Applause, please. I'm taking a bow....

I've made progress in my closet ...

The site of the former shelves on the left-hand side

(which collapsed in a heap of an avalance)

has been cleared.

DH Mr. Smiley is to install a closet system today, Sunday. 

... because he too has run out of excuses, now that it is raining so hard.  This is the view out my window:

The Opposite of a Fair Weather Friend?

Joyously, today it is raining. Pouring. And the Old Man (DH, Mr. Smiley) is snoring.

So that means I get time for myself in the Paper Jungle ... no need to feel guilty about skipping yard work. I did the housework late last night -- even scrubbed rugs, for God's sake! -- and so I can craft the day away.

Oh joy!  Does that mean I'm a "fair weather friend" ... errrr, or it's opposite ... a "poor weather friend" to crafting?  What has my life become, where family, work and housework takes precedence over play?! 

.... ummmm, reality?? 

So I thought this "Daydream" card (above) suited me well for my first-up adventure in the Paper Jungle. 

I broke out one of my two new Magnolia Stamps, a sitting Tilda. Isn't she just adorable?!  I snatched up two of these ... regularly $15/ea ... at the LSS that closed and offered unprecedented sales on everything.

I colored her using Copic markers (I'm just learning!) and sat her on a wood plank swing I cut from kraft paper. I strung the swing on twine, and used my favorite Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker paper for the background, the sky, leaves on the "grass" and the fussy-cut flowers.  I hand-drew the tree and punched the leaves on the tree using a Punch Bunch paper punch. A little Stickles on the bee wings, and white gel on the clouds and I can call this one done!

Have you tried Copic markers yet?  Prisma pencils? Those are my toys this week ... I'm finding the coloring both relaxing and somewhat therapeutic, a real stress reducer.

A Week's Worth of Cards: Day 2 - Happy Hello-Scream?

Does your family have your own language for certain words?

We call the whipped cream that comes in an aerosol can, "Fooshie." 

The pesky insect in the summer that leaves an itchy bite is a "Sqo-Mito" ... except Grandma (my mom) calls them "West Niles" for the disease they very occasionally bring. (Grandma's semi-paranoid about those sorts of things!)

Years ago, a young neighbor friend insisted that the holiday we celebrate on October 31 is "Hello-Scream", not Halloween.  She said it derives from the fact you ring the doorbell, and when a homeowner answers, you SCREAM!!  Makes perfect sense to me!

I was amused then, when I saw Hello-Scream given its place on the cardmaker calendar when a card is featured on the front cover of this month's PaperCrafts magazine! 

So this card honors that holiday. Interestingly, it's also made only with true scraps. The orange and black alternating triangles were cut from the papers used to decorate the banner I've made for the upcoming "Labor of Love Halloween* Hop" (*that's Hello-Scream, in case you didn't recognize the name). 

In fact, "true scraps" have another family word, this one originated by my Grandmother. GADRIBBLES. A gadribble is what's leftover on the cutting board when the Thanksgiving turkey breast meat is carved and presented on the platter. Or the "off cuts" of a piece of paper when your image is cut from it.

Gadribble. Add it to the CardMonkey Glossary. Do you have a family language for certain words?  Please share!

A Week's Worth of Cards: Day 1- New Baby (Ba-BEE)

A challenge for me would be to try to make and post about a card a day, for a week. So here goes, Day #1:

Welcome "Ba-Bee":

Image:  Peachy Keen Stamps
Colored with: Copic Markers
Sentiment: typed on paper
Ribbon: stash
Paper: standard white, plus DCWV Nana's Kids.
Sewing: straight stitch by Husqvarna Diamond.


Inside image:

Inside: Diecut bee, mounted on Action Wobble, Stickles for glitter accents, marker, MS glue. 

What I Am Avoiding....

It's the weekend.

A day off of my full-time job.

A day for me.

Nothing on my schedule.

No commitments.

I want to craft all day.

The sun is shining.

I should go to the pool and "work" on my tan.

Instead I am in the Paper Jungle.

Crafting.

Watching HGTV.

Maybe I'll take a nap next.

I've shut the door on a real problem.

I'm avoiding it.

The shelves in my walk-in closet collapsed.

The only real "weight" they had on them was from the 30 garments just freshly back from the dry cleaners.

Which now lay at the bottom of this pile.

My shoe organizer ... emptied in the fall.

It seems so daunting.

I must clean it out.

Reinstall.

Organize.

Clean.

Is it time for a nap yet?

The crisis of a closet collapse......  shelves have pulled from the wall,
dumping everything, everywhere. What a mess!

More Randomness: Another Oldie AND Goodie!

Again, I'm completely random here ... posting a favorite card from my past.  This beautie was made for me by my dear friend, Mary Dittmar to celebrate my 50th birthday -- yes, six years ago this month. 

Mary has resisted the paper urges because she's much more of a Fabric Princess, and she's been making cards far longer than I have. Seeing her work inspired me to make my own cards, and I cherish this card even today. 

For this sweetheart of a card, she "fussy cut" the cupcake and cake from printed FABRIC (!!!) that she found ... I don't know where, and I don't know how she has this patience.  I don't know what sort of fabulous glue she used to adhere the fabric so wonderfully to the paper stock.  There are absolutely no bubbles in the fabric pieces, and even the tiniest edges have stayed stuck to the paper these many years later. 

She used no fancy paper for this card, no rub-ons for the sentiment.  The sentiment is hand-written -- can you believe how steady and adorable her handwriting is?!  And each of the tiny pink dots is hand-drawn.  The few gold stars that are on the card are adhered.  I'm guessing that Mary used a few dabbles of glitter pen to give gloss to the cake plate, strawberries, and cupcake. 

Do you save and cherish the notes and cards you've been given over the years -- or at least, the "special" ones? 

Recently, my former mother-in-law Olga passed away, and my now-grown dear daughter Emily (26 today!) had the chore of going through her personal effects to settle the estate.  In at least one box that was obviously cherished were the cards and notes I had sent to Olga over the 17 years when I was married to her son, and even the subsequent years since I divorced him.

Those boxes represented a real treasure to Emily -- mostly because it served as a testament to the love shared between Olga and myself, a relationship unlike any other.  Olga's having saved those letters and photographs was priceless as well, as I had lost all of my photos of baby Emily and the calendars, journals and albums I'd assembled when I hastily left her Dad when Emily was just 9 years old.  That treasure showed Emily the pride I had in her tiniest accomplishments, and gave her a "scrapbook" view of life through her mother's eyes, as related to her grandmother.  In Olga's passing, she gave Emily one of the greatest gifts that she, as a new mother could ever have, love.

Wishing you joy today and always, in the treasures you find when you least expect them.

Friday Randomness: Wedding Favor from the Past

Hi Blog Friends (a.k.a., Favorite Family!)

Those who saw my posts from last week know that I've spent a good bit of time -- toooo much of my time, actually -- organizing and cleaning up my Paper Jungle here in the craft loft.  I enjoyed showing off the seven posts of the various solutions that work for me, for the moment that is.

Like many of us I think, I likely spend more time organizing my craft stuff than actually playing with it using it.  Strangely enough, it's enjoyable too!  While I was sorting through some of the stuff, I came across this WEDDING FAVOR that I made ... for my own wedding to Mr. Smiley, 17 years ago. 

That is, before the days of blogging and papercrafting, Cricut and all that.

I think it's still a beautiful example of what can be done with a bit of paper and some ingenuity, without all of the embellishments, supplies, fancy papers, etc. 

I made these 2-up on an 8.5 x 11" piece of ivory cardstock.  I used Adobe PageMaker (the predecessor of InDesign) to "paste" a .jpg/photo file of a natural flower wreath onto the digital page, and set the type of our names and wedding date on one half of each of what would be the finished "matchbook".

On the reverse side, I set the inside text you see here.  Once I printed these out, I cut the stock in half lengthwise, punched a decorative border on the top along with two holes. These holes were measured to match the bottom two holes, inexactly -- that is, as far in as my hole punch would reach on both sides!  At the bottom, I folded up about 1/2" of the cardstock and stapled in a packet of wildflower seeds, along with an ice pink thin ribbon to hold the packet shut with a bow. 

These flower packets still bring me a sense of peace and joy when I see them, even though I never actually planted the flowers.

I may have some talent in the Paper Jungle, and my thumbs may occasionally be inked green, but seriously -- my agricultural/horticultural skills are DISMAL!!  I'm MUCH better off looking at pretty pictures of flowers and visiting gardens than attempting to bring blossoms to my home.  For kicks, one day I may show you pictures of dreadfulness in the garden. 
Until then, trust me on this one: plants and I do not mix.