the daily X

Chicago + Instagram

We spent the weekend in Chicago with our friends and their little one and had the best time ever. I've never been to the city with my new friend Instagram and I think I'm falling in love.

Around Here

Around here we are playing lots of Words with Friends on our phones with each other. Even when sitting together on the couch, or at the bar. Funny how our Scrabble game has sat in the closet untouched for 10 years.

Around here I am in a constant state of recovery from my Monday night exercise class. Core strength training. Ouch.

Around here we are kind of addicted to Twizzlers after buying the family pack at Menard's this weekend. Side note - I'm always surprised what you can find at Menard's. This weekend we bought two new toilet seats, Goo Gone, a spray bottle, Twizzlers, Doritos and Kleenex. How random.

Around here I am keeping up with my 365 photo project. One photo every day for a year. I know I can do this.

Around here we are looking forward to a fun filled weekend with friends in Chi-town.

Weekend Finds

It's been awhile! We finally hit up an Estate Sale this weekend and spent a whopping $3.54! 

Here are a few things I brought home...

I've been looking for Christmas records because nobody in our family had any in their collections to pass on to us....very strange. I love Christmas music, especially classics played on a record player. The "Music to live by" record just looked cool and it actually is really good. The "Tippity Tap Toe" is a children's record and again I just thought it looked cool and I'll probably give it to one of our friends. The Crete book is for my father-in-law because that is where his family is from. I hope he likes it.

The red yarn is brand new and I'll probably use it to tie around presents. Love that it was .60 cents and I bought it for .50 cents.

This Spanish workbook above and art book below caught my eye and I will probably take the covers off and use them in a minibook. Great colors and patterns.

And an outtake - I walk away for 5 minutes and come back to this...

Project Life ~ Week 3

Ordinary moments, everyday life. 

I am so happy with how week 3 turned out. I feel like it's getting easier each week and I'm enjoying the process more and more. I absolutely love this project.

Here is a look at the left side. The 'ordinary moments' and 'everyday life' stamps are from the Ordinary Days set found here. As I was stamping I realized this is what Project Life is all about. 

Here is a look at the right side.

Reading, Loving, Playing, Enjoying

Reading Ali Edwards 52 Creative Lifts | Week 3 that showed up in my email box yesterday. I'm loving this weekly newsletter and highly suggest signing up for it here. Very inspiring.

Martha Stewart products at Staples. OMG, so awesome. Love the labels and the binders.
Robot Tea Infuser. I saw someone at work with one of these and I thought it was too cool. Have to get one. 
butter LONDON nail polish in LA Moss. I've been wanting to try this but have hesitated because of the price. There is a reason why it is so expensive. It goes on like butta, dries quickly and doesn't chip as fast as others. I like it.
Uni-Ball Gel Impact Pen in white. I bought one of these at Archiver's a few weeks ago and it's great. Perfect for writing on photos. Best white pen I've used yet.
More Love print from The Love Shop. My word for this year is MORE. This says it all.

Playing Words with Friends. It has become a serious addiction and I may need help soon. I even started playing with strangers because I couldn't get enough.

Enjoying the snow that came yesterday. It's better when it snows just before the weekend so I don't have to drive to work in it.

Confetti Love

I've been seeing some really cool use of confetti on Pinterest and other blogs lately and I was dying to give it a try myself. Talk about FUN. 

I made a card using Studio AE-Bring On The Love stamps that one lucky person in my family will probably receive for Valentine's Day. The plastic layer sewn over the top and holding all the confetti in is from a page protector.

I'm thinking this will be a great way to use some of the paper I don't care for anymore but that I can't seem to throw away. I'm also thinking of some birthday's coming up.....oh the possibilities.

And check out Glue Stick Girl's use of confetti. Amazing.

Weekend Kitchen | Salted Caramel Brownies

I've been wanting to make salted caramel brownies for awhile since I am ridiculously addicted to salted caramels. After browsing recipes on the internet this weekend I realized it was a little more work than I thought. I mean, I really didn't want to make caramel from scratch.

And then it came to me - ROLO'S have caramel.

So I used a box of brownie mix and placed Rolo's into the mix after I poured it into the pan. I pushed them into the batter so you couldn't see them. Once they came out of the oven I sprinkled the top with sea salt.

You can see from the top photo the caramel went to the bottom and the chocolate melted and stayed gooey. I do think I went overboard on the Rolo's because I was pretty excited so next time I will probably space them out more. In the end...so simple, SO GOOD, and so wrong.

Project Life ~ Week 2

Hello WEEK 2. Here is a look at the full two pages.

Left side...

Right side...

This week went a little faster than week 1. Definitely trying to find a groove and not over think it. I am having fun putting it all together and using different products. I highly recommend giving Project Life a try if you are not currently using it. You can read about it here.

Dear Instagram. I love you.

I can see why people are obsessed with Instagram. I just got the new iPhone 4S and I can't put it down. Our cats are going to hate me by the end of the day.  

2011 Collage Layout

I love scrapbooking photo collages. 

I was thinking of doing a layout for the last page of my 2011 Project Life album and I decided to collage some of my favorite photos from the year. I used Picasa to create the collage. The page is 12x12 and the photo collage was printed at 8x10. If you haven't tried Picasa it's super easy and you can create a photo collage in seconds.

Weekend Scrapbooking

It's been awhile since I've spent an entire Sunday scrapbooking, in my pajamas, in front of the TV. Looooove it!

Also love 6x12 layouts. Definately will be adding this to the first week of my Project Life album when I find my stash of 6x12 page protectors.

This one is 8.5x11 and includes a favorite new product from Ormolu - the negative US tag. I think those are so cool.

Project Life ~ Week 1

Welcome to WEEK 1 of my Project Life. Here is a look at the full two pages.

Here is a closer look at the left side.

Here is a closer look at the right side. And no, Mr. X's face is not really the same color as the sky. And yes, that is blood on my arms from my allergy shots. Gross, I know, but this is life. 

Around Here

Around here things are finally getting back to normal after the holidays.

Around here we have a new framed chalkboard hanging on our wall thanks to Mr. X. He made these for his family for Christmas and thankfully he made one for us. Though I am a little worried what he will draw on it. Like the face in the lower right hand corner.

Around here it is getting colder and colder and colder and I'm done with it.

Around here I am excited to be participating in One Little Word again this year. My word for this year is MORE.

Around here we are discovering how awesome string cheese rolled and baked in garlic butter crescent rolls is.

Project Life 2012

Hello twenty-twelve! And hello Project Life. I FINALLY received my goods from Amazon this morning and thankfully I am still on holiday vacation so today has been dedicated to finishing my 2011 album and creating the opening page to my 2012 album. Here is what it looks like...

I am using the Project Life Core-Kit Clementine Edition, Project Life Cardstock-Clementine Collection and Photo Pocket Pages-Design A.

Hoping to completely finish my 2011 album today since it's back to work tomorrow. I plan on photographing the entire album and posting it on Flickr once complete.

Adios 2011

It's been a great year. 

We have had our share of good and bad in 2011 and in the end we have become stronger, closer and happier. I can't complain...life is filled with difficult things but I truly believe in the magnet on our fridge - everything will be okay in the end and if it's not okay, it's not the end. We have a million things to be thankful for in 2011 and few things that kinda sucked. I look forward to a new year and a new beginning. More possibilities, more adventures, more laughter, more love, more happy times, more peace.

Happy New Year!