a note to myself - 2013

Profound.

Enlightening.

Inspiring.

and a bit of magic.

To read a note I wrote to myself on 12/31/12, written one year earlier, was a truly super cool thing.  Nobody knows me like me, right?  Nobody knows what I truly want for myself like I do.  And nobody knows just what to say.  I am SO glad I did this.  It was easy to commit to doing it again.

This year I did a different approach.  I created a layout.  There's a lot of layers here, but in the center is an envelope and in that envelope is another letter to myself, that I won't open until 12/31/13.  

I'm really excited about this one, because I have some serious goals and I'm really looking forward to opening it up and checking off a few things from the bucket list at the end of the year.

I had fun with design on this one.  I used goodies from my January kit from Gossamer Blue as well as items from my stash.

And just like last year, I included a recent family picture, this one was from New Years Eve, as well as a self-portrait.  I took that one with my new iPhone.  I'm not normally a fan of self-portraits but you need to get yourself in the picture every once in a while.

I hope you had a chance to play along with this challenge.  It isn't too late!
My plan is to tuck this layout in at the end of my scrapbook so it'll be easy to find at the end of the year.

2011 is here.
And the first time I did this I created a pillow box.  You can check that note here.

InLinkz.com

Have a great day!  The kids and I are both back to school tomorrow.  I'm headed to a first-grade class this time.  I'm super excited about it!  I graduate in May!

XOXO Davinie

note to self - a New Years challenge

Hi friends

I just realized that in just 5 days, I will get to open this:

On 12/31/11 I wrote a letter to myself.  It lists some goals, resolutions, and thoughts.  It was a letter I wrote to myself for 12/31/12.  I wrote it picturing what I'd be doing and where I'd be with my life one year later.

In 5 days I get to open it and see where I'm at.

I think New Year's Resolutions are difficult to keep.  It's also hard to come up with a big idea or plan that I can stick with for a year.  But this letter was different.  This letter was about life goals and plans and attitudes and ideas and I am SO excited to see if I lived up to what I was hoping for myself.  It's words of encouragement from me to me.

5 more days!

This is a personal thing.  It only involves me.  I don't know about you but I don't always do the best job of nurturing my soul.  This is a way to do that without involving everyone else.  It's just for me.

On 12/31/12, I'm going to open that envelope and read a letter from my past with hopes for my future.  I'm pretty excited about it.

In the meantime, I think it's time for another letter.  It's time to make some new goals and encourage my future self and get thoughts on paper.

I want to challenge you to write a note to yourself and seal it up tight, to be opened 12/31/13.  And then I challenge you to scrapbook it somehow.  I plan to do just as I did above and put it in a page protector with some other photos.  I think I might even do as I did above, and include a current photo of myself with a current photo of my family.  These will be fun to compare as the years go by!

I'm going to be working on this in the next day or so and I'll share my new spread.  I already happen to have a self-portrait and a family photo to use.  As one who doesn't take many self-portraits, that's a big accomplishment, lol.  I think I'll write the letter on 1/1/13 after I have read this one first though.

Join me!  :)


I hope you had a wonderful holiday!  We hosted the Christmas gathering and it was filled with fun and family.  Morgan got a sewing machine, which thrills me to bits because she's so creative that my world will soon be filled with lots of fun fabric creations, and Payton got a bigger bike which she really needed.  It's pretty frosty outside so she's been busy testing it out up and down the hall.  They wanted Furbys but I'm not paying $50 each for one of those suckers.  Santa wasn't going to either.  lol.

Mama got a new phone and a photo printer.  I did research, and that's the one to get if you like instant gratification like I do, and use Instagram a lot (my Instagram name is... Davinie.  I'm like Madonna.  Actually, I wish it was DavinieFiero but there's just so many vowels, lol).  I'd also advise extra paper.  Holy Hannah was I spoiled.  I got a scarf and slippers and a winter hat, and, and.  WOW.  This certainly makes up for the Starbucks gift card that was my Christmas gift in 2010.  A girl doesn't want to be selfish, but you need to try a little harder than that, husband.  haa.  Methinks he learned his lesson.  HA!

Have a great day!  Davinie

Studio Calico City of Lights love - the Three of Us

Here I sit at home, doing school work, going to classes, while my family traveled out of state for a family reunion we needed to be part of.

I took advantage of the me time, bought a bottle of wine, grabbed some chick flicks, and have been crafting away.

I was digging around in my Studio Calico kits and came across the JBS stencil paper that I ADORED in the City of Lights kit but couldn't manage to cut into at kit time (I used it as a monogram stencil for this layout though), and decided to make use of it before it got lost in the shuffle.  This is what I came up with:

Scrapbook Layout:  

I thought the alphas as a background would be great for baby photos, so dug around and came up with these photo from 2006 when Payton was just a couple months old.  I held out my DSLR and hoped for the best.  This is us, naturally, on a day when dad was at work, I'd managed to shower but that was it.  Sigh.  Miss those days.  

I loved the big floral prints so had to cut them out and layer them with pop dots.  

I'm not normally a fan of the teeny alphas, but I like them on this layout, layered with the sticker alphas in the kit.  I was out of an R and used a B for this title.  

Us.  Mama and the babies.  We three.  Love them to bits.

One more thing I wanted to make sure you saw today:

One more thing:

Call for submissions

Scrapbook & Cards Today is pleased to announce its “fabulous fall 2012” call. Scrapbook & Cards Today is Canada’s leading, seasonally-inspired papercraft publication that can be found in both Canadian and US independent scrapbook stores.  It can also be downloaded internationally, in its entirety and for free, by visiting www.scrapbookandcards.com.

Scrapbook & Cards Today would love to see your artwork—including layouts, cards, and altered projects with the following themes: 

fall pages

Do you love the sights and sounds of fall? We are searching for the warmest and cosiest scrapbook pages that showcase all that is wonderful about fall. These can include, well balanced, double page layouts or multi photo, single page layouts with a fall theme but not be limited by:

• Pumpkin picking
• Back to school
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Autumn splendour

fall cards

We are looking for your most inspiring cards that use a fall colour palette. Cards can be of any theme (Halloween, birthday, thank-you, get well, etc) and can reflect your own personal style—be it simple, or a little more intricate.

something special

We are always on the lookout for a “special” project to feature in our “something special” column. If you have created something outstanding with a fall theme, be sure to submit it for us to see!

organization

Are you perfectly organized, or, have you found a way that helps curb your messy ways? Share your tips and tricks with us so that you can help others in the same situation—most of us have had disastrous scrap areas at one point or other, haven’t we? Photos, as well as written tips or submissions, are welcome.

Submissions can be sent to us at ideas@scrapbookandcards.com.  Please have FALL CALL in your reference line.  Compensation includes a fabulous goodie box from our sponsors, plus two copies of Scrapbook & Cards Today!  Please include your name, address, phone number, email address, and supply list.  Please ensure that all files sent are under 500KB. This call ends July 15, 2012. We look forward to seeing your work!

Have a great Monday!  Davinie

Layout Share - My Butterfly

I was really excited when I got an email from Miss Kim Watson (a rockstar and the next Guest Designer at Studio Calico, I can't wait to see what she comes up with!).  She asked if I'd contribute a layout to an article she was writing about handmade flowers for a special issue of CK.

Of course I said YES!

My layout was on page 47, a simple handmade flower, called 'Sweetly Snipped Blooms'.  It was in a special Tips and Tricks issue for Fabulous Flowers, and you can still pick it up HERE. 

Anyway, on to my layout:

I used a lot of fun products here.  Lots of strips, which was fun. 
There's Vanilla cardstock trimmed with a scallop, alongside Claudine Hellmuth sticky-backed canvas in NATURAL (woot!) for added texture.  I hand cut the scallop on the canvas after tracing a scallop ruler I bought at the Dollar Tree eons ago. 
There's tons of Crate paper, Snow Day and Restoration for color.
American Crafts mixtape (LOVE) and foam alphas,
my Martha butterfly punch.
And buttons.  Lots of buttons.  With stitching too.
Here's a closeup of the snipped flowers I made for this assignment:

Obviously I'm obsessed with the scallop, and Morgan is obsessed with butterfly face paint.  I swear every time face paint becomes an option, she metamorph's into one.  (Is metamorph a word?  I'll have to check with Words With Friends, lol).  Anyway.... 



Guess what? There's a pre-CHA sale at Two Peas in a Bucket for 15%-75% off Select Products. The sale runs July 14-22, so go check it out!

Crate Paper is part of that sale, so you could recreate the above layout at a discount.  woot! 
I also saw lots and lots of Thickers.  Bestill my heart. 

Have a great day!  Davinie

Scrapbook love - Guest Star at JBS

Happy Friday to you!

I pin, I craft with kids, but I still scrapbook, lol.  A lot.  I just can't always share everything.  I DO have something to share today though!

The wonderful and talented Doris sent me some new JBS goodies to play with, and I really enjoyed playing with Haven.  Check it out:

The Collection is a bit monochromatic so I decided to go with a black and white photo from Mother's Day and used a fairly neutral background.

I also chose this photo because I loved the house print and the girl silhouette's.

There is a 12x12 pattern with the house photo on it, but I had a hard time figuring out how to use it so I was happy to see the 4x4 size mixed in with other prints, and trimmed a 4x8 piece to use here.  That 4x4 print size is great for cardmaking!  

 I stamped with watermark ink and used white Zing on an older JbS print to bring in a bit more red and add this flower to my design.  It worked really well!  JBS makes great stamps.

I stamped again with black Stazon and the really cool torn notebook paper stamp above.  I really liked that stamp.

Everything on the layout is JBS, I think.  Thank you to the JBS team for having me as a Guest Star!  I enjoyed playing with these delicious goodies.  

Have a great Friday!  Davinie