random.on purpose.

The tweaking begins

Fellow blogger Leslie (aka The Crooked Stamper) refers often to what she calls "creative avoidance" - avoiding mundane tasks (like housework or grocery shopping) in favor of doing something creative.  Over in the Sue-niverse (thanks again for that, Lauren) that term means something else entirely.  I'm not quite sure what my deal is, but I can avoid doing anything even remotely creative by constantly rearranging and reorganizing and tweaking my stamps and supplies into a more workable system.

In my defense, I'll just throw out there that I can't function in clutter or in an area where I feel claustrophobic.  Since my studio is also my workroom (where I sew and do upholstery), it is VITAL that it be organized and have as much clear space as possible!  This post will show you two recently finished tweaks to the organization and storage of some of my "stuff".  Warning:  LOTS of pictures!

I previously had my punches on a scabbed-together rack composed of an upcycled/repurposed DVD rack and miscellaneous tidbits that I had on hand, and was crammed between a wall and a shelf next to the closet:

There were several reasons that I wanted to change this:  I want to get rid of the bookcase and it is supporting the rack on that side, it's in full view at all times from the hall (and the dining room) unless I close the door to this room, and the really scabbed-together mess of an upper section bothers me every time I look at it.

I wanted something that would fit behind the door that you enter this room through, so it would be hidden unless you were actually in the room with the door shut.  This is what the new one looks like, and then I'll 'splain:

Much more orderly and functional and all!  I took the old DVD rack and basically cut it in half down the entire length of it, so I only had the back row of dowels.  I cut one leg shorter than the other so it would clear the baseboard and screwed that side to the wall that the door is hung on:

(please excuse the not-cleaned-up-yet baseboard)

I also notched out the other leg to clear the baseboard but still leave a leg to stand on (hee hee), but I used two L-brackets to attach this one to the wall:

You can see one of the L-brackets in the above pic (above where I thought I wanted it - doh!).  The other one is near the top of this leg.  Since there was quite a bit of space between the dowels, I had room to add other components, so I made a couple of shelves with yardsticks for some border punches:

I use yardsticks for a lot of different things.  They're cheap (about 60 cents at home improvement stores), they're sturdy, they're easy to cut without power tools, and they're a nice size.  I used 1/2" staples in my staple gun to attach the "ledges" that support the shelfdirectly to the legs of the rack.   The shelf isn't attached, so I moved it forward a bit so the deck of the border punch could slide between it and the wall, and the punch part could rest on the shelf.  I also used some sash rods:

These are typically flush-mounted on doors to hold shirred curtains over the window, etc.  I side-mounted them, screwing into the legs of the rack again, and placing them closer to the wall than the dowels, so smaller punches could sit comfortably.  I also put a couple of them at the very bottom for my Martha Stewart old-style border punches (that don't have fold-up "wings" like the new ones):

I alternated which way I placed them because I was running out of space and they would interfere with each other if I didn't.  I also finally have a spot for that gigunda scallop circle punch!

The top of the unit is still kind of a mish-mash of items, but they're more uniform and MUCH more stable than the old mess:

I joined two CD crates (single-section style) together by screwing two mending plates to the bottoms (they're basically flat strips of metal with four screws - I put two screws in one crate, and the other two in the other crate, then repeated the process with the second plate).  I screwed that unit to the wall (you can see the screws in the crate on the right), with the crates resting on top of the rack for extra support.  Then I stacked a tangerine crate on top of that for some border and corner punches:

The shelves were made with wood blocks intended for mounting rubber stamps (as if!) and some slats robbed from other crates (previously the sides of said crates).  If I get more of these punches, I'll just add another shelf.  One one side of this crate are a couple of oversized Martha Stewart punches:

and on the other side are three extra-large Stampin'Up! punches:

On top of the tangerine crate is another CD crate (a two-section one this time), and a couple of pencil boxes turned on their sides on top of that:

These are Martha Stewart Punch-Around-the-Page border and corner punch sets and some other miscellaneous punches.  That weird little black thing under the MS heart border punch and between the two pencil boxes is my Rolodex punch - good place for it, eh?

Everything on top of the two CD crates that I screwed to the wall are unattached  - to the wall or each other - they're just sitting there, but they're very stable.  I'm going to screw cup hooks down the outside leg for my hand-held punches.  I started to do it but the screw twisted off, so I will have to pre-drill the holes, apparently.  I wanted to post this NOW, so you don't get to see that part (sorry!).  And that's the end of the punch rack tour!

The other tweak is part of my ongoing attempt to wrangle paper into something other than a stack of chaos.  I really, really like 6" x 6" paper pads, but - since they're in a pad - I have to tear out the paper that I want every single time I want to use one, and that's crazy-making for me, plus there's no good way to store them without losing all the odd little bits that I put back in the pad last time I used some of it, and I forget that I have them because they have to be put in something and I don't see them!  Here's my tweak for that:

I was cruising the Dollar Spot at Target and spied these boxes that looked to be about the right size, so I brought two of them home with me, and they are!  They came in colors, too, but I didn't want to limit myself to lime green or fuschia, so this neutral one was my choice...

I tore every single page out of every single pad that I currently own (not a lot of them, but still...).  The file folders are cut-down-to-size from legal-size file folders that I had laying around from a previous organizing extravaganza (don't ask, please).  I just hand-wrote the manufacturer and name of the collection on each file tab and there they all are!

The two folders at the back are actually "Mat Stacks" from DCWV, and are 4 1/4" x 6" or something like that, but they still fit in here just fine, thank you very much!  At the very, very back are the cover sheets for the pads, just in case I might need them for reference or something.  The cardboard from the backs of the pads is in with my other cardboard and chipboard stash, and the smaller bits cut from previous uses of any of these pads are just in the front of the appropriate folder.  I may tweak that further if it proves problematic...

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to carry on with the tweaking of my stamp organization and indexing project (which has been ongoing for at least two years now) *sigh*...  Have a great night, and thanks for stopping by!

A clean start (sort of...)

I've never really been on board with spring cleaning - I always get the urge to purge and scrub and organize as I'm putting the holiday decorations away...

I've been doing just that for the past couple of weeks, as a matter of fact.  I'm six or ten or twelve kinds of proud of myself because I've purged MORE THAN HALF OF MY STAMP COLLECTION!!!  I have two daughters that are interested in starting this hobby, a friend and her daughter that are just starting out, and I've recently befriended a worthy cause that makes cards and such, as well, so I've gifted my way out of an avalanche of stamps!

I'm also reorganizing the remainder of the stamps into a more workable (for me) system.  AND - I've rearranged my craft room so that it feels less cluttered and more functional.  One more bookcase to plow through  -  it's mostly magazines, and I need to pull stuff out of them before the rest goes, because they are Mary Engelbreit and Christmas and I might toss something that I NEED!  So far I've eliminated about fifteen magazines with only a handfull of things pulled from them.

A few of the things I've pulled are entire articles, but most are just pictures of things that inspired me for one reason or another.  In the past I've created folders or notebooks and sorted everything out by whether it was a bathroom or a card or a dress or whatever - and never looked at them again.  This time I just gota plain old, spiral notebook (the kind you can pick up 5 for $1.00 at back-to-school sales) and a glue stick (same sale, similar price) and a pen.  Everything got glued in with a little scribbled note as to why that picture was plucked from the magazine:

I also rounded up my most-used tools and repurpsed a caddy to keep them handy.  This is what it looks like where it sits on a small shelf unit next to a bigger one:

And here's a bit closer view so you can see what's in there a little better:

The back section has my Corner Chomper, Crop-a-dile and tape gun.  The front sections are adhesives, scissors, tweezers, craft knife and Dymo.  I know, I know - what's the Dymo doing there when I rarely use it?  It's to REMIND me to use it, thank you!  It's been languishing in a drawer, unseen, unremembered, unused...

This little caddy/organizer/whatever is easily moved to my table when I commence crafty pursuits, and will save me three or four steps each time I need one of the items in it - no big deal until you consider that that would be three or four steps multiplied by about a bizillion and six (I know my crafty pursuits patterns - trust me on this one).

One final tidbit before I go...  I made a Christmas card for my grandson's first Christmas and never shared it, so here it is now:

Stamps: Mo Manning;  Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black;  Paper: Stampin'Up! Real Red, DCWV; Accessories/tools: Martha Stewart snowflake punches, Bic and Spectrum Noir markers, Sakura stardust pen, SU! half pearls (colored wtih markers), ribbon

And that will do it for now!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

 

So then I thought...

...that this was an appropriate post for a Sunday and I really should sit down and type it out.  But then I thought that I had absolutely NO food in the house, only enough half-and-half  for (maybe) one more cup of coffee, and the toilet paper supply was dangerously low.  Which, of course, precipitated a trip to the grocery store, followed by an excursion with Greg, then a project in my studio, then dinner, so I'm JUST NOW getting around to posting!  My train of thought went along these lines:

Every religion (at least the ones that I'm aware of) acknowledge the existence of a higher power or "god", although the definitions and labels may differ somewhat.  Even those who do not subscribe to a religion acknowledge that there are powers operating in the Universe that defy our comprehension - that are "higher" or more intelligent or whatever. 

In the past I've felt that maybe I should return to the concept of "God" that I was raised with, but I'm just not sure about it.  Is it a single being - a Master or a father figure, perhaps? - or a collective consciousness of all of the intelligences that have ever existed, or what?  Today as I was mulling the question over once again, I determined that it really didn't matter.  An analogy came to mind:

I lived most of my adult life across the continent from my parents.  I couldn't see them, so if their appearance differed from my memory of them, there was no way for me to KNOW that.  I could, however,  speak with them any time that I wanted to, and if I needed advice or assistance I could ask and they would do what they could.  Similarly, we can't see "God", so any description is (in my mind) subjective and open to debate.  BUT - we can still have a level of confidence in the existence of a higher power and access to it. 

Religious leaders and scientists alike acknowledge that we are all part of a larger "organism", if you will - that you and I and the oceans and the trees and the stars are all interconnected and made of the same materials and come from the same source.  Following on with that train of thought, it occurred to me that if we are all part of the same "organism", then wouldn't God be part of that organism?  Wouldn't that, in fact, validate the thought that we are all divine?

Then it occurred to me that if time is truly relative - that the past and the present and the future all exist concurrently -  then our little lifetimes here on this planet are not all that there is to our story - there are chapters that came "before" and that will come "after" those chapters that we are aware of living "now", that have more to tell - and that we're living those concurrently, as well.

Here's the deal:  our mortal, finite minds can only glimpse bits of the concepts known as "eternity" and "infinity".  It's too big to grasp fully, so we try to organize the information in a way that we can comprehend.  My belief is that this is the main contributing factor to all of the various definitions of God and to the religions of the world.

Bottom line for me:  it's absolutely, completely pointless to spend any time worrying about the nature of God or aligning myself with any particular religion or philosophy.  "Whatever is for the greatest and highest good of everyone involved" is the ONLY quide that I really need to choose among available options. 

I DO, however, recognize a need for re-introducing spiritual practices into my daily routine (one of my "tweaks" for the year).  When I made meditation and prayer a part of my daily routine, I found that I was living with more purpose, more intention, and more connection - with myself and with those around me.  Somewhere along the line I decided that I had too much to do to take the time, and gradually phased it out.  I need/want to get back to purposeful, mindful living, as well as aligning myself with "the powers that be", and so I am going to begin again...

 

It's the Little Things

As I was going about my business today, I noticed a few things - all of them small:

I decided - spur of the moment - to stop into the salon at Walmart (I KNOW!) and let the cute little red-haired girl* trim my hair for me.  I was at the OMGoodness-I-can't-deal-another-minute-with-the-mess-hanging-on-my-head stage of hair growth, and decided that I didn't need to wait for my usual cutter (I don't really get my hair "dressed" - just lopped off in various configurations of boring) to have an opening, since all I wanted was the grown-out layers trimmed even with the rest.  She did a fabulous job in about fifteen minutes flat!  She was adorable, I was happy, and - even after a generous tip - I saved at least $9.00 over my usual haircut (my needs are too basic for even the hoity-toitiest of hairdressers to charge me much).

I had one more coupon for free fries from Burger King that expired TODAY, so I had to use it TODAY, so I drove through after my bank trip (also a drive-through - I LOVE that you can make deposits at ATM machines!).  The girl that took my money wasn't quite sure what mood she was in, but when she headed back to the window with the fries, I saw her coming and flashed her a smile.  She responded with a beautiful smile, too.  I took my fries, thanked her, and wished her a Happy New Year.  She smiled again, and wished me the same.

I noticed (again, like way too many other times) that there are a lot of stoopid people out there, especially when they get in their cars:

Keys?  Check!

Phone? Check!

Brain?... Brain?... Brain?... **

Typically I respond to said stoopidity (yes, I know how to spell it, but this spelling is reserved for the truly brainless) with muttered-under-my-breath commentary regarding their mental prowess (ha!) or similar.  It occurred to me today to NOT say anything, followed by the thought that if I practiced NOT saying unkind things, perhaps I could re-train my brain to not even THINK unkind things.  I plan to conduct this experiment, and will report back.

Where am I headed with this?  Well...

It's customary for bloggers (myself included) to tell you about all of their grand plans for the upcoming year.  All of the wonderful things that they have in store for you, and all of the brilliant changes that they're going to implement in their lives. 

Here's the low-down on my plan for the upcoming year:  I am making small changes this year.  I'm tweaking.  I'm doing little experiments and trying out small adjustments to things that are mostly working, but need a bit of an assist.  Nothing grandiose, nothing beyond reach.

This year, I'm taking time for me EVERY DAY!  I'm going to do small things that nurture my soul.  I'm going to try out some small career moves that will make my heart happy, and hopefully my bank account, as well.  I'm going to read more, dance more, create more, cook more, blog more.

I read a post by one of the bloggers I've started following recently that validated my new paradigm for me.  You can read it HERE.  Amen!  Why do we consistently set aside our wants and needs to satisfy some (generally largely imaginary) agenda that someone else thinks matters?  Isn't our opinion as valid and important as anyone else's?  Especially for our own lives?  I'm going to try NOT to do that, this year.

Thanks for stopping by, thanks for coming back if you decide to, and I promise my most excellent promise*** that I will pay better attention to this blog this year!  That's the only promise that I'm making, though.. :)  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

*Charlie Brown reference, don'tcha know...

**Ferris Bueller reference, of course...

***E.T. reference, 'cause I can...

Guess what?

Remember this box/tutorial?

Apparently someone somewhere saw it and I was asked to write a tutorial for Splitcoast Stampers for their Holiday Tutorial Blitz!  The tutorial went live today!  Here's a link to it: Flip Top Box

I altered the dimensions a tiny bit so that ATC-sized cards will fit in it.  Beate Johns (who writes many, many tutorials and is the coordinator for things like this) made the video (I have no camera and no desire to do that - yet).  Here's the new one that I made for the tutorial:

In other news, I made a card for yesterday's Free For All challenge, which was to use a bee image or the colors yellow and black.  I opted for the bee:

Stamps: Whippersnapper Queen Bee, Studio G sentiment; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Stampin'Up! Autumn Vine; Accessories/tools: Hoyle mini playing card, dewdrops, Stampin'Up! designer label punch, Bic MarkIt and Sakura Stardust pens, Sharpie metallic marker

In still other news, here's one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much lately:

This little man and his mama have been staying with us for about a month, and are (thankfully) still with us!  I'm having so much fun being a grandma and all that I don't have a lot of time for much else!  He's the youngest of my seven grandkids, but the others live across the country, so he's the only one I can currently love on...

In fact - I've got to go play with him RIGHT NOW!  See y'all later!

Let It Snow?

No - not yet!  Not really!  I know it's a-comin', but I'm not ready...

Fortunately, the snow (for now) is restricted to the fake stuff on cards!  That's the current (almost expired) challenge for the Jingle Belles.  I'm skating in under the wire, but at least I got a card made for one of the challenges, right?  The deadline isn't until tomorrow at 6:00 pm, but I know me, and I'll miss it if I don't do this RIGHT NOW!  Here's the card:

Stamps: Close to My Heart Christmas Scripts; Ink: Stampin'Up! Perfect Plum; Paper: Georgia Pacific white cardstock; Accessories/tools: Stampin'Up!/Sizzix Northern Frost die, EK Success snowflake border punch, Fiskars scallop border punch, Martha Stewart lacy scallop border punch, Corner Chomper, sponge

I went a little crazy with border punches and only killed about five trees experimenting with a scallop border punch on both sides of an already-punched snowflake border panel so I could get the look I wanted, but I finally figured it out (no, I can't tell you how I managed it - I doubt that I could even duplicate it, lol!).  I wanted the snowflakes to have a little variety color-wise and to have a softer look than if I cut them from colored cardstock, so I sponged them after I die-cut them, but before I separated them from the strip.  I also sponged the lacy-scalloped panel for the same reason.  I used a couple of the little snowflakes that were left behind when I punched the snowflake border as accents between my "let it snow" sentiment.  That's it!

I have a bizillion and six ideas swirling around in Odd Brain right now, but we'll see how many actually make it to this blog!  I do have another Halloween project just about finished, so that will be here by week's end, no doubt!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

This "Boo"quet's for you

Halloween is coming soon - hooray!  I used to not-so-much like that particular holiday, but the decorations and other surrounding "stuff" have improved greatly in recent years, so now it's one of my faves!

Remember this guy?

It would seem that I am completely unable to use this stamp (from Stampin'Up!'s "Best Fiends" set) without adding googlie eyes to the "booquet" (which is eyeballs, anyway).  It inspired me to make my own eyeball "boo"quet:

Wanna make one of your own?  It's pretty easy!  Here's what you need:

• Some semi-raggedy red flowers (I got mine at Michael's)
• A pack of eyeball party favors (I got mine at Party City)
• Red craft paint (from my stash)

You'll also need a hot glue gun and glue sticks, some wire cutters (or strong scissors), and a hammer and small nail.  Here's what you do:

Using the wire cutters or strong scissors, cut the flower stems apart so that they are no longer a "bush".  Pull all of the flower heads and leaves off of the stems.  Separate the flower heads as shown above.  Set aside the leaves and flower centers for a future project (we don't need them for this one).  Paint the stems and the sepal (that little thing on the far right in the pic above) with the red paint and set aside to dry.

Use the small nail and hammer to pierce a hole on the back of each eyeball.  Enlarge the hole by wiggling the nail around in the hole and/or using a small file or reaming tool until it is the right size to slide onto the stem where you pulled off the flower head.  Heat up the glue gun and reassemble the flowers like so:

When you put the flower together the usual way, the sepal goes onto the stem with the points pointing up, as shown on the left above.  We're doing it differently, though, so put it on the stem "upside down" - with the points pointing down, as shown on the right above.

Put the larger set of petals from the flower head onto the stem next.  This one goes on upside-down also, so that the petals droop.  The smaller set of petals will go on next, and in its usual, upright orientation:

Next, put a little hot glue on and around the hole in the eyeball and slide it onto the stem.  Snug the petals up around it a bit.  A little glue is all you need - too much and you'll melt the stem and make a mess.  It should look like this now:

Repeat with the rest of the eyeballs and flowers, and you're done!  My "bush" had 14 flowers, and there were only 10 eyeballs in the favor pack, so I went and got another pack so I could finish.  Wanna see it again?

And a little closeup:

Curious about what this project costs?  The flower bush was on sale for 50% off, so I picked it up for a mere $1.50.  The packs of eyeballs were $1.99 apiece, and I had the paint and glue sticks on hand, so that's a grand total of $5.48 (not including tax), and I still have 6 eyeballs left over!

Okay - that does it for my first Halloween project offering!  If you'd like to revisit a few others, click on the title below the picture for these:

"BOO"bbles

Halloween pillowcases

Scallop punch candy cups

Okay - that should keep you busy for a bit!  If you decide to try any of these projects, I'd love to see the finished results!  Post a comment or shoot me an email, okay?  Thanks so much, and thanks for stopping by!

Here we go again...

Hi, anyone who's managed to find me again (or for the first time), since I've been absent for so long!  Busy, crazy summer!  You, too?

I've really missed making things!  I spent A LOT of time purging and organizing, and will share the results of some of those projects when I actually FINISH them.  Meanwhile, I did manage to play with some of my crafty things instead of just moving them around!

This past Friday evening and most of the day Saturday there was a "Virtual Stamp Night" over on Splitcoast Stampers.  I didn't get a chance to play then, but the challenges were open until 10:00 last night, so I did a few.  The theme was "Back to School", which I loved.  I may still make something for a few of the other challenges, just for fun!

The first challenge that I attempted was also the first one of the VSN, and was hosted by bloggy friend Leslie (aka The Crooked Stamper).  She requested that we make a card using notebook paper (or a reasonable facsimile thereof).  I ripped a page out of a mini composition book, trimmed the edge and punched it with a spiral notebook hole punch, drew the missing red line in with a colored pencil, and made this:

Paper: My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy dp, Stampin'Up! Baja Breeze, page from mini composition book; Accessories/tools: Stampin'Up! Spiral notebook punch, colored pencils, ribbon

I'm sure we all remember notes like this from grade school - either getting one or sending one.  I wrote and drew left-handed (I'm a rightie) so it would look more like "kid print".  Kind of fun!  Next up, I made a bookmark:

Stamps: Hampton Art/Graphic 45 ABC Primer 2; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Georgia Pacific White, Provo Craft dp; Accessories/Tools: Fiskars scallop border punch, Bic and Spectrum Noir markers, edge distresser

I will probably re-make this one so it matches the tutorial better (as in having the squared-off piece in the back, but without the frou-frou - I'll just stamp a sentiment).  I kept playing with border punches on that part until I was left with next-to-nothing, and gave up and just put it in the same punch as the front edges so they'd all line up...

The only other challenge I had time for before the deadline was to make a card featuring food that kids love to eat.  I'm not sure that my edibles actually qualify as "food", but hey, kids definitely love eating them, so I figure it's all good:

Stamps: Hampton Art Life is Sweet, Stampin'Up! Four Frames; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Close to My Heart Crystal Blue; Paper: Basic Grey Cupcake dp, Close to My Heart Sunny Yellow and Holiday Red; Accessories/tools: Stampin'Up! decorative label punch, Marvy Uchida dimple corner punch, Cuttlebug and Swiss dot embossing folder, Bic markers, ribbon, dewdrops

I love that alcohol-based markers (Copic, Bic, Prismacolor, Spectrum Noir, etc.) will color things like ribbons, buttons, brads, and - in my card above - dewdrops.  It comes in so handy to be able to make things match...

That's it for the ready-to-show things I've been working on.  I've started (and almost finished) a card for the current Jingle Belles challenge, and I have several Halloween projects in the works, so those will be showing up here SOON!

Hopefully I'm "back to blogging" on something like a regular schedule!  I've missed it (sometimes), and felt guilty about my absence (sometimes), but I felt like what I was doing instead was higher priority, so I had to just go with it, ya know?

I hope that your summer was lovely and that the few days of fall we've had so far have been pleasant!  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that you'll come visit again!

Yosh!

I'm not really sure what the translation of that Japanese word is (the title of this post), but my ex (who is multi-lingual) used it in instances where I'd be likely to say "sheesh" or "gee willikers" or something along those lines, so I'm going with that thought...

Is everyone else's summer going at lightning speed?  Un-stinkin'-believable, that's what it is!  And I feel like I haven't done very many "summery" things, to boot!  That includes what I'm posting about today...Christmas cards, anyone?

Yeah - still working on some challenges.  I've opted out of "catching up" - I'm just doing the ones that I: a) have time for, b) have an idea for, c) that coincide with an experiment of a crafty nature that I want to try or, d) just really, really speak to me.  With that thought in mind, then, here are three cards made recently:

This one is for the Jingle Belles challenge that ends today.  We were instructed to use red OR green, but not both!  Okay, fine then, I'll just throw in a bit o' brown to make it interesting.  This is also for the CAS challenge on Splitcoast Stampers this week.  It was a sketch challenge inspired by a card made by Darsie Bruno.  I also really, really liked the way she used the negative space of a die, so I copied her there, too.  The papers are all from Stampin'Up!'s Holiday Treasures designer papers, and the sentiment is computer-generated (Amazone BT font).

The other two are variations on a theme, and happened while I was playing around with embossing powders and a new Distress Stain.  One of the Weekly Christmas Card challenges that I'm (supposedly) participating in was to use black as the main color of the card, and another was to do embossing, so I combined the two.  First I made this one:

Well, technically speaking, I just made the embossed-snowflakes-covered-in-distress-stain piece of paper first.  I sort of considered it a "fail" and set it aside while I made this one:

The embossing powder used here is holographic, so the colors change when you view it from different angles.  I mostly saw blue, so that's why I used Stampn'Up!'s Brocade Blue for the card base and the tag.  Both cards use the snowflake from SU!'s Winter Post set, as well as a snowflake that came from WalMart (no other identifiers).  The sentiment on the tag is from SU!'s Fancy Flexible Phrases, and the "let it snow" around the border of the first one was hand-written by me in all its wonky glory!

After I'd finished the black-and-blue card, I looked again at the "fail" and decided that if I chopped it up and used one of the larger snowflakes as a focal point instead of a border, that it might work better.  I'm thinkin' it did...

And that's my "Christmas in July" (cliche) offering for now!  I have LOTS of new rubbah and some new papers and some new dies and ZERO time, but I'm gonna carve out some, anyway!  There have been a couple of really good sales lately that I've taken advantage of, so I need to justify my purchases by actually USING them!  (Weird concept, I know - who does that?!)

K - gotta run!  Catch ya on the flip-flop (whatever that means - Greg says it every now and again), and thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to July!

Soooo - we went to see Magic Mike and it was fun (if somewhat risque) and I did, in fact, get some popcorn.  It fell far short of the anticipated yumminess (exactly the same as what I get at Target on the rare occasion that I allow myself to), but at least I didn't pay for it, so there's that...  We had a LOT of food before we went, so I was pretty full of gazpacho and Buffalo wing dip and salad and sandwiches and ice cream cake and all, anyway!

As promised, I took a picture of Judy's gift before wrapping it up.  She has a sunroom at her house (which I've never seen), and in that sunroom is a round table.  She requested three placemats to go on the round table, since that is where she and her husband and her mother eat most of their meals.  It makes ZERO sense to me to make three placemats instead of four, so I made four, and some napkins and coasters to accompany them:

The fabrics are from Hobby Lobby.  I prewashed (and preshrunk) the fabrics and the bias tape before I made all of these, so she could safely machine-wash and -dry them afer she started using them.  All of the placemats and napkins and coasters are completely reversible - I just alternated which side I was showing in the pic, so you could see both fabrics.

I also made a card for her:

Stamps*: Posh has a Present from StampingBella; Paper: Close to My Heart Watermelon; Accessories/tools: Stampin'Up! Sizzix Square Lattice embossing folder, Bic MarkIt and Prismacolor markers, UniBall pen, ribbon

Confession:  I have ordered (and paid for) *this stamp, but I don't actually physically have it yet, so I traced it from another source to make this card.  I would NEVER EVER EVER do this unless I had paid for the image, which I have already done.  DO NOT EVER EVER DO THIS UNLESS YOU PAY FOR IT!!!  Okay - true confession (and admonition) is over now...

Do you have big plans for this month?  I do!  Starting tomorrow, actually!  It's my birthday and I'm giving myself the gift of crafting guilt-free!  I have a whole stack of Christmas cards to make to "catch up" on a whole stack of challenges, and I have some other ideas rolling around Odd Brain that I've been wanting to pull out and give a go, so there you are!  If any of my attempts are successful I'll be sure to post them...

Okay - off to see what mischief I can cause this afternoon!  Greg's called a halt to his building for the day (he tore out the front steps and is reconfiguring the whole front entry) and we'll probably spend some time out on the deck now - enjoying a beverage and each other's company.  That's my favorite...  Have a fabulous afternoon, too, whatever you decide to do with it, and thanks for stopping by!