Another quick card from the craft room tonight...
I embossed the tree in white and the snowflakes and greeting with silver embossing powder. The faux brads in the corners were made using liquid pearls (by Ranger). Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Sometimes It's Healthy To Know How To Bite Your Tongue

There are times when I want to "blurt" in response to some things I hear people say. I have learned that sometimes it is better to hold my "blurt" back and bite my tongue. This is particularly helpful when I feel that the point of the conversation really isn't to learn from one another. I sometimes find that certain people or certain topics seem to trigger me - I'm still not sure why they trigger me the way that they do. But what I find is that if I "blurt" or go on the attack, it never makes me feel better. So now I'm learning to just bite my tongue and let it pass. It seems to make me feel a lot better (and probably the other person too!).

Today's card was inspired by a tag from a bathing suit I bought a while back at Target. I loved the colors on the tag! It probably would have been best to use Groovy Guava (a retired SU color), but I wanted to use supplies that are all current with SU!. The colors are very vanilla, sahara sand, ruby red, and apricot appeal. I ran some white organza ribbon across the apricot appeal stamp pad to color it. Hope you like it!

Tonight's Lesson From The Craft Room: Watching Other People Create Is Inspiring!

Tonight's card was inspired by Kristina Werner's "A Year In Cards." If you haven't checked out her work, take a look - her videos are a ton of fun! (You can find them on her blog at www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/). I love watching her create - it makes me want to rush into the craft room and play! Tonight I watched her video and immediately wanted to try stamping on transparency with staz-on. Very fun! (fyi, the "transparency" is actually the packaging from a cuttlebug embossing folder - I just can't bare to throw away clear packaging these days!). The finished card size is 4.5"x4.5". Hope you like it!!!! Thanks Kristina! :) (ps once i get some equipment i am planning to try making some videos...i'll keep you posted on when they will be showing up!)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: It's Instinct

No sooner had I let my cat out into the backyard the afternoon, she was pouncing on a small brown bird. I screamed out to try to startle here, but to no avail. The little bird was too injured and died very quickly. It's moments like these that make me both sad and thoughtful. After all, my cat hunting a bird is just instinct. She is doing that which she was born to do. And so it is with me and creativity. Whenever I am in the craft room creating, I feel that I am doing what I was born to do - that creating is just instinct.

Today's challenge on SCS was to stamp something with a summer theme. Summer makes me think of all of the amazingly beautiful trees we get to enjoy! I added a dash of dazzling diamonds and got my bonus points using a tag :) Hope you like it!

Today's Second Lesson From The Craft Room: It Feels Good To Clear...

My mom is in town visiting and I am so grateful that she has the patience and energy to help me clean out my closets! It feels so good to clear things out - things that have been sitting in that closet without seeing the light of day for ages! Hopefully I can stay motivated to start clearing out in other places in the house - I can feel the house breathing a sigh of relief as I help to unload the burden I have stuffed into it! :)

This card was soooo simple. Just some specialty designer paper, a few punched hearts, a stamped greeting and a ribbon and ta-da! Hope you like it!

My mom and I had so much fun making the first cards, we decided to make more!!!! Here is the result. My mom got to play with the Big Shot for the first time and made these flowers! The flower centers were made by running some Chocolate Chip card stock through a Cuttlebug embossing folder and punching out with a circle punch. Hope these flowers cheer up your day!

Today's Lesson From My Mom In The Craft Room: It's Fun Creating With A Loved One!

Today I had a special treat as my mom is visiting from Atlanta so I took the day off and we went into the craft room together to create! I asked my mom what her lesson was from the experience and she said "It's fun creating with a loved one!" :)

The top card is the one I created and the bottom one my mom created - this is the first card she has every made! Yeah mom!!!! :) We used basic black and brushed gold card stock. We embossed that beautiful image from the new Charming stamp set in the SU! Holiday Mini Catalog and added a little lace edging. Hope you like the cards and hope you can spend some time creating with a loved one very soon!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Even If You Just Have 5 Minutes, Go For It!

Today flew by and I realized that I was about to head to bed without having created anything. So I told myself "Okay Michelle, you have 5 minutes to create something, anything!" Off I went into the craft room. Of course, doing a full-size card in 5 minutes seemed a bit daunting to me, so I went with a 3x3 - small amount of time, small space :) I took out my new Hello Again stamp set and grabbed the flower stamp and my whisper white craft ink and went to town! The center of the flowers were the perfect excuse to use the new embellishments I had created using gold liquid pearls by Ranger (have you tried this stuff yet? it was a lot of fun!). The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, popped up with dimensionals. Hope you like it...and if you only have 5 minutes before you head to bed or start your day, go see what you can create! :)

As you will see from the post below... I never made it past the craft room to head to bed :) But I am heading to bed now - just wanted to share this card that I made for my aunt - her birthday is this week and this handmade card is the least I can do to celebrate the day she was born :) She is such a treasure!!!! I used Basic Gray card stock and a retired designer series paper that I love. I highlighted areas on the paper using my 2-way glue pen and dazzling diamonds. I stamped the leaf image on the Basic Gray card stock using Versamark ink to create a watermark effect. The thin strip of Whisper White card stock was run through the crimper. I added a row of paper piercing, a greeting and a final touch of bling! On the inside of the card I added a piece of Whisper White card stock stamped in the lower right-hand corner with the leaf stamp. Hope you like it! Sweet dreams!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Life Is Good :)

It is great to be back in the craft room!!!! I had a wonderful time at the Stampin' Up! convention in Salt Lake City!!!! I won a beautiful necklace (more on that in an upcoming post), made some great new friends, and got excited and inspired!!!!! Yeah!!!! Life really is good! I can't wait to share so much with you in the upcoming days!

I also have an exciting personal announcement. I have decided to leave my full-time position with my company and instead do contract work for them so that I can pursue a more creative/artistic life! I am incredibly excited about this transition - it took me quite awhile to reach the point of making a decision, but as my wonderful aunt wrote me in an email "a miracle happens when you are strong enough to surrender." So although I am surrendering with one foot still in my work world, I am moving forward and cannot wait to experience what is yet to come!!!!! I look forward to sharing my creative life with you!

This card was inspired by the above pillow (from a Crate and Barrel catalog). My brother and sister-in-law will be celebrating their anniversary this week, so I better get it in the mail! Enjoy!

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!

This card was for the Doubledog dare challenge on Splitcoast. We had to give a lesson in manners and include a bee somewhere on the card...all inspired by Romper Room and Mr. Do Bee! Remember those Romper Stompers?! I do!!!!! :) My lesson is to say thank you when someone gives you something. Hope you like it!

I played around last night with my alcohol inks. I took a plain white button and applied alcohol inks...and kept applying with blender and copper mixative...until i got a result that I liked. Now I'm looking around the house at every non-porous surface thinking "wow! I could alcohol ink that!" Hopefully I won't start inking the house windows! :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Privacy Please :)

I read the entry for the day in Sarah Ban Breathnach's book Simple Abundance. In the entry she talks about how being "privacy deprived" can lead to feeling sad, depressed and burned out. She talks about the importance of taking private "time-outs" to replenish our spirits. I don't know about you, but I think I have suffered from "pd." In my job I am around so many people when I travel - people in airports and hotels and training rooms...it's no wonder I want to go and hide in a dark closet when I get home! So today, and everyday, give yourself a personal, private "time out." We all need time to replenish our souls.

Today's challenge on Splitcoast was to include something with an engine in our card...trains have engines! I used the designer label punch to punch out these train cars and then trimmed the tops off. The wheels are 1/2" circle punches with a dot of stickles in the middle. I sponged around the train cars with pumpkin pie ink. I made a faux bow...since my bow-tying skills still need a lot of work :) I paper-pieced and popped up the animals and gave them a little bling with stickles :) Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: A Scattered Space Leads To A Scattered Brain...or vice versa!

It's amazing I can even think in this office! I'm not sure which comes first, the scattered space or the scattered brain, but somehow I have ended up with both in my office and in my craft room! It's a mess! So I find myself just wanting to sit outside - away from the mess. Maybe the combination of the out-of-control scattered mind and the crazy scattered space will be just the kick in the pants I need to finally sort and organize...I'll keep you posted!

Today's challenge to use a charm had me digging through my old jewelry supplies. When I saw this sun I knew it was the one to build upon for today's card. I used butterscotch alcohol ink to color the silver charm and then stamped the flower after using 3 markers to color it in. The more mustard paper was crumpled up and then flattened for that wonderful distressed look. The Dymo labels were added as the greeting. Finally I put some crystal effects on the flower to give it a little extra shine. Now I just need to wait for a cloudy day so I can give this card to my special someone :)

A card made with love for my beautiful and amazing aunt and uncle! I used mat board that my aunt gave me after my last visit with her at her frame shop. The stamped images are pocket silhouettes. I sponged the kraft card stock layer with always artichoke ink and sponged the perfect plum card with perfect plum ink. May this card inspire you, even if just one tenth the amount that my aunt inspires me!!!!

Another quick card to send to my nieces at camp...don't worry, I made 2 since there are 2 of them :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Smile and Slow Down :)

I woke up early this morning since I was facilitating a webinar on negotiation from the comfort of my office - no webcam so I was able to wear my comfy clothes :) Whenever I do a webinar I post little notes to myself around the computer that say things like "Smile" and "Slow Down." Today I realized that those reminders aren't just good when I'm doing webinars, but they are also great when I am going about my day-to-day life. Maybe I need to start carrying a little bulletin board around with me wherever I go so that I can cover it in notes that remind me to smile, slow down, and appreciate every moment?

Today's sketch challenge was a ton of fun and, of course, I had to pull out my new alcohol inks! It's amazing what you can do with a few colors...I had no idea I'd be able to create orange so well with butterscotch and perfect plum! I applied the alcohol inks to glossy white paper and then stamped the More the Merrier stamp, with black Staz-On onto the inked cardstock. I cut out the pumpkins and raised them up on dimensionals and used my 1 1/4" square punch for the squares. I ran the kraft card stock through the big shot with the distressed texturz plate. Hope you like it! I know it's not November yet, but after being in the store yesterday and seeing X-mas decorations out already, I figured I was okay making a Turkey Day card :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: A New Supply or A New Technique Might Be Just What You Need For New Inspiration!

Today I rewarded myself with a trip to Hobby Lobby (yes, I deserved it!) and purchased alcohol inks - something I had been wanting for awhile. They really inspired me and when I saw today's color challenge I put the new inks to good use!

I pounced, blended and pounced again with the alcohol inks on glossy paper. Then I ran that paper through the bigz butterfly die. I put 2 smaller pieces of pretty in pink card stock through the top note die to create the "sides" of the card. I stamped the background with an image from Kindred Spirits. I then took some white organza ribbon and ran it across the really rust ink pad and poof - some really rust ribbon appeared :)

Hope you like the card - I had a really fun time with the new products and this whacky color combo!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Give Your Brain A Rest :)

Some days I try really hard to think up a meaningful lesson from the craft room and today I found myself thinking really hard, but nothing was coming...ahh, there's the lesson - give your brain a rest :) Sometimes not thinking and just enjoying is exactly the lesson we need :)

I had fun with this new technique challenge...even if it required ironing :) I also threw in another fun fabric technique and embossed the center piece of die cut velvet with one of the Circle Circus stamps. Hope you like it!

This is the second card today- this one is for my second niece who is at sleep-away camp :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Alas For Those Who Cannot Sing, But Die With All Their Music In Them

I have this quote taped beside my computer. It is a reminder to sing our song - whatever that may be - everyday so that we live our music and do not die with our music never having been a part of this world. Making cards, creating, is a part of my music - it is one very vital way in which I sing. Thank you for sharing my song with me :)

My nieces are away at sleep-away camp until the end of the month so this card will be headed to one of them. I purchased the Wild About You set right before it retired - I was tempted to not buy it since it was retiring...but I loved it so much that I couldn't resist :) I stamped the lion image twice - once in close to cocoa and once in more mustard - and then cut out the more mustard face and adhered it with dimensionals to the cocoa body. The certainly celery card stock was run through an embossing folder. The "window" was punched using my oval punch and then I stamped the greeting on the layer beneath. I added the ribbon and the button latte button as a finishing touch! Hope you like this particular song :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Get Acquainted With Your Boundaries

Boundaries are an interesting thing. There are reasons why our cells have boundaries, why our skin creates a boundary with the outside world. Sometimes it is very important to realize where one thing ends and another begins. And sometimes it is equally challenging to honor those boundaries. Today I am all about getting reacquainted with my boundaries. Reminding myself that there are some things I will do and some things I won't and respecting that. Have you gotten to know your boundaries lately?

Today's card was so simple! The limited supply challenge on SCS was to use your high school or wedding colors and a staple, clip or photo turns. My high school colors were purple and yellow...I still have my high school jacket in the basement...not sure when I'll wear it again, but you never know :) I scored the yoyo yellow card stock horizontally and then vertically - this was so easy to do with my Scor-It board! I then sponged the card with yoyo yellow and so saffron to make the texture stand out a bit more. I covered the chip board bird with yoyo yellow and cut around him with a hobby knife and then stamped a little yellow flower all over him in yoyo yellow ink. His beak was colored with an Only Orange marker. Hope you like him!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: It's Never Too Late To Find Yourself Again

I have always found my way to wherever it is I need to go...at least when I'm in my car. In my life, I seem to have a knack for getting lost and it takes me a little bit longer to find my way back to who I am. For the last 2 years I've been a little lost...and I'm finally finding my way back home. It's been an interesting journey and I have to say...it's nice to be back :)

This card was soooo simple! Just 2 bugs stamped with sahara sand ink (I stamped off one of them so the ink was lighter). I stamped them again on a separate sheet of card stock and cut out the bug bodies and popped them up on dimensionals. The greeting was computer generated and the holes paper pierced. I hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:

"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." - Shel Silverstein

This may look familiar if you check out the post right after this one :) This is the 4"x4" card to go with the little notebook. I couldn't resist the urge to duplicate the layout in a smaller size. This time I used really rust and old olive card stock and retired Haiku designer series paper. Once again I die cut the "A" out of the sueded mat board using my Sizzix Simply Serif alphabet. Inside it says "happy birthday."

Busy in the craft room today - making thank you cards and birthday gifts...this notebook is for Michael's sister Allison since tomorrow is her birthday :) The finished book size is 6"x6". The rust-colored mat board is "sueded" - my Aunt who owns a wonderful little frame shop call Glen Roc Gallery in Trenton, NJ, gifted me some pieces of mat board she had in her shop and I am having a blast!!!! The inside of the book is filled with blank white paper. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Live Fully

This card is a thank you card for one of my aunts - I had to fly unexpectedly to Boston last Monday as my cousin Myles, 44 years old, suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. It's hard for me to even know what to write right now - so many lessons are tied up in his life and his death. Myles was a person who lived his own way - he did what he was drawn to do and touched so many people along the way. One of my other cousins told a story at the house, after the funeral, about Myles going to visit a college president when he was 18 years old. He was considering the school and the president turned to Myles and asked, "What would you like to be in 20 years?" And Miles looked at him and answered, "38." I smile just thinking about the exchange :) I also realize there is so much I don't know about my cousin - so many things I could have learned - so many opportunities I could have tried to create to get to know him more...and now, I will have to do so through others since he is no longer here. We never know when our time will be. All we do know is that each day we get closer to the time when we, and those we love, will no longer be here - at least not in the way we are now. So today, and every day, live fully - take it all in - this is a beautiful experience we are blessed to have.

Today's Lesson From A Craft Room: Go Play With A Friend :)

Today I went to spend some time with my friend Elizabeth. Her 2 children were sleeping when I arrived and we decided to play with some of her latest SU! arrivals! It was a ton of fun - I hadn't had a play date in a while :) It's amazing how taking some time out to go play with a friend can really lift your spirits! We were also quite productive in making the above thank you notes for her daughter's birthday party (notice the new SU! In Colors!). These cards were so simple. Just a piece of colored card stock cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. Then a piece of white card stock cut to 4 x 5 1/4 inches. We stamped the white card stock and then used the crop-a-dile to create two large holes at the top (through both pieces of cardstock) and then tied the ribbon through the holes...no adhesive required! So simple and so cute! I need to go play with a friend more often :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Some Things Are Beyond Reason...

Have you ever found yourself staying in a job that is killing you just so you have health insurance? Or maybe you've listened to a boss tell their staff that they have always aspired to be a part of a team like this when you know the team is unhappy, undervalued, and ready to leave? Today I'm realizing...not for the first or last time...that some things in life are beyond reason. They just don't make sense...as a matter of fact, they make non-sense! And it does become almost laughable. So today, I will choose to laugh :)

Today's card was made for a friend to give to his wife for her birthday. The greeting inside says "bark, bark, bark" and underneath that it says "happy birthday." I started with kraft card stock and then used the lace border punch on a piece of certainly celery card stock and attached that. Next I took some designer card stock that I had bought about eight million years ago at Hobby Lobby and cut it into strips and attached the strips to the card stock. The dogs were stamped, cut out and popped up on dimensionals. (They are from the SU set Man's Best Friend...which will still be available...it's just on the dormant list so it's not in the new catalog). The circles were punched using the 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 circle punches. I hope it makes you smile :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: A Little Walk Can Soothe Your Soul

Today, like so many days lately, was a stressful one at work. I finally decided to shut off the email and end my day. I wanted to do some creating, but I just felt all out of sorts. So I decided the best thing to do was to go and visit with Mother Nature. Buddy and I took a walk up to the park - watched a little boy playing t-ball in the park - he was adamantly saying to his brother "You need to listen to me or I will not do this anymore forever!" Oh how I wish that I as an adult could just say those words at work! How fun would that be?! :) Anyway, the visit to the park - the slow afternoon walk - really put me back together again and gave me the change of pace I needed to be able to walk back home and into the craft room.

I pulled out an old SU! stamp that I had picked up at a flea market - it's called Romantic Rose. Seemed to be the perfect image for aging. I stamped it in close to cocoa on very vanilla card stock and used the tearing edge to rough up the edges. Then I began my sponging with creamy caramel first, then close to cocoa, then chocolate chip, then basic black...and finally a little more chocolate chip for good luck :) This was a really fun technique! The ribbon and the greeting were the easy part. I hope you like it.

This is frame makeover #2! Everything used to decorate this frame, except for the small piece of ribbon and the adhesive, came from the same Simply Scrappin' kit as the frame below and I still have TONS of card stock, paper and sticky die cuts to use for a lot of other projects! Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: It's Time For A Makeover!

I bought the above Merry Christmas frame after Christmas last year at Hobby Lobby. It was 50% off and cost me about $1.50 and I knew that although it looked quite sad, with a little time and attention I could make it into something beautiful! As a matter of fact, I felt a bit like Stacey and Clinton of the show What Not To Wear when I looked at this frame. I mean the poor thing...kind of dumpy, kind of dreary...but what great bone structure! This frame just needed a little TLC :) So today it was time for a makeover!

I used a retired Simply Scrappin' Kit that I had sitting unopened in the craft room (this was my first time actually using one of these kits and I am now addicted! It comes with card stock, matching designer paper and a huge number of sticky die cuts all for $19.95 and it is great for cards, scrapbook pages or makeovers :) The only thing I added was the one small piece of ribbon and mono adhesive to attach the paper to the frame and a few pop-up glue dots to adhere the flowers...and voila!!!

So if you're feeling drab or dreary or are just in the mood for a change...maybe it's time for a makeover! Today is the perfect day!

I'm having fun in the craft room this afternoon and this card came together so quickly! I used Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke ink and card stock. The flowers are from the Cheep Talk stamp set and the small green centers are from the new Circle Circus stamp set. The greeting is from the new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (I'm going to be using this set A LOT!). Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Don't Ask Why

Today's lesson seems quite odd without an explanation because I think the question "Why?" can be an important question to ask a lot of the time. However, today, it was important for me to not ask my intuition why it was drawn to pink pirouette or why it was trying to stamp a little bird in gray for a baby card. Instead I gently asked my internal voice to shhhhh, and just followed what my intuition was saying. This card is the end result. It is in moments like these when I am truly in awe at what can come forth - what you can't imagine - that just pops into being if you follow and trust what your intuition is calling you to do. Now might be the perfect time to ask you internal voice to shhhh and to not ask why and to just follow where you are being led.

The pink background was run through the cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder on the Big Shot. I used the Cheep Talk stamp set from SU! and stamped the branch in certainly celery - I stamped off once and then stamped the image. The little bird was stamped in going gray. The greeting is from the brand new Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (finally, a stamp set that has a greeting for just about every occassion!!! yeah!!! You can order it beginning July 1st at my site www.m.stampinup.net). The greeting was stamped in going gray and punched out using the word window punch. I punched the little flower using the trio flower punch with barely banana card stock. I added the pearl center and popped the flower and the greeting up on dimensionals. I hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Acknowledge Your Contribution

It's funny how it can be so easy to blame others for whatever situation we are in or for whatever we are upset about. We say things to ourselves like "I can't believe she is making me do this! What a (insert your choice of word here)!" The more difficult thing to do is to step away from blame and acknowledge our contribution - what have we done or not done that has brought us to this place. I realize one of the things I'm really good at NOT doing is saying "no" and by not saying "no" I can find myself in situations that I am angry about and begin to blame everyone. What I need to do is recognize my contribution - it's not about blame - and ask myself if I want to keep contributing in this way. I'm going to work on saying "no" a bit more often :)

Today's card looked fun in my mind, but maybe a bit goofier in reality :) The limited supply challenge was to make a masculine card with limited supplies that we could select from a take-out style menu - quite fun! I used the color spritzer tool with a basic black marker to make the background and punched holes in the whisper white paper with my crop-o-dile and my 1 1/2" circle punch. The boy got a mohawk with a marker :) Hope you like it...and if you don't, it's okay, I think you rock anyway :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Start Your Day Your Way

It can be so easy to wake up and get right into the grind of the day. It seems that how we start our day can really set the mood for the rest of our day. So today I decided to start my day by creating rather then getting caught up in work. It feels good to honor myself first and then move into the rest of my day.

I decided to make some bright cupcakes for today's challenge. I am really loving the new The More The Merrier hostess set! It is incredibly versatile - you can color it, paper piece it, use just parts of the images...soooo much fun!!!!! Anyway, I'm trying not to eat sweets right now, so I think these cupcakes were my way of trying to get sweets out of my system for the day :) I paper pieced the cupcakes and put some of the pieces up on dimensionals. The white background was run through a texturz plate. The greeting is a combination of 2 different greetings in the stamp set - I took the "so" from one stamp and the word "sweet" from another - I just colored the words I wanted on the stamp with my basic black marker and stamped away! Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: When You Are At The End Of Your Rope, Trust There Is A Net And Jump!!!!

It is so nice to be back in the craft room after more planes, trains and automobiles! And yes, I have been feeling lately like I'm at the end of my rope with all of this travel so I am just about ready to jump and to trust that a net will catch me! I know it will be there - the Universe has always provided - all I need is to have faith. I'll let you know if it's a soft landing :)

I kept today's card clean and simple. The background was stamped with the heart image from the More the Merrier. Punched hearts were popped up on dimensionals as were the cut out birds' wings and hearts in the center image. The images were painted in with my aqua painter. Hope you like it.

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Sometimes It's More Fun To NOT Wait For A Rainy Day!

It's that time for SU!'s new in colors...and so I tend to look at last year's outgoing in colors as precious...I mean, what's a girl to do when she can't purchase anymore kiwi kiss or baja breeze card stock?! When I saw this pair of shoes on Bugaloo http://www.bugalookids.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=doggy I knew my Baja Breeze needed to be a part of the challenge. And so today's lesson - rather than save the limited supply of baja breeze for a rainy day that may never come - I decided it was more fun to not wait for that rainy day and use it today instead :)

I paper pieced the dog and used a greeting from Best Yet that I cut into smaller pieces. I have what I think is called a perforating wheel that I used to perforate the edges. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From Boston and Not The Craft Room: Feed Your Need For Creativity Wherever You Are!

Yes, I'm back on the road again...this time one of the flight attendants recognized me from having been on the Denver to Boston flight a few weeks ago - How pathetic is that?! When flight attendants start recognizing you, you know you've been spending too much time on airplanes!

So tonight I went to dinner and noticed a bookstore right next door so I wandered right to the Graphic Design and Craft Section and started feeding my creative need, as opposed to my stomach! What an amazing amount of creative food there was! I could have sat there for hours devouring all kinds of books and images! I ended up buying one book (I have yet to discover the secret of how to walk into a bookstore and leave empty-handed) - it's called Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain. I figured it had to be as good as a Starbuck's Vanilla Latte with a name like that! It is chock full of amazing activities to stimulate your creativity. For example, on p. 225 the challenge is to create a postage stamp design by choosing among a few different scenarios...I particularly liked the scenarios of "Gerbils have overrun the White House" and "Peanut Butter and Jelly was elected National Sandwich!" The stamp can be any shape or size, but must include a denomination. Seems like us stampers could have a lot of fun with a challenge like this...does anyone have a Gerbil stamp????

So even here, in a hotel room far away from the craft room, there are still ways to keep the creative juices flowing! Feed your need for creativity wherever you are! And if you decide to take the postage stamp challenge, please email me your creation at michelle@figmentsofmyimagination.com - maybe I'll post it on this blog! :)