... and relax .....

Helloooooo!  Happy Tuesday!  Everyone doin' ok?  I, for one, am doing just fine .... today ... for a change.  Not gunna lie ... for the last 5 days I've been a bit of a waste of make-up ... not to mention a "bit" of a bear.  I am SOOOO underslept it's rediculous!  I've been blaming the pup for that but truth be told he's been sleeping really well for the last week or so.  Around 8:30 or 9:00 pm he toddles up to my bedroom and passes out.  He might wake around 4:30 am for a "comfort break" but he usually makes it until 5:30 or 6:00 which is pretty resonable (not to mention better bladder control than I have! *lol*)  Nope - can't blame Koda for my lack of sleep.  Trouble is I'm a VERY light sleeper and any little noise will wake me up.  Over the last week it has been either one of kids talking in their sleep, waking with a nightmare, my husband snoring or Koda rolling over (he's been sleeping in the bathroom and he'll knock into the toilet or garbage can).  Once I'm wakened my mind snaps awake and I lie there until 4:30 or 5:00 am planning all the things I need to do.  I simply have too much on my plate these days.  Soooooo - after a decent night sleep last night (I woke at 4:00 am but somehow forced myself back to sleep) I decided today to just SLOW DOWN!  I've been making so many stupid mistakes lately that a) it's causing me more work and taking more time that I DON'T have b) making be grumpy at my stupidity and c) making me look like an idiot (well, in MY mind, anyway).  I just don't take the time to think before I hit "send" on an e-mail or plan ahead to make life easier.  Case in point.  The other night I decided we would have perogies for dinner - quick and easy.  Great - that bought me some time.  I started frying the onions and bacon around 4:30 pm and put the water on to boil at 4:45 so when Craig came home around 5:10 pm dinner would be ready.  Around 4:55 I opened the freezer to get the perogies .... nope ... I didn't have any.  What I THOUGHT were perogies were actually bread dough balls.  Great.  4:50 pm and I have nadda for dinner.  Sigh.  I think we had eggs for dinner which was fine but I just HATE stuff like that!  Being the control freak that I am I can't STAND when things ... the house ... the bills ... the laundry .. general "stuff" is out of control.  So - today I've taken a step back.  I took the girls to school - came home - took Koda to the vet for a checkup and a shot - came home - had a quick bite to eat and headed to Costco.  Came home - took Koda for a lovely walk on this beautiful day - put away the groceries SLOWLY - boiled some eggs for pickled eggs - soaked some dried mushrooms so I can make some sweet and sour soup - did the dishes and am now enjoying a cup of coffee and filling you all in on the really small details of my day.  Bored yet? *lol*

Bottom line - I'm stepping back from everything that I THINK has to be done right this nanosecond and realizing it can wait a few more hours.  Yes, I STILL have to finalize the cards for Sunday's Stamp-a-stack and yes, there are 100 other projects that have been started but not finished but it's ok ... it doesn't all have to get done today.  Heck - if I WAS all done today I don't know what I'd do with myself tomorrow!  So cheers (coffee clink) and here's a FUN little project for you.   I whipped up 26 of these in under an hour on the weekend ...

Can you see the Label Framelit embossing?  Cool, eh?  (MAN is THAT Canadian or what??!!)  I got the technique from

Mary Fish (stampinpretty.com).  In her video she says to use two of the silicone rubber mats but I didn't have to so what I did was 1) open your Big Shot platform all the way (i.e. flip both tabs open).  2) Place your hard Impressions Pad down, then your Silicone Pad down.  3) place your paper down 4) place your Labels Framelits down WITH THE BUMPY SIDE UP - the bumpy part is what normally CUTS your paper - you don't want it to cut your paper so face the bumps up 5) Place your clear cutting pad down  6) run the whole kit and kaboodle throught he Big Shot.  Wa-low!  You get an embossed image.  VERY cool!  I then stamped in the middle of the design with With All My Heart (page 47 of the IBC ... a very overlooked set .. I think this one is a keeper!).  I then added a brad from the SAB brads to jazz it up a bit.  This is such a great, elegant, easy and QUICK technique!  Try it out - you'll want to make 26 too!

Right.  I''ve now had a realxing 26 minutes of coffee and blogging.  I'm going to finish my coffee, get the children and maybe craft a little.  I have more projects from this week to share so come bacl soon.  ... bring a coffee ... I have been known to ramble on every now and then ;)

Have a realxing day!

Tam