6 word wrap up...

... Long Week, time for a nap! 

Love 

February Goal Update

I started tracking my goals on AGT last year and this year I am doing things a little differently. 

My overarching goal for 2018... 

In 2018 I will be the healthiest and happiest version of myself by making good choices for my body, my soul, my mind and my relationships. I will do my best with what I have and be grateful for abundant blessings. 

The plan I put together to achieve that, looked a bit like this... 

• Prioritise my evening routine and sleep pattern.
• Stop drinking soft drinks.  I gave up ice cream (except for special occasions) last year and I am 3 days into my soft drink fast. I can do this! It's easier to drink 2L of water everyday if you reduce the amount of other fluids you put into your body!  This will also help me to lose a bit of weight. 
• Complete a Bible activity and Pray everyday. 
• Stretch. 

The first six weeks of the year have been busy! Getting back to school - 4 days a week this year instead of 3 days - has been a huge adjustment.  The minister at church moved away and we have a new one.  My grandfather is in hospital.  My nephew is starting University soon. Nephews and Nieces have started high school.  I have to admit that the goals sort of fell off the list of priorities lately, so I haven't done as well as I would have liked, but that's okay. Let's be more specific. 

Prioritise my evening routine and sleep pattern:

Apart from a few unusual and unfortunate events (family!) I have managed to get myself into a regular sleep pattern and my evening routine is mostly on track.  I would like to improve it a little, but for now, I'm happy with how it's going.  Sometimes, after work, I have a headache or other aches and pains that make it hard for me to follow my routine to the letter - reading is a bit of a challenge when I have a bad headache!

Shelly's setting a good example for me though! 

Stop Drinking Soft Drink:

I am calling this one a win! I haven't had any soft drink since 1 January 2018.  That's 46 days and counting!! Go me! 

Complete a Bible activity and Pray everyday:

I'm so close on this one.  I made it to 21 days in a row on my tracking app for this one.  Like I said earlier, I sometimes have trouble reading at night when I have a headache.  I'm using my Scripture Typer App every second day to memorise and revise key Bible verses.  I am mostly keeping up with this, there are just some days when my body just won't cooperate.  I definitely pray everyday!

I am also using a Bible App that has different reading plans (they range in length from 3 days to 90 days).  I have a few plans saved and lined up for my future reading.  :) I'm working toward it. 

Stretch:

I need to do this more... like everyday!  Perhaps this one deserves more of my attention this month.  

That's it for now. See you next week! 

February Cards

Bring on the Birthdays!!

While lots of people are pulling out the red card and the heart stamps in February, I'm surrounded by birthday cake, candles, and party hats.  February sees birthdays of the very young and the very old in our family, so I start the birthday card creating in January and I don't stop until about April! Check these out.

This card was created using:

Eva's Favourite Flowers stamp set from Winnie & Walter 

and the Year Two stamp set from Lawn Fawn

This card took forever!

It is a twist on the inlaid die cutting technique.

I used a gifts die from Kaisercraft. 

This card was inspired by one of Catherine Pooler's KISS cards. 

Check out the video here.  I used Designer Series Paper.

The cake was stamped in Memento Ink

and water coloured using water colour pencils. 

What a messy background!! 

White heat embossed sentiment on black card.

Washi tape! 

SIMPLE! 

This card was so much fun to make.  

I used die cuts of cats that my aunty gave me. 

The gift stamp and the stencil are both from Winnie and Walter.   

Sentiment is from the Chit Chat stamp set from Lawn Fawn. 

My February Favourite Technique is...

Ink Blending!!

I just got my hands on some Distress Oxide Inks.  It's true! Having the best tools and products really does make it easier to make beautiful art!  When you can be creative and the difficulties associated with using the tools no longer get in the way, card making can be so much more fun!

I'm no expert on ink blending and I'm certainly no expert on Distress Oxide Ink.  So, here are some wonderful resources that I have found helpful in learning how to blend ink and create gorgeous cards.

Justine Hovey's Ink Blending 101 FREE online video class.

Jennifer McGuire's video about Distress Oxide Inks.

Tim Holtz' website (the man behind Distress Inks and the new Distress Oxide Inks).

Check out these cards I created with the Ink Blending Technique.

These two cards were created with distress oxide inks.  

I blended one panel, then used a stitched rectangle die to cut the panel. 

Then, I glued them onto two different card panels and embellished.  

I used Memento Inks to blend through a Mandala Stencil (Kazazz)

My trusty stitched rectangle die came out again to cut it down to a nice size for a card. 

Then, I cut some red card stock down to the same size as my card base. 

I edged the red card with some Wink of Stella.  

Ink blending with Memento Ink through the

Pattern of the Rings stencil (by Winnie & Walter)

The cake and 'wishes' sentiment are from Lawn Fawn. 

The background on this card was created by blending a few different 

Memento Inks (I don't remember which ones... sorry) onto water colour paper. 

I then used a bubble stamp to do a faux bleaching technique.  

That's that then!  I hope you have been inspired... or at least enjoyed the sticky beak.

Until Next Week, my dears. 

Best of AGT: Flashback to a Funny Story

I was perusing the archives in search of a blog post from way back in 2011. While doing that, I stumbled upon the story below... it made me giggle.  The kid in the story is 17 now!!!

This was originally published on A Great Title on May 21, 2011.  I hope you get a grin out of it too.


Mr 11 came over to our place.  I was helping him with a project.  As we were sitting at the table colouring in or cutting out (I can't remember), Mr 11 politely asked, "can I please have a soda?"  He has apparently decided that he is American... an unfortunate illness I am trying to cure. "Sorry, no,  there is no soft drink in the house at all" I said simply.  He stared at me in surprise, his accusing eyes shifted towards the fridge as if he thought I was lying.  I looked at the BFF then back at 11 and said, "I'm telling the truth.  There is no soft drink in the house at all."
"Oh," he conceded, "what about some chocolate?"
"No, there is no chocolate either," I replied.  At this; the poor kid looked up at me and I thought his eyes were going to fall out of his head as he asked, "why?"
The BFF and I looked at each other and she said, "I am too lazy to go grocery shopping."
I followed this up with, "and I'm poor because I haven't been paid."
Mr 11 considered this for a moment, then, with great concern he asked, "if there is no chocolate and no soda, how have you been surviving?"
LOL :)

Next Week: cards!!! :)