Oh my brain!

I need an off switch!  Ever since I've decided to prepare for a craft show "next year" my brain has been on overload and my wallet is being stretched!  I'm sure these are very rooky moves and I'll learn as I go but I hope they pay off.  But seriously....I need some sleep.

I've been spending hours on Pinterest and have reacquainted myself with Splitcoast Stampers.  I even posted my Bootiful card and one other on the SPC site.  Take a look and comment if you get a chance.  I've also hit the Flea Markets again but learned I didn't have to go to far from my front door to find some inspiration.

We purchased an old sewing machine a couple of years ago for $25 at a Habitat ReStore.  I never find them for this price.  I pulled the sewing machine out and planned to utilize it on my front porch where it has been ever since being very ignored.  The wood began to separate and I thought it was a total loss.  This weekend we found a good piece to place on top of the stand and my husband pulled the wood case off.  I looked at it and asked him to safe the drawer front.  I had already rescued the two small drawers.  As he put it in the trash I thought I wonder what would happen if we pulled the top apart...and I walked away.  Well, great minds think alike and my hubby did just that and I ended up with these treasures!  Wouldn't they make great frames?  Mirrors? Jewelry holders?  OH STOP!!!  I am open to suggestions.  Email me at kharen@comcast.net with suggestions.  One way or another they will be repurposed!  Wish me luck!

Its in the details.

The year is slipping away!  Halloween is over and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and sneaking up on us.  I didn't pull out the Halloween decorations this year.  Not sure why since it is my favorite holiday plus our anniversary.  Maybe because it was in the middle of the week and every weekend prior too was busy, busy, busy!

My sister and I attended our monthly card class yesterday and I heard her say that she hasn't spent the time in her craft room this year like she normally does.  Its true...neither of us has.  I have collected a lot of items (and pins on Pinterest) with the thought of projects but a lot of them are still sitting in bags in my craft room...UGH!  When I am there I am focused on cards made specifically for someone or making them as a special request which makes me feel so good about the time I do spend on them.  I know that the requester loves them and is sending them with love.  But the space is becoming limited and I might need to spend some time weeding out so that I can focus on creating and hopefully having my ducks in a row for a craft show in October next year.   I have a few things on hand but not enough to commit to a booth and I need to refresh for my own piece of mind.  This will only be my second craft show and the first one didn't go so well but I learned what sells and I have to realistic about pricing and inventory. 

I'm learning that people like my elaborate cards so I plan to have them available.  I didn't have any cards last time but my sister did and she sold almost all of them!  I hope to have photos up as I go along and will continue to blog about my progress.  At least it will give me some motivation knowing I need to track my progress.

My sister and I stopped into a cute little store in Longmont yesterday and I was inspired by a few things I saw there and want to try my hand.  I found few Christmas gifts there so it was a good place to inspire in more ways then one!

So, I wanted to post a photo of the card I created for my husband for our 16th anniversary.  He loves my cards and I think that this one is the best one yet.  The one he gave me was wonderful.  He may not make them like I do but he puts a lot of thought into the ones he does buy and always has writes the sweetest things inside them.  I keep them.  I'm not sure he knows that!  So, here are a few pictures of it. 

The papers are G45 and the frame on the front is a Jolee's product.  Wish I could find more of them but I couldn't.  I didn't realize it was actually a photo frame and it does make the card heavy but it had dimensional dots on the back so I just changed out the photo once I figured out that I could and added a few more to secure it. The doilies are cut out with a Stampin Up die and there is a jeweled skull on the upper left side of the middle of the card but it became mostly covered up.  I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest and followed the link to this blog:  http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/combined-challenge-139-anything-goes.html where she had a challenge for this type of card.  And here is a link to a tutorial on how to create a center step card: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/centerstepcard/.  I've also seen sidestep and center step tutorials on YouTube.  Maybe one of these days I'll do a video but that is a long way down the road.

This is a center cut step card.  I have favored the side step cards but this card and one I made for my son needed the room for the bigger embellishments or to accommodate a larger stamped item.  Now that I've done both it's difficult for me to do a flat card!

Since this was so front heavy I had to figure out a way to get it to stand up.  I suddenly remembered that I had seen another card where it had been punched through all the layers and a ribbon run through and knotted in the front and back.  I gave it a try and it worked!  I finished off the back and added a tag more to give it some weight than anything.  It's a good thing I didn't have to mail this card!

The photo in the center is of the two of us at a Halloween party a "few" years ago and it's one I didn't have but it has been sitting on my sister's desk.  Isn't it perfect for this?  I loved the result and my husband loved the card!

Wake Up Call!

Wow!  Talk about getting your attention!  I had a women contact me via email re-inviting me to participate in a craft show next year in October.  Very glad someone is more organized than I am because I had kind of put it out of my mind.  They do a craft show one year and a quilt show the next.  I'm honored that she remembered but she said in her email she was worried that something may have happened to me because there wasn't anything on my blog since the first of the year!  Yikes!  I felt bad and then realized....SOMEONE READS MY BLOG!!!  Yay!!!

 

So, although I am starting this at 10:33 at night when I should be in bed I was determined to put something up this evening and a recent family event gives me a good reason.

 

I had such a wonderful weekend.   My son, Brandon, turned 30 on Saturday.   30!!!  But not for not trying we were not able to put a party together as he and his wife made plans for the weekend.  So I decided to make plan and celebrate in his honor with other members of my family.  I'll be honest here and say that I hoped maybe he and his family would decide to postpone their plans and join us.  Well, plans were planned for later in the day and he and his daughter, my granddaughter were able to join us!  I was over joyed!  Under prepared but over joyed.  I didn't have a present for him.  Still don't!  I'm a horrible mother.  But, I have plans....just still in process.

 

We spent Saturday at a local corn maze (http://www.fritzlermaze.com).  I had never been to one even though this one is less than 7 miles from my home.  My son, his daughter, my sister, my daughter and her daughter, my husband, myself and a co-worker spent the day playing games, riding trains pulled by four wheelers, walking through corn mazes, eating bad carnival type food, playing in the corn box (like a sand box but filled with corn), watching piggy races, jumping on big inflated jumpy pillow and shooting small pumpkins at a large metal pumpkin with a pumpkin cannon which my granddaughter and I hit!  Yahoo!

 

On Sunday my sister, my mom and her boyfriend and my husband and I went to the Greenbriar Inn in Boulder for brunch.  It was a belated celebration for my mom's birthday.  The original weekend didn't happen because we went to Utah to see the grandkids and the rest of them ended up not feeling well!  It was a beautiful location and a wonderful time, not to mention wonderful food!

 

We were back in time for me to work on a few cards a co-worker requested so, along with a few pictures from the corn maze are a few photos of some recent card work.  I'm still in love with Graphic45 papers.  They inspire me so much.  I do "borrow" ideas from Pinterest....where I spend all my time and not enough on my blog!  But, I always make them my own.  

 

Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for the start of projects to come for the craft show and hopefully more frequent postings about...well...who knows! 

Me, my husband Joe and birthday boy Brandon.

Daddy and daughter

Great Aunt Tish (my twin) and her great-niece

Joe and Brandon

My sister, Tish

Me and my son Brandon

Piggy races!

Granddaughter Claire

Cousins Claire and Evee

In the corn maze

Big hugs!

My daughter Amber and the little girls

My handsome husband

Fashionable Granddaughter

Dead eye!

She his this and so did I!

She loves to get her face painted.  I love her!

 

         

Guy card using Tim Holtz                     

Easel card using Graphic45 papers                      

 

                                                                      

My husbands birthday card using Graphic45 papers...borrowed the design but can't find from where but it was on Pinterest.

My son's birthday card - Tim Holtz Raven stamp and Graphic45 papers and others

 

Birthday card using Graphic 45 papers and chipboard





 

I had to get in on the act!

Amber in the corn box

They covered her up!

Pretty girls

Daddy and daughter

She found this little cutie.

Me and my son

Me and my hubby

Brandon and daughter Evee

Can't help but love this face!

Breath in 1,2,3....Breath out 1,2,3.....

Not sure how to type a deep breath but that's what I did before I started to type.  Sometimes I think we forget to do that during the day.  Not that we always need it but it couldn't hurt just to push back from the desk, computer, crafting table, etc. and just breath.

Now that I've taken in some extra oxygen I have a clear mind and am ready to catch up on my blog after the Holidays.  I hope yours was as wonderful as mine!

We hosted Christmas Eve at our house this year.  I love having everyone here but getting to that point...jeez!  I finally gave up and although my house was the way I wanted it (except my bedroom...ugh), tree decorated in red and Santa's (photo's to follow), Santa's everywhere, garland, sparkling lights and candles strategically placed, soups and munchies ready, my favorite part of the night was family walking through the door (sigh).  I am so happy.

After everyone has had their fill of soups (four different kinds), breads, and assorted munchies we all settled in for....oh wait...started to stray there...we all headed for Christmas presents! Yay!  The little girls first, after they passed out the presents.  That has been a tradition with us for as long as I can remember.  The youngest pass out the presents but then we watch as they open their pile.  I think they enjoy it as much as we do.

After presents we had dessert, although we are all still pretty full from dinner,   So fun!   It's decided by who does the best acting job...or over acting as it might be.

All in all, and despite a wonderful round of Christmas snow, we had a wonderful time and I was sad to see everyone go and for it to end.  Even the little girls made it to the final hour.  I love my family and they are welcome to my home anytime....as long as I have 3 weeks notice to get my house clean again!  Kidding...sort of.

So now the pictures and items that bring us to today.

Believe it or not I didn't take photos of my Christmas cards.  Yes, I made them this year...all 60 plus of them.  I hope they made it without anyone having to pay extra postage.  I thought I may have been pushing it.  I read somewhere that if it fits between the opening of my paper cutter where the blade runs that it would be fine.  They juuuuuust fit.  But, I did make a special card for my daughter who's birthday is December 31st.  She loved it and so did I.  Very happy with the results and here it is.

I also completed two new fabric collages that are being donated for a fundraiser.  I'm actually attending this event so I'll get to see what they go for but also a little nervous.  I've donated them before but never learned the result.  I just need to roll with it...not matter what.  It's for a good cause and every little bit helps.  So here they are!

I am happy with the way they turned out.  Love the bit of rustiness that I was finally able to use.  Remember them from a previous post?  And still loving these little girls.  They inspire me.  I try to replace them but go back to them every time!

To round things out....the Santa above is one of my new ones for 2012.  My sister gave me another one very similar to it as well as a Mrs. Claus.  They are so cute!  The Christmas tree quilt was made by my very talented mom!  I wish the close up would show you the snowflake detail in the background stitching.  I love it and hate to take it down.  Guess she'll have to make me something to replace it with...wink, wink mom!  Thanks Mom.  You are so very talented and I am honored that you made it for me.

My Dad and step-mom Jane didn't make it home until after Christmas.  They spent the time in Charleston with her family.  I am so glad that they had that opportunity but we missed them greatly and were very happy to see them before the year ended.

So, I want to wish you all a wonderful new, shiny year full of family and friends and when you need it...a little you time.  Don't forget to take care of you!   Hugs!