Mini Virtual Stamp Night Fun

 Last night was the Splitcoaststampers Mini Virtual Stamp Night (VSN). The VSN forum link is HERE.

Every hour a hostess posts a challenge related to the VSN theme. Each player must complete their challenge within 45 minutes (does not include the time to post the card). The theme for this VSN is Birds, Bees & Creepy Crawlies. I was fortunate to host the second challenge, which happens to be my first card here & the rest of the cards are in numerical & chronological order. (I missed the first challenge).

Here are my cards:
- MAR13VSNMINI2- My challenge to make a Spring card featuring flowers as the main image or focal point. Must use at least one flower. Dessert option to use something new.
- MAR13VSNMINI3- Use Hexagons.
- MAR13VSNMINI4- Pick a fun pun to use on your card with a bird or a bee.
- MAR13VSNMINI5- Make a sympathy card with one or more birds or butterflies.
- MAR13VSNMINI6- “flock” together: TWO birds, THREE different embellishments and FOUR colors from a posted picture of brightly colored birds.

 I really love VSN & feel so happy when I can play. Because of the 45 minute time rule, you don't have time to be fussy. [Rather I don't have time to be fussy!-LOL!!] A stamper can't spend 30 minutes rolling ideas around in her head & another 30 minutes picking embellishments. It forces me to CREATE and not THiNK about creating. Usually I get on a roll & the creative juices flow. I forget every other care in the world!

I hope you have a chance to check out this mini VSN; you still have time to play along. Join us for with the full VSN on March 1 & 2. Look HERE for more details! 

Hugs, Marilyn

Project Life- My first page

Hi Friends! I so very happy today as I started my new job. YAY!!! I'm one of those ladies who would rather be working than staying at home. And I am blessed to have a profession that I love. So being back at work is a real blessing for me...I think my family might have been worried that I was going a little "nutso". But enough about work...let's get to some fun!

Today I want to share with you my first "Project Life- My Way" page. I know it looks different that other Project Life pages that are being created, so let me explain.

My goal for project life is to document through pictures & journal notes our daily lives. I've made some decisions about how I can best keep up with Project Life & enjoy the process. Some of the decisions or 'rules' I established for myself include:
1) Use only 4X6 photos- I will photo edit them on the computer but I am not going to crop, or use many different sizes of photos. I've used the beautiful sketches with the many different sized photos on a page & it makes it too complicated for me & takes forever to complete pages.
2) Use pre-existing supplies. That is the main reason that my pages look so different. I am not buying the kits or the special page protectors. I need to use what I have & boy do I have a lot of scrapbook supplies. I'm mainly a card maker & a wanna-be scrapbooker so over the years I've bought 12X12 pads of paper, kits, stickers, letters, you name it, I've probably got it. It is all waiting for me to use it. So that is what I am going to do. Please note this is not a hard & fast rule...I did buy some cute chevron paper in different colors that I'll use for cards too. And probably some journal cards later. But Im not buying another kit until I've used a lot of what I already have.
3) Journal every day. I am keeping my entries in my i-phone as an appointment entry for each day. I write a little bit. I will later hand-write these on journal cards when I am putting the pages together with the pictures. I know that this is double work (which I am usually very opposed to) but for now it works as I always have my phone with me. If I try to complete a journal card each day to go directly into onto the page, I won't be successful as I won't have the journal cards where I need them.
4) Each month has a color scheme. That color scheme will be used on all the pages & I will often be using the same designer papers & embellishments from the same line or kits. This will keep it easy. For January, it's BLUE- my fav!! February will be red & pink. I'll set up my station with the supplies for the month.
5) ENJOY the process!! This is not going to be stressful! I am going to be forgiving of myself if things don't work out 100% perfect. I WILL keep evaluating how I can reach my goal of documenting our daily lives & adapt my way to make "Project Life" a reality.

It is close to the end of the month & so far, I've kept up with picture taking & journaling but all the pages are not together. This is mainly because I don't have printed photos- I am not happy with my photo printer output. I am investigating some alternatives to printing at home. 

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day! Hugs, Marilyn

Challenge Valentine

Apparently I did not send Valentine cards last year as I have quite a stash. So I don't need to make very many this year. But I always like to make three very special ones- for the two daughters & the hubby. So this card will be for one of my daughters & it was made using two challenges as inspiration.

First the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge, FTTC204, is to use a circle, fishtail & pearls/brads.

I counted my embossed background with the large polka dots as my circle; plus the Designer Paper has a circle medallion. So I think I'm good with keeping to the challenge requirements.

The second challenge was the Mojo Monday sketch, MOJO277.

I found this sketch extremely challenging. Not that it is really hard, but I was totally blank for an idea. I usually take sketches literally so I figured that was what the problem & causing my creative block. When that happens I go looking for inspiration. I saw Teresa Kline's (a Mojo Designer) take on the sketch & that was what I needed to get me going. You can see her beauty & my inspiration on her blog: Paperie Blooms. Her heart combined with the Flourishes requirement for a fishtail was the essence of my card.

That's it for me today. Soon I'll be posting some "Project 365, My Way" pages and some more of my One Sheet Wonder cards.

Hugs, Marilyn

Wisteria Blossom

It's been a while since I've posted; I've been enjoying having my children home for the semester's break. The "last remaining" daughter left today to go back to college (Big sad Mommy face here). I am so blessed to have had so much time with both girls. Also I have some GREAT news to share...I'll be starting back to work on Monday. YAY!! I've missed it for lots of reasons & I'm so happy! So I'll be back to evening and weekend papercrafting & blogging.  

Here is a card I made earlier this week using a One Sheet Wonder template. Love, love OSWs- I just get out matching cardstocks, accessories & before long I have lots of cards. Great gift of a matched set of cards. The other cards components are laying on my desk & soon to be transformed into cards.

Hugs, Marilyn

Here's the Story...

Another happy day as I got to play more challenges!

The challenges today was the color challenge over on Splitcoaststampers- CC409. Today's colors are Rose Red, Pink Pirouette & Wisteria Wonder. I've been using my Copics more recently & I didn't quite have the quite the match for Rose Red used on her pants, but I like how it turned out anyway. 

The sketch was the My Favorite Things Wednesday Sketch Challenge #106 as shown below. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Have a wonderful day! Hugs, Marilyn

Supplies:
Stamps: Here's the Story (MFT)
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Pink Pirouette, DSP-Springtime Vintage (SU), Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Black Tuxedo (Momento), Copic markers
Accessories: OVal and scalloped oval dies (Spellbinders), pearls (stash), Pink ribbon (SU!),   

Winter Flourishes

Hi Friends! I hope you have a fun week planned. I don't have anything in particular in store, but I always take the fun wherever I go...a girl can't depend on the fun just showing up. LOL!

My card today was some of my fun for the week. I got to play along with some challenges & with some new toys.

My first challenge is the Flourishes Timeless Tuesdays #202 to make or use something new. I am so excited to be using new Flourish stamps! I received the Winter Blossoms stamp set as a Christmas gift; and I purchased for myself a Mystery Bag which was filled with the Summer Blossoms & Life Lines un-packaged stamp sets, a 6X6 paper pad & lots of other goodies. What a deal for $15!

The second challenge is the Color Throwdown #224 to use Almost Amethyst, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and So Saffron. Love these soft colors. 

Next challenge is the Freshly Made Sketches #68 challenge. What a versatile sketch; you can 'dress it up' like I did here or leave it more CAS. It's definitely a go-to sketch! 

 

 Have a great week! Hugs, Marilyn

Project Life - My Method

Happy New Year, friends!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. We certainly did; the DDs (dear daughters) were home from college & we had lots of fun togetherness.

We're getting back to our non- holiday lives; we've packed away the Christmas decor. Im getting back to my healthy eating & exercise routines. Today I want to share with you one of my 2013 goals: Document our life through photos & journaling- A Project Life Goal. 

I attempted this goal in 2010, but I wasn't able to keep up. So I thought long & hard about why it didn't work back then & how I could make it easy on myself.  I'm not into berating myself over "failures" but rather look at them as opportunities. How can I change & adapt the project & myself so that I can be successful? It's always helpful for me to be crystal clear about my goal & define the parameters. 

One of my first realizations was that I needed to have a dedicated space in my studio for Project Life.  A space that I can leave partially finished pages to return to later to finish. Then I can work in small blocks of time & reduce stress. That space needed to have an organization system for journal notecards, paper, journaling & date stamps, pens & embellishments so that things are handy & neat; if it is too messy then stress levels increase & production decreases. 

So today I want to show you my first step to my goal. My first project was to clean & organize my studio to make a work station for Project Life. I cant believe it took all day but then I also cleaned a corner piled with supplies & re-organized several other spots in the studio. Below is a picture of my Project Life work station. 
As you can see, I have a nice sunshiny place- two windows in the studio that bring in morning light. The work island is big & in other areas I have my cricut and big shot.  

I put a self healing mat on the work surface & directly behind it is a desktop organizer. Here I am keeping my main supplies. 12 x 12 paper, 6 x 6 designer paper packs, stamps, journal tags, some paper & other flat embelishments and pens. To the left is a tray to house washi tape & glue, date stamp, . To the right are a few collections of embellishments that I plan to use. Also to the left is a small container to house completed journal cards that are awaiting their corresponding photos that need printing. To the left is a medium sized bucket that isn't dedicated to Project Life but works well in the space. The bucket holds my newest stamps & the next upcoming holiday stamps; it has some Valentine's stamps & embellishments now. 

In my next Project Life post, I will share my adaptions to the traditional Project Life. And soon I'll have a card to share. 

Have a great day! Hugs!!

Sweet Treat Gifts

Hi friends! I L-O-V-E the holiday season. As a matter of fact, I would say that I love all the days before Christmas more than the actual day.  I totally love shopping for presents for others, baking (especially cookies), making special handmade gifts, & of course, making holiday cards. Don't get me wrong, the spiritual part of Christmas is more important than any of the gifts or commercial aspects but I just love 'spoiling' others! So- just a warning...I get real sappy this time of year.

Today, I want to share with you some more of the treats I made as gifts. More bread - another 9 loaves of banana bread for my hubby's co-workers. For my Stamp Club friends, I made a treat jars filled with tootsie rolls (12 of these babies!). You've probably seen these before- not a new idea, but I enjoy giving 'the girls' a little something more than a card for our December swap. The jar supplies are strickly Stampin' Up out of respect for my wonderful demonstrator. The jars are recycled Starbucks cold beverages jars that we sanitize & save throughout the year. (My youngest daughter who is in college does a good job of adding to my jar supply each year!)

I'm gearing up for a modified Project Life for 2013. So be sure to check back with me to see how I'm doing. I'm avoiding perfection & believe I've come up with my own solution on how to capture our lives.
Enjoy your holidays! Hugs, Marilyn

Food Gift Wrapping

Today I am sharing the way I wrap one of my favorite gifts to give- mini bread loaves! I love making & giving these little bits of baked goodness to friends with whom we don't typically exchange gifts. It's just a little something that let's them know they are special but it's not a big deal. Just a little, non-store bought gift so they don't need to feel like a return gift is necessary. That is the really important part for us- we are so blessed & don't want for anything.

The wrapping puts a special touch to it especially with a personalized handmade gift tag. The hand wrapping also helps keep the cost down as I use plain foil loaf pans without lids & plastic wrap versus the fancy foil with hard plastic lids or the ceramic pans that some of the discount stores sell now.

On these two loaves, I used some retired SU! designer paper  & ribbon in Baja Breeze and my tag stamp was from SU! Tags Til Christmas stamp set. The tag was tied with retired SU! silver elastic cord (circa 2008...sometimes my supplies seem to last for-evah!). The SU! DSP is a nice thickness and gives the gift a sturdy feeling that thin wrapping paper can't create. I use Sookwang double stick adhesive tape to secure the edges on the bottom. The DSP with matching ribbon & gift tag make such a nice presentation- at least IMHO (in my humble opinion).

Enjoy your holiday season! Hugs, Marilyn

Merry

Hey there, Friends!
I hope you are having a good week. This week I have been catching up with friends that I haven't seen in a while.  I have been so blessed with good friends from different times in my life. Today I lunched with a girlfriend from my very first post-college job- we've kept in touch over the 30+ years & it is always so wonderful to see her.

My card today is for two challenges.

The Freshly Made Sketch #64 for this week was the design that I used. I have eight of these felt wreaths & I needed a sketch to accommodate. I think this FMS sketch fits the bill perfectly.

The colors I used were from this week's Color Throwdown Challenge #221. I'm so glad they chose Christmas colors because I'm still making my holiday cards. I love making Christmas cards- my favorite kind of card to make. I have so many Christmas stamp sets...I'm downsizing my stamp collection, but I can't part with any of my holiday sets. And look I barely used any stamps here...go figure!

That's it for me! Have a great weekend!
Hugs, Marilyn