A Special Post for my friend Jennifer!

  Today, I would like to invite you all to join the wonderful Blog Hop for my friend, Jennifer Scull, who currently battling Triple Negative Breast Cancer.   Jenn, (as I have always called her), and I met a couple of years ago when we were both members of the Baby Bud Design Team.   We found out rather quickly, that we both also shared a lot in common and both loved to create!    I think she is one of the kindest and most caring ladies I have ever met and I was so sad when I first heard about her cancer diagnosis.  I continue to pray every day that she will win her battle and greatly admire her strength and courage.

  Today, many members of the wonderful "Craft World" we all love so much, have come together to take part in a wonderful blog hop for Jennifer and her family.   If you would like to take part in the hop, please be sure to head on over to Paper MakeUp Stamps or Party Time Tuesday's for more details on Jen's Sunshine Hop!

   I also recommend you purchase this fabulous stamp set that Paper MakeUp Stamps, created especially for Jen, knows as Jen's Sunshine Set.   All of the proceeds will be going directly to her.  If you already own this set, as I do, you can also visit any of the blogs and make another or new donation via PayPal and more details on that can be found on any of the participating blogs, including the link I have added below.

  Lastly, due to unforeseen circumstances, I was not able to finish my Sunshine Card, or I should say I did not complete one that I loved enough to share.  However, I am very happy to share the card that Jenn herself created for the hop.  I think it's far more beautiful than anything I would have come up with, and I was so touched when I read about the sweet little girl, Alana, who will be the recipient of Jenn's beautiful card.   This is so typical of Jenn and her kind and caring ways, even during her own difficult journey, she is thinking of Alana and that's just one example of how special she is!!   Bless your heart Jenn, you definitely add Sunshine to my day and I'm honored and proud to call you my friend.

    I hope I have inspired you all to visit Jennifer's Blog and take part in this wonderful hop and more importantly I hope you will make a donation for Jen and her family!

Please consider donating at least $1 using the PayPal Button which you can find on any of the participating blogs.  
Your donation will go directly to Jenn

You'll find a PayPal Button HERE, at Party Time Tuesday's,
or HERE, at Paper MakeUp Stamps.
  Thank you!!

   For more information of Triple Negative Breat Cancer 

please go here!!

   Please note:   I am not part of the "official hop", I am simply a friend who wanted to do my little part to help promote this wonderful hop and to encourage you to make a donation to this very special lady.   I'm honored to do whatever I can to help Jenn and her family and I hope we can all add some extra sunshine to her life today!    

  

Seven for Sunday, I broke my record!!

  I was up early today and one of my main goals today was to spend a lot of time creating and to take today off from my organizing project and that is exactly what I have done.

  I have pretty much been creating all day and I'm so excited and happy because I really like ALL my cards today and my Mojo was in high gear!   Yippee!!  So much better than it has been in a while and it allowed me to complete seven brand new cards!  Seven for Sunday and I think that is a record for sure.  Woohoo!!

    I started off by printing our a variety of digi images that I knew I wanted to use for some of my cards, all of which were inspired by challenges.  Once I had my images printed I sat and colored them with my Copics and then started on each card.   One way I keep track of challenges I want to enter is to print out a copy of the challenge and I keep them on my art desk.   I also print out images of cards or ideas that I really like and also sometimes use them as more inspiration as well as sketch ideas!   Then, when I am ready to create, I always have some things ready for work on!    Today's first card was for this week's Twisted Thursday Challenge over at The Outlawz and the theme this week is Best Friends.   I knew I wanted to doing something different, so I chose this adorable Bug & Roo image from By Lori Designs.   This is a dear image and I bought it when it was first designed.  I love the store behind the image and I think these sweet little babes will always be "Forever Friends" which is what I named this new card.

  My next card also features another of Lori's adorable Lollipop Digi images and was created for this week's Copic Coloring Challenge which is hosted every Friday, also at The Outlawz.  This week's theme is Back to School and I knew this image would be adorable, especially when colored with vibrant alcohol inks!!

   This card is also being entered into this week's Back To School Challenge that is being hosted over at Through the Craftroom Door!   Come on over and join the fun!!

  And then we have this sweet little Angel card that was created for Saturday's Paper a la Mode Challenge, which you can find HERE!!  The theme for this week is called "Spread Your Wings" and the idea is to create any type of paper-crafting projects that shares your interpretation of this theme.  My very first thought was an Angel, and I knew that's what I wanted to use as the image for my card.   I started browsing my digi gallery and picked this sweet image from is from DigiStamps4Joy, but realized after that she is considered a fairy, as her name is Freckled Face Fairy?  Even so, I think she looks like a sweet little angel, so in my heart that's how I see her and why I used her for my card!

  My next two cards were created today and these are both for the weekly Sunday Sketch Challenge, hosted every week over at Operation Write Home's - Stars and Stamps Blog.   This week we have a brand new sketch, which I have copied over to share here on my blog!!   Everyone is ALWAYS welcome to not only play in this challenge, but to also create and donate cards to OWH!   

Sketch # 135

My Cards

    I did change the design a tiny bit to make it work out better for my senitments, but it was another awesome sketch and I always look forward to this challenge every week.   

    And now were are getting close to the end and the next challenge I wanted to play along is the Sunday CAS Challenge, which is hosted every Sunday at The Outlawz and along with the Sketch Challenge is always a favorite.   But, by now I was getting tired, so I wanted to create something fast and easy and with a them of Animals, I quickly found this adorable "pre-colored" digital image that I printed out for my card.  I added in a computer generated and quickly had this fun little card.   I don't recall exactly where I bought these cute pre-colored images, but I do have  few of them in my file.  That's another thing that need a lot of reorganizing, as I must have over 1,000 different images now and the majority are ALL in one folder!  Yikes!  No wonder it takes me so long to find what I want to use!  Luckily, I do try to name them, so a search can help, but not always.  I do have all my Digi Flowers, Digi Sentiments and Digi Backgrounds in separate folders, but are still TOO many in one folder!   Any ideas??

   And just went I thought I was done for the day....I started second guessing whether or not a bird is an animal, (long time since I've been in school), and decided to make another card.  (NOTE:  I have since been back on the computer and after a quick Google search, I am now certain that a Bird is an Animal)!!  Ooops!  But, since I had already created this cute little card, with a "doggie" digi from DigiStamp Boutique I decided to use this as my card for the challenge!!   I am also submitting my card to the August Customer Challenge at DSB blog!!

   And it was just about this time I picked up all the card to get them ready to photograph and when I realized that there were seven cards!!   Woweeeeeeeee!!   It sure felt good to accomplish all this and it was so much fun -- this is WHY I love to create, it's a JOY!!

Out with the old...and in with some new!!

...and in with the new!!   Yes, that's what I'm up to again today -- still working on my craft room and slowly making it much more neat and organized.    Two big bags of recycle paper, cardboard and older scraps all went off the our recycle center this morning!!  Yippee!!

   I also spent more time being creative today, but am in one of the lack of mojo periods, where I'm not overly loving my cards and having a hard time coming up with fun ideas that I love.   I'm even lost of some of the new challenges that I typically play in and can't seem to think of a good idea or what I want to try and create.
 
    On the upside I did make a couple of new card and my the couple were made using up some of my older papers and scraps.  I started with the card that I didn't like at all yesterday, remember this one?

   I took it all apart tossed the papers and started all over with a pretty basic rust card base.  I then picked out a few pre-cut shapes and two hearts from my "scrap" die cut pile and added them along with a 'old' sticker I came across this morning.  In the end, I think this card has a more updated look and I like it better!!  How about you?

  My next card as inspired by another of the sketches in this month's Hero Arts Challenge.  I wanted to make  a least one more card for the second part of the challenge which is ongoing now.   I have also admire many of the cards in the Hero Flickr Gallery and that inspired me to create my card based on the sketch from the lower right below.

Card Recipe

Patterned Paper - My Minds Eye - Sweetness

Assorted Scrap Paper - Stash

My Favorite Things - Heart a Plenty Die

Sentiment by Hero - CL272 All Occasion Messages

White Neenah Cardstock

Assorted Sizzix Embossing Folders

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

  And also using some of the same papers, I created a second card which was inspired by a new challenge over at Crafting my Design, in their new "Taken From Pinterest" challenge, which is really fun.   Being that so many of use now love Pinterest the CBD gals have started this new challenge, where a random picture will be used as our inspiration for a new project.   This is the photo we had this week, which at first I almost passed on, thinking WOW...this is one hard challenge!!

Note:   This is the "Loggia of Raphael" in the Hermitage Museum in Russia.  

It is a copy of the work in the Vatican.

   But, that's when I had the idea to also head over to  Pinterest to find some ideas and I went there and typed in the world "Circle"s, as that my main focus from the inspirational image.  Happily, I found all kinds of wonderful ideas and quickly started my card.   Gotta love Pinterest for new card ideas and so much more. I chose a fun card that was originally created by a designer named Lindsay, which you'll find HERE!   I love it and re-created my own version to use up the scraps left over from my first card.  I've also noticed there are many 'circle' based cards that I've been drawn to lately and I think they all look awesome!  I just noticed that  Lindsay used the same sentiment on her circle card that I used on my heart card above?  Hum?  I wonder if that was in the back of my mind, when I was choosing my sentiment for the card above?

   Card Recipe

Patterned Paper - My Minds Eye - Sweetness

Assorted Scraps/Papers - Stash

Stampin' Up - Circle Punches - Variety of Sizes

White Card Base / Stash

Sentiment - Close to My Heart

Ranger Distress Marker - Worn Lipstick

    And now I have my final card of the day, which is one that was created for the new "Numbers" challenge being hosted at The Cameo Spotlight, which is a new challenge that I'm enjoying.   This is only their second week and it's open to all, but you need to use a Silhouette SD or Cameo to create your card, more details can be found HERE!!   The best part of me, is that it gives me lots of great new ideas and helps me to try new things with my Cameo as I did for this card.  

   I was stumped a bit with "Numbers" and really wanted to make sure my card was different, so I tried to think of words that can use made up of numbers and letters and that's when I was reminded me of "Sk8er" which my son Brian used often, when he was younger.   He's been a avid skateboarder for years and I think one of his very old AOL nicknames had "Sk8er" in it!!   I created that part using a font I had on file, called - Ad Lib.  I then needed to come up with some type of skateboard image and count not really find anything I liked in the store.  That had me off to search Google Images, which is where I found this simple "coloring page" of a little black and white skateboarder, which is exactly what I had wanted.

   I imported it into my Library and then created a simple "Print and Cut" design.  For my Sentiment, I typed it myself using the "Ad Lib" font which I already had on my computer.  I printed everything first on white cardstock and then my Copics to color in the "Sk8er" sentiment.   I was able to weld my letters to make them all on easy cut, but then did not know how to color each letter separately, so I chose to print it all on white cardstock and then colored it with my Copics!  There is still a lot I need to learn, as you can tell!  

  Once I had everything cut and colored I simple added it all to a red card along with some red and white polka dotted ribbon, both from my stash.  I think it's pretty cute and look forward to seeing all the other wonderful projects that are added to the challenge!   These gals are super talented and can do so much with their Cameo, making it a very inspiring group!!  I'm off now to upload this over at the blog!

   Have a wonderful Saturday and as always -- hope you find time to CREATE!!

A little update...

.....Today has been another productive day of organizing and I am very happy to have almost finished going through all the cube spaces in my larger Expedit unit.  I still have two of the big pink cubes that  I need to work on, but I did clean out every area, dusted and washed everything down and ended up moving ALL my binders to the top, which gave me more space in the cubes!    Here are some new updated pictures....a slow process, but every day I accomplish more and more.

    One of my next tasks, will be going though a huge selection of ribbon, that is overflowing in one on my pink cubes, along with two ribbon shelves and also four more "Rings" which are also totally full of ribbon, not to mention the ten or so more rolls I came across today!!  Yes, I have a love for Ribbon, but this is a bit TOO much!!

  

    Once I started to feel tired and achy, I knew it was time to relax a bit, so I cleared off my desk and went to work on two new cards.    The first card is very simple and not one I really like, at all!   I wanted to see if I could use up some of my "older" paper I had come across and I'm learning that I no longer have any LOVE for this paper.  It will be heading to our recycle center tomorrow, along with another huge pile of  very outdated things!    Does this look familiar to anyone?  I think it may have been a very old DCWV Stack???   To me...it's now ugly...pretty yuk!!  

  Even the flowers on this are old and the trim was one of many small pieces in had in my Ribbon drawer.  I guess it's not the worst card ever, but it's not one I love either and will be headed to the recycle center too!

  My next card had me trying out a brand new Stamp and Die that I picked up at my LSS when I was there on Tuesday.  It's a sweet set by Memory Box and I decided I wanted to try my first little tree card today.  I kept it ALL in green, so that I can also submit it to the new CASology Challenge!!  

    I started by stamping a few of the tree images all onto Neenah Solar White cardstock.  I then created a mask with my die so that it could color up my trees and then know exactly how to line up the die.  I love how Memory Box added the little holes on each side of the matching dies, just this purpose!!  I also learned how to use them after taking a class from Dave.  I am also sharing a video (by Patter at Memory Box), that shows you how you can use the stamps and die sets and get a perfect cut every time!

  Both the new die and the stamp are from the just released Holiday 2012 collection and the die is called "Trendy Trees" which you can see HERE!!  The Stamp is also called "Trendy Trees" which you'll see here.  I feel in love with them the first day I saw them, but was good.  I waited until I had my birthday money and bought them at that time.   Being that I am in the middle of purging so much, I want to be very picky about what new things I add and this is one set I already know I'll use often!!

  Here is my "Trendy Tree" card which I think is cute!!  I colored it this time with Copics, all green and yellow green only.  I added a piece of green ric-rak and my card and adhered it all onto one of my Hero Hues Card, and it was done.   Very plain and simply, but easy and fun too!   I think this set is one I'll use often and already have some other ideas.   I want to try Distress Inks and then also want to paper-piece it!!   

   I am also submitting my Trendy Tree card to today's new "Insprire Me Friday" challenge, which you'll find HERE and to the new Color Combo Challenge, being hosted this week at Party Time Tuesdays!   I encourage you all to come an join all of these awesome challenges!!  

    And that's it for today!   I feel good about how well my room is coming along and I sure have boxes and boxes of goodies to donate, so that's also a good thing.  Tomorrow, I want to try and spend another day organizing, but a little more time creating too!  I had originally planned to spend more time crafting today, but once I was started, I was on a roll and had no place to create, until I finished cleaning off my desk!! 

 Bye bye for now!!  I hope you all have a nice Friday and as always -- Happy Crafting!!

Wow....what a project!!

  So...silly me decided it's been long overdue and that I needed to totally re-organize my craft space.  I also wanted to organize all my stamps and that's pretty much what I have been doing for the last couple of days.  I must admit that I LOVE my stamps and the stamps I use most often now are almost always from Hero Arts and they are currently my favorites.

   I decided to start with my Hero Stamp and wanted to put them all into binder and also make sure that I had the name and number of each stamp, so that I could easily list them and when I'm added a blog post.  I do like how it's coming along, but it's a BIG project.   I am using assortment of 3 ring binders and started with some basic black from the dollar store.  Those are pretty flimsy, but okay for now and I'm trying to use those for the lighter weight sets.  In the meantime, I've also been to Staples twice and I'm now adding in some of the Martha Stewart binders, which were all on sale or clearance, making theme more reasonable.
As of this morning I have finished sorting through all my Hero Stamps, Paper Smooch, Lawn Fawn, Tim Holtz, Dylusions along with some assorted smaller set.   Pretty much every cling or clear stamp I own are currently now in binders and as of now I have filled seven larger 8 1/2 X 11" Binders and six smaller 6 X 9 binders, which I am loving.

   Here are a few pictures of my craft room, as of this moment, stay tuned for more updates as this will be a long project, but I love being organized, so this will be a big help too!   The first photo is the back wall of my room which is where my IKEA Expedit Units are, the large unit is shown here) and off to the left is another little storage station we created with Jet Cubes and a Making Memories Shelf.   My goal is to go through each and every section of my Expedit and reorganize all the "stuff" there.  I need to move some things around, so it will be easier to find things and to keep things I use and grab for most -- next to my work desk!!

This is the ONLY section that I have completed....

but I am very happy with my new binders and having 

these stamps now organized!! 

 These are how I set up the binders!

This one is full of Clear Sentiment Sets

And this binder is one of two that I used

for my Cling Background Stamps!!

These clear pages (above), were from the dollar store and not working well,

with the Cling Sets, so those will be changed, but the Sets of Clean stamps fit in very well!

In the meantime, the rest of my room is in disaster mode!!!....

This is my desk, which I need to clean off next!!

  As you can see I have a lot of work, still to be done, but it's coming along!!  I have two large boxes of goodies packed and ready to be donated to the teacher who is also am gifting my Baby Bug Cricut too.   She's a new teacher and has a teeny budget, so I'm especially excited to help her out and it makes me feel good knowing she will put everything to good use!!  Yippee!!

   I took a little break this morning to put together two fun and easy cards.   This first card was totally inspired by this awesome Hexagon Card design that I bought this week in the Silhouette Store.   I cut the card base in Kraft, specifically as I am submitting this card to the new Kraft Themed Challenge at A Blog Named Hero.  I then used a variety of teal/green scraps for more hexagons and even added some Stickles to one group.  I ran some through my Cuttlebug and added a cute little Sentiment from Paper Smooches, which was done with my Hero "Splash" chalk ink.   

   Oh and speaking of inks...I was so excited to find that Simon Says Stamp has the new Hero Mid Tone Inks in the store along with the Christmas Stamps....needless to say, I was shopping there this morning and can't way to try these new colors!  I order the Raspberry Jam, Royal Red and the new Purple "Grape Juice", of course.  I also picked up three new stamps sets, and this was sentiment set is one of my favorites...I feel in love with this font!!   I used some of my Birthday money which was fun, and I also pre-ordered the new Neon Inks, which should be out very soon.  I totally LOVE the Purple, which I am sure is no surprise!!

   And my next card is one that I colored up this morning with my Copics for the new GREEN Challenge at CASology, which started on Tuesday.  I found this cute little caterpillar digi in my image file.  It was a freebie and one that I have had for a long time!   It was created by Melonheadz and I thought she would be adorable all colored up in shades of Green...!

   Update:    I have also now added this card to the 52 Card Pick Up Challenge, which you can find HERE!!  Special thanks for the invite too!

   And now I am wiped out and ready for a little rest, before I tackle my desk!!  I think tomorrow I'll give my  body a break and enjoy my day creating instead of organizing.  It's going to take a long time...but I know it will be the perfect way to get through the cold winter days that sadly, will be here before we know it.   UGH!!

Silhouette and Success!!!

     I can't say enough about how much I totally LOVE having my wonderful Silhouette Cameo.   I have also loved the fun projects you can create with die cuts.  One of the first craft items I ever bought was my Baby Bug, and sadly, for me, it was not my best choice.  I never found it easy to use and that's why last Summer, (just about this time), I started looking into other options.   It was then that my friend Sharon told me about how much she loved her Silhouette SD and after reading up on them, I decided that is what I wanted.  It was also when I found out the brand new updated machine was due to be out in the Fall, so I decided to wait until the Cameo was launched.  I bought mine as soon as the hit the stores, and I have used it more already then I ever used by Baby Bug or my Cricut.

   Whenever I find myself stumped with a new card idea, the first place I go is to my Silhouette Library or to the Silhouette store to find a fun shape or idea for my card.  That's exactly what I needed to do for two of the cards I created today and it's also why I'm giving another review of my Cameo!!  I LOVE it!!  

   The first card is a pretty "purple" birthday card and this was so easy to make, thanks to my Cameo. but is also what I call my "Fail" card of the day.  It simply did not come out as I had thought it would and seem sto plain...not to mention that I could not seem to get a very good photo.    I created the card for this week's Paper a la Mode Challenge, where "paper folding" is our theme.   And since I have NO clue how to do anything in the true paper-folding art, I thought trying a card with unique folds would work...!   Afraid not!! I do plan to work on another card when I'm less tired...but I always try to share the good and bad...and this is one of my not so good projects!   LOL!!

  I was much happier with this next card, which is a card that I was successful in creating, thanks to my Cameo.  I started by browsing my Library, along with the Silhouette Store and started with this one large image, that was designed to be a 12" X 12" Background for a scrap page.   I also used one of the banners from this image, along with this one, which I used for my Sentiment.    I edited things down to the size that I wanted and deleted out parts of the images that I did not need.  Once I had them all done I cut out everything on white cardstock.  I then mounted the white background onto dark blue cardstock to create a 5" square card.  I stars were colored with my Red Copics and I cut the Team USA separately on a piece of red cardstock.  This card was created is will be submitted to this week's Olympic/Flag Themed CAS Challenge, also being hosted at The Outlawz.

   My third card today, was actually the first card that I finished and it was created for the Sunday Sketch Challenge, hosted every Sunday at the Stars & Stamps Blog.  I have also copied over this week's sketch and hope you'll play along too!!  Operation Write Home always can use new cards and everyone is welcome to create and donate cards for this fabulous group!!

Sketch # 134

My Card

     This card started with another wonderful flower image from Wax Fruit Company, which I colored with my Copics.  I then used the sizes from the sketch to cut two strips from scrap paper which I layered onto kraft cardstock.   My 'Hugs' Sentiment is from Paper Smooches and was punched with a circular punch that was added to a die cut scalloped circle!   I added it all to a matching card base and had this sweet card!!
 
      And that's all for today!   Looking forward to more creative time this week!  I feel like I haven't had a lot of time to create lately and I miss it!   Time is flying by!!

A Happy Saturday!!!

  My day has started out to be fabulous!!  I had a call from Meghan last night and she and Brian wanted to take me out to breakfast today---what a fun treat.  Then, while I was having my Pedicure with Acacia, she mentioned that she and Alex both had today off and they wanted to try and join us, since it's such a rare thing for any of them to have Saturday off.  Meg and Brian have a wedding later tonight and Acacia took a day off to have a full weekend off.     I was thrilled that both my Guys and their Girls were all taking me out.  Carlo, (who is Brian's best friend), and like my 'third' son, also came along and we all had a nice time and enjoyed a yummy breakfast at Sugar Mags.   I tried very hard to have a healthy breakfast and not a huge one, as I'm also going out to dinner later with friends and never typically eat two big meals in one day!  It's now almost 4pm and I'm not even close to being hungry and we'll be leaving just after five, so I hope I be ready for something yummy again, by the time we arrive and are seated.

  While I'm killing time I have a few cards to share and I'm a bit overdue in updating my blog.  For anyone who may has stopped in for my Cricut Sale, you can find ALL the details on this POST!!   It is current and I still have several cartridges left to sell, plus my Expression!!

   My first card was created and inspired by a few challenges and is one of my newest CAS cards.  It's also all done in a black and white them and was submitted to this week's Twisted Thursday challenge over at The Outlawz.  It has also turned out to be one of my favorite cards and I owe it all to my wonderful Cameo, which I used to design the cute sailboard on the card.

  My next card featured one of my all time favorite tulip images and it's one I have colored many times in a variety of colors for various challenges and gift cards.  The image is from Wax Fruit Company and was colored with my Copics and Crystal Accents.   This week, the color theme was inspired by the Color Combo Challenge, also being hosted at "The Outlawz".   

  In addition, this card is also being submitted to the week's Copic Coloring challenge at "Crafting By Design", which has a "Nature" theme.

  These next too cards were also inspired by new challenges, also hosted this week at Crafting by Designs.  The first card is for the new "Water" themed challenge and I chose this adorable little Bugaboo image, which is a little 'surfer boy', who I colored up with Copics and Stickles!!   I totally LOVE Bugaboo images and for me, they are also so fun color...they are my favorite style...always fun and whimsical and I love the deep crisp black lines...with lots of open space!

   And I have this one last card and it is also another adorable Bugaboo Image and for another of the CBD Challenges.  This challenge is called "Let's Head to the Beach", and I chose this cutie form my collection, which I colored with a combination of Copics, Stickles, Distress Inks and Crystal Accents!!   I used  pair of "large" scalloped decor scissors to create the border and punched out a computer generated sentiment with a circular punch!  The image and background were cut with Circle shaped Spellbinder dies!!  I kept the yellow circle from the card above and was able to use that as a mat for my little "Water Babe".  

 And that's it for today!    I need to get ready soon for Dinner with our friends, which I am also looking forward too!   Two celebrations in one day is a lot for me, as we are going out for Dinner with friends a bit later to celebrate our Birthday!!   Yes, it's my birthday and my Hubby's too -- we were both born on August 18, but three years apart!    We picked one of our favorite seafood restaurants and I tried to eat a very small and healthy breakfast so I would not be over-stuffed for dinner!   This restaurant is one that also has my all time favorite dessert "Chocolate Lava Cake" and you can't bet with be ordering one to share tonight!!

  My birthday has already been wonderful and between my Hubby, the kids and my Mom and I have lots of money for craft goodies, as well as a Pedicure Gift Certificate and a Gift Card to my favorite LSS.  I'll be heading there Tuesday and want to pick up a few new Hero Arts things...but I'm otherwise ONLY buy craft storage things, until my room is totally re-organized!!   Special thank to my wonderful family and friends for all the great messages, emails, cards, notes, treat and special gifts!   I Love you ALL!!

Taking time to Create!!!

  The past few days I have been working on the beginning of what is going to be a major re-organization and major purge in my craftroom.   It's going to take me quite some time to get things where I want them to be, but it's something I have wanted and needed to do for a LONG time.

   If you are a Cricut lover I am SELLING off ALL of Cricut Stash.   I still have over 40 cartridges, my Gypsy pre-loaded with all the cartridges I have ever owned and even my cherished Pink Expression.   After not using it in months, I have decided that it's time to sell and donate it all.   I am happy to have donated my Baby Bug and some of the cartridges to a friend of Meghan's (my future Daughter-in-Law), who is starting her very first year as a teacher.    Knowing that Meghan is a designer, she had contacted her for some donation ideas and Meghan thought of me right away.  She knew I was working on a major purge and knows I love to donate to schools, so I was thrilled to help her out.  I have also invited her to come and shop my room and I am actually looking forward to that too!  But, I still have quite a large selection left and if you are interested in anything I have, you can find all the details in this POST!!   Everything is in excellent condition and never had heavy use.  I am just one of those people who never really figured out all that I could do with my machine and switched over to a Silhouette Cameo, last Fall.  That system is much easier for me and when I realized I had not used my Expression since that time, I knew it was time to sell it and put the money into organizational items instead!

     I am looking into the perfect way to catalog and organized my stamps.   I have several hundred and know I need to list several of them for sale too.   I did manage to start going through all my Hero Arts Stamps and have already filled two binders with my only my cling background stamps, and have many more to go.  Hero is my favorite brand and I have been on a huge Hero buying spree -- now it's time to set back and put a hold on my buying until I have everything purged!  I have TOO much and literally have no space...and that's a bit crazy.  If ANYONE has any hints and tips on easy ways to catalog and organize stamps....PLEASE SHARE...or come Help ME!!  

   Today....I am very happy to be taking time to CREATE and happily have three new cards to share.  The first is for this week's CASology Challenge and this one was tough...I tried three different ideas and the first two I did not care for, so I kept on trying, but do have my "fail pictures" below.

    My basic idea was to create a simple card that was in a SCHOOL theme....and I started by using my Cameo cut out a jumbo pencil.  I then used some notebook paper, which I trimmed down to card size.  On the first card, I added the paperclip and hand wrote ABC, but I was NOT happy, so I started over, made another little notebook page, canned the paper-clip and used a black marker for my ABC 123 -- again....not happy because I do not LOVE my handwriting...! YUK!!

  

    Today, I started all over and finally have a card to submit.  I used the same idea, but instead of my handwriting, I use my Cameo to cut the letters and then created a look of notebook paper by scoring some white cardstock and adding another die cut to the side.  In the end, this was my favorite...hope it will be yours too!

Card Recipe

Red Notecard by Hero Arts

White Neenah Cardstock

Silhouette Store - Pencil

Silhouette Store - ABC Card 

Silhouette Store - Notebook Design

Copic Sketch Markers

    I am additionally, submitted by SCHOOL card to the new School Themed Challenge over at Through The Craftroom Room!!  Come on over and join the FUN!!

    My next two cards had me breaking out my "Kraft" cardstock, which I admit is not a color that I tend to use much.  I know it makes fabulous cards, but for me, I had never found the right color of Kraft until I came found the Neenah Desert Storm, which I now love.   My first idea came from this week's  new Kraft' Inspired challenge over at A Blog Named Hero.    This is one of my favorite challenges, so I was excited when I saw a new challenge, last night.   On top of the this week's  Midweek Throwdown Challenge at  OWH, was also a Kraft-related challenge, so I decided I would make one card that would work for both.  The bonus came when I found the perfect sketch, which was shared by Rene at "Crafting by Designs" for her new challenge!  I thought it was wonderful and I am also now entering my card into her challenge as well!    

Rene's Sketch

My Card

Card Recipe

Neenah Desert Storm "Kraft" Cardstock

Gold Bling -- my stash

Sentiment Hero Arts - CG276 Things

Patterned Papers - Glitz Afternoon Muse

Red Pepper Pigment Ink - Adirondack

  

  After being pleased with my first "Kraft" inspired card, I went on to make another one and this one was also inspired by the Casual Friday Challenge (CFC65), where the theme is Square Cards!!  I also will be submitting this as a second card submission over at A Blog Named Hero!!  

Card Recipe

Butterfly Die Cut Stash

 MS Butterfly Punch

Sentiment - Lawn Fawn

Neenah Desert Storm "Kraft" Cardstock

Manilla Tag

Assorted Distress Inks

Perfect Pearls Mist

Cardstock Scraps (for the butterflies) - Stash

Stampin' Up - Chevron Embossing Folder

Adirondack Expresso Ink

    The center (background)  portion of this card was created with a pre-inked tag, that I cut down to fit the card.  It was colored with a variety of Distress Inks and then sprayed with Perfect Pearls mist.  I had created it taking while taking Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry Class!!  

     I had a lot of fun being creative again today and now it's making me want to spend MORE time creating and less time organizing!!  LOL!   I think I will try and do a bit of both every day and that will make it a lot more fun!!  I am still looking for all kinds of ideas on storage ideas for my stamps.  I don't have ANY more room for any type of furniture, but maybe I can also purge some goodies from my drawer units and make more space.  I also hope my Cricut supplies sell quickly, as that will give me lots of space and a new work-space area where I can keep my Big Shot and Cuttlebug!