{just me}

Weight Loss...

Before I go there, I want to give a couple of our Scrapfest Class kits away...to..

Oh my gosh!!That's a hard pick..right now im loving the Crate Paper Random collection!!

Posted by: christy | September 27, 2011 at 11:50 AM

I'd have to go with all of them but if you make me pick right now I'm loving banners.

Posted by: Doreen | September 28, 2011 at 08:38 AM

Thank you SO much girls just send me your info to michele@polkadotwhimsy.com 

Now onto a LONG time battle...Up until my mid 20's I NEVER struggled with weight, EVER. I was always a constant 110-120 max. Then after having Lillie it was much slower coming off, then seth well that was close to impossible. Over the years I have tried all sorts of "stuff" from weight watchers to jenny craig. For me what I know works is exercise and portion control and eating and choosing the right foods to fuel my body. So let's jump forward to earlier this year. During spring break we took the kids to Big Bear for a fun filled week, it was the last weekend of the lifts being open and a very freak snow storm came through. The kids have been bugging Evan for years to learn to snowboard. Finally he caved and we all went on the mountain gear in hand and a teacher to show us all how to do it {evan}. Evan of course is a great snowboarder, Caitlin,lillie and seth picked it up right away NO PROBLEMS. Well me on the other hand couldn't even get her self up on the board when I fell, not only did I have no muscle in my legs to get me up but I was also trying to get 207lbs off the ground. Needless to say I walked down the mountain in tears and headed back to the cabin to do what I do best SCRAPBOOK. My snowboarding days where done before they even began. I was sad, I wanted to be on that mountain snowboarding I wanted to hang with my kids and my husband but unfortunately fat took over. So let's fast forward again to about 6 months ago. I was DONE with being FAT! I was DONE with my favorite jeans starting to be so tight it was uncomfortable. Most of all though I was done with myself and this muffin top I had created over the years for simply being lazy. So I made a appointment with a weight loss doctor. Now some may think this is the "easy" way out well I am going to tell you it ISN'T in any way EASY! I have the BEST doctor in the world he has not only helped but he has changed the way I look at food and that is the core puzzle piece. We all can take pills or drink shakes but it is learning to control what goes in your mouth and the amount you put in there. It is taking a brisk walk everyday even if it's only 10 minutes. So for me it is yogurt in the morning, followed by a healthy snack, onto a protein filled lunch and then anther small snack and finally a portion controlled dinner. I also know this, I will be on that darn snowboard this winter and I will never again put on the size 18 clothes because the 10's are fitting WAY better. :) Hopefully by snowboarding season I will be in a 6, that is my GOAL 125-130 I have about 25 more to go. One more thing can I just say I never viewed myself as "fat" ever. It wasn't until that number on the scale that I was like NO WAY that's so wrong. It wasn't..lol...So anyway I came across a few photos and to me they show success...I am proud of myself...also what works for me may not work for you...but I wanted to share this small story and let you know if you are struggling with your own weight that it is never to late to get healthy!!!

This photo to me when I saw it showed me WOW...you have lost weight, because I am my own worst critic..but I must say all my photos from SCRAPFEST { which you will have to come back tomorrow and read my whole post about that fantastic event} are my favorite by far because I can see the person I was wanting to be...now I am not all that yet comfortable in my own skin...but it's getting better.....

I hope all of you have a fantastic THURSDAY...and if you have a weight loss story or any yummy recipes PLEASE leave me a comment with the link I would love to read them...

 

a BUSY BEE..

That's me! It has felt so great to be so busy lately. I mean I am always busy, but lately it has been more creative busyness. I recently got back from the Mall Of America for scrapfest. I went for Epiphany Crafts. I got to teach my fun class and demo and hang out and meet so many new wonderful friends. I was so WOWED by the fact that still so many people had not used our tool. So it was just great to see them so excited and run into archivers to buy them all. I cant even begin to explain how proud I am of these two..Brian and Tricia. I am EVER SO GRATEFUL to still be on there team and still be creating with a fabulous product. I appreciate so much all the great creative stuff that comes my way. From teaching forever ago at the scrapbook oasis..to the lil davis days..for my PDW..and still being able to create for epiphany. This past weekend I flew out to Las vegas and met up with T..{that what i call Tricia}..helped packed up from the IU event and then we headed out to the cosmo to celebrate her birthday. We had so much fun and ended the night seeing Steel Panther play. Then got home and texted back and fourth while HSN was on showing the new Epiphany tools...AWESOME i tell you...Do you have a friend like that..a friend that at any moment you can call..It's kinda funny in more ways than one she is my boss when I am representing epiphany {which i so respect} but then as soon as the Epiphany stuff is over we are just best friends...and I LOVE that...So while I have been gone...it's gets a little nutty around here because I am really good at running this household i will say so myself..So now that I am back it has been constant catch up..bills...cleaning...making menus..grocery shopping..laundry...just lots of house stuff...then all the PDW stuff...kits to kit...orders to ship...creative work to be done...speaking of creative work i got to do a few things for HSN...for Epiphany Crafts..it was a little hard for me because I am NOT a simple scrapper..{we all know that}..i like to put the kitchen sink on my layouts and projects..but when it is for Epiphany it is so specific to just showcase the "product" and not everyone elses product on the page...so here are the projects I did using the new scalloped shape and the new square and star...

I used the stars and scallops on the alphabet wall hanging..

made a fun birthday grab bag...using the star...

more stars...i LOVE the stars...and our September PDW main kit...

this one has the scallops...the square charm and epoxy which i punched the business card logo for the charm...and then used our small 14 round and my index prints for the border...

more stars and the sqaure charm...i JUST LOVE THE TOOLS....and wait till you see the NEW shapes....he he he he..

 

so those were for HSN....and this was my class I taught for MOA scrapfest...

I have a kit here up for grabs...all you have to do is leave a comment and let me know what your favorite paper crafting product is...and I will choose a name tomorrow....sound good...and to all my NEW friends I met at scrapfest THANK YOU for taking the class.....and I am so glad you LOVED IT!!!

 

A Lucky Girl!!

I feel so LUCKY at times. I have a fun creative business Polkadot Whismy, I have 4 beautiful kids and a grand baby and I have the MOST supportive husband EVER! I can get pretty cranky at times {well most of the time} and quickly overwhelmed were I am sitting in a pool of tears. Running a business from your home is NEVER easy especially when you have kids and a whole family life to still run. We are one busy family and always on the go mostly to the next soccer field LOL. For the past 12 years of our marriage though evan has supported everything I have done. From running a successful home daycare in our home to traveling and living on a air plane for Lil Davis Designs and all the way to Polkadot whimsy. When times get slow with PDW he always sits there and suggest different ways to pick it back up and is always willing to drive me to any estate sale or downtown L.A. to shop for PDW. Evan is the one that hand dyes all the buttons for PDW and sometimes he even cuts all the trims and fabric pieces. I often ask my self how I got so darn lucky. We are not a prefect married couple we have our issues but we are LUCKY to be such a great team with lot's of love. This past weekend he drove our daughter and her friend and I to downtown L.A. for some school shopping and when we were done we went over to the grove for dinner. After dinner we went walking around and there is a anthropolagie there so of course I had to go in and see it. While I was in there he went across to forever 21 to check on the girls and I guess he was looking at stuff {he always has his eyes open for anything creative to show me for PDW} and he found me this. A sweet 2.80 necklace because he said she looked like Whimsy {our PDW logo} I was trying not to cry. I am not sure of many husbands that will look at that kind of stuff and to see my logo in the mix of all of it let's me know that he cares and loves me so very much and for that i am SO SO SO LUCKY!!! Do you have a partner that sometimes just does things and you thank your lucky stars to have them in your life??? Thanks for letting me share I just thought she was so adorable and wanted you all to see it. Now I need a different chain though..off to etsy..

Hello Tuesday..

Good Morning Friends,

Finally ALL the kids are back in school, thankfully. I LOVE this time of year, it is my favorite time to decorate and get re-organized. We did though have a VERY stressful first week of school in the HILL household. Lillie was feeling under the weather but she went anyway on the 1st day. By the 2nd day she trooped on through and then came home went to make something to eat and burned herself really bad on her hand and wrist. Anyone who knows lillie knows that she is a goalie so her hands to her are SUPER important. So we wrapped it and iced it and as of today it looks so much better. SO scary though to hear your kid scream like that I don't think i will ever forget that scream. Thursday though she was sick and had a fever and all so let's hope this week starts off much better than last week!!! We had a busy weekend though I took Caitlin and her friend to downtown L.A. for some school shopping {i always new caitlin would love all the clothes} and then Evan re-did the backyard and planted grass I cannot wait to have a nice backyard to hang out in. Other than that it was just cleaning and organizing. I leave next week for Scrapfest in MN for Epiphany and I am really excited about going I feel like I havent taught anything forever. Also our PDW kits went live and I created some fun stuff with them i LOVE my little kit club it's so much fun. So I also started a little project I cannot wait to share the finished project with you it's really cute and it is for my scraproom...Well I hope you all had a fantastic long weekend and have a GREAT Tuesday!!!

secret project...LOT'S of fabric strips

and fencing from home depot...

my 7th grader...

my 4th grader...

and my senior...

a fun little mini I did with our add on kit...