Finish Line Scrapbooking Rocks!

Happy Monday and Thanks for Stopping By!

I received Finish Line Scrapbooking as a gift from Big Picture Classes, about a week ago and I have to be honest, I wasn't too excited about it when I first thought about taking yet another scrapbooking class. I pictured more stuff I'll be encouraged to rush out and get! That was just not my cup of tea, right now. But boy was I WRONG!

Finish Line Scrapbooking was so amazing; easy, simple and fun! All I had to do was shop my very own scrap stash and get to the finish line. This class is taught by Stacy Julian over at Big Picture Classes and it is now my favorite way to create a 6x6 or 8x8 scrapbook. She teaches 4-5 simple steps to get to the finish line of scrapbooking your family memories. I encourage you to take this class and put the FUN back into scrapbooking, without the pressure of trying to keep up with trends and fads.

I felt so CREATIVE putting this scrapbook together. I actually finished it in about 2 hours.

If you feel overwhelmed in your journey to scrapbook your family memories give Finish Line Scrapbooking a try. I think you'll like it!

Project Life!

Happy Thursday and Thanks for stopping by!

It's been a while since I've posted on my blog but I've been creating. I wanted to share some of my recent layouts with you. I have been using my Project Life Kit and LOVING every minute of it. It has made my scrapbooking time so much easier and so much FUN!!! Hope you like...

My mother's day was spectacular! It started with breakfast in bed. I got lots of lovely gifts; shoes, perfume, balloons and cards. I got my Mother's Day praise on in church (halleluyer! LOL) and my DH took me out for a romantic dinner just for two at the end of day..Perfect! Hope your Mother's Day was as beautiful as you are!

We had never been to Savannah Georgia or Tybee Island and let me tell you it was fantastic. They planned perfect weather for us for Spring Break. About 85-87 degrees every day.


I scraplifted the layout below from my "May with May" class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I love the simplicity of this layout and the fact that I was able to use almost all 4x6 photos. Not much cropping.


I'm a history buff and I used the same basic layout for my pages on the African American heritage tour we took while in Savannah. This tour guide was very knowledgable and a fantastic storyteller. Absolutely worth the time and money if you're ever in Savannah!

Well, thanks for looking...See you next time!!

Metamorphosis

Hey ya'll!



Let me update you on what's been going on with my weight loss. Today I weighed in at 177.6!! Woo-hoo! I'm down another pound! I only have 3 more pounds to go to meet my ScrapNFit challenge goal of losin 25 pounds in 90 days. I'm so close I can smell it!



I have been a bit lethargic in my exercise, lately so I decided to ramp up my workout with something I saw on an informercial while I was on a business trip in Wilson, N.C. It's called Metamorphosis by Tracy Anderson. I started it today and let me tell you, it is NO JOKE! In this plan you are supposed to do 30 minutes of Dance Cardio and 30 minutes of strength training/floor work. Okay, I confess, I couldn't get through the whole work out, but I'm definitely proud of what I was able to accomplish. I completed 20 minutes of Dance Cardio and 20 minutes of the strength training and floor work. Woo-wee, I was seriously sweating by the time I finished this workout, but....I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!



With this work out I am focused on how each excercise is going to help reshape my body and help me git rid of these thunder thighs!



The most AWESOME thing about this workout DVD is that the workout are customized for your problem areas:
Here are the options:
Abcentric - for those with problems in the stomach area
Hipcentric - for those like me who want to slim down the hips and thighs
Glutecentric - for those with a little bit more junk in the trunk than they would like
Omnicentric - for those who need a little help all over.

I thought this was absolutely ingenius! A workout that actually targets that areas that you want to get in shape! So I've just started today, but I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

Here's what I ate today:
Breakfast - Oats and Strawberry cereal
Lunch - Chobani Blueberry Greek Yogurt and an Gala apple
Dinner - Qdoba Salad with grilled chicken, corn and black bean salsa, a little queso and pico de gallo

Beverages - Water and a Diet Coke

See you next time!

Live Long and Live Strong!

Nine Pictures of Purpose

Happy Thursday and thanks for stopping by...

So by now you know that I am on a One Little Word journey with Ali Edwards and I am enjoying the experience. I have been far more focused and determined the last few months to walk in my purpose and complete a very large assignment that I believe will be life changing for me and my family. I'm so excited about the possibilities!

I want to share my photographic images that represent my life's purpose:


I want to tell you why I chose these pics to represent PURPOSE in my life. I'll go from left to right starting on the top row.

1. Reach: I want to reach for my highest potential in life; strive for excellence in every area. This photo also reminds me of God. Without God's help I won't be able to fulfill my PURPOSE.
2. Give: It is my PURPOSE to be a giver; give my time, talents, energy, creativity and love everywhere I go.
3. Stability. That's something I've been lacking for quite some time. I start tasks and then let them go. Get totally geeked about something for a short season and then lose interest; never really completing long term assignments. I am leaving that in my past and walking in stability. Be Stable just like these pillars; serving as the support beams.
4. Write, etc.....to me the photo of me writing says so much. This represents for me all of my create expressions; completing the play, planning for events and performances and just telling my story and the stories of my culture with authenticity and joy. Write!
5. Create. As long as I live I want to be just like my Father; creative. He's such a great painter and sculptor. If you need proof just look at a sunset or the human body. Wow! It doesn't get any better than that!
6. Observe: Okay, the picture of the plant has a very unusual back story. We had to take our seven year old to the emergency room one Saturday morning. I took my camera, of course, and while we were sitting in the waiting room I started looking around. I began to notice how beautiful the designers had decided to make the waiting area. A place that would normally evoke drab, dreary feelings looked absolutely lovely and calming. So that's my purpose; to find beauty in unusual places. Whether that's in people who others have given up on, schools that the community has deemed a lost cause, or in physical locations where no one else dares to tread. My PURPOSE is to see each situation the God sees it; and Observe the beauty in it.
7. Supportive: I'm going to be totally transparent here. I have not always been the model wife. I don't always support my husband the way he would like or in the way that I know I should. Sometimes it is very hard for me; being raised by a divorced, single mom. I have always been very independent and I guess I expect my husband to be the same, but the truth of the matter is that I was designed to support him and lift him up so that he can reach his full potential. I know I am his help from the sanctuary of God. I just need to remember that when I am going throughout my days. I really love him and he needs to know it, see it and feel it...more.
8. Forward. I've been stagnant for a while, or working on things that don't really have anything to with my ultimate PURPOSE. Wasting time. So I am determined to move forward. Each task that I take on needs to get me closer to my PURPOSE ...period.
9. Love: My husband and I have two awesome sons. They are both very different and require different types of parenting skills and strategies. I know that we were given these children for a very specific PURPOSE and I want to LOVE them just the way they need to be loved so that they too can walk in their life's PURPOSE.

I'm telling you, this One Little Word project has become quite spiritual and introspective for me. This is a year long project, so I hope you'll decide to join us. One Little Word can change you year.

Thanks for looking. Peace & Blessing to you.

See you next time!

Happy March!

Happy Thursday and Thanks for stopping by...

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted on my blog. I want to catch you up on what I've been doing with my One Little Word project and something new that I'm working on too...Project Life!! This scrapbooking system is so amazing! You should look it up on line and get one too. If you like to scrap, you'll love it!

Here's my March prompt. This prompt has helped me do one little thing toward completing my play. Just one little action every day can create a ripple effect in your life! I have experience joyous bursts of creativity and I'm really living and walking in my PURPOSE more and more each day.

Thanks for stopping by...Peace & Blessings to you.

One Little Word - Purpose

Happy Monday and thanks for stopping by!

Totally by accident, I ran across this year long scrapbook project called One Little Word hosted by Ali Edwards, while visiting someone else's blog. It sounded like such a fantastic idea, I decided to embark on this journey of focusing on just one little word for an entire year and discover what this word has to teach me or bring to my life in 2011.

My word for 2011 is purpose.

Here is my cover page and my cover photo.

Part of the January Prompt was to find a quote that includes my one little word, definitions, synonyms and what I invite into my life this year while I am exploring this word in my world. I really love this project. I would encourage everybody to join in. It's a year long experience. You can join at any time this year.

Each month we will be given a simple prompt to follow and some ideas and inspiration to help us become more connected with the word that we chose. I'll share more with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by...Peace & Blessings to you.

Confessions of a Colored Girl...Part 2

My Love Is Too...Music

I'm continuing my series Confessions of a Colored Girl based on the 1975 Choreopoem/Play by Ntozake Shange recently brought to the big screen by Tyler Perry. This theatrical piece explores the complexities of relationships, discovering self worth and courage to face life and it's many challenges. I must confess I enjoyed the live theater versions I've seen far more than the movie, but I give Tyler "props" and kudos for bringing this work to a wider audience. I was actually shocked to find out so many African American women had never even heard of the play, actually thinking this was a brand new work. So I'm glad more people had a chance to experience his version of things.

The music in my world...

My husband has an amazing testimony and he shares it in his Christian Rap music ministry. There is always uplifting, upbeat or atmosphere changing worship music going on in our home. We love all genres of music from Raggae to Rap, Jazz, R&B and Pop. You can find all of these genres in the Christian music industry. My son's are very musical too. (wonder where they got it from???) I'll tell you about them later. For now, I want to celebrate the man I love; the man with the Holy Spirit and music running through his veins.

The digital stamp image is from Michelle Perkett Studio. I think it's called Val and Vinnie Valentine. Aren't they the cutest? I colored them with Copic and drew the music notes myself. Now that took some doin'. LOL

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time...

Confessions of a Colored Girl...Part 1

My Love is Too......Sanctified

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf is one of my favorite plays. Well, actually it's a choreopoem; a totally new genre created by Ntozake Shange herself. I had the honor of performing in a production of "Colored Girls" in college at North Carolina Central University in 1991 as the Lady in Orange. Later in 1996 I produced a performance of Colored Girls with a good friend Shelby at the Afro American Cultural Center to a sold out house every night.

This piece is so powerful and raw and in your face; even though it was written more than 30 years ago young women (and men) can still relate to the women who are known in the play only by their names. Except for Crystal. Who can forget Crystal and Bo Willie Brown??

I was proud of Tyler Perry's effort to bring For Colored Girls into the new millenium and onto the big screen. Because Tyler is most widely known for his comedy I was afraid that he would turn my favorite play into some sort of comedic farce but he definitely did not. He selected an incredible cast of amazing women and I went to see it the day it came out.

So, having said all that; I have been thinking about creating a series called "My Love is Too..." (some of the most memorable lines from the choreopoem) where I explain in my own way what my love is "too" of. This is part one in that series. I'm just doing reflection and introspection. Yeah, a colored girl let's you inside her head and heart for a moment..

photography by Jasiatic

When I think about SANCTIFIED love I think about how I struggled to accept God's love for me. I spent so many years not recognizing how much God truly loves me and the fact that He wants to give me such great blessings and healing and peace, and joy. I thought I could create it on my own. And He I was created, before I ever had one disappointment or struggle or failure or experienced on hurt; God had already placed IN me the tools and gifts I needed to make it through each situation. When I took hold of this I was liberated and cleansed; SANCTIFIED.

Happy New Year Resolutions

Happy Saturday and thanks for stopping by...

I cannot believe 2010 is gone!!! Wow! That was FAST! So on to 2011; bigger and better and stronger and (hopefully) wiser and sweeter and all the other "ers" I could add. Hope your new year's eve was happy and blessed and hope your first 2011 kiss was sweet....

So here's my first card creation for 2011. She was a little freebie from the Greeting Farm blog and I think she is just perfect. She's festive, joyful and cute; all the things you want to be as a new year begins. I added the hourglass and balloons.I used my cricut to create the large scalloped circle and in the spirit of "using stash"; I pulled out some old numbers from one of my scrap drawers and added them for the count down. Crystal lacquer made the hourglass pop and look so real I could almost see the sand descending. You may not be able to tell from this picture but I added some Star Dust Stickles to her headband, beauty queen sash and her starry earrings. She is colored with Copic Sketch markers.

As I spent some time reflecting today; the last day of the Kwanzaa celebration; Imani (Faith), I began to think about all those things I left undone in 2010 and the things I need to do (some immediately) in 2011.

Sorry to say I may not be crafting as often as I would like because I have some projects that I have put on the back burner that really require my attention. However, I will create as often as time permits because crafting is my little piece of quiet "me time" that invigorates me and calms my mind from some of the hectic-ness that occurs from day to day. So in addition to getting some things done, here are a few of my other new year's resolutions.

1. Pray and read my Bible more
2. Spend more time with my side of the family. I spend a lot of time with my husband's family, but I really need to spend more time with my mom and dad's family.
3. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse for my upcoming "one-woman" show.
4. Lose 40 lbs before my 40th birthday(July13th). I'm a little nervous about turning 40. I almost feel like I am officially old when I hit 40. But I know and know "of" many beautiful, strong, creative and happy women who are 40 and beyond (Jada Pinkett Smith, J Lo, my friends Alicia and Candace, Halle Berry...I could go on) So I need to get over my fear and embrace this new chapter with grace, creativity, courage, wisdom and some POW. I am only old if I feel and act old.
5. Adjacent to losing 40lbs is getting off of these blood pressure pills. I hate taking medicine and I believe if I lose the weight I can come off of the little buggers.
6. I am going to get the African Ancestry test done, so I can find out what African country my family comes from. This is so important to me. Most people can trace their heritage back for many generations. This is quite difficult for most African Americans. I just believe that knowing more about my ancestors may unlock some doors and connect me to something so ancient and significant....I can't wait. I'm definitely going to blog about that.

I guess that's it for now....Whew...That's alot. LOL

Happy 2011!!!!

Thanks for stopping by....See you next time!