Organize It

I'm a little lazy when it comes to laundry.  I don't want to sort a whole lot so I have 4 groups: Normal wash & dry, delicate wash - no dry, sheets  and finally towels.  As the dirty clothes/stuff get removed they get put into the correct bin right away (sheets & towels are combined in the bin for purposes of space).  This fun sorter comes from Costco!

Gift wrap.  I had vague imaginings of having a gift wrap station in my scrapbook room.  The roll wrap would be mounted on the wall.  There would be a slide out knife block style working surface for wrapping...it was marvelous.  As it turned out I own a lot more crafty supplies than I thought and the gift center was put into our closet.  Still - things are sorted into their places and it does the trick.  The top drawer of the narrow 3 drawer is bows. The middle drawer is gift tags, tape and wrap cutter. The bottom drawer is ribbon and ties.  The top drawer of the larger cabinet is tissue paper. The middle drawer is flat wrap and the bottom drawer is gift bags. All roll wrap is off to the side stacked inside a square box.  These containers were bought at London Drugs.

Valentine's Day Cards

The night before Valentine's day my 6 year old asked me if he would receive a Valentine from my husband and I.  I assured him that he would and ushered him off to bed.  I then promptly forgot all about it until just before 11pm when I was heading up to bed.  ACK!  What to do?  I dashed into the basement and found some pre-cut mini notecards from Stampin Up.  I quickly threw these 2 cards together.  Not my best work but they were done in less than 15 minutes.  LOL  

A few more books off the list...

I liked this book.  It was small like a pocket book and had tons of great colorful pictures.  I don't think we ever grow out of wanting pictures in our books!  I liked this book because I found myself nodding my head to about 1/3 of the book saying "I already DO that!" which is a great feeling.   The only problem that I had with the book is that it told me that I am organized.  I'm just lazy and need to clean up more.  I don't like that.  LOL.  I prefer to think that I'm just disorganized.  Maybe there a group for me...

I say 4/5 for this book.






I did not like this book at all.  I'm sure she meant well and it wasn't all bad.  I think I managed to glean 2-3 tips from it.  The problem I had with her approach is that she seemed to think that her readers were made of money and were able to run out and buy a ton of organizational products to make everything look perfect.  She did say that she has organized for the stars and since they make a hell of a lot more money than me - they can read this book instead.  I gave it 2/5 stars.










This book was ok. Learning to live more simply is something that I believe we all need to do.  I did find some good lessons in this book but I also found myself wanting more.  I think this book could be summed up as a "Living Simply 101" with a level 2 to come?  I say 3/5.










Just finished this one today.  I found that I couldn't put this one down.  I won't say that some parts weren't predictable because they were but it was still an easy and enjoyable read.  The vague storyline is that a boy and his Mom live alone. The Mom is somewhat reclusive.  Then something happens one weekend that changes everything.  I give it 4/5.  










My son reminded me that we finished this book last week.  I read to him some nights before bed.  Our copy is an old old copy that must have been dropped in ink at one time rendering the bottom corner of each page completely illegible.  It's a book that I read as a kid and my son chose it from a stack of books that I had brought out.

My son rates this one a 5/5 while I give it a 4/5.  Fun and very short chapters which is great for bedtime reading with a 6 year old.

Bucket List Progress

Hey hey!  I've added 3 more read to my bucket list and another couple blog posts.  I've also posted on my recipe blog 7 times this year already - seems that I set the bar too low on that one! 
http://familysquabbles.blogspot.com/

My daughter is almost completely toilet trained.  She rarely has accidents during the day anymore and this weekend we are going to start transitioning sleeping starting with afternoon naps.  Woot!! I have not changed a diaper in weeks!

I made Valentine Sugar Cookies last week.  You can see the picture evidence on the recipe blog.  They were tasty and fun because DH helped too.  He is a very good dough roller.  :)

As for the scrapbook retreat which I posted about below...that's in progress.  Registration is Tuesday - Yay!

More Books to Return to the Library

More books to return to the library today!

Picked this one up as a "Bestsellers to Go - One Week Loan".  It was due yesterday and I still had half of it left.  After the kids were in bed, I brewed a dreamy hot chocolate and curled up on the couch to finish the book.

It was a quick read with a bit of a twist at the end.  I'd consider it "beach read" quality and give it 7/10 or maybe 6.5/10.  I know that I rated out of 5 last time but I feel 10-ish today.  Suspenseful but predictable at a lot of the turns.  2 brothers & a friend make a bet to see who can take home the pretty girl in the bar(named the Wild Zone). Turns out pretty girl has some issues in her life. 






I got 2 really good ideas from this book which makes it worthwhile to me.  I didn't get enough use out of it to own it but enough to recommend a skim through.  I found their tips on work routines and clothing culling to be useful for me.  Logical and perhaps easy for some - but still things that I hadn't thought of.  Once read though, they had the effect of me slapping myself on the forehead for not thinking of that sooner.  Rating? Hmm...6/10.






This was a fun read.  Some of the topics were serious while some were tongue in cheek.  This one belonged in the "bathroom books" category of life. 7/10

Camp Croppin' 2011

Have you heard about Camp Croppin?  It's a (mostly) yearly event that takes place in Calgary.  It's a fun, action-filled scrapbook weekend!

If you've come from my private blog, you know that scrapbook retreats are one of my favorite things so I am so excited to be going this year again after not having gone to this one in over 5 years.  

I didn't really plan on going for sure...  I was thinking about it and had sent the link to my scrappy-minded friends.  None of them jumped right in and said "Let's Go!" but it was a long time before registration so it didn't matter.  Then - out of the blue one night, a scrappy acquaintance sent me a message directly asking if I wanted to go.  Commitment happy I dove in with both feet and said yes.  I don't know my soon-to-be-roomie very well at all but she is enthusiastic about scrapbooking and that's all that counts.  I'm sure we will have a great time!

I have been to Camp Croppin 3 or 4 times before.  Is it sad that I've been to so many retreats that I don't remember for sure?  Some things that stood out about this one are: Sooo much energy and excitement - the girls putting it on are superb at that!  Lots of activities, contests, make n takes and draws going on.  Great classes with great product from great companies.  I remember one year a class coming out with a stack of patterned paper from the company!  The door prizes were plentiful and some of them were beyond belief.  Better yet - one of the best scrapbook stores I've shopped in is across the street. The only downside that I saw to the event was the lack of scrapbooking space.   This year - they've improved that! By only allowing 200 registrations - there are fewer people to a table and more space to work.

Looking forward to seeing how things have changed this year after being away from this event for so many years.  I'm also looking forward to seeing what my roomie thinks about it all  This is her first time!   I am hoping that my favorite parts of the weekend are still there.

If you are near Calgary or want a road trip, here is where you can find more info:
http://www.scrapbookersparadise.com/camp/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Camp-Croppin-2011/154330164619482


Don't delay though - registration is next Tuesday!!

Want to find out more about the store and learn some techniques?  Their blog is right here:
www.scrapbookersparadise.blogspot.com