Monday, July 10, 2017

A Sneak Peek!

Hello! I had promised a while back to share some photos of our remodeling process.  We're not quite finished with everything and my studio is far from ready for a photo shoot (unless you want to see a disaster area), but I did want to share a few of my organization areas.

I have never been a super organized 'matchy' kind of person.  I like to use found and repurposed items to add a bit of character and fun.  Not only has this managed to be quite cost effective, but it also helps create a cozy feeling to the rooms and that is exactly the style we wanted to implement into our home!  Here are a few pics of my studio space...

The black cabinet was originally from the daycare I taught at for over 15 years, so there is a bit of sentimentality attached to it.  It was white with bright red sides originally, and DH painted it a nice neutral black for me.  I love that it won't show inky dirty spots the way it did when it was white!  To the right of the cabinet are some stacked wooden crates I bought at Michaels. They work pretty well to hold my albums that aren't finished yet.  I wish they were a little deeper, but overall, I like them.

These are two of my favorite storage pieces!  The head vase was purchased for a song on EBay (I loved that it was all worn and has a small chip in the back!), and Humpty Dumpty was found at a local flea market/antique shop.  They both do a great job of holding things I use all the time and look super cute while they do it!

I use an assortment of glass jars to hold ribbon.  They work great for the ribbon that came from shares and swaps, and look so colorful sitting on my cabinet shelf. The jars were either thrift store finds or food jars with the labels removed.

I'm still in the process of getting another shelf/bookcase to hold a few more things, and I have several boxes of supplies that still need a home (I think they multiplied in the garage...), but as soon as my room is done, I'll share before and after pictures of the space!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

Christmas in July!!

Hello, again! I'm so glad you stopped by today! I'm having a bit of a breakthrough/breakdown this week!  My breakthrough is finally making time to get a little creative and start filling my box for Christmas cards; the breakdown will probably come soon because we only a few more days to get everything moved from our former place and I'm overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that is currently residing in our garage...  Guess I can always shut the door, go the the studio, and pretend I'll deal with it tomorrow... Just call me Scarlet O'Hara!

But enough of my personal drama!  You came here to see something somewhat creative!  I had a bit of paper left from the Christmas card I made last week, so I decided to use it up and make two very simple cards.  You will notice that one has a very clean, crisp look, and the other was grunged a bit.  I would love to say that I was playing around and wanted to see the two styles side by side, but the truth is the grungy card is hiding some stamping boo boos.   The shepherds image has quite a bit of empty space between the star and the shepherds and I went a little ink happy and left a shadow above the lamb. You can still see it, but now it looks a little more like part of the weathered effect.  I actually like making some cards inky on purpose, but in this case, I think I like the cleaner card more.  What are your thoughts?




Well, I think I've hidden in my studio for as long as my family will let me, and those boxes are not going to sort themselves (believe me, I've given them plenty of time to do it!).  Thanks so much and I hope you'll stop by again.  My next post will share some pictures of my studio space which is not quite finished yet, but at least it gives me a place to hide, um... I mean work!  Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Card Recipe:  Paper-Raspberry Tart dsp (ret), whisper white, Stamp Set-Every Blessing, Ink- soft suede

Monday, July 3, 2017

Something Blue-It's wedding time!

Well, hello! I can not express how happy I am to be finding time to post on my blog more regularly again!  I know that creative blogs are sort of 'out of fashion' and many aren't using them anymore, but I really enjoy the combination of the written (typed) word and creating things.  It's a bit cheaper than traditional therapy too!

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for my nephew and his bride's wedding.  They are such a wonderful couple! Both are teachers and enjoy coaching sports, so they both have a great built in support system!  I don't usually like to do assembly line cards (several exactly the same), but when you're trying to finish remodeling, moving, taking care of parents, and running kids places-sometimes you just do what you must to get things done!  I ended up making six cards that were very similar and now have a stash of wedding and anniversary cards again.


This is the card I made for the happy couple.  Their colors were yellow and blue with hints of silver, and I thought the paper from Delicate Dots (very retired DSP) worked perfectly!  The card is elegant and simple which fits both their personalities!
The other cards are very similar to this wedding card and used most of the same supplies.






I am so happy you stopped by and hope you found some inspiration or ideas for your own creations!  Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting!

Card Recipe: Paper-Delicate Dots DSP (ret), So Saffron, Whisper White, Ink-Smoky Slate, Bashful Blue (ret), Stamp Sets-Blessed By God, Floral Phrases, Accessories-bashful blue grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals