My triumphant return....and a layout!

Whew! That was a longer break than I expected. Me and the new computer (after Lisa asked me its name on twitter, I decided on "mackie") are starting to get to know one another, and although my fingers are very tired from clicking and saving documents all day, I'm really enjoying being back in Mac land. It's a good place:)

To (hopefully) make up for my absence, I have a layout to show you:

I made this one with the April Studio Calico kit, plus some items from my stash.

The journaling reads:

You already have an instinct that you'll have fertility problems, and you are right. It will be harder than you can imagine, but you will find enough strength to bear it. You will have more love than you bargained for, an d the home you always dreamed of.

This layout is a letter to my younger self--the photo was one of my senior pictures. It's always so interesting to compare what you thought life would be like at 17, to what it's shaping up to be at 25, or 32, or 48.

And a little side note--when I say "home" I mean it in the figurative sense, about love and warmth, not hardwood floors! Although if you've seen my Pinterest lately, you would know that I do love my home decor. One day:)

Have YOU ever written a letter to your old self?

Be back soon!

Sorry for the blogging interruption these days--getting my old PC to hand over the torch to my new Mac is proving a little trickier than I expected.  Hope to be back blogging very soon!

Also, giveaway winner, you have until Wednesday to email me! If not, I'll have to pick a new winner.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

We have a winner!

Thank you all for entering my little giveaway! I can't wait to send those goodies off to a good home.

My random.org number was 47. (I normally do a screenshot, but since Madam Computer is not a happy camper tonight, I hope you'll forgive me:))

And the winning comment is: 

TenSGal said...

I purge about twice a year...we have a great scrapbooking/paper craft consignment sale so my trash becomes someone else's treasure! Great giveaway! Thanks! And I'm a new follower...  

Congrats, TenSGal! Shoot me an email at keshetstarr@gmail.com, and I'll get you sorted out:)

   

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web!  I have a lot of fun scrappy stuff to show you in the next few days!

Photo credit:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/69196423/recycled-map-prize-ribbon

Wednesday Fun--Scarlet Lime June

Hello friends!  First off, thank you for all of your sweet comments on my giveaway post--they are all cherished and so very appreciated!

Summer has officially arrived here in New Jersey.  Let's just say I'm recovering from heat stroke by sitting on my swivel chair, drinking water, and trying to limit my activities to things I can swivel to. 

So I figured what better time to show you the layouts I created with the Scarlet Lime June kit!

Here's the fun main kit:

I was in a CHA mood  evidently, since half of my projects are CHA-based.  This first one is an ode to my CHA roomie, Jenny, who was (a) fun to hang out with, (b) tried on mustaches with me, and (c ) went on an epic adventure with me to find kosher food in LA one night (which was less epic-fun and more epic-irritating when you're hungry).  Love ya, Jenny:)

                                            
And a little close-up:

My next project is actually a repeat of a design I've used in the past--I just love the quilty feel of it so much!

{excuse the photo.  My computer has been having MAJOR issues--let's just say she breaks out into song randomly. It's not good. So I'm trying to make do on my netbook:( }


And check out the fun colors in the Frugal Fab kit:
  

My first layout is just about some of the small details I enjoyed at CHA. Rows and rows of letter stickers on the wall? Yum!

   

And this last one is a wedding layout, with one of my favorite photos of my Mom at my wedding. The design is pretty simple, but it makes me happy:)

And a close-up on the fun journaling sticker:

So that's all the fun I have planned for today:)

In other news, I'm trying to think of a fun, beachy, not-too-expensive to retreat to for a few days--any suggestions? What is YOUR favorite relaxing vacation? 

PS: Giveaway below is still open! I will choose a winner tomorrow evening.

Giveaway!

It's almost 11 am on a rainy Sunday morning--clearly time for a giveaway!

My giveaway box if overflowing and I need one of YOU to take it off my hands:)

There are some delicious papers:


And some fabulous idea books and embellishments that I happen to have doubles of:

If you look closely, you can see an exclusive Studio Calico stamp and some bluegrass mist!

A few caveats:

1. Internationals are welcome to enter as long as you don't mind paying shipping. Just too expensive otherwise!

2. I will try to send everything shown above, but there's so much stuff I can't guarantee what will get in there!

To enter, please EITHER
--become a follower of this blog or
--leave me your email

Otherwise, I can never find you again! If you are a follower already, you're fine.

So tell me--when was the last time YOU purged your supplies?

Fun news!

Shavuot was fantastic--aside from a twenty-minute long walk in 100 degree heat, but I've recovered from that--I *think*. Ha! I'm now in Shabbos prep (aka crazy) mode, so I'll keep this short and sweet:)


I'm so excited to be part of the Elle's Studio design team!! Being on this team has long been a dream of mine, and I really couldn't believe it when I received that email.

So that's Part I of my exciting news:) Parts II and III should be coming shortly!

What's the best piece of news YOU received this week?

More Holiday Fun!

I know what you're thinking--man, there are a lot of holidays lately! So true. This is quite the busy time of year on the Jewish calendar.

Tonight, I'm going to be disappearing for two days to celebrate the holiday of Shavuos.

What is Shavuos, you may ask?

As a Jewish holiday, Shavuos sometimes gets the shaft, since it's in the summer and beyond the reaches of Hebrew school.

Shavuot is the anniversary of receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. Not to be confused with Simchas Torah, which is about celebrating the Torah. I happen to get them confused fairly often--it can get embarrassing.

A few fun tidbits about Shavuos:

1. As the story goes, back at Mount Sinai, the night before the Torah was given, the people fell asleep. Not exactly a high mark of enthusiasm. So to kind of "make up" for that, it's a custom to stay up all night learning Torah on Shavuos. I've never actually made it all night--I think a veeeery sleepy 4 am Torah class was my peak--but I do like to spend a good few hours studying! And S plans to go all night, so we'll see if he lasts:)


2. Cheesecake. It's a custom to have dairy on Shavuos, and luckily cheesecake has become the embodiment of this custom. In my kitchen, I have a 16-piece cheesecake sampler where each piece is a different flavor. This giant cheesecake is also for a meal of only 3 people--oops!

3. Ruth. On Shavuos, we read the Book of Ruth. Easily one of my favorite Biblical stories. I took a six week class on it years ago where we really delved into each sentence, and it gave me a lifelong appreciation for the Book of Ruth.
3. Flowers. Because Mount Sinai blossomed with flowers the day the Torah was given, it's also a custom on Shavuos to have flowers in your home and in the synagogue. (flowers + cheesecake -- can you see why I love this one?)

So those are some highlights of this holiday:) The next two days should involve lots of social time, reconnecting with G-d, staying up late chatting with friends, eating through my cheesecake sampler, and remembering why I chose to live a life revolving around Torah all those years ago.

What is YOUR favorite holiday?