Wednesday, August 28, 2013

WOYWW #221 - My other 'desk'

Guess what day it is? Now, the camel is not wondering around my office. Rather, the WOYWW participants are wandering from blog to blog to see what everyone else is up to. Need a better explanation?  Hostess, Julia Dunnit at Stampin' Ground has created this awesome web of participants that allows us to peek inside each other's studios every week. Just click -> WOYWW to see what it's all about.

With a flea problem in our bedroom, I've been a bit preoccupied trying to assassinate them (without success) so I haven't had the time to work on the organization of the studio. Instead, I thought I'd show you my 'other studio' - the Mixed Media area in my sewing room.

I have a big 2-door pantry that looked like this: 

This cabinet use to house every crochet/ cross-stitch/ plastic canvas/ general craft magazine I owned. I decided I needed more room to 'organize' my mixed media materials (that's my story and I'm stickin' to it).
So I transferred the contents over to a 5-shelf bookcase like the one you see just to the right of the cabinet. BUT not everything went on the shelf. Those binders actually house complete issues of magazines. So Cross Stitch magazines were all in binders, etc. I spent an entire weekend bookmarking items in the magazines I wanted to keep with a post-it tag, copied said articles then donated the magazines to the library store. I still have the Counted Cross Stitch to go through but everything else is GONE!

Then I began the process of organizing my Mixed Media supplies. I'm not going into detail on what the individual shelves contain as I'll be covering that in the Organization Class come up in January.
But here are a couple pics of what this cabinet looks like now:


This first pic is of the top shelf. I built the paint cubby and the staircase storage from foam core board. The staircase storage holds 9 mister bottles - for the 9 colors I'll work with most often. You'll find out more about the drawers in January. The bottles are removable - 3 to a tray - so I can access the drawer on the next tier if I need to. The only other thing that sits on this shelf in that big open area for now is a square basket holding my My Minds Eye 6x6 pads and my heat gun.


The full view of the cabinet. It is not as cluttered as it looks. Nothing is 'stashed' behind something else. I can access everything easily without a waterfall of supplies. 

I still need to make the storage racks for the Stampin Up wheels. I'm making those out of foam core and they'll hang by Command strips on the inside of the door. I'll be able to open the door, see the image on the wheel and pick the one I want. The key for me was to have everything in full view. I open the doors and I can see everything. 

So there's my 'other desk' and a sneak peak at what is to come in January. 
Now, on to the next blog.
Creative Blessings!


Friday, August 23, 2013

ORGANIZATION CLASS - Postponed

Photo from Morguefile

With trying to catch up after losing my modem, signing my first book contract, multiple articles due and precious time with my personal hero (hubby), I've not had the time to finish putting this course together. Well, most of the materials are together but I had plans to bring in some guest bloggers - relatively big names in some of the artistic fields - and the time to contact them, expect a response and their post is just cutting things too close for them.

I had thought about October but that gets us into fall, getting ready for holidays and all that stuff. So I've decided to hold off until January. January is the perfect time because many of us are looking at 'fresh starts'. As of right now, the dates are Monday January 13th - Monday February 17th. I'll post the Weekly Lesson on Monday and we can talk about things throughout the week.

I hope to get the button made later this week. As soon as the button is up, feel free to post to your blog sidebar and tell your friends. This first time around is FREE. I'll be using the evaluation afterwards to make any changes based on your comments. Guinea Pigs get all the perks and privileges :-)

Thank you for your patience. I promise you the class will be better for the wait.

Creative Blessings!
Kelly

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

WOYWW WEDNESDAY - #220

PRODUCT UPDATE!
Here is the link to the Menards website showing the tray I used. Even if you don't have a Menards in your area, you can always print out the picture and take it to your local home improvement store. I have yet to have anyone know what I'm talking about when I ask for a Gable Vent. LOL 

http://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/roofing-soffits-gutters/ventilation/static-foundation-vents/12-x-12-aluminum-gable-vent/p-1697307-c-13260.htm

I really love What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Hostess, Julia Dunnit atStampin' Ground has created this awesome web of participants that allows us to peek inside each other's studios every week. Just click -> WOYWW to see what it's all about.

Although my desk is not a disaster for a change, I haven't had time the past couple of days to really work on anything. Bob took the opportunity to work an extra week on the boat so we could afford to spend three days in one of my favorite communities - Paducah KY. They will be hosting BBQ on the River the weekend just after my birthday. I'll have 2.5 days to wander the art district, enjoy scrumptious bbq and do some research for my next novella.  All while my husband follows patiently, letting me do my thing. This Sunday will mark 29 years of marriage and we are as happy now as we were then. We're still best friends. So he left yesterday and will be gone an entire month. He'll come home just in time for his mom and her husband to arrive for a week-long visit.

Last week we spent three days in Sprinfield MO celebrating our anniversary early. He got the pool and hot tub he wanted and I got to poke through stores. We spent over an hour touring the gun museum at Bass Pro. Wow! Some amazing pieces of history in that place. Whether you like guns or not, if you love history you really need to put this on your Places to See list. We ate way too much food over the course of three days. Wednesday night we ate at Outback Steakhouse. Enough said. Thursday we ate at Hemmingways @ Bass Pro for lunch then Red Robin for supper. We'd never eaten there and enjoyed the food. I think I enjoyed playing Galaga and Ms PacMan more than the food :-) Friday before heading home we ate at Asian Garden. They do all-you-can-eat crab legs on their Friday and Saturday dinner bar.

For stamps I found this nice collection at Michaels...


I found this set at Hobby Lobby. Perfect for a writer, don't you think? 

And a better look at what those Halloween stamps are resting in...


This is an attic vent. I can pull the loose stamps from the drawer I want to use and sit them in here. No more having the stamps scattered across the desk in my way! This is a 12x12.

That's all my desk you get to see this week ;-). I'll be visiting 'round the neighborhood later this evening or tomorrow. 

Creative Blessings!
Kelly


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

MMTPT263- Flowers for Janet

Felt great to play this morning, and I'm so happy to be making a card for a fellow artist. Janet Little has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. Though not the worst kind (Cancer is the worst in any form IMO), Janet has a positive attitude. She says "it's not up to the doctors but up to God as to when she leaves this earth."  You can read a bit about Janet HERE


Because she loves flowers and bright colors, I knew I wanted to use SU Garden Collage (Retired) The bright pop of color is SU Melon Mambo. Although Janet works mostly with oils, I didn't think she'd mind a little water coloring so I used SU Watercolor Crayons in Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Daffodil Delight and Garden Green to wash in the flower and butterfly. 

To accent I used what has become my go-to punch, the MS Lace Border. I inked the edge of the button then added a bit of bright pink paper twist as the 'thread'. 

When I first pulled this set out, I started working with Marina Mist. By the time I finished I realized I had a Sympathy card. As I was cutting for two cards, I now have a couple of those in my stash. 

Creative Blessings!
Kelly

Thursday, July 18, 2013

GELLI PRINTING GIVE-AWAY - Through July 22nd

For my FRIDAY FREEBIE, I'm directing you to a cool blog... Gelli Arts




Now through July 22nd they are giving you the opportunity to win:



Just go HERE to see their great tutorial on gelli printing with words and comment and share the link to be entered in the give-away.

Good Luck!
Creative Blessings!
Kelly

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

WOYWW #215 - Leftovers and new toys

Happy WOYWW everyone!
I really love What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Hostess, Julia Dunnit atStampin' Ground has created this awesome web of participants that allows us to peek inside each other's studios every week. Just click -> WOYWW to see what it's all about.



My rule of tidying up after a project just was not an option last week. I finished Cheyanne's baby album at midnight on Thursday night. We were to be on the road by 8 a.m. the next morning and I still had dishes and packing to do. The fact that Bob had done the dishes by the time I got upstairs came as no surprise. He's good like that. 

Okay... so what did I leave behind:
You'll see the spots with the daubers on top. SU Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose were the color choices I worked with, along with the gemstones, ribbon options, tape runner refills, paper roses from Recollections and scraps from that wonderful paper. Oh yeah, and a few butterflies waiting for the next project.

What did I bring home:
Two of my SIL's are paper crafters. So that meant a trip to Hobby Lobby. Okay.. two trips. I made one with my MIL as she needed to pick up a beautiful cross-stitched picture she made and had framed for Libby Ann's room. On that trip I picked up a Cricut cartirdge on clearance... a Christmas one and the tag stamps also on the clearance rack. The snowflake brads were on sale.  

On the second trip with SIL Rhonda I found the tool set I've been wanting for making flowers. I've seen the YouTube making these but kept forgetting to look for the tools whenever I went shopping. They had one set left and I had a 40% off so the purchase was preordained :-) Rhonda also told me about the Cricut Craft Room. I am in so much trouble. LOL Need to get the office cleaned so I can play with that program. If you've used it, I'd love to hear from you!

Today is all about getting the dog kennel cleaned before the weather gets too hot to breathe then moving into the air conditioning to promote multiple Texas and Nashville recording artists, letting their fans know where they can hear them play over the next seven days. Tomorrow and Friday and I dig into the office. So anxious to get everything back into place.

Happy Crafting and Creative Blessings!
Kel

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

WELCOMING BABY! - Shabby Chic 1st Year Album



I finally got to make time last week to play. And I had so much fun creating this shabby chic album for my niece, Cheyanne. I've never worked in shabby chic before so this was fun to play with. I should have done an 8x8 but I am happy with how the 6x6 turned out.

This album was originally brown. I removed the plastic cover, took the posts out allowing me to dismantle the album. I used hot glue to adhere the unbleached canvas to the front and back covers and wonder-under for the spine piece. I did the inside covers with April Lovely cardstock by Core'dinations. If you've not used this cardstock before, it has a beautiful canvas texture. I chose April Lovely, Mystic Gray (which actually has a sage green tone to it) and Picket Fence. I found them at JoAnns Fabric and Crafts.

I raided my vintage lace and trim sewing tub for soft textures. The cover has 2 different layers of lace plus a strip of white/ pink daisy ribbon from The Paper Studio. All of the flowers are from Recollections except for the antiqued one in the center. That is made from 6 scallop layers punched from book pages and inked with SU Caramel. The baby buggy is made from 1 and 1/4  scallop circles punched from SU Pretty in Pink and GP White. You will find the directions HERE. I added the mini flower punch 'spokes'.

One of the embellishments I used throughout the album was the mini butterfly punch from SU. I punched some from GP white, and some from DCWV Shimmer Matstack. Some of the white ones I brushed with ink or stickles, others I left plain. For the body I used Recollections teardrops or The Paper Studio gemstones. The pink ribbon is pink grosgrain from Paper Studio bobbin.


The inside cover is stamped with an Innie Outie stamp in SU Regal Rose. I've layered the stamped GP white mat on a sheet from DCWV Garden Party. I loved the hints of the pink tones I had in the Recollections flowers. Then these were layered onto the Mystic Gray.


Here is a sample of a 2 page layout. There is a spread for each of the first 12 months of little Libby Ann's life. I used the Picket Fence for all of the 6x6 bases. The titles are printed on GP white using the MEANINGFUL font. You can download it free HERE. Each title mat was layered onto the April Lovely then Mystic Gray.

The journaling box is corner punched with an EK Success decorative corners - Lace. The pink ribbon decorative strip is layered with a soft green print from the DCWV Garden Party slab.  On the facing page, I brought in some of the vintage lace (no, that isn't paper). The photo mat is large enough to accommodate a 3x5 photo... just the right size for a 1st year picture. The concept is to see the subtle changes the child goes through from month to month that we often don't see as they occur. The only embellishments I used were the flowers from Recollections (there were 3 each of 3 color tones in the package) and the butterflies.



I know Cheyanne liked the album and I loved having the opportunity to give her a head start on documenting little Libby Ann's life. Of course, her grandma (my SIL, Kelly Sue) has a new camera and has been taking tons of pics of the mommy-to-be and is a paper crafter so I know there are more albums in their future.

Tomorrow is WOYWW. Are you sure you want to see the mess I left in the wake of this album as we headed out the door to OK last weekend? Come back and see me. I'll show you what I bought while we were there.

Creative Blessings!
Kelly