Let's Reboot - Happy 2013!

Life was a bit challenging during the latter half of 2012, and no blogging took place (as you can see from the date of my prior post).  June thru December took me on quite a roller coaster of good and bad and in-between, but since the Mayans were wrong and the Creator let me wake up today to a new year, I can reboot life just like we reboot our computers.

2013 will bring different topics to this blog.  I won NaNoWriMo 2012 and will be in edit mode for my book.  I still enjoy crafting and this year marks Stampin Up!'s 25th Anniversary, so I'll share some projects (if I remember to take pictures--I made some cute things for Halloween and Christmas for my office mates and didn't remember I wanted photos until after they were boxed up for mailing).

And you will see posts on healthy eating.  I lost my younger brother to a heart attack in 2012 and my physical showed high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, so I intend to use this blog to help hold me accountable. 

Finally, I didn't get the pleasure reading done that I had planned--but hope springs eternal LOL.  I will read more this year, and not only about the Civil War and health/nutrition, but also politics and fantasy and mysteries and...you get the picture.  Actually, I'm loving Audible--Tim Curry did a wonderful narration of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and since I need to be walking/exercising more and sitting less, Audible will make the exercise much more fun.

And in honor of the new year, here's my first project--a totally digital piece because one goal for the year is to learn MDS2, the digital design software from Stampin' Up!

Putting My Butt in My Writing Chair

Found this over at Confessions of the Un-Published! today.  Great "tough love" for writers!




It has been a really strange day for me.  My schedule change threw me for a bigger loop than I expected, because I am a creature of habit--I've worked a lot of jobs and worked weekends on many of them, but it has been years since my days off have not been consecutive...so today was spent doing housework, laundry, grocery shopping (aka general living), and I just looked up to realize a full day has gone without getting to write or create :-(

Jackson's great video reminds me that I will never have a finished novel if I don't write the danged thing LOL...similarly, I won't have any more cards made for OWH or challenges if I don't sit at my studio table and create them.  So, even though my TBR mountain has been calling my name, and there are many new Blu-Ray/DVD movies out that I want to watch, and I want badly to blog-surf to see what new inspiration is out there (like Jackson's video for instance), I am signing off the Internet for the rest of the night...TGAN and writing chair, here I come!

My Muse is MIA

Try as I might this past week, no creating with paper was done :-(

Lots of general living occurred--work (of course LOL), the cleaning and bill-paying and shopping that had not happened recently due to illness, and the beginnings of a slight rearrangement of my crafting area.  For me, organization and creativity only co-exist when outlining chapters for my novel (and I did manage to roughly sketch out a couple of chapters this week, so all is not lost).

I was Blessed to receive a tax refund this year and chose to use a portion for Stampin' Up! products during Sale-A-Bration, primarily because of the great free product available with every $50 purchase.  The down side to ordering cardstock and stamps and ribbons and embellishments comes when you have to find a place to put all the goodies LOL.  So, instead of using the creative side of my brain (the part that was MIA anyway), I organized my dies and stamps and paper.  My brain stayed incapable of designing cards--what's up with that??  I even watched a few videos on You Tube to inspire creative thought, but all I could find was a blank slate...

That's not entirely true--I did conclude I had a few needs.  I need ribbon storage.  I need to find the instructions to my sewing machine (it has been unused so long, I can no longer remember how to set it for a zigzag stitch, much less use any of the more decorative stitches).  I need to find my muse...

Gingersnap Creations--Coffee & Cream

My cardmaking buddy Beverly of GottHeartArt turned me on to this great challenge blog and Yahoo group, Gingersnap Creations.  This is my first card for one of their color challenges--GC88, Coffee and Cream. 

All the products are Stampin' Up! 

The base is Crumb Cake and the panel is Naturals Ivory.  The ribbon is Chocolate Chip taffeta (retired) and the strip of ribbon was colored darker using the Chocolate Chip marker, while the bow is the regular ribbon.  Hemp twine strings the tags and the brads are retired from last year's Occasions Mini.

The two tags are from the "Puns from the Past" set and stamped in Early Espresso.  The "Take A Sip" wheel was inked in Chocolate Chip. 

I actually really liked the way this turned out (maybe because I love coffee so much LOL)  and I hope Gingersnap will like it too ;-)

Oops! Missed the Deadline (AKA Gotta Get More Organized)

Well, I misread the deadline for Jingle Belles this week and missed being able to enter the "No Red, She Said" challenge by a few hours :-(

I've tried to play there faithfully but just couldn't find my creative mojo this week where crafting is concerned (although I did outline a few chapters for my novel).  I need to work out a schedule of sorts I guess--a way to keep track of the posting days and the deadlines for the card challenges I enjoy.  So far, it's been hit or miss (mainly miss) and I want to get more organized. 

So, you card makers out there--how do you keep track?  On a calendar?  Make a daily/weekly chart?  What works for you?  All I know is what is not currently working for me...

Doily Card with No Red

This is a quick post under the wire for Bah! Humbug! and Jingle Belles...Bah! Humbug! wanted one or more doilies and Jingle Belles was "No Red, She Said" so once more I combined them and then I am hitting the hay for the night.  (OT again today LOL)  Maybe someday I will get more than one card done in a week?

Don't fault the picture please--the card is quite nice and dimensional in person (all products except the dollar store doilies are Stampin' Up!).  Baja Breeze background with snowflakes in Baja Breeze and Marina Mist; the brads are Tempting Turquoise and a single silver glitter brad on top of the tree.

The tree base is Soft Suede edged in Always Artichoke and is punched from the new Build A Cupcake punch.  The folded doilies were all crumpled and then inked (direct-to-paper)--the top one in Wild Wasabi, the middle in Garden Green, and the bottom in Always Artichoke.  They were then folded and inserted inside each other (just a tip--Sticky Strip is really needed to hold it all together without crushing the ruffly parts).

It's tactile but not girly; Christmasy but not red...hope you like it ;-)

Buttons, Bows and Scarves

Once more, a serendipitous situation for this harried crafter--my two favorite Christmas Card Challenges, Bah! Humbug! and Jingle Belles unknowingly coordinated their challenge so I could use one card for both ;-)

I had been putting this card together already for Bah! Humbug! who had asked for Buttons and Bows when I found out that Jingle Belles was asking for scarves, mittens, hats or earmuffs, and guess what my snowman buttons are wearing?  Voila--hats and scarves LOL!

No clue where the snowman and snowflake buttons originated--they are from my quilting days when I collected funky buttons, as are the tiny navy buttons.

The top fold card is Stampin' Up! Naturals Ivory, with a Whisper White Top Note die cut that was then run through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  Not Quite Navy Ink was used direct-to-paper on the die cut and sponged around the edges of the card.  I'm not usually fond of using wide ribbon on cards, but the Not Quite Navy striped ribbon loosely knotted here so resembles a scarf that I feel it is the perfect finish to the card.  I didn't use a sentiment because if I send it to OWH or From Our Hearts, it could be used for a winter anniversary or birthday or "thinking of you" type card...hope you enjoy it!

Stampin' Royalty Sketch Challenge #56

Trying to squeeze this in under the Stampin' Royalty Sketch Challenge for this week.  This is another minimally embellished card because it too is headed to either Operation Write Home or From Our Hearts. 

The stamps are retired from Stampin' Up! (the Big Bold Birthday set), but if you have My Digital Studio, they are available in that awesome software program.  The whole card is Concord Crush and Whisper White (patterned papers are from the In Color hostess DSP pack).

Another card that is simple, quick and easy to reproduce in quantity should you have a need to ;-)

Jingle Belles' Sketch Challenge

I loved the sketch challenge at Jingle Belles this week--nice and simple.

Many of the cards I will be making for these challenges will be sent either to Operation Write Home for the troops to use to send to their loved ones, or to From Our Hearts for the same purpose, so quite a few will be embellished simply if at all (the flatter the better for these purposes) and will have white, plain insides to maximize the amount of writing space for the sender's message.  This is one of the cards designed with that in mind--mainly retired Stampin' Up! products:  Always Artichoke cardstock (current) with Deck the Halls fabric, Tags for Christmas tag and inked edges that are Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme (all these are retired).  The Cherry Cobbler seam binding and library clip simply set off the single embellishment.
 
Here's the Jingle Belles' sketch that was the challenge, so I think I may have kept it too simple, but I am still happy with the result and I hope the serviceman/woman who uses it will be happy with it too:

Oldies for Bah! Humbug!

Bah! Humbug! has challenged us this week to use oldies--stuff we have had stashed away and perhaps even forgotten we had. So, the only "current" Stampin' Up! item on this card is actually the Chocolate Chip frame and the piece of Very Vanilla the trees are stamped on...

I've loved this Patterned Pines set from Stampin' Up! ever since it came out, but it is retired, as are the colors I used here--Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme were both In Colors for 2007 but I always loved them and couldn't wait to pull them out for this card.  The herringbone DSP is actually from a retired set called Autumn Meadows and the corduroy button/brad combo were Kraft and retired before Kraft was renamed Crumb Cake.  The bottom piece is a button and the top piece was a Kraft brad that I rolled and smooshed over the Cranberry Crisp pad because unfortunately I was unable to get re-inkers in 2007 for any of the In Colors before they sold out (won't make THAT mistake again LOL).  Really Rust and Cranberry Crisp were patted onto the Very Vanilla cardstock layer with plastic wrap--I LOVE that technique...

And I love how simple and easy this challenge was after the "cracker" challenge last week--ladies, thanks for giving us a bit of a break LOL!

Pink and Green Christmas Cracker

I'm not sure about pink for Christmas...of course, I am SO not a pink person ;-)

But I committed to a couple of Christmas card challenges for 2011 and boy, are they wanting me to stretch my creative muscles way more than I have in the past!  The Bah! Humbug! challenge this week is a Christmas cracker and as a good ole Southern gal from Texas, I'm not all that familiar with crackers, even if I have read a bit about them.  Then add in the Jingle Belles challenge of pink and green, and I was almost whupped.  But, I finally came up with this:

 

I used Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose and Blushing Bride (all from Stampin' Up!), and even though the picture doesn't show it that well, the cracker is dimensional--it was crimped and then folded under top and bottom so the Pear Pizzazz DSP ends could be folded and tucked under the edges.   Another smaller crimped piece of Blushing Bride was inked with Regal Rose then the punched snowflakes (again Pear Pizzazz DSP) were added along with a smaller Regal Rose snowflake stamped onto Whisper White.  The "JOY" is a portion of a stamp from the "Season of Joy" set from SU!  (Thank heavens it is Sale-A-Bration because I really need to order some more Christmas sets LOL)

Okay, Jingle Belles did say light pink (Blushing Bride), dark pink (Regal Rose), and lime green.  The closest I got to "lime" was Pear Pizzazz (looks kinda like the inside of a lime to me) and Old Olive (which sorta resembles the outside skin of a lime, right?)...so I hope they let me slide by.

Unmasking the Black Tulip--Willig Does it Again!

It's all Lauren Willig's fault I stayed up until 3 AM this morning--her second hysterical historical about a spy network operating from England into France (and another from Bonaparte's France into England) had laugh-out-loud moments as well as present-day moans of self-recognition. 

Again,we read a book within a book.  Just as in "The Secret History of the Pink Carnation", we  travel back and forth 200 years--from England in 1803 (the spy networks) to England in 2003 (the researcher and her foibles).  As both settings build on those from "Carnation", I highly suggest this to be a series best read in order.

I was delighted to return to her finely-drawn characters and even more delighted that so many red herrings were in place.  The fact that a bit of license was taken with history does not detract in this series as nothing is so blatant as to be jarring, and enough historical accuracy is present that I now want to undertake a study of that period of French history (one of the periods I have had little interest in until now).  I also like the way that bodice-ripping romance shares the stage with mystery and intrigue--it's almost like getting two books for the price of one LOL.

I hate spoilers and refuse to write them, so I will say no more of the plot.  I will say that since I have book three, "The Deception of the Emerald Ring", currently on my shelf, I am having a very hard time going about my normal Sunday chores--grocery shopping, laundry, housecleaning, card crafting--because I so desperately want to begin the next adventure (this one is set in Ireland).  But general living does not get easier with postponement and with a probable 50+ hour work week ahead, I have chores to do...

Just Because...A Color Challenge

The Paper Players are running a Color Challenge this week:  River Rock, Rose Red, Baja Breeze, and Very Vanilla.  I love color challenges because I learn so much about putting different combinations together (that's something I am usually too scared to do on my own).  Once I have direction though, I can often make it work and I think it does here (all products used here are Stampin' Up!)

The card base is River Rock with a Baja Breeze layer punched on one side with the Scallop Trim border punch.  A Very Vanilla rectangle is stamped in Rose Red with the phrase from Notably Ornate, then the corners are ticket-punched and the piece is sponged with Rose Red.  Both the safety pins and the button brads are copper-hued Vintage Trinkets.  The phrase is mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals.

My flowers are actually River Rock cardstock stamped in Rose Red with the butterfly from the hostess set Punch Potpourri, then punched with the butterfly punch, edged with Rose Red, curved slightly and attached together with more of the Vintage Trinkets button brads.

The Very Vanilla seam binding is easy to gather if you are patient--cut a piece about half again as long as the card and very carefully (I used a silk dressmaker's pin) grab about the middle three strands of the binding on both ends.  Slowly gather from each end toward the middle by pulling those strands (it is much easier than it sounds as long as you are gentle and don't break the thread).  Gather until it is the length you need.  I used glue dots on the ends (which are underneath the Baja Breeze layer) and actually tied the two strings together in the middle and then used regular transparent tape to fasten the knot and ends to the cardstock--that keeps everything straight and taut but nothing on the front of the card has to be fastened down.

It's not country or Victorian or vintage or retro--I'm not quite sure what this card is stylistically, but I'm pretty pleased at the way it turned out and I hope you like it too.

Gingerbread Men for Christmas--A Stencil Project

Here's my stencil project for the Bah! Humbug! Challenge this week.  I have very few non-Stampin' Up! papercrafting supplies left these days, so when I saw the challenge was to use a stencil and I had none of our Decor Stencils to hand, I had to "phone a friend" and borrow something.  Since I have a decorative button collection that included gingerbread men/women, I decided that would be the theme.  Here's what resulted (everything except the stencil and the button in the middle are SU! products):

I ran Crumb Cake cardstock thru the Lattice folder and inked the edges with Cherry Cobbler.  The seam binding bow is Cherry Cobbler and the diagonal accent is Chocolate Chip edged with Cherry Cobbler (oops--now I'm hungry LOL).  The stencil was a Lasting Impressions brass stencil that I used as a pattern for the gingerbread men (traced and cut loosely around--I didn't really want them cookie-cutter perfect).  SU! markers colored the eyes, bows and buttons, while a white Signo gel pen was used for the icing lines. The small button is from Jesse James (I think--if I am wrong and you know the right company, please let me know; all my buttons are out of their packaging and stored by season). 

Quick, simple and non-fattening...

Acrylic Paint Snow

I've never been a painter, but somehow I have a ton of acrylic craft paints.  The Jingle Belles Challenge this week is Use, Practice, Create with acrylic paints--easy, right?  Not for me...I'm not the do-over type at all, so there are a few things I might change here should I decide to make more of these, but once more, the card looks much better in person.  Not Quite Navy cardstock (Stampin' Up!) is the base and a very coarse sponge was used to make the snow out of white acrylic paint.  The SU! retired hostess set Pattered Pines was used for the trees--I stamped them multiple times in SU! Garden Green ink and simply eyeballed them on top of one another over and over until they were as dark as I needed.  The bottom of the card is actually embossed in white so the texture could be felt (I used Versamark ink direct-to-paper so that it wasn't perfectly smooth and SU! white embossing powder).  The Garden Green cardstock strip was crimped and the saying was actually from using a marker on one section of a stamp from "Seasons of Joy" that was then punched with the Modern Label extra-large punch and mounted using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Finally, I lightly sponged Not Quite Navy over the top of the "snow" and rubbed softly with a paper towel.  Sometimes less is more, so I left off any embellishments, which will make this card easy to mail.

To Perk You Up! A Colour Challenge

It may not perk you up, but I hope it makes the friend receiving it smile a bit.  A co-worker was in a collision Monday and has a concussion, so I wanted to make her a card.  She loves coffee, so I chose the old-fashioned percolator from the SU! "Puns from the Past" set and had decided to use Marina Mist and Old Olive--while mulling over how I wanted the card to look, I saw that Stampin' Royalty's Colour Challenge #54 this week was Old Olive, Marina Mist and Concord Crush.  Sure enough, the addition of Concord Crush to the mix was just what this card needed, so I am entering their challenge since they were the inspiration.  The Old Olive DSP is retired, but the filigree brads, Concord Crush DSP, stamp set and Marina Mist inks are all current.   Thanks, Stampin' Royalty because this wouldn't have come together this way without your input.

I have to confess--my flower is a dollar store mum I pulled apart and inked--not super happy with it but I had none of the wonderful SU! paper flowers and rather than trashing this mum, I recycled it.  (The next SU! order I place will be embellishment-heavy; our flowers take color so much better although this doesn't look too bad, and if I had already possessed some Marina Mist ribbon, it would have appeared here as well).

On another note--I've been really motivated this year with cardmaking and with blogging (and even with my writing), but the next several weeks may pose a challenge of another sort.  Until the recipient of this card returns to the office, I'll be working extra hours and some odd shifts.  I am determined to keep up the pace with this blog, but if I disappear for a couple of days in a row, it will likely be due to work.  Bear with me dear readers, and I'll try to keep creating and posting...and check out the great work other people are doing by clicking my sidebar links ;-)

Valentines Aren't for Lovers Only, Are They?

I haven't given a Valentine to anyone in years...somehow, my upbringing and life experiences combined to tell me that you will only receive a Valentine from someone who loves you (in the romantic sense) and you should never give a Valentine to someone you do not love (again, usually in the romantic sense, although exceptions could be made for your child or grandchild).  And of course, commercialism is rampant for February 14th.

This is however a new decade and a new Linda with new thoughts and ideas...so, I have decided that in the interest of spreading honest affection to those people who mean something special to me, I will make (and give) Valentines--and here is the first one:

I saw that The Paper Players had posted their first challenge for 2011 and it was for a Valentine; I love to follow them, especially since they use Stampin' Up! products, but didn't play actively there in 2010 and decided to do so this year.  This card went together very quickly (less than 15 minutes) and only used two pieces of the 6x6 DSP pad of In Color paper that is a level one hostess gift in the current catalog.  One sheet was Blushing Bride and the other was Poppy Parade.  A couple of flower brads, a quick word stamp from the "With All My Heart" set, some sponged edges, and voila, a simple Valentine for a special friend.

I actually like this layout so well, I may use it for other occasions sometime--I could see using stars instead of hearts for a patriotic card, couldn't you?

Anyway--hope you enjoy it, and I hope you'll come play over at Paper Players...

Countdown to Christmas 2011

I confess--I let Christmas 2010 preparations slide off into the pile of "good intentions" and never got my cards made even for friends, much less co-workers.  I of course used the excuse of renovation, then of NaNoWriMo and lastly of work, but in reality, pre-planning and less procrastination would have done wonders.

I already knew of (and visited from time to time) the great Christmas challenge blog, Bah! Humbug! (I had even played once) but I always let other things come before crafting last year.  Now, I have found a second Christmas challenge blog has just started (thanks, Sue for pointing us to this one on your great blog).  Jingle Belles are a couple of very talented women who are encouraging us to make a card a week (that's now 48 before Christmas--more than enough for my office and close friends LOL).

I had already decided to play at Bah! Humbug! and had decided on a gift card holder featuring holly.  Adding in the Jingle Belles challenge of inchies on a card seemed reasonable, so here's what I am entering for both blogs.  All papers, stamps, and punches are Stampin' Up!

This is the front of the holder; it is based on a great video tutorial from Holly over at Rubber Redneck but with several changes...the Always Artichoke inchies on the front are mounted on a belly band made of Crumb Cake.  The patterned papers are the recently retired Deck the Halls DSP and the stamps for the front are from the Tags for Christmas set which was also in the just-ended Holiday Mini.  Sorry I don't have measurements for anything--one of my best friends says I am way too OCD for my own good when I make cards and has encouraged me to "loosen up" and that's what I have done here.  I eyeballed everything, once I made sure the interior pockets would be nestled in well.  Speaking of the interior...

Here is the inside bottom flap (yes, I know--I need a photography class fast LOL...I promise to read my camera manual soon and also get a lesson in using my light box).  The green strip is actually the front of the bottom flap...I tried folding the top flap back all the way so it wouldn't show in the photo but couldn't seem to get it to hold still long enough to take my hand away, so pretend the top holly piece isn't there, okay?  You'll see it for real when you look at the inside picture below...

And finally, the inside.  The pouch is a Very Vanilla medium envelope that was sealed shut, then cut in half, so where the finger hole is on the middle panel, there are two pockets--one for a gift card and one for a hand-written note (or if the recipient is really special, a gift card in each pocket LOL).  The stamps on the bottom are from the Bells and Boughs set (again, recently retired--I still had all these things out so before storing them away, I decided to use them).  The red I used throughout is Cherry Cobbler--I love that color; it is a true blood-red and gorgeous!

So, I have one Christmas card/gift down for 2011...come join us at Bah! Humbug! and Jingle Belles, then we can all rest easy after Thanksgiving knowing we have our holiday cards done ;-)

Definitely Decorative! Great New Stampin' Up! Catalogs!

I'm loving the new 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! catalog items, especially the Definitely Decorative chalkboards that are mountable onto any clean, flat surface.  Even an apartment dweller can use these--they simply peel off when you move (no holes in the wall to be filled LOL).  How about one on the pantry door for a grocery list, or the mudroom door for family reminders?

And what can I say about the new Color Collections in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog?  They are absolutely gorgeous!  Fresh, exciting, new colors for all occasions.  And the new Getting Started Collection is ideal if you are just entering the realm of hand-crafted paper projects--cards, scrapbooks, art journals, home decor items (dare I say that Christmas is just 25 weeks away from today?  And handcrafted gifts mean so much to the recipient who can feel the love that went into the production...)

I hope you find time to wander through the wonders of the new items (and certainly, feel free to place an order). Playing with inks and paper and glue and scissors and glitter is something we need never outgrow...

Office Relocation, Phase One

You all know I work from home.  I'm in the same room of my house from 6:30 AM to at least 4 PM and if I am using my personal desktop, it is even longer. 

So, these are two corners of my universe:

and then of course, my crafting studio is in this room as well, so if I should be trying to make cards, sew, quilt, etc., I am in the room even more.  There is a small window with a bakers rack full of junk between the two desks, but since it looks directly into the patio and living room of the apartment across the way, I don't always have the blinds open.

As this is the smallest room in the apartment and the one most full of "stuff", it is hot, cramped and crowded...and I am miserable.

Especially after I was having A/C problems the first time (last month), I began looking for solutions.  I hate the mismatched desks.  I hate the fact they are 1) both corner desks, 2) they are neither one actually set into a corner, 3) the style of the desks preclude storing items the way I like to store them...in short, they may have been cheap solutions at the time, but they aren't working appropriately for my lifestyle.

So, as I started looking for better desks, I asked the advice of some friends.  They know me--they know I collect office supplies and craft supplies and have a large research library.  They also know I keep my A/C set on 80 to control my electric bill.  Their solution?  Switch my office with my bedroom.  What a concept LOL.

See, my bedroom is much larger.  I cannot put a ceiling fan in my current office because it would blow stuff around on my crafting table, but if that room was my bedroom, a ceiling fan would be an option.  The closet in that room has double sliding doors and would be more than sufficient for my small wardrobe, while the walk-in closet in the current bedroom would allow for storage that would NOT have to be out in the open.

When I first moved in, I did not consider this a viable option as I was having to run Ethernet cable along the baseboard and punch holes in the wall simply to hook up my work PC.   I was fearful of the distance and what it would do to my signal strength.  Now, however, with a state-of-the-art modem and wireless router, moving my work equipment another 15 or 20 feet should pose no problem. 

I'll post more pictures soon--especially the wonderful new matching desks I found!