2017

Wow, it's already 2017!  I can say for sure that 2016 was a pivotal year in all of our lives, and there was as much joy as there was sorrow.  There have already been some new challenges popping up, but I am determined to face them head-on and work through them the best I can.  No promises of perfection or grace, just diligence and determination!

I have been continuing with my YouTube channel, and I really love making videos.  It's so much fun to share with others the little things I make, and also watch all of the crafts that others are making.  I have quite a list of favorite channels, but the two that will always mean something to me are as follows:

Vicky - Vicky Papaioannou
She is really the one that lit the card-making fire in me.  Although I never branched out into the fabulous journaling that she does, I still learn so much about design and working with all of the supplies whenever I watch one of her videos.  She has personally grown and become a serious force in the crafting world, with classes around the world and guest designing on many popular channels.  If you haven't seen her yet, please click the link and enjoy!

FaithAbigail - FaithAbigailDesigns
This sweet young woman inspired me to purchase my Silhouette Cameo, and also gave me the inspiration to actually MAKE scrapbook pages instead of just dreaming about them!  I love her style, her design choices, and the cuteness that goes into each of her creations.  Her videos are clean and clear and fun to watch.  Click the link and check them out for yourself!

My New Crafting Toy

I'm very excited to share with you that I got a brand new crafting toy - the Silhouette Cameo 3!  I've never used a cutting machine before, and I LOVE it!  So far I've only used it to cut purchased files and do a bit of sketching, but it can do so much more.  It has really opened up a whole new level of paper crafting, and I look forward to making many projects with it 😀

The first projects I made were from a company called Little Scraps Of Heaven.  They have the cutest cut files in many different styles, so I started collecting all the ones I thought I could use.  I made a series of little Halloween kids all dressed up in their costumes - they all came together in one purchase and I created them one by one.

Frankenstein:

Frank's Bride:  

Dracula:  

Witch:  

Red Devil:  

Werewolf:  

I haven't yet made a scrapbook layout with all of them, but when I do I will share it with you.

When I decided to start making YouTube videos, I focused on Halloween themed items because the holiday was fast approaching.  I have always loved Halloween decorations and designs, so it was a great opportunity to really play with them.  I made spiders:  PIC

And bats:

And witchy things:

And even a haunted house:

Settling In

Well, after many long months of extreme stress, we are finally settled into our new home!  I can't even describe how happy we are to be here.  I really didn't think that we would ever have a chance to live in such a beautiful home, but we really did it.  There is so much room for all of us to spread out and relax, but still come together for meals in the eating nook and TV time in the spacious family room.  I feel that we have been truly blessed, and I am eternally grateful.

On a related note, I was able to turn one of the bedrooms into my very own craft room!  Finally I have a dedicated space to keep ALL of my many craft supplies, and can escape to the joy of crafting whenever I get a chance.  This has to be my favorite thing about our new home!  And Dave is glad that he doesn't have to look at all of my crafting clutter everywhere (hahaha!)  I have plenty of shelving, a brand new desk, and even a folding table for spreading out with big projects.  It's definitely my happy place, and I look forward to decorating it and making it a very feminine and creative space.

During our big move, we had it really tough because we needed to sell our first house before we could purchase our new one.  Not only did we have to pack and store everything we possibly could, I had to part with virtually all of my needlework, lampwork glass, and paper crafting supplies.  I had one crochet hook and some yarn so I wouldn't lose my mind completely, but that was it.  I guess I never fully understood how much creativity was a part of my life and my soul.  My stress level was steadily rising and I had no creative outlet to find relief.  I hope and pray that I will never have to go through another extended period like that again.  It was so much harder than I ever imagined!

Once I get a bit more coordinated, I will be able to share some of the projects that I have completed and a few more I've started.  I hope that you will check in with my blog once a week or so to catch up on my updates.  I'm starting up my YouTube channel and have already posted some videos, so please check them out.  It's a lot of fun - I almost feel like I'm on TV!

My very own YouTube channel

Mid-July Update

Hello, hello!  We are getting much closer to wrapping up this whole moving thing.  I don't know if it's the crazy market, the sign of our times, or the fact that we're both buying AND selling, but this has been one wild and crazy ride!  The most recent wrinkle in the plan was waiting SEVEN WEEKS for the VA to send someone to do the appraisal on our home.  Can you imagine it?  After packing up about 90% of our belongings and putting it all in storage, and having our offer accepted on the new house, we all had to just SIT and WAIT for seven full weeks.  I consider myself a somewhat patient person (generally speaking), but come on - you can't blame me for almost losing my mind, can you?  It's crazy!

**Deep Breath**  Okay, now that the appraisal has been done we can finally move forward with the process.  It's going to get really crazy really fast, with a lot of hard work and final details hitting all at once.  But that's what we've been waiting for, and we are SO ready to do it!  I will check in again as time permits, but can't make any promises :-)  See you all soon!

A Latte Thanks

Today's featured card showcases another love of mine:  Coffee!  Not only do I love to drink it, but I am also slightly obsessed with coffee-themed stamps and dies.  This is from a Simon Says Stamp set which was offered in one of their monthly card kits.  The plaid pattern paper inspired the colors, and I found the perfect blue marker to color the mug.  I also added little pops of bright red with the heart and the layering paper, and set it all against a background made with my wood grain embossing folder.

After embossing the brown paper background, I used a sponging tool to dust the raised areas with a bit of brown ink.  This really accentuates the texture and adds a "rugged" finish that I like a lot.  I also dusted the edges of the cream card stock with the same brown to tie things together and contribute to the "casual" look of the design.  Tinting the edges of your pieces is such a simple and effective way to decorate your designs!  I just need to remember to do it..... ;-)

The finishing touch was to add a layer of Glossy Accents to the little red heart.  I just used a toothpick to nudge it into the point of the heart, and then set it aside to dry for a good long time.  The end result looks as though I added an enamel sticker to the mug.  So cute!

Supplies Used:

• Simon Says Stamp What's Brewing stamp set
• Glossy Accents

Late June Check-In

Hello friends!  I am just getting over another illness (4 days of high fevers - yuck!) but am finally feeling more like myself.  We are still waiting for the final step on our home sale, but have a current closing date of July 6th.  It's a shame that it crosses over the big holiday, but we've waited so many months that I really don't want any more delays.

I have been packing up my glass studio as my health (and the heat) permits, but that is a really big and time consuming job.  I also discovered I need some MUCH stronger tape - the heat is softening the adhesive and it's peeling away from the boxes!  I can't afford to have the tape fail and lose my precious glass, so I need to address that.  My paper craft supplies are still boxed up and in storage, which means I haven't been able to create for many weeks now.  It makes me sad to think about it, but I'm trying to remind myself that our long wait is almost over.

With my birthday a few weeks back, I was able to order a bunch of new stuff from MFT (My Favorite Things) from their June 2016 Release.  I will be diving in to those products as soon as I'm set up in the new house, and will share a project or two after that.  My eventual goal is to set up my camera and shoot some videos of my crafts, but we will see how that goes.  One step at a time!

I'm excited to share a new product that I discovered:  the Spectrum Noir Sparkle Glitter Brush Pens!

 I purchased the 3-pack of the Clear Overlay markers, which are similar to the Wink of Stella markers.  I had a WoS in Clear, and used it all over the place until it dried up.  I tried the "trick" of adding water to revive it and continue using it, but that didn't work too well for me.  I was hesitating to buy a replacement for quite a while, but then I discovered the Spectrum pens and I am hooked!  The sparkle is intense, consistent, and absolutely colorless - just a bright icy sparkle.  Some sparkly products have a blue tone, or silver, or even gold - but not these.  I can't recommend them enough for adding touches of sparkle to your designs :-)  They do come in many gorgeous colors as well, and if you'd like to see a fun video of them in use, please check out AmyR's YouTube video at her PrairiePaper&Ink channel.  She's awesome!!

Have a fun day!

Feeling Discouraged

I feel pretty discouraged today with the whole buying/selling process.  I won't go into all of the details, but right now I feel like I was misled and given false information.  If it turns out that even more information has been withheld or falsified, this whole move will fall apart and we'll be stuck here.  I won't even think about what that would mean to me, but let's just say that it wouldn't be pretty.  I need to try and remember that there are always options, and never just one path to reach your goal.  If we want something badly enough (and we do!), we will find a way to make it happen no matter who helps us get there.

So, I will dig deep and somehow rustle up the motivation to keep this process moving forward.  "Eye On The Prize" and all of that stuff, right?  I hope to have another update soon that is more positive than this one, but I needed to vent a bit.  Thank you for listening :-)