Close To My Heart Scrapbooking and Stamping (CTMH) with Katie Orse

Is it Spring Cleaning yet?

I'm at home unpacking and doing all the laundry from our Orlando trip. It was fun and also a learning experience for me in the packing department. I rarely get to travel and when I do, it's very tempting for me not to take everything AND the kitchen sink LOL! I hate buying things on the road, especially for things that I may have forgotten to pack. Like I said, a learning experience.

Now that I am settled and at home, I have this need to clean out things and also to clean myself up. I made an appt. at my Aveda salon for a much needed hair cut and style. At the last minute I asked for a new hair color. I think I'm going to go lighter and brighter. I'm anxious to see what the results will be. I've lightened and brightened my hair before, but it's always nice to anticipate the final results. 

One thing for sure...my hair is looooonnnnnggggg. Long as in below my midback. I'm thinking about getting at least 4 inches off. My husband says no way! We'll see about that. In the meantime, I have some blog candy to share with you. While in Orlando, I made a stop to Ikea.

I love the color of this chair. I think it would be fun to sit on this while I work!

Love the wall color- very light and airy feel to this room. Just a simple small office in the corner. That's what I love about Ikea. It's simple, beautiful designs for small indoor living spaces.

Comfy bed with lots of closet storage! Holy cow! I could store all my handbags, and clothes just on one side of the wall with this entire unit. My husband on the other hand will just have to take a dresser :)

Love the color they used on the wall! This was a daybed that was very comfy. I almost wanted to take a nap there for awhile! If you ever get a chance to visit an Ikea store near you, don't forget to bring your camera! I used my iphone to take some pictures of products, and design rooms I liked. If you have a short memory like me, a camera like my iphone always comes in handy.

Inside closet home office inspiration

via www.flickr.com

I love this home office/craft area inspiration! The colors are very cool. What really caught my eye is how uncluttered and organized this area is. I love the good use of space. Very creative. Now that paint color on the wall is very inspiring. What do you think?

Too often I think as crafters/scrapbookers, we carry so much clutter. Do we really need all those scrapbooking items, fabrics, threads, yarn, stamps, paper? Do we use all of them? Scrapbooking items are very easily addictive to collect. I always tell myself, it's not the quantity, but the quality. I try to live by these standards to help myself from overbuying. Part of my New Year's resolution is to simplify my life better. That means beginning to purge and declutter what I don't need or have ever used. That also means, not buying new things to replace what I have purged away. A good rule to end the clutter cycle don't you think?

Home Office Inspiration

With 2010 approaching, that can only mean a few things for me: creating a few New Year's resolutions and business goals. Personally, I inspire to live clutter free and go back to basics. One of my goals: to simplify my life with just the basics. Sometimes I find myself walking around hearing too many alarms go off; one from my iphone, and the other from my laptop. Why do I set so many reminders for myself? That means I have too much on my schedule, too many things I've said, "yes" to and need to say, "no" to more often. 

So where should I begin decluttering? Probably where I'm at most of the day: in my home office. I found this inspiring home office design (above) that I would love to duplicate. Clean and simple. I could get a lot of work done without distractions. What do you think? What are you doing to simplify your life?

A new treasure!

While browsing at my local TjMaxx store, my eyes caught a glimpse of this! 

 
 

I have been looking out for the perfect Nativity Scene and I think I found it. I went ahead and purchased it.

Here it is sitting in our entrance way. I love the wood texture!