Time to get organized!

What do YOU do when you take time off from work? Well if you're like me you work even harder at other things. Whether that means gardening, cooking, sewing, taking kids to doctor appointments, cleaning house, caring for elderly parents, or like me, organizing your craft space; it usually requires a lot of work. I've taken the next two days off to clean up my two rooms dedicated to my crafts. Yes you heard me right, TWO ROOMS!!! AAACK!!! For those of you who are now wallowing in jealousy over the fact that I have two full rooms for my crafts (one for paper, the other for sewing) let me tell you that I'd have more room on my dining room table than in both rooms put together! More space means more STUFF!

On Saturday my daughter and I had a very successful sales event in Lawrence, Kansas. There were a dozen Etsy vendors set up in a room at a downtown restaurant, Pachamamas (with absolutely FAB food that we've promised our husbands we'd taken them to later!) The crowd was awesome and steady throughout the entire day and the other vendors were all so friendly and talented that just meeting them would have been well worth the time.

Anyway.... I've finished doing inventory and now it's time to make a dent in the mess called my craft room. Hopefully I'll be able to spend tomorrow cleaning up my sewing room. I have every intention to finally get both rooms to the point where I can actually walk in, sit down and do some creating, then eventually start creating tutorials. What would you like to learn how to do? Is there a paper craft that you've seen here that you'd like to learn all the steps? Maybe you've seen a finished product somewhere else and just can't figure it out? I used to do training as part of my job and I guess you could say that it's in my blood. There are already soooooo many awesome tutorials out there and I don't want to repeat things that are readily available, so pray tell, what can't you find? Not that I can guarantee I'll be able to figure it out, but it'll give me something to shoot for when this old antique computer gets replaced by a graphics capable one. Oh, please also tell me if you're more of a visual, auditory, textual or hands-on learner. I'm one of those people who needs to do all four: see it, hear it, read it and do it. If you're anything like me you do best when there are written instructions to go along with the video tutorial so you can concentrate on soaking in all the visuals and listening rather than scrambling to write everything down.

Ok, NOW I'd better get out of this room and get to work in that craft room! Hopefully I'll have some success stories and pictures to share later. Oh, OH OH! Don't forget to sign up for my October Blog Candy Gratitude Giveaway that closes at midnight on October 29th!

Hear Ye Hear Ye Read All About Kansas Handmade Market!

Our upcoming Handmade Market for Kansas Etsy shops was featured today on the front page of Lawrence.com. We are sooooo excited and hope to see some of you there!
http://www.lawrence.com/news/2011/oct/14/hands-sellers-kansas-etsy-artists-featured-single-/

Halloween Cards upcycled from food boxes

I've been busy lately preparing for our upcoming Handmade Market in Lawrence, Kansas for Etsy artists from Kansas. Would you like to see a few of my Halloween cards? Well you're in luck because I have posted a few pics below beginning with the blob that was supposed to be a spider. Maybe it'll adorn another card as The Blob, ya think? I tried homemade shrinky dink stuff using some plastic cut from something like a salad container and well, it must be the wrong kind of plastic! I ended up just stamping a spider on the plastic and marking over the image with a Sharpee to thicken the lines.

 I like the way this bakers twine spider web looks. I cut tiny slits along the edges of the card to hold the twine in place, then tied the spider on to the center of the web.

 What you can't tell about the pumpkin below and I can't photograph it is that it's painted with glow in the dark paint! Believe me, when I turned out the lights it was really cool looking! Oh yeah, the web on this card is painted on with Epsom Salts and looks awesome, kind of like ice crystals.

 The little bats are stamped on the card using Versamark clear ink. The black dots around the orange circle are done with glitter glue and look great, just hard to photograph.

 The spider and BOO below are done with a puffy black embossing powder that feels grainy.

 Don't you just love the Stampin Up mesh embossing folder? I can't get enough of it!

 Now for those who are just happy it's Fall, here's the perfect card for them. Very simple, yet elegant.

Below I've used a circle to mask off a spot, then sponged orange ink all around it. It really makes the paper cutouts pop, don't you think?

Awakening a fuzzy brain

What kind of title is that??? Well how about a happy one from someone who has experienced a week-long attack of fever, chills, head congestion, cough and general body aches and pains. Why would that make me happy? Well coming out of that illness makes me appreciate life even more! For the first time in months (yes I said MONTHS) I can actually breath through my right nostril. I have no idea what was going on prior to this week and honestly don't really care much as long as it stays away.

Tuesday I had my annual physical and the cold had just hit me on Monday after severely pruning a 10 foot bush, actually two grown together like brambles. I left the doctor's office with three new prescriptions, none of which had anything to do with my cold since it's no doubt just a virus anyway. One of the meds I just started taking to treat suspected narcolepsy is a generic Ritalin. Yeah, you know that stuff they give kiddos for ADD? Well you've heard me talk about having CADD before, right? That crafter's attention deficit disorder that makes us flitter from one project to the next and the next and the next, never completing any of them. Well it should be interesting to see how this new drug effects my CADD. I can tell you that it is keeping me awake during the day (PRAISE GOD!!!) My boss actually thought I was joking when I told him I'd been falling asleep at work, then I had to explain that I never actually slept at my desk because I always got up and walked around or did something that kept me awake, but was constantly struggling to keep my eyes open and head up. My doc said it's most likely caused by the fibromyalgia, but could also be narcolepsy. As much as I detest taking medication, especially anything with potential side effects, when something interferes with my ability to carry out daily activities and responsibilities then it's time to take action. The other one I finally succumbed to was for my high cholesterol. With my weight and family history it was time to give in and take something that can lower it.

Lastly I got something for this teenage acne. Yeah, go figure! At 57 you'd think that wouldn't be an issue, but at certain times it is. I have known for several weeks that an illness was going to break out because the first sign is always a huge zit that is traditionally followed by one or two or more, typically in a trail across a part of my face. This year the first one was by my left eye, then left eyebrow, then several more moving across my eyebrow lines over to the right side. Ok, so I know ya'll didn't really need to know all that, but hey, isn't that what blogging is for? If nothing else I've got a written record so I can go back later to find out when it happened.

Now on a much lighter note, how about some pictures of this morning's excitement? Our county has an annual hot air balloon festival right down the street from us at Lake Shawnee and this morning they took flight. We are in the flight path and turned out to be the landing field for many of them because of the thick air that kept them from gaining altitude. I was giddy as a kid watching them fly overhead and land next door! The first picture is kind of fuzzy, but you get the idea. That Jack in the Box was the cutest thing ever!

The first one down was the tiger. I really thought they were landing on a house across the street!

 Then down came Jack!

 ReMax stayed up high and kept floating.

 See that flame?

 The two pics below show them deflating in my neighbor's side acre.

And on another note, I really have been working on crafts lately. Here's a card I made using a sweater from a catalog for color inspiration:

Now I'm off and running to get some last minute errands done in preparation for tomorrow's HUGE craft show over in Lawrence. My daughter and I will be selling our Etsy crafts and jewelry at the Lawrence Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Festival. We'd love to see you!

Oh boy I just received a check in the mail for $3,990.00!!! It looks like the real thing and came with a letter from G.T.Express Financial Services Inc. in NY, although the check itself has Presbyterian Village in Little Rock, AR on it as the owner and it came in an envelope postmarked Little Rock with no return address. Hmmm, time to investigate.... Oh yeah, the check is to go towards the "applicable Government Service Tax (GST) payable to the Revenue Department through your assigned tax agent" so I can get my $120,000.00! Sheesh! If only....