Playing around in the craft room this evening :) I used the "negative" cut out from the decorative accents die to sponge the basic gray background on the sky blue card stock. I am still loving my Pocket Silhouettes stamp set - especially when you add a little bling (dazzling diamonds glitter)! Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Make Friends With Something That Scares You!

Who knew that May 19th was Circus Day?!? Who comes up with these "official" days anyway? Well, when I saw it was Circus Day I immediately thought "clown!" I have to admit...I have a strong dislike for clowns. They scare me! I don't know why I dislike them. I can't remember any close encounters of the frightening kind with any clowns when I was little. But somehow, someway, I developed a strong clown aversion. So today I decided to try to make friends with something that scares me and I created this punch art clown. And believe me, he doesn't have a mean bone in his punch art body :) Sometimes you just have to stare fear in the face :)

His hair was made with a square scallop punch (I cut the square in half). His bow is 2 hearts with a circle in the middle. His hat is a combination of the key tag punch and a small oval punch. I brightened his nose with crystal effects. I think everything else is self-explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions :) Hope you like him...and I hope he doesn't scare you :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Too Much Of A Good Thing Is Sometimes A Good Thing!

Yes, it's daisies again! I seem to be in love with this Big Shot die! Or maybe I'm just in love with the fact that it's Spring and everything is blooming. Maybe feeling cheerful is something I can't get enough of right now. Maybe too much of a good thing is a good thing right now :) There are just some things that fit into the good thing category right now and I just can't get enough - daisies, sunshine, love, time with the people and animals I care about, creating, laughter, breezes, breathing...I know the saying goes "everything in moderation"...but for today I'm all about excess!!! :)

This card was a lot of fun to make. I used the clear circle die in my big shot to make the circle card. The daisies were made with the daisies die in the Big Shot. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. I hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Everything Happens In Its Own Time

This is a difficult time of year for me. You would think the joy would overtake the sadness - everything is in bloom - the sky is bright blue. And yet, as it gets closer to May 9th, the anniversary of my father's death, I find myself getting a bit melancholy. One of Michael's friends is also in the hospital right now - everyone is waiting to see what will happen - to see if he will rally or if now is his time. I realize that everything happens in its own right time - whether it is life or death or a creation we are making. We try to manipulate when and how things happen, but ultimately, everything finds its own right time - a time that is perfect and right.

This card had its own right time too. Had I not walked by the Cheerios box this morning I would not have been captivated by the bright yellow, red and black on the box and this card would not have come into being today (or maybe any other day).

So today recognize that all is well. All is happening in its own right time. We can sit back and take a deep breath and exhale....

Mother's Day is almost here. A special day to celebrate the women who birthed us and raised us. It also marks the time when we can begin planting in the garden here in Denver without fear of a deep freeze! Yeah! I made this card this morning for my mom. I love the combination of baja breeze and kiwi kiss. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: You Never Know Where Something Has Been

This lesson sounds like something my mom used to tell me when I would pick something up off the ground and want to keep it! But I digress...Have you seen the movie The Red Violin? It is a wonderful movie about an antique violin. The movie traces the story of the violin - where it has been over time, who has "owned the violin" - a peek into the past of an inanimate object. So often in life, however, we do not know where something has been, and instead, we base our judgments on what we see - we make assumptions without knowing the history behind what we see...

So let me share a secret...the background on this card was another card! It was my first attempt at today's challenge. An attempt that got me frustrated - I almost posted it with a lesson about "loving ugly!" But then my creative process got the best of me and I tore the card up (you probably can't even see the inspired by nature flower stamp with the white dots all over it and the sponged blue circle with the sponged coral background...). The torn pieces got put back together to be the back of a garden green card...which I then decided didn't look good, but would work better as a background piece on a ballet blue card. And so, what you see in front of you is a finished product that I am quite proud of...and part of my pride is the history behind what you see. The other part of my pride is that I stuck with it and didn't let the "ugly" get me down :)

OK, so I had to play again! After I did the last card, I couldn't get the image of snake skin out of my mind, so I decided to make a punch snake :)

I did the embossed wax paper resist technique and then brayered with green inks. After I brayered, I ran the sheet back through the Big Shot with the texturz plate again. The snake has a tag punch head and a round tab punch body. Hope you like him. He likessssssssss you :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Say Thank You And Go In A Different Direction

I've had a few days off in a row and I find that when I start to slow down, my internal voice starts to speed up! I have to say that at times my internal voice really doesn't have anything nice to say - it's like I have my own little internal bully :( Good thing I also have an internal voice that also loves to nurture and that voice is teaching me to say "thank you" to the bully and then head in another direction - a place where I remind myself that I am a beautiful, creative being :) So if you find your internal critic is being a bully...say "thanks, but I'm not headed in your direction!"

It was fun to try the embossed wax paper resist technique on SCS today! It was like magic! I used a texturz plate and brayered with real red ink. The cupcake was made with a series of punches and a bunch of stickles :) Enjoy!

The sky in the park tonight was purple and gray. I had never seen a purple sky before. It was awe inspiring and prompted me to create this card.

This set is sooo cute (Voila by Stampin' Up!) - love it! I thought the image was perfect for a small notebook to use as a grocery list. I broke out the bind-it-all and the stamp set and...voila!

Playing and cleaning in the craft room today! The images for this card are from the Kindred Spirits and Organic Outlines stamp sets by Stampin' Up! The colors are summer sun, old olive and pumpkin pie. Enjoy!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Let It Come To You

I had a dream about making a scallop edged card...how funny that today's featured stamper on SCS had a wonderful scallop card in her gallery to inspire me!

It's funny how some things just come to you when you need them. Today's gallery card gave me the extra little nudge I needed to sit down and make my own scallop card. I took a 10"x5" piece of whisper white card stock, scored it and folded it in half and then used my scallop circle die to make the card. If you line up the fold line just beneath the edge of the scallop circle on the die (inside the scallop circle), the die will not cut through the folded edge and you will have a scallop card! Today's color combination also "just came to me." I was looking at my mess of a craft table and there, in the center, were the new rolls of ribbon that I just got from SU! The tangerine tango ribbon was on top of the baja breeze ribbon and I thought "what a pretty combo!" Sometimes you have to just sit back and let things come to you :)

This evening I began playing with some new toys, including the exclusive SU! Beautiful Butterflies Die for the Big Shot. I die cut the butterflies and then ran them through the Big Shot again in embossing folders. Thought I would share the result of my play time with you :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: It May Not Be What You Had Hoped, But It Can Be An Experience You Will Never Forget!

Prom. It is one of those events that seems to have "magic" written all over it...at least that's what we're supposed to believe. I'm sorry to say that my high school prom was not quite the fantasy that I had imagined. The night before the prom I still had no dress, no date and not a pair of shoes to be seen. I won't go into the details, but by the next day my dad had found me a date, the dress had arrived and the shoes were on my feet :) No, it was not the fantasy prom night I might have imagined, and I never did see the guy who took me again...but the night represented a time when my dad tried to make his little girl happy; where my white eyelet dress made me feel like a princess; and where I learned that an event is just an event - the event isn't the magic - it's the people and what you make of it.

The inspiration challenge on SCS today was to find a Faviana dress that inspired you (www.faviana.com). The dress I chose is the one that I have now placed in my inspiration journal that you see in the photo. I loved the color combo of brushed gold, really rust, and more mustard - not a combo I would have put together without the help of the dress :) I gold embossed the images (Kindred Spirit stamp set and Thank You Kindly stamp set - both by Stampin' Up!) and the bookplate die cut. The ribbon was "pleated" by laying down a piece of sticky strip and then slowly "pleating" the ribbon, little by little. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Find Ways To Warm Your Heart

Today is a drizzly, cold and cloudy day here in Colorado. A perfect day to stay indoors and find ways to warm your heart. Creating, sharing kind words, warming soup on the stove...I love days like this that seem to slow us down and remind us of the comfort a little warmth can bring. So today, find ways to warm your heart and the hearts of others :)

This card was inspired by a color combination I saw in a home decor magazine (the top photo shows the original picture - a Calvin Klein furniture collection that I have now saved in my inspiration journal). I stamped the flowers for the border and cut out a few and popped them up on dimensionals. I added a bit of "bling" with some glue and dazzling diamonds. The butterfly was stamped and colored in with a blender pen and a bit of going gray ink and finished with a sprinkle of dazzling diamonds. The butterfly and flowers are from the "god's beauty" hostess set from SU! and the greeting is from the "echoes of kindness" hostess set from SU! Enjoy!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: To Thine Own Self Be Kind

Today's lesson comes from the greeting on this card. How appropriate that this is the card I made when I ended work today and began my 4 days off from the hustle and bustle of work and my crazy travel schedule. Ahhhhhhh. It can be so easy to not be kind to ourselves - to run ourselves ragged; to eat on the go; to take care of others without recognizing that in order to take care of them we need to take great care of ourselves. So today, remember to be kind to yourself - take a moment for you - to replenish, renew, regenerate. Treat your body well. Tell yourself how beautiful you are. Do something that makes YOU smile. Today, and every day, is your day to be kind to you.

This card uses the Botanical Blooms Sale-a-bration set. You may notice a small black square stamped image in the background...hello dollar store package of pencils!!!! I bought the pencils and used an Xacto knife to cut the erasers into all different types of shapes (squares, diamonds, half-moons) - it's a cheap and fun way to make a lot of cute stamps! I distressed the edges of the card stock with a distressing tool. The top 2 layers are popped up on dimensionals. Hope you like it!

ps sorry I did not post yesterday - I had a day-trip to San Francisco that kept me out of the craft room...but now I'm back!!!! :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: You Don't Have To Wait For A Special Occasion

When I saw today's color challenge it immediately made me think of Christmas. It seems that anytime I see red and green together Christmas comes to mind. Then I realized that we don't have to wait for Christmas to use color combinations like red and green. The lesson expanded for me as I thought about how often we wait for a special day to do certain things - take certain actions; say certain things. Why wait? Today, give thanks even though it is not Thanksgiving; share the gift of your love with friends and family even though it is not a holiday; cook a festive meal, play a fun game, spend time reflecting - today is as much a holiday as any day - you don't need to wait for a special occasion.

I covered the Batch of Blooms chipboard with whisper white cardstock and used real red ink to cover the chipboard hearts. The black cardstock was run through the Big Shot with the distressed Texturz plate.

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Give Yourself The Time You Need

I just returned from a trip that took me through the Mexico City Airport. It was quite the scene, due to the swine flu...so many of us were wearing blue respiratory masks. Underneath that mask I was full of stress and worry. So today - after arriving home at 10:30 last night and having worked the whole weekend I decided to give myself the time I needed to rest, relax and slowly create this card. Somehow rolling the marbles in a dish with a few drops of reinker and then letting the marbles roll across the very vanilla paper (which was temporarily attached to the inside of a box lid) was quite mesmerizing! What a great technique to give yourself the time you need to slow down and recharge! (I'm also planning on taking Friday and Monday off...craft room, here I come!!!!)

The bird is from the On Board So Tweet by SU! I covered it with gesso and then sponged ink on top. The pink part of the bird was embossed with clear embossing powder. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From Far Away From The Craft Room: Smile, Even If No One Can See

so you might be wondering why a mummy card at the end of April...let me not leave you in suspense. I am sitting here in the airport in Mexico City, wearing a bright blue respiratory mask (maybe you have been hearing all of the news about the swine flu that is causing all kinds of issues here in Mexico and starting to spread around the world)...so, wearing this mask makes me feel a bit like the mummy in the card - you can see my eyes, but not much else. It is amazing how important our health and safety are to us as human beings. Three days ago, someone coughing or sneezing really did not mean that much to me. Now I hear every cough and every sneeze and begin wanting to get as far away from those sounds as possible!!!!

I have two choices right now - to panic and make myself all worried and crazy....or, to smile and help myself stay in a positive place. My decision is to smile...even if no one can see my smile underneath this crazy blue mask....at least I know it's there :)

fyi, the mummy card is not an original design - i am trying to find the source where i found the instructions - i should have made a note back when i did this in 2008! i will keep looking and when i find it, i will share the source for the instructions and the design with you!

Today's Lesson From...yes, you guessed it...Too Far Away From The Craft Room: Take A Cold Shower...

yes, i'm on the road again - this time in Poza Rica, Mexico. It is a small town about 30 minutes by plane from Mexico City. The people are so nice and the vegetation is so beautiful here - very green and lots of flowers. Hopefully tomorrow I will get to do a small bit of siteseeting after getting done with work in the afternoon. I got up this morning to take a shower and put the lever to "hot"...well actually to "caliente." I waited a little bit for the water to heat up - it got luke warm and that was it. I realized that my Americanized view of "hot" is not the same as "hot" here in a warm, humid climate. So in the shower I jumped...quite to the shock of my tired body! I have to say though, that once I got over the shock...well, I didn't really get over the shock...but after I soaped and showered as fast as I ever had and got out of the shower, the experience left me feeling quite invigorated, awake and excited to greet the day! Maybe sometimes taking a cold shower - or experimenting a bit with what we are most comfortable - is a great idea. It could leave us feeling more awake, invigorated and excited to greet the day! :)