Where have I been all month????

Hi all.... What a crazy, busy month this has been. I can't even tell you everything that has happened, it'll make me tired. I've been cleaning and rearranging the house in anticipation of a visit from my dad which was not meant to be. Then an all-consuming project at work that will NEVER END!!!!! Lots of crafting was done for Christmas gifts, of course I didn't take photos figuring I'd get to it eventually.... and cards to send out, some are still waiting for addresses and stamps. Plus we had a blizzard that practially shut down the Northwest - we don't do snow very well - and that's when the crisis with my dad happened. All is well, luckily. So I took a week off work and stayed with my dear friend Jennifer for a restful Christmas week. Now I am back to work and back to blogging.

So, do you remember a few posts ago I wrote about winning a spot in the "A Life Well Crafted" class at BigPictureScrapbooking? Class officially begins on January 1 and lasts all year with things to ponder and projects to craft. Well, we had a pre-class assignment to decorate an album and journal. We also created a first page for the album.

Quite a few of the supplies are from my stash which is wonderful! I bought Heidi Grace paper, ribbons, chipboard, rubons, flowers and more over a year ago. It's been in the bag ever since! The album is a BoBunny 9x9 Naked Chipboard Album. I covered it with paper inside and out and used Heidi Swapp masks for the leaves with a brown Maya Mist.

The smaller journal is just plain old chipboard covered in paper with the same masking and misting treatment. Again I used paper from the same paper pack. It's called Winifred Street and is a blend of mellow yellows, turquoise-ish blues, and cocoa browns. The patterns are primarily flowers and leaves.

The words/numbers in this circle were provided by the class and I printed them on the patterned paper. I added a Chocolate Chip layer behind and a sparkly Heidi Grace flower and brad on top. I like the way it turned out. It was so super cheap to have the journal spiral bound - the interior pages were downloads from the class. I went to Lazerquick and it only cost me $1.82. I was pleasantly surprised!

The mirrored bird and chipboard crown are Heidi Swapp embellishments layered on paper die cut with the Nestabilities Label set. I embossed the crown with silver first but I couldn't get it to be smooth - I was overheating I think - so I added a layer of a turquoise glittered embossing powder. The letters are my initials and are rubons from my Heidi Grace stash. This photo isn't that great.... I need to work on that.

So my blogoversary is near and it's my birthday month so I am putting together some fun stuff for blog candy. Look for a post about that on January 1st!!! Thanks for visiting!