Lost in Place

We were very productive and had all sorts of fun over the long weekend last weekend. It's amazing all the things you can do in a couple of days when you actually get a full couple of days to do them. It got me seriously itching for more. Which is bad. Very, very bad. But I still thought I would share some of the fun stuff we did over the weekend.

First, I love me some shrinky dinks. I have always loved this stuff. And I never get to use it. But since I am one of those nutjobs who HATES writing on things because it too often looks tacky, I was able to use it to claim Miss M's backpack as hers. I had high hopes for what I had wanted it to do. But alas, I was too big a cheapskate to buy the right colors of ink pads for one small project. So it didn't turn out exactly as planned. Still cute though.

Next, I finally got around to painting the other box I bought. The last one turned out so cute I just wanted to do another. I decided this one would be for her hair things. I had the perfect little flowery idea in my head. I found some transfers at Michaels that were *SO* cute in the package. Not so cute on the box. I finished it, took one look at it and HATED it. Immediately. And immensely. But it will serve it's purpose for now. It will be on the bathroom counter where I am sure it will get soaked a many number of times and will need to be replaced down the road anyway.

Then, I had a card swap due this week so I spent some time working on that. Coming up with cards for "simple & masculine" as the theme was not an easy task. The only cards I've ever made for men were Father's Day cards for my dad or birthday cards for my brothers in which case a tree, a fish, some random deer-ish animal would suffice. Other than that, it's all Hallmark for me. In truth, I'm glad I did it since I will get a variety of cards back of the same theme and I should be set for a while. (And yes, it was just an excuse to use more shrinky dinks!)

After that, cookies were made. It's been a long time since I've made cookies. A long time since I've cooked anything actually since I don't get home until bedtime. I forget how much I enjoy it. I'm not much of a "cook" but (I think) I can bake pretty well. If I have a recipe, of course, so that's certainly not saying I am some great baker. I wish! The cookies turned out a little cakier than I would have liked and were very, very sweet. It was a new recipe, not one I am sure I would use again. Either way, a homemade chocolate chip cookie is yummmmmy. So I've eaten way more than my fair share. Luckily I was able to pawn some off on friends, too.

It really was a nice weekend. It seems the more time I have to do things I *want* to do, the more time I want to be able to do them. And I've gotta tell yah, I love spending time being crafty and creative and productive. I just so rarely get the chance to do it anymore. This weekend was a very welcomed escape into that for me.

Posted by Kim at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you're interested in swapping some great stuff with some great people, go on over and check out the details.

Posted by Kim at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Kim has posted a poll over at With and Without Creative Inspiration. We're thinking about doing another swap. If you want in, or want to torture us with our least favorite pick, you know - whatever, go over and vote.

(You'll notice I've been very, very absent from that site for a very, very long time. I suck, what more can I say? I need to get back to crafty, I know. I'll be back over there as soon as I get off my lazy butt and do something worth bragging about, pinky swear.)

Posted by Kim at 9:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Instead of making two separate posts I am just throwing two completely unrelated items together. I’m lazy like that.

A list of what my child ate today:

9 (Yes, NINE) medallion pancakes
3 cookies
Some pasta
A cup of peaches
Some chunks of chicken
A piece of chocolate
1 pack of fruit snacks
Bite of an apple
A few bites of spaghetti
2 bananas
½ Southwestern Eggroll
¼ Cheese Quesadilla

My child who barely weighs 22 lbs. Ate all of that. In one day. And was still begging for food when I finally put her to bed. This cannot be another growth spurt. She just went through one and we had to get rid of most of her clothes. I can’t afford to get rid of the rest of them! She needs to slow way the hell down.

And on to much more fun for me stuff…

I participated in the Pink and Brown Color Me Happy Swaparooni this month. I put together what I thought would be a really great package for my swap partner (don’t wanna post the details here just in case she stumbles across this post). It was so cute. Even included stuff for her kids. It’s my favorite color combination so of course I had a ball. But… Then… I put it in the mail and…. It got lost. I sent it two weeks ago and she still doesn’t have it. I am sooooo angry, frustrated, sad, everything. Ugh! Anyway, my swap partner sent me the coolest loot so I thought I’d share. She even included stuff for Li’l Miss M. Disney stuff nonetheless. I love it all.

Posted by Kim at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Other Kim got a bug up her butt to do another shoebox swap. What lit that fire under her at Christmas time, I will never know. I think she's done lost her marbles. (Come on, it's the season of giving! Why else??)

Anyway, if you'd like to participate or want additional information, head on over to check it out.

Posted by Kim at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A friend of mine and I are hosting a swap over at our other site. If you feel like being crafty and/or creative, or just putting together some cute stuff, go check it out. It's Halloween-themed and should be loads of fun!

Posted by Kim at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We just finished up another swap over at the Color Me Happy swap group. This time was brown and blue and it was a little more difficult. I actually had to look for things to include this time around when things usually just jump off shelves at me. I also was a lot more distracted this time around so I didn't spend us much time and effort on this one as I have in the past which I felt completely guilty about the entire time. But my swap-buddy loved them anyway so at least it wasn't a failure.

What I sent:

What I received:

I love these swaps. I am continuing to do this one, hopefully for as long as they do them. I'm aslo going to be part of another group that is in the creation process. I will post more about it here when it's ready to launch. Feel free to join us for either one. They're fun, fun, fun! I'll have the details here soon about the other group since it's launching on the other site to which I contribute. (Sure, it hasn't gone any where yet and we have maybe 3 readers glancers, but someday.... And maybe the swap is just the thing to do it!)

Posted by Kim at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have been participating in a swap group for the past couple of months. Each month, they've picked two colors and we've sent out packages to each other based on those colors. This month's colors were orange and yellow.

This is the stuff I sent to my swap-buddy:

This is the stuff my swap-buddy sent to me:

It's been really fun seeing how other people interpret the color schemes and what they'll do with them. The best part is that everyone actually posts likes and dislikes so that you're not blindly sending things to people that they very well may hate. It's really fun finding things to put in the package. It would be even more fun if I liked to shop anymore but now I just try to decide what I want to do ahead of time so I'm on a mission when it comes down to it. Who has the time and energy to actually go browsing-shopping anymore? But this gives me a (very poor excuse for a) creative outlet in a world where I don't get time to actually do anything crafty/creative anymore, don't have space to do any since everything always has to be kept clean, and isn't something that is so intensive that it actually takes real planning and effort.

Posted by Kim at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)