Out of the Box

We've had several cloudy, gloomy, winter days lately. Seemed like the perfect time to make a bright, sunny card!

Today's card was a lot of cutting, piecing, and gluing! I don't do a lot of cards like this because they are quite time consuming,  but it is relaxing to just play around with paper scraps.

If you are a fan of Elizabeth Craft Designs, you may recognize the hen from one of the farm sets. The girl, however, is completely out of the box, creativity! I don't have a lot of ECD dies, so I had to borrow from a few different sets. Most of the girl is from the Mrs. Claus set (crazy what a change in colors can do!), the bowl is from the baking set, and her farm boots? Well, Mrs. Claus just swiped Santa's boots and made them her own!

I'm not thrilled with my sky... it's been way too long since I've played with pastels, and the lines are way too harsh. I've covered most of it with the last minute tree addition and the sentiment. Hopefully, my skills will come back with a bit more practice.

DD#1 loves chickens (and trees) so I think she'll appreciate the effort- bad sky and all!

Time for a quick lunch before heading off to work. I'll have to make a post about my recent career change. The hours are a lot different,  but so much less stress! Thanks for visiting. Now go be creative!

 

Birthday Greetings

Hello, again! I've been enjoying my newly scheduled play time, and I'm slowly rebuilding my supply of birthday cards. I've always enjoyed sending cards, and it's great to hear positive feedback from the ones who receive them. I've heard from so many people that it brightens their day to receive happy mail. I know that this is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and while I love the immediate response of texting and social media, there's something more personal about an actual letter or card for occasions. 

I'm sharing two more designs today, and am going to be working on something a little more detailed for DD#1's upcoming birthday. Here's a quick breakdown...

Simple use of matting and a stamped sentiment on this one. Love the purple and green combo!

I managed to use some scrap strips on this one!

My plan is to get some much needed scrapbooking done after my daughter's card is finished. I seem to be swimming in pictures... I haven't begun to sort through the pictures from my parents and in-laws. That will be an undertaking for another time.

The word 'Create' is beginning to permeate my daily life already. Not only am I scheduling time to be artistically creative,  but I'm also creating some space by cleaning out closets, cabinets, and the garage. I'm hoping a trip to the hardware store will yield some storage racks to better organize my holiday decorations and create a parking space in the garage. If we haven't unpacked it in 5 years, we probably don't need it,  right?! Wish me luck!

 

Create In The New Year

It's been a few years since I've posted. I was a bit concerned that my blog may have withered away in that time,  but after knocking the cobwebs aside and blowing the dust away, here it is!

A lot has happened in those two years. DD #1 graduated college, DD #2 is well into her third year of college, I've changed careers, and both my mom and mother-in-law have passed away. There's a lot of good, bad, and ugly that's occurred,  but I'm still here more or less standing.

My One Word for this year is CREATE and what a great time to resume blogging along with paper crafting. I'll leave you with some cards I quickly put together over the weekend.