Stationary Station

First things first...a HUGE TY to Jackie, who created this tutorial here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/re...stationerybox/

It is, hands down, one of the clearest and easiest to execute projects EVER. And the impact this will make, well, just check it out. It's one of the easiest projects I've ever done, yet has the biggest impact.

I'm not crazy about the pink flower. I wanted to do a bird or bird's nest. Will try that next time.

Look...I know I include a LOT of pics! But I do it because when I go to try a project, I want to see everything possible. So, if you're NOT like me, just mutter under your breath and sigh a lot. If you ARE like me, ENJOY!

First, you make the box. It's a hour or two max. I used G45 Botanical Tea for the paper. Everything is counted in 6. The 6 tags I cut from the 12 x 12 BT and put an eyelet at the top, then ribbon. Another 12 x 12 sheet served as the notecards, and the greeting cards used another 12 x 12 sheet for the dp, along with a pink paper from Michaels, along with Garden Green, Pear Pizzaz and Ivory. The book is filled with blank pages (copy paper) and though the tut suggested you glue the book, I glued 1 magnet inside the back page of the book and one on the flap (after measuring to make sure it lined up...my OCD would've lost its sh...'stuff'...had I not done a little extra measuring.

I purchased envelopes from Hobby Lobby (they have 50 off ALL their envelopes and notecards until Sat!) and that's it!

The whole concept is to give someone this gift, along with postage, to be able to have everything to fill out a tag, jot down info or addys or have a greeting card/note card on hand, with sufficient postage to mail the 6 cards. When I give her the gift, she can literally sit down and have EVERYTHING (down to a pen!) to get it done!

At Christmas, I'll make 6 more of everything (sans postage) for her to 'refill' the box if she likes.

I am BEYOND delighted with this tut!! You have GOT to try it!!!!

SCS Color Challenge Guest Designer

First of all, let me say what an HONOR it is to be a guest designer for the Color Challenge during September!!! WOW! First thing ANYONE has asked me to do here!! SCS must REALLY be hurting for talent, huh? ;) Seriously, I was thrilled to be asked and to participate!! I ADORE these colors! Grey is one of my fave colors to use for Christmas cards. It's so elegant and stately. Last Christmas, I found myself wanting to do cards with elements that took a little extra work, like this wreath. But there was WAY too much card to work with even after I finished this 2-1/2 inch wreath!! So, I cut the thing down to a perfect size. This way, I can create a more elaborate element and not have to worry about anything else. I learned to make this wreath last Christmas HERE http://www.kittiekraft.com/paper-flo...-tutorial.html and while I'm STILL working on making it perfectly even, I can say that it's worth learning as the effect is spectacular! Thanks for playing with us at the Color Challenge and I can't wait to see what you put together! HUGS!

Featured Stamper

Look...when I saw THIS in Kathy's gallery, it was all over for me. http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...&ppuser=193794 First of all, I LOVE my SB Captivating Squares. Secondly, it was a downright GORGEOUS card that I had no hope of doing any justice to, which is fine by me. All I know is that Kathy-without having a clue-made me sit down in front of my sewing machine and try like the dickens for a good half hour to sew a straight line. I didn't succeed, but I needed the practice!! Next, I did the hole punching thing which I have NEVER done before...in my life! And last but not least, I was able to CASE her layers and not break out in hives...not a one! Kathy, your gallery is unreal, chica! You deserve the honor and I'm so happy to get to try my hand at one of your cards!! Instead of the roses, I went with my poinsettia. You'll see a lot of these from me until about mid-January. Then I'm over it. I couldn't care less about seeing one of the dang things until the following August. Lately, I have secretly been working on some of my bad crafting habits. Like keeping my scraps organized and going there FIRST when I start working on a card, instead of pulling a fresh sheet. Or forcing myself to wait 24 hours when I see a die or stamp I just HAVE to have and want to buy immediately. (I'm up to about 45 minutes...hey...it'll come. Rome wasn't built in a day and I can't just dump Ebay after being in a 15 year relationship. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.) Lastly, I've been actually making myself use my designer paper. Don't you look at me like that!!!! Don't you act like what I just said was all crazy and that you have NO idea what I'm talking about!!! If you claim to not understand what I'm saying then you LIE like a rug!! What IS it about designer paper? Well, other than it being all 'designer'. And more expensive. And has a tendency to go out of print sooner than later. But other than that, WHY CAN'T WE BRING OURSELVES TO USE THE *&^*&* STUFF?????? Look, all those reasons notwithstanding, we ALL purchased our DP WITH the intent of USING it. You would've laughed in the face of anyone who dare suggest you would pay good money for paper, then refuse to use it. Julie, from justwritedesigns, in a moment of touching candor, admitted to the inability to use much of her designer paper. "But," she said, "I DO have visitation with mine and I try to make it as positive an experience as I can. Why would I mess up that relationship and shatter the trust between us by being so cold-hearted as to cut into it?" Excellent point, Julie. So, while I'm working on this character flaw, I hope you can draw strength from my struggle. I'm proud to say I purchased a Carta Bella kit the other day and used almost every piece, INCLUDING the stickers!!! Unfortunately, I only did it AFTER I ordered another from Amazon. Next time, I'm going to cut into that sucker and THEN shop for an immediate replacement!!! Baby steps, people. Baby steps. (Thanks to Julie for letting me share our conversation. Of course, I MIGHT have taken a teeny tiny literary license with it...just a very, minute amount. As far as you know.)

Basho and Lilies Watercolor

Well, I've been goofing around in my craft room all day and all I've got to show for it is this. Well, to be fair, there may be other things floating around but it's so completely messy in here that I stand to lose important things...like keys, papers, small children. Yep, it's pretty bad.

It's kind of odd that my craft room stays in such a state of chaos. With my OCD thingie, you'd think I'd apply the same amount of 'crazy' to this room as the rest of the house. Not that my house is ever really clean or completely organized...just weird things like cereal boxes arranged in alphabetical order in my pantry, cooking utensils arranged by size and things hanging in my closet arranged from longest to shortest, regardless of season.

Do you know what a disappointment you truly are as a half-a**ed OCD'er??? The other OCD's look at me like I'm just a gutter snipe. Sigh. I can't even fully commit to a psychological condition.

But, at the end of the day, I DID manage to finish this up using this as my inspiration http://www.pinterest.com/pin/387591111652226085/

I probably could've done it sooner but I was TOO BUSY REPINNING ALL OF THE AWESOME PHOTOS ON GEEKGIRL'S SITE!!!!! So I blame her for having fabulous taste identical to my own. So there.

Teapotter Hoedown!!! Wait...a Hoedown??? Which girl fell????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  Sorry. I'm easily amused by myself.    First, allow me to give credit where credit is due...I found this Altoids can design here http://kbatsel.blogspot.com/2014/08/...ore-snark.html and I loved it so much that I'm making these for gifts! They are TOO cute!! The card, on the other hand, is all my fault. DANG, I hate layers!!! I get more and more stressed out as I go. I really don't know why this is...knowing my personality, you'd think I'd LOVE getting all' cray-cray' and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at a card and having a blast! The thing is, I think my anxiety comes from personal knowledge of what chaos I AM capable of, and being afraid to let the crazy out to wreak havoc on my cards. You'd see some insanity, allright. Trust. So, I made this a pair for some 'LUCKY' (HAH!) teapotter. If you receive this, you can make a magnet out of the can by getting some of that cheap magnetic strip and adhering it to the back. I thought about doing that but wanted to leave it up to whomever receives this treasure trove of mediocrity. It has been a week since I got back from vacay, and I haven't done diddly-squat in the craft room. I have no idea why, unless it's the whole "I need a vacay after my vacay" thing. All I know is that I can barely keep my eyes open and want to sleep constantly. It's so bad that when my husband requested a conjugal visit, I simply said "Fine. Just don't wake me up." Anyway, we got back from vacay last Sat and school started Monday. So, perhaps that's the reason I'm so tired. I have lots of broken sleep. It takes at least 30 minutes of hard faking sleep when my husband is getting all the kids up and ready for school. After all this time, you'd think he'd figure out that I have NO intention of getting out of bed, no matter how hard he stomps and how many lights he turns on. To be fair, I spent decades rolling out of bed at 3 and 4am for work, so I feel entitled to sleep in the morning as much as I can. Well, it's about that time...I came into the craft room to upload these pics and write this and I'm exhausted. I'm off to bed, but will see y'all bright and early in the morning. Unless my husband wakes me up. Then I could very well be calling one of you for bail money. MWAAAAH!

G45 Mother Goose Mini Album

This is for a wonderful friend! I used stack the deck 2 method by Laura Denison. It really is a wonderful paper collection!

Heartfelt Creations Watercolor

FINALLY! I am home from the Forest-7 LONG days away from my craft room!!!

Today is my first day back and I'm all-in for the inspiration challenge! Watercolor! You KNOW how much I love my watercolor!!

As much as I like Tim Holtz watercolor paper, I find it doesn't hold up if you're doing repeated washes. Hence the sequins (which I would usually refrain from using on such a rustic card) and their placement. Anyone have any advice? Or should I just plan to stick to my heavy duty paper when doing repeated washes???

At any rate, LOVE the challenge and was delighted with my pumpkins. LORD, I'm SO HAPPY TO BE HOME!!!