Celebrating veterans and watching airplanes fly

Today I had the pleasure of meeting some amazing WWII veterans and watching some of the airplanes that they used during WWII fly. I even got in free because I'm a veteran! Can't beat that for a good deal! I gave my husband the camera and let him capture the memories and found this picture below of my backside. I always wonder why we don't hand the camera to someone and ask them to capture the two of us standing in front of whatever it is we're there to see, but alas! I'm usually too mesmerized by the awesomeness of the attractions to think about the memory shot. Or maybe it's that I NEED a memory shot to help me remember to do that!

Before the air show I got a big stack of Halloween cards made for Operation Write Home. I need to cut the white paper to glue inside all the black cards, then get envelopes ready for them, finish using up the scraps and then move on to non-Halloween cards to fill a box and ship off before the end of August. It's nice spending time in my craft room again!

Tell me, what have YOU been up to lately?

Challenge for the New Year

I can't believe it's been an entire MONTH since my last post! Where has the time gone??? Unlike some of you who have very busy lives with children and/or grandchildren running around the house during the holidays, it's just me and my dear husband and menagerie of dogs and cats. Sure we have an occasional visit with our daughter and son-in-law, sometimes along with one or two of their dogs; but for the most part it's just the two of us. I think that my mojo got sucked up in the thick atmosphere and blew away for a visit somewhere else!

What have I been doing? I dare not show any pictures because of the perpetual mess my craft room is always in, but I will tell you that things are moving along. Like some of you I am trying to use up what I have on hand in my stash. This MIGHT be the time for me to finally make the switch from paper to digital design, BUT not until I've gotten my stash down to a reasonable amount. Here are some thoughts I've had lately:

1. Create card kits to sell on Etsy.
2. Create scrapbook page kits to sell on Etsy.
3. Put stuff together for a swap with friends.
4. Donate a bunch of stuff to groups that make cards for charities.
5. Make cards to donate to Operation Write Home. DONE
6. Make cards to donate to a local church that in turn donates to homeless shelters (currently doing this one.)   DONE
7. Make card assortments along with boxes to put them in to have on hand for gifts.
8. Offer some blog candy (coming soon, so stay tuned!)
9. Make upcycled embellishments and other products for Zeleny Art Fair coming up in April.

So there you have it! The past few days I've been digging through my stash and pulling out all those assorted paper embellishments that I cut or punched out in bulk for who knows what reason (just because!) and am attempting to use them to make card assortments. Isn't it funny when you look at something that you've hung on to for several years and you can't for the life of you figure out what you were thinking when you made it??? The paper-hoarder in me finds it extremely difficult to throw anything away that might possibly be used on a card, scrapbook page, collage, jewelry or whatever. Don't you love seeing and reading about all the cool things people make out of what would normally go in the trash? Sorry folks, but I've actually begun throwing away those little bits of paper that are left behind when cutting borders with the scalloped border punch! Yes they make squares look like postage stamps, BUT if they haven't gotten used in over two years they're GOING BYE-BYE!

One last thing I'll kind of share with you is that I have a huge reason for needing to downsize, but am not quite ready to post in for the public yet. I guess I don't want the plans to get jinxed somehow, so will wait until time gets closer, but trust me, this will be a big life-changing and very exciting thing! No folks, I'm NOT pregnant (way too old and the plumbing's been removed since 1994!); but it DOES have something to do with family. Like one of my favorite movie characters once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

How to turn a big screen tv in to a desk protector

Being the perpetual upcycler that I am when it came time to dispose of our broken 52 inch tv I absolutely could NOT throw away all the parts. Like that pop-off lens cover thingy in the pretty see-through smokey brown color. What could I do with it? Well, combine one huge desk that desperately needed protection from a messy crafter with one equally huge hard plastic surface and VOILA! I have to warn you that unlike my idol Brittany over at Pretty Handy Girl I don't have the best tools or knowledge of which drill bits to use on plastic OR the excellent camera skills that she has, so if it's REAL tool skills you're looking for please hop over there because she's started an awesome series of video tuts for folks like me who aren't afraid to use a tool, just lack a tad bit of knowledge and need her expertise. So, now on with the sheee-ooooohhhh.....

My go-to tool is the Dremel. Mainly because it's the only one I can reach and it doesn't weigh a ton. Plus I bought a ton (no kidding, well not a ton in weight, more like a gazillion) bits and attachments for it that haven't seen the light of day since being slipped in to the fancy 3-foot tall rolling tool box I bought for it. First I laid the plastic on the desk (please note the completely empty desk because you will NEVER see it this way again!). 

Then I traced a line where the edge of the desk was so I'd know where to cut it.

 My handy Dremel with the tile-cutting attachment and the bit that said it was for plastic.

 After cutting only about 3 inches I brought in the reinforcements, ear plugs and the cotton swab to clean my ears before inserting the plugs. For someone with severe tinnitus you'd think I'd know better than to expose my ears to the extremely high-pitched whining the tool made while cutting the plastic!

 Here's what the edge looked like after cutting. The plastic actually melted to the drill bit. Sorry no pic of that.

 Ah, note to self, NEVER cut all the way to the end of something without supporting the piece about to drop off or you'll have a mess!

 Another view of the rough edge. Actually, come to think of it this picture should come before the one up there with the white edge. That other picture shows what it looked like after I sanded the edge.

 The metal sanding bit I used on the edge. Now go back up to the other picture to see what it looked like.

 Since the edge was still a little sharp I dug out my handy-dandy rubber shelf liner, cut strips and laid under the plastic. Go figure, had to protect the desk from the desk protector!

The finished product! Ta da! I'll post another pic when I get my stuff put back on the desk, but for tonight I've got two get well cards to make (mom's in the hospital) and you know what that means. Yup, messy desk!

 Oh, if anyone reading this has advice for the right bit to use or method for smoothing the edge please let me know. Thanks!

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!

Part of my organized craft room

This wall display is one of the areas of my craft room that stays organized no matter how the rest of the room looks. It holds all my punches, crimper and some ribbon. My makeshift clip-it-up sits below it. Isn't that plant lovely? I have several plants in this room and find them to be inspirational and calming.

Here's my reality... a perpetually messy desk with that tinsy winsy little spot for creating. Can't you just hear my desk crying, "help me I've disappeared and can't find myself!"

I have been invited to participate as a guest designer for Fresh Brewed Designs in June and also as a featured artist in July for Scrapbook News and Reviews, so the next couple of months will be very busy for me. I'll post more details about both of these exciting projects as they happen, so stay tuned. In addition to those fun projects I continue to get ready for Farmer's Market and Top City Thursdays. Now if only I didn't have to work for a living 8 hours a day and could put all my focus on creating....

Transformation To-Do List

Here's how far I've gotten so far this week. I got a to-do list created. TA-DA!!! Hey, at least I got that done, and being the type of person who needs to have some structure to keep her on track, this was an important first step. The actual list has squares to the left of each number so I can check them off as they get done. There's also a line going all the way down about 2 inches from the right side of the page so I can scribble notes if needed. As you can see, this is quite a project. Tomorrow morning DH and I are going garage saling (sailing looks better, but that's not how it's spelled) with our DD and SIL, then when we get back DH is going to a baseball card sale, so maybe I'll get started on it while he's gone. Of course having received some books from the library in the mail today I might be a little distracted, especially by this one:

Pretty Little Patchwork

My To-Do List

Desk

• 1. Take everything off
• 2. Sort and categorize
  Paper crafts
  Computer supplies
  Books – relocate (see bookcase)
  Misc – relocate if not craft or computer
• 3. Put storage items in bottom drawer of metal file cabinet
• 4. (There's a blank line under each category for last minute tasks.)
  
  Bookcase
• 1. Categorize books
  Keep – catalog
  Scan – put in other den
  Donate – put in box
  Sell – put in box
• 2. Relocate non-book items
  Keep
  Toss
  Sell
  Donate
• 3.
  
  File drawers
• 1. Remove and shred outdated material
• 2. Categorize and label all files
• 3. Organize files in drawers by category
  Personal
  Household (i.e. receipts & warranties)
  Crafts
  Business
  Other (i.e. travel)
• 4.
  
  Closet
  
• 1. Remove boxes and cases from floor and sort/toss/etc.
• 2. Remove clothing not worn in past year
• 3. Evaluate magazines and notebooks on shelves and toss if not needed
• 4. Install rail on floor or remove doors (?)
• 5.
  
  Other
• 1. Organize craft table
• 2. Organize wire cubes
• 3.

Before the transformation

As you will see when you look at these pictures, my craft room is in dire need of a major overhaul. It used to be my den until my computer died and I took over, er, shared my husband's den so I could use his computer. It was around that same time that I got invited by a co-worker to go to a StampinUp open stamp night and well... the rest is history, or memories in the making as I like to say... That piled-under table under the window was out in my MIL's garage for years until we rescued it, still in the box unassembled. It measures about 26 x 30 with a sort of slate top, so is perfect for paper crafts. Of course that requires that all my junk isn't piled on top, but I had to relocate a few things in order to shoot some pics of my stamp storage to show someone.
The bookcases are packed full of assorted craft, cooking, health and other books, many of which have never been opened beyond the day I bought them. My plans are to donate or repurpose a bunch of them to free up space for craft supplies that aren't as heavy as the books which have caused slight bowing of the thin shelves. Oh, did you notice the Cricut Expressions to the right of my paper bin on the desk? My dh bought that for me after listening to me carry on about all I could do with it. Isn't he a dear!
Closer shot of the side desk. The wooden thing holding my stamp pads came from a church garage sale, only cost something like 25 cents and works great. There are shelves underneath that hold my small stamp container, punch container, various paper files, notebooks and two plastic stacking drawers holding more... you guessed it... PAPER!
Every crafter has to have her tv for background noise, right? The repurposed notebooks on the right hold most of my printed instructions for just about any craft you could think of. Yeah, I'm a pattern collector!
This is just way too embarassing, but hey, if you make a public commitment to change, it has to happen, right? That timer (yellow thing) is there so when I've got something going in another room (laundry or cooking) I can make it ding to remind me. On the right are a couple of my photo storage boxes that, unlike many craft rooms I've admired, are NOT matching. My style is more what some would call bohemian, ecclectic, shabby chic (?) or some other word. For now it's just pure trashy and needs to be fixed. I'd love to hear comments and suggestions and promise to keep you posted as I dive in to the transformation!