No Excuses Sorta

Since I no longer post every day there is a huge back log of cards in my pending file.  Sometimes I don't post because I'm too busy and other times I'm too lazy. 

Occasionally I have no clue what to say--then I figure I could say I'm doing the Wordless Wednesday thing only it might not really be Wednesday and I've seen an awful lot of words attached to those Wordless Wednesday posts. 

Other times yet I think that my cards are out of season or that I'll have to explain that I really made these cards from the February kit back in February and that seems like work.  Then I think why would you care when I made them? 

Then I can't decide which back logged card to show you...  Or how many of them to shove into one post.  If I put too many in one post I'll use up my back log and then what will happen if I want to post but got nothing to show???!

So basically I can excuse monger for days if need be.  I've turned it into an art form actually.

The Fine Print: Old cards made from an old Club Scrap kit called "Common Threads."  I do know I put off finishing off this kit for a long time because it had such large cards in it and some random odd pieces to play with.  I might even still have some of it left somewhere along the line, but don't be holding your breath.  I have lots of other things to share with you.  Even more *gasp* peacock cards. Someday, my friend, someday.

Strips!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have a lot of left over strips of paper from a crafty class and I need to come up with ways to use.  I know the obvious way to use them would be to make more of the card I taught, but I wanted to think outside that bannered box to something else.

I could just use the strip of designer paper as is and use it as an accent stripe.  I thought the card needed a little something horizontal as well so I added in the bit of ribbon.  Then I thought it needed a bit more in that upper blank corner so the greeting got stamped.  I think that squirrel might be cheering on the UA Wildcats in that blue and red cap.

On this card I sliced up the strips into narrower widths and mounted them onto a darker blue mat.  Without that darker blue this card would have been much to pale for me.  Again, I felt it needed a horizontal bit so I added a snippet of baker's twine.

I tried again with narrower matching strips.  Since this card had a horizontal print I thought it would eliminate the need to add something going that direction on this card.  That cat's huge green eyes are insane!  Maybe those horns are intercepting alien radio waves and beaming them directly into his brain!

And here is a picture I was told I had to upload to ruin Jack's bad ass reputation.  He doesn't want everyone to know he's really a big softie.

I decided to link this post up to Pixie's Playground because I said the magic word "snippets."  It also made me realize that I'll be I could get tons of inspiration there!

The Fine Print: Designer papers by DCWV the current Christmas stack; top two cards stamp from A Must Artstamps, Merry Kissmas kitty by All Night Media; baby blue and white baker's twine by DeNami Designs, ribbon and glitter from stash.

Merry Stripmas

This past weekend it was my turn to teach a make and take for my big stamp club.  Luckily I had already been told what to teach so that made it easy.  Back in March I had done a banner card class that was inspired by this post by Crooked Stamper.

At the time of the class I pointed out how these cards were a great way to use up the extra strips of paper you have lying around and that they were quick and easy.  As a throw away comment I mentioned how they would be great last minute Christmas cards.  That's when I was told I would do this as a make and take in November.

We average about 45 people a meeting and that's a lot to prep for.  How many card bases do you need?  How much twine?  How many strips of paper?  How many different greeting options should you provide?  The card has three strips per card and you want them to be different so you have to plan for that.  You have to plan for people making mistakes as well. 

I much prefer to err on the side of having too many extras than not enough, especially on a project that has different options like this.  Since we had a lower turn out for this meeting I encouraged people to make two cards each or take extra strips home for other projects.  I still ended up with a lot of leftover strips.  They are all Christmas or winter themed so I guess I'd better come up with something to do with them!

The Fine Print: So I suspect that everyone will end up getting one of this quick and easy banner cards this year for the holidays.  That's awesome because that means I can go back to procrastinating about Christmas cards for another couple of weeks.  The pile of left over strips are mostly from this year's DCWV Christmas stack.

Musings

How come at work when you call Plant Operations to tell them your office is too cold they suddenly crank it 15 degrees higher?  So then you have to call them and tell them it's too hot and next thing you know icicles are forming  off the overhead bins.  Do you suppose the Plant guy does this at home as well?  "Hmmm... it's too hot, I'd better put the thermostat as low as it will go."  I'm convinced he does.

 The Fine Print: If the fire sprinklers go off we can have an ice skating rink.  Card from a card workshop a couple of months ago.  Lots of snowflaky sparkly fun.

It's All About Me, Baby!

I truly believe that dreams have meaning. However, I think what meaning they have is highly personalized and can't be told by a generic dream analysis book.

For instance the dream I had last night involved my friend Mia and I wandering around the University of Arizona campus.  My dream campus was nothing like it really is, yet it was accepted as the UA.  At one point we stopped and she asked someone directions to the library.  The person told us to walk straight ahead and cut through the parking garage, go up some stairs, past the fountain and around some red brick building.  That last part is a trick because red brick is the UA standard, but I digress.  We start walking, following these directions, and right away Mia starts pulling away from me.  It isn't that she is walking faster and faster, but that I'm going slower.  She doesn't notice that I've fallen behind.  I'm getting very frustrated that I can't keep up.  I just can't seem to move.

Now a dream analysis book would probably say I feel alienated from my friend Mia and I feel she doesn't care about me; that she is leaving our friendship behind.  And you know what?  The book would be partially right.  She did move away and we aren't the friends we once were.

However, that is not what that dream was about.  I think the key is the feelings I had.  I wasn't upset or frustrated at Mia.  I was upset and frustrated at myself.  I just couldn't seem to move.  In fact, a dream of that nature is often what I have when my hip acts up and hurts so much that I can't move in my sleep.  I frustrate myself enough in my dream that I wake up so I can roll over and change positions, move and stretch my hip out.

Sorry, Mr. Dream Analysis, but that dream was all about me!

The Fine Print:  And speaking of being all about me, I'm always myself in those kinds of dreams, but often I'm not a player in my dreams.  Instead it's like I'm watching a bunch of other people do stuff.  I wonder what a dream analysis book would say about that?  I wonder what a shrink would say about that?!  Cards made months ago from that Simon Says Stamp kit with a few things from my stash added in.

What's in Your Workspace?

I've had several friends point out to me that it has been well over a week since I've updated my blog.  Well, here is some earth-shattering news:  I know.  I could say I was being all anti-NaNoWriMo but I don't even know what that is except that involves writing in your blog every day this month.  I could say I've been busy but that would mostly be a fib.  I will say that I'll give you an update on the two wee problems (wee being 46" across, 16" deep and 6-feet high) I mentioned in my last blog post.  How about a visual instead?

Yep, got my my new bookcases in place. I just realized that for someone who hasn't done diddly these past few days I sure do have a lot of crafting stuff out and about.  There are bags of things to be taken to a stamp club meeting this weekend on an end table and the beginnings of a project to be taught on my big table.  The desk has a bit of randomness on it as well. I'm not even sure what all that is.  I'm not working on anything currently so what is it?!

The Fine Print: For some reason these new bookshelves seem to attract cats on top which is against the rules.  The rules being no cats over the husband's head.  If only he'd be nicer to them he wouldn't have to have that paranoia that they are out to get him.

I Have a Headache

It's true I have a headache.  I probably gave it to myself, which is only proper and right since I probably give others headaches as well.  My latest impulsive folly is this:

Anyway, I love them and they are gorgeous and I've always wanted cubbyhole bookshelves ever since.... well, before I even knew they existed.  In college I had a friend who had a large cubbyhole shelving unit made out of stolen milk crates.  I thought it was the bomb and vowed that someday I would have cubbyhole bookshelves too.  Now I have them and I can't make them fit into my life without major renovations.

 

Perhaps I'm just not cut out for real life adult furniture.  Maybe I should just stick to my cast offs and thrift store finds.  Actually I think that might even be too high falutin' for me. I think I should just go back to the college basic: bricks and boards.

The Fine Print: After all I do work at a college and once mentally drafted a post about how never leaving college warps you.  Real life adult furniture by Tres Amigos, card stuff that kit I kept calling Serenade but that really isn't its name.  Sticky letters by Basic Gray.

 

Aspen Leaves and Random Musings

Why does Blogger suddenly think I'm my cat?  Whenever I'm called upon to enter my password there is Poppy in all her glory welcoming me to her blog.  I mean, my blog.  What the heck?!

Is there really a ghost in the house?  I keep hearing a door creeeeeaaak open down the hall like this is some sort of friggin' haunted house or something.  Either that or the cat is up to no good in the closet again.  I'm glad I'm not reading a scary book.  Don't read scary books around cats.  They totally mess with you, growling at unseen things, puffing up their fur, and bolting out of the room at double speed.

The Fine Print: I opened up a random box and there was this card in it.  I was going to say that I made this with the Club Scrap Natural Resources kit but really it was just hiding in that box.  The leaf is from PSX, the paper from my stash, the corner punch from Stampin' Up and the brown pearls from A Muse Studio.

Weeze for the Cure

One time our office got a new employee in it.  She was from the outside world which might mean she hadn't worked in education before or it might mean she was gung-ho, perky, and not yet beaten down into a bitter shell.

As anyone who hangs out with me for a length of time, she learned that I have asthma.  Usually people find that out after they spray me with Lysol, wear too much perfume, or feed me something with suspicious sauce.  My asthma is controlled but some things will trigger it.

One day she came to me with her bright shiny perky face and big smile and told me that the Asthma Walk was next month.  "Oh, I didn't know," I replied.

"Yes!" she answered cheerily.  "It is much earlier this year."  Well, I didn't know that either, but I could see she was excited about something and apparently it had to do with the me. "So," she continued, "I'd like to be on your team!"

"My team?!"

"Yes, you know to raise money to help defeat asthma."

"Um.... I don't have a team.  When I want to defeat asthma, I use my inhaler."

Poor thing.  She assumed because I had asthma I was some sort of Asthma Activist, but no, frankly I'm just not that into diseases.  Luckily for her the other lady in the office developed diabetes and they did that walk together.  I gave 'em some money.  Bless 'em.

The Fine Print: Hubby always wants to do the heart walk that comes very near our house.  He wants to smoke and eat read meat while doing so.  Now that just might be a walk I could get into.  Especially if someone carried me.  Scarecrow stamp by Stampin' Up.

First Wednesday in November

It's time for Workdesk Wednesday and here's my desk with fall papers and stamp sets on it along with my back ordered flip-flop die.  There are also some rolls of seam binding and the usual piles of random thing.  It's pretty much the same old/same old.  No Dio this time as he had some important cat things to attend to.

However, below is the desk I really wanted to show you, first the before picture (from my September 6 blog post) and the after photo.  It took me days to achieve this.  The wooden bin up front still needs to be sorted through and placed elsewhere as does a pile of cards over on an end table out of sign, but I'm quite pleased with the outcome--lots less crap!

Before

After

The Fine Print: A friend asked me if I ever changed the stuff on the bulletin board you can see in the photo of my rolltop desk and the answer is... obviously no. The plan was to change it all the time, different inspiration. I keep cards in some of the boxes that were on my computer desk but they were too hard to get to, so now maybe I'll do it.  Don't hold your breath though.

Just a Minute!

There are so many variations of the saying, "Just a minute."  We have these: just a sec, just a second, just couple seconds, I'll be right there, I'll be right up, I'll be right by, in a jiffy, wait a minute, wadaminnit, in a moment, just a moment, uno momento, one moment, one moment please....

What they all mean though is that you will be with me when you are darn good and ready and not before.  I have leaned that none of those time frames involve an actual 60-second long minute.

What I'm really learning where I work is that all these variations of "just a minute" mean that it could be later today or later this week.  They rarely mean anytime in the immediate future and certainly not within the hour.

So you might as well sit back, relax, and watch the smoke pour out of your $30,000 MFP.

The Fine Print: There really isn't any smoke coming out of the MFP. There might be some coming out of my ears, but it is pointless really.  I might as accept that I can't do my job until that elusive minute is up.  Hmmm... might as well update my blog.  Faux brads and stamps by Stampin' Up "Pretty Petites" and "Flower Shop," designer paper and matching tiny bag (and the tag inside it) by Fancy Pants "Park Bench," fibers from my stash, and swirly die cut from Memory Box.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Hello Friends and Followers--Guess who is bringing you the latest A Muse Studio challenge?  Yeah, it's me.  I know you are excited, wondering what I came up with since there is a change of season and so many holidays coming up.

I decided to ignore all that and focus on someone who gets over-looked this time of the year--people with birthdays! So that's my challenge--to make birthday cards.  How easy peasy is that?!

Whip up a birthday card or two and join in our challenge.   It will run for two weeks.  Don't miss out.

The first card I did is one you could send to your mother or that hoity toity friend you have.  I used A Muse's shimmer paper on it.  I have such a love/hate relationship with shimmer paper that usually I avoid it.  It makes an excellent card base as you can see here and adds to the elegance.

This card had no idea where it was going when I started it.  All I knew is that I really wanted to use papaya and Seattle together.  The bird stamp does have a matching die but I've learned that I can fussy cut with a lot les headache than trying to line up dies.

The Fine Print: All products by A Muse Studio. Stamps used--Celebrate in Style and You're too Kind; cardstock used--shimmer onyx, sugar, Seattle, petite polka dot in papaya and Seattle; other supplies used--clear twinkle stickers, onyx embossing powder, and antique brass brad.

My Harvest

I have a decorative scarecrow that I put up this time of year.  For Halloween he carries an extra large meat clever and for Thanksgiving he just hangs out.  Since he hangs out right next to the birdfeeder I can't say he scares the birds much.  But to his credit, I've not seen any crows there.

He protects my harvest haul which is a real live string of chili peppers and some fake pumpkins.  I'm quite the farmer as you can see.

The Fine Print: Not just any chili peppers I should warn you, but Hatch, NM, chili peppers.  That's like the gold standard of chili.  All stamps by Copper Leaf Creations.

Hello Fall

So it turns out that you don't need to nicely put all the crap on your desk away first before creating something new with your new stuff.  Nope.  All you need to do is swipe all the offending stuff out of the way.  How about that?!

We are having a beautiful fall day today, one of the 14 we are allotted each year.  The weather is here, wish you were nice.

The Fine Print: Designer paper, brads, and seam binding from my stash, stamps by Stampin' Up "Gently Falling" and "A Dozen Thoughts."

Stuff Vs. Me

I was poking around in my stuff and thinking to myself, "Judy, you need to make some new stuff, with your new stuff." 

While that is true enough I decided that it would be more advantageous for me to pick up all the Halloween bits and bobs and drag out all the fall and Thanksgiving stuff.  That's good too, but ultimately what I really need to do is find the top of my desk again.  Without a work surface none of this stuff is useful.  Clearing off the top of my desk sounds really dull.  Doesn't it?

The Fine Print: Card made awhile ago with old stuff from and old Basic Gray card making kit.  Stay tuned to see who wins the battle of stuff.  Right now the stuff is winning.  But I love fall and want to play with all the lovely stuff I've stacked up so I'm and at 'em for another round!