Organisation

I should warn you that this post is going to be brutally honest.  I am not going to sugar coat the state of my room at all and I am going to confess some cold hard facts on a public forum.  This is really scary, but the truth is .... I cocoon!  You know what that is right?  I build piles ... all around myself.  Piles of things I need to do, things I need to finish, things I want to think about and things that need homes.

Then I get ambitious, or frustrated and I start moving my piles!  This is a big mistake.  Because then, you see, I put pictures that belong here ... somewhere 'safe' where I will 'remember' where they are because it is 'logical'.  AT THAT MOMENT!! When I go to look for said pictures - they are GONE. POOF!  I have no idea where I would have put them, but I am sure I will find them ... 15 minutes after I finish the page that I needed them for so I went out and had them all reprinted.  So, that my friends is the truth about my scrap room.  I am constantly trying to find a 'system' that works for me.  And someday, I truly believe that I will get organised, but for now ... this is what my table mostly looks like.  Some days a little better, some days a little worse.  But mostly .... cocooned.

The one thing I have implemented and that seems to be working well for me is my stamp storage. I scan all my stamps and save them alphabetically to my computer in a very specific file!!  So I can find it!  And, since I am a very visual creator, when I am ready for a stamp, I look through my files and I know EXACTLY where to find the stamp I am looking for.  And, I made the storage pretty, since I am going to have to look at it (once I find homes for all the stuff in front of my boxes!)

 I used left over paper and my Art Philosophy cartridge to decorate the boxes. 

Guess which size I have the most of??

Some of the boxes are STUFFED and some of them are 1/2 empty.  I am sure that I need to purge a bunch of stamps, but I am waiting until I am sure I have them ALL scanned so I can make good choices. This is the limit I have for storage boxes though, so I am pretty sure that for every stamp I purchase ,soon, I am going to have to get rid of one.  I hope I can do it!  I still have about 20 stamps to scan (right now!) and file. Then I can start making some choices. Every catalog it gets harder and harder, because I am pretty careful to only buy what I love.

So, my friends, that is a peek into my scrap room.  I would give you a real tour, but I keep tripping over the piles on the floor that I am looking for homes for.  I think after this retreat one pile will be totally handled!  Yeah!  then I can find homes for all these things .......   connie

Guardian Angels

Do you believe in guardian angels?  I do.  I have ever since I was little and I give them a workout, I assure you.  I drive between Rapid City and Sturgis several times a month.  That seem to be the time that I challenge my guardian angels the most.

For example, last night I was driving home from my monthly Club meeting in Sturgis and letting my mind wonder over all the fun we had had, and what pictures I wanted to put in my little Cruisin' book, now that it wouldn't be passed around so much, when I caught a movement in the road in front of me.  It is amazing how quickly your mind processes information when you are about to be in an accident.  I recognized that the  movement was a small deer.  Then that there were 2 small deer.  Then that there was blood on the highway so someone must have hit these babies mama. Then I realized that I was about to hit at least one of them and I braised for the impact. When I braised for the impact, I turned my wheel - slightly!  And went right between the two fawns!!

I couldn't believe it!  I missed them both!!  And my dad's truck remained unscathed!  Only through the intersession of my guardian angels.  I know I give them a work out, but I thank God every day that they are there.

I shook all the way home.  I thought about sharing this all night long, and I find it is something I must.  It is the only way I know to express how grateful I am for every day ..... C

September 2012: National Stamping Month

I am so excited to share this special with you!  I love this stamp set.  For NATIONAL STAMPING MONTH Close to my Heart has created a beautiful double stamp set that matches our DOTTY paper from National Scrap booking Month!  I am loving this set.  It will work not only with fabulous daily scrap book pages, but it is going to make some amazing cards too!  It touches on all the trends in the paper craft world right now and I couldn't be more thrilled.  If you would like this stamp set for just $5.00 please contact me at the email shown to the right of this post.  HAPPY STAMPIN EVERYONE!    C

And so Normal life begins ... Again

The rally is over , and even though I don't have kids in school any more, this seems to be the time of year that I start re-evaluating my schedule and seeing what I can do to get some control over my time and my activities.  I look forward to things slowing down and falling into a routine again. ( Has there ever really been a routine?  I'd like to think so.) And I start planning all the things I want to get done before the new year begins.  I could probably tell you how many day until the dreaded Christmas deadline, but that would be unkind, and I don't want to do that to you.

CLOSE TO MY HEART IS HAVING A SALE! It is While Supplies Last so you need to head over to my website and check out the great deals!!  $2.00 Albums!!  I am in shock.  If you are interested in any of these items, get your orders in now.  I don't know how long they will last.  I am hoping to catch some of the albums... but we will see.

And, I always think that I should have a picture in every post, so I am going to add a random picture from our Rally adventures this month!  Enjoy, and I hope you will hear from me again soon!  C

National Scrapbooking Month

This is my favorite month of the year!  Not only is it my birthday, which I start celebrating as early as I can, but it is National Scrapbooking Month!  That means I get to organize a full day crop and I plan to get a ton of my scrapbooking done!  Our Crop day is always the first Saturday of May, and I am STOKED to be headed to a full day of scrapbooking and no interruptions!

I have already pulled my pictures and put them with the B&T papers I want to use for Saturday.  That, for me, is half the battle.  Once I have that done, I just pull out my CTMH design books and start creating!  I am planning on pulling enough cardstock today to get through all those paper packs without bringing my whole scrapbooking room to the crop.  And, I have already decided that my mission (and I do choose to accept it) is to use chipboard and embellishments, brads and eyelets, waxy flax and sparkles on ALL my pages!  I am guilty of under embellishing, so, I am going to glitter and grunge all day Saturday!

I will start cooking on Friday and have everything ready for my friends that are coming to play with me on Saturday.  Crock-pot Fajitas and lots of munchies to get us through the day!  My car will be packed Friday night, and DH has already volunteered to come with my Saturday morning and get things unloaded and set up so we girls can play.  What a good guy!  I think that is my favorite birthday present.  He is so wonderful about helping me with my scrapbooking business and all of the fun events I have with my friends.  What more could a girl ask for?


Well, you know I hate to publish a blog without pictures, so I am posting the CLUB projects my little group of friends did last month!  We used the LUCY paper packet from CTMH and made these wonderful cards!  I love how soft and dreamy the papers are.

And I had an awful time finding pictures to use on the scrap book page for this paper.  I resorted to digging out my college pictures.  And these are them!!  ha ha   I don't have very many, so I had to make them work.   I must not have owned a camera in college, or I am nothing like my oldest son, who live in front of the camera!! The picture of me with the beer (probably the first one I drank in front of my parents) is one of my favorite pictures of myself.  I don't know why, but it is.  I am glad to see it in a book finally!  

So, there you have it.  My girly pages!  ha ha   The rest of my paper pack is going to be used for birthday and sympathy cards, and maybe some pictures for the book I keep of my clients at the salon.  A bunch of prom girls in that book!   Now, I am off to finish packing for NSD and get myself to work today!  

See you soon, c

Check out this month's special from Close to my Heart!  I just got mine and can't wait to play with it.  You can get one for yourself by placing an order from the Spring/Summer idea book for $35.00 or more in product between April 17 and May 31. You will get the 'Dotty for You' paper pack for only $5.00. That is a great deal considering the paper packet includes 24 coordinating B&T duos and an idea sheet!  Not bad for $5.

You could also have me come and do a gathering for you and your friends to earn this paper pack. Invite all of your friends to come and spend a fun afternoon making cards or a scrapbook page and if you gather $400 in sales, you can get the paper pack for FREE!  And you get to have a great time playing with friends.

One other way to get this paper pack for FREE, sign up to be a Close to my Heart demonstrator. This is the funnest job I have ever had and the cost is minimal.  Sign up this month and get the Dotty for You paper pack FREE!

Contact me if you are interested in any of these options!  I would love to hear from you.

What Happened to Winter?

I can't believe it is April already.  We had a long and painful last month or two.  We've managed to catch every single bug that has run through town.  I am tired of being sick!  It has also really put a damper on getting anything done not only around the house, but in my scrapbooking room.  I managed to get the Club projects done on time (barely) and managed to have a meeting with some of my new recruits just this last week, but things have really suffered.

Today, I am feeling much better and hoping to get on the road to accomplishment.  I spend most of the morning working on my taxes (something I am NEVER putting off this long again) and this afternoon, after maybe a quick nap, I am planning on getting started on my club projects for April.  We have a busy month, with a little trip to Denver in the mix, so I really want to get things started early.

I am starting to plan our wonderful FIFTH ANNUAL NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!  On May 5, a bunch of us will be meeting at 8AM and scrapbooking our little hearts out until about midnight.  I am so excited!  I have already ordered my pictures and am planning my pages! I hope to get a ton of pages done and use up more paper!  I really need to whittle down my supplies.  I have a hard time buying new stuff when I know what is sitting at home.  What do you do to use up paper?  I am trying to budget more scrapping time in my week and hopefully use up paper not just on pages, but get some cards going again.  I have really fallen behind on that.  I think I may be putting some of my cards in the salon for sale this year.  We will see how that goes.

Well, I have probably rambled enough for now.  I am sorry no art went up today, I will make sure and have some next time I post.  See you soon - c