Crafting Enthusiasm

Catching Up

2012-01-09T10:27:00.000-05:00

No, I will never really feel caught up, but at least I can clue everyone in on what's been going on. It sounds crazy, but I haven't posted since, like, August. Eek! The good news is that I have been so busy making stuff that I haven't had the time to blog. Really. Ok, maybe I did, but I got wrapped up in the making stuff. It's been a looooooong time since I have been this busy creatively.

What have I been making? LOTS of cowls and scarves. Here's my Flick site for them if you want to check them out. I went to my second-ever craft show in October ...

... and between the post in August and the show on October 21st (I think it was the 21st) I made 40 items. Now, that sounds like a lot, but the thing is, these are lovely short projects! I can do one in an evening hanging out with my boys and watching TV. I can work on them while I wait in line at CVS. I can work on them while I wait to pick up the boys from school. On a weekend, I can kick out several if the weather is bad or work on a larger project that takes a little time.

I did great at the craft show and sold about half of what I made. Not bad considering the show was tiny (about 8 tables in a church parking lot) and that I had the most expensive stuff there. The night before when I was putting tags on things and adding prices, my husband made me increase them twice, and I wasn't sure anything would sell, but happily, they did! I made a good bit of money for the church and came away thinking I could definitely do more of this.

Now, that's both good and bad, because my main goal for making things is to reclaim space in my house. I have a lot of yarn, thus, if I make and sell a lot of cowls and scarves, I should get back a lot of space, right? Mmmm, not when making things inspires you to make more things and go buy more supplies. Plus, I ended up not being organized enough to get myself into any other craft shows, and now I have lots of cowls and scarves, even after having given many as Christmas presents. Ah, the irony.

I do have some hope, though. I'm working on an Etsy site (currently empty, but that's a mental block for another day) which eventually will be a temporary home for what I make so that I can sell things without having to tote my wares around to craft shows. And I am taking some yarn back to whence it came. It's a sad thing, but if I am not going to use it this week, I need the space more than I need the yarn.

Knitting hasn't been my only activity, either. I made some fun Halloween albums and had a great time running a Halloween album workshop for a bunch of my friends (hello, ladies!), did the same with some December Daily/Christmas albums, made a load of cards as teacher's gifts, decorated the house (this is a big deal because I don't think I have managed this since we've had kids), had two birthday parties for my newly six-year-old (he's graduated from shouting "I'm ok!" after the crashing noises to "Nothing broke!"), and had a Christmas party for which I even baked cookies! We had a fun New Year's Eve too, and I spent most of that drawing calendar pages with the same 6 year old, more on which later.

And now, I'm trying to get back to something more like normal. A little less knitting, a lot more cleaning, and definitely some reorganizing. I have set up a few goals for 2012, including one that I blog here at least once a week and that I get our Christmas decorations down by this Thursday. More on the other goals soon, but another day. Have you set any goals for 2012? I'm off to work on getting those Christmas decorations down.

Happy crafting!

"Bulky Handspun" is My New Favorite Phrase

2011-08-23T09:17:00.001-04:00

This summer has been miserably hot, and I have not been even a little tempted to knit. I know, I know, there are those who can't understand putting down their knitting for the summer, but here it's just sweaty, ugh, no matter what type of yarn you are working with.

Click here for source.

A few days ago, though, without any warning, I was struck with the desire to finish a stole I started last winter. I blame Pinterest, because I ran across this beautiful little cowl. It's from a posting on Ravelry, and I am not sure whether you have to be registered to see it, but the pattern is free and very simple. Essentially, it's a triangle knit from the tip up until it gets to be a couple of feet across and about a foot deep. The beauty of it comes from the yarn. This one is done in something called Colinette Point 5, which is evidently from a British supplier. Sadly, it also apparently costs the earth, plus shipping. There are some skeins available on Ebay for a little less, so naturally I have been sucked into getting a couple. That's the beauty of a small projects like this - you can finish them with just one skein of yarn. A nice side benefit of this yarn is that it's so bulky, it only takes a couple of hours to finish a project like this. Size 19 needles, come to me!

So, I've ordered my yarn, and now I wait. Meanwhile, I have been entertaining myself looking at other bulky handspun yarns on Ebay and resisting the impulse to purchase even one skein of Knit Collage Pixie Dust yarn. It's even more expensive than the Colinette, and I have wanted some ever since seeing it featured as a lap blanket on the Pearl Bee. I even got to the point of figuring out that it would take about a dozen skeins for a blanket for our bed, but then I faced financial reality and gave up.

Click here for source.

I may yet get a skein or two to try with the pattern above, but first I want to use what I have in my stash and see if any will suit. I think the thing that makes this so beautiful is the hand dyeing and spinning, though, so I have my doubts. Most of my yarn is pretty but not up to that standard. At least I have two skeins coming that I know will work, and I am keeping myself busy while I wait with finishing up that stole. I am knitting it in a Bernat yarn called Roving, in a beautiful blue/green called Low Tide. The picture at right is from the Bernat site. Regular wool roving is actually un-spun yarn. This version is spun, but very soft and puffy. The pattern is free, but you do need to register before you can have access to it. You can get the pattern on the bands of some skeins of yarn at a local craft or sewing store too, though, just FYI. I don't know why it has taken me so long to finish this - it's a simple pattern and the yarn is very soft and pleasant to work with. The timing was just bad with summer happening after the first 8 inches or so, I guess. After I got the bee in my bonnet to work on it, I did about twice that in one go. Maybe tomorrow I'll show you my version. Hmmmm, I'll need some buttons...

By the way, if you'd like to see what else is catching my eye and inspiring me, you can see my postings on Pinterest here.

Happy crafting!

Kids Books We Have Loved

2011-08-22T11:10:00.000-04:00

My eldest is beginning to read chapter books, and while they are fun, I am already starting to miss the picture book stage. The youngest, who is about to start Kindergarten, is not as interested in books, though he enjoys story time. He's happier listening to a chapter book with his brother than in looking through a picture book. Hopefully, this year, as he begins reading, he will rediscover them. Before we get entirely out of this stage, I wanted to set down a list of some of our favorites.

You'll see from the links that these were snipped from my GoodReads pages. On a side note, I really like GoodReads - it's a fun way to track what I have read (though I don't put everything on there - the world doesn't really need to see everything I read) and to see what my friends are reading. You are welcome to friend me if you like - I don't post a jillion things, but I am an eclectic reader, so you'll get everything from kids' books, crafts and cookbooks on one end to the entire gamut of fiction on the other. Also, my postings there are like everything in my life - unpredictable. You won't see me for ages when my life gets chaotic, and then you'll get a flood. One of my goals for the fall is to get on a more regular schedule once the boys start back to school, so maybe it will become a weekly event, but I'll believe it when I see it. =]

It's also nice to be able to jot down a few notes on things I especially like, and they make it easy to share those reviews online. I am not an Amazon affiliate or anything, so I don't get any money if you click though and buy any of these, and I don't really know how that works with GoodReads anyway, but I do highly recommend them. Frankly, we got most of these through our local library, and I'd also recommend you check yours out too if you aren't already a regular customer.

Here are just a few of our favorites, but I'll post more as I can manage it.

The Plot Chickens by Mary Jane Auch
This was a wonderful read aloud books for my kids. It's full of chicken puns, the language is rollicking good, and it tells a ton about writing engaging fiction without being lecture-like or boring. I love that is features story time at the library too. =]

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner
We have loved Skippyjon for ages, and this, the first book in the series, is one of our favorites. Skippy is a young Siamese with a big imagination who likes to think he is a Chihuahua. Be warned: it is totally not PC - I read at least a third of it doing my best Speedy Gonzales impression. It is charming and funny, though, and the best thing about it is the language and word play. There are even a few songs thrown in for extra fun. The illustrations are wonderful, and the characters are engaging. I especially love Mama Junebug Jones and all the nick names she uses for Skippy, and the Chimichangas, a group of Chihuahuas who are Skippy's pretend friends. Skippy himself is super curious and imaginative, but also all rascal. He often disobeys his mom, so beware of that too. We just talk about what a scamp he is and how he wouldn't be able to behave like that in OUR house. Frankly, my youngest probably bounces on his bed more than Skippy does, but we won't go there. His mama loves him even when he's been bad, though, so we figure he'll turn out ok. It's a great read-aloud book, and there are many more in the series, some better than others. Well worth checking out.

Marveltown by Bruce McCall
Robots! And Science! This is all about how the kids of Marveltown, an awesomely inventive place, come to save the adults from their creations, robots gone awry, by using their own kid inventions, even a homework-eating dog. It's a great fantasy book to help kids picture themselves as creative and inventive and able to give value to their communities. I could practically see the wheels turning in my oldest child's head as he saw himself in the shoes of the young inventors in this story.

Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs by Giles Andreae
Another wonderful book to read aloud full of lovely fun words like "BASH and CRASH and SMASH!" Also, it includes awesomely threatening phrases such as, "And I'll eat you up with MUCH TOO MUCH KETCHUP!" It is a silly, thrilling adventure featuring two of my boys' favorite elements, pirates AND dinosaurs. The illustrations are great as well - lovely collages with lettering in varied sizes for emphasis and that travels all over the page as the story takes it.

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
Gorgeous, gorgeous illustrations and wonderful short lessons on taking life as it comes and being kind and mindful along the way. The phrase, "Put the lady down" has become part of our daily lives because of one of the stories in this book about the futility of carrying anger and worry. We now have pretty much every book we can find by Jon Muth and they are all well-loved.

That'll do for now. Forgive me if I have mentioned some of these before, the chaos at my house is stratospheric, and I am often confused as a result. Reading time, though, is one of the most calm and peaceful (and yet often also swashbuckling) times of our day, and we cherish it. I'll share more as I go through our books making space for big-kid reads.

Meanwhile, iIf you'd like to see a broader list of the books I've read, it's available here. GoodReads calls these "reviews," and technically that's true in that I have given them all a rating, but I haven't done many full reviews like the above. It's just to give you an idea of what you might be getting into if you friend me.

I'm off to weed the garden before all the grass goes to seed, then do some laundry and later some knitting if I can squeeze it in. Have a lovely, crafty day!

Cindy

What's Up at the Carlson's

2011-08-17T13:59:00.001-04:00

We have had a very full house here this summer, and now that August is getting to its mid-point, I am beginning to see that September will seem very, very quiet. For anyone who cares, here is a summary (I swear - it's long, but it could have been a LOT longer), of what's been going on with us lately.

I have had the pleasure of a ton of company this summer; both my boys have been home and we have had many visits from family and friends. The guest bedroom has been occupied pretty much since the end of June and the pull-out couch has been called to service pretty frequently to boot. I am LOVING the visits!

I really miss my friends who live far away, and one who is transitioning between Brazil and New Zealand has been here for the summer - such a treat. She is the best kind of house guest - a former roommate who knows our routines, pitches in, and who doesn't expect to be entertained, but who loves to hang out with us, is full of fun, and is excellent company.

The boys (and the adults) have been playing with a new super-fun, super-safe trampoline, and it's been great to see them having a great time, getting wonderful and much needed exercise, and improving their balance. My eldest has some issues with muscular development and motor skills, so we really got the trampoline as an investment in encouraging movement, but it's been an amazing amount of fun too.

I've been going on some day-trips with the boys to reinforce some school concepts, and those have been fun too. Coincidentally (not), they have mostly been to Richmond where my eldest sister lives, and we have been able to combine the field trips with visits to her and sister time for me. Such a treat! I have also been reminded about how much I love about Richmond, though the traffic on 95 to get there and back is not one of those things. We have been very lucky and had mostly easy drives, but my sister, who has also come to visit us for some quick trips, has not. If we ever move, it will either be to the area near Richmond, or to Brandon, Manitoba in Canada, from whence my husband's family hails. Richmond is warmer. Just sayin'. Of course, there's a whole lot to recommend about having Grandpa and Grandpa close by.

Another treat this summer has been Thursday night social and craft nights at our house - I have found a friend who shares my craft ADD (one of my college friends would call me a craft slut, 'cause I like 'em all). We've been having a great time experimenting with sewing, chatting, listening to music, and making up themes for craft night (food themes since we are happy to see anyone who will hang out with us, whether they have a project or not). So far, we've had a lemon flavored night (lemon squares, regular pink lemonade, Lynchburg lemonade for those brave enough to drink alcohol and try to work with scissors, and lemon glazed shortbread), lime flavored (lime tortilla chips and salsa, lime soda, some lime-based alcoholic beverage which I don't remember, but only because I have Mommy-brain, not because I drank too much) and a Mexican theme (nachos, Margaritas, and Mexican wedding cakes).

I've been sticking with paper crafting projects (except for the sewing experiment) and have mostly finished an album devoted to some friends who just moved to Brunei and the time we spent getting to know each other over the last three years, played more with my butterfly/spring notebooks, cut paper for scrapbooking an old trip to London (inspired by Shimelle Laine, not only because of her scrapbooking, but also because of her love of her city), and I started an album for a trip we took to Smith Mountain Lake last summer with friends. I've also taken my usual ridiculously large number of pictures, what with the visitors, field trips, craft nights and Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project in mid-July. That happened to coincide with a girls' weekend away too, so I have not only my pictures but also my sister's, ditto for our field trips.

On the other hand, I have totally lost my grip on my Project Life album, and I haven't finished much of anything else I've begun craft-wise. Chaotic is a mild term for our life at home this summer, and I haven't had much focus to get by with. Thus the lack of blog updates, but since the fall will seem so quiet by comparison, I have high hopes that there will be progress in all directions once the boys go back to school after Labor Day. Shimelle Laine has also been inspiring me to make some lists with her 10 on the 10th project, so I have a few of those in the back of my head to share in future.

Another challenge we've been working on has been house cleaning, and chores for the boys. It's actually been really nice to have them at home and they are (sometimes) a great help. They love any job where they can spray water, so the bathrooms are cleaner and the plants are staying watered. The cars may even get washed for the first time in years.They have also done some dusting and vacuuming, some dish washing and a little laundry. Frankly, finding short daily jobs for them has forced me to do more housecleaning this summer than I did all last fall and winter. Depressingly, it all returns to being dusty and/or dirty almost immediately, but maybe it will help me get into a habit that I can keep up when I am home on my own.

My fall goal is to get into more of a routine, planning meals, going for walks, doing the housework, and then spending a couple of hours a day on crafting and accumulating a stock of projects to use for a craft fair or two leading into Christmas. The paper collection is still embarrassingly large, and that doesn't even begin to address the amount of space I am using to store scrapbooking embellishments, albums, yarn, fabric, and reference books and magazines on crafting. My best hope, I figure, is to make, make, make things until I have dented the supplies, and that will mean setting aside time for it daily and having some kind of deadline to work toward. Look for a list of projects and dates sometime soon when I get that sorted out. =]

My dear husband is still stressing out about his job, though thankfully it's been a little bit better, and I think a return to routine this fall will be good for him too. One excellent note - his parents came to visit us in June and they inspired him to be up and about doing loads of small projects in and outside of the house. He has been going ever since - he loves the sense of satisfaction that getting things done has given him, and it is helping ease his frustration with the office.

So, overall, we are doing better. I am a little afraid of being alone so much this fall, but I am hoping to keep busy, and I will sure have a ton of fun memories from this summer that will keep my heart warm as the whether turns cold.

Life. Don't Talk to Me about Life.

2011-04-13T19:23:00.000-04:00

The title for this page is a quote from a very depressed robot in a very funny book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's one of my favorite books, and I find its contents applicable to a vast array of day-to-day situations. Currently it applies because I am feeling a little like Marvin, the depressed robot. Nothing major is wrong, but I can tell that I have hit the bottom of my reserves and need a fill-up of good stuff to help bring my attitude out of the depths and at least up to the mid-point.

Really, we are doing fine, and I don't have much to worry or complain about, but there is some significant background stress going on at our house, and it's worn me out.

My husband is in the midst of a struggle at his job, our vacation plans are consequently up in the air, I have a load of things to do as usual and never seem to be able to catch up, and I am having more trouble than usual summoning the energy to just get on with it. This happens pretty regularly, and adding to it, we are taking some steps to address all the things that are causing us worry, which sort of points a spotlight at the tangle. I long ago opted not to be a journaler - even an art journaler, tempting though it is because they look so neat - because I recognize that whenever I write something down it becomes more concrete, and I don't need any extra temptation or encouragement to dwell on my problems, and the last few weeks have reminded me why. Plus, journaling seems a little too much like talking to myself, whereas on a blog, lucky readers, I can at least pretend that I am chatting about things with my friends. =]

Over time, I have found that the best way for me to get out of a funk is to make things. I have been making a cool gift for one of my nephews who is graduating from college this year (the December Daily having fallen by the wayside to allow me a little slack as things became more challenging at home). Here's a sneak peek, but more on that later so it can be a surprise for him.

I have also been making some little books with a spring theme that may or may not end up being presents too.

This is one of those things that stalls me about making stuff. Making something makes me feel better, but finishing making something is a whole lot easier if there is an actual point to the effort. Making art for its own sake has never sat well with me for some reason. So, while I am sure my nieces and sisters and some of my friends would probably like a spring book to put notes and photos in, I am not sure they'd actually use them, and I am pretty much positive they don't actually need them. The papers are cut, hole-punched and bound with rings, but I haven't been able to get together the little labels, ribbons, and other embellishments from my stash that would be the finishing touches. No real deadline, so no real progress.

On the other hand, I have an embarrassingly large stash of paper-crafting supplies, and what else am I going to do with all that stuff? I could make things to sell on Etsy, but then I'd have to find the energy to figure that out.

So, back to the idea of some self imposed deadlines. This week's creative goal: finish the books above and the gift for my nephew. Cross your fingers for us!

Quick Update

2011-03-10T20:50:00.000-05:00

In case anyone is waiting anxiously to hear how my December Daily album is coming together, I have made a little progress. I got all the holes punched, I have the pages in order, I cut some paper strips to put at the bottom of the numbered pages, and that will be it until tomorrow evening at least. I have a terrible head cold and will be spending all my time with my current best friends, Advil Cold and Sinus, Halls, and Puffs. And my pillow. I love my pillow.

With luck, I'll be over this quickly and can get back to it tomorrow.

Night, night.

Deadlines

2011-03-08T20:29:00.002-05:00

" I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." - Douglas Adams

I read that today in a book by a new favorite author, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I have long loved Douglas Adams, and today his quote seemed very apt. Pearl-McPhee, also known as the Yarn Harlot, was quoting Adams in the context that knitters are pretty terrible at having any sense of how long projects will take. Even today I have a project in the works for one of my sisters whose birthday is this weekend. It's actually off the needles, but I still have some finishing work to do, and then of course I actually have to get it in the mail to her. Sneak peek:

So, that's one deadline, and I think I can actually make it. Maybe.

The other deadline is self-imposed, and that's that I have given myself a paper crafting challenge, the first part of which is to finish my December Daily album this week, by the end of the day Saturday.

Clearly, I am a crazy person.

Well, more accurately, I am an unrealistically hopeful person. By today I am supposed to have cut out all the card stock pages for the album and to have done all the hole punching, as well as made the cover and added some of the numbers and other embellishments to the transparent pages.

I _have_ cut the cardstock (go me!), so that's good, and I have punched a few of the holes, but I am not likely to get the cover done today or any of the rest. My husband has a work emergency, so I am on kid duty this evening and after that I will probably be ready to go to bed myself. Part of our bedtime routine is a five minute snuggle on the big bed before we tuck everyone in for the night, and it is amazing how soporific that is, and not just for the kids. =] Last night I was on kid duty as well, and rather than tackle my paper project, I ended up reading This Book is Overdue!, which I hadn't expected to be as engaging as it was. It's about the importance of librarians, particularly public library librarians. I am a librarian myself, though my background is in private law firm libraries, so I hardly need to be persuaded. Still, the stories are very persuasive. I made it about half-way through, compelled on by a story about a Connecticut library consortium working to keep their patrons' library activities private while under a gag order from the Justice Department. The worst thing was that as they were fighting in the courts against complying to a secret National Security Letter authorized by the Patriot Act, the Justice Department was all, "No, we're not sending any secret National Security Letters." Tooth gnashingly un-right. So, I missed my crafting window yesterday.

I could just dump my deadline and say I have two weeks to finish, but I still think I'll shoot for Saturday. My husband promises me an evening off tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes.

The boys at the hospital where we had the speediest service ever.

For anyone who is wondering how the trip to check the stitches went, they are out! Looks like my eldest had a little reaction to the stitches, since no one's body much likes invasion by foreign objects, and it was causing some swelling and redness and itching, but not actually a serious deterrent to healing.

Now, I have to go wrangle those two through the bedtime routine, but I hope to have an update tomorrow on the album.

Meanwhile...

2011-03-07T07:26:00.002-05:00

Though my current crafting challenge is well underway, it's only one of several things we've got going on this week, so since I got called out of bed at 5:23 this morning to find a lost stuffed animal without whom my youngest child cannot sleep, I am using this time to plan ahead a little.

Stitches
Last week my eldest, hereinafter to be know as Chaos, put his right hand through a pane of glass. We are very lucky; though he cut himself pretty badly, he didn't do any permanent damage. He did get three stitches though, and one of them seems not to be doing its job, so I have to take him in to get checked, and then later this week I need to get the stitches removed. I'll spare you the pictures.

Menu
I also need to get a grip on menu planning. I have been doing pretty well with this lately, but for some reason it all fell apart last week. I have been subscribing to Everyday Food for ages, and I have made a recipe here and there over that time, but it wasn't until I went through all the back issues, ripped out things that looked good and chucked them all in a binder that I really started using them regularly. Now I go through that once a week, pick 5 things to cook as entrees and - ta, da - menu plan. I literally pull those pages out of the binder and use them to check our stock for ingredients and then take them with me to get groceries. We've had some nice successes (Mediterranean chicken packets are one recent fave), and it's helped us get out of our same-stuff-all-the-time rut.

Last week, not so much, and I'm not sure why, but I'm trying again. The plan for main dishes so far is:

Monday: Salmon and zucchini baked in parchment.
Tuesday: Lasagna with spinach and prosciutto.
Wednesday: Salmon cakes made with leftovers from Monday.
Thursday: Leftovers of whatever we still have in the fridge.
Friday: Cubano sandwiches.
Saturday: Shumai (a kind of Asian dumpling) and soup (to be cooked by the guys, picked out by their dad).
Sunday: Slow cooker carnitas al la Cathy Zielske. Probably made with bone-in chicken thighs, though, not pork shoulder.

Also on the Horizon

Taxes.
More doctor appointments for Chaos.
Doctor appointments for his dad.
A visit to his classroom.
Filing medical claims with the insurance company and then
Filing claims for reimbursements for our out-of-pocket costs from our health care savings account.

And then the usual: an unbelievable amount of laundry and dishes, other less urgent cleaning that I have no enthusiasm for but should get around to doing, and a return to the low-carb diet of last spring (for me, anyway).

Time to go do the dishes and then get the boys out of bed. I have a planner somewhere too with more "To Do" reminders in it, so I'll add that to my list of things to find as we get everyone out the door. =]

Have a good day!

Step Two

2011-03-06T23:26:00.001-05:00

I have already picked my project, step one on my list, so today I spent my time with step two, getting together the materials I'll need to work on our December Daily album. So far, so good.

I have a plan for my cover:

I have printed up the pages for the 31 days:

I have picked and cut the transparent pages to go with each day, though I don't have a clue yet what order they are going in:

I have pulled together the embellishments. Sort of. Not too good so far at limiting them to a small number:

I didn't do much better with the numbers:

But, I did get my papers selected:

Considering that I have been pondering this since October, it took a ridiculous amount of time for me to get it done. I swear I had an acrylic album set aside for it, but I couldn't find it, though I spent a while looking. Then I went through my Christmas stash to pull all the materials, and then I spent a good bit of time looking over Ali Edwards' description of how she assembled her album this year.

I am happy to have finally gotten under way, though the next bit is pretty boring. Sometime in the next couple of days I need to do a whole lot of paper cutting to get those daily pages down to 6"x8", and then I have what seems like a zillion holes to punch. Looks like I will be spending my Monday evening after the kids have gone to sleep listening to an audio book or watching TV and working on the cutting and punching.

I also need to put the cover together - that shouldn't be too hard. I just need to paint the chipboard, which I have already cut to size. I am probably going to glue the chipboard snowflake on it first and paint everything at once, all white, maybe with some clear glitter. Tuesday I'll take care of that and put the papers in order, the numbers on the transparencies and add a few other elements like envelopes or embellishments.

After those steps, I need to go through the pictures. The spaces on each page in the template are an odd size, so I anticipate I'll need to re-print some of the photos I have already had printed at 4"x6", if I end up actually using the templates. I can always just use the card stock as a base for patterned paper, and depending on how frustrating it may be printing the pictures, I may end up doing that. I have some 5"x7" prints and a few 8"x10"s which I can make fit, but not many, and I haven't really looked hard at them and how they would fit into the album. That's going to take more time than any of the rest of the project. I expect this will take me most of the spare time I have on Wednesday and Thursday.

That's a pretty ambitious plan, but it gives me Friday and Saturday to finish up assembling things and to do the journaling. Yikes. So, for my first week, I've evidently picked a big challenge.

Wish me luck. I'll finish up each day with a post to show what I've got done (and to help keep me on schedule).

New Plan

2011-03-05T20:22:00.001-05:00

I have a new paper-crafting plan: one album completed each week. I have been doing too much reading about them and not enough making them. I have also been collapsing in my down-time instead of enjoying it. I have been making things, mind you, but not scrapbooking. So, I think it's time to get back to it. For anyone who wants to join me, here's my plan.

Each week I will pick a project (a challenge in and of itself since I am drowning in options). I don't lack for inspiration or choice, just incentives to start and finish. I could actually schedule these out in advance, I guess, so yep, I'll plan to do that. Doesn't really matter what I do when, so long as I get started.
I will gather the photos, album parts, paper and embellishments for the project of the week on Sunday. I have a ton of printed photos I haven't gotten around to doing anything with, and a ton of supplies too, so I should be able to do this without waiting for prints or doing any shopping outside my stash.
I will organize the photos into groups, and edit down to the ones I really want to bother to spend time scrapbooking with. The rest will go in a photo album. At some point they may get filed in my Library of Memories system.
I will crop the photos as need be, match 'em up with the papers, pick embellishments and shuffle 'em around for one evening until I am happy with placement. Most of my scrapbooking is geared toward albums, not single layouts, so I find it speeds the process considerably if I lay out the whole shebang at one go and get it adhered.
I will do the damned journaling. It is not as hard as my head makes me believe. I just need to get started and then finish. Additional embellishments as needed. On to the next project.

First project - December Daily from 2010. It's all in one spot, I have an album ready for it, I just have to get going. I'll post pictures as I go.

See you tomorrow with the supplies and photos.

Wanna join me? Leave a note in the comments...

Play Day

2010-11-11T20:58:00.000-05:00

Another beautiful fall day here for Veteran's Day, and my little one and I had a great time playing. Sadly, though I had my camera, my memory card was still in my laptop, so I am without photos of:

Pretend fishing in the creek at the park.
The big blond retriever, Boonie, who kept jumping into the deep water at the same creek to get a tennis ball, then shaking himself off afterwards to run back to give his owner the ball again. He must have done it 25 times. He was so determined to get at that ball that he mostly just got near his owner and tossed the ball in his general direction so he could whip around and leap back in even before his owner could throw the ball. Such a splash he made going in! No surprise that I heard, "I wish I had a dog," more than once while we were watching.
My guy realizing that he had made the right shoe selection when he picked waterproof boots this morning and that he could actually _walk_in_the_creek_!

I dearly hope the weather holds and that we can go back Sunday with the whole family. I am totally going to wear my rain boots, too. =]

Maybe I'll get some good shots then, Meanwhile, even though I don't have pictures from today, I do have one from yesterday that has the same sort of feel:

Definitely a butterfly kind of a day. Can you believe that there are any still here that haven't migrated yet? Amazing!

We did run a few errands (one was another trip to A.C. Moore to get supplies for one of the crafts on yesterday's list - yippee!), and we made it to the ice cream store, but not much beyond. I am still sick and haven't been sleeping well or even had a nap in a few days, so I crashed this afternoon. Tomorrow, the first born has a check-up and will be delighted to get out of school early, though maybe not so happy if he has a flu shot. That appointment will mean I'll have only a couple of hours to get chores done, so not much expected there.

Coming from a military family, I want to also take the time to thank all of the Veterans who have served or who are now serving their county, as well as their families. It is a huge sacrifice, and one that never seems to be appreciated as much as it ought to be.

Progress

2010-11-10T23:24:00.001-05:00

Loads of progress made today:

1) Sent in the forms to renew my passport. I stopped at CVS to get quick photos done for the ID, forgetting that I went to sleep late last night and that the kids got up REALLY early. Coffee did its job too well - I felt awake, but definitely didn't look it in the pics.

2) Finally got a new gas cap for the van to hopefully get rid of the check engine light that has been nagging us. Now I have to drive it 100 miles or so since the mecahnic won't believe the fix has worked until then and refuses to do our emissions inspection until he does. Maybe a quick trip to Ikea before the end of the week - what a good excuse to do that extra 60 miles round trip. =]

3) Found a fun idea for some Christmas gifts: I think I am going to make some tiny terrariums. Merrifield Garden Center had some lovely ones on display, and they suckered me into buying some tiny, inexpensive, plants. Not the expensive glass containers, though.

Side view - Nice deep bowl, tiny plants.

Top down view. The bowl is about a foot across.

I will look at the thrift stores to see if I can find some, and failing that, there were some very similar trifle bowls on pedastle stands at A.C. Moore that I saw for about $12, though they weren't quite as deep or wide. I think there is a 50% off coupon coming up there for the holiday too...

Their version, over $100. My version, more like $30, and that's if I go with about this size and don't find a good thrift store option for the container. These would look great on an office desk, I think, depending on whether there is some sunlight to help keep them going.

And I was a little shocked to see that the Garden Center's Christmas Shop was just about set up when I was there. They were still working on a few displays, but the bulk of it was decked to the nines. I love it, and it has become a tradition to visit with my sisters in December, but I was not ready for it today. It was a gorgeous 65 degrees, the sun was shining, and it did not feel at all like Christmas yet. Gave me the willies. Didn't stop me from taking a picture of one of the ornaments to help hold it in my mind in case I decided to make some at a more sensible date:

I don't think the picture does her justice. The trim around the edge is a lovely aged-looking silver, and her wings have a teensy bit of dimension. The base seems to be posterboard, but I'd probably go with something a little heavier if I made it myself. It was blank on the back too, and I would make it double-sided.

Other things I got to cross off from the to do list included calls to replace some lost items, yet another doctor appointment scheduled, and appointments made with a couple of companies to get estimates for replacing our windows and see if we can manage to get it done in time to get a tax break, if we opt to do it at all. Still have 33 things on the list. Tomorrow I am home with my youngest since his daycare is closed for Veteran's Day, so my main focus will be on things I can get done in the yard, or active things in the house (no paperwork, phone calls, filing, computer time). Plus a trip for some ice cream. =]

Today I also decided on most of the rest of my big handmade projects for Christmas and got the yarn (thus the trip to A.C. Moore). I went with some pretty, washable cottons that should work nicely for kid sweaters. The patterns I'm using are very simple and since they are relatively small sized with medium weight yarn and needles, I should actually get them done in time.

I also got drafted to help with a holiday bazaar at our daycare center. Anyone want a table who lives in Northern Virginia? They are a complete bargain at $15. It's a nonprofit, and they are trying to encourage a sense of community, so making money isn't their main goal, but it's likely to be a nice event and a good opportunity for anyone who can put together a few things to sell by December 18.

Naturally, I have already made a list of things I could make in my, ahem, spare time:

Denial, it's not just a river in Egypt. I do have a ton of supplies, far more than I will ever use for my own projects, and using some of that would clear some much needed space. Also, we could certainly use the extra money this holiday season, so I feel pretty driven to try to make use of the opportunity. Still, chances are that I won't have much time. Good thing the table is only $15, right? And I could always share the space...=]

I'll keep you posted.

The Latest

2010-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the looong lapse away. Since quiting my job at the end of August we have been through a bunch of changes, had a short weekend or two away, started some new routines, had two kids in soccer, had an enormous number of colds, been to a range of doctor and school appointments and just now, this week, I am starting to get a little bit of a grip on things.

One of my frustrations has been that it's felt as if I am not getting much done. This was a big surprise seeing that I came into this thinking, "Awesome! Eight extra hours every weekday!" Turns out that expectation was way off, mainly due to school schedules, soccer this fall, and much needed naps (they have a seriously detrimental effect on productivity, sadly).

So, in an effort to help me keep in mind that I _do_ often get things accomplished, I'm planning to try to keep a daily record, at least for a little while, of what's keeping me busy. I hope for any of you who aren't related to me that you may be interested from a comparative standpoint (well, at least I'm getting more done that THAT), but if not, apologies. I'll try to plop some pictures in now and then to liven things up, but today won't be one of those days.

This week the big focus has been on healthcare spending since it's open enrollement at my husband's company. So far in 2010, we appear to have spent $252 on the dentist, $1762 on other doctor visits and $475 on prescriptions. That was our out of pocket, not figuring what we may end up getting reimbursed, and not including the base cost of our family medical coverage which is also horrific - like $5000ish. To figure out our out of poccket spending, I spent time yesterday finding our receipts, no small task, and then putting the figures into a spreadsheet. I love me a good spreadsheet, mmmm, mmm. ;)

Then I had the pleasure of figuring out what our prescriptions would cost if we were to get them retail rather than through our awesome prescription benefit. Yikes! $4500! If anyone is curious, Walmart tends to be less expensive for retail subscription costs than CVS. I had to call and ask for retail prices since we never see them because of our benefit, and Walmart was also easier for me to get pricing from, though neither company had an easy online way to find the information, which seems wrong to me. Most of our prescriptions are not available as generics, and they cost the EARTH! Retail for the doctor visits would have been something like $3000. Happily, I didn't have to worry about retail for the dentist since we know we are going to stck to that same plan next year.

So, we went with a high deductible plan for 2011, and now I am trying to psych myself up to pay retail for the prescriptions and doctor visits for at least the first 6 months of the year.

Other than that, today I:

finally took down the Halloween decorations,
scheduled an appoinment with our financial guy,
rescheduled a kid's pediatric appointment, and beyond that it will be all the usual constant background stuff:
picking up kids' toys, laundry, cooking (breakfast, lunch and dinner today, hopefully to include some homemade sweet potato pies), running kids back and forth to school, homework with our oldest, soccer practice (in the dark this week because of the time change, but it's the last week -joy!).

Tonight I have the evening to myself because my hubby is putting the boys to bed and then has plans to play online games. I have a bad head cold and have been collapsing early, like 9:30, but if I can manage to stay awake, I will do a little knitting, watch some TV (Castle, maybe Bones, maybe The Mentalist), and maybe do some planning on what my next craft project will be when I get my current knitting project done. I have about 700 possible options, but I am trying to stay focused on potential Christmas gifts.

With luck, more tomorrow...

Thinking about sharing photos

2010-09-06T12:25:00.000-04:00

I have a ton of creative projects in my head not very patiently waiting for me to actually take the time to do them. This week is my first week with the new schedule, and financial planning is my priority, not creativity, but I am being distracted by two things happening on the Web.

The first, at Write, Click, Scrapbook, is a series on making digital photobooks by Marnie Flores. She makes a very persuasive case for anyone who needs to have multiple copies of an album (think grandparents, aunts & uncles, multiples for holiday gifts, etc.) in that if you create a photobook, once you have done it, to do it again is simply an issue of reordering. During the amazing snows this year, I did make some photobooks, and for the biggest I sent copies to the grandparents as well as posting them to a Shutterfly share site. The nicest books are not inexpensive, but the paperback versions are not too bad, even for longer books. When you consider the cost of buying an album, papers, and embellishments, plus adhesives and printing photos, it comes to about the same, though you get socked with it all at once when you make a photobook online and gradually when you make a traditional scrapbook. If you want to dabble but not spend the money, sharing them on Shutterfly is free, so if you want, you can use the site to organize everything and share it, even without printing a copy.

Digital has some clear advantages:

All you need is your computer.
There is no mess.
It can be super-cheap if you use existing templates like those at Shutterfly.
As Marnie says, they are easy to reproduce and share.
For me, they tend to get done much faster. I don't think of them as art projects, but as a way to easily and attractively organize large volumes of photos, especially those that I want to share with others (vacation photos, family reunions, really special occasions, etc.). The decision making process is streamlined, and I can sit at my computer for a couple of hours and be completely done, journaling and all, even when I am dealing with several hundred photos.

Considering that I have completed only a very few traditional albums complete with journaling, there is some serious appeal to this. I wouldn't use it for every project, but for some, it's really worth considering.

The biggest disadvantages to digital for me are:

They require an outlay of cash (for a large, hardbound book) all at once.
I don't get to play with the papers. I like the tactile part of scrapbooking, and I miss that .

One smaller disadvantage (to me, since I already think of this as less personal and more for volume projects, but not to everyone) is that the options for free templates is pretty limited. If you want more options, you can buy templates. Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske both have a limited but nice variety of simple templates available for free at their blogs, and a much greater selection that you can buy at Designer Digitals. Shimelle Laine has some freebies at Two Peas, as well as some to buy, and other designers I like are the Queen of Quirk, Katie Pertiet, and Sande Krieger. There are a billion choices once you start looking, and lots of freebies if you keep your eye out. Even the templates you pay for are not very expensive compared to their paper equivalents (many collections are now available in print and digital formats), especially considering that you can use them over and over again and print them if you like too.

If you want to make you own templates, check out that series I mentioned by Marnie Flores. She'll be spending this week going over the basics. Sande Krieger has done some nice digital tutorials at Two Peas, if you want more step by step about creating pages without creating a template.

The second distraction is Shimelle's class, Learn Something New Everyday. I signed up for it last year, though I didn't get to do much with it. As an alum, I am getting the daily prompts again this year, and for sure I am doing new things this September, so it seems like a good idea to start with that and maybe get some creative momentum going.

At any rate, the finances have to be taken care of first, but maybe by Friday I can spend some time catching up with Shimelle's class. Meanwhile, I'll be thinking about potential photobook projects. If you want to join me in either, it's not too late, and I love company. =]

Tell me if you are doing anything digital, or using photobooks. I'd love to see your work if you'll share a link. And if you enroll in Shimelle's class (it's only $15, and it's not too late), let me know. I love her classes - they are always a terrific value in every respect.

More pictures next time, I promise. Happy crafting!

The cat's out of the bag.

2010-08-20T20:41:00.000-04:00

It's about to be a whole new world at our house. I have quit a great job to become a stay at home mom, and my last day is next Friday. I have very mixed feelings about it, even though I am sure we will all be the better for it, or we wouldn't have gone ahead.

Right now, it feels like I've jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and off into empty space. I do have a parachute of sorts - I could always go back to work - but since I'm still in the free fall part of the experience, I'm not too sure I can rely on that.

Anyway, the good news is that I will be available for my kids, and much better able to take care of the family (including myself and my husband), the house, and the yard. The things that have driven me crazy to varying degrees over the last 8 years can finally be taken care of. I can spend some time planning our dinners so we can eat less convenience food and waste less. I can mend torn clothes and broken appliances (really - I'm kind of handy). I can help my eldest with his third grade homework for as long as it takes. Did you know third grade is the beginning of your infamous permanent record? I can coordinate with doctors and teachers, and that's is a huge load of stress off our shoulders. I can have a garden and not see it be overtaken by weeds! I can sew and bake and cook.

The bad news? We're about to be in seriously reduced financial circumstances. So, for the first time since I got married, money will be a source of some worry. We can cope, mind you, but we're going to have to totally change our lifestyle. Good thing I'm handy and will have time, not only for menu planning, but also for comparison shopping. Fortunately, we'll still be able to afford Internet access. =]

And while it's scary, and while I know we will all feel better once we have been through a couple of billing cycles and the roof hasn't collapsed over our heads, I am excited that I may be able to add some crafting back into my day. During my working life I have accumulated quite a stock of craft supplies, so I can finally enjoy using them and not even worry about it costing us additional cash. =]

I'm trying not to do the happy dance of having a ton of extra time for a while yet, though, mostly for the sake of my husband, the most thoughtful man in the world.

I have an unbelievable list of projects that we have not been able to get done over the last several years to attend to, and that's beyond the typical everyday stuff of life (laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. that we haven't been doing that well with either). I'll start with that, and we'll see how it goes.

Ok, and I've added all the blogs I jettisoned a while ago back into my reading list. And I have been spending quite a lot more time at the library. And I am hoping to be a regular blogger. And, yes, I already have a list of fun projects for some day down the road. Hey - I am probably going to have to make our Christmas gifts by hand anyway, right? ;)

Happy crafting! ("Woot!" she said. Very quietly.)

Change is coming...

2010-08-18T21:53:00.000-04:00

I finally changed the banner on the blog! Change is definitely coming, and more craft projects. More news on Friday.

Thursday Update

2010-05-06T10:45:00.043-04:00

So, consistency of schedule is obviously not my strength, but I am back to try again. I may even change my banner so it doesn't look like winter anymore.

I woke up early this morning full of things to share, partly inspired by Ali Edwards, partly inspired by Havoc & Mayhem, and partly inspired by Elizabeth Dillow. Remember how I mentioned I was planning to make this more of a family blog but still include crafting? I think the family part will be a weekly update, a random list of things going on over the week, though given my experience with the Tuesday review, the Thursday part and the weekly part are both subject to change without notice. =]

For this week, though, here's a slice of our life:

This morning, I looked out my window and saw this:

I have been stocking up on plants for containers on the back deck and around our front door. I hope to get them planted this week, but we'll see what happens.

The big guy made a beautiful raised flower/vegtable garden bed for me this weekend with the help of the little guys and a friend visiting from Maine. He wants to make a second one, but before that, he wants to clear the sod from where it will go. That takes a huge effort, so it may be a while. A neighbor says he'll let us borrow his tiller, so that will at least make prepping the soil easier.

The youngest is fascinated by the old Royal typewriter from Mom and Dad's house.

The eldest is reading more and more, but most of the books he brings home from school are still a little too difficult for him to handle on his own, even if they are about his favorite topic.

I haven't had a Diet Coke in over a week. If you know me, you know that is a change of habit of so many years as to be nearly inconceivable. I've started a diet under the supervision of a doctor (no serious health issues except that I keep gaining weight and need to be held accountable by someone so that I can reverse that trend), and it is breaking so many habits that I am very happily surprised it has been so easy. Low carbs, low fat, high protein, lots and lots of veggies and water. I do get to have tea, though - the doctor is a kind woman. Not eating sugar and not drinking Diet Coke seems to have helped me get some energy back, not what I expected. I have been feeling much more like my old self this week than I have in years, and I've lost 6 pounds. Frankly, that seems like a bonus on top of just feeling better.

One of the foods I have been eating on the new diet is Greek Yogurt. Man, it is fabulous! It's dense and rich and creamy, with a taste much like sour cream. Wonderful with a few berries, and if you'd rather have sweet than sour, add a little sugar (Splenda, for me). Evidently you can make your own from a starter. I am not quite ready to try that yet, but it's in the back of my mind.

This is looking to be a busy weekend: our wedding anniversary, Mother's Day, and visitors from Canada arriving on Saturday, including our 11 month old niece whom we have only met by Skype so far. Can't wait!

Thanks to NPR I am having a retro music week. They are playing a version of Classical Gas, one of my favorite songs from my childhood, in the background on my local NPR station during one of the fundraising segments. Also, Terry Gross has been interviewing the cast from the revival of Promises, Promises, and the original songwriters. I have a ton of Dionne Warwick in my head as a result, which is not so bad, really, though it's definitely not my usual.

First day of the Farmer's Market this season!

Given the volume of vegetables I have been eating, this is a wonderful thing. The eggs were too beautiful to resist, and they are in my diet, so that's all good too.

Naturally, now that I am supposed to not eat bread, I have become interested in baking. There was an article on baking with whole grains yesterday in the Post, and I have been tempted by a book on baking artisan breads and a second book on healthier breads by the same authors. I like the idea of fresh bread that doesn't cost so much per serving, and I like the idea of speed without sacrificing taste, but it's hard to justify getting up to my elbows in dough when I am not going to eat the end product. The boys would, though. I'll have to ponder that and decide later.

I am hoping to get some work done on my Week in the Life album and take some time off next week while we have visitors, so crafting may get back to the blog sooner rather than later. Or not.

Happy crafting!

The Tuesday Review: A Good Mail Day

2010-03-30T21:55:00.002-04:00

Yup, if it’s Tuesday, it must be time for a book review. Today the book in question is A Good Mail Day by Jennie Hinchcliff and Carolee Gilligan Wheeler. I am a sucker for a good crafting reference book, and while I use my local library as much as I can, sometimes they just don’t have the books that Amazon thinks I need. Possibly my tastes are just a smidge more esoteric than the general library customer, who can say? Anyway, I finally broke down and bought it after flipping through it longingly in the book store several times.

I love mail, and back in college (now over 20 years ago - yikes!) I remember writing loads of letters. One friend in particular kept up a terrific correspondence with me, and I used to very much look forward not only to getting her letters, but also to writing back and whiling away a good bit of time that I should have been paying attention in class in decorating the envelopes.

Today, almost everything we get in the mail falls into one of three categories:

1. Bills – And we don’t even get many of those, lately. Most of them are taken care of online somehow.
2. Catalogs and magazines – Again, not too many. We’re trying to cut back on both the temptations they offer and the paper they consume. Reduce, reuse, recycle and all that.
3. Random adds – At least we ask for the catalogs, mostly. The other stuff that drops through our mail slot into the front hall is generally not of much interest to us and goes straight in the recycle bin (unless I can harvest some of it for a project – reuse!).

Very, very infrequently, we get cards or invitations. Even less often we get a postcard from a vacationing friend.

But I still love getting mail, and while I don’t get many envelopes, I do get a shocking number of packages because I shop online. The best ones are from Etsy, not only because of what’s in them, but also because of what’s ON them. Those Esty sellers are pretty artsy to start with, and they know people who shop there appreciate a good wrap job. I am not sure memorable wrapping will automatically make me a repeat buyer, but I do appreciate the effort they often go to in making a package interesting and attractive.

The days we get a card, invitation, postcard or fun package – those are good mail days. I’d love to get more good mail, especially personal notes from friends. According to A Good Mail Day, they key is that to get mail, you have to send it. I can understand that, and since many of my friends live far away, they are excellent potential recipients of fun mail as well.

A Good Mail Day spends about half its time encouraging its readers to participate in the fun of sending artful, interesting mail and in enlisting others to do the same. Mail art, it says, is for anyone, whether you can draw a jot or not, and then it goes about offering some how to advice:

• It sets out some basic dos and don’ts for mail artists about what is allowed and not by the postal system.
• It describes a sort of on-the-go kit you can keep on hand for making a little piece of mail art if inspiration strikes while you are out and about.
• It also goes into some techniques that lend themselves to mail art: paper folding, found paper, textures, rubbings, fake stamps, and envelope patterns.
• Last, it gives you some tips on finding other people who might enjoy exchanging art mail with you.

But, A Good Mail Day isn’t just about reviving the lost art of correspondence; it’s about correspondence art – mail art. The part of the book that isn’t about regular folk sending fun mail is about an entire subculture devoted to mail art. There is evidently a long and pretty serious history of sending art through the mail, though the art itself is often whimsical. And it’s not only about sending art to be received by a particular person, but also about getting it past the Post Office. There seems to be an element of challenge in the process where a bunch of folks try to put a stamp on just about anything and see if it will make it through. Some thought, too, goes to the idea that if your art is on the outside of a package or envelope or on a postcard, many eyes will see it and many hands will touch it on its way so that it becomes a tiny traveling art exhibition.

So, if you are interested in the more serious side of mail art, becoming a networker, the book offers dos and don’ts for that as well. It also features gorgeous and inspiring examples of different kinds of mail art from that network to illustrate the techniques described above.

In some ways, it’s more like a museum catalog than my typical craft book. Personally, I don’t have the time to be as formal about creating a network of mail artists as much of the book suggests, but it was a very inspiring peek into that world. Eventually, when I have a little time, I will start sending some notes and postcards and letters to friends, and I will definitely use the book for inspiration and advice on techniques. Lord knows I have plenty of papers, lined and otherwise to sue in the process. Even if they don’t send mail back, it will still be fun for my friends to get the mail and for me to send it. And after a while, maybe one of them will get my copy of the book as extra inspiration.

Who would love to get a note from you? Who do you wish might send you a note? What would you send? Would you draw and color? Are you a word art person? What would you use as your mail art signature? Think about it, and check your desk drawer for your stamps.

Happy crafting!

Hearts, belated

2010-03-27T07:19:00.001-04:00

I took a class last year at Big Picture Scrapbooking called "A Life Well Crafted," led by Kolette Hall and her husband, Jason. The idea behind the class was to have participants focus on the positive things in their lives and celebrate those positives through a series of projects, one a month. I am not one for self-help philosophising, but the projects looked tempting, and hey, I can definitely use a little more positive in my day-to-day, so I went for it.

It turned out that I really enjoyed the class, especially the projects, but even the perspective on my attitude was a help. Most of the projects were albums, and through that class, I actually finished my first album, ever. I am an enthusisatic scrapper with lots of ideas, but I usually get 3/4 of the way through a project, and then something comes up to bog me down or derail me. Usually, it's journaling.

Anyway, I didn't finish all my projects last year, and one of my goals this year is to finish at least the ones I started. This is all part of my larger plan to use up my stash and actually make things rather than thinking about making things but not actually getting anything done. ; )

The February project was a heart photo journal. The idea was to take pictures of hearts, but not traditional Valentine hearts (you'll see what I mean when you look at my pages), then put those into an album. I got a little stuck on the not traditional heart thing which slowed me down, and really, who cares, do what you like. The point is to document what you love, and this is just an exercise in creativity and in training your eye to see a fun shape, the heart, in places you might not expect, or to find ways to create hearts out of things you love. Now that I am finished, I wish I had done more of the latter, so maybe that's what I'll fill my last couple of pages with.

It's been more than a year now since I started my heart photo journal, but I had all the pictures done before that month ended a year ago. Despite my derailment, I think it was a fun, simple project that others might like to see, so now that I am pretty much done, I wanted to share. The album Kolette used was a Maya Road heart-shaped sheer (semi-transparent) album. I don't think it is available anymore, but it wouldn't be too hard to adapt to any album. A clear album would be nice, though, because the techniques she used really took advantage of the layered look that comes from being able to see though the album from one page to the next.

This album was also nice because it had a spine, so we could wrap a ribbon around it. Kolette did some printables for each project, and for this one, she did a piece for the cover, one for the title page and another (which I think I have lost) for the end. She had us attach a strip of paper (doublesided, since you can see the back from inside the album) to the back, and for the front we did a little mosaic of the words "i {heart} life." created from another printable, printed on three different coordinating papers, then cut into strips and adheared together on the back of another paper (again because you can see through from the inside).

I didn't quite manage to get enough heart photos to actually fill the album, but I can always use my extra pages in another project, or as I see other hearts over time, I can add more in.

She had us use the bulk of the heart for the photo, leading into one or the other bump on the heart with the rest of the photo. This was pretty straightforward because this album sets the heart on one side. Your vertical photos go up into one bump, and your horizontal photos go into the other.

Each photo was backed with a coordinating paper, greens and pinks in her example and in mine, and not too over the top Valentiney. That's nice, because that makes it an album you are more likely to have out and play with other than in February.

Once your papers are attached (and you need to either use a transparent tape or be careful to only use adhesive in the square center of the heart, not in the bumps, or it will show), then you use scissors or an exacto knife to trim off the excess of photo and paper to match the heart shape. I am not a big fan of the exacto, and I don't feel very confident using it, but I got over it for this project because it really did make the curves easier to cut, and much more even and pretty. The backing paper shows through to the opposite side, and if you alternate vertical and horizontal photos, you get to see through to have a peek at that paper from the opposite side.

A non-heart album would work for the techniques we used. Just doing half the pages vertical and half horizontal to show the papers through the layers would be nice, whatever the content you were working with. Though Maya Road isn't making the heart album I used any more, they are still doing their sheer line.

Kolette also had us make some simple folded tabs out of the coordinating papers, and set them in the bump that wasn't already covered with a photo for each page. We also put a thin stip of another paper at the place where the tab and the photo run against each other to cover that join. Then we just wrote a word or two on the tab about what was in the picture, either what it was or where it came from or what we loved about it. Pretty simple, definitely doable.

So, a second album finished! It's maybe not my typical style - I am generally not the kind to type something, print it on three colors of paper, cut out each individual phrase and then reassemble everything as a mosaic - but I learned some new techniques for working with sheer albums, plus I think it's pretty dang cute.

Hope it inspires you to document something you love. =]

Happy crafting!

Things I think about at 4:13 AM

2010-03-25T06:15:00.001-04:00

My eldest does not sleep well. He often wakes up in the wee hours, either because he has had a nightmare, or because he is hungry, or both. This is usually ok in that he can mostly get back to sleep after a little reassurance and/or a snack, and I usually can too, but not this morning. Spring seems to have stirred up my own sleep cycles as well, so after an hour of trying to go back to sleep, I cried Uncle. Luckily, today at work I don't have any appointments with clients and I only have one call scheduled. The rest of my day is all administrivia, so I should be able to work early and nap later. My head is already full of things I need to do for work and ideas for projects and stuff I'd like to write about, so I figured I might as well get a start on it by making a list.

What was I thinking about? Well, I read a book, A Good Mail Day, last night before bed that got me excited about the idea of sending fun packages and postcards through the mail to my crafty/artsy friends/family members in hopes that it might encourage them to send things back. So I am thinking of what to send, what to make, who to send things to, and also about doing a review of the book for the blog. Maybe I'll start a Tuesday Review. Look for it, ummm, next Tuesday. I had already been thinking about that because of another book, Jean Therapy.

I'm also thinking about work. I have two presentations to give on our shiny new product, WestlawNext, coming up and need to get out invitations. I have been slower about this than I'd like, and the guilt is making me paranoid, so, that's my first order of business today.

I am also thinking that given my short sleep, it will be a challenge to focus, again, today, so I will need to make a big old list of priorities. I mean big literally too. Here is where I sit, and just next to my desk is the list of things to do that I make every day:

I use a pad on a clip board and write in Sharpie so it's huge. I try also not to put too much on it. Easier to focus that way, and it forces me to really choose what to concentrate on. I use my task list in Outlook too, but that is to add every thing that occurs to me during the day that I need to do and not forget. I used to put personal stuff on that list too, but then my husband didn't have any way to see it, so I have started using the Google task list for that. Not sure it will be any better, but we'll see. I'll let you know.

Also thinking about breakfast - may make a big omelet. The same kid who woke up with nigthmares has a super-loose tooth that will probably come out today. Something soft-ish to eat would probably be good, and both boys like eggs. This lets me slip in veggies for breakfast too.

And dinner. If the weather is nice, maybe turkey and/or veggie burgers on the grill. Otherwise, standby Bisquick classic, fake quiche but substituting the traditional ingedients with salmon and asparagus left over from dinner on Monday. Tastes especially good with a smoked cheese like gouda.

Also thinking about this evening. Thursday night is girls' night at my house, and tonight a couple of friends are coming over, mostly to just hang out and chat, but maybe to make something too. I am pondering possible projects that are social that I can work on while friends are here.

That's enough random chatter for the moment, on to work. Hope you have a great day, and if you are interested in getting and sending some artful mail, let me know...

Happy crafting!

Ms. Minimalist Strikes Again

2010-03-23T15:10:00.004-04:00

Hello, after a long absence. Just FYI, I am going to be changing the tone of my blog a little to let it better suit what I can manage for time, but I am going to begin posting more often again. Expect a little more about family and our day-to-day, but still mostly crafting. I discovered as I looked more closely at the blogs I read that the ones I value most are those that are one part crafty, one part life and family and one part fun, so that's what I'm aspiring to. I have been working on finishing long-unfinished projects, so I hope to post about them once a week or so with some other stuff, briefly, once or twice a week as well.

That's all possible because I am starting to get more wiggle room in my schedule again after crazy snow days, amazing work obligations and lots of continuing family stress. My fabulous husband is trying hard to free up some time for me. We had a very overwrought discussion (me: overwrought, him: taken entirely by surprise) last week about how I can never get a shower unless I am alone in the house, and it made him way more aware that I need to have more help on the home front. (Sorry, Brian, for exploding at you.) Apparently, I am fine, until I am not, and since I have trouble knowing until it is too late, we are working on doing a lot more daily communication about what's on everyone's to do list.

The work obligations probably won't slow down much, but at least I am starting to catch up with all that now that my kids are not at home for snow days WHILE I am trying to work.

It's a mixed blessing, working from home. Mostly it's terrific, and the flexibility is not to be beat, but there really is a different expectation of availability when you telecommute than when you are in an office. If you _can_ work from home, the assumption appears to be that you _should_, and will. I will have to learn better how to manage expectations among my family and my employer (and myself) if the snow hits like this again. Frankly, I loved having the record snow, but if it turns out to be a once in a lifetime event, I will not complain.

Because things were so crazy, I honed down my list of blogs again. Not to beat a dead horse, since I already listed some blogs a while back, but this is as much a record for myself as anything else.

I hate to part company with some of my favorite bloggers, but I can't realistically keep up. I opted for blogs of friends and a very, very few blogs for fun and inspiration. I also tried to cut out blogs that seem more about selling me product than anything else. At least, they may not have been soley about buying things, but they did too good a job tempting me to buy things than is good for me. Lots of cooking here, many funny people, and some good music and book recommendations.

• Advanced Citizenship http://blog.thepixelkitchen.net/ - A friend's blog on life in DC, music reminders too.
• Ali Edwards http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ - Realistic and inspirational. I have a 7 year old boy with ADHD, and I have a lot of trouble seeing the bright side some days. It is helpful to see another woman, about my age, with two kids, one a 7 year old boy on the autism spectrum, and how she works to maintain balance given the challenges of her situation. I definitely benefit from the example she shows that she can be creative and loving and positive and whole, and that she does it by working at it. It is not easy, it is a challenge, but it can be done. Maybe not every minute (certainly not at my house), but it can be done.
• Bits&Pieces http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/my_weblog/ - So, so funny. Cathy is inspriring both on the craft front and in that we are about the same age and she is trying to be better about how she treats her body. She is making more progress than I am at the moment, but she is definitely giving me hope that I can make those changes over time too.
• Cosmo Cricket http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/cosmo_cricket/ - Funny and inspiring, and worth keeping even with the added temptation to buy product.
• Digging For Fire http://ablazeydaisy.blogspot.com/ - Yoga and musing and life in DC from a friend.
• Eat. Drink, Laugh. Love. http://eatdrinklaughlove.blogspot.com/ - More yummy friend food.
• Elise Blaha :: enJOY it. http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/ - Still love the inspiration here, especially for minis.
• Havoc and Mayhem http://www.havocandmayhem.com/ - Funny, quirky life with kids. Just my speed.
• No Fuss Fabulous http://www.nofussfabulous.com/ - Crafting inspiration.
• One Pretty Thing http://www.oneprettything.com/ - I'm tempted to drop this because it's so busy, but I am hoping it will keep projects on my radar that I wouldn't see otherwise now that my reading list is so much shorter. And I don't HAVE to read the wedding projects. Really. I can stop any time.
• One Woman's Kitchen http://1womanskitchen.wordpress.com/ - More friend food. Mmmmm. Yummy.
• pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.} http://www.shimelle.com/ - Shimelle often tempts me to buy product, dang her, but she's got too many excellent ideas and classes to drop.
• Sarah's Recipe Box http://sarahsrecipebox.blogspot.com/ - Again, yum.
• Technique Speak http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/ - Inspiration.
• The Crafts Dept. http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/ - The one addition since last time.
• thelongthread.com http://thelongthread.com/ - Inspiration, mostly sewing.
• { a swoop and a dart } http://elizabethdillow.typepad.com/_a_swoop_and_a_dart_/ - I love Elizabeth's family stories, and her book and music mentions are great. She also has a great sense of fun and design.

Now, some of my favorite people, like Stacy Julian, may not be in the blog list, but I am still following them on Twitter. (See why I have no time?) But those postings are short, at least, and I can opt not to click through to them if they aren't TOO tempting. And I still get emails about classes at BPS and from other sources, so they haven't entirely dropped off my radar. Even so, the good news is that, now that I read fewer blogs, and those mostly not daily, I am actually making things, and that's a great feeling. More on the making later this week. Probably. ; )

Good luck with your own tight-rope walk, and happy crafting!

Cindy

My 4 Year Old Was Home Today

2010-01-22T18:23:00.001-05:00

And this is what kept him busy:

It made a huge mess, granted, but it was actually great that he was able to play on his own for so much of the day. The Rescue Heroes seem to have had some difficulty with parking their vehicles, but the damage is apparently minimal. They're pretty sturdy.

I love the Rescue Heroes, and I am sorry Fisher Price doesn't carry them anymore. It's nice to have a toy that actually makes a good role model. No guns, altruistic professions, and while super powers are ok, it's ok too that these toys don't have them. Gadgets out the wazoo, of course, but otherwise almost regular humans.

And why was the youngster home today? The threat of ice. Not actual bad wheather, mind you, just the threat. Yes, I am tsking at my day care provider.

At least I was able to work pretty successfully through a full day and he stayed happy and busy. Dang, he really is growing up!

No crafting going on here lately, unusually busy at work getting ready for a big new roll-out, but I have hopes for February. Maybe by then I will have the Christmas decorations down as well. Hope you are happy crafting!

More on Caledars and Year in Review Albums

2010-01-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to follow up on my calendar posting. Write, Click, Scrapbook has a nice summary on year in review albums that features loads of links to calendar elements you can incorporate into your scrapbooks.

Time Marches On

2010-01-08T18:53:00.004-05:00

Ack. It isn't even mid-January and I have already added a new blog to my list. So much for my determination to keep blog reading to a minimum. But I had to add it. Really. I _had_ to. If you haven't seen it, check out The Cottage Industrialist. I have visited this blog several times, but it was the 2010 calendar that got me.

I love the little sections for comments and things to pay attention to. I love the style and colors. I love the reminders to eat your veggies. All around fun, beautiful and practical. Pretty much the sacred three for me. And it's free! How can you beat that?

I have a thing for calendars anyway, so seeing this one, I was pretty much doomed to add the blog to my reading list. I also am a sucker for boxes, minatures, masks, moons, teapots, books (books to read and books to make for art or photos, especially tiny books), paper (patterned and plain, lined and not), art supplies, office supplies (labels especially), glitter, letters and numbers. But those are stories for other days. Today, at the beginning of the year, I am seduced by calendars. They represent a lot of potential. They are organized and clean. They make me think my life can be like that too, maybe. And often, like the one above, they are funny and beautiful and practical, other things that would be nice to be able to say about my life.

I didn't use a paper calendar last year. Having a blackberry for work means it is really easier if I can keep track of everything online, and then my sweet husband can see what I am up to as well - but I missed it. And so, as is my way, when calendars started to become available for 2010, I went a little overboard. (Remember how my plan is for moderation this year? Well, and being way more active and eating lots less, but you know what I mean. Anyway, the moderation thing is important so that I stop doing things like what I am about to describe.)

It started with this calendar from Paper Source. It's just little, the size of a CD case. Uh-oh. A calendar and miniature - already a killer combination. I could see it sitting on my desk, full of gorgeous color, texture and graphics. I figured I could use the pages once I was done with them in an annual album on each month. See - it would be an art supply too. Clearly I needed to get one. It would give me some colors and themes to be inspired by and work from. In fact, I even looked for 2009 and 2008 letterpress calendars so I could use them that way too, but no luck. I did find some lovely digital calendars at Designer Digitals and on Two Peas that would work, though I managed not to succumb to those.

But we do need a calendar in the kitchen, so this one did come home with me. Did I mention that I have a business desk at home? I work from home most of the time, and I now share an office with my husband, so I needed a little something for my desk there as well. I was sorely tempted by this one too. And Little Brown Pen did that great spoof calendar that I gave to many, many friends this year for the holidays. And an awesome wall calendar with images from Paris. I am still thinking about getting that one for a friend at some point. Or making one from our own photos eventually. Ah, another craft idea. Just what I need.

I really, really don't need so many calendars. After all, last year I got by with none. This year I will admit that I overcompensated, but next October when the 2011 calendars come out, I will try to be more moderate and choose just one or two. Or three.

Don't worry, the madness has stopped now. But if you find a beautiful little calendar you think I'd love, don't tell me.

Anything you can't resist? Even when you are on a financial diet?

Happy crafting!

Simplify-ish (aka: Moderation in All Things, Including Moderation)

2010-01-04T21:02:00.061-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I was especially happy in 2009 to have been able to be far more creative than I have since my second child came along. I adore my kids, but parenting tires me out, so it was great have a little more energy to invest in creativity.

That having been said, now that I have stayed up late over about a year pretty regularly to get projects done, read every craft site imaginable and taken about a zillion online classes, plus my ceramics class, I need to let reason reassert itself and try moderation for a change. Toward that end, I plan to take fewer classes (HA! Already signed up for two - we'll see how long that lasts), take one more session of ceramics and then take a break - probably for the rest of the year (I was actually not planning to take another session, but I have somehow guilted myself into signing up), and read fewer blogs so that I can actually spend more time making things and less time thinking about and reading about making things.

Gasp! "Fewer blogs? Which ones made the cut?" you may ask. "Which ones are so precious that Cindy was unable to unsubscribe from them?" Well, I just happen to have a list:

Advanced Citizenship (http://blog.thepixelkitchen.net/) – My friend Amy writes about life in DC.
angry chicken (http://angrychicken.typepad.com/) - A great lifestyle blog with lots of crafting and cooking.
ann wood (http://annwood.net/) – This is a blog I am new to, but I was so blown away by the paper mache boat tutorial that I am giving it a shot.
Bits&Pieces (http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/) – One of the classes I am taking is called “Design Your Life” at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and Cathy is teaching it. I am not sure how much I will get out of it since I already have an art background and know the basic principles of design, plus I know Cathy is very much a proponent of grid and geometric organization, which is not so much my speed, but frankly, she cracks me up. I would never miss one of her blog postings.
Cosmo Cricket (http://cosmocricket.typepad.com/) - Love the papers, love the design sense (maybe a little cutesy sometimes, but quirky with it, so that’s ok), love their design team’s work. The bloggers are funny, and they offer great crafting ideas.
Digging For Fire (http://ablazeydaisy.blogspot.com/) - My friend’s blog, about balance, sometimes literally (yoga figures prominently) and sometimes figuratively. She’s got a great sense of fun, and it’s a good read.
Eat.Drink.Laugh.Love (http://eatdrinklaughlove.blogspot.com/) - Another friend's blog, mostly about cooking. Yummmm.
Effer Dares (http://www.efferdares.com/) - I am not much into challenge blogs, but they come up with some thought provoking ideas, and I love that they don’t take themselves too seriously.
Elise Blaha :: enJOY it. (http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/) - Man, some days I wish I was Elise Blaha. She is young, creative, inspired, energetic and good at what she does, and she is super-inspiring to me. If the Interwebs had been around twenty-some years ago when I was her age, I like to think I might have had an Etsy shop and tried to make a living by it.
Havoc and Mayhem (http://www.havocandmayhem.com/) – I think the writer of this blog is funny, and her stories of life with two boys are sweet and parallel our life in interesting ways. She’s crafty too, and interested in photography. Much to enjoy.
HELLOmynameisHeather (http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/) – Fun, colorful fabric designs and crafts.
Jamaica (http://www.jamaicamakes.com/) - One of the Effers from the Effer Dares, Jamaica not only makes crafts and shares my obsession about books and lined papers, but she makes me laugh too.
jamaica makes book of lists (http://www.jamaicamakes.com/book_of_lists) - Another Jamaica site, devoted to her love of lists. Totally irreverent, not for the conservative.
live.life.create.art (http://livelifecreateart.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default) – This blogger is a crafter and on a scrapbook kit design team, but what keeps me coming back are her crafts and taste in music.
makelifesweet (http://sweetwater.typepad.com/makelifesweet/) – Fabric design, quilting (which I don’t do - so far - but which they make seem possible) and crafts.
molly irwin (http://mollyirwin.typepad.com/mollyirwin/) – Molly used to work for Martha, and you can see it in her very fine sense of design. She doesn’t blog about design much, actually, but you can see how it is integrated in everything she does.
Moose Munch (http://moosemunch.blogspot.com/) - My cousin Natalie blogs here about being a feminist liberal. I am a feminist moderate, but it’s nice for me to see her go for broke, ya’ know?
my life in lowercase (http://celestefs.blogspot.com/) – This is a blog that almost entirely references other blogs - just a picture and a link to the source. Mostly the links are to printables, and I invariably love them.
No Fuss Fabulous (http://www.nofussfabulous.com/) – Fun sewing, crafting, and cooking ideas.
One Pretty Thing (http://www.oneprettything.com/) – This is a site that aggregates postings on crafts, sewing, party decorations, weddings, etc. from all over the Web. They (she?) do (does?) multiple postings daily, so beware. It’s worth keeping to me, though. I can see many ideas I would miss otherwise because I am trying to keep blog subscriptions to a minimum.
pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.} (http://www.shimelle.com/) – Shimelle is a scrapbooking maven based in the UK. She is a little on the pink side for me, but I have learned a ton from reading her postings and taking her classes.
Sarah's Recipe Box (http://sarahsrecipebox.blogspot.com/) - I love this site. One of my librarian colleagues created it as a way to document favorite family recipes for her daughter.
shopEvalicious.com (http://www.shopevalicious.com/) – This blogger loves mini-books, and I love her design sense.
stacyjulian.com (http://stacyjulian.com/blog/) – Stacy got me creating again last year. She is a proponent of low-stress creativity, though you get the idea it’s more of a goal than a reality for her personally. She started Big Picture Scrapbooking, the source of both the classes I am currently taking, and she founded Simple Scrapbooks. I love her emphasis on the positive, and all her reminders to keep your perspective. I need that, often.
Technique Speak (http://techniquespeak.blogspot.com/) - Inspiring art experimentation, beautiful images.
the purl bee (http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/) - This is a shop blog for a place in NY that I will probably never visit, but it reminds me of why I love fabric and yarn and other textiles. Great projects, lots of inspiration.
thelongthread.com (http://thelongthread.com/) - More sewing and embroidery and other textile art with a little crafting thrown in.
whip up (http://whipup.net/) – Another site that points to others, again usually with a single photo and a link to the source, but beautiful crafts of all kinds, and usually doable. Well, mostly. ; )
Write. Click. Scrapbook. (http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/) - When Simple Scrapbooks went away, the women who worked there put together this site to carry on the philosophy and to generate traffic to their blogs. That sounds self-serving, but they are super creative and have great ideas.
{ a swoop and a dart } (http://elizabethdillow.typepad.com/) I like Elizabeth Dillow. She seems like someone I would like to hang out with. This is almost more of a family blog than a scrapbooking or crafting blog, but there is a little of that too. I am taking Elizabeth’s class, “Inspriation Defined,” at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and I love her sense of color and fun.

That list may not seem very different than what I have posted in my sidebar, but somehow between starting this blog at the end of October and posting this note today, I had more than tripled the number of blogs I was reading. 30 is a big decrease (really, only about 25 if you are looking at craft blogs, right?), and much more manageable. I never think I am biting off more than I can chew (and that applies to pretty much every area of my life), but even I could see that I was spending too much time reading and not enough making stuff. I love the reading and the inspiration, but the crafting is what really makes me happy.

Moderation is going to extend to this blog as well. I loved posting daily when I took Shimelle's class, "Blogging for Scrapbookers," and I would highly recomend the class, but I am not going to be able to maintain that pace. Look for a posting about once a week, and if you follow me on Twitter (craftminx), you will see more frequent but less regular links to projects that make me go, "Wow! Cool! I want to make that."

Here's to moderation in the new year, everyone. Let your pastimes bring you joy and not frustration.

Happy crafting (and I really mean that). =]

Parallel Universe and Hiatus

2009-12-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

Hello, ya'll. I have been a little busier than usual at work lately, plus with Christmas prep, an unexpected visit from my parents and birthday activities for my newly four-year-old. Thus, no activity on the crafty side of things. I didn't even make it to my ceramics class this week, and it was the last of the session. I think I still have some pieces to trim, too.

Anyway, if you want to check out what I have been doing in my other life, it's over here. I have still been taking pictures, and I promise to get back to crafting and blogging a bit more after the holidays, but for the moment, I think I am going to need a hiatus to maintain my sanity and get some rest. So, I will see you in January. Meanwhile, I wish you:

Happy Crafting!

Neighbor/Teacher Gifts, Homemade Boxes and Giveaway Reminder

2009-12-03T15:16:00.001-05:00

Do you give gifts to your neighbors? What about teachers? The mail carrier?

We usually give thank you gifts of a little galvanized bucket (often $1 at Target in the bins at the front of the store) or a small recycled gift bag (I swear they breed in my closets) and fill them with cookies. The cookies go in waxed paper, that goes in gift tissue, and that goes in the bucket or bag. (Sometimes you can find printed cellophane, and that's even better since it's one less step.

The bucket or bag handle gets decorated with ribbons and/or garland, and then an ornament and a tag. I keep my eye out for ornaments and decorations at estate sales to use - very sparkly. Last year's looked like this:

We add a gift card for teachers, the mail carrier, the trash guys and the newspaper delivery person. Some _very_ special people get a whole cake or tart on a plate wrapped in colored cellophane with a big bow and a tag. A flourless chocolate cake is a big hit and you can decorate it with just a stencil and some confectioners sugar - not too hard to make and decorate, but very pretty. You might also consider sprinkles or crushed nuts for around the outside edge. I keep my eye out for big plates for these at estate sales too.

By the way, I loved the paper box tutorial that Cosmo Cricket featured not long ago. That would be a nice alternative to the galvanized cans and would put some of your paper stash to use. Another idea of theirs that I loved was to do a window wrap around a cellophane treat bag (scroll down a little). We often make caramel corn, and I think that would really dress it up for gifting.

Are you planning any thank you gifts this year? Are you making or buying? Leave a comment about that or about your favorite handmade ornament this evening and I will pick a random winner Friday morning for a little eucalyptus wreath similar to those I posted about last week.

Happy crafting!

Bloggers Ornament Exchange and Giveaway

2009-12-02T16:57:00.003-05:00

My Ornament Exchange partner, Jill Doyle, sent me a collection of four ornaments! She's been very busy making ornaments lately, so you should definitely check out her blog if you are looking for some inspiration. What a treat to get something handmade in the mail so early in the holiday season. They were all very simple but lovely, and here is my favorite, made from old dictionary pages:

She's used a strip of paper with a scalloped edge down one side and folded it into a fan shape, then joined that to another where she's done the same, then attached a focal point in the center with a glue dot. Add a ribbon, and you're golden. You can see the others on her blog here. Very nice! Thank you, Jill.

What's your favorite handmade ornament? Leave a comment by Thursday evening, and a link to a picture or tutorial if you have one, and you may win my first blog giveaway, a eucalyptus wreath similar to the wreaths I posted about earlier. I'll pick a random winner from the comments on Friday morning. Happy December!

Today I Made...

2009-11-27T19:17:00.002-05:00

...a huge pile of leaves and one happy kid:

In case you are wondering, his brother gave up on the leaf pile in favor of heading into the warm house for video games.

The raking seriously ate into the time I would have otherwise been using to do holiday crafting, but it was a blast to see our little guy enjoy the pile. Well worth the time and effort. And don't you love that we still have we still have two more days at home this holiday weekend?! Whoot! I can get more yard work in and still get to a little crafting. Love a long holiday weekend!

Among my craft plans is finishing the 12 Days of Christmas albums I was working on one night last week. You may recall that I said if all went well I would post pictures the next day, and by now you have probably noticed that didn't happen. I did make some progress, but I also got stuck. If anybody has some ideas for getting me past the sticky point, I'd love to hear them.

Here's the thing. I did my best to make these out of supplies I already had rather than buying more, and that went fine up to a point. Now that I need to get the lyrics in, though, I don't have enough of any papers that coordinate with what I have already done to print the lyrics onto them, unless I go with white or kraft. These are Creative Memories albums from back in the day, so I can't really print on the pages themselves.

I was thinking vellum might work, and I have a pack of that, but plain vellum is a little bland. Of course, it's also white which doesn't really go with all the pages, though at least it will let whatever is underneath show through where there is overlap, so in that sense it will coordinate. I have a few printed vellum sheets that actually were intended to be used with the albums and with some of the other papers, but not enough for all 5 copies of all 12 layouts (60!). And I have a few pieces of paper that are the same color as the pages, but again, not enough, even if I split the difference and do some with the coordinated vellum and some with the matching paper.

So, I have been looking for a swirly digital background paper pattern (hoping to print it on the vellum I have), but I haven't had much luck. I need something that is all over the paper, not floral, and not too fancy, just swirls with loops, and preferably in cream. Good luck, right?

I did buy some vellum with swirls at the local craft store, but I'd really rather not have to use it - it's my backup and is sitting neatly in the bag ready to go back if at all possible. My most recent idea is to use pen on the vellum and make my own swirls, and that's what I will probably do Saturday night unless someone else comes up with a better idea. I tested my pens today, and I know I can make that work, but I am not looking forward to doing it on 15 pages.

In case you are wondering why I don't just write the lyrics, well, if I can make printing work, it would make it easier because of the many copies, plus I just think it will look nicer if I print them. I am actually a big proponent of the handwritten words on my pages, and normally I can't be bothered to do things on the computer even though I hear it is easier and faster. This project is making me doubt that, but I'm guessing it's my own fault for not having thought this through ahead of time, so I won't give up yet.

Hope you are having a good long weekend, or if you are not in the States, are looking forward to your Saturday and Sunday.

Happy crafting!

Holiday Wreaths

2009-11-24T23:27:00.004-05:00

One of the crafts I regularly make around the holidays is wreaths. The ones I make are very easy and very versatile, and they start with two main components: eucalyptus and small (6 inches across) grapevine wreath.

Grapevine wreaths are great because they are easy to push things into: floral picks, wire, feathers, you get the idea. A small wreath like this is nice as an office gift - it's handmade and personal, but it doesn't take a ton of time or cost the earth. They look great hung from a doorknob or hook, and at our house we have some furniture with posts they hang from and some lamps they work well on. They are a little big for a tree, though, and probably too small for a door on their own. The bigger wreaths are just as easy to make, they just require more materials.

I like to use eucalyptus to wrap them with partly because the smell makes me think of winter - probably all the Vicks Vap-O-Rub I inhaled as a child! If the person you are making your wreath for isn't fond of strong scents, you can skip the eucalyptus and go straight to ribbons or other garland wraps.

The other reason I like to use eucalyptus is that it adds fullness and a green background to work against. Also, it will stay green and not fall apart, unlike other evergreens that get very brittle when they dry out. It is also not sticky or prickly, two things you will appreciate if you ever have to make a large number of wreaths from pine or cedar.

The first step is to take the eucalyptus and separate it into individual branches and wrap them in and out around the grapevine wreath base, starting out by tucking in one end and then, when the length you are using is done, tucking it in at the other end as well. Then you start with the next piece, overlapping where the last one ended and tucking it in to the wreath int he same way. The higher ends and small branches will be much more flexible than the main stems. You'll find right away that some of them can be bent and some will break, and if they break they can't be used for the wreath. Set those bits aside to use in a potpurri or for another project.

The other elements of the wreath will depend on the person you are giving it to. I have a coworker who loves peacocks, so this year I decided to try to make a wreath for her that featured peacock feathers.

This is a more subtle color scheme than I have tried in the past, but I think it worked out well. I started gathering my supplies with the feathers, and then tracked down blue star garland, some wired ribbon in sheer brown with blue sequins, some sparkly pine cones and a little faux greenery, some brown glittery branchy accents, and some bells in bronze, blue and purple.

The blue star garland looked a little bereft on its own, so I added some bronze satin upholstery cording as a companion element to wrap the wreath and also to make a hanger. Hangers are optional, but I liked this cording and thought it would be a nice addition. You can see above that I wrapped the eucalyptus, the cord and the star garland all in the same direction around the wreath, but with enough space between that each is visible and so is the wreath itself.

Next I worked on gathering the rest of the elements into a focal point for the wreath. I like mine to be off center, so most of this is arranged on the left side. The branches and feathers went in first, and you can just tuck their ends between the vining, no glue necessary. Usually I do a little up the side, a little across the bottom and a little pointing down so I have sort of three spokes. Then I added my faux evergreens and pinecones in the same way, and I made a bow from my ribbon and attached it at the center of my spokes with a little of the blue star garland. Next, I hung the bells on some brown string from behind the wreath, roughly at the back of the ribbon.

I also needed to make a wreath for an ornament exchange, and I followed essentially the same plan, but came out with a very different look:

This time the colors ended up being green (thanks again, Mr. Eucalyptus), red and white. I used a jingle bell garland to wrap around the eucalyptus, and since that already included some holly and red and green berries in addition to the silver bells, I skipped any additional ribbon actually wrapping the wreath. I used some faux evergreens again, and I think here you can see really well what I mean about the three spokes. In the center of that I placed a pre-made floral pick with a bird, some greenery, fake snow and pinecone, but I took off a bottom layer of leaves it came with and one of its pinecones because it was just too big for a 6 inch wreath that was already looking busy.

It looked a little bland, though, so I hunted through my ribbon stash and was delighted to find that the Merry Christmas twill was just the right length for the whole sentiment to show if I stretched it across the middle. Keeping to my off-centered tendencies, it goes across at an angle, like a beauty queen's sash. I left a bit hanging down on either side and also used a piece of that ribbon to make a hanger. Last, I attached a cluster of bells and a small glittery red ornament that I had strung with lovely red and white baker's string.

I'll wrap that up tomorrow to get to my ornament exchange partner. I hope she likes it!

Happy crafting, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Keep Calm, but Laugh a Little Too

2009-11-20T19:01:00.003-05:00

Love this calendar spoof on the very popular "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster:

via: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34262808

We can always do with more calm in our house, and more humor. ; )

And the Project of the Day Is...

2009-11-18T14:31:00.007-05:00

...a counting book. Here's my craft job for this evening. My husband is on kid duty tonight, and a friend is coming over to keep me company while I work on a Christmas idea I started about 5 years ago.

Basically, it's an album that will start with the lyrics from the 12 Days of Christmas and illustrate them with pictures of some hand sewn felt ornaments that my husband's grandmother (and now my children's great grandmother) made for his family when he was a kid and has since made for each of the kids in that family (my husband, his brother and his sister). Technically, I started with the pictures and will need to add the words, but you get the idea.

They are a wonderful part of our Christmas traditions, and since all my husband's siblings now have children of their own, and those kids each have a set of these ornaments on their trees, I thought it would be fun to celebrate them and Great Grandma Carlson by making a 1-12 counting book.

I had the idea for this ages ago, took the pictures about 3 years back, managed to get them all printed and cropped the year after, and got as far as getting them adhered (mostly) in the first book last year. This is a pretty typical time line for me. I may not go great guns, but at least I keep pluggin' away.

This year I really wanted to get them finished, so I picked the project up again in July. I posted that to Facebook and caught some grief for starting my holiday projects so far in advance, which made me laugh. Little did they know that to me, at least, I am running about 4 years late. =]

Happily, duplicating them went very (well, relatively) quickly, so now I am at the stage of adding the numbers and the lyrics fo all 5 copies. I think I have a plan for both and will be tackling them this evening.

Thought you might want a peek to see the "before." The first three pages are shown above, and the rest are on Flickr. This is pretty typical of me, layout-wise. I like lots of open space and color, and things tend not to be very heavily embellished beyond the paper. I am thinking the numbers will be die cut from one of the papers I have already used on each layout and that the lyrics will probably end up on a vellum strip or block, or maybe on a paper that blends in with the background. Not sure how I will attach them yet. I will share an "after" picture tomorrow if all goes well. Happy crafting!

Simplicity with Impact

2009-11-15T09:59:00.006-05:00

I never have much time to work on any art project, and when I do, I try to keep things simple, but I want them to make a strong impression to get the most out of my effort. Even though I don't make many cards and tend to gravitate more toward scrapbooking, there are some terrific card artists out there who continually wow me with their ability to use minimal materials and simple designs and techniques, but in such a way that I am totally bowled over. One of those people is Debbie Olson.

Here is a recent example of her work:

Source: http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/muse_and_amuse/2009/11/november-papertrey-inki-release.html

I really love how she has basically used just three simple circles and embossing, a pretty easy technique, to make them seem extra special. She is using a special ornament stamp, but think how you might just use circle punches in different sizes and some patterned stamps to create a similar effect. If you don't have embossing powder (which means you'd also need a heat gun, and I know many people are put off by that), you could use a gel or metallic pen and just doodle your design and then add the lines for the string and bows by hand. Now, the stamps for these ornaments are shaped to taper at the top, but you could also draw the topper of the ornament, or do what Debbie did and use a bit of bling there for the same purpose. I think if you overlap the bling on the circle a bit, you'd get a similar effect.

And then there are the possible vaiations: buttons instead of stamped paper circles, real ribbon bows instead of drawn (though you'd need them to be pretty minimal to get the same effect), metal rimmed circle tags with a santa or other seasonal sticker mounted on a pop-dot, etc. You get the idea. I am all for using what is in your stash and seeing how you can make it work.

This example also follows some basic design rules, like an odd number is easier to work with than even. Can you imagine if she'd use two ornaments instead of three? Or if she hadn't used three differnt sized ornaments? And she also used a sort of modified rule of thirds (where you break up your space in thirds for visual balance): the bulk of the action on her card happens in about a third of the space, with the dotted strings helping to give the design some balance. Can you imagine how it would look without the strings?

Following other designers and thinking about why their work appeals to you can definitely give you some good examples to follow. I first learned about Debbie Olson through Cosmo Cricket, where she is on the design team, in a post they did on their Jolly by Golly line. If you are looking for Chrismas inspiration, definitely check it out, there are some show stoppers. And after seeing her snow details I now totally want this pen.

So, who are your favorite artists? What kind of designs inspire you? Looking forward to hearing, and in the meanwhile, happy crafting!

Lovely Lists

2009-11-12T16:45:00.020-05:00

Jamaica Edgel of Jamaica Makes makes lots of little books (among other things) that are awesome. As a librarian, I especially love her To Do list made with library cards. When I think of the cards we tossed when we switched to a barcode system, I want to cry. But, enough of the down, on to the up!

Jamaica also likes to make lists, as do I, and now has a little side blog devoted to that project. I am working on mine, and list two is all about color - pick a color, snap a photo of everything in your house that is that color, and then make one of these:

I made mine using Mosaic Maker and a Flickr set. Some printers come with software that lets you make a tile mosaic like this too.

I haven't mounted it on a page yet, but it is so warm and cheerful it already makes me happy. Jamaica has a yellow, a red and a green and is collecting the rest of the rainbow. I decided to go for orange, and I think it went pretty well, but I found out orange is more of an accent color in my house. Time for me to add more color, right?

Meanwhile, I am now way more aware of all the colors in my house, and I am pretty sure I will have to collect a rainbow of my own. Can't wait!

Wrapping

2009-11-11T21:21:00.016-05:00

I saw a post by Elise Blaha today that really sent me back in time. She does a tutorial now and again on Tuesdays and this one was on tying bows, and she used a beautiful fabric bow to illustrate the process.

Source

(Thank you, Elise, for letting me use your photo!)

That triggered a really strong memory for me about one of my sisters.

I come from a family where my mom set the wrapping trends and mainly used either curling ribbon (which I still love) or that paper ribbon that sticks a little to itself if you get it wet (which I don't love and never have) but pulls right apart if you tug it along the grain. I am not really sure they even sell it any more. Anyway, she had a ton of wrapping to do with 6 kids, so her priorities was always efficiency, quantity and a bargain before anything else, though her wrapping is very pretty and neat.

I will never forget the year one of my older sisters bucked that trend. She was a poor high school student with no money to buy a big gift for each of us (big family, remember), so she made stockings and filled them with small things: bulk candy, a handmade ornament, etc. and some of my other siblings helped fill them with small gifts as well. I remember the newspaper pattern she made for the stockings and that she used ribbon or rick rack or lace loops on all of them for hangers. I might have helped cut them out, can't quite remember. I would have been 8 or so, maybe. I definitely went shopping way out in a real city with actual shops (we lived on a farm in the back of beyond) to find that penny candy - SO exciting! For wrapping she used solid color paper (probably butcher paper and grocery bags) and REAL RIBBON (!) from the fabric store! It was awesome. They were like little jewels, those boxes.

I know I get my appreciation for all things bright and beautiful and interesting from my sisters, and I became a ribbon junkie from pretty much that moment on. Whatever I wrap gets fabric ribbon to this day. I don't use it much in my layouts, or at least I didn't, but since organizing it all this year along with the rest of my craft supplies, I can see it all the time and am inspired to use it more often.
It's funny, because part of organizing was realizing that I was going to have to either curb my acquisitive tendencies or clear out some serious space in my house. Most of what I have brought in I always intended to use, and somehow this year that actually began to happen. Is it too awful that I am finally working again on projects just so they will leave my house? Whatever works, I say.

Of course now that I am busy using all my supplies I am also more curious about new stuff, so that's a double edged sword. Gotta go make some projects to use up some supplies to make space to buy supplies to make more projects to...You see? Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

So, now I am pondering my ribbon racks and poking though my bins and my thoughts are percolating away. We'll see what happens...

Holiday Crafting Progress

2009-11-10T23:08:00.008-05:00

Had a thoroughly good time crafting this weekend! I truly enjoyed hanging out with a few other crafty friends, and it was great to have lots of room to spread out. No small fingers to worry about getting pinched in my tools (or pinching my tools, which often happens at home). I got lots done, too, though apparently I was dreaming about making 4 December Daily albums.

I did mostly get one done, and started a second, but then the blades on my trimmer totally dulled out on me and I was pretty well stuck. Still, I made progress, and there were some things that worked out really well.

My favorite page came from the packaging of a K&Company Paper set that I did indeed get on sale this spring. The cover was made up of a mix of elements from the set and had a nice big peekaboo hole in it to let you see the first paper in the set without opening it.
All I had to do was cut it down to fit the album I was working in and add the number for the date. I do love it when I can reuse something!

I won't bore you with every one of the pictures, but if you'd like to see them, they are on flickr. I think they are beautiful, but they have a certain sameness to me now since I was staring at them so long over the weekend. You'll see, if you look, that the album I have pictured is unfinished (I wasn't at home with all my stuff, so it's getting done in stages). I will probably change it up a bit, especially putting in smaller pages and re-numbering them so I can make it clearer that some of the transpaarency pages are for mounting photos, not just for looking through. I will post my new improved version too so you can see how it shifts.

I realized some other things as I went through making my own this year (not from a kit -gasp!):

1) I need some more journaling options. I am thinking I will use some lined papers I already have (both digital and not) and print some digital frames on at least a few to add to the backs or sides of some of the pages. Even just using some graph paper backed with cardstock with rounded corners or a punched edge would add some nice variation.

2) I want more tansparent elements. I hoard paper, not page protectors, but I am going to dig though some of my empty packaging to see what I can come up with. I have vellum and clear plastic envelopes I should be able to use too. I learned last year that I can not let my ink jet photos face one another without something in between or the ink bleeds across when they touch while the album is closed, so I will use some transparency sheets to help prevent that too.

3) I want more flexibility for the numbering. I have bought a few varieties of numbers, but my color choices would be easier if I made my own, plus it would be less expensive in the long run, I think. I know I can do that in Word, but I am going to try it in Photoshop too, just to have made the experiment.

4) I like things that hang off the edge, but not too much. Some of my numbers do this, and I usually backed them with something else about the same shape, but I am thinking some ribbon loops would be good to add too.

5) If I give these as gifts, they will have to come with a tip sheet, some adhesive, and some extra embellishments. I will have to ponder the mini-kit and see what I can come up with.

6) OMG. Making one of these takes a lot longer than I remembered. ; )

I think it is worth the time and the thought, though. All the ladies I was crafting with were intrigued, and I may have inspired them to do December Daily projects too. I hope so!

Happy crafting.

Thinking a Little Ahead About Holiday Crafting

2009-11-05T22:31:00.009-05:00

First, I should explain that I got so enthusiastic about December Daily albums last year that I totally went overboard buying Christmas scrapbooking papers when they all went on sale after the holidays. So, this year I am feeling a guilty about having accumulated so much stuff.

How do I make that guilt into something positive? Use the paper. Happily, having made my first album last year and having worked out the general process, I am pretty sure I can make at least four more this coming weekend, AND I can use them as gifts!

The genius of these albums is that because they are (ideally, anyway) made in advance, you don't have all the decisions to make about what will go with what in them except that they should go together in a general sense and be a balanced mix of colors, textures and sizes. Ultimately, they are just a background, and you don't need to spend a ton of time making everything just so and matchy-matchy with your pictures.

This takes a load of pressure off, lets you see the project as a whole so you don't get too obsessed with the details, and allows you to just play with the paper and enjoy building the book. Later in December, you can just focus on the pictures and your thoughts about the day, doing a little rearranging if you really feel the need. Since the album is done in advance, they should work as gifts as long as the general style/theme of the album suits the recipient and not just the maker.

So, I really am planning to make multiple albums this weekend, including at least one each of:

Retro 50's Christmas
Classic Victorian Christmas
Ecclectic Christmas Mix
Modern Crate & Barrell Christmas

If I have any paper left over (and what are the chances of that? Really. Oh, all right, I will probably still have a ton), my plan is to use quite a bit of it to make bags and boxes for smaller gifts. Cosmo Cricket recently had a great tutorial for easy folded gift boxes sizable enough to hold a gift batch of cookies and a wonderful example of a treat bag I think would be great for caramel corn. Oh! And maybe an ATC spinner Advent Calendar. And, and, and ...

I'll let you know how it turns out. Happy crafting!

Favorite Inspirations

2009-11-04T19:07:00.002-05:00

My biggest creative challenge is to get past the idea of making a thing and on to actually making it. In the spirit of one of my current classes, I bring you my list of “Fire Lighters," as in lighting a fire under my seat, not starting one in my fireplace. Though I like those too, come to think of it.

Fire Lighters:

1) Seeing other people’s work. I often mention Ali Edwards and Elise Blaha, but take a look at the column on the right of people whose blogs I follow and you will find many more. Other people just do not think the same way I do. I am always amazed at the range of activity and perspective creative people exhibit, and it can be very inspiring. Careful with those blogs, though. It is easy to get so busy reading that you stop doing anything else.

2) Taking a class. This doesn’t always work, but it can be a big help. One problem that I have with classes, even online, is that I can’t always fit them into my schedule. I hate adding to the feeling that I am behind – I get plenty of that already. But, there have been some classes, like Elise Blaha’s Get Crafty and Shimelle’s Blogging for Scrapbookers that have really made me see things in a new way and helped me stretch creatively and get some things done. And both those classes – totally affordable. How far wrong can you go when you are spending under $25? I mentioned A Life Well Crafted in another post – that one was not cheap, but BPS now has “forever access” for their classes, which means even if I do get behind or miss something I can always go back to it when I am ready. There are some free classes at BPS too, and a bunch that are relatively inexpensive, so there is something for everyone.

3) Setting aside time to work on an idea alongside a friend. I like to work in my own space, but the accountability that comes from knowing someone else expects you to be busy doing a certain thing at a certain time in a certain place goes a long way. It forces me to plan ahead, organize supplies, carve out the time and generally makes it much easier to get things done. It’s nice to have company, too!

4) Going to the library. I love the library. Sit me in the crafting section and let me look through the books for 10 minutes and I will come out bursting with ideas (and instructions, and patterns, and further references…).

5) Making anything makes me so happy that I want to do more. That sense of accomplishment is so rewarding, hardly anything can beat it for creating further motivation for me.

So, follow some blogs, hit the library, sign up for a class, and start on a project. As my ceramics teacher regularly chants, “Make, make, make!”

The ABCs of Hope

2009-11-03T20:27:00.010-05:00

One of the projects that was on my 42 list of albums to finish was an "ABC I Hope" album for my eldest son. This was cheating a little because by the time I made the list I had actually finished it, but I started it well after my birthday, so I cut myself some slack. ; )

I made it as part of the "Life Well Crafted" class at Big Picture led by Kolette Hall and her husband, Jason. It, like much of scrapbooking, is all about focusing on the positive, something I know there is always more room for in my life. Anyway, it is a genius idea for letting someone you know who may need a little self esteem boost that you are thinking of them, and that you have high hopes for their future.

The idea is very simple: one page for each letter of the alphabet with one hope per page based on that letter. Kolette's model was very simple too: a solid background, a strip of patterened paper, a photo and a letter on each page along with a text box with the hope written in. Here are just a few from mine:

Zany is definitely my favorite, and the album will probably always be a favorite, not only because of the subject matter, but because it is the first album I ever really, totally, completely finished -even the journaling - and you know that can be a real challenge for lots of us. And, with this success under my belt, I was ready to try a bit more. So, the lessons to take away here:

If I can finish an album, anyone can.
Classes are a good spur for creative efforts.
Simple is the way to go.
Getting something done makes you feel good!
Go do it.

Have fun crafting!

Segue to 1984

2009-11-03T19:20:00.003-05:00

Dang. My class on blogging has me distracted. The prompt this morning was to think back to a memorable day, and while there are many I could choose from, since I was pondering my high school life with the 42 post yesterday, this is the day that popped to mind:

Spring 1984 Duran Duran concert at the Hampton Roads Coliseum. There is a LONG story behind this picture, but suffice to say that I got to actually meet the band, and for about 10 seconds I was the envy of all my female schoolmates and even slightly cool despite my unglorious teen styling:

Look at that hair - totally flat and off-trend. And the braces. Sigh. Totally happy day. Definitely worth a page now that I think about it. =]

And, this proves I did get some of the things on my "42" list done - I digitized these photos! Nice to have an online version for easy electronic use and backup. See, I am still pretty geeky.

Thanks to everyone from class who stopped by and left nice comments yesterday. Enjoy making more memories, and I'll share some craftiness soon.

Year 42

2009-11-02T17:10:00.025-05:00

Hello, crafters. Just wanted to share that I am taking a class called "Blogging for Scrapbookers" where Shimelle Laine is gearing up to help me and my classmates be better bloggers. Blogging, as she notes, is pretty much the pixelated version of scrapbooking in many ways: photos and thoughts combined together to record and communicate. Whacky, but true.

Welcome to everyone from the class who may be stopping by - now you can picture me happily at work on this keyboard or slightly to the left there at the table space.

In case you haven't tried it, taking classes can be a big spur to creativity. This year has been full of changes for me creatively because about this time last year I got re-energized to begin doing some crafting again after a long absence. A number of things contributed to the change:

I started reading Stacy Julian's blog and found out about
Big Picture Scrapbooking, a Web-based class site for scrapbooking and other paper crafts,
I saw a reference to a scrapbooking kit club, Cocoa Daisy, where they had some amazing kits including one for
Ali Edward's 2008 December Daily Album, and I ran across
a blog by Elise Blaha.

Elise loves mini-books, and makes them for every possible reason you can imagine. One of her ongoing projects, 24 to do list, really resonated with me. First, I was amazed that she was only 24. Second, as the reverse of that, 42, and full of frustration about all I wasn't getting done creatively (and otherwise) that I wanted to do, I thought maybe what I needed was a list to at least give me some direction.

Now, I themed my idea around that number, 42. 42 is a number that is very important to me, so the timing of it and the theme itself were a spur for me. My facination with 42 started with a book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. I read it when I was in high school, the year I met two women who are still my best friends, Janet and Marie, probably when I turned 14 or 15. It was, hands-down, the funniest thing we had ever read, and it’s still very high on that list. In it, the answer to “Life, the Universe and Everything” is revealed to be, you guessed it, 42, but the question needs a little more clarification.

There is also much silliness in it over towels and their locations, gin and tonics, digital watches, and the movements of small green pieces of paper, but the number really caught us. I clearly remember seeing the number 42 everywhere back then, and so this year, for my 42nd birthday, I decided to dwell a little on the number, collect it, and make this list.
I gave it 42 items, but it breaks down into about a dozen broad categories:

Make the list,
Make a book about it,
Finish a slew of album projects,
Take steps to change to a healthier lifestyle,
Clear out and organize my craft space,
Make my surroundings more artful and inspiring,
Take some more art classes,
Finish some non-paper craft projects,
Use my tools, papers and other supplies and stop just collecting them,
Challenge myself technologically (learn Photoshop Elements, set up a blog, digitize some photos, etc.),
Stretch creatively by starting an art journal and making some pages about myself, and
Make a new list for year 43.

Now, I really only got down to the list making in January or February, so I think I am doing pretty well, considering I haven't had a full year to work on it. For instance, I totally know, now, after several attempts, that I have absolutely no desire to actually use an art journal. ; P

I have finished some albums, though not all, I have drastically improved my creative space, I have made stuff that makes me happy, I have begun to work on the health and time with my husband issues and made progress on both fronts, and I have taken a bunch of classes. I will definitely have some carryover for that list for next year, but forward progress is a big improvement over last year. The book is far from done, despite the fact that my birthday is coming up again, but here is a shot to give you an idea:

Meanwhile, now I have documented some of that list here, part of my goal to get blogging and keep track of some of the day-to-day events I want to remember as they pass by, rather than try to remember them years later when I finally get around to making those albums like the ones listed above. More fun stuff from the list later this week. I hope you will get inspired to get to doing some happy crafting too!

Last Few Halloween Crafts

2009-11-01T21:47:00.004-05:00

Aw, Halloween is over. Before I put everything away, I want to celebrate an accomplishment. Amazingly - to me anyway - I managed to make a bunch of Halloween things this year and get them up in the house before the actual holiday. Since we had our second child 3 years ago, I have been what you might call organizationally challenged, but this year I am seeing signs of recovery.

An example: We made a creepy twig tree last year (twigs from the yard gathered with a rubberband, spray-painted black), and I managed to get it in a vase with some rocks to anchor it and buy a few supplies to make ornaments, but no ornaments actually happened. This year, success!

We got it set up, and I wrapped a beautiful green and cream ribbon (Stampin' Up) around the trunk to cover the rubber bands. Then I added some glow in the dark ghosts (hole punched then added black and white baker's string), tied some tissues on a few lollipops for ghosts of a different sort, AND I even made the ornaments I'd been planning:

Sorry, I know there is a duplicate in there, I got a little off track with Mosaic Maker.

This is huge progress because, like many paper-crafters and scrapbookers, I am big on shopping and reading blogs (ahem) with great ideas, but lately not so good about actually making things. This year I didn't purchase a single Halloween item in any store, and I had a blast making stuff! Those of you with young children, take heart; there really will come a point when you can do more of those hobbies you used to love. : )

If you'd like a general description of how I made the ornaments, check out my Halloween Ornament Flickr Set. Click on a picture for a description for that ornament. Please note, when I refer to crepe paper, I am totally talking about the stuff you buy at the party store, nothing fancy. In its original width it was too wide to work with, so I took an arm's length first and then cut it up the middle (now two narrow, arm-long strips) so it would be easier to attach, but otherwise it's just the same stuff you probably already have somewhere in the house.

The rest of the week I plan to work through some of what where my crafting goals for the year as stated last November (my birthday month). Looking forward to seeing what I managed and what I get to look forward to for next year. Happy crafting!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:40:00.025-04:00

I've been working on an accordian fold decoration in time for Halloween. This is the non-spooky side, just a Happy Halloween wish.

The sections are 5x7", two layers of card stock glued together for extra sturdiness. The sections are joined together with 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape. The tape is a little tacky on the front side, but I am ok with that. Japanese masking tape (happy tape) might not be, so it could be a better option, but I like the look of this.

The little letters are chipboard, the large letters were stamped with Stampin' Up craft ink on big foam letter stamps on cream cardstock, then outlined with black sharpie. Then I tore the paper around the letter shapes and adhered them with some seasonal ribbons and other embellishments. I am a hoarder, so these embellishments are from all over the map. If you have a question about a specific one, let me know and I will try to tell you where I got it.

I also added glitter circles since I didn't have much in the way of background, and I outlined a few of them with white gel pen to make them stand out a bit. I outlined the letters with glitter too, and added a little glitter on some of the embellishments for extra sparkle.

On the opposite side, things are a little spookier:

We have a counter-height wall that we can see from two sides, and it's my favorite place to put holiday decorations. I actually made this side first, but when the front and back looked clean and neat, I decided to do the Happy Halloween oart above. This side is Trick or Treat. I made the letters the same way, but this time I used coordinated color paper with a soft pattern along with black patterned paper to layer a background. Wherever the edges showed white where they were torn, including around the letters, I used glow in the dark glitter.

The first "r" above is one just with the lettering and background papers, but none of the other embellishments so you can get an idea of the "clean" version of the look.

Hope you have a happy Halloween and enjoy!

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

2009-10-19T12:17:00.001-04:00

I really LOVE the idea of making things for a living. I have always loved making things, and here and there I have sold some of my work. I am pretty sure I could make a go of it, but I am also sure it would be much more difficult and time consuming to make a living at it than it is to keep my day job.

And, I really love my day job, a bonus of which is that it is about as flexible as it could be in the corporate world: I work from home, I see customers a few times a week so I get a nice mix of working in jeans and flip flops and dressing up, I get to treat people to lunch occasionally, and I get to do something I am good at and enjoy - teaching - on a regular basis. I also get to write and may be blogging soon as part of my job as well.

So, why is it that I continuously get this yen to set up an Etsy shop? I am already strapped for time and energy, and there is really no way that I could realistically do another job on top of my already busy schedule.

For sure part of it is that I would love not to be obligated to work (unrealistic as that idea is). Another part is that crafting is play, so it would be lovely to make my living from having fun. I know from past experience, though, that once you are obligated to something to support yourself, the fun has a way of seeping out of it.

A few other things make the ideas persist, though. 1) I can only make so many gifts before people start saying enough, already, so it would be a good outlet for any craft overflow I might have (not that I have had any for a while). 2) I like the idea of making things from paper and other materials that would otherwise end up in my recycle bin or trash, but see number 1. At the rate we accumulate just cardboard, I would be buried in it if I saved it only for when I needed it for a personal project. 3) I love the idea of using any earnings from my crafting for paying for my craft supply habbit, plus 4) it would be extra incentive for using up said supplies, which makes me happy.

So, etsy shop or no etsy shop? The jury is currently out, but maybe once the holidays are past I will start trying to make a little supply of goodies to sell, just to see if I can do it and how it goes.

Making Things Makes Me Feel Better

2009-10-19T11:46:00.002-04:00

So, I recently read an article in the Washington Post about a preliminary study on how video gaming can help people manage stress. Evidently, "Playing certain video games ... offers just enough mental challenge to keep such people occupied while putting them into a state of relative mindlessness. That state appears to have salutary effects on stress and other mental problems." There is plenty of video gaming in my house, but none of it the kind that makes anyone calmer, I must say. My first thought on reading the article was that those folks need to try knitting or cross-stitch or pottery or embroidery. Or dish-washing or cleaning the bathroom even.

Anyway, I certainly know from my own experience that it can do me a world of good to concentrate on a manual task for a while and give my brain a little time to kick back and not ponder the things that worry it. With crafts, the bonus, of course, is that you get something tangible out of it. I feel better when I make things, and then I have fun things to enjoy or share. What's not to love?

These days I have more trouble concentrating on anything than I used to do (I seriously feel one of my eyelids twitching from stress even now), so I haven't been doing much crafting, but I am ready to get back at it. This here blog is intended to be a venue for me to share my crafty efforts and ideas and to do some de-stressing out loud. Feel free to join in!