Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Listen to the Still, Small Voice Inside of You

Today's challenge on SCS was to visit Spunky Sprout (www.spunkysprout.com) for inspiration. I am always a bit excited by inspiration challenges as I never know what is going to inspire me. As I click and scroll through pages on the site, I am listening for my still, small voice to say "That's it! That's the one!" And I am always a bit amazed by what get's chosen. Sometimes it's something that feels familiar and comforting. Sometimes it's something that I would never have guessed I would have been drawn to! Never a dull moment with that little voice :)

Today my inspiration came from this rug: www.spunkysprout.com/glamourgirl.html. I created the image on the card using paper piecing and drew the facial features freehand. The SU! greeting from Sweet Little Sentiments seemed incredibly on target - I really was impressed, amazed and inspired by the rug! Hope you like the card! And don't forget to listen to that still, small voice :)

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Run a rope from the back door to the barn.

Today I began reading a book called A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life by Parker J. Palmer. In the prelude he shares a story about a time when farmers on the Great Plains, at the first sign of a blizzard, would run a rope from the back door out to the barn. Everyone at that time knew stories of people who had wandered off and been frozen to death, having lost sight of home in a whiteout while still in their own backyards.

This story touched me today as I thought about the act of creating art as a way to run a rope from the backyard to the barn. Any act of creative expression is a way to find our way in the blizzards that appear in our daily lives - the swirls of responsibilities, unexpected occurrences, and the maelstrom of negative news that tries to attach to us when we turn on the radio or the tv. Through it all, our ability to create art keeps us whole, grounded, and able to find our way home.

Today my wish for you is to run your rope from your back door to the barn and trust that it will always lead you home.

(ps after writing this entry I went to stamp my name stamp on the back of the yellow card and messed up...so I cut the front of the card and just made it into a panel on a blue card and I ended up liking it better :) I love it when an "oops" turns itself into a "wow!")

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Do What Inspires You!

The last two mornings I have woken up with visions of a little dog album running through my head. I did not have time...or should I say I did not make time...to create yesterday so the impulse was even stronger today. A little voice in my braining was saying "Oh, but you should do the challenge on SCS before you do anything else" and I decided to put my foot down (figuratively speaking of course...not sure how I would put my foot down in my brain...oops I'm letting you into my thoughts a bit too much right now...where was I?). Anyway, I decided that there was nothing I "should" do, but rather I could do what inspired me - the little dog album running through my head. So off I went into the craft room this evening and my vision came to life! Hope you like it! I used chipboard to make the front and back covers of the album and card stock and designer paper for the inside. Now I can't wait to fill it with pictures of my best friend (who happens to be 4-legged and lying behind me right now, waiting for his evening walk to the park!).

So if you find yourself telling yourself what you "should" do...put your foot down...and do what inspires you!

I was feeling punchy tonight and needed to make a quick card for my cousin's birthday. This one was super easy and I love the modern graphic look. I ran brocade blue (LOVE this color) through a cb embossing folder. Also used my circle punches (yes, I really was feeling punchy!) to create the black circles on the front of the card. The birthday greeting came from Stampin' Up! - it's from a set called Four Square. I used square punches to punch both the greeting and the black square behind it. It's amazing how quickly you can whip up a card when you're feeling punchy!

Today's Lesson from the Craft Room: Think Outside the Box!

Today's technique challenge was to make a crimped envelope pocket card. My mind decided to think outside the box and rather than create a square/rectangular card, the minute my mind thought about the look of crimped paper it thought CUPCAKE!!! (yes, my mind tends to think of cupcakes a bit anyway, so the thought could have just been randomly running through my mind and I'm just trying to tie the thought to the crimped paper...I admit it :)

The idea of a big cupcake also made me think of the SU Simple Birthday Thanks stamp. So, I made my own template for the cupcake top (which I'm happy to share with you if you email me or leave a comment on this post) and cut it out of 2 sheets of card stock (this card is a mirror image on the back). I sponged the top with green galore. I created a "stencil" with my 1 1/4" and 1/2" circle punches and used them to put dots on the bottom of the cupcake. I used the 1/2" circle punch and horizontal slot punch for sprinkles. The inside card is simple - just green galore on the bottom with a whisper white layer and a small stamp of the cupcake from the short & sweet set. The cherry was punched from a 1 1/4" circle punch and then "modified" a bit. I cut the stem freehand.

So next time you find yourself in a box remember to think outside of it (who knows, you might get a cupcake :)

Just a quick update to today's post...I decided to take my own lesson from the craft room to heart - to try, try again...so, I went ahead and submitted some photos of a few of my cards to a magazine. It was scary (not sure why it's scary, but for some reason it is) and now I get to play the waiting game. (No, I'm not a big fan of the waiting game...hmmm, that might be tonight's lesson from the craft room...patience :) This was my first time submitting anything to a magazine so if at first I don't succeed, I'll try, try again! Hey, if I can do it, so can you...What are you waiting for? :)

Today's Lessons from the Craft Room: If at first you don't succeed, try, try again AND Bring your dreams to life!!!!

Today I woke up having dreamed about a card concept. It's funny how ideas come to you in the place between being asleep and being awake - the place where your mind is open and not critical. So, of course, I had to run into the craft room (after walking the dog and doing morning chores) and try to bring the dream vision to life. And I LOVE what came to life in front of my eyes! (I now am deciding what to do with the creation. I think I'd like to submit it for some type of contest so I'm going to hold off posting it here...I will keep you posted though).

What I can share is a card I submitted for Stampin' Up's monthly contest. I was sad that it didn't win a prize, however my cousin emailed me today to tell me it was on the Stampin' Up! website in the Stamper's Showcase so I got excited all over again! I can share this card with you since it is no longer "in the running." Hope you like it.

So today my two lessons live alongside one another. Bring your dreams to life AND, if at first you don't succeed, try try again...I'm bound to win one of these contest if I just keep trying!!!!! :)