Holy Cow!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Making the deadline... :)

So I brought my boxes of Christmas "stuff" to Ohio to make my five for February since I noticed on the calendar that by the time I return to Jersey, it'll be March.  I'm still using up paper from the three Christmas pads I purchased over three years ago.  Can I say I'm so sick of this paper?  Ok, "I'm so sick of this paper!"  There, I feel better.  I've sworn that I'll never buy another Christmas pad BUT after learning they are already color coordinated (learned from the 6" x 6" tutorial by Kristie over on the OWH blog), it's inevitable that I'll purchase again.  Happily, this pile has whittled down to manageable.  And by the time Christmas pads are back, it'll be gone, gone, gone... YAY!!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Calla lilies...

These are some of the images I colored on one of my trips to Ohio in January.  See original post here.  I fussy cut the image (which is a Northwoods Stamp, btw) and mounted on different embossed papers.  The image itself has dimensionals on the back.  The middle one I will be sending to my mom (hence the glitter) as part of the "Pay-it-forward" initiative I'm participating in on Facebook.  That should definitely make her smile.  It does me... :)

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sketch Challenge #213

Wow!  That went together very quick...
 
In order to actually make a dent in my scrap pile though, I'd have to make a hundred of these... and there'd STILL be leftovers.  Ou vey!  :)
 
See the link to the Sketch here.


Oops... a little old!

I'm only 16 months behind in getting to this kit... oops!  This is a Simon Says Stamp Card Kit from October of 2012.  I've opened it many times but the colors just never really appealed to me and I would just close the box and move on.  However, now that I finally bit the bullet and just did it, the cards are lovely.  There are so many delightful elements in the kit, which you can see here.  I still have more paper but I just may move on since this was such a stumbling block for me, for so long...


Friday, February 14, 2014

A tour of my Studio...

WELCOME to my Studio, my sanctuary...
 
I've had a dream since I was a little girl to have a place to do my crafts.  I even drew it out in an Art class back in high school.  In that assignment, the room was very, very bright, with lots of yellows and a comfy sofa and a rocking chair.  There were afghans strewn across the sofa and rocking chair that I could wrap myself up in and sit crossed legged as I either crocheted or leafed thru the latest crafting magazines.  I got an A on that assignment, btw...
 
SO, how close did I come? 
 
 
As you come from the hallway, into the room (which has no door), this is what you see...
 
 
This little settee is the newest addition to the room.  We had originally wanted a sofa bed in here because at holidays, we tend to run out of room for overnight guests.  However, a full size sofa bed would have dominated the room and we can't have that!  This room was built specifically for crafting.  We had a chair in here for awhile but when I sat there, my cat Wuzya (her real name is Snuggles but I call her Wuzya and no, I don't know why), would have to sit on my lap.  With her on my lap, I was not inclined to push her away to get to crafting.  Hours could be wasted just to save myself some guilt until she decided we were done snuggling.  Damn cats! 

Ernie found this little gem at World Market in Columbus, OH and brought it back in the Tribute on one of his recent trips home.  It's absolutely perfect!  I can sit and think, go through magazines, enjoy a cup of coffee and Wuzya can sit with me without being ON me... perfect for everyone!  Well, perfect for me anyway.  AND it's so sunny in this room, especially in the morning which is my prime crafting and working time... 
 

The little white hutch desk on the left is where I pay bills or write cards.  I pay bills really well, not so good on the writing cards... :( 

The computer, Silhouette and Big Shot are on the right hand desk.  I spend way too many hours here; either on Facebook, Blogger or Pinterest.  It can be a real mojo-buster at times.  Under the table are dies, punches, embossing folders, extra cutters for travel and ONE of my travel Crop cases...
 
 
This is the view from the settee looking back out of the room. I often sit here looking at the cards in my card rack or on the shelves over my work table. Looking at them from across the room helps me to "see" them better and see what works and what may not work...


 

 This unit is six seperate pieces.  The three cabinets and desk are from Ikea.  This is mounted to the wall so will not be moving anytime soon.  When my husband assembled them, we decided to stagger the middle piece, which took some math and strength to do.  Thank God I married a freakin' genius!  And I mean that, truly.  He makes unbelievable magic happen in my home.  I can't tell you how many ideas I've had that he has made happen just by using his math...
 
The two pieces on either end are from the Christmas Tree shop.  The teal and tan bins in them are from Target... 
 
 

 
This side is very well stocked and organized.  The top shelf has three boxes that contain all my Christmas supplies, in those lovely decorated cardboard boxes that you can find in many, many different places.  When I work on Christmas cards, those three boxes come out.  The second shelf has the rest of my punches, on a staggered shelf, so I can see them.  Shelf three has my light box and splash guard.  The last three shelves have mostly paper, paper, paper, adhesives, miscellaneous supplies and envelopes...


And this is where my magic happens.  When "working", trust me, it is never this clean!  This was a rarity.  So, of course, I sat back on the settee for a couple hours and just enjoyed the view...
 
 
And this is the pièce de résistance, a sink where I can wash my stamps or clean my hands.  I love this addition...
 
And there you have it, my Sanctuary.  And I'll be completely honest.  I could not have had one thing in here if it weren't for my husband.  He has helped me make it happen, from thinking it was possible when we were first discussing a Renovation to the downstairs, to making sure I have every concievable piece of furniture and tool needed.  I love that man...  so Happy Valentine's Day baby!


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Finally, Wedding Cards I can write home about...

First, thank you to those that helped me get un-stuck over on Facebook.  I felt overwhelmed!  I really wanted to throw in the towel and head to Hallmark...
 
It was Jill that said, "think 'love' not 'wedding' when searching Pinterest".  Duh... what a difference THAT made!  It was Kathryn who said "pull out some papers in their wedding colors" so I put Ernie on a mission to find out what they were (the groom who is getting married Saturday was OUR best man last June).  Ronni and Pam mentioned white on white and Sandy pointed me in the direction of the white on white challenge on the OWH Blog. 
 
Ann said, "eat chocolate".  Ellen said, "walk away".  Sherry said, "keep it simple".  Lisa said, "keep trying".  Joanne and Cherie said "don't put so much pressure on yourself".
 
But the funniest was from Cindy when she said, "go to the store, look thru the cards.  Find a couple that get you thinking creatively.  Start giving it the critical eye.  Finally, flip it over and shriek, 'Are you kidding me?!!'"  I must have laughed for an hour...
 
 So, here's the results.  For the white on white, I've always loved that look but when I try it, I always want to add color. I was determined to stay on task... not bad, eh?
 
And the card in their wedding colors... came out stunning!  The card just before this final was 90% done when I smudged the ink... ou vey!  I had to just go to bed at that point...
 
The great thing is, I need both cards for this wedding.  Tom (the groom) worked for our company for over three years and the company is giving him a gift as well.
 
So, thank you again for getting me un-stuck.  We have two more weddings to go to this year and I bet I won't get stuck again...
 


Thursday, February 6, 2014

Little Red Wagon...

Here's more of the images I colored last week in Columbus.  This is a Stampin' UP stamp called "Life Shared" which I've had a long, long time and never inked up (a recurring theme here... did you notice?).  Anyway, this was fun.  I'm still a long, long way from great coloring but it is fun to "practice".  I still get alot of bleeding between colors, especially when the image has small areas like this one...
 
I'm not sure which layout or color combo I like best... any thoughts? 
 
I will color these again and next time I'll try cutting it in an oval instead of a rectangle
and see what I think of that...
 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Using Sherry's folder...

Well... Governor Christy did ask us to stay in.  And it IS a major mess outside.  So, who am I to go against the grain?
 
SECOND post in a day... woo hoo!
 
I had done a card around the beginning of January that I had CASEd from something I saw on Pinterest but I didn't have the embossing folder that was used and had to improvise.  Sherry asked me to forward her the pic from Pinterest and lo and behold, she had the folder.  She sent it to me on loan and I've embossed several pieces of white for future use.  I really like this.  I wanted everything to be matchy, matchy so I searched thru several pads of paper 'til I came up with what I liked.  The "Thank You" is a set of stickers by Sticko.  I mounted it on black. The gray is Stampin' UP's Basic Gray...
 
I think it's coffee time now... :)
 

Give a dog a bone...

And then maybe he'd stop eating my flowers... :)

These are some of the images I colored out in Columbus last week (see link here).  I got this set (and the paper) in the early part of last year while visiting an LSS in CT but it took until now to ink it up.  Insert: head hanging in shame...


Monday, February 3, 2014

Sympathy Card...

This is one of the very first cards I ever made on my own (back in 2010) and has become a go-to when I need a Sympathy Card.  And, unfortunately, I need one now.  One of Ernie's former co-workers brother passed away suddenly.  Ernie asked me to make one for his co-worker, in our behalf, and I was up at 3am this morning deciding what to make.  Going thru my old scans of cards I have done in the past, I saw this and rememberd how pretty it was...
 
Sorry for your loss Walt...
 
Supplies used...
  • Stampin' UP "Watercolor Trio" Stamp set colored with Marvy markers
  • Stampin' UP Eggplant paper
  • Stampin' UP Lattice Embossing Folder
  • Black linen paper from Hollo's
  • Crinkles Olive paper
  • Ranger Archival Jet Black ink
  • Silver brads

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Card Bowl 2014...


Sketch # 210... ON THE SAME DAY!!  I thought I could get this in before game time and I did... woo hoo!!!  Now to go watch the commercials.  Uh, I mean game...