A couple of days ago, I decided to start an art journal. I already have sketchbooks and that kind of thing so I wanted something different. Obviously, I search Pinterest for inspiration and I love what I came up with. Most of pages aren't even art but more of using up scraps or a place to do random stuff when I'm bored. I use the scrap paper left over from cutting pictures and such so the pages are lots of different sizes. So here are the pages I have so far! 

The cover and back are just chipboard cut to 9x9. I have ordered gold foil thickers to put on the cover page which I'm super excited about!

Week Six

I didn't take many pictures during six so I did a lot of journaling to make up for it. Journaling is one thing I am trying to do more of this year because although we may know the stories now, I'm sure in a few years, we won't. We actually did a couple of exciting things like going to the Dog Bar as well as going to Red Robin. That was Clara's first proper restaurant experience and she did very well, I was very proud of her. 

I'm really pleased with how the pictures of my spreads turned out this week! I decided to try and do them outside since our house doesn't get a ton of natural light and it's amazing what a difference it made! I may even go back and retake photos from previous spreads.

Week Five

I finally finished Week 5 and I'm so excited to share it with you. I used the Studio Calico kit, Cirque which is full of bright and fun colors! One thing I forgot to include was that it was Clara's first birthday on the 29th! I think I'll have to find a little place to include that!

Clara & Ice

Last year, here in Charlotte, we got a pretty big snow storm, big for Charlotte at least, and this year? An ice storm. It may look like nice fluffy snow, but it is all ice. Of course that didn't stop us from letting Clara play in it. She absolutely LOVES it and I'm so glad she has gotten to experience it. Here are some pictures I got this morning.

Weight Loss Journey - First Week

Today I'm sharing the details of my first week of weight watchers and my weight loss journey. The first thing I have to say, is that I'm surprised at how easy it is! I think any other time I've tried to loose weight, I thought I couldn't eat anything sweet and had to eat only healthy things but now, thanks to Weight Watchers, I know I can have those things I love, just in small amounts. 

Beginning My Weight loss Journey

I've pretty much always struggled with my weight and it was one of those things I learned to accept. Even when I was a competitive swimmer and would do over 100 crunches a day, I never had a flat stomach. In 2013, I started birth control due to extremely painful periods and that is when the weight really started to pack on. In that year, I gained over 20lbs and it just didn't stop. I'm now at 247lbs....but I am finally doing something about it. No one likes to share how much they weigh but I feel like putting it out there makes me more motivated to loose all of that extra weight.

I started Weight Watchers on February 2nd and decided to create a weight loss album to keep me motivated. This will include pictures, favorite recipes, amount of weight I've lost, accomplishments, and probably a few other things. I've tried loosing weight before but I never took it seriously until now. I know I can do it and I'm proud to say I lost 1 lb in my first week of weight watchers. 

Here are my first couple of pages for my weight loss album. 

Super Bowl Fun

I've never been a fan of American football so Super Bowl sunday isn't a huge deal but that doesn't mean I'm gonna pass up an excuse to go to a party! I went over to my friend Renee's house a bit early so I could help prepare for the party which included helping with the "photobooth". 

For this page, I mainly used the Amy Tangerine, Stitched paper pad, which is my absolute favorite paper! I love the colors and patters because they aren't too overwhelming and the colors are nice and subtle.

I'm usually pretty self-conscious about pictures of myself, but I love the pictures we got because you can tell how much fun we were all having. I've started Weight Watchers (that will be a future post) and it feels so good to have some sort of control in my life again. Chronic illnesses take away a lot of control but I'm working very hard at taking it back. 

Traditional pages are definitely something I need to work on. I always end up doing the same kind of style which includes a lot of layering which is pretty, but I want more variety with my pages. I think I will start by looking at other people's pages and using them as inspiration and hopefully the more I do, the more comfortable I will be with using different styles.