Bravely we tackle the room of doom

My adventures with creativity started following a life changing event... and in the early days all the materials I owned fit into one small expanding toolbox type container.  Hard to believe now, but that was way back when...

Over the years as my interest grew so did my accumulation of materials and I bought all sorts of things to try out..My buying habits were random and I was often influenced by price (cheap) or captivated by cuteness or anything pretty, without considering how I might actually use it.

Fast forward a couple of years and my interests were firmly established and my buying more focused...not under control of course - because almost all crafters like to buy new goodies, but at least I was buying things I knew I would use... Only trouble was I was buying them faster than I could actually use them.

Our home office became my craft room and it was perfect for a while... but about four years ago we realised I had outgrown it and after much consideration the larger but rarely used guestroom became my craftroom. More light and more space was heavenly...but what happened?  My craft supplies expanded to fill the available space...

Of course they did not do that on their own - they had a lot of help from me  and before we knew it the lovely craftroom became a chaotic craft pit aka the room of doom....

We promised we would tackle it, swore we would not take another holiday until it was done... but of course we did and I bought more goodies on my travels...until we reached the point where finally enough was enough. We agreed that over this holiday period we would finally tackle the room of doom....

We allowed ourselves Christmas Day and Boxing Day to chill and then we got stuck in. starting yesterday. And WOW! What a revelation. I must admit I am a mix of childish glee and utter embarrassment as I uncover loads of brand new unopened goodies and things I had long forgotten I even owned.... and I mean LOADS! Basics like card and adhesives, as well stamps, dies, embellishments, ribbon and enough alterables to last an eternity...

The first joy was moving the boxes and bags that cluttered the floor and actually seeing the floor and being able to move around the room without the need to scoot sideways, swerve or tiptoe round something... I could appreciate the space once more without fear of  a paper avalanche.

This is a BIG job and I am under no illusion that  it will be quick or easy. It is going to take time to complete but I am so looking forward to an organised craft space in which to create...and in the meantime I having so much fun discovering goodies and thinking of ways to use them... as I  sort and tidy.

The temptation to ditch the sorting and move onto the creating part is strong so my work desk is deliberately covered in piles of stuff ...and this stuff will be the final stuff to be sorted...

So the creating is on hold until the sorting is completed. I hope to be back soon and for the first time in a long while hope to share pictures of my newly organised creative space.

Until next time, take care
Cxx

Finally made a start on my Christmas cards

I am a firm believer that  Christmas belongs in December... trouble is that seems to find me mid-month  frantically making cards and trying to beat posting deadlines. Of course it doesn't help that I still can't bring myself to batch make several cards of the same design...I know it makes sense and would save a ton of time, but I love the creative aspect of making all of the cards different in some way.

This year I decided to use a few general themes... so I have gnomes, owls,  snowflakes and Santas and the collage pic above shows samples of each. 

It is fun doing these festive makes and I just love sending a smile in an envelope, especially at Christmas.

Haven't used my Bah Humbug stamp yet... but that may still happen ;)

Until next time.
Cxx

Winter themed tags

I seemed to have joined rather a lot of swaps this month...and all of them with a winter theme...so here are two tags for starters...

I cut all the tags  and washers with a Tin Holtz tag die set. I cut two the same for each tag and then trim the second one of each for a perfect fit as a layer on the base

The tag on the left is "Do you see what I see?" and  has a Kraft base and a cream velvet card layer,which has been treated with two shades of distress oxides wiped back through a leafy stencil to get the background effect. Once that was fully dry I stamped over with white Kraft ink and a couple of snowflake stamps. The owl was stamped, coloured and punched out along with the branches and adhered to the tag (the owl is popped up on a foam pad) Then I went over the entire tag and picked out areas to add some sparkly stickles. The final step was to decide on the wording for which I used a sticker by my dear friend Marta 

The tag on the right is "Let it Snow"  and has a white base which was stamped with random snowflakes before the layer was added. The main panel was coated with blue distress oxides and wiped back through a cracked stencil to give an icy effect. This was over-stamped with random snowflakes using white Kraft ink... which was also used to blend the edges. The dancing penguin was one I had in my Xmas box and I thought he worked well with this theme and colour. The snowflakes and stars were punched out of  diamond glitter card and the whole thing was finished by the addition of the wording sticker 

The tags have since made their way to the intended recipient who says she loves them, so that is a job well done!

Until next time

Cxx

Share a smile today

I have a regular  swap buddy and we take part in a monthly card swap and this is the card I made for her this month. 

It is super grungy but very soft to the touch. The base layer is Kraft card and the layer on top is cream velvet card, treated with distress oxides and  then wiped back with a stencil. I used inked and stamped  die cut Kraft card behind the TH alterations paper dolls. The layered sentiment is  made from stamped and die cut brown paper flowers and I used perfect pearls in opposite corners to finish it off.

I quite liked how this one came out in the end I really hope Suzanne will love it when it lands on her doormat....and she did!

Until next time

Cxx