Time to Smile

One of the clubs I run is a paper pack club where each month, you get a paper pack along with embellishments. I make 2-3 layouts with the pack and give you the instructions for them.

In April, the Paper Pack was This & That: Charming by Echo Park. I ended up doing three layouts for Eric. It was a great little boys pack, so it just worked out. I love how easily the papers can be put together and that there are a bunch of embellishments that match and you just have to place what you want where you want. It saves me tons of time trying to find embellishments that will coordinate.

Vintaj

I did a demo with my friend, Sonja, about Vintaj. It is so cool. Lots of neat things you can do with these little pieces of metal. They have special embossing folders (they're metal) and they do an incredible job of embossing the metal. Then you take a reliefing block and "sand" off the finish so you have a two toned look.

I just got a few more tools for use with the Vintaj stuff and once I get some time, I'll play with those too!!

Badlands

I've decided the only way to start blogging again is to just start blogging. No big secret. Just do it, like Nike says.

That said, because I haven't done much lately, there isn't much to show. It's a bit of a cycle. I generally have a few things that I can post, but they're often not ones I really like, but at least it's a start, right??

Here is a layout I did sometime ago about our trip to the Badlands.

Overwhelmed

I haven't stamped or scrapbooked really in what seems like forever. OK, so that's being a little bit dramatic, but it just feels like it's been forever. I had my class a couple of weeks ago and so that was my focus for the two weeks before and then when I dumped everything back in my craft room, I just didn't feel like putting it away. And so it still sits there in piles. I hate when it's like this because I just don't even want to go in there. It makes my heart race and makes me feel guilty that it looks so bad but I can't find the motivation to go in there and do something about it. I need to today though as I have a friend coming over in a couple of hours. I might just clear a spot for her and then I can clean while she plays.

Before my class, I started reorganizing part of it and there are a few things I don't know what to do with and that has not helped my desire to spend time in there dealing with it all. But today is the day I at least start.

Does anyone else get like this??

Irony

It's quite ironic that my last blog post was about the importance of stamping and of taking the time to do things for ourselves and then I haven't really done that. I know it's important, but somehow everything else seems more important. I am trying through. And even though I have actually done a few things, I haven't shared anything since blogging seems to be the lowest of priorities. I guess that's just the reality of life with three young children and a business.

In April, I did a demo with my friend, Sonja, at our local stamp club. It was with the Vintaj line which love!! It was something totally different for me and I had a lot of fun playing. Vintaj makes these metal pieces called blanks and you can emboss and etch them with their special metal dies and then you sand off the raised areas to reveal a different finish. At any rate, I love it!!! Here is a card I made for my demo. It's a simple distress background with some stamping and then a Vintaj embellishment.

It's Important to Make Time

My husband is away for work right now. He left yesterday and is back tomorrow night which means I'm flying solo with the three kids. I really miss him. Work is busy and I have a bunch of deadlines right now and I really miss the support and help.

I've been really busy lately and so haven't been stamping. I couldn't justify the time when there were so many other things that needed doing. But, I have a couple stamping deadlines coming up, so I ventured in there last night and came out so much less stressed. I played with some new product and made a bunch of sample cards and it made me so happy.

It's so easy to get into a rut where we are too busy to do our creating, and yet, I'm much happier and more balanced when I make a conscious effort to stamp and scrapbook, so I need to do that more. I was doing so well before and then it died, so I'm going to work to get back in the groove and make it part of my routine!

In the meantime, here is a quick card I made for my class today.

I'm Alive

But barely it seems. It's been forever since I posted, but it's been forever since I stamped too.

Work has been really busy and then you add in three kids and a husband and everything else and somehow my craft room seems to be lonely. There is a ton of new product in it, but I never seem to have time to play. Then I get overwhelmed and feel uncreative and so I don't go in there. It's such a vicious cycle.

But I'm hoping to get in there later today. I have lots of things I need to create, so necessity will get me in there and hopefully it will go well and I'll want to keep going back.

In the meantime, here is a quick card to get me back in the swing of things.