Day 13 - Holy Crafting Batman!

I've spent the last three days crafting and shopping.  I had one of my best friends over for a craft weekend extravaganza and CKC.  I'm not sure I could ask for anything more.  For those of you who are curious - I'm going to give a recap of my favorite purchases.

*Claire and Jocelyn paper lines from SEI -
*Quite Contrary Line by My Mind's Eye
*Max and Whisker's Line from Basic Grey
*Adventures in Happiness store kit from Unity Stamps

Crafting: I spent a good amount of the first two days of the craft weekend organizing supplies, stamping and coloring images, and just playing around in general.  By the time my friend left (sat. night), I had two cards and 5 pages of my 8X8 circle journal covered.  I felt quite unproductive next to her 15 scrapbook pages but such is life.  However, I got up this morning and decided to make a present for a co-worker expecting a baby girl.  I covered/decorated a frame, made 10 blank cards, and one Basic Grey matchbook album.  I did all this before 12:00.  I needed time to warm up to start cranking things out which is a luxury my friend can't have because she's a new mommy to a 10 month old.  This is a good lesson for me.  I need to chill out and stop comparing myself to others.  Truth be known - I had a pretty chill outlook on the whole thing - which is definitely progress.

So - my camera battery is out which means I will not be posting any of my projects today.  I sent one card with my friend.  She had bought the stamp set as a birthday present and I really wanted her to have it.  Which reminds me - I gave a lot of my cards to my friend.  I'm someone who loves to make cards but I hardly ever send any.  I take opportunities to give my cards away to special people I know will use them.  Now it's time to crank more out for the next person.

In lieu of current crafting pictures - I'm attaching a few pictures of my favorite cards from the last couple months.  I don't have any big plans for this week - which is good.  I'm trying to remember to approach each day as a blank slate.  Here's hoping that works.  I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend.   Until then...

BTW! Thanks so much for donating the clothes MWB!  I know she'll appreciate them!

Craft Weekend #1

Today I wanted to show a few of the cards I made during my craft weekend. I also thought I'd give a short recap of my craft shopping. My friend and I only went to local scrapbooking stores in the area - which makes me feel a lot better about my spending. In fact, I haven't set foot in a corporate store in about a month. Trust me - that's great for me. The first store we went to was an absolute paper fest. I bought at least 25 pieces of patterned paper including the new Nutmeg line from Cosmo Cricket. I absolutely must have a mini-deck and possibly a larger paper pack from this line. It's that good. I also got pieces of paper from Bo Bunny and Basic Grey. I got the new Rock Candy Distress Crackle from Ranger. I really want the Rock Candy Stickles - I had no luck finding it. At the next store - I got 2 amazing stamps from Hero Arts - 3 birds & Modern Lines. There were more purchases - but these were the most exciting. I'm including photos of four cards I made over the weekend - one using the three birds stamp. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday! Until then...Happy Crafting.

Craft Weekend Recap

I realized very early this morning - hello insomnia - I haven't shown anything from my very fun, slightly debilitating craft weekend. So - I took pictures of the five layouts I completed and will be presenting them over the next week. My friend had been talking about half maps (6 X 12) pages for a little while and I still hadn't given them a try. I decided it would be a nice challenge and a change of pace for my creatively blocked right brain. The results of my first attempt at half maps is at the end of this post. If you're interested in half maps and want some sketches to get you started - check out this site. I love this site and the book that came out of it and Becky Fleck's column in Memory Makers Magazine.

This weekend: I have plans to take a cardmaking class at Archivers with some fun gals. The cards are all made with Basic Grey products - which is ambrosia to me. I also have big plans for cupcakes and a medicine run. Also, this is the big weekend. I'm joining my first kit club! I hope everyone has a great weekend. Until then...Happy Crafting!