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Monday 20 March 2017

Happy Stampiversary! Happy 1st Day of Spring!

I received a lovely card in the mail last week from Stampin' Up! Home Office.

Things have been so busy lately, that I didn't realize that my Stampin' Up! Anniversary is almost here.  

It's a little misleading as I was a demo before I went into hospital in 2008, but part way through that year in hospital someone had told me I could apply for a hardship exception because I was laid up in hospital for an inordinate amount of time.  We did so.   

At the time I couldn't use most of the left side of my body and my left hand was more like a club than a stamping implement.  I had my work set out for me.  I didn't realize that the hardship exception would expire. 

I was back at home and working on getting back on my feet when I realized I hadn't received the new catalog and I'd called.  When we figured out what happened I was dissapointed but realized that I wasn't in a position to get down to my craftroom anyhow.  I decided to leave it for a bit while I got my world in order.. 

I re-joined during Sale-a-Bration in 2010 and have never looked back.  

I have met so many wonderful people through my paper crafting hobby turned business, and have made some fabulous friends that I wouldn't trade for anything in this world. 

We all have good and bad days, and life upheavals.  For me, paper crafting and music are like medicine.  Your enthusiasm fires me up.  I am forever grateful for the creative contacts and friends that I have made over the years and look forward to many more years of colouring your world. 

Friends and new stamping family members are like icing on the cake.  I am blessed. 

I thought I'd kick off this week and the first day of Spring with a virtual hug and my heartfelt thanks for your part in this journey.  I can't imagine it would be the same without each and every one of you. 

Happy Monday! Happy Spring! 
Hope to see your smile around my tables very soon! 





Thursday 2 March 2017

Bad Crafters and stacking up the blog posts..

Do you ever get to feeling like you're a bad crafter?  

I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, but I've been a very bad crafter lately.  Blogging doesn't seem to be my forte either. 

I start out with the best of intentions, of course, but then life gets busy and well you know..?

I call it demos dilemma quite often.  If I've got a class planned, or a swap upcoming then I know I "have" to be in there and doing my thing.  Somehow when it's just little ol' me I look around and see things that need to be sorted, jobs I should be doing, and other guilty to-do lists that I can't help but feeling need to be done before I get to play.  Meat and potatoes before dessert, right?

Sometimes it goes the other way, however,  I'll put together a bunch of things and sometimes I even take photos with the plan of posting to my pages or blog, and then they just sit. Sometimes I forget about them til I scroll back in my phone looking for one thing or another and then it hits me -- OOPS.  

I have made more of an effort to get crafting these past couple of weeks,  the re-org has taken some real leaps and bounds.  I've starting culling more items to purge, sold my paper cart and reclaimed some space.  Baby steps.. baby steps.  

I actually packed a selection of items the other night and took them upstairs with me to watch TV with hubby.  This is one of my favourite ways to challenge myself.  Since I don't want to make a dozen trips up and down the stairs, I am limited to only what I bought up in the bin, bag or tote with me.  Sometimes that's a punch or two, sometimes the big shot, other times it's just a single embossing folder for the Big Shot.  I've done just my markers, or just pencil crayons or a small selection of ink pads.  It forces you to be creative because you can't just go grab something else out of the arsenal to play with.  

I posted a bunch of card fronts to my Facebook page the other day.  I'd stamped a number of images from a retired stamp set that I've had for years and sadly never used.  I spent hours colouring them with my new watercolour pencils.  I stlil have to mount them and embellish them to turn them into cards but before I get there I'm thinking I'd like to do some highlights with my aquapainters. 

I'll post some photos of the completed projects soon. :) 

In the meantime, I'm SO looking forward to Sunday class/club this week.  If you can't find me before then I'll be the one in the corner surrounded by paper and ink giggling like a crazy person.  I've coined the phrase "Forced down-time" these past couple of weeks.  We're certainly due for a slow-down. 

Hope to see your smile at my craft table very soon! 

Happy Thursday everybody!