It’s like there are a zillion different options and how do you decide which one to do!  I have come to the conclusion that each of us is different and we each just need to discover what works for ourselves.

With all that said I’m very excited about a new goal I have set.  I joined a Health Challenge.  Notice I didn’t say weight loss???  Nope, it’s a health challenge.  You can follow this 90 day challenge on Polka Dot Pixies.  I love that there are various aspects that it focuses on, not just food and exercise.  Those are both essential to this challenge but it also covers other areas that help us to be whole, well-balanced healthy individuals.

One thing we are required to do is to journal or blog each day, so get used to hearing from me lots!  Another thing I love is that we get to set a personal goal each week to work on.  This week mine is going to bed by 9:30 every night and getting at least 8 hours of sleep.  This can be pretty difficult with my schedule and responsibilities.  I am determined to do this though.

If you wonder why I’m mentioning all this here it’s because it helps to have support from those who know and love you.  It also keeps me accountable!  So today is day 1 and I’m ready to go!

A funny thing happened and I think the Monday faries took pity on me and decided Monday would be a turning point!  The kids suddenly felt better and the car problems were no more!  Even our dog was behaving.  If I was ten years younger and had the space I might have done a cart-wheel!  Okay maybe not.

To add to my great Monday I got an email from a Heidi over at Polka Dot Pixiesasking me if I would mind being a continuing contributor!!  This is pretty exciting news for me and I am excited to get to flex my crafty muscles!!

If you have not had a chance to take a look at Polka Dot Pixies blog come take a peek.  To the left is one of the free printable you can find on her blog!!  This is my theme right now with school starting and having had a rough weekend.  There are lots of other great things to see so don’t miss the fun!!

This is a recent card I made from items I had in my scraps box!  It is simple yet is coordinated and fun!
I’ve been busy crafting away cards recently.  You can see more on my Facebook page Tulip Garden Crafts!  I try to update daily with new things I’m working on!  Come on over and “like” my page so you can keep up with all the fun craftiness!  I also would love to see what else you all are making.  Feel free to post your crafts and thoughts!

Happy Crafting!!

My thought was that if had all these cute templates to play with my cards had the potential for becoming at the very least above average!  Well I’m not sure where my cards currently rate but I saw this particular template and had to give it a whirl.  I really love that it’s round.  I cut the first image blacked out and the second has an open edge. I love the layering effect it creates.
What I’ve also realized with cards is I can go through my stash and pull from my scraps and those miscellaneous embellishments I haven’t used and add all those fun finishing touches!  This card I’m going to give as a birthday card!!

I have a few other things in the works that I will post over the next few days!

So really it was an accident.  Although I have to admit it was a great surprise!  The short version of the story is I now have an established page on Facebook , Tulip Garden Crafts.  Here are a few items I recently posted.  These are a couple of kits for Happy Birthday Banners!  Once they are assembled they will have ribbon strung and any additional finishing touches.

This is another Happy Birthday Banner.  I’m also in the process of putting together additional kits for banners for baby shower and bridal showers!  The really great part about these banners is that I can make them in any color or pattern available.

These colors are for a baby shower banner that will say, It’s A Girl.  I’m excited to be adding more and more items to my inventory!  I’m having fun and getting to rub shoulders with lots of other talented crafters!

Each month my family gets together and celebrates birthdays that have occurred that month.  Things have been a little bit busy this summer for our family so Saturday we got together to celebrate a total of 7 birthdays!  I decided ahead of time that we needed to add a few decorations.  I recently got a new Cricut that cuts larger so I went hunting to see if there was a cartridge that could specifically cut banners.  I was so excited to find the Pretty Pennants cartridge!

I can’t wait to create all kinds of fun things with these!  I layered the two shapes and then just used my Storybook cartridge to cut the letters.  This is the first banner is the first one I’ve made and it is pretty simple.  I used the basic primary colors because we celebrated 7 birthdays of all different ages and genders.

I also cut large tags and circles out of my Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridgee to spotlight each birthday!  It was so much fun for each of the kids to see their pictures pinned up on the wall and hear stories about them!  My camera wasn’t working so I’m waiting to see if someone else got a couple of shots I can post!

In the mean time here are some additional pics of the banner.  Next time I am going to add some additional embellishments and ink the edges to add more depth and dimension.

I can’t wait to see all the fun projects this will allow me to do!  It really was so simple to put this together!

Currently this woman, or for purposes of this project shall be refered to as the favorite Auntie,  was most excited by working on a project that she squeezed in between all of the above listed responsibilities.  This project became layers of cardstock wrapped in the beauty of glittery embellishments and ribbon!  The end result was amazing.

In order to fully understand this tale you must first go back several months!  This favorite Auntie was so thrilled to find out she was going to be an Auntie AGAIN!!  For those of you who have experienced this you will understand having more babies added to the family never gets old.  There is always so much love and it just grows as we add.

My sister, my only sister, sent the picture to the right to our family to announce she was expecting and would be due in August!!  I couldn’t be more thrilled.  Of course all I could think of was how much fun it would be to do something crafty for this new little baby.    So again I am going to jump ahead, which is still backwards if you are keeping track, so you will fully be informed!!

I have been eye-balling smash books lately!  They are like a journal but to make a long story short you can journal right on the pages in no particular order and glue in items that are of sentimental value!  They even come with some thing called a smash stick, a pen with ink on one side and glue on the other.  I thought the idea of having all these mementos in one convenient location was brilliant!

These pages are the month that we all got to find out what the gender of the baby was!!  As I’m sure you notice that everything is PINK it is indeed going to be a girl!!  I couldn’t wait to get started on this project now that I knew it was going to be a girl!  I envisioned lots of glitter and pretties!  I think the weight of this book alone comes from all the ribbon!! It is similar to the same concept of a Smash Book, just with a few more personal touches added!

So now back to the beginning!!  I hope you are ready for you personal guided tour of this pregnancy keepsake book!

This first two pages has lots of spaces for adding pictures and notes.  On the left is a pocket that has journaling cards that can be clipped or glued anywhere in the book.  The right page is similar to that of a French memo board.  I used ribbon that was a very light pink.  Then I added some pink sparkly brads to pull it all together.  I just followed the quilt-like pattern of the paper to line up my ribbon and brads.  If you are using paper that doesn’t have a convenient pattern you can equally space them apart using a ruler and mark with a pencil very easily.

This is just a closer shot of the pocket.  I also used a vellum treat bag and added a tab to add a little something extra.

Also remember how I mentioned earlier I added lots of ribbon?  Most of the pages are edged with a ribbon or large ric-rac.  I added the ribbon and then layered the paper on top to simulate the look of ric-rac on the edge of quilt would look.  It added lots of fluff to the book!  There is some empty space at the top of this page so that items can be glued in or journaling can be done in the empty space explaining anything tucked into the memo board.

This is one of my favorite pages in the book.  I think we have established that life is crazy and chaotic even on a good day.  We have such well-meaning intentions.  My sister is truly amazing.  She has been keeping a notebook with letters to her baby girl.  I know letters that my parents wrote to me thru my childhood are treasures.  I will always keep them.  I wanted to give her a place to keep the letters together.  Her and I actually came up with this idea together.  These flaps open for a place to insert the letters.  I was really excited though that there is a magnet attached to the back side of the key hole and another magnet on the inside of the flap to hold it shut and keep the flaps from hanging open.

This is what the inside of the flaps look like.  I took a two prong file folder and used the prongs to fasten the letters into place.  They were a little long so I did trim them down with wire cutters.  My sister came up with this idea.  I thought it was brilliant!  I don’t have the letters as they are personal thoughts but she will be able to hole-punch the tops of the letters and fill it up!

The left page is blank with some embellishments so that she can journal or add other items.  I cut the flourish with my Cricut and then just trimmed the edge with some cute pink fluffy ribbon.

The first order of business after adding some important keepsake pages was to be able to add a place to keep track of important dates.  I decided the best way to break this down was by month.  Each set of pages is broken down into months of her pregnancy.  This is the first month where she announced she was expecting!!

I added lots of ribbon and I had lots of fun adding ribbon to the piece of chipboard on the left page.  First I inked it and then ran a black ribbon with white polka dots.  For the page on the right There was a pocket and inside I stuffed a calendar and behind the calendar is an extra folder type piece of cardstock to stuff goodies into. I love the layered look but still tried to leave room for her journaling about what was going on and how she was feeling.  Each month has a chipboard number that identifies which month of pregnancy.  It also coincides with what month during the calendar year it was.

Each set of pages is different.  I intentionally did this.  I have made some very coordinated books and I have made some that have no rhyme or reason.  Both are great.  You have to love what you make.  I generally try to go with I like.  If someone asks me to make things to their liking I’m also happy to do that.

I just really wanted this book to be all about a baby girl.  I had so much fun using those precious items I’d been saving for the perfect project.  They all got to come together in one place.

One of the fun things I did was use a product called Diamond Glaze to make the chipboard numbers really pop!  The consistency is similar to that of glue.  It dries clear and smooth.  It is raised for added dimension.  It does take a little time to dry but it is well worth the wait!

I added this bow but it just seemed so sad and lifeless.  I added a safety-pin with some additional ribbon tied to it, a bead with the letter “g” for girl and a baby carriage charm.  I love how it went from a bland bow to a fun embellishment with charm!  (Yep I really did just say that!)

Below is a shot of both pages together.  I went with a lighter color scheme on this page and really love the soft yellow on the right side.  I added one of the first pictures of my sister pregnant.  Sorry, no belly shots this early!  She is cute for sure though.  I rounded the corners on the picture and added a little embellishment that identifies how far along she is here.  She is definitely glowing and cute!  She is going to make a great mom!

Again there is lots of space here for adding additional items or journaling. 

This set of pages for three months was fun and I wanted it to be super girly because it’s when the big gender reveal happened.  You can’t see the picture but in the vellum envelope with the pink tab are pictures of cupcakes with pink filling.  I added some paper so she can write out how they chose to do the reveal!

This is a closer shot of the pocket.  Also the cream color die cut page opens so that additional journalling can be done underneath.  You can see what looks like a Polaroid picture paper clipped underneath.  I printed out one of her first shots of her baby bump and added it to a piece of cardstock from Die Cuts With A View Timeless Type stack.  I just inserted a wallet size picture into the polaroid shaped paper.

For the right side of the page I added lots of envelopes for adding mementos as she will be collecting ultrasound pictures and other items.  I love the way this calendar turned out.  I used a little card that has the calendar inside.  It pokes out just enough to see what month it is and when you open it there is space enough for journaling.

For Month four I went with more reds and yellows.  The page on the right has a picture of my sister and I just added some tiny stickers right onto the picture.  I always felt somehow this was not okay to add stickers onto the picture but was excited with how this looked in the book!  The chipboard letter here I inked and then added the Diamond Glaze to.  I like how the red ties these two pages together quite nicely.  On the right side the die cut shaped paper is attached so that it is another pocket and can be journaled on.

One thing I really love about month five was how I was able to add a pop of blue while still remaining true to the girl theme and keeping it feminine.  I used a glittery spray ink on the chipboard 5 and then added the diamond glaze.  You can still see sparkles thru the glaze.  It’s super fun!  The blue cardstock behind the calendar is actually just a folded piece of cardstock trimmed with the opposite side of the paper.  I left it more plane so that there was lots of space for journaling.  The other thing was this book was becoming increasingly thick with all the goodies attached so this one is simple while adding a pop of color to the page.

One of the really fun things I loved about making this book was I was able to use so many items in my stash.  On the right side of this page on the bottom I used a patterned paper that is a little vintage and has the feel of a pattern used for sewing.  I just never knew what to use it for.  Well I saw this and just had to use it for this book.  Because my sister is having a girl I thought it would be so fun to fill in the little girl’s dress pink.  I used my Smooch Ink by Clearsnap.  These are super fun and easy to work with because they come packaged liked nail polish.  It adds another fun feminine touch to this page.

Then to personalize it, I added another pregnancy shot of my cute sister.

Month six has two sets of pockets.  The pocket on the right I added using a pre-cut piece of cardstock that I had in my stash.  It was too cute not to use.  Behind the pocket is a velum envelope with more pregnancy shots!  I was looking for a fun way to trim the bottom of the page so I added a fluffy piece of black ribbon and layered it with a light piece of pink ribbon where I knotted it every inch or so.  I really like the dainty touch adding the strait pins with the pink ends creates.  I did find a trick for not having them poke out and harm any innocent fingers.  I used a pair of wire cutters to trim off any excess.

Month seven was a great month!  There are lots of cute shots here and the baby shower invitation!!  This is a pretty simple layout for these two pages but still leaves lots of room for adding fun things like well wishes from those who sent gifts or a copy of a baby registry.  Behind the piece of large chipboard on the top of the right page it opens to reveal the calendar month.  Again important dates can be added.

Month 8, and as it notes on the bottom right page she is almost there!!  This is actually where she is right now!  We are all getting so excited to meet this new little one!  I added several envelopes to this pocket as I’m sure she will have lots of things to stuff the envelopes with.

This is just a close up of all the fun goodies!

Month 9 is always super busy!  This particular page has room to write all the baby’s information in.  My niece doesn’t have a name yet.  Mom and Dad are still deciding.  I’ve heard a couple of choices and love them all.  I know that’s such a hard choice picking a name for someone so important and loved to carry with them their entire life!

This is a close up of the calendar.  I glittered the nine and then realized there would be glitter everywhere once the book was handled.  I love glitter but it can get a little messy.  I added the diamond glaze over the top and problem solved.  I also used a textured cardstock from Bazzill.  I actually attached this calendar to the back of a banker’s envelope by Bazzill  so that if Mom or Dad want to include a letter for the new baby or other items they can.

Once I had the nine months taken care of there was still a couple of additional pages that I thought I could use for the first couple of months when they come home from the hospital.  This page to the right is one of them.  this way there will be a place to put items like her first baby picture or mom and baby hospital bracelets.

This is the back of the book and I used a fun piece of card-stock from my stash.  It is pink with darker pink flocking.  I really love it and am so happy with the way it turned out.  I trimmed the back of the book with large black ric-rac.  I added a band around the back by Smash Book for her Smash sticks.  I also gave her some of the decorative tape so that she can easily add more items and journal in this book.

My favorite part of making this book as the Favorite Aunt was when my sister made the comment, “I bet she (my new niece) will love looking thru this book one day!”  That is exactly why I made this.

Thanks for hanging on thru this lengthy post!  I’m working on a few new projects and can’t wait to share them.  Below is a picture of the charm that I added for an extra fun girly touch.  I can’t wait to meet my niece!

My time is so scattered in different areas of my life.  I happen to love being busy because it means I get to do so many different things.  One responsibility I share with my husband is to organize and distribute the flags in our area thru the Boy Scouts.  This is truly a double-edged sword.  It can be a lot of work, it requires a fair amount of planning and coordination, and I have to get up early to do this.  The benefits far out weigh any of the above dislikes I have for this task!  One of my favorite parts is that my hubby and I get to work together and we make a great team.  He organizes all the boys and parents while I drive and help gather flags.   I also get to spend time with some of the most amazing young men I have met.  These boys are great.  They don’t want to be up early but they get up and help with positive attitudes.  I have to admit I’m most proud of my own son who also participates in the scouts!  Plus I get to feel all patriotic with 50 plus flags riding around in my car!  I do however miss my cup holder which is buried somewhere under all these flags!  As an added bonus we have established the best tradition of going to get donuts after!!  I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

Speaking of holidays, messes and time I’m so excited I had to post this picture of my new Cricut Expression!  I purchased it second-hand and love that it is pink!  I have been using this awesome gadget to finish up a project I’ve been working on for some time. 

Here is a peek at one of the elements I created.  Can you guess what it’s for?  Do you remember this post?  Yep.  It’s for my new niece who will be here before I know it.  It’s a book similar to a smash book.  This is one I made from a notebook I picked up on the clearance aisle and altered.  It is full of pockets and places to put all the stuff you accumulate during a pregnancy like ultrasound pictures or cards.  I promise to post more pictures that show all the fun details when I get a few minutes.  In the mean time stay cool and have a great day!

Today I’m grateful that I’ve had the time to rest this weekend and do some of the things I really love.  I also appreciate the time spent with friends and family I love!  I am looking to see where my time is scattered this coming week.

Believe me when I tell you that this blue mat made my day on Thursday when I was able to go pick it up!  I no longer had to worry about sleeping on the floor.  I also have to say it was totally worth every penny!  (As a side note now we have a great place to put extra kids when they come over to spend the night!)

So before this post turns into an advertisement let me tell you all about the fun we had!  We arrived at the zoo entrance where we waited to be taken in by the staff.  We had a slight snag with the scheduling so the kids’ teacher had then completely entertained by telling them a Story With a Hole.  If you are no familiar with these here are some examples.  She is a fabulous lady who keeps these kids constantly on her toes!!

We got a little bit of a late start but once we finally got settled and had some pizza for dinner the kids were able to really  have some fun!  We got to see about eight animals up close and personal!!  The kids really got a kick out of all this.  There were a couple of snakes, a tiger salamander.  a night hawk,  a ferret, a tortious,and a tarantula! 

This is  the night hawk and Todd one of our friendly guides who was there to answer questions and take us on our night hike!  I was very amazed at how knowledgeable he and the other guides were.  They were so patient with the kids and knew all kinds of things about the animals that normally you wouldn’t learn on your average trip to the zoo!

We learned that the Phoenix zoo is the same size as the San Diego  zoo.  We do not have the same number of exhibits or the same animals but they are the same size.

One of the last things we got to do before our trip was over was visit the commissary.  No this wasn’t for people but for the animals.  They showed us all the different types of food the animals get to eat!  Sometimes the animals get treats.  We learned that the orangutans really like Gatorade.  These guys are super smart too.  Usually they get this as a reward or treat.  The other time they get it is as a trade.  When a visitor drops something they will show the orangutan the Gatorade and the orangutan has to trade the dropped item for the frosty beverage!  They shared a fun story with us about one time a visitor dropped a camera.  The orangutan was pretty smart so she decided she wanted lots of Gatorade and thought if she gave the camera back one piece at a time she could get more Gatorade so she broke it into pieces.  This of course didn’t earn her more Gatorade but instead made for an unhappy camera owner. 

Speaking of food, here are some of the things offered to us for our breakfast!  There were lots of choices so both the kids and the adults had full tummies before our morning activities!

Last and certainly not least is the camel rides!  This is the whole reason my cutie wanted to go to the zoo.  Here she is riding her camel!  All in all it was a successful trip!

A couple of nights ago I received a call requesting I donate blood through the United Blood Services.  I told the representative calling that I was busy on the nights she requested, which I was.  Then she suggested other nights where I was available.  I explained that every time I go to donate my iron levels are not high enough to donate.

She then explained all the ideas of how to increase my iron that I had heard before with no success.  She then explained to me something I had never heard of before.  Caffeine keeps your body from absorbing iron.  I told her that I do drink A LOT of Diet Dr. Pepper.  With this new idea I was determined to donate!!

The past couple of days I have stayed away from caffeine and tried to eat iron rich foods.  I don’t think I’m very good at this.  I mostly like things that are not green leafy veggies.  So today was the moment of truth!  I left work to go to my appointment at the blood bank.

When I got there the nice lady at the front desk gave me a packet of all the reasons a person could be disqualified from donating!  Looking through them I mentally checked off each of these items and knew I was good to go.  I have not been to Europe nor have I taken any medications on the list a mile long.

The next step was to talk to the gal who “interviewed” me.  I explained to her up front she may want to test my iron first because I knew that would be the only real deal breaker.  She tested my blood and I passed!  I can’t believe I finally had enough iron to pass!  I know most people would not be so excited about this but this was super exciting to me!  She asked all the questions and then set me up with the next phase of this experience.

She then explained to me that they had recently conducted a study that if donors ate a salty snack while donating they felt better after donating.  She then guided me over to the “salty snack bar”.  There were Corn Nuts, some sort of cheese crackers and chips.  I opted not to choose the Corn Nuts (I promise to tell you my Corn Nut story later.  Long story short is they are loud and smell very strong.)  I chose the cheesy crackers and a Gatorade.  Oh yes I have to mention there were beverages as well.  I was feeling a little spoiled at this point. (The staff was exceptionally friendly, although I suppose if you expect someone to part with their blood by way of a pointy needle you really should be kind.)

Next I was introduced to the next kind lady, Mary, who would be drawing my blood.  She asked which arm I would like her to use, to which I replied, “The one you will have to poke less.”  I promise I didn’t say it rude but I think I made her a little nervous.  After a little poking and prodding she put a blood pressure cuff on my arm and asked me to squeeze my fist a couple of times.  Apparently my veins were not on board with this decision to give blood and took a hike deep under cover!  Another friendly phlebotomist came over and consulted with Mary and found a vein.  It was in there deep but she said it was a big fat vein!  Yep I have fat veins.  (This made me giggle a bit.)

Shortly after some discussions the needle was in my arm and even drawing blood.  Thank you Mary!  She told me after I was all done that I’m a fast bleeder.  I wasn’t sure what that meant.  She explained the average time for blood donation is seven to twelve minutes.  Mine was only five minutes!  Yep I’m an overachieving blood donor.  Not too shabby for the first time!

After all was said and done I scheduled my next appointment.  I also found out that United Blood Services has a program called “Blood Heros“.    It’s a reward program where you accumulate points for donating blood.  For keeping each appointment you receive 100 points even if you find you can’t donate blood on that visit, like if you don’t have enough iron.  You get an additional 100 points for donating!  You can check out all the cool stuff you can redeem your points for on their website here.

This was a great experience and as odd as it sounds I look forward to going back to donate again.  Also after you donate they ask you to remain in the “cantina” area as they affectionately call it for 15 minutes.  Here there is a refrigerator fully stocked with cold bottled water, another snack bar including freshly popped popcorn and a great selection of magazines to read.  Plus there are lots of great people to dote on you and make sure you are feeling okay.  I was also told to go home and have a hearty meal for dinner!  Yep they told me to eat.  I’m so going to go back!