MEMORY DEX MONDAY - Part 1

 Good afternoon, friends.

Had a rough start to my morning and my head still hurts. I did want to come in and introduce this new series I'll be doing on my YouTube channel the second and fourth Monday each month until the series is concluded.

Rolodex came into play in 1958. These were like the secretary's assistant. They contained all the contact information a secretary would need with a flip of a finger. 

In 2015, Heidi Swapp took rolodex up several notches, turning them in to a small way to create art and be a form of memory keeping. 

MemoryDex resurged a couple of years ago. I think this was due to people having more time on their hands and dug back into their crafting supplies. 

They seem to be making the rounds again. I've seen newer videos on YouTube and swaps being put together. I've also hear a lot of people say they have no clue what MemoryDex are or how to create them so I decided to put together this series.  I did an intro to the series HERE as part of the haul video. 

In today's video we go more in depth with the things you can use to make the basic Memory Dex, including what you may have in your own stash.  I hope you'll come play!

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

WOYWWW #727 - A Bit Behind and A Few Pictures

 Good morning, Crafty friends!

For those of you across the pond, I thoroughly enjoyed the Coronation of King Charles & Queen Camilla. I loved the mix of tradition and contemporary. There is a lot to be said for tradition. 

I do apologize for not getting round last week. That is usually my Sunday routine but since I didn't do anything but sit on the sofa in front of the television Saturday, I had to take a make up day. LOL I'll do better this week.

Let's start with my desk:

Leftovers from filming my Week 2 Challenge of the #KCDMayJJ23 series. Since the first Saturday of the month was National Scrapbooking Day, I am doing my take on Cabinet Cards and turning them in to 5x7 scrapbook layouts. I can attest to the fact that size doesn't matter in this case. Whether I'm doing a 12x12 or a 5x7, they take about the same amount of time. 

Here's a close-up of the card I did in this week's video:

I used digitals from an etsy shop - Weathered Textures and was inspired by THIS layout on Pinterest. I'm uploading the video for this as I type so if you want to see that, check out my YouTube channel later this afternoon. 

I'm dying papers this morning. I started with this:

This is the second round of soak for this ink cartridge. I've dyed papers with it once then dropped the cartridge back into water and it's been soaking since April 24th.

This is the color I'm starting out with this morning:

Finally, I think Spring has finally arrived. We've been getting rain over night giving us lovely cool temperatures in the mornings. I really need to be out in the garden. With the arrival of spring, I have flower pictures: 

I've always wanted Clematis and i have three beautiful flowering plants in my yard. The first one is Little Duckling. I need to look up the names of the other two.

 That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

WOYWW #726 - Promised Tip for Christine

 Good morning, crafty friends.

After posting last week, I found my note to share links for Christine on what to do with those lovely UK card/ stamping magazines. 

I have a post for the project. I linked to Angela (aka Crafting With Jack) on her process. I hope you find this post helpful:

POST 1

Okay... on to the desk!

The box in the middle holds the things from my haul video I recorded yesterday (it's live on my YouTube channel now). Nothing else exciting. LOL

I've been busy as usual this week. With Bob's first week behind me, the twenty-one days are flying by. 

I've finished the April spring journal. I'll have the video posted here after it's uploaded an available on my YouTube channel. I hope you'll take a moment to visit and subscribe. I'm not out to monetize, just show higher up in the crafty rankings. Thanks! 

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over to Stamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MAY COLOR CHALLENGE - #KCDMayJJ23

 Good morning, crafty friends!

Blessed Beltane, Happy May Day.... whatever you celebrate, I hope your day is awesome!

I didn't get any cards made over the weekend. Between planning out the Merry Merry Month of May (remember that little tune?), getting new words written on the book and spending a very large amount of money at the Spectrum Art Creations sale both Thursday (napkin sale) and the usual Saturday Live, I had a busy weekend. LOL  Be patient. some are coming, I promise.

With today being the 1st of a new month, I released the Color Challenge on my YouTube channel this morning so that's what I'll leave you with for now.  I should be back here tomorrow with a card. :: crossing fingers :::

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly

CREATOR'S CORNER - Ceri Griffiths aka Ceri The Crafter

 Good morning, crafty friends!

We've had an awesome month being inspired by Ceri Griffiths. Today we get to learn a bit more about him and take a gander inside his creative space. Let's get started!

Before we get to Ceri's bio, let me share his email signature line with you. The accolades are very impressive:

Artist & Crafter

International Teacher, Demonstrator, Judge, 

Show Host & TV Personality

Freelance Television Demonstrator

ICES 2021 Hall Of Fame inductee

Award Winning Author

Award Winning Silicon Mould Designer

OSSAS Medal of Honor

ICES Approved Tutor

If you don't know, the ICES stands for International Cake Exploration Société

Ceri Griffiths is truly gifted.

Bio:

All through my life creativity has played a major role and when the pandemic took

my cake decorating business away from me and we were all forced to stay at home I turned to my art skills to once again build a career for myself. 

A few years later now finds me with a thriving Youtube channel, occasional appearances on shopping channels demonstrating craft products, I designing stencils and foam stamps for an

American company (P.M. Artist Studio). I’m now far happier than I’ve ever been,

I’ve truly been blessed to find a new home amongst the creative souls and artists of the world. Hard work definitely pays off

Thank you for joining us today, Ceri. This is truly a pleasure.

1 – What got you started on the creative path?

As far back as I can remember I've been creative and inventive. I come from a family

who had very little money when I was growing up so I had to be able to alter found

items and existing items to adapt them to my creative needs. I was also a very sickly

child therefore I spent a lot of time indoors or in bed, the perfect place to enjoy arts

and crafts.

2 – How has your creativity evolved?

I think its better to ask how my style has evolved and that is purely based on the

artists and influencers that have touched my life. I am so glad that the internet has

given us as Artists the ability to reach around the world to inspire, support and

nurture our varying art forms. Style is an ever evolving creature and I'm enjoying that

journey.

3 – What do you enjoy most about your creative path?

Creativity has helped me deal with my demons, my art endeavours have been my safe

place when the rigours for life close in upon me. There are many things I enjoy about

my artistic life but most of all I think its the generous, caring and inspiring members

of the various artistic community’s. A creative life can be a very lonely life and

knowing others are treading the same pathway eases the anxiety when you share your

emotional expression in the form of art with the rest of the world.

4 – What inspires you?

The sheer joy of life and nature, I love to learn and experience new mediums and art

forms. I personally feel if you’re a creative soul then you will view any form of art as

achievable and experimental.

5 – When did you move from hobby to business and what initiated the transition?

For many years my business has been the art of cake decoration and design however

when covid struck the planet it also wiped out that side of my life and my business

failed. I’d alway been creative through arts and crafts, design had also played a major

part of my life so it was a natural progression to reinvent my business to incorporate

my love of artistic creativity. The kind words and support of other artists helped me

boast my confidence to the level where I was willing to expose my artistic soul to the

world. I believe it was the right move at the right time and now I enjoy a life where I

believe I’m the truest version of myself that I've ever been.

6 – What do you love most about your space and would you change anything?

I love my creative space because it is a reflection of myself, it is a space that is my

safe haven away from judgment, I don't go to work I go to play. I think the only thing

I’d like to change about my work space is to have a sink with running water within it,

a minor adaption and defiantly a luxury item. I’m very blessed to be able to have a

dedicated space that I can work in and I never take it for granted.

7 – What 3 things do you feel are important when planning a space?

1. Be willing to allow your space to change, your creative space is a living place

that will adapt to your requirements.

2. Take note of your habits, the tools and supplies you normally reach for and have

them stored close to you.

3. If possible always work with natural light, its better for your eyes and the true

representation of colours will help your creations look the way you imagined

them.

8 – What is your best organization tip?

Know where your supplies are supposed to be stored and return them to that place at

the end of each project so you can find them again.

9 – What is your best tip for anyone wanting to turn their craft into a business?

If you wish to turn your craft into a business be very realistic about the costs

involved, including your time, the impact on your family but most of all a business is

supposed to make a profit, if its not earning you money then it’s still a hobby.

Great information, Ceri! Thank you for the tips and showing us around your studio. 

You can reach Ceri by clicking any of the following links:

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   INSTAGRAM   YOUTUBE   ETSY   

WOYWW #725

 Good morning, friends!

My desk this morning:

Poor lighting but I'm trying to get a gazillion things done at once so I can get back to writing my book.

While this looks staged, technically it was... for the Reindeer Club video I shot this morning. I showed the 21 Christmas cards I made from two Stampin' Up! Paper Pumpkin kits. Now to figure out what I'll do for May Reindeer Club. Hmmm... maybe get some projects out of the way? 

Last week was super busy getting all the time I could in with Bob. He found out his very best friend since grade school will need a quadruple bypass. Since he doesn't know when the surgery will happen, Bob went up a day early just to spend some time with him... which meant I was doing everything last minute LOL. In spite of that, I made my way 'round to every desk yesterday in time to start over this week! 

But we're fine now. He's in Chicago and I put in most of a full day of work yesterday. Well - until I picked up a book for research and couldn't put it down. The book - The Unremarried Widow is an amazing story of a woman's journey from meeting The One she didn't even know she was looking for to feeling like an outsider amongst military wives then becoming a widow less than a year after they'd married. #heartbreaking.  I recommend the book.

Have any of you read, GreenLights by Matthew McCounahey?  Yes, THAT Matthew McCounahey.  I haven't read all of the book but Monday I had the opportunity to sit in on his The Art of Livin' webinar - all 4+hours! Amazing inspiration from him, Trent Sheldon, Marie Floris, Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi. Another book I recommend.

You saw my painted book pages in progress last week. Here is what I made with one of the pages. 

I took part in a challenge by Natalie from Line Dot Arrow to make a Stuffed Paper Bag. You can see my flip-through video here: (it's a short video.

As I mention in the video this is to be the front cover of my spring journal. I should have the full flip-through of that journal the first Wednesday in May for you.

That's it for my desk (and story) this week. Who's Miss Julia and why am I here?  When you are done visiting me in the Ozarks, please hop on over toStamping Ground  for all the details. Miss Julia has a long list of other studios you can peek into. No standing on an up-turned milk pail to look in the window. We open the doors wide and welcome you.  Please leave your number and you'll be among the first on my list.

 

Creative Blessings!

~ Kelly

MIXED MEDIA TAG FOR LineDotArrow Challenge

 Good morning, everyone!

First off, if you saw this last Monday, I made the post forgetting I had one scheduled LOL. Life is always interesting & busy when Bob is home. 

I am part of Natalie's FB group - Line Dot Arrow. Lovely & talented lady from the Netherlands. I'll leave all of her links below so you can check her out.

Each week she offers a challenge. Last week (due the 13th and I just made it LOL) was to create a mixed media tag. She's just starting to play with mixed media and wanted us to explore the medium with her and maybe learn from each other along the way. 

Here's the tag I made:

I sandwiched a 3.5" x 7" file folder tag between two of Natalie's digital tags. Then I took a third digital tag and torn that to create the pattern in the bottom right side. I know it looks like a pocket but I do have the piece glued down completely. I layered a strip of another of her tags on that then added a fussy cut image from the same tag as the triangular piece. The oval at the top is from her digitals as well. I used all of her free digitals from the Facebook group. I want her SPRING BLOOM COLLECTION but waiting for money to transfer to my paypal. The laces as well as the burlap, leaf and tag tie were all from my stash. I made the dangle from part of an actual dangle attached to a wrapped paperclip. Both the wrapping and the 'thank you' were from one of the digital sheets.

Mixed Media can mean different things to different people. For me I think pattern, texture, fabric/ lace, metals. I would like to have added some texture paste/ stenciling but last week was crazy and I didn't get to the FB group until Friday - when the challenge was due! LOL But that's pretty much how I roll most of the time. 

Here's her video for the Mixed Media Tag:

Our next challenge is to make a stuffed Paper Bag. Not sure what that entails? Check out Natalie's video as she begins constructing hers:

You will find all of Natalie's links via her linktr.ee

I hope you'll come join us!

Creative Blessings!

~Kelly