Burford Designs

LY09 Completion

I recently completed the Love Yourself in 2009 class that I wrote about here.  It wasn’t a class about low self-esteem or anything like that, because that wouldn’t be my problem, it was more about goal-setting… and having daily (or almost daily) reminders and activities to help me keep moving forward.

 

Because most people wanted to take the weekends off, the twenty-one days were spread out over the week days.  Now that I know what to expect and since I have all the information saved to my computer (thanks Ashley) then I think that I’m going to go through it again, by myself, and have it be twenty-one days in a row.  I already have my binder set up and I did print out and copy enough pages (daily and monthly calendars) to continue with the program for a long time because I know that I will keep coming back to it; even if I don’t continue to do it consecutively. 

 

There were some really good “pearls” from this class and I love the reference for the list of workout songs from Fitness magazine.  I did write about this specific topic already but that’s one thing that really stuck with me.  Music is a wonderful way to give me some pep and this list has a lot of choices for various activities and workouts.  Mommy loves the list because it’s filled with what she already listens to on her “20 on 20” XM station, thanks to our DirectTV.

 

Now I just have to pick a start date…

Love Letters

I can’t believe it’s already February and Valentine’s Day is just over a week away.  In honor of this time of love, Teresa has started a new on-line class aptly entitled Love Letters.

Teresa’s new class has just begun (today was the first day), but it’s no where near too late to sign up and participate. 

Teresa describes the class as such:

“With February comes romance and affection, and that's what this E-Zine is stuffed with. Declare your love for monograms, samplers, an Abecdary journal, heartwarming St. Valentine's, Victorian mixed media canvas', simple embroidery, and so much more. 12 projects in all including downloads, themed giveaways, tips and techniques...all professing to inspire you and your creative muse. Also joining in this E-Zine are these two accomplished Artists and our Guest Designer, Denise Sharp and Deryn Mentock!

Projects will be added to the E-Zine every Monday, Wednesday and Friday,

February 4 through March 1.

*For lovers only*

(art lovers that is)”

All you have to do to sign up is hop on over to her Paper Bella Studio, click to enter and look under her e-zines…and as I wrote before she’s also bringing back some of her older e-zines for those who didn’t get the opportunity to participate when they were first introduced.

BeLLaRaMa E-ZiNe

The ever creative Teresa is holding another one of her fabulous on-line classes/e-zines.  This time it's all about the bling baby.  The BeLLaRaMa E-ZiNe is one to blingify and glamify every gal's life.  As per her usual there are twelve projects and this time around Teresa's sister "Sassy" was a guest artist again.

BeLLaRaMa E-ZiNe will be up until the end of February so I'm sure anyone who wants it can still get it...Teresa also brought back last year's Winter Bella E-Zine for a limited time.  Either, or both of these can be purchased here.

Beautify yourself and your life in time for spring.

Joli Paquet, Again

Joli Paquet is back!  There has already been a giveaway and two projects but there is lots more to come.  So far, the first project was a Valentine pop up card tutorial given by the lovely Tiffany Kirchner from Shabby Scraps from Friday, January 16th.  Then yesterday the inspiring Jeanne Szewczyk showed us how to make a charming Bits & Pieces Frame.

Tomorrow, kits will be previewed on the site for all to see and Friday they will go on sale.  Each of the ladies (look under "current artists" on the Joli website) should have one or more different kits for people to buy...from their own websites/etsy stores/web stores.

Projects and tutorials will be posted from January 16th through to February 12th, usually every other day not including the weekends.  Also, best of all, the blog and the tutorials are free to all. 

Enjoy!!

Love Yourself 2009

That's one of the on-line classes I decided to sign up for this year.  For me at least, it has nothing to do with loving myself because I already love myself and I don't have low self-esteem or anything like that...I'm participating more for the journaling topics and ideas to help motivate me with my 2009 goals, especially the one about journaling more. 

Right now I am just over halfway through the class and it's been nice seeing the different topics and prompts.  Each day (excluding weekends) for twenty-one days the participants are treated to different topics ranging from everyday inspiration to workout music play lists and from vision boards to healthy choices.

Yesterday's topic was about the music play lists, which is perfect because Mommy and I were talking (on Monday) about what music we want to listen to while we work out and she was just wishing she had her iPod nano right now.  Baby Boy ordered her one for Christmas and somebody stole it (in route) before it got to the house...yep, she received an empty box with just the packing receipt included.  Luckily Baby Boy was able to get his money back, however Mommy is still waiting to get her present...she really wants to listen to her music and "bop around" as she puts it.

There is still a lot more to come, I'll write more when the class is finished.

Happy Wednesday!!

The Elves Are In The Workshop

In addition to all of the swaps I participate in I also have enjoyed partaking in a series of online classes...crafty classes.  It all began a year ago with Teresa McFayden's "12 Days of Comfort and Joy".  I am about to finish up the second year of this particular class and it's been a lot of fun and so inspiring.  There's still time to sign up,Teresa plans on having the site open until the end of January) and an additional benefit...no waiting for all of the projects, day 12 is today.  To sign up click here, click to enter site then up on the top click EZines. Here's the cute logo for this year with the vintage pixie elf.

I loved the tutorials that Joli Paquet had for all of us this year (and for free no less). 

I recently checked out their website and was excited to learn that they plan on being back in January for another series of tutorials..yippee!!!

This year my absolute favorite class was from SIStv (Scrap In Style) entitled "30 Days to a Handmade Holiday".  It was my first experience with anything from SIStv.  They have an online boutiquewith a mixture of traditional scrapbooking supplies and kits that mix new papers and embellishments with vintage pieces: fabrics, magazine pages, etc.  Each day (for 30 days) I got to see a new project with it's own pdf of the tutorial and sometimes there were bonus videos to walk me through pieces of the project.  There were also tons of downloads for tags, a holiday planner with supply lists, project lists, gift lists, calendars, etc.  The projects were relatively easy for those of a crafty persuasion and had elements that anyone could still create the project they wanted whether they were more of a beginner or an experienced crafter.  And I also got a great source for snaps to make traditional Christmas crackers.  Not all of the projects had to do with scrapbooking either: there were cookie boxes, a recipe book, ornaments, an altered address book, cards, tags, stockings, journals, wreaths, tons of things.

On a different note, a non-holiday note, I'm thinking about signing up for their "Love Myself In 2009" online class...this is taken directly from an email they sent (and the info is also on their website):

"Its scrapbooking, but it is so much more.
It's even more personal this time.
If you want to lose weight, this is the class for you.
If you want to simply get in shape this is for you.
If you have goals for the New Year and want accountability - this is for you.
If you want a place to document your journey, your progress - this is for you.
If you want to have support all along the way - this is for you.
If you want to love yourself and to be proud of yourself - this is for you
Together, we can not only track the process but enjoy the process.
 
How can I help you achieve your goals and dreams?  I can be at your side with some positive motivation and inspiration and ideas to document this part of your life. I came up with this concept because I have come so very far in my weight loss journey - and with self acceptance. But I still have a way to go, and to be completely honest, I don't want to do it alone. I will be right along side you - doing EXACTLY what you are doing every step of the way. I understand. I get it.
 
I invite you to join me.
Join me on a 21 day journey.
They say it takes 21 days to start a habit.
So that's all I ask of you...give me 21 days. 
We all need support. We all need some accountability.

So what will we do? 

- We will create a journal/calendar that will be the home to photo requests, journaling topics and the progress of our goals.
- We will add fun things along the way that will serve as visuals to give us inspiration.
- We will have a private message board all to ourselves which will provide us with a place to share our struggles, triumphs, all things inspirational, recipes, tips, and just good conversation. Even after the live portion of the class is over, the private message board will live on and be available to us for the months to come.

At the end of these 21 days, if you have given it your all - just done a bit each day - you will be set up for success.

The class begins on January 5 and includes:

-Downloadable calendar/journal pages to be printed as many times as necessary.
-An exclusive page of Love Myself in 2009 flashcards..
-A sheet of downloadable icons to document particular daily goals that were accomplished.
-Classroom posts, plus you will receive a weekly inspirational email.
-Step-by-step instructions for each phase of the project. -
-Ideas for finding inspiration and including it.
-Three online chats.
-A network of SISters to get motivation from, share your pages with, talk to and connect with via a private message board"

Happy Friday!!