Now What? (or, How Does she get Anything Done?)

This was my desk a few days ago, as I was wildly finishing my BG calendar.  As you can see, when I'm working, things get messy.  I can't tell you how many times I lost my glasses in that jumble.

But now, it's done, and my workspace is clean (ish) again, and I am contemplating that age-old question that scrappers, quilters, knitters, cardmakers, etc. ask themselves whenever they finish a project.  NOW WHAT?

Do I start something new and exciting?  Or should I tackle one of my UFO's?  (For those of you who don't have any, because you never start another project until the current one is complete, UFO means "UnFinished Object".  I have several).

Usually, I take out all my UFO's, the kits I bought for "someday", and scribbles I've made about ANTICIPATED IDEAS, and make a decision from there.  This usually takes a few days of deliberation, because as you know, I have a few issues with decision making.  But I'm pleased to tell you that I am now working on my Mexico book again, with real hopes of finishing it THIS TIME.

Not that I wasn't tempted to start a new project that came to me a few weeks ago, and which I will tell you about.  I was shopping (who, me?) with my accomplice (I mean friend), when I came across a paper punch that I really wanted.  But wait - didn't I already have this one?  Or did I?  Now it could be that I am getting forgetful ( I am 50, so it could be happening), or maybe it's because I have too much stuff to keep track of.  I like to forget about my age, and think that I just have an abundance of fun stuff. 

Then I thought, Gee, I need a little book or something with all my Distress Ink colours, Copics, punches, etc in it so I don't have to 1) buy something I already have or 2) not buy something that I need because I don't know if I have it or not.

Then it hit me.  I could MAKE a little book, with all my lovely papers, and use my punches to edge the pages, and Distress them,  and colour some stamps with my Copics, and, and ......  Well you get the idea. 

Nope, I'm going to stick to Mexico, for now.
Until next time.....

BG Calendar Finished!

Yes, it's true, I have actually finished my Basic Grey calendar BEFORE the end of January. And here is December's page:

Now I do love BG, and all the lovely papers, but I gotta say, when they are designing these calendars, they should maybe leave out some of the cutsie sayings. Not everyone has photos of someone "tip-toeing through the tulips", or being "precious". This year, I was using photos that I took while we were on a Caribbean cruise with our children, and I must say, it was a bit of challenge to choose pictures that kind of went with the theme of the month.

When my husband was looking through the calendar, he stopped at October, which features him and my son about to go rock climbing. There is a caption that says, "I Pick You" above the photo.

"Why does it say that?" my husband asks. "I pick you for what?"

"I don't know, " I reply, "but the caption goes with that month. If I leave it off, there is a big blank space."

"Well it doesn't make any sense, " hubby insists. And I must agree, but I meekly suggest, "I pick you to go rock climbing with?"

(I suspect the folks at BG envisioned a photo of a cute little kid picking apples to take to the teacher on the first day of school).

Next on his criticism list is August. The photo is of our 2 adult children in front of a cruise ship we were on. "Why does it says "Friends"? They're not friends, they're relatives". (I could go on another tangent about that statement, but I won't). "The sticker goes with the page. And they are kind of friends, you know".

May: "Sunshine makes me Happy? " he queries. "Don't the kids look happy in that picture?" I counter.

So, Basic Grey, if you are listening (and I suspect you are not,) please leave out the sentiments, or at least give us choices. Either that, or I'm going to have to get some pictures of someone standing in my neighbour's tulip patch!

Until next time, when I may have cleaned off my desk, and started something new and exciting (rather than finishing off something old and no longer exciting,).......

Photo-less

So here it is, mid-January, (Blue Monday, according to the news people, the most depressing day of the year) and I realize that I have not posted to this blog for a while. And my EXCUSES are many. 1) I was working. 2) There were all these holidays. 3) I was working (oh, I already did that one!) 4) I have been busy with my New Years Resolutions (Ok, that 's just a lie).

I read back, and I see I promised to post some PHOTOS of the lovely gifts I made for some people on my Christmas list. I don't have those photos, because I wrapped the gifts and gave them away, and then it just seemed awkward and weird to say, "By the way, can I take a picture of the present I gave you to post on my blog?" So you will just have to take my word for it that I actually COMPLETED 3 gifts in time for Christmas. I knitted 3 pairs of finger-less gloves (so easy, without those digits to consider!) and a rather clever picture frame. I hid a gift card for a photo session in a picture frame I decorated.

Anyway, on to those New Years Resolutions, I didn't bother making any, as I knew I would break them before the month was out. Oh yes, I had a few planned out, by why kid myself? I make the same ones every year, anyway. I'm sure you know what they are, they are the same one every crafter makes, be they quilters, scrapbookers or cross stitchers.

NUMBER ONE: Finish up those unfinished projects. The reality? Create more unfinished projects you can make resolutions about next year.

NUMBER TWO: No buying anymore new craft stuff until you use up some of your stash. Yeah, right! With all those after Christmas sales? I broke that one in the first week, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

NUMBER THREE: Schedule crafting time in your calendar, so you can work on Resolution Number One. Okay, as soon as I make the bed do the dishes put another load of laundry in pick up the kids call the vet pay the bills sweep the floor.... We all know the reality of that one!

Whatever your Resolutions are (or as in my case, were) I wish you a Happy New Year, and many happy creative days. And now I'm going to work on my Basic Grey Calendar. Yes, for 2012!

Until next time....

Oh, Christmas Tree!

First of all, I apologize for the quality of this picture. It looks a little like a mug shot. That being said, I know I COULD retake the photo, upload it, and start this again, but it's 10:30 pm, I have to be at work at 7 am tomorrow, and if I don't write this blog now, it's not going to happen for another few days. So here is my picture.

This is one of my table decorations for Christmas. It is actually a box, filled with candy. I'm sorry you can't see the boxiness (I think I may have just made up another word!) of it, but mug shots are not renowned for their depth of field. I downloaded the pattern for my Silhouette, and have made 6 of these little trees.

I was planning on using up some of my Christmas paper from last year, but soon realized that I didn't have enough of any one pattern, so had to go out and purchase more paper, and also the cute little poinsettias. I already had the leaves and twine, and I just punched out the mini tags, and inked them.
Everything is hot glued in place.

It was quite a decision as to what to put in the boxes, originally I thought I might put in chocolate, but I have been informed that 2 of my guests don't care for chocolate. (I know, I couldn't believe it either!) So I have settled for some hard candies, which they can throw in their purse or glove compartment in the car in case they are ever stranded or hungry when out on a shopping trip.

Until next time.....

December Daily...

Last year I partook (not sure if that's a word, but I'm using it) in the December Daily challenge seen on so many blogs. I thought I would try again this year, and then realized it had already started, and I was BEHIND before I even began.

So then I thought I'd do a "December Weekly", but now here it is , the 8th already, and I haven't done a thing.

Well, that's not exactly true. I have been working on some Christmas presents, and that has taken a lot more time than I expected. I'd like to tell you what I'm working on, or include a photo or two, but with my luck, one of the recipients would suddenly decide to check out my blog, and the surprise would be ruined.

Who am I kidding? I don't think my kids even know I have this blog. I find my children don't always pay a lot of attention to what I'm doing, which is sometimes a good thing. I can work on projects for them while they are in the house, and they don't even realize what I'm up to.

Anyway, about the December Daily, or Weekly, I guess that's not going to happen this year. Maybe next year. For this year, I'll just cruise the blogs, and ooh and ahh, and get ideas for December 2012.

And I promise, as soon as it's safe to do so, I'll post some pictures of my Christmas Creations.

Until next time....

We Have Pictures!

I am getting accustomed to Windows 7, have managed to download my photo software, and can now put pictures on my blog. (I do, however keep getting a message about "compatibility issues", which I ignore and hope will resolve on its own).

Anyway, I made this card today for a friend, it's her birthday, and I woke up thinking, "Oh no, I forgot to make a card!"

"No problem," said my optimistic side, "you have lots of paper and stuff to make a great card. Shouldn't even take you that long."

And it was true, I have lots of nice paper and I am capable of thinking up a card design. So I put this together, and then looked at the clock, and realized close to 2 hours had passed.

TWO HOURS? To make a card? There is a certain magazine I like to look at, that has a section called "Take Ten", and they give you card ideas that take about 10 minutes to make. Obviously, I should have looked there first.

Anyway, if you want to save yourself some time and make this card, I used a Making Memories card base (it's really old, not sure if they even make them anymore), Crafty Secrets image, and Cosmo Cricket paper. There's a bit of lace and ribbon, and a brad in the middle of the flower on the flap. You can't really see it, but I put Stickles (black) in the middle of the flower as well.

Probably, if I had to make this card again, it would only take 15 or 20 minutes. Not quite ready for "Take Ten", but getting there!

Until next time...

What was that Crash?

Unfortunately, that crash you didn't hear was my computer. Yes, after 5 years of somewhat faithful service, the computer hard drive packed it in. I knew as soon as I saw the BLACK SCREEN with the words "Insert reboot disk" and some other technical jargon that I didn't understand, that something very bad was happening to my electronic friend.

Luckily, I had made a back up of my files in September, so there were only a few things lost in the computer's brain. We did try to retrieve the data, but alas the drive was totally cooked and nothing could be saved. (Let this be a lesson to one and all - back up your computer!)

We had to buy a new computer, and that involved moreTECHNICAL TALK that mostly went over my head. We paid the nice young man at the store to set up the computer for us, so we only had to plug in the computer once we got home with it. Of course, what we weren't thinking about was the new operating system, Windows 7 (which, I am told, is going to be out of date in about 30 seconds). I'm not sure how it works, or where things are hidden, and I feel rather impatient about having to learn a new system. What was wrong with my old XP?

So there are no photos with this post, because there are none on this computer, and I don't know how to put any on it yet. I have to introduce my camera to the computer, and I'm not sure if they'll get along or not. I've not had any time to make anything pretty out of paper either, as I have been busy dealing with my computer woes.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I got a 2012 Basic Grey Calendar, and actually finished January. I didn't do any extra embellishing, I keep a chant going in my head when I am tempted to add some ribbon or glitter to it... "Get it done! Get it done!"

Until next time,