What I've been doing

I have never had such a long period without posts since I started blogging. And the thing is, my Hot Trends class has drained me of my energy! :) Don't get me wrong, it has been a fabulous experience. I have enjoyed every minute of it, from planning, to creating, to sharing what I know with a great group of talented scrappers. But I feel like I do at the end of a LOAD challenge, like I could not create a single page again. EVER. Luckily, I usually get over this very quickly, so as soon as the class is over I know I'll be creating again. Anyway, I thought I'd share with you bits and pieces of what I've been doing. 

1. I've been reading a blog, and not just the latest posts: I went back to the first post and read everything from that one to the latest one. I have cried, I have laughed, and I am hooked. The blog is called Wrong in All the Right Ways, and it is the story of a beautiful family and their absolutely amazing kids. We have been talking about adoption for ages, but at the moment, moving so often and sort of unexpectedly between countries, it doesn't seem like an option for us. The process takes a long time, and it would be emotionally draining to go through the whole thing and then have to move and cancel everything at the very last minute. Still, it is a subject that is always in my mind, and I love reading about these kids and their journey, from living in horror to having a family that loves them and nutures them.

2. I have been making Bento lunches for DD. I have loved bento boxes for a long time, but they always seem to difficult to make and time-consuming. Then I found another blog, Meet the Dubiens. She can make the coolest fun foods, but she can also pack some great-looking but easy to prepare bentos. They are colourful and appealing but do not take hours to prepare. This is from her latest post, but you really need to check her blog for inspiration, she's got tons of ideas:

Bento box ideas by Jill Dubien, from Meet the Dubiens

So I went through her list of recommended items, bought some cute stuff, and DD is a very happy child at lunch time. The only point against it is that some of the kids have been asking their moms to make them rice frogs or egg bunnies like DD takes, and I am getting some angry looks from moms at pick-up time!

3. I've been working on a tooth fairy pillow for DD's first wobbly tooth. I've been following a tutorial from Not So Idle Hands to create this:

Pillow and tutorial by Emily, from Not So Idle Hands

I'm hoping my pillow will look half as cute as this one, I didn't read the instructions properly and I bought the wrong materials, so I am struggling a little, I'll show you what it looks like once I'm finished.

4. I've been working with Chevrons, Twine, Decorative Tape and Doilies! I can't share any of those projects with you, but I will show you some sneak peeks of my class.

There are so many different projects students will have enough to work for weeks. It has been a fabulous experience, and my albums are about to burst! The class will be available as a self-paced class soon, so if you are interested, check it out HERE.

5. I've had a layout and a card published in this month's issues of CARDS and last month's issue of Scrapbook Trends. Yipeeeee!!!!! The photographers always make a fantastic job and the projects look even more fabulous than in real life. What an honour to be published in them!

Now, there are things I have not been doing. I have not even checked any DT call or submitted anything for publication for months. I have not scrapped just for the pleasure of scrapping either. And I have not finished (well, I have  barely started) DD's Shutterfly 5th birthday album, which she is really looking forward to. So, I'll leave you now and get to work! I'd love to hear what you've been doing lately, and I'd love it if you could leave a comment telling me about it below. Another thing I have not done is cleaning my scrap-room, and if you leave a comment, I promise to send one of you a surprise RAK when I do (I have some beautiful and trendy materials I don't ever want to see again... Hot Trends overload? LOL!).