Monday, January 27, 2014

January Crafting Snowstorm and Chat


January has been such crazy month in terms of weather, health, and...apparently crafting! Due to snow and polar vortex temperatures, I have been at work (and my son at school) for probably 8 days this entire month. We have rarely had a day without a 2 hour delay. In a way, it drives me absolutely crazy. My lesson plans are a wreck and I know I have tons that I need to cover and am unable to do it.


On the other hand, I have had a mystery illness (fatigue, coughing, tightness in my chest and rounded out with a sinus mess) since right after Christmas. After three rounds of antibiotics, steroids and lots of time off due to the weather, I am beginning to recover. So for that, I am thankful and that I have had a chance to craft and spend extra time with my children. 

Additionally, we recently lost a beloved teacher on our staff to cancer. She was a mentor, colleague, friend and fellow crafter. It seemed that we were all walking around in a fog this past week. I made a commitment to myself, in her memory, to not avoid what makes me happy in lieu of what I have to do, thus I have had a crafting storm of creations. All random and all very different. Sometimes I think we forget to thank God for what we have and appreciate the time that we can make to enjoy what we love. I was recently ready to give it all up because I "didn't have time" for it. How many times have you heard that from people who are non-crafters and think you have more hours in the day than they do or that you are absent in other areas of your life? 

I choose SIMPLICITY as a word to work towards this year, thus my  "shopping my stash" and "budget haul". (See the links to videos on the sidebar on my blog.) 

I have captioned each of the photos with a short description and supplies that I used. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back with you! :) Thanks for making it to the end. (If you haven't noticed my posts are usually fairly short. I promise to keep them that way in the future!)

Blessings!


A tray for my completed and "in-process" layouts. Made using a Studio Calico box, acrylic paint and extra wide washi from a Studio Calico kit.

Tray in action!

An inexpensive plate and candle stick holder that I put together to use as an embellishment tray.

A card that I put in my son's lunchbox. He was a little cheesed that he had to go to school. (We are in the midst of snow days galore and he was not pleased to be going back.) Stamps: Lawn Fawn - Making Frosty Friends, Bazzill kraft cardstock, all patterned paper is from Basic Grey Aspen Frost and Wink of Stella pens in clear, silver and gold on the snowflakes.

A day at the Glenbrook Mall in Ft Wayne, IN on the carousel. Collections used in this project: Pink Paislee - Color Wash, WRMK - Chalkboard, Heidi Swapp - Mint Alpha, Maggie Holmes - Frame, MME - Sequins

Large roughly 24" chalkboard tic tac toe board with bean bags. Supplies - Upcycled foam core board, chalkboard paint, felt, rice, tiny attacher, chalk and twine.

Almond sugar scrub - Supplies: Sugar, baby oil, coconut oil and almond extract (out of essential oil!).

Embroidery Hoop Art - Supplies: Spellbinders - Heart dies, Papertrey Ink - Peace, Love, Joy dies, various bamboo felt colors, various buttons, Studio Calico - wood veneer letters. (The ones with the names were decorated by my children. I stretched the felt onto the hoop for them, die cut the heart and added their names. They did all of the button work. :)


Thursday, January 09, 2014

Shopping my Stash Video Series: Winter Themed Kit

As promised, here is my first shopping my stash video for the winter-themed kit in the previous post! Please join in with your own video of shopping your stash and creating a kit or great projects made from your stash! I just got home and am spying my winter kit in its wooden tray. Dying to play. Feels like it is new all over again!


Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Scrapbooking/Cardmaking/Crafting my Stash Video Series

After months of organizing and re-organizing my crafting supplies and feeling overwhelmed by what I have, I have decided to do two things: start a monthly budget and "shop" my stash.

Winter-themed kit (I forgot my thickers!)
The video for individual products is uploading as I create this post. It will be on the sidebar of the blog. ;)


My goal is to upload three videos a month to keep me accountable.

  • Themed kit of products from my stash that I will be using for the month (winter, Valentine's Day, spring, etc.) I will definitely deviate from these items for some projects where I don't see them being used, but want to make it a goal use them as much as possible.
  • Scrapbook pages, cards, projects, etc. that I have made with the themed kit.
  • Haul video of what I purchased within my budget for the month. (My guess is that I will get better at it as I am more mindful of my purchases.)
My hope is that some of you play along. I would love to see video responses or photos of you shopping, creating from your stash and sharing what you purchased on a budget with your thoughts.

Links for some great stash inspiration that have been shared with me so far!
Counterfeit Kit Challenge
Stashbuster's Challenge
Scrap-a-Stash-Kit-Club 



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