WOYWW #199 - I Have A Desk!

Hey there!
First off... if you have no clue what the title of this post means... hop over to Julia Dunnit's Blog for all the details. Then come join the FUN!
Guess what I found over the weekend? My Desk!  Yep.. It's all spic n span clean and already has a project in progress LOL That didn't take long.

Here's how it looked before I got started:

For those of you who've seen this before, you know there are things missing. I was in a SERIOUS cleaning mode. I stripped it of everything so I could give it a serious scrubbing... which this laminate board spruces up nicely. A little UnDo to strip any sticky glue remnants then a quick wipe down with glass cleaner.

In the next picture you'll notice the drawer units and the stickles organizer are back in place:

Behind the tool box I'm using as weight you can just see the colored Sterilite boxes. I'll be talking a bit more about them in a couple weeks.. just as soon as I can shift this project in process and get a better shot.

And my project in progress which I'll be showing you later in April. I can tell you I am creating a set of 4 hollowed-out books. The first one is in the modge podge/ gluing the pages together process. Here's a close-up:

I was so thrilled to be gluing something again! To have a surface to work on. Now I'm really anxious to dive into some of those card examples I've been pinning on Pinterest. 

Tomorrow is an office day but by Friday I hope to be creating on a regular basis again. YAY!

I'm off to see what some of you have been up to this week.

Creative Blessings!

Kelly

TEAPOT TUESDAY - oops!

Yes, it's an oops week. I've been out of the loop at the tea party for so long I failed to remember this would be Tickle A Teapotter week so am not playing.

But I'll be here tomorrow with WOYWW. I think you will like my post.

In the mean time, how about hopping over to my friend's, Michelle, blog and leave her some love! Tell her Kelly sent you over.

See you tomorrow!

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - Getting Closer!

Whooo Hoooo!

Yep, a clean slate this week, sorry. But with good reason, which you'll see on Wednesday. I spent the entire weekend cleaning the Studio so I could get back to creating. Sunday I hit a snag when it came time to build shelves I needed for my work table. ALL of the power packs for the chordless tools were drained! Really? So instead of finishing my Studio yesterday so I could have a project in progress today to show you, I spent it researching a short story for competition.

BUT... and here's the good news. Tomorrow I'll be back to Teapot Tuesday! I'm cleared enough that I can make a card! ::: gasp :::

So come back tomorrow to see what's on the Tea Party menu!
Creative Blessings!
Kel

The MITTEN TREE PROJECT

One of the items on the Side Bar Goals list is to complete the Mitten Tree items I started a couple of years ago. Completing this project will serve 2 purposes...

1) LOAD up the tree in November with hat/ scarf/ glove sets for local school children
2) Empty a HUGE tub of yarn out of my sewing room.

In case I've not discussed it here before, the Mitten Tree is sponsored by our local bank. Right after Thanksgiving, they put an artificial tree up in the lobby. People are encouraged to bring in hats/ gloves/ mittens/ scarves... even socks... and place them on or under the tree. A couple days before Christmas break, representatives from the bank take take them up to the school where they are distributed. I'd really like to make this an annual project.

What I've done is purchased the one-size gloves on clearance at season's end for around 50 cents per 2 pair. Then I crochet a simple hat an scarf to match.

The tan and maroon set on the far left is a scarf with the hat in progress. All I have left to do is gather one end to close it up and add a pom-pom. The second grouping is a sample of a larger collection. I have 8 black sets and 5 white sets consisting of hat and gloves. I just need to crochet scarves for those.. You can see the beginning of the black sets on the far right. As well as one completed black hat. I'd actually made that one before I bought the black sets off clearance. I have 5 of the white hats /w/ black stripes. They need gloves AND scarves.

The colum of purple leopard and the pink ones. They have gloves to match but need scarves. Then there is the collection of black scarves. I think I counted I have 6 of these done. I need to make two more of these and add the fringe, then they'll be ready to pair up with the black hat/ glove sets.

My challenge has become I can't really work with yarn projects at night while watching TV unless Bob is home. If he's home, the cats will curl up with him in the recliner. Otherwise they think my lap is the only place to sleep during that time. I love them and wouldn't be without them... but like kids, they make accomplishing things a bit interesting at times. 

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY - Write On/ Wipe Off Board

My mixed media project this week is not associated to one of the things on my sidebar list but a project I just had to try. I love when I find something on the internet I can actually incorporate into my life - as opposed to ''someday".

While cruising Pinterest I found this cool little write on/ wipe off board for keeping track of daily activities. The original PIN came from HERE.  Their collage frame has 8 spots. The one I found only had 6 but that's okay. I didn't need any more than that. Working 6 days a week is enough for me :-D

Prices on these collage frames varied drastically in price. The ones at Hobby Lobby were over $30! I found this one at Michaels for $9 and had a 50% coupon. $4.50 was a good price. They also come in either black or white. I chose the white so the blue mats would pop while the frame itself sort of blended into the cabinet door where I hung it.

Here's what it looked like before I started:

I flipped it over and turned the little locks to remove the back boards and the pictures... using the pictures as a template. 

I could have hung it horizontal or vertical and it would have served the same purpose. I chose to hang it horizontal so I could hang it on the door of my overhead cabinet that holds my printer paper.  I used SU Baja Blue cardstock with Pacific Point ink to stamp the days of the week from the Classic Alphabet.

Under each day of the week I have listed my blogs and what I need to post on each one on any given day. If any of my scheduled post routine changes, I can wipe it away and write in the new! As you'll see in the first photo, Saturday is still open. It is my hope that Saturdays will be the day I scheduled as many posts ahead of time as I can for the coming week. I just haven't figured out how many 'scheduled posts' blogger will let me get away with ;-)

I'm still not to a point where I can do Teapot Tuesday cards. Hopefully only a couple more weeks. But I'll be back Wednesday with a WOYWW post. I love cruising the other blogs and seeing how other creative people have their spaces organized (or not organized) and what they are working on.

Creative Blessings!

Kelly

WOYWW #197 - March 13

It's Wednesday. That means another tour of all of our creative table-spaces with Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday. If you don't know what that is, check out Julia's Stamping Ground for all the details. You'll also find links to over 150 other work spaces. So grab your favorite beverage and come touring with me!

Not a lot of progress from last week. Bob did get my new shelving unit put in so I can start shifting stuff around. In progress for the shelving unit, I needed to empty out a space... so all of my card stuff went onto my mixed media/ fabric cutting table in the sewing room. You can see one of my mixed media canvas pieces propped up in the middle of everything. The blue swirly box in the top left is my Christmas card box. I have file dividers for each of the groups of people I send Christmas cards to every year (about 60+). As soon as I can get things put back in order, I'll start making my cards for this year and file them under the appropriate group as they are finished.

The priority boxes will be turned into magazine holders. Everything else is just pieces of this and that needing put away. Just one step at a time. I am anxious to get stuff in place and start back to getting inky again. I'm almost there.

In case you are wondering what the cutting table is suppose to look like:

You can see one side leaf is up (left). When both sides are up the table top measures 4x6. The leaf down on the end is 2x2 feet. I have it padded and covered in ironing board fabric as a small pressing area when I'm working with ribbons or quilting.  This table is over 25 years old. I designed it and Bob built it to use as our table/ baking island when we lived in an old farm house. The whole underneath has 1 long top shelf I originally used for storing bake pans and then 3 2x2 ft. cubbies with doors for storing baking supplies. Now those spaces hold quilting/ sewing supplies. The entertainment center in the background is used to store themed fabric and Quilt Of the Month fabric collections from WM. I have all but 2 kits they released since 2002. They no longer put them out. 

Today it's back to writing and then see if I can shift some stuff around.

Happy Traveling around WOYWW!

Kelly

FRIDAY FREEBIE - My first big article!

Happy Friday everyone!

Today, I have something special to share with all of you. I have my first full-length article published in Polymer Cafe Magazine!  Squeeee!!!!

To celebrate, I am giving a copy of the current Mar/Apr issue with my article away to one lucky person who leaves a comment with an answer to the following question:

What is your favorite organization item in your crafting space?
AND
Become a Follower of my blog
AND
Include your email address.
NOTE: The safest way to include your address is like this: KellyH (at) artlover (dot) com
By typing the address this one, people can't track back to you directly.

I look forward to being inspired by you.

Creative Blessings!
Kelly

WOYWW #196

Okay.. I decided to jump in. I just couldn't wait until April. If you don't know what I'm doing.. it's Whats On Your Work Desk Wednesday. You can get the scoop at Julia's Stamping Ground. You might not think my desk looks very bad ... and it doesn't. Except I can't do any creating right now. Until I get a cushion made for my new desk chair, I'm having to do all of my computer work at my stamping table. And I've not had time to make the cushion so I could work at the desk because I've been busy working at this desk. LOL Don't you just hate vicious circles!

When not creating, I am a writer by trade. For two more weeks most of my writing time is taken up with promoting the artists in the Texas Music Awards coming up on March 23rd. THEN I can get back to dividing my time between work and play... though playing is usually work-related. There's that vicious circle again.

Okay... the notebook to the left is where I'm keeping track of what I do each day. The tax man likes accountability. My laptop is front and center then my single-serve 'only one can on the occasion' Pepsi sits close at hand. You can see the new metal embellishments sitting just to the back of the power chord. I just picked those up at Michaels last week. I'm sure they'll find their way into an art journal.

And as a constant reminder I WILL be back to playing soon, all of my stickles and tools are in my line of sight every time I look up from the screen.

I hope everyone has a creative week!
Blessings
Kelly

WONDERING BLOG - DCWV Challenge

I LOVE DP! Some of my favorite DP slabs come from Die Cuts With A View. So when I found their blog I was thrilled to bits of paper.

Every month, DCWV Diary  have a layout challenge. Usually there is one for Scrapbook and one for a Card. Although I've not had the opportunity to play yet, I try to remember to check them out every month for layout ideas.

This month's scrapbook challenge, as you'll see when you follow the link in the above paragraph, uses things in sets of two. They have used Valerie Salmon sketches before. She is so creative.

2 TAGS
2 PHOTOS
2 STRIPS

The card is all about Pennant BANNERS as your focal point.

I can't wait to play with these but it will be at least another week before I have things back in place and can play again.

In the mean time, hop on over to the DCWV Diary blog and see what you can come up with!

Creative Blessings
Kelly