Spring Notebook

Hi again bloggers! Hope you are having a great week! 

So today I wanted to re-create the notebook that is on the Spring Catalogue. I think it turned out pretty good... and this is one of the projects that we are making tonight at the Stamper's Club. 

Have you seen a project sample in the Spring Catalogue that you really caught your eye or a stamp set that you can't live without? Leave me some feedback!

Oh and don't forget that if you really like the Oh Hello stamp set, you can get a GREAT DEAL by purchasing it with the Ovals Collection Framelits in the Oh Hello Bundle (131102, 131101)

Stamp Sets:   Oh Hello  (Wood Mount 130730, Clear Mount 130733)
Paper:  Crumb Cake  (120953), Vellum (101856),Tea For Two Designer Series Paper (129311)
Ink: Whisper White (101731), Calypso Coral (126983), Early Espresso Marker (119680)
Cool Tools:   Paper Snips (103579),  Spritzer Tool (107066), Corner Rounder Punch (119871)
The Perfect Touch:  Paper Doilies (129399), Flower Trim (126869), Early Espresso Baker's Twine (123124), Cotton Ribbon (Retired), Early Espresso Grosgrain Stitched (126871),

Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Ribbon Slide (retired)

 

Click here to order Stampin' Up! products online 24/7 

Mojo Monday

Hi bloggers! This is going to be a REALLY quick post as I'm still feeling cr*ppy with my back. 

So today's card is a card that I actually created almost two weeks ago for the Mojo Monday sketch but I never got it posted.

So this is the sketch

 

  

And this is my card.....

TGIF

Hi Ho Bloggers! Sorry for the late post today.

Today's project is a note holder that I made about a week ago but it seemed like it was lacking something. So I added a few new elements...

and voila!

Slider Box

Hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was uneventful.
Today I read a blog post that I really wanted to share with you. You can find the full post here.
Stephanie Howell wrote a post entitled "What Happened? Falling into a Creative Black Hole". I found that I could totally relate to it and it was extremely interesting. I hope that you are able to take something away from this post too. So here is part of her post:

Why don't I scrapbook anymore? Why don't I ever make time to be creative anymore (except for the Studio Calico assignments I owe each month)?

What happened? And what can I do to fix it? Because I don't want to stop.

A lot of things happened.



1.I had too much stuff.

I kept buying. I kept saying yes when people wanted to send me things. I kept ordering and keeping up with the latest and greatest.

And I drowned in it.

I had too much. So I purged. I donated. I did giveaways. I gave two boxes to our babysitter. I stopped buying, I stopped saying yes.



2.I got caught up in the mob mentality.

"Everyone" has a silhouette. Everyone was misting. And splattering ink. And sewing. And stamping and layering and and and...

And while it is a lovely look (one I wish I could pull off)...I cannot pull it off. And it is not "me".

I thought it had to be me. So I tried it. I misted. I layered bits and pieces. I spent hours on layouts.

And it wasn't fun for me. It didn't feel authentic. And the end result wasn't meaningful to me.

I got tired of feeling like I had to constantly link and tweet and show pictures of what I was working on.No one said I had to...but it's easy to get sucked into it. Most days I don't even have time to go in my scrap room. At.All.

I wish I could have a new project to share every day. But that is not going to happen anytime soon. And social media has a way of making you feel inferior. If you let it.



3.I got stressed out

I don't think I really have to explain this one. For some reason I never really got my feet under me this deployment. Creativity was the last thing I had time for. I quit project life,didn't really set foot in my scrap room,I started my new job...which I LOVE by the way. But a lot of things happened that took the place of creativity.



4.I realized that I'm probably not the best fit for design teams

I don't make complicated pages. I don't dabble in techniques or do anything that would sell classes or product. I found a job where I could pour my creative focus without being looked at for layout inspiration.

I realized that making heartfelt,meaningful pages the way I do was NOT the best fit for pushing or selling product. I never figured out a way to do that in an authentic way and I got tired of trying. Simply put...some can make the two mesh in an honest way. I cannot.

I finally learned that I shine through blogging. Through sharing my heart (and sometimes sharing my heart in layouts)...but I am not a competitive designer.I am not great at selling product.

I don't want to have to worry about if I'm good enough. I want to be me and feel 100 percent at home doing what I'm doing. That's why the MME job and moving my focus elsewhere is a great fit for me.

I still intend to share companies and products I love now and then. That's part of the joy of this for me...sharing things and people I truly believe in!

**I need to come back here and clarifying that I am not trying to bite the AMAZING hands that fed me. There used to be a time that perhaps I was better at being a design team member. It has been a joy and privilege to work for companies,teams,and women I believe in. There is no doubt that those days brought me many gifts and amazing opportunities. I just feel that I am not a good fit for design teams anymore. There are many people who ARE and who do it well.**

And today's project is a Slider Box. I actually created 3 of them using up some old Simply Scrappin' kit that I had left over. And I admit that the first box that I made....despite the creator's assurances that these are easy to make...took me 3 hours! And lots of pulling apart and re-doing! 
So please enjoy!!!!

Betsy's Blossoms

Half way through the week and I am very much looking forward to the end.

Today's card is a card that I made using the Betsy's Blossom stamp set and Floral District DSP from the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up Catalogue. 

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During June, new demonstrators not only get to choose the products for their fully customizable Starter Kit, they'll also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE, including the Make a Cake Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD! That's up to $60 in additional FREE products!

Summer Fun!

Friday Finally! It has been another busy week this week but productive too. And I finally took off my snow tires last week, so today I am celebrating summer with a thank you card.

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During June, new demonstrators not only get to choose the products for their fully customizable Starter Kit, they'll also get products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE, including the Make a Cake Set, Patio Party Designer Series Paper, and the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD! That's up to $60 in additional FREE products!

Teacher Thank You

We are now into June and hopefully some summer weather is also on it's way. If you have read my post of last week, I have a summer manifesto that I am looking forward to using to make my summer a fabulous one. 

Today I am sharing a card that can be used as a year end card to give to your favorite teacher. I used the Honeycomb Shape technique to make the apple and Mojo Monday sketch #243 for the card. Here is the sketch.....

 

and here is the card....

And don't forget to join me for a Card Buffet on Saturday June 9.