ALIVE

I am back among the living. I started feeling sick on Friday here at work. By Saturday night I was ready to actually go and sit in the emergency room, and for those that know me well this is a shocker. I avoid the doctor at all costs. However, with a temperature hovering between 103 and 104 it was time to do something. Luckily the doctor filling in for my primary care physician called back on Saturday night and prescribed some medication. With the meds and rest I am almost back to full strength. I was not productive while ill, I have the card below which was completed before the germs took over my body.


I was asked by my friend Bubbles to create a card for her to give to her son. This is what I came up with and I hope that she likes it.


This great stamp I found when I was on vacation in California visiting my sister Cindy. We visited a store in Hollywood and they had these initial stamps.


I stamped on the front outside of the envelope (a new thing that I have started for my card envelopes)


I lined the inside of the envelope with basketball paper.

A Card and A Mini Rant

I have a mini rant.
Does it bother anybody else that perfectcly physically fine people use the handicap stall in the bathroom? I have noticed a trend at school that when there are open regular stalls people will go and use the handicap. I am a firm believer that that stall should stay open for people who really need that stall. What if someone in a wheelchair or on crutches or with a walker was to come into the bathroom? Should they really have to wait because someone who is completely fine wanted some more elbow room? What are your opinions?


SU Handsome Hunter and White cardstock. SU Handsome Hunter ink. SU stamps. The ribbon is from my stash.

Warm Flannel Cards

I am in love with this patterned paper. It has a warm feel like a soft flannel shirt. Since it is sub zero here in Chicago these cards give me a feeling of warmth. The second image is one of the envelopes that goes with the cards. I am starting to think that the envelopes needed to be stamped too. The cardstock is Handsome Hunter from SU. The images are stamped in Handsome Hunter ink. The patterned paper is from Archiver's and I forgot to look at the manufacturer. The brads are from my stash. Slowly but surely I am trying to use up all of my embellishments.

February RAK

Here is the card that came with the following goodies from Mary a participant in Jen's February RAK. Mary sent these goodies up from Florida and that might be why we have some nice sunshine today. (It's still cold here but the sun is shining)
Check out the conversation hearts, the pretty ribbon and the other emellishments.
Thank you very much for your kindness Mary and the sunshine that you sent.


This is the insdie of the card. There are many wonderful embellishments inside this card. The very cute envelope with hearts inside and hugs and kisses set atop a very pretty piece of vellum. Jewelled 3 dimensional flowers, 3 dimensional hearts and the word love, and the signature in gold!


This magnet has a beautiful Victorian image that is a porcelain like embellishment. The small piece of paper used across the piece has embossed roses. The ribbon is a sheer pink with a gold thread running through it.




I didn't get a good picture of this magnet, reflection from the flash. I tried a couple of shots and couldn't get a good one. There is real lace around the entire magnet. The image is an open locket with the incription "A happy memory is a forever joy". How beautiful!


Adorable magnet frame with raised 3 dimensional strawberries and small 3 dimensional silver hearts and a cross.

Test Results

I got my test results. Although I have consistently been an A or B student I have resigned myself to the fact that just getting a C and out of this class is a goal in and of itself. There are a total of 330 possible points in the class. To pass with a C 198 points are needed. Thirty of those points are possible with a presentation on an SEC investigated issue of fraud. I feel pretty confident that I can get those 30 points. With that said, I would need to get the remaining 168 points from the 3 tests. That is 56 points per test. I got a 56 on the first exam. I know that in any other class I would be MORTIFIED!!! A 56 is a failing grade! However, in this particular universe with Professor Malicifent a 56 is stellar. My two classmates with whom I commiserate both had 52's. The two students in front of me did worse than that. So, although I should feel bad I feel pretty good and will get ready to get a 60 or more on the next test.


Here is the card from this morning. The image was one that I colored many moons ago with just pencils. I stamped a rose in SU Bashful Blue on the Night of Navy SU cardstock. The blue under the yellow is also SU but I am not sure of the exact color. The yellow is from a pastel pack purchased at Micheal's.

Semi Productive

I was semi-productive this weekend.
Only semi because I didn't get all of the items on my list of things to do done but I made some good progress down in the craft cellar. I also found some plastic magazine holders full of old magazines. I went through the mags, tore out what I wanted to keep and recycled the remainder. I now have these holders to put my color sorted scrap paper inside. This wonderful tip is from the fabulous Simone.

Here is a card that I made for my niece's upcoming birthday. She likes Tinkerbell and I had this chipboard piece in my stash so I used some Disney patterned paper and a card was born.



The patterned paper is from Archiver's, the cardstock and stamped image are from Stampin' Up, brads from my stash.



Cardstock and stamps are from Stampin' Up, the plaid paper is from Archiver's, brads are from my stash.

Paper and stickers are from Archiver's.

This card was soooo simple. I came across this embellishment and just cut some white cardstock, punched a border (pink envelope in photo so that the border shows)and affixed the embellishment.

I love this striped paper. I paired it with some stickers that I got at Archiver's. The cardstock is also from Archiver's.

This started out as a 4-3/4" square card but I decided to cut off some of the bottom so that I could have part of the scalloped circle extend beyond the card. I like this design but wish I had better stamping coverage on some of my images.

Whooo Hoooo It's Friday

I put this card together this morning.
I found the stamped and colored images in a shoebox that I was cleaning out (always working toward total organization) and tried this new color combo. I also received the stamps that I ordered from High Hopes and stamped a cute little duck that I hope to show next week. I am going to try my hand at the PrismaColor pencils and mineral spirits for the coloring technique. They are calling for bitter cold temps and then lots of snow for the weekend so I will be home for most of that time, hopefully creating lots of crafty fun.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Therapy

I survived the second assault of Professor Malicifent. She was just as difficult on the second part as she was on the first and all I can do is hope that she is in a good mood when she grades my test and gives partial credit. LOL!!! Sometimes I amuse myself! Just have to look forward to test two and not dwell on things that I cannot change, the test is over, I did the best that I could and that is that.

Here are some cards that I made this morning.


The Mickey is a chipboard and the small icons on the right hand border are a vinyl-like product.

I had this winter sticker and felt that it needed to be used with all the snow that is on the ground here in Chicago. The picture doesn't pick it up very well but the brads have snowflakes on them. I stamped snowflakes all over the outside of the cardstock.

I Come Clean

As I promised, I sucked it up and took pictures of the unorganized work in process side of the craft cellar. I hope to one day post the same nice organized pictures of this side of the room as the first ones that I let you all see.

Here is the table that holds my sewing machine and serger. Eventually when everything has a home and it is in that home this table will be another crafting surface for creative fun.

This is the inside of the IOPC unit. It looks completely full of stamp sets but they are not pushed all the way back so I am sure that I could fit many more inside this cabinet.

This shot is of the floor area to show that no space is wasted.

This picture was shot with my back against the X-mas tree box toward the furnace (the furnace marks the halfway point in the basement). If you picture an upside down U, the right side and part of the bottom were the nice organized shots. These shots are the left side of the very messy and unorganized side of the craft cellar.

This was shot from the side of my desk back toward the back wall. The orderly side is to the right, the chaotic side is to the left (like you couldn't tell).


These wooden shelves are definitely a work in progress. They were filled with my brother's stuff. Slowly but surely I have been making my way to claiming them as mine. The top shelf has leftover parts from when he did the duct work for the furnance. The large box on the shelf below that is filled with motorcycle magazines and other boy stuff. I have cleaned off a different area and will begin moving things to their new home. The ultimate goal, to have complete "control" of that shelving unit for crafty goodness.

This shot is exactly opposite of the nice orderly white cube area. The brown cabinet behind the rocking chair goes all the way to the floor and is filled with stamp sets. Some day I will clean off that rocker and be able to sit in it.

This shot is to show that I stack things to the ceiling/furnance cold air return. No space will go unused when I am done with the organization.

This is the other, not so clean and tidy side of my desk. The large brown box is stuff leftover from my working from home stint in July. I need to go through that box and see what should be tossed, what should go back to the office and what stays at home.

One Down

One down and one to go.
We had part one of the two part test last night.
Despite the fact that we didn't have class last week and all of the material that the Professor (The Evil Queen)didn't cover will still be on the test. Yes, we are responsible for learning it ourselves.
This test was worth 50 points.
10 multiple choice questions worth two points each.
1 problem worth 14 points.
1 problem worth 16 points.
The multiple choice were all computational and I think I did okay on those. I am sure that I messed up some but hope to get some of the twenty points.
The first problem I feel pretty confident about and should get a good portion of the 14 points.
The last question I hope I will get partial credit. I couldn't make my balance sheet balance. My assets were not equal to my liabilities and owner's equity. After class when I was discussing the exam with a few of my classmates the reason that I wasn't balancing was because I forgot to plug in goodwill to make it balance. I wanted to kick myself but hope that some of the other work that I did was enough to get me some of the 16 points.
I didn't make any cards last night as I just wanted to veg after the exam. Tonight I will be hitting the books and probably won't have anything new. Maybe I'll take the photos of the other half (the messy side) of the craft cellar. At least I will have something visual for the blog.
Have a good Tuesday, stay warm, and dry.

A Few Cards

I am officially finished with the Valentine's Day cards.
This purple one I did for my co-worker Kerrie who expressed that she liked the style of one that I did with this layout but wanted it in purple. I did as she asked and the card is on her desk ready for her to sign and send to her special someone. The white square card is really just a cheater card. The hearts were already dry embossed. All I had to do was add the heart brads and the sticker and it was done. I am supposed to have part one of a two part test tonight at school but don't really know if it will be postponed since we didn't have class this past Wednesday due to the snow. The school closed at 4pm and since the professor did not have that class to finish her lecture and complete what is supposed to be on part 2 of the test I am wondering if she will lecture tonight. Have part 1 on Wednesday (2/13) and then part 2 on 2/18. Cross your fingers and pray that this is the case. I did study this weekend but would love an opportunity to get more knowledge inside my brain. The other cards are just the start of the new cards for St. Patrick's Day and Easter. Have a good Monday and stay warm.

Organization

I feel that I have been a bit dishonest with my last post. You see I didn't shoot the sides of the room where mayhem and chaos are reigning. I promise to take untidy photos of the other side of the room and post those. Then there will be something to compare to when I eventually get that side nice and organized.

Craft Cellar

I am afraid that the glimpse into my craft cellar is not as spectacular as the movie that Simone did on her blog. I am still a FAR cry away from being organized and this is only a glimpse of two sides of the area. However, for me this is progress and the more that I can bring down here and organize the more craft efficient I will become and be able to use all of the supplies that I have been hoarding.

Here is the left side of my desk down in the craft cellar/office. I will eventually show you the right side of the desk once I clean it off.

Next to my desk is a horizontal two drawer (only one drawer is in it)file cabinet. On top of the cabinet is the big box that holds my Christmas tree. I have decided to use the top of the box to store crafty goodness.

Here is another picture of the top of the tree box and beyond to the corner of the basement. The black and white boxes stacked up hold sewing patterns.

There is a table that holds my sewing machine and serger. That table is full of unorganized crafting stuff so I will take a picture when I am not embarassed of the clutter. On the left hand side of the table I have stacking boxes that I bought at JoAnn's. Each package had three boxes inside and they "nest" when they are not full. I have used my trusty label maker and each box is labeled with the contents (chipboard, stickers, 3-D stickers, alphabet stickers and numbers, Disney...). To the left of the boxes is an IOPC (mfg name) that my company reps. When we moved in July this unit was not coming to the new office. I got it for free!!! The top has moveable 8-1/2x11" trays and holds the craft store cardstock on the right and SU cardstock on the left.

To the left of the IOPC unit is another sewing machine in a cabinet. On top of the cabinet I have stacked 12x12" plastic paper storage and have separated my paper by color. To the left of that tower are two small IOPC units that have stuff stuffed into the trays that need to be pulled out and organized. It is a far cry from organized but much better than having all of this stuff up in my bedroom and everywhere else in the house just laying around.

Here is a full shot of the IOPC unit. The cabinet on the bottom has one shelf inside. This entire thing is filled up SU stamp sets.

Winter Wonderland

I can't remember a winter where we have gotten so much snow. In past years we would get snow, then a warm up where it would melt, then maybe more snow. We did have a warm up and much of the snow melted and then this new storm came packing many inches of snow. The forecast is calling for more before or on the weekend.
So....Cindy, out in sunny California treasure the fact that you live there at this time of year!

Here is a view of the alley taken from inside my garage toward the west end of the alley. This end of the alley ends in a "T" formation. This is where I got stuck this morning on the way to work. Thankfully my brother and a neighbor were able to push me into the grooves and I was able to get to work.

Notice how the "hump" in the center is missing from my side of the garage area. I got stuck there yesterday after work and had to dig my self out so I could pull into the garage. I sure do hope that the garbage truck with a plow on the front comes down the alley soon and knocks down that center hump so that my little car can navigate better.

Here is picture shot from my garage going east.