JEANINE'S BITS AND PIECES

Random stuff on eBay and the "30 minute" regimen

I have been doing a lot of soul searching lately and trying to figure out "stuff". Not sure if any of you have those phases where you think about everything and reflect... maybe it is the lump they found at my mammogram a few weeks back (surgery/biopsy scheduled 11/19 to see if cancer) or maybe it is just the time of year? Whatever the reason, I have been thinking of ways to streamline and simplify.

I sold off a bunch of my belongings in a consignment auction last month to kickstart the whole process but still have too much and not enough space in our current residence. That, and the insurance companies not cooperating with my health issues and the recent divorce, a few extra dollars would be a very good thing! So, I took the plunge and jumped into the current century and posted a couple things on eBay. I have never done that before so my listings probably look crappy - but we will see how it turns out. I only have a book and an awesome COACH purse that I won up right now (see widget in sidebar) but there will be more random stuff soon hopefully. Do any of you sell on eBay? Any tips?

Jen and I started a new regimen that has been working nicely. I tend to not focus when I am overwhelmed (Adult ADD I have been told now, but it could just be the way my life has progressed over the past year or 2 or 5) so we (she) came up with a 30 minute plan. Basically after we get our kids off to school, we set the timer for 30 minutes and do something. Really anything - clean the bathroom, vacuum, pay bills, etc. for 30 minutes at 100%. After we are done with those 30 minutes we call in (keep in mind I am in NJ and she is in IL) and walk for 30 minutes on the treadmill while we yak about our plan for the day (Kristy Valshan work, design, etc). Then we start our work day. It is nice to feel like I have already accomplished something and walking is great... makes me happy! :-)

I have been designing a collection that is really close to my heart - just need to preview it for you all and upload a freebie or 2. It will of course be on scrapblog as well so look for that!! Plus KV will have some news soon which is very exciting.... yay!

I think that is it for now... Have a good Friday!

Organize those School Papers!

Hi all!

I did a guest post over at Scrapblog (thanks Rebecca!) about a quick, easy and cheap way to keep all those school papers together and make a keepsake at the same time.

If you do the project, send us a photo or link (kv@kristyvalshan.com) and get a little something from our Kristy Valshan, Inc. store for your efforts <wink>...

Speaking of KV, did you see our newest papers? Love the Random Fall packs...

Have a great weekend!

Back to School :-)

Yay! Did a layout of the kiddos with the Kristy Valshan Back 2 School kit over at the wonderful Scrapblog today. I really love doing layouts there because it is so EASY and QUICK!

This page will be available as a theme so you can personalize your own - great idea for a quick teacher gift! Just stick the layout in a frame, or use the kit for a 4x6 brag book. Give each child in the class a hard copy of a page you create (you can order prints right from scrapblog) and they can adhere their school photo and handwrite a note to their teacher!



Thanks for looking! Check out Jen's post for more Scrapblog fun (and grab all of her freebies while you are there)!

Spring color suggestions...

Jen has put me to task to pick out some colors to <gasp> DESIGN something and suggested spring. I have some ideas (she also said NO PASTELS) but would love input! You can post comments here with RGB#s or email me at jeanine@kristyvalshan.com.

When I think spring i think of green grass and sunny skies - what do you think of?

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!!

CHA PHOTOS

Back from CHA and have some fun photos to share!

I am looking at these photos and, even though I have now officially lost 15 pounds on nutrisystem (WOO HOO), I look like a cow in my fat clothes (esp the ones on Jen's blog and the KV blog). Sigh. Jen always tells me to wear fitted clothes (which I didn't do - do you always buy clothes that are too big? I always have). I have my big clothes on that, as she so kindly puts it, makes me look like i am wearing a tent. Sigh. LOL. She is right of course, but I feel like i need to hide my big body you know?

ANYWAY, enough about my confidence issues!! LOL!! Here we go!

This is a photo of Jen and I in the Orphan Works booth. We were playing with my xshot portable tripod.

What is funny is i would set the timer for 2 seconds, pull out the xshot, and the photo would snap. Well here is what happens when I forget to set the timer and snap the photo early!!! Boy we look mean in this photo!!!

Next up are some photos of the CHA Designer Showcase we did Saturday. We had a bunch of new designs, cards, products, etc and had some good meetings (wink)!!

And I even did a PAPER LAYOUT with our new Sawyer collection! I did it digitally first and then did all the fun paper stuff. I ripped, wrinkled, crumpled and inked. It was fun!

Next we headed on over to Tapestry by CR Gibson (one of our licensing/manufacturing partners) to go see our newest releases! They were busy taking orders from retailers but we snapped some photos!

The boxed kit with Calista's photo is from the "Fancy Free" collection and will be available at Archiver's stores nationwide as well as independent retailers. It comes with fun scrapbook, papers, elements, etc.

The chipboard suitcase/board books kit is our "Franklin" collection with some revisions. It is called the "Traveling Suitcase". It is a travel-themed kit that will also be available at Archiver's by the end of August and independent retailers across the US/Canada.

If you are a retailer and interested in ordering either kit, please contact Tapestry by CR Gibson here and just tell them you are interested in the Kristy Valshan kits.

We also met up with our friends and licensing partner Scrapblog. It was great meeting Rebecca in person! We are really excited to have been invited to join Anna Griffin, Rhonna Farrer, Cosmo Cricket and others to be premium content providers on the Scrapblog site. Look for our free themes to be released over the next couple weeks (right Rebecca? LOL)!

We were so fortunate to chat with many scrapbookers, artists, and crafters from all over. We got to go to lunch with Robin, Melinda, Connie, and Oriana (see photo on Jen's blog), hang out with artist friends Brenda Pinnick (loved her new sizzix dies) and Vicki Schreiner (who has a whole new line coming out at Cracker Barrell stores), wave hello to artists as they did their classes and make and takes (Jill McKay, Claudine Hellmuth, Margot Potter), see fellow digiscrappers (Amy Teets of Dream Street Papers, Amanda Dykan of Design Originals, Kristi McFadden and Cindy Wyckoff of Scrapbook Dimentsion Magazine, etc) and have fun! Sorry if I left anyone out!

Speaking of people, Jen and I got to sit down and to a make and take with Crafty Chica! She has an incredible new product line and beautiful glitters, and is just so pleasant to talk to! We made some fabulous sparkly earrings and she mixed some glitter for us to take home!! How fun is that?!?

One of the WEIRDEST (and coolest) things to happen was when Jen and I were walking the show and I could swear I was hearing my name (but not the usual voices, lol). I turned around to see my good friend from college, Lisa Dorsey! I have not seen her since 1993! 15 years later she recognizes me at CHA (which is amazing in itself) and I got to hear about her, Greg and her girls! So great!

Other highlights of the week were breaking my diet with Jen (she FORCED me to go get chocolate cake at 10pm at night and get Portillo's 4 times!! really!!), spending time with Jen's family, and making friends with the neighborhood skunk. Ask her about our new product line too!

Speaking of Jen...

 Ain't she cute?

First week of summer break...

And man, it has NOT been easy. The kids are wired and I need to do a schedule for them I think, like 8-9 play in the playroom while mommy exercises, 9-10 crafts, 10-11 Colton's choice, 11-12 Calista's choice... that is probably even too general. Not sure.

Moving on...

I had each child draw and color a card for the school personnel again this year. I then made color copies and gave them out with the gifts. Because both kids are in the disabled classes they have TONS of teachers, aides, therapists, etc. and I had to cut down getting gifts for everyone this year - I narrowed the list of daily hands on people to 19. Blah! So 19 gifts and the rest just got the cards and an ornament frame.

Here is 6yo Colton's (kindergarten):


And here is 4yo Calista's (preschool):
And then I also gave out small school-themed frames with the kids' pictures. I haven't posted a recent photo of the kids lately, so here goes!

What else... Jen and I are still doing the treadmill every day. We talk (kinda - out of breath though!) on the phone and walk for 30 minutes. And I started nutrisystem 13 days ago (down 9 pounds!!). I wasn't going to make it public, but maybe it will help some of you struggling too? After my cancer surgery 1 1/2 yrs ago and the serious hormone therapy and everything else I packed on some serious poundage. LOL. I guess it messed up my metabolism, and the fact is I wasn't eating enough either. I was averaging 800 calories a day and still not losing (my body, turns out, was in starvation mode although you wouldn't guess it by looking at me!!). So, went to the doctor and stuff and came up with trying out nutrisystem. The funny thing is i am now eating more, but also exercising, in hopes of reving my metabolism up again. It helps to have a friend that is super supportive and almost as rotund as me (thanks Jen)! LOL!

I would like to lose 50 lbs total I think, but that may be too much. We will see. I lost 7 pounds the first week and 2 this week - i only weigh in once per week to avoid getting crazy about it. I actually like the food (and I am the pickiest eater in the entire world) although the salads wear on me. I have learned a lot about nutrition and found some awesome, healthy snacks that i look forward to every day (like high protein pudding - yum!).

Blog makeover! Opinions please!

Well, I was getting really tired of my blog. Being cheap (lol) i only was doing the basic typepad plan, but decided to upgrade. I looked at blogger (again, being cheap!) but I am totally horrible with html. I plopped a banner up, Jen and I had a good laugh at how bad it looked, and then ran back to typepad. Blogger looks like a great option if you know how to tweak code, but alas, I stay very far away from html!

So what do you think? Easy to read? Hard to read? Too much?

I am hoping by pretty-ing it up it will make me want to post more... wishful thinking!

The banner was made from a carpet runner mock up using a new Kristy Valshan collection (not sure if this collection will be "released" on the site or not due to potential licensing opportunities), and the font used for "Bits & Pieces" is by Darcy Baldwin (it is my own handwriting made into a font - I highly recommend her!! I love the font and used it for Christmas cards, envelopes, journaling on scrapbook pages, etc - Jen used it to address her own cards this year too! LOL!).

That's it for now - Jeff and kids home from grocery store so off to put the groceries away. Have a happy Saturday and thanks for your comments!

FREE at Shutterfly!

Aside from all the freebies at the KV Blog, don't forget Jen and I are featured at SHUTTERFLY this week! We designed a ton of freebies just for them so visit Shutterfly throughout the week to download the coordinating creations! Here is just a taste:

And here is a layout I did with one of the KV Blog free QPs using the Calista Collection:

Even though we designed Calista with Spring in mind, I really thought it went well with Calista's jacket and the orange pumpkin...

Have a great Thursday!

Free, free and more FREE GIFTS!

Whoa. So we went a little crazy. Um, yeah.

The timing of all this is a little insane, but if you go and check out the Kristy Valshan blog you can grab yourself some freebies and coupons... THEN head over to Scrapbook Etc Magazine if you haven't already and get that free QP the ladies made using our kit... THEN head over to Shutterfly EVERY DAY this week to get even more stuff! Crazy, crazy stuff going on!

Hope you LOVE the new collections in the store too - Calista Collection and Jessica's Garden Collection. Perfect for Spring!! :)

New Kit up at KV (and a coupon, and a freebie)!

Well it is about time right? We have a new kit up in the store called "Calista". It was really fun to design - kinda freeing in a way. We tend to design project-specific and this one was just "design". We used a really trendy color palette and some cute birds to boot! Hope you like!

And, if you want to grab it on the cheap PLUS get a free quick page AND be entered into a drawing for the kit, we will share a secret. Head on over to visit Candi and Erica at the Scrapbooks Etc. Magazine Digital Scrapbooking Blog   and look at today's post!! Woo hoo!

Here is a peek at the kit (papers and elements are sold separately)...