Mixed Medley and Pennant Parade Scrap Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Allow Serendipity To Intervene And Go With It!
Today's card began with some scraps on my craft table.  The Daffodil Delight card base had already been cut long ago, so I went ahead and scored it to create my card.  However, when I went to fold it, one side was longer than the other!  Apparently, when this card base had originally been cut, it was a leftover from something else and was not a standard size.  At first I was going to start over, but then I decided to go with it and allow one side to be shorter than the other.  When I spotted the punched circles I realized that I could "hang" them off the edge for a really cute card!  Next time serendipity intervenes, go with it!  You never know what will happen next!
It's amazing how colors you would never choose to put together actually look great together when you just go with it!  All of these circles were scraps from other projects at other times!  I stamped the sentiments from Pennant Parade and Mixed Medley and paired them with a rhinestone brad and some ribbon scraps.  I hope you like it!  I also hope you have a wonderful weekend - filled with love, laughter and creativity....and a bit of serendipity too!!!!!

Itty Bitty Banners and Lovely Little Labels Scrap Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  When You Reach Your Limit, You Will Know
I have a confession.  I had to call Apple customer support the other day and I actually broke down crying on the phone!  I felt badly for the woman who had to deal with my call - poor thing never saw it coming!  Why was I crying?  Well, that's a bit of a long story - the short version being a canceled flight home from DC which meant an extra day on the road.  Then, when I landed back in Denver and turned on my 4-month old phone, it just stayed in "search" mode...which meant I had a hard time connecting with the person who was picking me up at the airport and another delay to get home.  And, once home, a 45 min call with Verizon did not resolve the problem so I needed to go to the Verizon store the next morning....and after an hour and a half with them, the problem was still not resolved.  And finally a visit to the Apple store where we determined that it wasn't my sim card, it was the phone itself...so they gave me a replacement.  The next morning I woke up and went to use my phone and I did not see the cute little microphone icon that should have been on the keyboard on the phone when I am in text message mode...where had Siri gone????  Then I began to believe that I had given the Apple store my iphone5 and had been given an iphone4 in return...and thus my limit had been reached!  I credit the wonderful woman from Apple who listened to my crying and my frustration and did an amazing job of calming me down.  We finally figured out what was wrong - I did indeed have the correct phone, Siri just hadn't been turned on!  Problem fixed...at least the one with the phone.  What I realized about myself was that I had reached my limit.  I continue to learn that travel disrupts my rhythm and while often I am able to bounce back, sometimes I get so out of whack that I reach a limit and can't bounce back as quickly.  I am grateful that although it is not done with grace, I am able to recognize when I reach my limit.  My task now is to figure out what triggers that and begin to examine how I might change so that I don't reach that point often.
Today's card is another card I put together from the scraps in my craft space.  I combined some doily, a piece of fabric, a punched and embossed butterfly, a button, and stamped sentiments from Itty Bitty Banners and Lovely Little Labels.  A spritz from the Spritzer Tool of Crumb Cake ink ties it all together.  I hope you like it :)

The Retired List Is HERE!

The Retired List is here!!!!  Click HERE to check out which of your favorites are retiring!!!!!

Petite Pairs and Four Frames Scrap Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  I Own That I Am Touchy-Feely
As part of my work life, I do training in corporate environments.  Some of what I teach involves negotiation skills and communication skills.  Invariably I will have someone in a workshop say something about "this touchy-feely stuff" and they say it as if it is a dirty word/phrase.  What is it about the need some people have to devalue that which is "touchy-feely?"  And why do I hurt inside when they do it?  The truth is, I am touchy-feely - I own that!  I do care about the soft squishy insides that we all have - no matter how much we try to hide those vulnerable parts of ourselves.  I don't care what environment you are in - corporate, public, government, university, the privacy of your own home - we are human beings and along with that comes emotions - raw, simple emotions.  I am touchy-feely - it is who I am - and I own it! :)
Today's card was made in an attempt to use up some scraps that were cluttering my craft space :)  Gotta love the inspiration clutter can provide (that's one up-side to not having the cleanest craft space right now!).  As a matter of fact, for the rest of the week I will share 2 more cards I made using the scraps I found hanging around.  I did add a bit of stamping - a greeting from Petite Pairs and the birdie frame from Four Frames.  I pulled everything together by using the spritzer tool with s Soft Suede marker.  I hope you like it :)

Art Journal Pages

Pursuit of Happiness Gratitude Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Hit the Reset Button
I used to have a tradition of writing 3 pages every morning in my journal.  The practice was inspired by reading Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way many years ago.  I found the practice to be very centering - a great way to start the day - a way to remove all of the scattered thoughts from my mind and begin the day with an empty slate.  But somehow, over time, I got out of that habit and replaced that habit with a tour of websites, blogs and email in the morning.  Rather than download my thoughts and begin the day fresh, I was instead filling my head with thoughts - mostly negative thoughts - gathered from news sites.  Not only would I do this checking in the morning, I would find myself double checking, triple checking and sometimes more throughout the day.  It's no wonder I found myself spiraling into a place where I felt out of touch with the whispers of my soul.  So yesterday I decided to hit the reset button.  I took out a blank journal and began my morning with my 3 written pages.  No internet, no news - just me and the page.  I feel better already.  Sometimes you need to hit the reset button.

For today's card I broke out the embossing powder!  I stamped the solid butterfly from Papillon Parade using versamark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Next I stamped another few butterfly images on Crumb Cake card stock using a mix of versamark and basic black ink.  I clear embossed these two butterflies and cut them out.  The sentiment is from Pursuit of Happiness - stamped with Marina Mist ink and sponged with Crumb Cake.  A bit of layering and ribbon finishes the card.  I hope you like it!