My First Attempt at Jewelry Making

Back in 2010 I decided I wanted to get into jewelry making. This was my very first piece, a bracelet for my sort of sister-in-law. It's made out of glass beads, crystals, and metal findings. I'm pretty proud of it. Since then I've only made one other bracelet, but I'm hoping once I get my workspace all squared away I'll be able to crank out a ton more pieces and start up an Etsy store!

South Carolina Family Layouts

Layouts I created for a visit my family made to South Carolina to visit family in 2006.

Supplies

• Paper, Rub-ons, Embelishments - My Mind's Eye
• Flourishes - QuicKutz
• Brads - Making Memories

Project 52 - Week 1

My New Year cards are finally ready to hit the mailbox!

A Tale Dark and Grimm

I have signed up to do the Goodread's 2012 Reading Challenge and so far I've gotten one book read. Not bad for the first week of 2012! As I finish a book, I plan to do a review of it here. My first book:

A Tale Dark & Grimm

by Adam Gidwitz

I had high hopes for this book when I first added it to my must read list, mostly because I love stories of twisted fairy tales. And for the most part the story lived up to my expectations. So much if I was to rate on just the fairy tale it gets 4 stars, however, and this is a big however, during the book the author interrupts the story to either warn you about what is coming or to explain something. I found this very annoying and unnecessary. Okay, we get it, the story is not one to read to little or sensitive kids. But you don't need to keep repeating it, even if  you are doing it in a playful manner. So on commentary alone the book gets only 2 stars. Combining the two I give this book an overall review of 3 stars. 

Overall Review: ★★★

2012 Reading Challenge

April has read 1 book toward her goal of 10 books.

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1 of 10 (10%)

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Cherish Mini Album

I'm still on my break from crafting and my workspace is even farther away from being finished, but I do have a number of projects I can still share! So let's get back to some crafty posts! Here is a desktop flip album I made for my mother in 2006. It contains all photos of my family... though sadly looking through it today I've noticed a number of people have passed since I made it. But it's still one of my more favorite projects I've done and mom still has it on her desk at work.

Supplies

• Making Memories Flip Book
• Making Memories BoHo Chic Paper, Frame, and Ribbon- Lauren
• Prima Flowers
• Making Memories Rub-Ons and Stamps
• Penguins - QuicKuts

2012 Resolutions

It's that time again! Time for some new year resolutions.

• Do Project Life - this is going to be interesting... since I rarely leave the house
• Do Project 52 - going to focus this project on macro images
• Lose 50lbs - I want to/need to lose more, but I'm being a bit of a realist with this goal
• Build readership on all 4 of my blogs
• Start up Pop Hearts Studio
• Try to find my drawing style
• Create, Create, Create

That's it. I have lots of little goals and things I want to accomplish, but these are the big ones... the ones that will last all year.

What's in a Word

A Facebook friend of mine posted this link to an article about "Word of the Year: Why & How to Choose One". I've never really thought about picking a word for the year and the article got me thinking. I know it's a popular trend with blogs to define their year with a word, but I never have. So I'm going to change that this year and go with the trend.

But what word to use?

I've been tossing around ideas on my word but nothing seems to describe how I want me year to go. There is BELIEVE in yourself, just DO it, FEARLESS, ACHIVE your goals, and so on... but those just don't fit. Then it hit me...

CONFIDENCE

I need some.... CONFIDENCE in myself, CONFIDENCE in my abilities, CONFIDENCE in my creations, CONFIDENCE in the people around me. My life is lacking CONFIDENCE. So I'm going with it. That will be my word of the year.

CONFIDENCE that 2012 is going to be a good year. Let's see if I can do it.

Do you have a word for 2012? Share with us in the comments.