowers and they look like summer daisy's!

Father's Day Card. I did not have a chance to use this card this year, but I certainly will this coming year. It was fun to make and so easy! It's supposed to look like a dress shirt. I love the ties. Which are very versatile. I totally plan on using them as a banner sometime on a scrapbook layout!

And, finally, a birthday card. I enjoy making shape cards. It takes me out of the box from the usual square/ rectangle card. to make the shape card in the below picture, I used the framelits SU die. It was easy to do & I plan on doing it again soon.

Thanks again for visiting, take care & "see you" soon!