Kay, so I haven’t been blogging nearly as much lately and I’d really like to get back to writing more often. Problem is the past few months have been rather difficult ones for me and quite honestly I hope to forget them someday so having them memorialized on a blog just isn’t something I want to do. Thus, the ‘sunny-side up’ posts. So, I think I’ll just start a ‘sunny-side up’ series so that I can remind myself that in the most difficult times (and there are certainly people going through more difficult things than myself) that I do have things to be thankful for and blessings to count.

Recent blessings:

The sweetest most thoughtful secret santa gifts from the beautiful Kim (aka OliveJuice). Digital gift certificates to some of my favorite online stores, a certificate to Itunes ‘cuz she knows how much I love music, a beautiful Christmas shopping list to print out which I loved so much that I think I’m going to start printing weekly shopping lists that are pretty to look at. :) And then in 2 separate packages I received this GORGEOUS crochet hook holder with the most plush pretty blue velvet interior and another amazing floral fabric on the outside that I’m thinking would make a great spring bag. Incredibly thoughtful and so beautifully made. And the second package was the cutest cupcake pin cushion. I had actually seen these online and passed on buying it for myself at the time but had just recently been thinking how badly I needed a new pin cushion with no idea how to find these fun one’s back on the www. Apparently someone told Kim about my love for cupcakes and she knew just the perfect gift. Thanks again so much Kim. You’re the best secret santa EVER! :)

And then my sweet friend Jayne just won’t stop sending me packages. Awhile back she sent a care package that was filled with new sewing magazines for my sewing passion, a luggage tag for our upcoming trip to Chicago (although embarassingly I didn’t realize that that’s what it was until I saw one on HER luggage when she arrived LOL), and then a very cool silver bracelet that has engraved on it "a friend might well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature" AND a funky chunky colored glass ring that is sooo me. And just last week I get this package for Christmas with a pendant I know she picked out just for me at this time.

I LOVE these soldered pendants and have actually been collecting supplies to make them but they intimidate me and I’ve never tried soldering before so the idea of burning myself or permanently engraving myself with hot metal scares me a bit. 

Anyway, I wanted to acknowledge these sweet gifts and also the friendships that mean so much to me. I take them for granted more than I should. Leeandra, your random text messages checking in always brighten my day and I’m saving the Christmas card you sent because the saying on the front is begging to be included on a future Christmas LO. :)

Kay, I know it’s been like months since I talked about posting a list of my tags in ACDSee and how I use the program. Is anyone still interested in that info or are all of you already using the software and loving it? I promise if there’s still interest I will put together a post by the end of the week.

I’ve been doing pretty good on my to-do list so far. I need to work on getting in the pilates workouts and my creativity seems to be on a permanent hiatus as far as scrapping goes so I’ve been reading Living Artfully and included a quote from the book for my January desktop as a reminder to do whatever it takes to find that creativity back. 

Rather stressful day and week ahead but my goal is to keep up with the ‘sunny-side up’ posts to give life some balance.   

Oh, and I almost forgot, I was up late last night marking down the remaining bags in the boutique 25%! First come-first serve so email me (srostrowski@hotmail.com) with the name of the bag you’re interested in and I’ll send out an invoice and request for shipping info to get it out to you right away. Some of my favorite designs are still available and if I get some time and some sunlight hours at home to take pictures in the next day or so there may be a couple more added at the close-out prices so keep checking back. We wanna make room for some new designs we’re working on for the new year and we’ve also been working on more hair accessories (think headbands and cute crocheted flower clips) which were a hit at the last craft show. :)

Kay, I had answered the Christmas tag but didn’t get back to blogging in time to post it before Christmas so if anyone’s REALLY interested in those answers let me know but for now I’ll post the A-Z tag answers for Kim:

A – Available or single:  Neither
B – Best friend:  Jill
C – Cake or pie: Are cupcakes not an option? Yellow cake w/ lots of buttercream frosting. My only real sweets weakness
D – Drink of choice: Milk   
E – Essential item you use everyday:  I’ll go with a similar item to Kim’s eyelash curler, for me it’s mascara.
F – Favorite color:  I don’t think i have a favorite. Lately I especially love green, a deep rich color green but I also have been a big fan of orange for quite some time now and the perfect shade of pale blue is way up there on the list too.   
G – Gummy bears or worms:  Neither. Anything that squirmy and squishy has no business being a candy in my book.    
H – Hometown: Holland, Michigan
I – Indulgence:  Most recent indulgence would be a bottle of this. Had been out for a couple weeks and it’s amazing how happy I am just to have soft healthy hair again.   
J – January or February:  January, the whole ‘new beginnings’ aspect of it plus my birthday’s in January.    
K – Kids & names: not of the human kind. Koda (my cavalier spaniel) and Tori (my himalayan cat) if you count them. Actually working on a LO of the two of them for an upcoming magazine assignment so you’ll get to see them soon.
L – Life is incomplete without?  My faith and some of the most amazing supportive friends anyone could ever ask for
M – Marriage date: May 28th
N – Number of siblings: 4
O – Oranges or apples:  Apples
P – Phobias or fears:  spiders, snakes and rodents. Ewwww!
Q – Fave quote: "Dwell in possibility"  Emily Dickinson – I’m just going to leave Kim’s answer since it’s on a plaque above my door and it’s definitely one of my favorites too. :)
R – Reason to smile: Tough one to answer lately. Most recent thing that made me smile is the adorable photo of Eva and Isa on their Christmas card.
S – Season: Wouldn’t really want to give up any of them. One of the things I love about Michigan.
T – Tag 3 or 4 people: I’m so behind on blogging that I’m probably the last one to do this one. Anyone who hasn’t yet consider yourself tagged and link me so I can check out your answers. :)
U – Unknown fact about me: In my bathroom, all the bottles (shampoo, conditioner, face wash, etc) have to be facing the same direction if they’re out, in the shower or on a shelf. Always facing forward so you can see the front of the packaging. And ideally the packaging should all coordinate with the bathroom. I acknowledge the wierdness of this as it was actually supposed to be included with my wierdness list a while back but never got around to taking a picture to include in the post.
V- Vegetable you don’t like: Can’t decide between brussel sprouts or asparagus. YUCK!
W – Worst habit: impatience – another one where I’m just going to leave Kim’s answer since it definitely fits.
X – Xrays: I can’t think of any other than dental x-rays off hand.
Y – Your fave food: Chicken Club Brunch Ring (modified recipe from Pampered Chef) Just made some the other night. Yummy! :) Aside from that I’m pretty much always in the mood for Italian.
Z – Zodiac sign: Aquarius

frame credits: Rhonna Farrer – 2 Peas Vintage Labels

I’m off to do some final Christmas shopping. I have 2 tags to post and a Christmas sale on the boutique blog that i’ll be back to finish up later as well as some pics of the most thoughtful gifts from some of the sweetest people on earth.

I wanted to quick post a link for a template that I made yesterday though. I was doing these balanced to do lists at the beginning of the year and got out of the habit and decided I had to get back into these. The idea came from a post that Shannon did around that time and I just took the idea and ran with it and decided to try and make them fun to look at so I’d be more inclined to check things off through the week. The things we do for motivation huh? So if anyone else needs that type of motivation you can download the template and make your own list with your favorite papers and embellishments.

Here’s mine for this week:

and you can click *HERE* (updated link-2/17/07) to download the template. Please leave a comment if the download expires and I’ll keep it up to date. Back later with some purse sale announcements and those tags. And I’m working on pretty gift certificates to send digitally or print out for the boutique so if anyone has some last minute shopping to do and you’d like to give a gift certificate leave a comment here or email me and I’ll get the info to send one out before the holiday. :)

I was working on a couple new bags the other night and had the tv on behind me while the Charlie Brown Christmas special was on. The past couple of years it has surprised me that this classic still makes it to network tv. Pleasantly surprised actually because it seems like the true message of Christmas is something the media has attacked relentlessly over the past year or so now. I just LOVE this scene from the special.

I was busy making 2 bags, one smaller size that I posted for sale at the boutique and then this larger one that I thought I’d post here first for the same price as the smaller one for those that still check this blog even though the posts have been so sporadic the past few months. This is the first time this fabric combo has made it to the boutique/blog. The first 2 I’ve made of these were snatched up before I could even take photos of them. If you’re interested in the smaller version you can find it *here*. Or if you’d like the roomier bag (with an added interior pocket) for the same price e-mail me using the link to the right or leave a comment here. :)

And I wrote all the names on slips of paper and drew for the book to send off from my earlier post. And Kimberly, the book is yours. I almost drew again because I didn’t know if it was fair that a family member would get the book but then I thought it wouldn’t really be fair to her to do that either. But, I guess if she reads it soon enough she could always get it back to me and I could draw again. :)

Haven’t gotten back to that post about my ACDSee tags. If anyone’s simply looking for a list of possible categories/tags to use I have that part finished so just let me know and I’ll email it to ya. And I ended up going to the festival of lights parade with the fam Tuesday night so instead of scrapping that adorable photo of Kennedy I was attempting to get new pics at the parade although unfortunately the lighting at night made it impossible to get anything scrapworthy. :(

Off to work. Toodles. :)

So was anyone else disappointed in the Bachelor finale last night? I think I actually cried during this scene. She was a real class act straight through to the end. I actually liked both of the final 2 but I think in the end I was really hoping he’d pick Sadie. For some reason I just don’t see the spark between Lorenzo and Jen. Sometimes after that final rose ceremony they show footage from the show that they had kept under wraps until then so it’s not too obvious who they’ll pick but this time even that footage just didn’t make sense to me. I mean really, what’s supposed to be the most romantic kiss of the show looked completely awkward.   Didn’t catch anything this morning on whether they’re still together or not. If you know leave a comment. I’m really curious. :)

Still workin’ on a post about my categories in ACDSee and how I use the program. Hopefully I’ll be able to post that tonight or tomorrow.

Updated the blog pod (finally!) with some Chris Daughtry tunes and a few others that are my favorites of the moment. Thought I’d start with the Christmas music in December so I’ll be changing it again shortly. :)

I had some requests for a current list of bags available for some people doing their Christmas shopping so I came up with a short-term solution until I find some extra time to work with Kylie on the new website. You can now check *here* for bags currently available. I’ll still be posting updates on the boutique blog with new designs but for the most recent items available and ready to ship keep an eye on this new gallery. :)

I’m hoping to take a little break and do some scrapping just for fun tonight. I got some CUTE pictures of Kennedy the other day and I’m long overdue for a Kennedy Layout so I think I’ll be scrapping this one. Is she not just precious?! :)

Kay, back to work. Happy Tuesday to ya. :)

Oh! Almost forgot, I’ll be drawing tonight for the book. I figured people don’t check blogs much over a holiday weekend so I wanted to give it a couple weekdays before drawing so if you still are interested in reading it (instead of listening to it like I’ll be) then leave a comment on that post today.

Thought I’d list a few places online with great gift finds (for others or yourself) for those of you who haven’t already shopped your hearts out in the shopping malls today. Personally I have never been a black friday mall shopper and don’t really understand the fuss but obviously I’m in the minority there.

First of all, I forgot to mention in my last post that I have new bags up at the Eclectic Whimsy Boutique blog with more to come by the end of the day including another of these (which seem to sell too quick for me to claim one as my own) as well as 2 more of this style but with an added magnetic snap closure. Plus, in the spirit of the holiday shopping season I’m offering free shipping (a $5 savings) on any orders placed before Midnight on Saturday, Nov. 25th. :)

For more whimsical gift ideas you have to check out inspireco.com. Especially loving her gift a day posts.

Or for an endless supply of great gift ideas you MUST check out Design*Sponge.

And if you’re looking for digi-deals I think the deal of the day has to be sweet Miss Jenn’s $2 sale. Wow! She’s got a new kit called Pomegranate Street and I’d have paid more than $2 for the alpha alone but there’s soooo much more fantastic stuff. And I picked up her new templates (an almost $12 value) to give as a special bonus to one lucky student at my class tomorrow since I’ll be demonstrating digi-scrapping using templates. :) And have you seen how great Jenn’s store looks?! I’m looking forward to working with Kylie Clark (scallywag) on a new design for the Eclectic Whimsy Boutique and I’m just lovin’ what Miss Jenn has done with her little shop. :)

Happy shopping! :)

I’m also working on a post about my system of organizing my digi-stuff in ACDSee. Have you picked this up yet?! I can’t say enough about it and I’m sure my digi-friends are tired of hearing me gush about it but I’ve had a few questions on what categories I use and about my little trick for keeping track of items I’ve used on certain LOs for giving proper credit once I’m done. Huge time-saver for me. :) So, hopefully I’ll have that ready to post in the next day or so. :)