...more Yadayadayada about F O C U S'ing than PRISSin

Just wanted to post a quick comment on how F O C U Sing went this week... I get a gold star or 2 stickers (as my daughter says...1 sticker if I eat right, 1 sticker if I exercise....isn't that precious she used "stickers" for my reward ) I made it through week-1 successfully focusing on health and fitness. I stuck to my no flour no sugar eating plan and completed daily exercise. Yay. Yes my mother and I are trying the no flour no sugar diet. The scale said I lost 5lbs but then fluctuated up/down 2 lbs daily. I honestly don't think I will EVER see the needle on the scale go DOWN. Grrrrrr. Anyway, we ran across this book while at BN last week and decided to go for it. It seems to be pretty simple to follow. Well, having my mother here preparing my brown bag meals for work helps... Sugar is so bad for us anyway so it won't hurt me to stay away from it (especially added extra processed sugar, natural sugar sources are ok on this plan). It's been an interesting week. I only had 3 temptations when I craved sweets. I was "good" and didn't cave, I grabbed a piece of fruit instead. Then this a.m. I almost just wanted toaster waffles (soy/flax/whole wheat) but that would have required sugary syrup so that would have been a nono and a slip from the good streak I am on. I thought it would have been quicker....but I stayed F O C U S'ed and I forced myself to prepare scrambled eggs with some veggies mixed in. I'm glad I did because it was just as satisfying as anything else. My mom and I were yackin' and concluded that it needs to be "forever" anyway so we just have to keep at it.

The work life/balance not so much... I worked way more than I F O C U S'ed on balance. I put in 4)11-12 hour days this week at work. Need to put a greater F O C U S on a greater work/life balance apparently.

Anyway, enough yackin for now....now I hope to do more PRISSn than yACKIN. How was everyone else's F O C U S this week?

The "y" in PR!SSy

Well as you all know by now PR!SSy is an acronym which stands for {P}aper, {R}ibbon, {I}nk, {S}tampin and {S}crappin'y. Well I could never figure out what to use for the "y" in PR!SSy but I've just come up with it. y=yadayadayada Lord knows I do a lot of that around here. So I hope you don't mind but I've add yadayadayada to my long list of creative endeavors. LOLOLOLOL I think it fits just fine. Yack away prissy pals.

Post Script: I change the "y" in PRISSy to mean yadayadayada instead of yackin' I like that better ;)

M!ssPr!ssme~

Braggin' Rights

Hi everyone! No crafts to post tonight but definitely a post on one of the other Arts (pic below), dancing. My nephew got some "ink" over at the J*Point blog. The official blog of The Joffrey Ballet. He is an apprentice dancer with the company. We are all so proud of him (you too Lizzie, favorite niece and Michael and Connor and Patti, mom). Ok so being a blogger extraordinaire like I am....I am able to post comments on any blog that I like too. And yes a bit of a techy too. Ok so I'm not braggin but seems how my sister Patti is soooooooo lo-tech and routinely blows up computers just by looking at them. How many is that Miss Patti? huh huh??? I just HAD to mention that minor detail of my hi-techness. hehehehe. Anyway, I'm a regular commentor over at the J*Point and may have left a comment or two or three about my nephew Matthew requesting pictures of my nephew Matthew. Of course I had to give my sob story to the blog administrator of the J*Point blog about how I live over 3000 apart from my nephew Matthew and that I hardly ever got to see him IRL and would he pretty please post a few minor pictures so his favorite Aunt Liz could see him once in a while?!? Anyway, Sasha the blog moderator and photographer extraordinaire obliged my request and posted about my nephew. I am so excited. Here is the picture and my nephew is the one in the middle surrounded by all the ballerinas. Go on over and show the J*Point some love and tell Sasha I sent ya.... just mention his favorite Aunt Liz. He calls me that now too. LOLOLOL

~some more thoughts on F O C U S ing

Ok so I had a great day yesterday in which my word for the year 2008 served me well. I wanted to add an update to my sticky post that you see at the top of my blog. I think it will be there for the entire year unless I get tired of it. You might notice that I've added the word balance to the list because the thought has occurred to me that while I might do great in one area for the day i.e. for example yesterday I F O C U Sd on the health and fitness piece of my year long quest to F O C U S better but alas NO STAMPING OR CREATING OF ANY KIND. I think that I might change my word to balance but for now it will suffice to just add it to the list of things I want to F O C U S on for the year. Yesterday I made it a point (a focal point if you will ;D) of F O C U Sing on my diet and exercise. I stayed on my quest to get through the day with no flour or no sugar. Woohoo one day down and 364 to go bleh. I also went swimming for an hour during lunch. I kept my F O C U S on getting to the gym and despite my brain telling me it was too much work, it was too late to leave work, it takes to long etc etc I kept putting my F O C U S on what I wanted which was to workout during my lunch hour and YAY it worked. I dragged my butt over to the gym and enjoyed a most excellent swim. Today I am F O C U Sing on the same but my activity will be to walk the hill near my work. More later

Ironic....isn't it?

I think F O C U S is a funny thing. Well supposedly what you F O C U S on you attract...right? So I no sooner chose my word for the year which we all know by now is
F O C U S. And what shows up in my world a couple of excellent articles in blogoland on
F O C U Sing. Isn't that funny how the universe works? Well sometimes because I
F O C U Sed on winning the lottery and that 2007 HGTV Dreamhome remember this one?? ...and I didn't even come close. So whats up with that? (OMG when I went to get the link to last years Dream home I just noticed THIS YEARS Dreamhome I am definitely F O C U Sing on this one again this year off to enter daily until I W I N) Anyway, as a reminder to myself here are the links to the thoughts on F O C U Sing. This link is to a blog titled LifeDev and an article titled "Keeping F O C U Sed While Beating Back Distractions and the other one to a blog titled Zen Habits had a good article on overcoming resistance (aka procrastination). If you expand the article, scroll down to number 3 in the list on the Zen blog it reads:

"3. Be very clear, and focus. Before you start the day, be very clear about what you want to accomplish. You won’t be able to finish 10 major projects, but maybe you can finish one important project, or at least move it along to a certain point. Set three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Once you have those things defined, you’ve got to focus on them to the exclusion of all else (at least, during your prime work time). Do them first. Focus, finish, then move on to the smaller tasks you need to complete today. If you find yourself being lured to do something that’s not on that short list of three things, bring yourself back and focus."

Then this blog post caught my eye. Click on the aptly named graphic to see the blog Homegrown Hospitality. Isn't that a great name for a blog.

It's a blog that I added to my reader recently.... I just love her doodle art and eyecandy on her blog. Funny but her post for today was about F O C U Sing. Seems to be a hot topic. Now off to attracting my Dream Home......

~misspriss ;D

FYI

You may notice the new post regarding F O C U S. I have made this post a "Sticky Topic" for a visual ~note to self~ for me to stay F O C U S'ed. I hope everyone has picked their
F O C U S for the new year and stays true to themselves. Here's wishing everyone a heartfelt, healthy and prosperous new year as well. Remember...stay focused on your goals....

~misspriss

Question: Lacy Vintage Ribbon

A call out to Prissy Pals and blogoland. Where does everyone get their vintage lacy ribbon? I have been looking for some and I cannot find it. Does anyone have a great resource to purchase some of this stuff in bulk? All colors all patterns. It doesn't really matter. I just need some I don't have any of this style. The link is to a sample of the type of ribbon I am looking for from Vicki's blog of Crafty Secrets.

Thanks

Fairy Love

This card took waaaaaaay longer than it ever needed to. It's also not my usual style in that I'm a less is more kind of gal. I had quite a few happy accidents with this card and I think that is why it took me almost 2 days to finish. Yikes and I am not sure if it works even yet. Oh well they aren't always gonna be perfect. The Crafty Secrets Fairy had my name on it again and I just love her so much. This time I wanted it to look like she was perched upon an unfolding flower. The card catalog card was supposed to say author: fate; title: love; borrower: cupid. BUT because of a couple of glue errors and ink errors I had to cover my original intentions with the CS love stamps (which I L O V E) and a couple of punched out heart shapes. I also used the doodle set from SU. I stamped the flower from the SU doodle set with stazon and white embossing powder on vellum. Another "happy accident" because the first time I stamped it I messed up the glitter. So I made a bunch of extra leaves to layer over the original stamp. Then I had stamped and masked the entire focal image on one layer of card and air brushed the background. The background was too dark so I cut out the focal point and hence the layers. I telling you it was one mess after another. Anyway, this is the finished product. Whew. Next time maybe easier? It's pretty but it's awfully thick for a card. Have I mentioned that stickles are my new favorite tool? I love stickles I have some in every color now. Where have I been?

OMG 13 days since my last blog post

I still have nothing to report. I have had a headache for 2 days now. My lovely mother is visiting and I think the holiday let down and being back to work after a 2 week vacation has just put a screeching halt on my creating and art flow. I am very upset about this. I am finding the stop and start... stop and start very hard when it comes to creating. I lose my momentum and my mojo. I took my mom to my LSS today and she really enjoyed it. She was attracted to an altered book sample they had on the counter for an upcoming class. Here's one of the pics:

It made me happy that she showed an interest because she doesn't do anything arty and I have been trying to suggest she do some scrap booking. But she didn't "get it"... When she saw the altered book (I had been trying to explain mixed media to her) she got it. Art has brought so much to my life I just think it would be an excellent pastime for her. I would love for her to enjoy it too. I think I saw a tiny aha moment in my mother's eyes today so I'm excited about this. Anyway, back to me whining.... OH we also went to Barnes and Nobel and I found THIS. OMG maybe we should table the whining for a minute. I picked up Betz White's new book called "Warm Fuzzies" I have never done any felting but I love the look. Hehe but I just h2h it.

I guess I did have something to post after all. I'm so moody. Geesh. This reminded me I also bought my mother a couple of Somerset magazines and I picked up the new Papercraft magazine. What am I moaning about? I think I will go read my new stuff. Hey I said I had a headache I'm not thinking so straight today. Hopefully I'll create soon. Thanks for listening.

Focus

I think I figured out my one word for 2008. I have decided upon the word F O C U S. Why? Well because I need to focus on more than one thing so I wanted my one word to remind me of more than one thing. I think the word focus accomplishes this for me.

EDITED TO ADD:
Things I am focusing on this year....

faith
health and fitness
business goals
gratitude
simplicity
vision

....among other things Ok so do you see why focus is a better word for me I can't choose just one, now I am off to choose some visual reminders to place around. Maybe I will create a vision board or something, EDITED2 TO ADD: just added a visual reminder to my blog, let's see how this works yay... so I think focus will be a good reminder for me this year. I think I will try it on for size and see if I like it. I'm still partial to "S I M P L I F Y" and after seeing this post on Ali's blog... I even thought it was a sign that I should keep my word "S I M P L I F Y" another year. But I think it's boring having the same word for 5 years. Dare I say... even a little too simple? hehe Ok stay focused.... focus it is (for now)

fo·cus/ˈfokəs/ –noun {foh-kuhs}

1. A central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity

2. The clear and sharply defined condition of an image.

3. To bring to a focus or into focus

4. To concentrate: to focus one's thoughts.

–verb (used without object)

[Origin: 1635–45; ]

You've Caught My Heart~

If you clink on the image it will enlarge to show detail...A little corndog twist using the "Fly Fisherman" set I h2h (evilbay). I like it. I've been trying to get creative with my stamps using them in different ways than they may have been intended. Plus, I've been wanting to use this set forever. This is my first "heart" card this year so I better get crackin' if I want to have enough made for the next holiday. Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays next to Christmas. A few notes re:recipe for this card. I used kraft cs for the base (another favorite of mine), purely pomegranate (pp) for the paper, ink and the ribbon. I used some of my newly acquired SU satin pp ribbon. Love this stuff. Had a bit of a time tying it but with some practice I got the bow I wanted. You can't see the glitter that well so if you click on the image it will show the sparkles better. I'm not sure if I am done with this card or not. I might want to watercolor the main stamp image and add a pop-out heart in pp next to the sentiment. For the sentiment I used the Karen Foster snap-a-stamps to create my own saying. I also added an embellishment heart and curled some tiny wire. I love my invention of curly wire. I think it's so cute. Can you see it? EDITED TO ADD: I masked off the hearts before stamping the main image and I used the stampin-ma-jig to line everything up.

Re-Purposing

Just wanted to post an update as promised with my newly re-purposed futon shelves all loaded up with my stamps. Ok so it's an honest obsession at least.

Full view...

Left panel... I put all of my Valentine sets together (all SU) for inspiration. This section will probably be a seasonal section that I will swap out by holiday as needed. I also keep my background stamps here....the far far left panel is empty is a dead space that is hard to reach we will probably move it and put it to the right side instead so I can reach, it will be behind a door but that's ok. Right now it goes unused. =(

Center panel... most of my A Muse, Rosie Roadshow, more SU fav's sets are here and others

Far right panel... more of my favorites (well they all are but I can only fit so much on my new shelves)

I hope you all find ways of re-purposing items in your life... it's good to keep recycling first and foremost in our minds to help each other and the planet. Come one you know we need to.

Buzzwords

So everyone is getting on the Ali Edwards one word bandwagon. So I've been trying to think of a word for this year as well. I actually have been doing this myself for the last couple of years. The word or phrase I have been focusing on the last couple of years have been a couple and they have been the same every year because I was still working on them... one is

Simplify

sim·pli·fy /ˈsɪmpləˌfaɪ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[sim-pluh-fahy] Pronunciation Key -

–verb (used with object), -fied, -fy·ing.

to make less complex or complicated; make plainer or easier: to simplify a problem.

---

the second one is...

Be Still... since this is two words I will use the definition for stillness

still·ness /ˈstɪlnɪs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[stil-nis] Pronunciation Key -

1.	silence; quiet; hush.

2.	the absence of motion.

I chose the word simplify to remind myself that I still needed to simplify my life. Having recently downsized I still had too much stuff in my space and it was making me crazy.

I chose the words Be Still from the Psalm 46:10 that says Be Still and know that I am God. I wanted these words to always be in front of me as a little reminder that God is in charge, not me. I don't know I just find a great amount of peace in these words. When I think on these words a calm comes over me and I really do get still.

Anyway I have used these words every year for at least the last 5 years. With the New Year upon us I thought it might be fun to join in and change my words. So I started thinking about what could be my new buzzword for the year. Only problem is I keep thinking of two word phrases vs one word. Hmmm maybe I should stick with Simplify. hehe it appears I still need it. I am still working on my word for this year and will let you know when I pick one or just use the same ones.

52-Cards-a-Year Challenge

Hey! I've added a new challenge to the right column -----> over there in the Pr!ssy Challenges and Swaps category. It's called 52-Cards-a-Year Challenge over at Sarah and the StampStars This is my kind of challenge... guess why?... read the rules.

Challenge Rules: There are no rules! Feel free to mix it up; make a card of a different theme... make a vertical sketch horizontal... whatever you please. The goal of these challenges is to help you expand your creative card making, to motivate you to try something new each week and to encourage you to share your work.

That's right... you must share! But don't worry if you don't complete the assignment this week... as soon as you create your card for this, or any assignment, share a link to it here in the comments. You can post it on your blog, or on your favorite message board.... just share a link with everyone here whenever you decide to jump in and play!


Hhahahaha. There are no rules. Post when and how you can. Follow the sketch or switch it up. Post for past weeks when you can etc... That's my kind of sandbox. It sounds like fun plus the first sketch it really cool. See?

If this sounds like something you'd be interested in...go on over and check it out. Plus it may just provide some motivation. Not that I need any.

~misspriss

Happy 01 Jan 2008

Here's wishing everyone a very happy, healthy and blessed New Year. Here is a pic of my first attempt at altering a birthday reminder rolodex.

I've been meaning to do one of these. I am going to make a divider card for each month (I only have January's finished right now, appropriately) and then have a mini-scrap/collage/ATCish page for each person on their birthdate including a picture of each person(if I have one). I've used a mix of supplies, the image of the hourglass is cutout from a Crafty Secrets (link in right column of my blog) booklet, the calendar printout is a free template that you can also find at Crafty Secret's website. The paper is from one of those powerpacks (you know one of those 10 zillion page bargain packs) I got a while back from a warehouse store. The ribbon I snagged from a bulk buy from pink hedgehog and I finally used my new mini-sew. I am such a clutz when it comes to sewing. Don't ask me how I got the thread twisted and knotted on the needle so bad I had to start over without even a first stitch made and that always happens to me when I sew. I don't get it? How can someone be sew (intended) clumsy around a sewing machine. I'm just all thumbs when it comes to a sewing machine. Don't get me wrong. I'm no amateur... I'm not an expert either but I have made many many items. But now I know why I don't sew much because every time I get around one I spend more time untying and unraveling knots than I do sewing. Does this happen to anyone else?

~enjoy
misspriss