Happy birthday to Leonie! It was a lovely day, as she celebrated her 4th birthday, and she was SO tired tonight she fell asleep instantly. That almost never happens!! Maybe it was the Disney princess Barbie doll lying next to her We had company throughout the day and ‘diner’ at McDonalds as she requested. I have one day of work tomorrow, and will be home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Can’t wait for that little weekend during the week LOL

Somehow I found time to design, and I created a freebie mini-kit for the Designer Apprentice contest. I such a sucker for contests, so I just had to play in this one! I can only hope I’ll have enough time to crank out the kits untill I’m eliminated…

I was supposed to design something inspired by SUMMER. That was the only given assignment, and this is what I did. I thought of what Summer meant to me and was suddenly humming ‘This is where I want to be, La Isla Bonita’. Can you believe that? Then I spent all this time avoiding anything cheesy like the Madonna song LOL

Find out how to get the freebie here! I’d love to know what you think, before the judges speak their minds

Today I did something brave. (well, actually it was last night, but the effect became visible today) Something I rarely do. I said no. Ok, I did say more than no, maybe it was more of a ‘no more’, but it still was rare. And I hope this will help me control the chaos in my head. I used to be pretty quick with things, my brain could solve a puzzle AND read a book at the same time, so to speak. But apparently 2 pregnancies put an end to that. Or maybe it’s a small residu of pregnancy hormones? Don’t know… and I don’t know if I’ll ever get ‘my’ brain back. I need my brain to focuss on more than one thing at the same time, OR I need to have only one thing to focuss on. Since I cannot do the first, I chose to do something to have the last. I sent an e-mail to all my co-workers explaining what my life looks like now. Some may think I’m an idiot, some have already said WELL DONE (and they made me smile ), some may not care at all. I just hope it’s of my chest and out of my brain, so I can focuss again! Gosh I wish I wouldn’t have to focuss on so many things…

Ok, on to the next thing: another new release day!! Yes, you must have already heard: Elemental Scraps will from now on release new products on Fridays. What a great way to start of your weekend!! Here’s what I have this time (and it’s also Color Play weekend!):

Some of you may already recognize this, since it used to be part of a collab. Now available as mini-kit, Afternoon Daydream, and it’s on sale too!

A set of cardstocks and a set of interview pieces, matching Septembers Color Play pallette! I thought it would a fun idea to interview our children once a year, and document their favorites at that moment. If you like to do this too, you can use the interview pieces as jumpstarters! Color Play items will be $1 only the first week, then they’ll go up in price. Here’s your chance, happy shopping! I’ll leave you with some CT inspiration, and I’ll see you back tomorrow!

(btw: almost 600 fans!!!)

Maybe you knew, maybe you didn’t: I have a thing with numbers. Love them, I loved math in ‘highschool’ and it still is my favorite thing to teach. I see patterns in numbers everywhere, and ‘beautiful’ numbers can make me happy. Yes, there it is. You can all run away now.

LOL

So, I had to do something with that, right? I started with some HUGE numbers, came up with a matching kit and solids. Then I came across something called ‘inchies’. Have you heard about them? Check here and here for examples! I had to do something like that, so I created a pack full of 2 inch squares (see, twinchies ) and I still wasn’t done with this project! Let me just show you what you can buy:

Here’s the kit, at 25% off

Some solids to match, 25% off too!

A matching alpha, 25% off!

If you like it till now, you can get this in a small bundle (on sale too)

The huge numbers, on sale!

The twinchies, already embellished, on sale!

A set of styles, CU ok, on sale too!

And of course, a big bundle, on sale too!!

Remember the post with my goals a while back? Well, another thing about me is I love schedules and to-do-list too. So I of course created this layout with my goals:

(I have this in Dutch too, but since I blogged it in English, it seemed easier to scrap it in English too )

I’ll be back tomorrow with some great CT inspiration! Thanks for looking!!

I did talk about simplifying life a few posts back, right? Well… then why am I coming up with all kinds of projects that take TIME to develop? I already had something in the works, I was going to start it somewhere in September, but then a CT member came with a supercool project to develop alongside! I’m totally enjoying it, but it takes soooo much time! I don’t have time!! It’s hard to choose between something fun and something that has to be done. Working outside the house has become ’something that keeps me from home, family and the fun things’. And the schoolyear has only just begun, first week flew by! Leonie is enjoying herself though

Remember the blogpost I wrote with all my dreams and goals? I’ve been thinking about ways to keep track of my progress. I don’t want to make huge goals I can never reach. Like the saving, I don’t want to say: I will save X this month. I’d rather say: hey, by doing this, I actually saved X more than usual! That is something I’ll have to work on.

Because I still need extra time, I started searching for tips and tools to save time. A teething baby that needs his mommy isn’t much help, but hey, that’s why I want to stay at home. To have more time to devote to my kids, I don’t want to worry about my ‘other job’ that needs attention too. I think I have been ‘working’ in some way or another for the entire past week, while I only work for 3 days. How did that happen?

Ok, timesavers!

iVillage has 13 timesaving tips for busy moms (that’s me!)
Real Simple has 18 time saving tips (heck, they have tips for EVERY thing!)
Raising Small Souls has 12 (specially like #2!)

And my personal tip for us moms with little ones: you can do so many things while you carry your baby with you when he/she needs cuddle time! In stead of holding your baby in your arms, comforting him/her or trying to get him/her to fall asleep, you can wear your baby in a baby carrier and have your hands free to do some boring chores around the house! Invest in a good carrier (I myself have a Mei Tai and a RingSling) and you can carry your baby around and save time! I’ve said many times: if Julian decides to become a chef, it’s because he watched me cook so many meals while sitting comfortably on my back! LOL

Ok, this post cost me several hours to write, so time still is an issue here. Hope you have better luck! Here’s a sneak peek to tomorrows release at Elemental Scraps!

HUGE I tell you LOL I’ll be back tomorrow to show you what it’s all about!

*this is a scheduled post*

Always stay on the sunny side of life! This kit made me think about the end of Summer, which is getting near, but I hope we will have lots of sunny days left before Fall kicks in. I’m SO not ready for that!!

This kit is on a 25% sale, as usual on new release days. I have 2 matching products as well!

If you like all of the above, I also have them bundled up for a great price:

(AND the bundle is on sale too, cause I’m lazy like that )

Here’s some CT inspiration!

Thanks for looking!!