I apologize for not getting round last week. Trying to make up for what I didn't do the week before then celebrated turning 60 all weekend (birthday was Sunday but I got an early start hehe - shopping!)
This was my birthday present from Bob:
I've already had it out of the box and used it. I played with it on my birthday after I got home from a local festival where I treated myself to an amethyst crystal pendant.
My desk as I left it last night.
I spent all of yesterday redating my older Slim Classic planners for October. I use them for my editorial calendar. I got most of the posts written for my author blog - 8 of them then brought past Paper Pumpkin kits in from the warehouse. I have the Canned Paper Pumpkin Collab on YouTube on Thursday so I need to get at least one of the 4 kits broken down and into something by then.
I'm also hosting a World Cardmaking Day hop on YouTube on Saturday. I'll post stuff to my blog and FB page as well.
Amongst all of this I need to finish my handouts for the conference. I'll leave here on the 7th and probably won't be home until the 14th or so. With that in mind, I've been trying to get ahead on blog posts as well.
Never a dull moment. lol
I'll do my best to get 'round on Sunday after things calm down.
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.
Okay... too many questions for a Wednesday. Time to show off.
First off, the sofa has been clean for a whole month! I've also spent a lot of time on said sofa with the dog.
My work table has been seeing activity. I sometimes get comfy on the sofa to work, depending on what I need to get done.
I have been working already this morning... on the prep for a video I should have recorded yesterday. Just didn't feel well and didn't accomplish much of anything. Today is better.
The sheets on the back-side are print-outs for the financial planning video. Yu can just make out the mini binder clips I used to put the folder of the masters in order by subject.
I'll be creating more tomorrow and Friday as I have 3 videos due between Friday and the 30th.
Now that I'm back to actually promoting Stampin' Up! again rather than just a hobby dem, I have stuff to get done on that end. I've opened a group on Facebook - KellysCreativeDreamers.
One of the big projects right now is World Cardmaking Day is coming up on October 2nd. Are any of you planning to play that day? I have been putting together a YouTube hop of SU dems so that should be fun and help promote all of our channels
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.
I have been so horrid about getting to my blogs lately. For the last 2 months I've not really wanted to do much of anything except be a lump on the newly cleared sofa. HoneyB seems to enjoy it, too, as that is where he sleeps most days. He is even pretty good about sharing.
I didn't do the Card Chicks card for August. I was deep in 'find the studio' mode before company arrived. The sofa has stayed cleaned off for an entire month!!! That in itself is progress LOL
I do have the September Card Chicks card - and on time! Yeah... it happens lol
My friend, Maggie (Texas), was our hostess this month and she sent a lovely kit of muted shades. She is also an avid butterfly hatcher (She hatches hundreds of monarchs ever year from her back yard habitat) so she had to include flowers and butterflies in her kit.
I've made one card from the kit so far:
The Front
Inside
Maggie sent DSP from Stampin' Up! Bloom & Bliss as well as Beau Chateau (the chicken wire print)
Sweet Sugar plum (retired color) paired well with the Bloom & Bliss so I used that for my base and the mats both outside and in.
I used Basic Black, Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo and Rich Razzleberry
I am hosting next month. I'm pretty sure Graphic 45 DSP will be paired with SU DSP just for something diffrent to play with.
I've been buying an abundance of Graphic 45 lately at the SpectrumArtCreations sales. We gather on YouTube Live every Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. EST. Come join the fun! We play games as well as shop. You might want to put dinner in the crock pot because Madi and Team are live until midnight EST. Make sure to sign up for their weekly newsletter to be in on a special Secret Word game! Only newsletter subscribers are eligible to play!
I'm getting back up to speed and a regular schedule again.
Sorry I'm coming in the door late, and I may not get to some of you until next Tuesday after Bob leaves but I'll do my best.
I've been absent just a few weeks but I've been busy trying to find the studio. While I'm not finished yet, I've made great strides as you'll see from the photos.
Let's start with the work table. You may recall this is 4' x 8 ft and where I work on large projects. When Bob is home, this also serves as my computer space:
I've been trying to get September blog posts written. So far today, I've managed this one and filming 2 videos... which leads to this:
This area isn't completely finished but I can work on a project and film at the same time. We also bought me a new office chair that fits the height of the table. More on this area at a later date but it's almost finished!
Talk about finished... this is what the sofa looked like when I started this whole process. The stamp sets still need to be cataloged. They're in a tub at the moment. Cataloging is my project for next week.
I had to move the stamp sets to a tub temporarily as my BIL/ SIL came for a 4-day visit and needed a place to sleep. Now that it's cleared, Spirit kitty has decided it's a good place to nap:
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.
Somehow, Wednesday has rolled around again and that means we're peeking in on desks all around the world to see what everyone is up to.
The work desk is still horrible but the filming desk is useable on a repetitive basis. This morning, I'm working on the CEO Strategy Planner for Creative Entreprenuers to put my 3 businesses in order. You see, Bob and I have determined I'm 'diversified'. LOL or may be just nuts!
Just prior to the trip to OK last weekend I made the decision to come out of Hobby Dem status for Stampin' Up! and see if I couldn't get a cash flow... at least enough to help off-set the items I love to buy. LOL
I also have the Etsy store and the Author business.... neither of which are very productive at the moment. I'm hoping by putting a plan on paper and into action, that will change. I know if I have items in my shop, they will sell - a 'Build it and they will come' sort of process.
I'm going to put the remaing of the 3rd quarter business strategy into a video for my KellysCreativeDreams channel today then I'll be writing blog posts the rest of the day. Pretty much all my hip wants to allow (except pain eds and sleeping) since yesterday mid-day. Grrr...
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.
I've decided since I'm still an active Stampin' Up! demonstrator I'm coming out of the corner to build my business back up. With Bob due to retire in less than two years, I really need to work my diversified platforms:
* Stampin' Up!
* Etsy shop
* Book writing.
A lot of work ahead for sure but once I get all the cars connected, the train should run rather smoothly. There will always be disjoints in the track but I'm determined.
So here we go!
You'll notice new additions to the sidebar over the next few days. I'm dedicating 2-3 hours per day on Stampin' Up! The biggest news is the launch TODAY of the new 'Holiday' mini catalog as well as our first ever 'Holiday' Sale - A - Bration catalog.
The Mini will run from today (August 3, 2021) through January 3, 2022. Keep in mind corporate is closed over the Christmas and New Years holidays so shopping before the end of December is a much better time-line. Also, things do sell out quickly in the first few weeks. So plan now to join me in the Holiday Crafting Spirit!
The Sale A Bration runs through September 30th.
If you're not familiar with SAB, that is a small catalog of FREE items you may choose - 1 for every $50 in product from the mini catalog, the Annual Catalog and the clearance rack.
I placed a pre-order last week. You can see that video below:
Because there only certain items we can put on our pre-order, I had to wait and place my big order this morning when the catalogs went viral to the world. I probably spent too much but I wanted to have products on hand to share with you.
I have also learned from past experience that SAB items especially sell out or go on back order FAST and I've lost out on some things I've wanted. I didn't want to take that chance this time around. Please note that three items in the SAB are While Supplies Last:
156629 - Be Dazzling 6x6 DSP
156600 Sheep Dies
156618 Summer Shadows Dies
The Sheep Dies coordinate with 156691 - Counting Sheep stamp set
And the Summer Shadows Dies coordinate with 155783 -Shaded Summer on pag 75 of the Annual Cat.
I recommend placing your order within the next day or two if you want either of those items.
To help you out, I'm offering a HOSTESS CODE through Thursday August 12th.
Place a minimum $50 order with me by that date and receive:
Remember - if your order is going to be $150 or more place an individual order WITHOUT the hostess code. At the $150+ mark you are entitled to hostess rewards. If you need my assistance, email me - KellyH@artlover.com or DM me on IG on KellysCreativeDreams
As you'll see in the video, one of the first things I ordered was the Penguin Place bundle as well as the Penquin Playmates DSP. This little guy said hello from the very first sheet I looked at and have to give him his own card:
I will be featuring the Penguin Place and Penguin Playmates all week on my YouTube Channel.
Thursday August 5th - Case on the 5th - case someone else's card
Tuesday August 10th - 10 on the 10th - 10 Chrsitmas cards
I hope you'll come play along!
If you've ever thought about joining Stampin' Up! - even if just for the discount, now is the Perfect Time! You can join my Creative Dreamers team (if you're in the US)
Your kit includes:
$125 in the Product OF YOUR CHOICE - choose what you want to work with
1 FREE Bundle from the Holiday Mini - OF YOUR CHOICE
FREE SHIPPING!
All for $99+tax
Thanks for allowing me this indulgence today. I'm off to write my Business Goals for the Holiday season!
Today, I'm probably running around like a chicken with its head chopped off... that's why I scheduled this yesterday.
We have a 4-day visit coming up with Bob's family... primarily his Mom. They live in south Texas. Mom said this may be their last trip north as the ride has been really hard on her so we're making the most of the weekend.
On a brighter note, it's time for the monthly Card Chicks. SU demonstrator, Vikki Jo was our hostess this month. She sent along a lovely kit with two stamped images.
The image is from Anita's Back Street Inc. stamped with Tuxedo Memento Black ink on Whisper White cardstock. The background paper is from the Flower & Field designer series paper from Stampin' Up! Vikki Jo sent lots of embellishments, including brads from Close to My Heart. I used all the yellow ones as flower centers. I colored the image with SU Stampin' Blends, matted on SU Misty Moonlight and the whole thing on a Pool Party card base.
I think this turned out pretty considering I'd told Suzy on Tuesday I couldn't find the kit and that my card woul dbe late! LOL The card was uploaded to our SCS group on time yesterday.
