Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Be Inspired!

Today I decided to take a break from SCS and find inspiration elsewhere. I opened an auction catalog last night and inspiration was EVERYWHERE!!!! These three cards were all inspired by amazing antique glass vases. I am so grateful to the original artists who created the vases. Without them, I would not have been inspired in the way that I was today and these three cards would never have become a part of my reality.

So today, and everyday, be inspired! You never know what you might bring into the world on the wings of your inspiration!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Take a moment to notice the small and simple things and be grateful for them.

Today's challenge began with the following instructions: "for those of us who don't do techniques that require anything like "talent" or "skill," who don't layer our cards into inch-thick confections of pure gorgeousness, who don't have all the latest nesties or copics, who don't have coloring skills above kindergarten level, and who do love to make clean and simple and, most of all, EASY cards...please post your favorites from your own gallery, the ones that make you happy"

Seemed that using the "simple" stamp for my first card was the simple thing to do :) I did run the card through a cb embossing folder and ran some pink felt through the Sizzix with a sizzlit - (both required the ability to turn a crank - something that seemed simple). And yet, turning the crank on the Sizzix machine is one of those small and simple things to take notice of and be grateful for - the ability to turn the crank on the Sizzix machine. The ability to have a warm and cozy space to create. The opportunity to share creativity with a community such as SCS. All so simple and yet so meaningful!

And then I simply got more creative and decided to make two more cards - one for love and one for luck. I hope you enjoy them and I hope that today and always we notice the small and simple things and take a moment to be grateful for them!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Try it, you'll like it!

Today's challenge on SCS involved using alcohol in your creation. No, I don't mean drinking alcohol and creating - you had to use some type of alcohol product - markers, rubbing alcohol with ink, or some type of alcohol-related image. I had never tried playing with rubbing alcohol and ink so I tried it and I liked it!!!!

I dripped some gold ink on a piece of glossy card stock and then soaked a cotton makeup pad (didn't have any cotton balls) with rubbing alcohol and put some drops of brilliant blue and kiwi kiss on the makeup pad and then pounced all over the gold ink and glossy card stock. I felt like I was getting some arm exercises done in the craft room :) I let it dry and cut out some of the flowers from the Urban Garden paper. Also did a little embossing and ta-da...my first alcohol creation...and no, I don't mean I was tipsy while playing the craft room :)

So next time something new comes along, try it...you may just like it! :)

Hi! My name is Punch the Magic Dragon! Thanks for checking me out! I came to life for the WW088 challenge on SCS. My "mom" wanted to create something original, so here I am! I was made out of a bunch of punches. There's a lot of magic in those punches!

My horns and spikes are all cut from the large and small star punches. My eyes are horizontal slot punches on top of oval punches. My neck is a key tag punch. My teeth are the ends of oval punches. My head is a circle punch and my nose and mouth areas are different sized oval punches. My "mom" added a few spots to make me more unique :)

Tonight's Lesson from the Craft Room: You never know where you'll find a little magic!

I am sooo happy about this card. Mostly because I am feeling like a truck ran over me today and I didn't think I even had it in me to get out of bed, let alone create something! It is also amazing to me how being in the act of creation can take your mind and body away from focusing on feeling ill - something for which I am very grateful!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Go at your own pace.

Walking into the craft room, sitting down and deciding to go at my own pace today was a blessing. No hurry, no rush, just step by step, piece by piece. Calling this card Thankful Blooms is no coincidence - I am so very thankful that I was able to go at my own pace and make this card bloom! I'm feeling better already!

Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for looking!

Here's my card from today's color challenge on SplitCoast - baja breeze, pacific point and garden green. So calling this a challenge really hit the nail on the head for me today (can I blame it on the antibiotics I'm taking for bronchitis?!). Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Do not operate crafting material while under the influence of antibiotics! Just kidding :) The real lesson from today is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stamper)!

If you could only see what this poor card went through. It started out beautifully - with my new found sewing passion. Then I embossed a cb folder of leaves/branches and inked them with pacific point and embossed them. Then I stamped and cut out the A Little Bit of Happiness images and coated those with Crystal Effects and also added beads and embroidery floss. And then things went haywire...I tried to put the poor card together and at some point had a FOREST of those cb branches all over the card - it looked like a tornado had gone through my card! So then I tried to fix it up...and do you know what it's like to tear something off of a card once you have adhered it with mono adhesive?! Ugh! So then came the sanding block and the adhesive remover which gunked up the embossed and sewn panels so I just kept sanding so that my pacific point panel looked like faux snake skin suede (at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!). So I finally brought it back to a place where I felt it was presentable...and a little bit of stickles never hurts :)

So, here you go! And if you're ever on antibiotics and find yourself wanting to create...remember to K.I.S.S....keep it simple stamper :) Enjoy!

ps I am always so weary of medication. The doctor prescribed a Z-pack and mucinex - which I obediently took last night and I woke up feeling worse today! Aargh! I think my body and medicine don't mix. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon - I am so grateful to have art in my life - it really is the best medicine!

Tonight's Lesson from the Craft Room: One stamper's trash is another stamper's treasure :) (Well, in this case it's the same stamper...)

Today I learned how to use my sewing machine! Yeah!!! Of course that also means that every piece of paper is now calling out to me to be sewn on! And so one piece of what might have been "trash" became a "treasure." I took a piece of kiwi kiss card stock that I had run through my sizzix and used the negative image to sew and play! So watch your trash, there might be buried treasure in there!

Hope you enjoy!

ps I went to the doctor today and turns out I have bronchitis :( So I'm now on antibiotics and taking things very slowly. Just running out to the doctor and the pharmacy was enough to wear me out. I am so grateful for the craft room - it is a place where my mind and body can rest and be joyful at the same time. Just what the doctor ordered!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Boldly go where you have never gone before!!!

OK, so today's lesson may require a little explanation so here goes...I was gifted a used sewing machine about 4 years ago and it has sat in the craft room, gathering WAY too much dust for the last 4 years. And along comes Fern (THANK YOU SO MUCH) on SplitCoast and challenges us to do some pleating. So I decided to boldly go where I had NEVER gone before! I took down the sewing machine, got out the instruction manual and threaded my first bobbin and sewed my first paper pleats!!!!!

If you've ever taken a look at the book Simple Abundance you may know that on one of the days Sarah Ban Breathnach says, "Some mornings you wake up not knowing what to expect and you get to ride an elephant!" Well, today, I got to ride my elephant!!!! Well, ok, maybe not quite an elephant, but I learned how to use a sewing machine and make pleats and I sure feel like I got to ride an elephant!!!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!! Now go ride your elephant! :)

ps I'm finally going to the doctor today to see about dealing with this everlasting cold. I could have spent the day in bed, but decided better of it and got to ride an elephant instead :) I feel better already :)

Today's Lesson From the Craft Room (hmmm - this might be today's lesson and yesterday's lesson!): Don't Give Up! (fyi, you may notice that this lesson comes up a lot for me! Guess it's one I really need to learn :)

It's funny to me how facing a blank 5.5 x 4.25" front of a card - waiting to begin - can be such an adventure...(and, at times, invoke quite a bit of fear). It's peering at the unknown - wondering what will emerge. And, yes, at times what begins to emerge gets your inner critic all up in arms! (I don't know if I'm allowed to repeat what my inner critic says here - I want to keep my blog rated PG!). And when my inner critic has her panties in a bunch I keep telling myself, "Don't Give Up!" It is so important to see your creation through to the end, whatever that end looks like. And, if you get to the end and you aren't pleased you can keep going - change something - or recognize that there was learning in the journey and decide to go on another new adventure.

This card began yesterday and it did not feel complete to me. So I took a break overnight and, sure enough, as I was drifting off to sleep, I knew this card needed a "meow." When I woke up this morning I gave these cats their "meow" and the card came together. I was so glad I didn't give up! Enjoy!

It's been a busy day in the craft room today! I have been dealing with a cold for way too long and it seems I feel best when I am making art! This card is for my cousin Mia's birthday at the end of the month. I knew it had to have at least one black kitty since she lives with an amazing cat named Spock (and yes, he's the cutest black kitty!). The greeting was written with a versamark marker and then embossed with white embossing powder. I hope she likes it!

Today's challenge on SplitCoast was to take a card made by stamper Vicky Gould and change at least 2 things to create your own card. I chose the card you see on top, with the 2 little black birds. As you can see, I changed the color scheme, the greeting, the birds, the branches and the ribbon. Thank you Vicky for the wonderful inspiration!