Wednesday Wisdom: Getting to Fanatical

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

My word for 2013 is H-A-B-I-T.

As we start a new year we always look toward what things we can do better in the next 12 months. After much contemplation - 1 month in fact- I've decided to try to change some really bad habits in my life and create some new ones.

My former boss always said if you do something 21 times then it will become a habit. So here we go.

So out with daily trips to Starbucks. 

Out with entitlement. In with conservancy.

In with eating better, more natural foods. 

Out with quick boxed and frozen dinners. 

In with more thoughtful meals. Made with love and yes, time. 

Out with staying up late.

In with being in bed by 11.

In with more exercise. Something daily, even if its small.

In with working during the day.

In with keeping my kitchen (and eventually house) clean_all the time!

In with keeping up with the laundry by doing a load daily.

Eventually cleaning schedule will be in. 

In with executing my blog plan.

Out with things that just don't pay off to make way for the new habits that need to come in.

"Good habits are worth being fanatical about." - John Irving

Agreed. I need a few more things to feel fanatical about in my life. Bring on some better habits. Ok, so now you know what I'm going to do this year. What are your plans?

P.S. Zva announced the winners from Monday's blog hop today over on their blog. Are you one of them?

Zva Creative January Blog Hop!

Happy Monday to you! Zva Creative and our talented 2013 Design Team welcome you to our January blog hop! We are very excited about month’s hop and are excited to share our new work with you!

Today’s Blog Hop begins at Zva Creative’s blog! Be sure head on over to check it out! Since many of us live in different time zones around the world, you will find a complete list of all the participating blogs there (in case there is a glitch along the way). 

As you know, Zva offers many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  If you like what you see along the hop you can find a list of stores and online retailers that sell Zva HERE.

If you would like to play along with our design team, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way!

The Blog Hop starts today, January 28th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, January 29th.

***Prizes***

Hidden on FIVE of the designer’s blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Blog Hop post... you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. However, the more times you comment along the blog hop path, the more chances you will have to win.

The 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 30th on Zva Creative’s blog. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to Zva’s blog on Wednesday to see if you are a winner!

We also thought it would be more fun to add even more chances to win our blog hop prize!  To increase your chances of winning:

* Comment to let us know that you posted on your Facebook page about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you "tweeted" about our hop (link to any of the blog hop posts)

* Comment to let us know that you asked your local store to carry Zva creative products.  If they already do, that's fantastic, maybe you can suggest other products that they don't carry.

*Hop over to Zva’s facebook page and “like” our page or leave a comment there to tell us that you stopped by.

 The blog hop begins here at Zva Creative’s blog. Your next stop is Emily Lanham. Enjoy!

Thank you for joining us!

P.S. Mark your calendar to join us again on February 25th^th for our next Zva blog hop! It will be a very special one where our team will be debuting all of Zva’s new CHA releases that will be hitting stores soon!

Crafting with Cards...

Good afternoon! Just wanted to quickly drop in this afternoon and let you know that also I'm blogging over at the Paper Crafts Connection blog today. Hop on over if your want to see what I crafted with a 30 year old deck of cards. Plus you could win a little Valentine's BoBunny prize!

New Paper Smooches!!

Paper Smooches is showing off their CHA release during the entire month of January. 37 designers are participating along with the PS DT, so there will be a ton fun projects to inspire you this month. Paper Smooches is known for their fun and whimsical hand-drawn stamps. And they decided that it was time to broaden their product line to include DIES and wood mount stamps! Yay!

Today I have a project to share using NEW PS product that releases on February 1, 2013 at www.papersmoochesstamps.com along with many retail stores around the globe. 

You will find a new blog link (or two) to follow every day in January at the PS Blog. 

Paper Smooches is giving away $500. Worth of product! Hidden on FIVE of the participating blogs is a prize package worth $100. each. The prize includes a variety of stamp sets, wood mounts and dies. Comment on as many blogs as you can to increase your chances to be one of the five winners.

Deadline is January 30^th – winners will be announced on the PS Blog on January 31^st. So don't wait, hop on over & comment away!

These cards were created with the new clear stamp set called Tri-balation. I used the stamps to make different background design elements by mixing and matching the stamps in this set. It is striking, don't you think?  (The sentiments are also from Paper Smooches. They are my absolutely favorite fun and cute sentiment set called Word Up). The flowers are stickers from Anna Griffin... i just love how you can use your stamps to create a background to coordinate with any embellishment. Click on over to Paper Smooches to see the whole Tri-balation set! 

I hope you've enjoyed this reveal! Thanks for visiting today:)

Headed to CHA

Well, I'm now headed to Anaheim to attend the Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show. I'm sure it will be a great show and I'm so excited to see old friends, be in some warm weather and check out all of the new releases that will be hitting the stores.

If you are attending, be sure to stop by the Paper Crafts and Creating Keepsakes event on Sunday, January 13 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm in the Creative Crafts Group booth (1211). I'd love to say hi or meet you for the first time:)

So what CHA products that have been debuted do you love so far?  I've got to tell you right now, these two collections have caught my eye and are already on my shopping list...

Stationery Noted collection By Teresa Collins-- striking!

Down by the Shore by Fancy Pants Designs-- too cute!

I'll be back in a few days with to share some insights from the show! If there is any booth that you want the scoop on, let me know & I'll swing by. Talk with you all soon!

Journey Into Card Making

Hi all! My good friend Julie Campbell has put together her first card making workshop over at Two Peas in a Bucket.

 

I am so proud of her and wanted to help her spread the word about it! Plus, she has generously offered to give a free class to one of you! So if you are interested, please leave a comment below by noon on Monday January 12th and I'll randomly select one person to take the class.

Here's a bit more information...

Whether you’re a seasoned card maker or have yet to make your first card, this workshop will take you on a journey to create handmade cards that your friends & loved ones will cherish. 

Julie will start out by teaching you card making basics; you will create a card organizer to file away all the new cards you'll be designing! You'll then travel on to gain greater design skills. You’ll dive into design principles and learn how to create an eye pleasing design. You’ll learn all about composition & balance in a way that will take your cards from good to great! 

Become adventurous and explore some of the hottest trends in paper crafting! In this workshop, you’ll also learn how to incorporate colors in your projects & how to create cards in several unique styles. 

Included in this workshop are over 30 brand-new card samples from Julie and her contributors. The three chapters contain a printable PDF for a total of over 40 pages, and 80 minutes of coordinating video tutorials. Julie’s talented contributors include card makers Laura Bassen & Michelle Wooderson. 

At the end of this journey, you’ll find a BONUS chapter filled with souvenirs! Create a trendy card set with the card making kit designed by Marcy Penner of Hello Forever. The kit will be available for download as a PDF and as a cutting file you can use with your Silhouette machine. 

The content of this workshop will be available immediately upon purchase. The lessons are available for you to work at your own pace and upon purchase can be accessed in the "Workshops" section under "Classes & Events." A private message board forum is also available to ask questions for Julie and to connect with other participants. Enjoy!

Here's the workshop link: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/two-peas/137420-journey-into-card-making-mini-workshop-with-julie-campbell/?filters=_137420_%2Fworkshops#

Seasons Givings Blog Hop Winner Announced

Thanks to all who visited my blog over the past week and left so many nice comments. You are all so awesome! I'm here today with the prize winner... and she is...

Erica Hettwer said...

Oh, love those! Happy New Year!

January 1, 2013 7:41 PM

Congratulations to Erica Hettwer for winning the prize from my Season of Giving blog post! Erica, please email me at windyrobinson@gmail.com so I can get your address and send off your prize!