Stubborn

I have to admit that I'm a pretty stubborn person. I've had some pretty serious skin problems on my fingers and they had gotten to the point where I can't do much with my right hand anymore. I couldn't sew or craft and designing on the computer has even started to become difficult. I went to the doctor a few years ago about it and I got a prescription but it didn't help. My hubby finally told me he was going to make me go to the doctor when I remembered I got a new prescription for some other skin stuff and I told him I was going to try that and if that didn't work I would finally go to the doctor. Lucky for me it is working. It is crazy. I didn't really realize how bad it was. My fingers started to really hurt after I started using it because my feeling was finally coming back into the tips.

I don't have a phobia about doctors...I just hate giving them my money when they only seem to be able to diagnose and/or treat my problems 20% of the time. I'd rather not spend my date budget to get told to simply do yoga for my back--which I've done but that was a lot of money to get told that. I'd rather take the kiddos swimming than be told, "hmmm. I really have no idea. Good luck with that. Next." I would also rather spend 2 hours making cookies F.O.R.E.V.E.R!

So now that I've completely turned you off to going to the doctors.....I am now going to convince you to go. ha ha. I do know that doctors can help with a lot of things so if there is something really bothering you that could possibly be fixed, go see a doctor or spend some time finding a natural solution that works for you this month.

I don't know if I technically feel "rejuvenated" by my fingers feeling better but I have more ability to put my energy to better use so for me it has been totally worth spending some time fixing a health concern.

Did any of this make sense today? My dictionary in my head is off more than normal and I'm having a hard time forming complete sentences. :) I hope you all had a great Monday.

Dedra's "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"

Not to be confused with "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," By Judith Viorst. :)

Yesterday was awful and I now realize it didn't have to be. If you've been following you know that we were waiting to make some big progress on the house we've been trying to buy for the last year and a half. We were supposed to meet with both sides of realtors on Wednesday. Didn't happen. Then we were supposed to go see the house with some contractors on Friday. Again didn't happen. I found out that the realtor on the seller's side doesn't even have a key so the BPO that was supposed to have been done since July hasn't been done and therefore no progress is being made on the loan. Short sales are of the devil! Whoops. Did I just say that? 

I went through a nosedive yesterday. I've been at the breaking point with this house for so long. I started to look for other housing for our family yesterday and that just got me feeling crankier and crankier. I'm just so frustrated that this housing dilemma we've been in for 2 1/2 years has taken up so much of my time and my thoughts that it is hard for me to focus on the most important things--my kids and hubby. I have to tell myself that I'm really not the worst mommy ever but I know I can be soooo much better. I just want to be done looking for a place to live. It takes so much time and energy. I want to put that time and energy into researching fun things to do each day with the kids on pinterest or taking them swimming or to the library, etc. I mean I Do do those things but not enough. 

I went to bed last night with ideas to do with the kids and I'm not worrying about the house today. For some reason (call it fate or stupidity) we are still waiting on that house and our life just has to go on while we wait. My decisions are no longer going to take into effect whether or not we are going to move in a month or two or if I buy this now it might not work in the next house. I need to just take care of today because I'm tired of my days being wasted waiting. So someday my realtor might call and let me know the tenant is done with his vendetta and we can finally go see it. Hopefully it won't be too destroyed. Hopefully we will still be able to buy it when that day gets here. Today--I'm going to enjoy my kids and so far today, I already have.
xo,
Dedra

What a difference support makes!

Wow. People are commenting like crazy lately and I have to say THANK YOU! It is really hard writing a blog when you feel like you are talking to no one. I really needed the sweet comments I got today. Thank you to those who are accepting my challenges too. It motivates me knowing people are depending on me. Today's challenge is really fun and great for a Friday. I can't tell you how much this is helping and maybe you already do it.

While reading Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I wanted to take on her first challenge of getting more energy and named my challenge Rejuvenate. I have 3 kids 5 and under so I'm not worried that my blood never gets pumping. It is nice to feel a little more fit though and I definitely like feeling like I have more energy.

So whenever I'm feeling like I'm slumping a little bit I've been turning on Pandora's 80's Cardio Channel. I always thought I hated everything 80's. I grew up in the 80's but I always remember hating the clothes, the hair, the music, everything. But this channel does something for me. I turn it on and the kids and I start dancing. The baby shuffles around on her feet and wiggles her little bummy and the other two try to break dance. We break up and do chores but whenever we meet we just kind of get our groove on. It is really nice. Right between my shoulders was actually sore yesterday from grooving a little bit too much maybe? Nah. It felt good to be sore from something so fun as dancing with the kids.

So your challenge today and forever--find some music that makes you move. Turn it on and dance like no ones watching or pretend like you're on a rock video or something if that helps. :) I find we're getting our chores done faster and they are sooo much more enjoyable. I don't feel exhausted after and I really do feel Rejuvenated.  When we are ready to settle down I turn on my favorite channel on Pandora--Film Scores. Anyone else weird like me and love film scores?

Happy Friday,
Dedra

Waiting & waiting

Waiting is all I ever do these days it seems. We were supposed to meet with the realtors yesterday but it got rescheduled for Friday--at the house! But, we still haven't had a confirmation or a time so I'm guessing it won't happen again. How can we buy a house we haven't even seen for over a year and a half! Crazy. Each day of waiting seems like an eternity. Our life has been on hold for so long. We need to schedule contractors to go with us to get bids because it is currently deemed "unsafe" and we have to fix it before getting a real loan. Here is hoping it will miraculously happen tomorrow.

I asked my mother in law to come help me with some colors today.  I've been designing in my head for so long. I've got fabrics picked for a master bedroom redesign (see below). I think it will be beautiful--if I ever get to do it. :)  I can't wait to see that house! I didn't even get to see what was behind all the doors in the basement. I'm so curious!

I'm doing better on getting to bed at a decent time--I just can't fall asleep. I can't breath for the life of me and I'm not a mouth breather. Anybody else committed to getting more sleep??? I AM feeling more rejuvenated--even if it takes me forever to fall asleep. I'll share another tip I've been working on tomorrow.

xo,
Dedra

Rejuvenate: 1st Step

The first step of my Happiness Project is to Rejuvenate myself. The first part of my agenda is to get to sleep at a better time. That means I need to leave the basement by 11:00 p.m. to get ready and read before 11:45ish. It is really hard to get out of the basement at night. Going to bed each night feels kind of like failure because nothing has changed during the day and often times it seems like things are getting worse but to help correct my problem of going to sleep too late I am going to invest in a cheap alarm clock that will ring annoyingly at 11:00 and tell me to go up to bed. Here's hoping it works.

Dedra's Happiness Project.

When I first started this blog I was looking for a place to express myself. It then turned into a place to showcase my products but I didn't discover its true purpose until I wrote this article: 7 Ways in 7 Days to Knock the Socks Off Your Spouse. 

I tried combining my desire to help improve marriages with my designing/business aspirations and the random  tips and ideas that just pop out of my head. With so much variation and without a clear focus I have lost a lot of interest in blogging. Plus, our life is pretty crazy and I've had the D word. *GASP* Yes folks, I've had severe depression for a little over 5 years (started after the birth of our first). I have had a hard time blogging because I wasn't telling people about my depression. Really only my husband knew and one of my visiting teachers knew. I tried to hide it from everyone else--which made me look like who knows what but I know a lot of people avoided me because they thought I was angry all the time. I was really honestly just trying to put one foot in front of the other and to do so came with a huge grimace on my face.

I recently announced my depression to the world by announcing my plight on the world's largest complaint board: Facebook. It actually was really good to get that burden off my chest--to stop pretending that everything was fine because nothing has been fine.

I know I've mentioned before that I would blog about our circumstances but I always hesitated because everyone always seems to read me wrong but at least now you know about my depression and maybe it will be clearer. I've been learning lately that writing things about my struggles and my feelings helps me to let go of them a little so here goes:

3 years ago this month my husband started to get only half paychecks. Half paychecks were enough to cover   the mortgage, utilities, insurance and our student loans. Nothing more. We had been smart I thought and had a really good food storage and savings. We had just paid cash for a 10 year old (at the time) Ford Expedition, which we named Steve. Looking back we were all set to embark on this rocky journey--not that we wanted it.

We made a plan and figured we could last through June. So I learned how to make everything from scratch from laundry soap to chocolate syrup to bread and granola-- you name it. I scrimped and sewed and made do with what we had. We spent between 10-20 dollars a week on groceries for what was then 4 of us. I bought milk and yogurt, which we learned were 2 things that really helped us survive. We went almost a year without any fresh fruit or vegetables. I learned to shop at yard sales for the things we needed. For our oldest daughters birthday present I took a piece of fabric someone gave to me and sewed tiny pieces together until it turned into a "pillow pet." it was a pink pig and it was ugly but she loved it. I even sold my wedding ring to buy CS3 so I could help bring some money in. It took over a year and a half before anything came of that.

About 6 months into our dilemma I was walking with my daughters to the park when the feeling hit me that we needed to move. I called my husband when we got home (no such luxuries as a cell phone) and he agreed that it felt right. We looked around for a few months to find that we loved a small town south of us and we could actually afford the home prices in our predicament. We assumed we would be receiving full paychecks again soon anyways.

We made it longer than we thought to September and got a full paycheck. Then another in October and November but none in December. In November we put up our house for sale by owner. Realtors became my living nightmare.I was told we couldn't sell it ourselves and we needed their expertise and 6% commission. (What I wouldn't give to see their expression when we actually did sell our house by ourselves!) I figured we would be moving soon so I started packing. I am one of those people who likes to plan and not wait till the last minute.

February we got a tax return that helped us get through some more months.In June or so of 2011 I felt like we needed to go look at houses again. I asked a realtor friend and she wouldn't take us until our house sold. Another realtor acquaintance's name popped into my mind and he immediately set up some appointments. The first house we almost couldn't get into. The key wouldn't work but we managed to get into the garage. I'm pretty sure any other realtor would have stopped trying after the key incident but our realtor was such a good sport and even explored some dangerous areas with the hubby.  That house was such a wreck and don't even get me started about the yard. I walked out of that house thinking "no way!" On the drive home though my husband and I started to talk. Beneath all the filth and clutter and unfinished areas and broken things there was an amazing floorplan that really had everything we wanted. A few things weren't perfect but what house is? He felt it was the right house for us and at that point I was 5 months pregnant and was ready to be done with the whole housing issue. We tried to put in an offer but there were problems on the sellers side so we waited.

I was 8 1/2 months pregnant in the fall of 2011 when we finally sold our house to some awesome investors who let us rent the home from them as I was ready to have the baby any time. Once the house sold we put in an offer for the house we saw during the summer. The baby was born healthy and in January of 2012 the bank accepted our offer. I was so excited and started packing more....not a good idea because it is now January of 2013. I have packed and unpacked various times over the last year. Each time I have gotten rid of more stuff so that is good right? We are still waiting on that house and still renting the home we previously owned at a really high rate. We got 1 full paycheck in 2012. My digital designing  (all thanks to my wedding ring) has finally been generating income and we are still surviving. I now buy fruit and vegetables as a mandatory part of our diet but we are still waiting. The tenants in that house were supposed to be out by the 1st. Then they were given more time (I guess 2 years wasn't enough) and they had till Saturday. Saturday we drove by and they are still there. We are supposed to meet with the realtors tomorrow but who knows. It has been one thing after another.

If just one thing had been eliminated this "trial" would have been so much easier to endure. If my husband had been getting paychecks or if we had been able to move or if my depression hadn't been there or so severe or if our daughter wasn't having psychological problems and phobias.

I'm trying to be good and figure out what I need to learn from all this. #1. don't sell a house by yourself for a year while being pregnant and having 2 little ones messing up the house right before every showing. #2 don't pack your house until you have an official moving date. #3. Don't  expect anything to change in order to be happy. #4. Remember to enjoy the little moments because sometimes that is all you have.

What is the moral of this story? I'm not sure yet. I hope it is something like, "Good things come to those who wait," but its still not over. We have hung on this long. Maybe good things will come. That is obviously why we have held on because we have hope.

I've been reading a lot to try and help with my depression. I have been simply inspired by "The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun" by Gretchen Rubin. I am only 3 chapters in but I am creating my own Happiness Project. I love getting books from the library or borrowing from friends but this is one book you will want to own! 

I hope you will stop by and check out my journey this year as I embark on my own Happiness Project. 

My year is now divided into these sections:

January: Rejuvenate
February: Think Positive
March: Loosen Up
April: Take Time to Love
May: Guiltless Parenting
June: Take it Outside
July: Let the Music Lead
August: Let bygones be bygones
September: Speak nice or better yet don't say anything at all!
October: Be serious about play (I took this title from Gretchen. I haven't read the chapter yet but I know I need it)
November: Uplift Others
December: Wrap it up.

I'm hoping to post more as I learn to advance in these areas over the next year. Go get that book and join me in your own happiness project.

xo,
Dedra

January Freebie - Valentine Frames

One of my goals for 2013 is to give all of you a monthly freebie so starting off this January I have FREE Valentine Frames. Click on the picture for the link. Happy Valentine Designing!

These coordinate with Prettiful Design's Be My Valentine Products. Click here to see. 

January Giveaway!!!!

Enter to win a $50 gift code to my shop at the right. Winner will be announced at the end of January. :)

Photo Mask AKA Clipping Mask Tutorial

People ask me all the time how to use Photo Masks, also known as clipping masks. No idea what I am talking about? Here are some examples.  (tutorial below)

Instructions are for use in photoshop and photoshop elements.
Step 1. Open your document.
Step 2. Open the photo mask you want and drag it to your main document
Step 3. Open your picture and drag it to the main document.
Step 4. In the layers menu make sure your layers look something like this with your picture above the photo mask:

Step 5. With your picture selected hold down your Alt key and hover between your photo and photo mask in the layers menu. When the cursor changes to an image that looks like an open circle on top of a filled circle CLICK. 

Step 6. Your photo should now be clipped to the shape of the photo mask.

Brilliant huh? I love this feature. It was like turning on a light bulb in a pitch black room when I learned how to use these. Hope you love your new knowledge too! 

Isn't that pink marshmallow cute too? And yes, the contraption in the background IS a medieval catapult called a trebuchet....in case you were wondering. :)

Today's total

$64.25 was the total for today's sales. Thank you for everyone who donated!!! I hope across the country enough people will donate to the Sandy Hook families so none of the families will have any expenses due to the loss of their sweet loved ones. They have enough to worry about.

Proceeds going to Sandy Hook Elementary

Just letting you know that ALL 100% of the proceeds from my shop on Wednesday, December 19th will go to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund.

My deepest sympathies go out to family, friends, classmates, teachers and really the nation because we are all so deeply affected by this tragedy.

Visit my shop at http://www.prettifuldesigns.etsy.com

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays despite this horrific event. May God bless all of your hearts with peace and comfort.

~Dedra

The Generosity Project

We went on a 14 hour car drive last week to take the kiddos up to see my folks for Thanksgiving. It was nice. I haven't been "home" for the holidays for 10 years. While I was waiting to get one of the best sandwiches ever in the poe-dunk town I grew up in I noticed a little giving tree overflowing with needs. I started looking at them and noticed how many of the children needed all the necessities--socks, underwear, shoes, boots (it is a pretty harsh climate), coat, shirt, pants, and some listed a single toy.

I remember going to school with kids who wore the same outfit every single day--and they smelled like it too. We drove around and noticed the houses or mere shacks that were often missing windows, had dilapidated roofs and may or may not have had running water and electricity. We also noticed a few toys and realized their were kids living inside.

As I was looking through the ads before Black Friday I noticed some things that were great deals that I wanted and was starting to put these items on my mental wish list. I started to feel guilty as I thought about all of the kids in this one community who would probably go without. There were so many names on that one tree and I found out all of the names aren't taken every year. How would that feel to be left out? Forgotten? Cold?

I was talking with some people and they said they wished they could do more to help these kids but they couldn't and I didn't say this out loud but I am now, "Why can't you do more?"

Since we left, I've been thinking more and more about what we can do without this Christmas and throughout the year so that we will have more to give. What good is it to be celebrating our Savior's birth around a cozy fire and nice things when a child is sitting in the cold probably counting down the days till they are back in school with a school lunch in their belly?

This Christmas season I'm going to forgo the little extras, the little niceties that really just waste money and take up more time. I'm going to bake a few less of our traditional treats and spend that time reading stories to my kids and playing ponies with them. I'm going to wish the people I forgot to get gifts for (happens every year) a Merry Christmas via text or a phone call instead of rushing out and getting a guilty gift and seeing too many great deals and purchasing those too. Next year I'm going to look for deals on clothing to buy for these kids so my money can go farther. I'm not going to give as much in my comfortable, affluent suburbia community where the wish lists hardly ever list clothes but several toys. Instead I'm going to look further for those who need it most.

We already cut back a lot in our family the last few years. Our kids just get 3 gifts--symbolic of the Savior receiving 3 gifts from the wise men. Next year I am going to find ways to cut back even more throughout the year on everything. Each purchase I make will have a heavier weight--do I really need this or can I use my money instead to help a child?

So the question is "Who's with me?"

If you want to join me in this Generosity Project then please feel free to comment what you and/or your family will do without so you are better able to give to those in your own communities. Feel free to be anonymous if you wish. Come back often. I hope this helps you to have greater peace and happiness in your life to live with a little less and give even more.

~Dedra

Joy to the World Freebie & Neighbor Gift ideas

November was supposed to be my slow month. I was going to relax--which is almost unheard of for me. But....I got roped into a few more obligations. They have been awesome but I am looking forward to them being done too. :)

For a Relief Society (church) event I made a bunch of neighbor gifts to give people ideas (even though my neighbor gifts have been done for months!) :)

Click here to download the 4x6 freebie of the below picture

I saw these reindeer and snowman at here and here respectively. Of course I had to do mine with felt instead of wood cutouts for the noses. (i have a slight felt addiction)

Photo props. LOVE these! So excited to give these away and use my set. I used oatmeal containers and lazily taped on some scrapbook paper. Got dowel sticks precut at walmart (the hubby was happy he didn't have to cut them) and hot glued on the shapes. I printed off bow ties that you can find in my shop (and laminated them because I'm also addicted to laminating), and cut out mustaches, a monacle, and lips out of felt and foam. I used regular felt and then stiffened it myself with equal parts water and glue. I won't say that I wouldn't do that method again but it would have been nice using pre-stiffened felt. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for such pre-stiffened felt though. :)

Click here to download the jpg file (for free) of the shapes to cutout your own stuff.

I LOVE the idea of sending a game to encourage some family time. I can't wait to play this one with my kids. Find it here. I simply laminated. I didn't see the need to spend way more time and money to make it marginally cuter.

Magnets. I know I should have cropped these pictures but alas I am running out of time and eating pumpkin roll and playing dungeon siege II with the hubby sounds way more fun. :)

I saw these fun magnets and decided to do my own Christmas versions--of course out of felt. They came together super quick one afternoon while I was doing my mom duties. Start to finish I made 16 in one afternoon while the kiddos were awake.  

I hope you found a fun idea here. Less than a week till I eat turkey! Woohoo!!! 

Yes, I'm still here

I haven't posted for a while. I have a super awesome list of all sorts of things I would love to blog about but it has been crazy. The baby was sick and teething for about 3 weeks and then I taught preschool, did my 2nd Crafting for Charity event, taught some classes and we had  a birthday party and other craziness mixed in between. I'm trying to reorganize some things and trying to design in spare minutes. Not sure when I will post something super awesome but hopefully soon. Don't give up on me. :)
Dedra

Gift Code Offer

I will be offering $5 gift codes to my shop for layouts using my products that I choose to put on this blog and in my shops. That seemed like a complicated sentence. Lets break it down:

• Send me jpgs of something you've designed/made using my products 
• Send to prettifuldesigns at gmail dot com
• Can be scrapbooking layouts, invitations, cards, wood crafts, t-shirts, etc. 
• You must be willing to let me use your pictures on my blog and in my shops.
• You must own the rights to the pictures - if including someone's photo you must have permission for me to use it.
• Submission Deadline October 15th
• I will pick my favorites. If I Super Duper Love, LOVE, L.O.V.E. your stuff I will give a $10 credit!
• I will post my favorites on my blog and in my shop.
• I will give you whatever credit you want (name, blog, facebook, shop, etc).
• Others will get inspiration and create and we'll all be happy.

***Note -- Sending me a design does not mean you will get a gift code. I will be choosing my favorites. I'm not setting a limit. I'm not sure what it is exactly I'm looking for but when I see it I'll know. Please keep this in mind if you don't get selected. I may do this again too and you could always try next time. 

I will pick October 17th and will notify by the 19th.