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!!!!