Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Taking Care Of Yourself Is Always The Right Thing

I spent a lot of time talking to one of my friends today. She is trying to decide what to do with respect to her job and she wants to make sure that she does the right thing. As I shared with her, taking care of yourself is always the right thing. It can be so easy to fall into the trap of wanting to make everyone else happy while ignoring the impact that might have on your own well-being. Today, make yourself a priority - it is the right thing.

Today's limited supply challenge on Splitcoast had to be a birthday card/money card holder with at least 1 butterfly and some close to cocoa or chocolate chip card stock. I folded a piece of card stock to make a "pocket" and the white card can slide in and out of the "pocket." You can even attach a money card to the card. The close to cocoa card stock was embossed with a texturz plate. I included the second photo so you can see how it looks like the butterflies just landed on the card! Hope you like it!

My neighbor asked me to create a card for her since her sister just had her appendix removed. At Convention I received a beautiful swap from Judy Hess and I decided to use her card front as an inspiration for this card (thanks Judy!). I used the Manhattan Flowers stamp set along with some dazzling diamonds. The Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set seems to have a greeting for everything and the scallop oval punch works perfectly with the oval punch. Hope you like it!

This crazy-colored card was my attempt at the emerging colors technique (and yes, those are a lot of colors emerging!). I stamped small flowers in bermuda bay, crushed curry and melon mambo on whisper white and then stamped the upsy daisy image in versamark. I then clear-embossed the upsy daisy image and brayered the piece with rich razzleberry. Once brayered, I wiped off the embossed area. I then added some additional stamping and some additional layers of color and ta-da! It's a crazy card, but I had fun with the technique! Hope you like it!

At 9:30 p.m. last night I got the itch to create! So I went into the craft room and decided to make this "smile" sign. I have to admit that I was thinking about my appointment tomorrow at the dentist's office and I thought that if I brought this sign with me to the appointment it might keep me calm during the visit :) I love going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned, but when it comes to having dental work done, I'm a bit of a chicken! Now that I have this sign hanging in the house it's going to be hard to take it down and bring it with me to my appointment tomorrow! I may have to head into the craft room to make another one :) The sign was made from chipboard that I covered with card stock. I stamped the sage shadow card stock with the sanded background stamp. I used the 2 tags die with my big shot to make the backgrounds for the letters (I am loving this new die) and I also used the simple alphabet dies to create the letters. Hope you like it! Smile!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: We Have All The Time There Is

In today's lesson from the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach, the author talks about how Victorian women prided themselves on their ability to take the time for handicrafts. In today's world we sometimes feel like we just don't have enough time to stop and do work with our hands. As Sarah points out, we have the same amount of time that Victorian women had - and possibly even more since our life expectancies are longer - it is just a matter of how we choose to use the time that we have. Today, ask yourself if how you use your time is nurturing to your heart and soul. If you find yourself answering "no," ask yourself what you might do differently, if even for 15 minutes, to provide your heart and soul the nurturing that it needs.

Today's challenge was to do something vintage. This photo is a vintage photo that I thought would make a great birthday card - with the message "drink again from the fountain of youth." I printed the photo onto card stock and then sponged with varying shades of brown to make it look aged. I popped up the message and highlighted it with summer sun ink. The background was clear embossed using the sanded background stamp. Inside I clear embossed "happy birthday." Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Sometimes It's Nice To Just Have Someone There To Hold Your Hand

So my last day at work as a full-time employee is on Monday and I am SOOOOOO EXCITED!!!! I have been thinking about this change for over a year and I finally had the courage to take the leap :) Of course, the less than exciting part is the crazy expensive COBRA option for medical insurance - yikes!!! So today I called a local insurance company to move my insurance to them and they were too sweet. The assistant stayed on the phone with me the whole time I filled out the on-line application. She really didn't do much, or say much, but just having her there to hold my hand kept me on task and made it a lot more enjoyable than if I was all alone :) Sometimes it's just nice to have someone there to hold your hand :)

I had fun in the craft room today! I decided to try to make a magnet board and here is the result!!! I started with chipboard and adhered two 5x7 galvanized step flashing pieces (picked these up at Home Depot a long time ago) and then covered the whole thing with card stock and paper to cover up the metal. The letters were made with the Simple Alphabet dies and the flower with the daisies die. I added a few eyelets to thread the ribbon. The magnets were simple - just die cut the circles from whisper white and the Night and Day Specialty paper (in the Holiday Mini Catalog). I attached the magnets using Crytal Effects (that stuff is STRONG!). I hope you like it!!!! Now I have to go attach some notes and photos and hang it in the craft room :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Don't Let An Opportunity Pass By To Thank Someone You Love!

My mom was here to visit recently and it meant a lot to me that she flew here, from Atlanta, to spend time. She was also very generous while she was here - whether it was helping me clean my closets, buying me a few things to refill my closets (lol :) or taking me out to eat. I really enjoyed the visit! So today I sat down to make a quick card for her to let her know how much I appreciated her visit and her generosity! Who could you say thank you to today?

The card came together quickly using the scallop square die for the big shot. I did some direct-to-paper inking up of the card stock and stamped some circle circus images on the paper to make them more interesting. The greeting was punched with the scallop oval punch. Hope you like it!

Today's Second Lesson From The Craft Room: Make Your Own Play Day!!!!

Remember as kids when we used to spend the day playing without a care in the world? When was the last time you spent the day playing without a care in the world? Today was my day! I decided to put everything else aside - all of those tasks and to do lists and should-do's and could-do's and instead I spent the day in the craft room playing!!!! I highly recommend it! :)

This card was so easy to make! I loved the challenge on Splitcoast today. To check out the Pylones website to find some inspiration. My inspiration, a photo frame, can be found here http://www.pylones.com/produit.php?pid=1308&num=3. All of the circles are popped up on dimensionals. Hope you like it!

Today has been a fun and busy day in the craft room!!!! My fingers are covered in alcohol ink...that I will need to figure out how to remove before I leave for work this week :) So I have to admit that I bought a large number of cd tins at Convention this year. They were inexpensive and although I had no clue what I would do with them, they seemed like such a bargain I couldn't resist! So today I thought it was about time I figured out something I could do with them and here is my first idea!

I "colored" the tin with alcohol inks and then added some crushed curry card stock and some flowers from the pretties kit. I colored the flowers with markers and then spritzed with water and dried them. The magnets were made with bottle caps. I alcohol inked them too (the backs and the ridges) and then used a 1" circle punch to punch out various stamped images from the Charming set. I added some rhinestones and adhered the circles to the inside of the bottle caps and then filled them in with Crystal Effects. I sprinkled a little dazzling diamonds on the crystal effects to add a bit of bling! Hope you like them! :)

I am loving the new Medallion background stamp! At Convention we were told that it is the most popular stamp right now...and I can see why! I stamped the medallion on crushed curry card stock with rich razzleberry ink. I then used the same ink to stamp the image on rich razzleberry card stock and cut out the circle. I randomly stamped the image onto some scrap crushed curry and rich razzleberry as well and then used the boho blossoms punch to punch out the flowers. I layered some of the flowers in the center and added a few of the small ones around the greeting. The greeting was stamped with versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. The last touch was a few rhinestone brads and "ta-da!" The finished card size is 5"x5". Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Reconnect With The Ones You Love

My life lately has been like an old Barry Manilow song (yes, I admit that I used to listen to Barry Manilow ALL the time when I was younger) - I remember the lyric "we're two ships that pass in the night..." Being on the road so much - playing planes, trains and automobiles every week. Michael and I finally had a quiet evening together last night and it was so nice to reconnect with one another. Who have you been "passing in the night" lately? Who might you want to reconnect with today?

I went into the craft room wanting to play with white embossing powder. I went for a subtle look - white embossing on very vanilla card stock with my Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. Then a torn layer of bashful blue with some paper piercing. The letters in "joy" are sizzlits for the Big Shot (round-a-bout). I think this will make an adorable baby card for a friend that just had a baby boy. Hope you like it!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Take A Few Extra Minutes To Brighten Someone's Day!

I have to send a quick note to someone today and realized that I could jot the note on a torn-out piece of notebook paper or I could take the time to make a quick card that might put a smile on their face! I chose to do the quick card and here's what I came up with. This new SU! set (Greetings Earthling) makes me smile :) I added a little crystal effects to gloss up this alien and added a google eye as well. Hopefully this will brighten someone's day! Enjoy!

Wow! I'm so excited! Check out the Paper Crafts blog...and the post from August 13th...and then scroll down to the 5th photo that has some of the sample boards from the Stampin' Up! convention this year and in that 5th photo, look down to the 8th row and the 3rd card from the left...it says "mom" in white chipboard...THAT'S MY CARD!!!! Yipppeee! I was so excited when I saw it on the board at convention and now I'm excited again to see it on this blog http://papercraftsconnection.com/2009/08/13/foot-stompin%E2%80%99-enthusiasm/. If you read my blog you've seen the card before since I revealed it after I mailed it in the SU! and didn't win their monthly contest. I feel like a winner now :)

Tonight's Lesson From The Craft Room: Feel Free To Move On To The Next One

Tonight I tried to make a card and it seemed I couldn't do anything right. So, I almost decided I would just head to bed and then I stopped at the computer and checked to see if the Splitcoast challenge for tomorrow was posted...and there it was! So I decided to just move on to the next card and do the challenge. I am so glad I did! Sometimes you just have to move on to the next one and leave the past behind :) (at least with cards...you might not want to just move right on in other areas of your life...at least not without a good night's sleep :)

This card was so simple to make! I don't even think I need to provide any directions since it was so quick and easy. The stamping is popped up on dimensionals. I used my new Simple Alphabet dies for the letters and added the jumbo eyelets with my crop-o-dile. Hope you like it!

Does your laptop need a makeover? Mine did! I was tired of walking around with a laptop that looked like everyone else's and also one that could easily get confused with another one like it going through airport security (I travel a lot). I LOVE the versatility of the Stampin' UP! definitely decorative vinyl line! These pink flowers (Upsy Daisies) were only $9.95 and come in a great range of stylish colors! It took just a few minutes to make my laptop an original :) I can't wait to go through security at the airport with this flashy laptop! :) If you'd like to order these wonderful posies that you can apply to laptops, walls, furniture, mirrors...just about anywhere...feel free to order on my website www.m.stampinup.net. Just click on "shop now" in the upper right-hand corner and then choose "home decor" on the list on the left-hand side. If you like these daisies, you can then input "upsy daisies" into the search box and these will pop up (or check out all the other great vinyl decor items)! Imagine how great your laptop will feel with this kind of makeover! :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room: Do Nothing

Some days the most important thing we can do for ourselves is to do nothing - to allow ourselves the room, both mentally and physically, to sit and stop being a human "do-ing" and enjoy ourselves as human "be-ings!"

I got my new sizzlit lil' paws today and had to break it open and give it a try - it is too cute! I also got the fancy favor die - when you use it to make a box, a strip of paper is left with the great decorative edge from the top of the box - that's the edge you're seeing on the designer paper on the bottom of this card. I sponged the card with kiwi kiss ink and drew the dashes with white gel pen. The hearts were punched with the heart to heart punch and the corner rounded with a corner punch. Hope you like these cute bears :)

Today's Lesson From A Hotel Room In California: Your Words Have Power

Have you ever thought about the power of your words? These can be the words you say out loud or the words you say to yourself. What is the first thing you say to yourself when you wake up in the morning? Whatever those words are, consider that they may be setting the course for your day. Some mornings I wake up and thank the Universe that I have been given another wonderful day to spend on this planet. Some mornings I wake up and the first thing I say to myself is "ugh - I don't want to get out of bed and go to work." It seems that if my first thoughts are positive my mood is a lot better and my day gets off to a great start. If my words are negative, my day has that heavy feeling to it. So today, consider the words you are speaking and thinking and ask yourself what the impact of those words are for you and those around you. I hope you have a wonderful day on this planet!!!! :) I look forward to returning to the craft room tomorrow!!!!

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!)