Joining the Party: Where Do You Blog?

{Join the Party}

I know I am a late arriver to this party but it's better late than never, right?


I've had such fun seeing where all my fave bloggers do their posting via Centsational Girl's "Where Do You Blog" party... so I guess it's now my turn...

A little cluttered but that's how I keep my life organized... I like having everything I need at the tip of my fingers :)


Here's the view of the rest of the wall...

My "office" encompasses one wall of our guest bedroom. I was so excited to set it up and put together my matching black furniture, although I could stand for another book shelf... maybe I'll end up installing one on the opposite wall behind where I sit. 


Don't you just love my clip board I made out of a $10 frame and my cork/dry-erase combo board I scored for a $1 at a yard sale. It even came with a brand new marker! It's a great way to keep track of my lists without piling post-its on my desk. The catch-all tote was a splurge but I absolutely love how handy it is with all mu office necessities stowed in their own place.


The one down side of my "office" is that if I still have work to do when Luke gets home he usually ends up in the living room while I'm holed away in here :-/ So now I've been trying to save stuff on a pin drive and take care of it "remotely" on his half-melted laptop. The shell is literally half melted but fortunately the screen didn't get damaged O_O Remind me to share a pic of that sometime ;)


Well hope ya'll enjoyed the glimpse into where the magic happens... night night and stay tune for an exciting announcement tomorrow!

Taking the Pledge: Wardrobe ReFashion

Ever since we got married I have been wanting to breakout the sewing machine for a couple refashioning projects. Well looks like I now have the incentive...

That's right I took the Wardrobe ReFashion to not buy any new clothing for the rest of 2010. Hello reduce, reuse, recycle! I know Luke is going to love this because of the budget factor :) And I've always loved thrift stores finds more anyways.

I, Sebrina {aka Mismikado}, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of  4  months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings!


Stay tune to see what I come up with! ;)

Menu Plan Monday

After sitting down and reviewing our budget last week, we decided to cut our weekly grocery budget from $75 a week down to $50. I was pretty comfortable with this as long as I shop the sale flyers and utilize coupons and plan ahead for each grocery visit.

In fact it's almost become a little game to see what sort of yummy meals I can come up with while staying within budget...

Usually I go shopping every week in a half or so and since I only cook 5 nights a week, I got to plan for 7 meals this week and was able to to give myself an extra 2 days budget money for grocery shopping. I ended up leaving Walmart today spending only $40 on 7 meals worth of food plus another $24 on breakfast, lunch, snack, and dessert items. I am quite pleased with that total :)

Check out what's on our Menu:

Monday: Zippy Summer Shrimp and Frozen Banana Nut Treats
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken
Jalapeno Shrimp with Bacon & Cheese Muffins (we have about about 15lbs of pancake mix so I'll be using that for the dough) and One Ingredient Banana Ice Cream
Egg Salad Sandwiches
Stuffed Chicken Breast & Rice
Breakfast for Dinner (pancakes, sausage patties, and scrambled eggs)
Garlic Chicken Pasta

Many thanks to all the blogging moms and wives who inspired this week's menu!

Digital Scrapbooking

For a long time I have loved scrapbooking and shopping for scrapbooking supplies. But when I started getting involved in graphic arts I was opened up to the world of digital scrapbooking. Sure, you don't have all the wonderful textures and depth or a conventional paper page but oh the flexibility in color and resources! Especially when there is websites like {computer}scrapbook.com with it's hordes of free pages and elements. Another great plus, is being able to quickly reize your photo to fit any page layout desired.

So when it came to working on our wedding scrapbook, I knew I wanted to make it digitally and then just order the pages through ScrappingSimply. Remember how I picked up a copy of Scrapbook Page|Maps from the library? Well I decided to check out there website and blog and found this great contest to create a spread based on one of their sketches. 

Here's the layout sketch:

{page|maps blog}

And here is my entry:

{larger view}

All elements were from {computer}scrapbook.com and the fonts used were Marker Felt Thin, Oh {Photo} Shoot!, and Pea Paula.

Which form of scrapbooking do you prefer? 

Support your Local Library

{trythesky}

If you love to read, if you know how to read, then there is no excuse why you are not supporting your local library. When I first started hearing stories of libraries closing I was so disheartened. Especially when I read articles like this one in Newsweek that stated:

"A majority of the country’s library systems are having to make cuts, according to the American Library Association, and many of those cutbacks are quite devastating, even if the headline numbers aren’t as large. As cities and counties deal with the slow recovery, the budgets many of them adopted this summer for the 2011 fiscal year have placed large chunks of library funding on the block. For desperate officials, it’s a soft target, but librarians warn that cutting hours and positions might actually slow down the pace of recovery."

The sad fact is that I know a lot of people who love to read, but unfortunately turning to their local library for books is often the last thing on their mind. Although supporting local book stores or online sellers with great causes is good, the best way to keep your local library's doors open is by USING IT!

My local library has had to institute a 40 hour week because of budget cuts... that means that people with a regular full-time work schedule only have a 4hr window to go to the library each week. 

Of course the lack of library patrons is part of a much larger more serious issue...

But I want to take part in promoting more library patronage... the ALA is on a campaign for America's libraries and has provided a wonderful list of why they are so important.

Mainly I love libraries because they help us save money. There is no way I would be able to keep up with my extensive reading list if I had to buy every book.


But my library doesn't have the books I want, you say. That's where the wonderful interlibrary loan program comes in. You can pick any book you want, write down the title, author, and isbn and give it to the circulation desk saying you want to make an interlibrary request. They will have you fill out a little form and then they will find another library that offers the book, request it, and call you when it's ready to pick up. It's that easy!


That's how I was able to get my hands on a free copy of Scrapbook Page Maps which retails for up to $25.

{source}

Can't wait to get started on our wedding scrapbook with this baby :)

But like I said before, support your local library because you will truly miss it once it's gone!

10 Recipes I'm Dying to Try

Since I'm cooking 4-5 times a week now, I am always looking for new recipes. Here are a few I am dying to try that I found in the blogosphere :)

1. One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

2. Light Lemon Bars

3. Shrimp Cocktail Salad

4. Light & Easy Yogurt Pie

5. Frozen Banana Nut Treats

6. Pizzookies

7. Creamy Pumpkin Pie Yogurt

8. Grilled Romaine Lettuce

9. Simple Lobster Grill

10. Homemade Raspberry Jam

As a bonus here are a few recipes I have tried and can attest to their deliciousness!

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

Cupcake in a Jar

Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Tomato Salad

Purposeful Conception

So if you're paying attention, you would have noticed my Purposeful Conception badge on the sidebar. Now before anyone starts getting the idea that Luke and I are actively trying to have baby NOW, let me address this topic and bring awareness to an amazing program.


For starters, a baby is not in our future for a good 5 years. However, when we have said baby, I want to be fully prepared and ready to handle any unexpected situation. I also want to immediately implement montessori principles in educating our infant. I'm still navigating through the parenting techniques we plan to do or not do and that's partly where this blog comes in. 


Parenting Techniques I Like:

• Child Wearing
• Breast-feeding (until teeth start coming in)
• Use of a Montessori child bed
• Begin Bible education from infancy with My Book of Bible Stories
• Implement the Authoritative Parenting style
• Provide adequate discipline according to our child's needs

So how does Purposeful Conception come into play with all this. Well it is an e-course that was written and developed by Sara Cotner - the wife behind 2000 Dollar Wedding. In planning my own budget wedding, I fell in love with Sara's blog and hearing the latest in her past wedding planning process, life as a wife, and experiences as a montessori teacher. Because of her age, her and her husband, Matt, decided to have a baby within the first couple of years of marriage. But Sara first spent an entire year researching by "reading books, attending birth fairs, watching documentaries, meeting with a midwife, and blogging about the process." So she developed the course to share what she had learned in a consolidated program.

{ Purposeful Conception}

She describes the course as: "Preparing for pregnancy is a holistic process that touches in all areas of our lives. This course honors the multifaceted nature of conception and pregnancy by addressing a wide-range of issues. The general categories include--but are not limited to--nutrition, exercise, mental preparation, prenatal vitamins, conception as a life stage, stress reduction, finances, your relationships, and biological considerations (e.g., menstrual cycles and sex). This course does not purport to take the place of qualified medical advice and treatment. I will merely share the information I have learned (citing sources wherever relevant)."

I can't even begin to say how much I have learned in the last 3 weeks. It has provided me with an amazing list of topics to consider long before even contemplating getting pregnant. I especially loved the budget breakdown of the average cost of pregnancy and the first year of a babies life. I was fortunate enough to be one of the six winners that Sara chose to participate in the course for free. I am so happy that I chose to enter that contest because I feel this course has really helped solidify our 5-year plan and the things we want to accomplish before starting a family. 

But if you are contemplating starting your conception process soon or even if you are just curious like me, this $99 e-course is totally worth it. You'll have 7 weeks to complete the 25 daily lessons and the Purposeful Conception community forum will always be open to you. That's one of the things I'm most excited about keeping up with as the years progress and the women who I have met through this course begin their families.

Paper Punch Art

Even though I love craft projects, it's been really hard for me to find time for them now that I'm married. This is what spawned the "Craft Night" on the 3rd Sunday of every month with some friends. But when I can't wait a whole month to work on a project, I like to find ones that take up a small amount of space and can be completed fairly quickly.

{Cozy.Cottage.Cute.}

So when I came across this wonderful 3-d Butterfly Collage by Sarah at Cozy.Cottage.Cute. I knew it was the perfect project for me. Check out her post to see where she found her inspiration :) 


I have several pregnant friends right now and figured this would make a great budget & eco-friendly gift. I have tons of old magazines lying around to use for great patterns. But the only problem was that I didn't own any paper punches :-/ 


It was at this moment that I started kicking myself for passing up on some I saw at a yard sale last week... but never fear I could find some cheap ones online. And that I did!


Now I trust all you crafters are quite familiar with Create For Less, and I have to say I was completely amazed by their paper punch selection and pricing. I was looking for some gender neutral options so that I wouldn't limit myself to who I could make these for. And I was also interested in finding some grown-up possible punches too. Create For Less did not fail me :) For a little over $18 I was able to get these cuties here...

{bath ducky; button; balloon}

I think the ducky and buttons will be so adorable in a patterned wall art and I have a special project in mind for the balloon. I have been in love with the photography of Max Wanger for a couple years now and want to do a piece inspired by these photos...

{All Photos Property of Max Wanger}

These can be easily made by adding the balloon punch-out to some printed silhouettes...

Who knows maybe I'll even try to do one based on this amazing Up! themed engagement shoot :)

I'll be sure to share photos once I get started on the project.

{this moment}

A project inspired by SouleMama featuring

a single photo - without explanation - of a moment during the week that I want to remember.

Have a wonderful, happy-filled weekend!

The First Steps

{source}

If you are here because you follow my wedding blog, Mismikado Down the Aisle, then "Welcome!" You'd already know how much I love weddings and finding inspiration from all facets of life for them. But you'd also know, how my blogging has decreased since my own wedding on May 29th :-/