Free London 2012 Olympic party Printables

Here are some links to some printables that I found for your Olympic party. I printed out a sheet to include in my Project Life binder also!

Full adorable Go USA party bundle (this is my fav): http://blog.catchmyparty.com/2012/07/24/free-go-team-usa-summer-olympics-party-printables-from-love-party-printables/

Truly adorable kids Olympics set: http://www.tinyme.com/tinyme-games

Simple and quick, this post also includes some great decorating and food ideas: http://www.mirabellecreations.blogspot.com/2012/07/free-printables-and-mirabelle-creations.html

Here's a different spin to this idea (different colors, focus on the cute mascots):
http://www.ucreateparties.com/2012/07/free-printables-olympic-party.html

Cute party favors like medals, cupcake toppers and a medal count scoring sheet:
http://darlingdoodles.blogspot.com/2012/07/olympic-printables.html

And Becky Higgins posted this link on her facebook (which I've been stalking waiting for the new plastics to come in on Amazon) it's a great read from themomcreative website: http://www.themomcreative.com/2012/07/10-ways-to-document-the-olympics-for-project-life.html

If you have time make sure to leave a comment to them since it's so nice of them to share their creativity.

Recipe Card Swap

Okay late last year a Cricut Circle member posted an ambitious project: a yearlong recipe card swap. She took signups for 10 people to submit 6x6 recipe pages every few months. She would sort and mail them back to us. I signed up as I love collecting recipes and thought it would be fun.

Well we have done 3 recipes so far and it has exceeded my expectations. The ladies are beyond nice and the cards are adorable. I haven't put them into an album yet as I was deciding if I wanted 1 big one or a couple of smaller ones.

Here are my 3 contributions so far:
Appetizer: BBQ bacon spread

Carts used: Block party, Country Life, All Mixed Up, From my Kitchen

Other supplies: stickles, Die Cuts with a view patterened paper, Mister Hueys mist

black cardstock, picnic patterned paper from stash, red pen, red ink

Salad: Jalapeno chicken salad

Carts used: County Life, Old West

Other supplies: Cuttlebug circles folder, October Afternoon and My Minds Eye patterened paper,

Uniball white pen, black pen, Jenni Bowlin tag punch, stickles, clip art, green pearl bling

Main: Deep Pit Beef (pull out recipe card attached to back with washi tape and vellum)

Carts Used: Stand and Deliver, Forever Young, Old West, Block Party, Gypsy Wanderings

Other supplies: Stickles, red glitter ribbon, circle punch, black and blue cardstock, star patterened paper from stash, washi tape from Smashbook

All fonts used downloaded from Lettering Delights, Dafont.com or else preinstalled on computer (PC).

FYI: Jessica Sprague Birthday Celebration

Jessica Sprague is having an amazing celebration to celebrate her website's birthday. She is having a sale and a free class and even a coupon to a print shop. If you have never taken one of her classes you should! She is a fabulous teacher of digital scrapbooking and the community is very helpful.

Info: JS Bday Celebration

Resort Life LO

Here's a layout I did using a Studio Calico kit. I am currently obsessed with them. This LO features paper from Crate Paper, SC wood veneer alphas, Amy Tangerine sticker border and some buttons and glitter brads from my stash. The pics are from a trip to a resort in the Phillipines! The giant flower was in my stash for years so I was happy to finally use it but it could also be cut out using a die cut machine and just ruffling the edges a bit. I love this LO because it makes me excited for summer.

Buy Insurance!

Last year my computer died and I lost a number of files and had to pay a couple hundred just to fix it. It was horrible but reminded me to do backups of my computer alot more often. It was an expensive lesson and I thought nothing could be as bad as that. I was wrong.
Last week I lost my phone. (Or had it stolen I never was able to figure out exactly which.) I have now been without a phone for a week and have just learned that I can pay $500 for a new phone, wait and buy one for slightly less in 2 weeks or take my chance and buy one off ebay. None are great choices.

 As a result I have some pointers/warnings for you.

1. Buy insurance-It would have saved me alot of money and they seem more willing to help when you have it.
2. Install a finders application on your cell. It is basically a program where you can find your phone when lost and in some cases wipe out the information if stolen. If your phone is turned off though it doesn't really do alot.
3. As soon as you've determined that you are not getting your phone back call your provider so that you can suspend your service and not be charged for any calls that others may make. Remember to try calling it first though.
4. Make sure that you have a pin lock on it. I was lazy and didn't so all I had to do to unlock it was swipe the lock open. If you have a pin lock then you also have to punch in your personal pin number. My information was accessible so if my phone was stolen they could get into my text messages, my email, my contacts and my photos. This is the part that made me particularly sick when I realized it was lost/stolen. It might be a pain to have to enter your pin but it will save you a world of hurt!
5. In either case (if you have a pin set up or not) I suggest trying to remember what apps you had on your phone and changing all the passwords. I don't do banking from my phone so didn't have to worry about that! I did change my email and 2 other services I subscribed to though. Just in case.
6. Lastly once again BACKUP YOUR INFO! Some of the previous finders apps do it automatically while some providers will also do it. I lost some great photos that I was waiting to email myself. Lesson learned...again.

So say a prayer for me and take a couple of minutes to take care of your phone. I'm not an avid cell phone user like some but now that I'm without one I do feel very lost and out of the loop. Oh well, only for a few more weeks hopefully.

Just Because

I apologize for the lack of posts. Work has just taken over! I thought I'd leave a pic of something I saw in an alley last December. It made me smile to think of someone writing it. Have a great day full of love.

Make Your own Scrapbook Kit

Here's an excellent article on making your own Scrapbooking Page Kit for when you head to a crop.
Debbie Hodge Make Your Own Kit
Don't forget I have a Crop Packing List for everything else you may need in the Printables section of my blog.