An Organized Life...

Gods... I hate cleaning... I hate organizing... and I hate sorting things. But I LOVE the end result. I have been busy trying to clear the landslide that has become my desk and the surrounding four feet... and I've managed to make enough progress that I can actually see some of the surface of my desk. And I can open the filing cabinet drawers... If I were Brave, I'd post a picture of the mess that this was when I started and the mess it still is after about three hours of work... and hopefully the mess it no longer is after I'm finished. What I need though is the ability to then keep it clean and organized. It is so easy for me to create another pile... say "Oh, I"ll put that away later" and the next thing you know... LAST YEAR's Christmas cards are still on my desk... Plodding away but one step at a time, and I'm sure I"ll get there. It's one of my goals for this year... get and STAY organized.

Alright... Here I am...

By gods, I've been away from this for too long. I have the same excuses everyone does... I'm busy, I'm tired, I'm stressed. I have a job, I have a toddler. But let's cut to the quick... if I'm not here, which means I'm not creating, I'm not really me, either. I get excited about new paper, looking at other people's creations, helping people create, see in a new way, do in a new way, and get in touch with what matters to them in a creative sense... thing is, I haven't been doing that for me lately which makes me crabby, anxious and exhausted. ENTER: www.bravegirlsclub.com where I'll soon be taking their online workshop Soul Restoration. It is a six week course on getting back in touch and getting creative and I so need a community right now. I won the course over at www.christytomlinson.typepad.com and couldn't possibly be happier. I've been buying supplies, ordering prints, reading blogs, but not getting anything done... my stash has outgrown my three craft spaces, my desk and craftroom are unusable due to clutter and the precariously perched stacks of stuff. I know that what I love doing is making books... journals, mini-albums, thought books, and I know that it fills my soul to not only make them but to write in them and create art in them. A friend of mine posted a great facebook message which I have attached myself to and I'm going to put it out for you here... http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1353128548#!/profile.php?id=1353128548&v=wall...
and I'll extend the same invitation here... the first five people to leave a comment will receive something handmade by me, but you must post this on your website/blog/facebook page and send out your own handmade gifts. When you comment, please leave me some sort of contact info so that I may get a message to you in private for a mailing address. I am feeling that I have to create again, which is great, but also means that I haven't been doing it enough lately. I've been struggling with getting organized and narrowing down what I want to be making. Slowly but surely, space is appearing in my craft room and I do know that books is what I want to be making. So... I consider this a sucessful start to my 42nd year... an idea, a class to help me get in touch with me again, and a few goals.
here I am...

Operation Write Home Card challenge

I know I said I'd be better about this... but it's been a wild ride these past few weeks at work with multiple freight shipments, big sales, Inventory and company from the big bosses... keeping me busy and working 12 hour days so I've had little time for much other than work, sleep and household stuff. Heads Up-- Michaels is redoing their entire scrapbooking department and there is some wonderful new stuff!!! Full launch scheduled for the end of April but you'll see changes weekly from now til then. Despite being busier than a bee in spring, I do try to get to my email and I did get this little blurb from Operation Write Home about their current challenge. It'll be fast and furious as the deadline is May 10 but it's all in good fun and certainly for a good cause. Hope you'll join me in making some cards!

RAK winner and some pics...

Ok... So... thanks for the patience... it's been a crazy busy week. And Random.Org picked number 47: Shelly... I'll hop over to your blog and leave you a message or you can leave me an email address here (yourname at server.com) and I"ll email you for an address. And here's what you've won :
A few Christmas stamps from Inkadinkadoo, Martha Stewart's Give Thanks Edge punch, and a blush coloured beaded flower brad (i thought I has a few more made in my stash... but hopefully you'll find a good use for this one-- and, I guess I have to get back to beading again soon. Let me add that to the list : ) ). thanks all for stopping by and I hope to see a few more of you more often. I mentioned in an earlier post that my other craft endeavors have been keeping me busy... here's a few pics of what else I've been up to:





I love making the stepping stones, though finsing the time to do them is difficult. the children's wall art canvases are faster and also a ton of fun. I especially like making paper quilts on canvas. I'll post again over the weekend and then I think I"ll just start trying to get back to the routine of posting a few nights a week.

Gearing up for Crop Night

Wow, thanks for all the wonderful comments on that card for Operation Write Home. It is always great to have someone appreciate what you are doing, which of course, is why I make I cards for OWH.... I appreciate what the soldiers are doing for us. Michaels has brought Crop Night back and the first one is this Friday night. I am going to be there to encourage folks to make cards for OWH, and do a ten minute card so people can see how easy it is to make a card from their scraps. This weeks craft projects however have been far from paper related... I made a Duck Tape wedding dress and painted a Fleur de Lis footstool... I'll post pictures towards the end of the week. I have not yet chosen a winner for the RAK from the bloghop but a full list of the surprises and a picture will accompany the winner's name on Friday, 3/27. Thanks for your patience.

Welcome to the Operation Write Home BlogHop

If you've somehow made it here by accident, and would like to start from the beginning at Operation Write Home just click the coloured text
Hi y'all... It has been so long since I've been an active blogger that I'm really testing my skills here getting up and running on time (and I think I'm late: the curse of being a middle aged mommie with a full time job and a part time crafting business). I'm really glad you've made it this far and hope you've seen some things that have inspired you, awed you, and encouraged you to participate with operation Write home in whatever manner suits you. I have set up a donation bin for cards at my local Michaels Arts and Crafts store. I really can't tell you why this cause hits my heart, but it does. I was a little stuck as to what to do for a "spring" card... I tend to work in distressed media (or the total opposite and do very cutesy baby things) and a simple Spring idea was giving me fits... but I had this great striped paper from Pink Paisleee and thought it would make cheerful flowers. (click on the photo to see a larger version). The flower stems are ribbon and of course, tombow mono adhesive. The flower centers are Making Memories snaps, which I attached using my crop-o-dile. Once I figured out how to use that thing it sure has come in handy. You got here from Donna's site where I hope you enjoyed her cards as much as I did. I really love when a crafter can get specific with her theme and keep the project clean and simple but still eye catching. From here you'll go to Denise's site (just click the coloured text) and wow, she does some fantastic inking doesn't she? I love her designs and can't wait for a chance to get to check out her store. (I confess that I mostly use stamps to impress on polymer clay. I WILL have a little RAK though I haven't had time to choose the items yet... I'm thinking a Martha Stewart Holiday Punch, a few Christmas rubber Stamps and some assorted embellishments and I'll include the some of my the flower beaded brads that I make (see earlier posts for a picture of these). I'll post a picture during the day tomorrow. Please leave a little love... there's nothing so disenheartening as having no comments : ( . Remember to leave an email address or a link to your site so I can contact you if you've won. The craft projects have taken over much of my "free" time and you can see what I'm doing these days at Shophandmade Enjoy the rest of the hop!

I'm Back...

Wow... I didn't realize that my hiatus had been this long. I've been busy crafting for local shows and I am also sharing a space with a friend on mine at the Marketplace in West Monroe. Some months I do well, others, not so... but I enjoy making crafts and having them on display. I've been doing a lot of Fleur de Lis themed things, this being Louisiana. My favourite so far has been the concrete stepping stones. I've also been making wall canvases... some all painted some a mixture of paper and paint. Work and the toddler have been keeping me pretty busy, but I'll be back again here pretty regularly. I'll be posting pictures of some of my crafts as well as my scrapping stuff again soon.

Cards for Heroes, now OperationWriteHome.Org is having another blog hop on March 20th. I"ll be one of the stops again. I have set up a donation box at work for cards so that we can send a bunch in. thanks for sticking in there and I hope to see you all on the blog hop day.