Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Avoid "CD"

I felt so "cd" the last few days - that's my new affliction - creativity deprivation or feeling creatively deprived! I need to explore ways to avoid "cd" when I'm away from the craft room. Right now there is just something about being surrounded by all of the tools/supplies/trinkets/colors when I'm in the craft room - I'm like a kid in a candy store. But how can we create that same sense of wonder and excitement about creating when we are not in our own homes? If you have an idea, I'd love to hear it - feel free to post a comment. I'm looking for all the "cd" help I can get! It really is an affliction I would like to avoid!

These 3 cards are part of my recovering from my past couple of days of "cd." I'm just letting things flow naturally. Hope you like them...I have a feeling I might have a few more left in me today :)

Today's Lesson From the Columbus Airport: We Have Two Ears And One Mouth For A Reason

Have you ever wondered why we have 2 ears and 1 mouth...and not the other way around? Seems that in creating us, someone thought it was a good idea to give us more ability to hear than to speak :) It seems that the older we get the more we like to exercise our ability to speak and the less we use our double portion of ears. Today, think about using your ears twice as much as your mouth...you might be surprised what you hear!

Today's card is another in my series for Artist of the Month. This one was made using a variety of Sizzix dies in the Big Shot to make the scalloped and plain circles. The cat is from the Batty for You stamp set. I have also been loving the new 5/8" black grosgrain ribbon! It's great for Halloween and also for elegant black and white cards. I'm sold! Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From Many Miles From The Craft Room: Sample Stuff

Dinner tonight was at a Mediterranean restaurant. There was a yogurt drink on the menu that was called ayran. I asked the waitress what it tasted like and her reply was "salty milk." Not the most appetizing description if you ask me...but she asked if I would like a taste of it and I figured it was worth a try. Now I can say I tried it...and yes, it tasted like salty milk. My dining companion tried it too and indicated that it didn't taste like the ayran he had had before...but I don't know if I'll try it again if I have the chance :) But at least I tried it - another experience that I might not have had. I then strolled around the outdoor mall and came upon a Harry & David store and sampled a tiny piece of cheesecake and a dark chocolate pretzel. It was a night of sampling stuff...and there was something very smorgasboard about it :) Whether it's in your creating or in your eating, sampling stuff can help you determine what you like and don't like. It also pushes you a bit past your comfort zone - something that is good for each of us to do every once in awhile :)

This 6x6 scrapbook page was a bit past my comfort zone as well. I haven't really tried my hand at scrapbooking, but this was one of my Artist of the Month submissions (I had to do both a 6x6 page and a 12x12 page). The ghost is from the Batty for You stamp set and the greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes. Hope you don't mind a little Halloween in July :)

Today's Lesson From Ohio...Not The Craft Room: The Universe Is Working With You

I flew out of Denver to Columbus, Ohio today and I have to admit that on the plane all I could think about was getting back home to create! I had to laugh when I pulled up to my hotel and right across the street is an Archiver's! Too funny (and, yes, I ran right over and let myself indulge in all kinds of eye candy)! When was the last time my hotel was right next to a store filled with creative fodder? I can't remember...which just makes me once again realize that the Universe is working with me :)

This is an early Halloween card - using the Batty for You stamp set - that little spider is just too cute! His web is a few dashes with a white gel pen. The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set (I am using this set a LOT!). Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Enjoy Your Sense Of Smell!

Ok - so this may sound like a strange lesson...but it wouldn't sound so strange if you were sitting here at my computer smelling fresh baked banana bread! It seems with all of my card making, I spend quite a bit of time with my sense of sight and touch...and only smell when I burn embossing powder! :) It is amazing how wonderful certain smells can make you feel - fresh baked banana bread, the cologne of someone you love, fresh cut grass and an evening rain shower. Tonight I'm all about enjoying my sense of smell...maybe I need to revisit making scratch and sniff cards :)

Today's card is for Michael's mom for her birthday. She LOVES birds so I thought this bird from the SU! Always stamp set was perfect. I embossed the bird with clear embossing powder (if you haven't had luck embossing with regular classic ink, try this tip: first ink up your stamp with versamark and then apply the classic ink - it keeps the classic ink color "wet" a lot longer so your embossing powder sticks really well). The paper is retired Walk In The Park and some of the colors are also retired (like the blue which is baja breeze). Retired or not, I love them and I'm gonna keep using them! :) Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From A Few Feet From The Craft Room: Sometimes You're Just Tired And Need To Rest...

I tried hanging out in the craft room a bit today, but the phone would interrupt me and then I found myself interrupting me :) I was up really early today and seem to be very tired...so today's lesson is sometimes you're just tired and you need to listen to that call to rest. Our creative energy needs time to restore itself - for some reason my cell phone is coming to mind...when the battery is low, I plug it in to recharge and leave it alone. And so too I will leave myself alone and plug myself in to rest and hope that in the morning my charge is back :) Sweet dreams!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Sometimes Having No Answer Is The Only Answer You Need

I have a change in my work life that will be happening soon...I'll let you know more in a little bit...What I'm finding is that when a few of my friends have asked me "What are you going to do?" my response is "I don't know." Now, more than ever, "I don't know" is feeling quite wonderful! It's nice to not have an answer - to not even feel the need to have an answer. Right now, not knowing is the only answer I need :)

I created another altered frame this evening. This one is for my friends Alecia and Charles who are getting married in about a week in Hawaii!!! This isn't their wedding gift - I'll have to come up with something new for that. This gift is for when they let me spend the night at their home when I was in Boston. I had a great time with them and just wanted to say "thank you" in a homemade gift kind of way :) Hope you like it!