CED '08 - 2/18/08 and a birthday update!

I've managed to find time to be CED this past week. Spent some time with family, loving on Alexxis, watching her grow... time to clean our house, think about what I desire for my life, time to be grateful for all that I have, family, friends, and to celebrate the simple joys of life, as well as other things that have required my attention.

It felt wonderful to be creating again this past week and I'm excited to have the opportunity to do and explore more. Thank you to those who visited and left me a comment on my "Moo!" card. I'm excited to participate further.

Thank you to everyone who sent me a birthday card, called, sung or said, "Happy Birthday!" to me, and gifted us with a gift. {Bob & Carmella --- we'll certainly enjoy those bottles of California wine!} Thank you to Don for making me a wonderful birthday cake, purchasing the MM Embellishment Center for my day, for giving me $$$ to spend on whatever my heart desires. And spend, I did... along with engaging in my love to travel!

Today, we took a trip to Home Goods, where I purchased myself a new bulletin board to use as a vision/inspiration board. I cannot wait to begin actually creating it, using my hands, finding pictures of the precise images I desire, and placing them perfectly on my vision board to incorporating my mind, my vision, developing my subconscious mind to attract what I desire in my life through the Law of Attraction. Those you see on the above photographs came in the packaging and are beautiful images of Venice and Florance, Italy --- someplace I'd love to one day travel to!

I also purchased two new 5x7 picture frames as I've been desiring to create a grouping of frames on one of our end tables within our home, so these are for beginning that process. I'm excited to begin the hunt for a few more, an 8x10, and a couple 4x6's. You know how you find the right ones when you see them... {smile} Mom recently gifted us with some of her B&W pictures of Don as a child and some photographs of other family members, which I believe I'll scan and copy to use within this grouping. {And I cannot forget Aunt Alice's wedding gift of her wonderful frame and photograph.}

We made another stop into Scrapbook Art at Polaris. I didn't purchase too much, but got quite a bang for the bucks I did spend! I was able to take advantage of a "making room for CHA items" sale, and utilize a $15 in-store credit! Gotta love that! So what did I purchase? Two 8" MM chipboard letters, P's, of course for Partly Paper; 4 new stamps - one Rhonna Ferror acrylic and three Fontwerks red rubber stamps for journaling with; a Carolee's Creation AdornIt for Alexxis' album; and a tin of Maya Road Chipboard Crowns. Did younotice those two crushed velvet ribons? Aren't they luscious? I only purchased a yard each, something I'll probably desire to kick myself over later. Anyways, I also managed to save some of the $$$ I was given. I'm thinking I'd love a Moleskin journal, just to art around in and junk up, and a few more bottles of Golden's Fluid acrylic paints on our next trip to Dick Blick's.

I found some time to seek some new inspiration through the pages of Somerset Memories, Somerset Studios, Artful Blogging, Cloth Paper Scissors, and a Book Art book, and through some "new to me" blogs. I've really been desiring to get my links added here, so I need to focus on that and get some categories for organizing them together. Perhaps, one day soon....