What's coming up

Today I've got a couple things to chatter about, things that are coming up in the near future!!

I've decided that maybe, just maybe, I'm going to start doing You Tube tutorials. A few of my customers have been very vocal about wanting them.. So to kick this off I'm asking for ideas of what you all want to learn about. Everyone has something that they've been wanting to learn how to do but hasn't either taken the time to learn it or been able to get it. Already in the works (and making my scrap room a disaster haha) is a tutorial on some paper flowers. So comment below or send me an email letting me know what you'd like to learn how to do. I will be doing a scrap room tour, I was informed that video was not optional!! haha!! Also I've been asked to do a "getting to know you" video. To make it fun (because trying to figure out what to say is not fun for me..) please please please send in questions to ask. I'll keep from preparing for the questions because I think it would be funnier to not be prepared (and easier with two little ones and all).

The new idea book goes live in 4 days!! I'm so excited for the new products that we have. Quite honestly the most exciting item to me is the new Cricut cartridge. I had been wishing we had something, anything, to punch/cut paper out decoratively. I don't know about you but I don't like sitting at my desk tediously cutting out things. I appreciate those who do have the patience for that (because really it isn't hard to do or take that long) but I just don't want to.. I guess that's the best way to say it. I haven't the want. NOW I don't have to! I have not yet ordered the set but am really looking forward to owning it. I quite honestly almost sold my Cricut because I just don't use it. I only have three cartridge sets for it and I didn't ever take the time to pull it out and use it. Now though I think with this set it will sit out on the counter all the time. I found this photo of the back of the box.... It makes me even MORE excited to own it.



So. excited. :) The set is $99 and it comes with the Cricut cartridge, three D-sized stamps sets, and three sheets of dimensional elements. It's an amazing amazing value for the money (although I suggest hosting a gathering and getting it as a half off item.. then for LESS than you can by a Cricut cartridge in a store you get this set.. amazing!).

Also the new stamp sets and the new papers and the new embellishments.... so beautiful - like usual. The catalog changes are mostly for the better.. (I miss the color bubbles at the tops of the pages throughout the book.. that came in handy to me.. I'd look at a card/page/project/whatever and love the color combination and be able to exactly replicate it in my own projects. Oh well.. minor details. The good changes made are far more superior than that little detail. First and most important, the stamp prices have come down. The paper has changed to be printed on cardstock, which is just amazing to me.. LOVE that. Workshops on the Go are now available as a Select Product item for our Hostesses. I could go on and on and on. Let me know if you'd like an Idea Book and I'll get one to you. Then you can see all of the amazing new everything for yourself! Check it out at my website ::CLICK HERE:: when it goes live on Monday!!


That's it for now.. I hope to be back soon (as soon as FedEx brings me my new goodies!!) with a project for you! I can see it in my mind but I don't have the products in my hands yet so stay tuned! I should have gotten expedited shipping! :) Remember to send me your idea wants and questions!! Have a great day!

why scrapbook?

I get asked this question a lot - Why should I waste my time scrapbooking? Isn't it good enough to have photo albums?

On one hand yes it is good enough to have photo albums. Looking through photos of your (or your loved ones) life in an album can be so much fun. Reliving memories you had forgotten about. But what happens years from now when you inherit an album from a family member that doesn't have any kind of notation about who is in the photos or what the story is behind them? You can stare for hours but if there is no story it can leave you wondering. Life is short and unpredictable. You never know when someone who holds the stories of your life isn't there any more to tell them.

I got into scrapbooking because of my dad. I felt like my dad was the only person I could rely on growing up. If anything happened to me I knew my dad would be there, no matter what. I depended on him. I thought because I needed him so much that he would always be there for me. But when he died when I was 18, my world crashed down around me. I didn't need to depend on my dad so much anymore because I already had been with Dave for 2 years. I knew I could depend on Dave like I did my dad. I knew if I needed anything I could ask Dave - just like I had always done with my dad. What I didn't know was in the year that followed his death, I would start to question everything. What was my dad's life growing up really like? I didn't know. What was the story of my family? So many questions... I'd never asked my dad any of them because I thought he'd be there for me to ask later. I knew that even at age 19 when my life revolved literally at that point around offroading, work, relaxing in my very own apartment and healing from the pain of losing my dad so young that I didn't want my future children to have these questions I do. I look at photos from my childhood and I wonder what I was doing, where were we, when was this photo taken.. Answers that could be long forgotten.

So you say you aren't creative enough... I get that.. I do. Not everyone has a want or a desire to make beautiful over the top scrapbook pages. Not everyone has the time or the money. I've honestly gotten more emotion out of a scrapbook page in which there was a plain sheet of cardstock as the background, a few pictures and a journal block stating what was going on in the photos. It's about the story in the photos. The who, why, where, when ect. that matters. No one cares at all about a fancy schmancy scrapbook page that doesn't tell a story. The story is why we scrapbook. To tell it, so we can look back and relive the memory - so our children and their children can witness it. I have a photo I took of my dad in a University of Michigan sweatshirt. If you saw that photo you wouldn't think anything of it. But there is a story behind it. My dad was a State fan, my brother was a Michigan fan. All my childhood they had this rivalry. It was, to my unsports watching self, the most annoying thing ever. My brother had UofM stuff EVERYWHERE. And then he went and got a full ride scholarship to college - at Michigan State. He changed sides and with it had a lot of stuff to get rid of. My dad thought it would be funny to joke about now being a Michigan fan so as to keep their rivalry going. He put on my brothers sweatshirt that was too small for him and told my brother how he switched sides too. It was a funny funny moment, but you wouldn't get that from just looking at the photo. These are stories I want to pass on to my children. I want them to know my dad how I knew him. That is why I scrapbook. To share stories that would otherwise be unknown.


My dad - summer of '96

MIA?

I promise I haven't loss my mojo.. I know it's been months and months and years and FOREVER. (exaggerate much?) BUT I've had a good reason. In 10 days (only 10!! so exciting!!) I'm scheduled to have my baby!! :) Here is where I would share a hilarious photo of my giant belly.... but I can't find the most recent one I've taken and I'm looking like a pile of poo today because my son got me sick and I've been attempting to clean the house. I think people who have never been pregnant really can't possibly imagine just how much energy it really does take out of you. I feel like I'm trying to run after being awake for a week straight and it's 1000 degrees hot with 146452872348971345% humidity - when all I'm really trying to do is empty and refill the dishwasher. Thank goodness I have a wonderful supportive husband who understands. :) I have been creative - however it's all been directed at setting up a fun girly nursery.

I am going to get back to posting things here... Finding my creative energy to put back into scrapbooking and cardmaking. I do miss it. I miss working my business as well. I hope you all have your creative mojo and are enjoying life! My prayers go out to all the families all over our country that have been affected by mother nature's wrath.. It's been a rough year so far... :/ I hope this isn't a sign of how the rest of the year (more tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding) is going to go.. Hopefully it's getting all out of the way now and the rest of the year will be calm.

Scraproom Details Part 1

Apparently I underestimated the amount of photos I could take regarding my scrap room. I guess I'll just share part of it tonight.. I don't want to put up a ton of photos and have it not load for you all. For tonight I'll show a few of my most favorite details.


my daddy's flag.. I miss him every day.


I got these card file drawers at my most favorite antique store in town.. I can always find something there..


the top is interchangeable on my desk to fit in my sewing machine. I haven't been able to sew with the room a mess so I'm itching to make something..


there's even a power strip inside to plug my machine into (or the light to make the opaque acrylic piece a light box)


these little red bins are amazing for storing things.. I got them a few years back from the pottery barn outlet..


these little drawers are very handy for storage too. fancy fancy antique crystals hang from the shelf brackets.. It was cuter when the smaller shelf wasn't below the bookshelf but I still like them :)


My very old dymo label-er that was my dad's and a new label-er.. goes well with my ocd organizing tendencies. Also I love with all my heart my pencil sharpener. Office and organizing supplies make me happy.


see? ocd... everything must have a home lol but that way it is all super easy to find - so long as I remember what I have...


on this side of the desk the drawers are filled with all scrapbook tools and glues and more tools..


to look at the desk it appears there are 5 drawers but there are only 4, the bottom one is a face that pulls off to reveal wheels so my desk unit can roll around the room, either out of the way or butted up to the cabinet behind it if say I was quilting a big quilt (that will never happen because while I can piece one together no problem, quilting makes me sweat bullets)

That's it for tonight! I hope you enjoyed this part of the tour! I'll get back to showing my actual work soon. I can give you a sneak peek though before I go of a layout I am working on..

Scraproom Overview

Just wanted to post real quick to share the photos of my scraproom that I had posted on facebook. I will go through and make all kinds of fun up close photos of details.. There is a lot of hidden detail to this room - like the cabinets are custom made and have features that most cabinets just don't.. I'll go through all that and everything hiding away in a future post. Right now I'm super ansty to finish a layout I've been working on.. I don't know why I'm making it so difficult.. I had in my head exactly how I wanted it but recreating that for some reason isn't working out. Here's the photos..


View from the door:


View from the opposite corner on the same wall:


Another view from that corner:


The wall of cabinets:


As you look in the door (my son's little crafting table :) he loves crafting with mommie!):


A peek at the shelves and the organizing happening there:


The view from my chair - able to keep tabs on what mess is occuring across the room:


So that is the room as it is right now.. I have a small list of changes I'd like to make.. I need another shelf for books above the existing shelves over my work space. I want to repaint the room something that might inspire me (the purple and green stripes aren't doing it anymore..). I'll have to delve into my stash of paint and see if something will work.. I also want to do something different in the windows to let in more of the natural light but somehow still provide me with privacy... I have leftover window film from my bathroom.. I'm thinking I might use that. And probably some moulding around the room and door would probably be good! haha I've had this room for over 7 years now.. You'd think we'd have gotten that done by now.. Oh well.. minor details :)

Hope you like the overview! I'll get to taking the detailed photos soon and share.. I love seeing other people's room tours so I figure it's about time I shared mine too! Have a great night!!

What the what?

I know I posted good my first week and then... I abandoned you all without warning. No new projects... no cards... no layout... nothing. I have a good reason though. I was scrapping and card making at the kitchen table, which involved getting everything out, then putting everything away and watching my husband get antsy that I was making a huge mess every time. See... I have a scrap room. A very nice one with cabinets custom made for me by my father-in-law and my wonderful husband. But this room had become a giant mess. I went to reorganize it (I have organizing ocd.. If something bothers me I need to reorganize it right then and there) two years ago and in the middle of that project I got pregnant and two weeks later had a miscarriage that sent me spiralling down into the depths of depression. So the reorganizing became a chore I didn't want to handle. Then it became overwhelming as the room became quite literally a dumping ground for any of my crafting stuff. Need to sew something up? Took the machine, fabrics, ects into another room to do and would then put it back in the room - but not put where it belonged. Jewelry making? happened on the couch in the family room instead of in my room. And I've already said how the scrapbooking went down. It was without a doubt the most ridiculous thing considering under the mess is an amazing space to create.

The hubs told me (he says he was joking, but I saw in his eyes his true distress) that I couldn't create anything, scrap anything, make a card anything until my scraproom was cleaned up. I about had a heart attack.. People.. the room.. every flat surface was covered in at least a foot of stuff. But I was almost convinced.. I wanted it clean - I just didn't want to do the work. Call me lazy. Around the same time we had a conversation about how I really need a photobox to take photos of the cards I was making in because the lighting at my kitchen table was frustrating to say the least. I couldn't decide what size I wanted the box (and figured it wouldn't happen for me anyways) so we left the conversation at that. Then my birthday rolls around. I opened up the biggest of my presents and at first it looked like a suitcase. I'm trying to figure out why I would get luggage - are they trying to kick me out??? when I opened up the suitcase looking thing and found not just one photobox but two and a set of lights inside as well. One is 12x12x12 (perfect for cards) and the other is 30x30x30 (perfect for 2 page layouts should I dare). Of course I set them up the next day (I had a planned out day already that unfortunately didn't include time to play) only to discover my kitchen table wasn't going to work for that either. SHOOT! So later that night my most wonderful husband helped me get started on cleaning up. He worked hard with me for a couple hours, never complaining once. Until we were both tired and needed to just go to bed. The next day involved a family day of movies and dinner with my in-laws so I didn't get back to cleaning until Sunday. I don't know how I did it but I managed to get the whole room cleaned up, reorganized and ready to create some mess!! I mean.... create some scrapbook stuff??? :D I have three drawers that are all my son's crafting stuff. I thought I'd leave those for some other day but of course it drove me crazy that those weren't organized too. So yesterday I made him help me pick up all his crafting stuff from his table (that was in a different room) and organize it all. Now his table has moved in with mommie's and we can craft together.

I did post a few photos on facebook but I'd like to know - would you all like a detailed tour? Peeks in the cabinets and details of where I might have gotten stuff?? Let me know.. I'm so proud of myself for finally getting this space back to functional. It's nice to know where everything is. I hope to post a bunch of fun stuff this week because you know I'm down here every chance I get now! :)

Happy Birthday

My 30th birthday is this week and in all of my card making I've been doing lately I've not made one single birthday card. I think there is a direct relationship between those two. I have, however, made more than my share of thank you cards. I ran across a card (and now I can't for the life of me find it again.. I believe it was an old post) where the designer used all grays. Inspired by this seemingly simple yet elegant idea I set out to make an all gray birthday card. I failed at that, I don't mind admitting that now. I couldn't not put in some color.

Here is what the card evolved into:

the front


the inside




Supplies used (CTMH unless specified):
Paper: Black, Gray Flannel, Gray Wool, and White Daisy cardstock and the Twitterpated Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
Stamps: Card Chatter - Birthday, Universal Backgrounds
Inks: Black, Gray Flannel, Gray Wool, Sorbet
Accessories: Kraft Color Ready Borders, Create-A-Shade™ Pearl Paint, Shimmer Designer Brads, Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Sorbet Collection (retired)