I would LOVE your thoughts! I would love for you to keep coming back to this blog - especially if it inspires you and makes you smile! So, I'm looking for your opinion and would love to hear from you what you would like to see on this blog. I have set up a survey - please take a moment to share your thoughts (the survey is on the first page of this blog on the right hand side). Also, if you would like to provide additional comments, please comment on this post. I appreciate your feedback and hope that this blog can continue to be a resource for you and help inspire your own creativity! Thank you!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Find your peace :)

After a work trip this week, I was ACHING to get back to the craft room. It is the place where I have found my peace - my stillness - where everything becomes pure joy and focus.

Today's challenge was to get inspired by Hunkydory Home! I chose the following retro owl clock - http://www.hunkydoryhome.co.uk/hunkycat/retro-clock-p-336.html - he just stared at me and said, "I'm your inspiration!"

I ran the background through a cb embossing folder and sponged the very vanilla card stock with chocolate chip. The leaves were die cut with vellum and chocolate chip and then I outlined with an SU marker. The branch was cut by hand and then run through a cb folder. The owl is a combination of freehand cutting and some punches.

Enjoy! And may you always find your peace!

Today's Lesson from much too far away from the Craft Room: Take a Risk - Try Something New!!!

I'm still on the road in California today - I'll be heading home tomorrow (Yeah!!!). It's always a little lonely traveling to new places on my own. I know some folks are huge fans of getting to spend a night in a hotel - away from their normal routines and responsibilities, but I have to say that having spent a lot of nights in hotels all over the place, I would much prefer to be covered in my own sheets and surrounded by everything familiar - I sleep a whole lot better!

One plus of being on the road though is having new experiences and trying new things! Tonight I decided to try a vegetarian restaurant (Merit Vegetarian in Sunnyvale), recommended by a fellow vegetarian that I met today. I finally found the place (after entering the wrong city into my gps and ending up in the middle of a block without any restaurants in sight...that kind of clued me in that I had messed up somehow). The service was great and the seaweed salad was quite delicious. (If you haven't tried seaweed salad, I would recommend it...unless the thought of green gummy-worm-like bits in your food turns you off...then you might want to try something else :) My main course was interesting - I don't think I'd order it again, but at least I tried something new! A little risk-taking a day helps build bravery for those bigger risks that I think about taking (and hope to take) in life!

So whether you find yourself in a new place or find yourself in the same place you usually are, take a risk and try something new! You never know what you'll discover!!!!

Today's Lesson from much too far away from the Craft Room: Stay connected to your passion!

I left home today for a work trip and it is always difficult, not only to leave home, but to leave the craft room behind. So when I travel, it's important for me to stay connected to my passion in whatever way I can. I wish I could pack a huge "to go" bag with all of my stamping essentials, but I'm not sure I could get through security with all the scissors, punches and embellishments! :) So I do my best by carrying some eye candy - like the new Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine. I figure if I can't create, at least I can drool! :)

I also stay connected by getting on-line and visiting some favorite sites - like SCS. I am happy to say that I also am staying connected today by stopping at IKEA to buy a few more essential storage items for the craft room!

So, if you find yourself on the road or somewhere much too far away from your creative materials, find a way to stay connected to your passion!!!! (I wonder if I could make a card from the security card in the seat-back pocket????)

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: It's amazing how much you can do in a minute!!!!

So today I had quite the busy day and thought I would not have time to create. But the urge was too strong to resist so I found a spare minute here and another one there and I am AMAZED by what you can accomplish in a minute when you really want to get something done (ok - the card didn't take me one minute, but it still amazed me :)

I cb embossed the die cut circles and used my chit chat rub ons for the greeting.

Hope you enjoy! And remember, never underestimate what you can achieve in a minute!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Everything old is new again!

Today I looked through some vintage photo albums that I found in the house (my significant other is an antique dealer, so you never know what he'll bring home next!). I decided that the images might be fun to use in cards and today's SCS challenge was to make a recessed window card. What a great opportunity to make something old new again!

I scanned a bunch of the vintage photos and this little guy really grabbed my heart! I printed the scanned photo onto whisper white card stock. I used the sanded background stamp with tea dye ink to age the card base and used a buckle punch to make the front mimic a suitcase. The greeting was printed on the computer. For some reason this card reminds me of an old Little Rascals episode where Spanky was totally in love with Miss Crabtree :) (yes, I know I'm dating myself :)

So look around your house and see if you've got something old that you might make new again! You never know what might grab your heart :)

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Share what you love!

Caitlin and her sister Anna came over to make Valentine's cards for their family today. I have still been feeling not quite myself and I have to say that sharing what you love is GREAT medicine! They learned how to emboss and how to use the Sizzix Big Shot. It was incredibly satisfying to watch them both enjoy exploring their own creativity and having fun!

So, if you're looking for a little pick-me-up, go ahead, share what you love!