Too Much Plastic...

Since I've lived on my own I have always had a cabinet full of Tupperware, Rubbermaid, etc. The mess that has always come with it all has driven me crazy. Recently I absolutely couldn't stand it any longer and decided it was time to do something. Check out the difference! (You can click on the photo to see a larger view)

I filled up one box with all of the round and odd plastic containers and took them to Goodwill and then filled up another box with all the containers that were missing lids or just plain looked nasty and put them out for garbage pickup. Then we went to Target and bought some of theseand some more of theseAs you can see from the before and after photos it made a huge difference in space and clutter as well as the time in putting them away and finding what you need. They all stack so nice and neat and you can locate the right size container without having to empty the entire cabinet. An added benefit to these containers is that they fit so nicely in the refrigerator too. Taking up much less space then the round ones. Space inside my refrigerator is a commodity so anything that helps open up more room is always welcome.

Sunshine's Stamps is featuring Midnight Madness #30

This week Sunshine's Stamps is featuring Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. Be sure to go over there and see all the great stuff in the giveaway.

Here is the card I came up with for this sketch. It is 100% digital and done using Photoshop Elements 5.

The image and the sentiment are from Sunshine's Stamps . Meet Blizzard and the sentiment is called Blowin' By be sure to check out the other great images that Sunshine & Robbie have come up with.
Papers: Michelle Coleman Frosted and Wonderful; Amy Teets Whitie Tightie, Katie Pertiet Rejoice
Embellishment: Shabby Princess Celebrating
Other: Jessica Sprague Scallop Circle

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out what the other DT girls have come up with this week.

Sunshine's Stamps Merry Christmas Ornaments Cluster

This week Sunshine's challenge to the DT was paper piecing. She didn't think I could do it...hehehe. Surprise Sunshine! We didn't choose our images this time. I received Ornament Clusters image and Merry Christmas sentiment.

This one is done completely digitally using PSE 5. One of these days I may upgrade to version 8. Anyway, I paper pieced the ornaments with some digital papers that Jessica Sprague gave her Holidays in Hand class as part of the class downloads. I used SCS sketch #254 for the layout.


Be sure to check out what the other DT girls have come up with this week!

Sunshine's Stamps - Christmas

Sunshine's challenge this week to the DT members was to choose a Christmas sentiment and then she chose the image to go with it. I chose Angels Wings and I just love this sentiment even though I've never seen the whole movie it is from. Sunshine picked Poinsettia to send to me. It is a terrific image!

This was done 100% using Photoshop Elements 5. I used the paper to choose the colors to do the image. I used a paper sampler from Lynn Grievson. It's no longer available but you can see here that there are tons of other great papers to use.
I used a paper mask for the scalloped look. It's like a digital paper punch. The scalloped circle is a template from Jessica Sprague. The transparent ribbon is from an OScraps kit. It was in a download I received from one of the online classes I took from JessicaSprague.com but there are tons of great kits and elements available where you could find elements just like this one.

I am actually very pleased with the way this one turned out. Be sure to go see what the rest of Sunshine's Dream Team has come up with this week. Thanks for looking!

Holiday in Hand - Assignment 3

I did not post anything about assignment 2 since that just involved printing. Assignment 3 is a little more complicated and requires us to fill in the prompt cards that Jessica provided for this class with things to do and things to make. I still have to go through and fill in the prompt cards but thought I would post my list on here too.

To Do
1. Visit a local light display
2. Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn
3. Go out somewhere special for dinner
4. Play board games
5. Have microwave s'mores
6. Have breakfast food for dinner
7. Commit to support a charity for a whole year
8. Adopt a new tradition
9. Add new ornaments to the tree for each family member
10. Advent calendar
11. Read favorite holiday stories
12. ICE!

To Make
1. Hot Chocolate & Hot cider
2. Peanut Butter fudge
3. Molasses cookies
4. New door wreath
5. Homemade soup
6. Make breakfast food for dinner
7. Make microwave s'mores

Jessica has given us prompt cards to use in the month of December the include Write & Photography & Remember prompts and blank lines for Do & Make Prompts. She has some interesting prompts for us to use.

Blue Belt Test - Passed

I passed my blue belt test tonight! Yeah me!! Now on to advanced blue and some new stuff to learn. I wish they would do away with the advanced belts though and just go with the regular belts. Less test sure would be a money saver. There really isn't a lot of difference between what the regular and advance belts have to learn for testing purposes.

Since hubby didn't have enough days to test this time I tested by myself so maybe this time I will get some photos of me at belt promotion. Usually hubby & I test together and the kids don't like going to our belt promotions so there are never any photos of us getting promoted. If I can get photos I'll post them next week after the belt promotion on Monday.

Holidays in Hand Day 1 - Values and Goals

Today is the first day of Jessica Sprague's class Holidays in Hand. Our assignment is to refocus on values and to set goals to reach them. She wanted us to journal or blog our thoughts so here goes.

First the values:
Tradition
Togetherness
Warmth
Gratitude
Giving
Memorable

Second the goals:
I have always wished for Christmas to be a memorable time for our children. For them to remember that Christ is why we celebrate it and that it is suppose to be a time for giving. I don't feel that we have always held that up for them to see so my hope is to change that before it is too late. I want them to have wonderful memories of tradition, togetherness, and warmth and I want them to find a love of giving to others and for them to become more grateful for all that they are fortunate to have.

1. This year we will spend an evening driving around looking at lights and attend church for the Christmas special like always. These will be a continuation of current traditions.
2. I think that this year I will try to add a new tradition of an Advent calendar and maybe new pjs for everyone.
3. Gift giving this year is also going to be different. Instead of trying to give the kids everything they want & wish for I will be following this idea: they will each receive 1 thing they want, 1 thing they need, 1 toy and 1 thing to read. I pray that it is not too late to teach them to be grateful for each and everything they receive.
4. I will also be looking for places where our family can give to others and getting the children involved in this giving as well. This will be a good year to start doing the "Angel Tree" and to get back to doing Operation Christmas Child.