Organizing Our Bills

If you know me at all you know that I am a huge Pinterest fan, but really, who isn't? I have been browsing the "organizing" section a lot lately and have found many pins that have peaked my interest. So, of course I re-pin them to my "organizing" board. Well, I got the bug a few months ago to do something about the huge mess of paperwork, etc in my life.

I decided to start out slowly so the first thing I wanted to get a grasp of was our bill situation. We did keep them all in one place but really they were thrown in a basket in an armoire in the dining room and we had to dig through them to find the one we wanted. It was always a task that got "saved" for another day until we were paying at the last minute...or worse...late...again! Ugh. Enough is enough right? So, I looked and looked until I found this pin from this blog. Echoes of Laughter The title of this post is: The Absolute Easiest Way To Track, Pay & Organize Your Household Bills...No Filing Involved!

She had me at "the absolute easiest" but the "no filing involved" is what really got me hooked. I actually read and followed her post pretty much exactly. Here is my binder.











We have been using this system for a couple of months and really do love it. I broke it down into different sections such as mortgage, insurance, utilities, student loans, etc. Each section has a cover sheet that I printed on card stock so it would hold up for a long time. On the cover sheet is the company name, address, telephone number, website and our passwords for the website if we have one so we don't have to try to remember them. We can track the bills that are paid and when we paid them on the calendar at a glance. After they are paid, I punch the side and file it into the binder in that section. It is so easy and has really helped us to keep all of bills where they belong. Now, I even sort the mail and put the bills into the binder right away. So, having this little red binder has helped us tackle the mail each day and get rid of anything junk related. So, now there is less junk mail. It used to live on the dining room table for days, sometimes longer until I would "get to it".

I am so proud of this and even my husband has commented on how he loves the red binder.

I think my next project will also involve the armoire in the dining room. It now houses a huge computer monitor (not the flat screen kind) that is hooked to nothing and is taking up valuable storage space in my house. So, I am off to Pinterest to look for another great idea.

Until next time....

Michelle
 

So Proud!

I have to blog about my oldest son! I am very proud of him and his recent accomplishments. Both of my boys have been into video games for a long time and have done a lot of playing the games, listening to podcasts about gaming, and making games themselves.
Ian is attending University of Northern Iowa (UNI) and in the Computer Science program. He was working in the Study Abroad office on campus last year and worked on their website and even developed an app for them. Then, for the summer he received a job working on campus with websites as well. (I am not sure what else he does for this office, but he likes it)
He was telling his boss about a game he and his friends were working on and he suggested he check into some of the resources for students that the school offers. Well, he did this and has now started a gaming company with office space, and the works. He is so excited. His website can be found at http://glasscannongames.weebly.com/ and you can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/GlassCannonGms. I hope you will check it out!

Needless to say...I am very proud!

Flocking Technique Class

Welcome to my blog! I am excited to show you pictures of the Flocking Technique class that Peggy and I will be teaching at Micheggy Card Camp. The flocking technique is so much fun! One of these cards is done with stamping and the other is done with the cricut. The last one will be stamping as well.

You can sign up for just this or any of the other techniques for $10 each or you can sign up for the entire camp for $50 for non members of The Craft Spot or $45 for members. The entire day is the best deal!

The dates are Saturday, June 18th or Saturday, June 25th from 8:00 - 5:00 pm. The schedule is as follows:

8-9am - Folding Techniques

9-10am - Flower Techniques

10-11am - Ribbon Techniques

11-noon - Glimmer Misting Techniques

noon-1pm Lunch (on your own)

1-2pm - Digital Card Techniques

2-3pm - Punching Techniques

3-4pm- Flocking Techniques

4-5pm - Textures Techniques

We can't wait to see you. To register you can stop by or send your check to K. Jackson & Co. 2117 Main Street Emmetsburg, IA 50536.

If you have other questions feel free to contact Peggy at 712-298-0105 or myself at 712-480-2320.

Thanks,

Michelle

Craft Room Inspired Digital Kit

When I was designing my craft room last summer I knew in my mind exactly how I wanted it to look down to the colors on the walls and my work space. There was never a doubt that it would be mostly green and brown. True Michelle colors! But I love the earth tones so I looked to see what I had in the garage and used some golds as well. It turned out just how I knew it would. Beautiful!

I used a picture of my space and made a color palette for this awesome digital kit. I call it The Craft Room Collection. It includes 9 papers, 3 chipboard flowers, 3 chipboard scallops and a layered template. It is available free to those who take my digital class!

I teach digital scrapbooking at The Craft Spot and offer monthly classes. My next beginning class will be on Tuesday, May 24th!

Take a look at the mini kit and the layered template. Plus I made a sample page using pictures of my craft room...of course!

Fundraiser for an Excellent Digital Designer

Digital Scrapbooking Friends,

Check out this kit for Digital Designer Lauren Grier. She has been hospitalized with severe blood clots. She supports herself and her son with only her digital design income. Some of her designer friends made this HUGE kit as a fundraiser to help with medical expenses. I think it is a great cause I have already purchased mine. Here are links to the post where you can read about and purchase the kit and Lauren's store!

The picture below shows just half of the papers and there are tons of alphas, fonts, elements plus an action. It is really nice!



Lauren Grier Exclusive Giant Fundraiser Kit

Lauren Grier Store

This exclusive kit is only available until April 30, but you can purchase from her store to help her out as well.

Enjoy!

Michelle

Scrappers Guide Premier Membership

I am really excited about joining the Scrappers Guide Premier Membership. Each month I will receive a new digital scrapbooking kit, a quick album made to match the kit, 4 tutorials (this is why I joined) and access to the premier portion of the website and discounts on merchandise in the store.

I have looked at this site and received their e-mails for about a year now and never felt like I would get much out of the monthly membership. I just thought I could pay for each tutorial separately and would gain just as much knowledge. I was just floored by the tutorials I received and can't wait to take the time to sit and learn from them.

I played with the kit last night. It is a family kit but the papers are just fun and could be used for any theme. Here is the page I made.

I really love it and will be posting it to their forum. I hope you like it too.


Check out scrappersguide.com when you get the chance. If you are a digital scrapper you will love it just like me.

ICI Designs

ICI Designs is my new digital design company and this is the latest kit I have designed for digital scrapbooking. I just started and this kit is pretty basic as far as digital kits goes, but it has been tons of fun to learn. Hopefully I will keep evolving and learning and the kits will only get better! I have also designed a page using the kit. Too fun!

If you sign up for my Digital Scrapbooking classes you get a kit like this to use in class and to take home to use later.

I hope you enjoy!