A thoughtful Thursday..

Somewhere after 3 AM and I'm awake again and there's no good reason why.. but alas here I am.

I've been thinking a lot this week about plans and planning.  It's sounds funny to admit that though I am a big fan of planning things out that not much in my life has gone according to plan...  somewhere in there I suppose there's some twisted irony in that..  but at this moment it escapes me somehow.

Not just in life but in crafting we make decisions daily based on our hopes and dreams - what we tell ourselves we want to do..  

As I've been sorting through my craft area over these past several weeks I can see much evidence of this.  A variety of papers, stamps and other tools bought in Ebay tours and other travels.  The eyelets in every shape and size, the pearl-ex powder that someone told me that I'd love if I tried it ~  I got a large lot of it from a woman online for a fraction of what it would have cost me new.  A friend recently told me that I have more than enough there for my kids, my kids kids and their kids to use and there may still be some left over!!  I still haven't taken the time to dig it out and play with it.

I remember making my wish-list in my early days of being a Stampin' Up! clubber and desperately wanting the light table.  Of course by the time I got to that point on my wish list it had been discontinued.  I lucked out and found one on Ebay,  and here we are many years down the road and I'm not sure that I've ever even plugged it in.

To say nothing of the well intended gifts of my teddy-bear for bags, and toys that were bought to surprise me.  I have truly amassed a *lot* of "stuff" -- and that's just my paper crafting supplies, I haven't even delved into the bins of fabric, yarn, beads and other notions of days gone by.   I also bought out the stock of a retiring CM demo at one point, and had bought a pile of paper from CADD as it transitioned to TLC and then folded into something else entirely and did away with its consultants..  but there's still an awful lot of product that I just haven't gotten to use.

All items of course that were bought with the best of intentions, yet so many are still in their original wrapping waiting for their chance to be loved.  Many more punches, dies and other items are castaways from my long-ago daycare mom days.

Not just in life but in crafting we make decisions every day based on what we think -- what we hope -- we'll do on some fictitious someday.   I've heard rumors of crafters out there who set out with a project in mind - and like with a recipe pick out those things, complete the task and move on to the next.  This is definitely not me -  though I can honestly say that there is HOPE.

For me a lot of the issue has been medical issues.  They really do have lousy timing and get in the way of so very much.  Spending most of 2008 in hospital, then not being able to get the the basement for a time afterwards really put a kink in the plan - many of my toys and tools I just couldn't get to let alone use.  Seems like every time I get my ducks in a row, the domino effect comes into play and though it is tiresome there does come a point where you start to roll with it and hope that you can make it ahead of the next wave.  After a while it becomes an art in and of itself..

Now that I'm a demonstrator for Stampin' Up!  I am constantly adding to my library so that I can keep offering my customers a selection of all the great items we offer.  I have managed to organize all of my toys and tools over two large shelves in my livingroom.  We have recently begun the integration of livingroom takeover,  to a basement craft room makeover and integrating everything..  

I have begun devising new and creative ways to use up my retiring and retired card stocks and papers,  as well as my "other company" products as I work on my storage area and plotting how best to sort and store everything.   I'm working on my own Scrap From my Stash Challenges, as well as some Scrapping challenges in hopes of keeping myself on track and spending much more time at the crafting table.

My teddybear and I have been working on some other ideas as well, and I am looking forward to sharing those with you over the coming weeks and months.

I'd love to hear your ideas also..   feel free to leave a comment and share as we embark on this journey..

Scrappin' and Stampin' at the Family Zoo

It occurred to me today that while several crafty friends, and Stampin' Connection acquaintances and colleagues have been doing a blog-hop of sorts and checking out each other's blogs that when I started responding and watching them that I had used my "regular" Google account to do so.  That in and of itself isn't a huge deal - but it occurs to me that many of you wouldn't have any reason to equate Tammy of "iScrapNStamp" with Tammy of the FamilyZoo..  so I thought perhaps an entry was in order..   :)

When I met my teddybear, he was a single Dad with 3 kids - then 2, 4 and 5.  They had a cat, fish, hamsters, rats and degus that had not made the move with his ex. When we moved in together I added 3 more cats that I'd flown across Canada with me to join us as a family.  I'd found homes for my own fish and rodents before I left Vancouver as I didn't want to add to the menagerie I was heading into.

Unfortunately the cats didn't get along so well, and they were not at all hesitant in letting us know they weren't happy with their new room-mates.  In the end one ran away and was never found and the others we ended up finding new homes for as the daily destruction was a lot more than we could handle.

In any case, over the years we've had a variety of animals.  For many years I was also a home daycare provider - with Kindergarten kids in half days, as well as before and after school kids and summer vacation - well at different times of the day you might find up to 10 or so kids at the house.  I used to joke "I live in a zoo, I live in a zoo"..  I figured with that many kids and critters in one house you didn't have to be crazy, but perhaps it might help.. :)

I've always been a fan of the Family Circus comic strip of years ago and it was certainly with tongue in cheek that the Familyzoo became what I dubbed my household and now some 14 years later, the kids are all pretty much grown and my house is still known as the Familyzoo.

These days we have a pair of african fat tailed geckos, 2 cockatiels, 3 pairs of mated lovebirds and one of their babies, along with several tanks of fish and 2 small dogs.  What can I tell you?  It's usually interesting, rarely boring..   and it's HOME..

So if you happen to see Tammy @ The Familyzoo on your blog..  you know it's just another Scrappin' and Stampin' gal out taking a stroll through the creative minds in her midst.  Don't be afraid to wave and say hi..  I don't bite :)

Cheers!

Tammy