It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I posted.  I didn't realize it had been so long.  This past year and a half has been a whirl wind of activity and changes.  I am still a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and still love their products and still get to create, just not as much as I use to before. At least not yet, but changes keep happening, so hopefully I'll get more time soon.  

This past year I encountered a ton of health issues and at times found it difficult just to keep up with life.  Battling cancer takes a toll not only on your health, your time, but also on your family and your life. But like many others I am a survivor.  By the grace of God, and love and encouragement of friends and family, I have made it through. Forever changed, but able to spend another day loving and caring for my family and sharing with my friends. God has definitely blessed me many times throughout the battle.

Having a major illness has made me re-think some things and honestly I'm still processing some possible changes.  I have been debating whether or not to restart this blog  back.  Before it was mainly just Stampin' Up! ideas and information, which I may still continue to do that way.  I've also been considering making it a compilation of all the different things I'm interested in at the moment. Both creative and items pertaining to life.  Sometimes it's just fun to share things you learn along the way.  I'm not sure how many who use to read this will check it out again or if you all have an opinion of things you'd to see or read about but I'm open to suggestions.  Do I keep it strictly Stampin' Up! or make it a mixture? 

Right now, besides crafting, I check out biblical items (bible studies, devotions, etc), organizing ideas (as I'm trying to re-vamp and catch up in my home), recipe ideas (to make my family healthier) and things that just overall improve life.   If I can combine those and be creative at the same time, it's even better.

One very, very basic organizing tip I learned recently was to put like things together.  Now I know that sounds very basic, but not having grown up being organized, it was a new concept.  I am one of those people who have a junk drawer in every room. I never thought about having one place for all like things. So I started going through some things and found multiples of some items I didn't know I had.

 For instance, Scotch tape.  When I started cleaning out and organizing some things in my home, I started collecting the tape in a box to put into one area.  I didn't realize how much tape I had collected and had until I did that. I had a shoe box full of Scotch tape and refills.   The same went for my Snail refills and other adhesives.  I made a box just for them and they are now nicely labeled on a box in my shelf and I realized I won't have to buy any for several months (smile).  So the other day when I ran out of mono adhesive, I walked over to my cabinet, pulled out my nicely labeled adhesive box and found a new one. Didn't have to go digging for one.  So basic and yet so refreshing at the same time.

So is there anything in your life that you have a "lot" of that's spread around at your house?  When I started looking around and thinking about how some of my items were laid out, I realized I have a lot of work to do.  It's refreshing though, to not have to keep up with where they are all at.  As soon as our schedule slows down a bit, I'm hoping to do even more organizing.  I can't wait until I can get into my craft room and organize it.  Maybe I'll be brave and  post some pictures. It has become our catchall room where we throw everything when we need to clean up quickly. Maybe some of you have an area like that too?  If so, you'll have to share. Maybe we can encourage each other. I definitely want to make mine usable again. Just have to work out the right timing of it all.

So give your thoughts?  Do you want just Stampin' Up! ideas or variety of ideas?  Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail.
Blessings,
Lisa

circle ornament?

Hey everyone,
It's been pretty busy around here getting ready for the holidays. I haven't had much time to play it seems. I did finish a couple of projects that I am using as gifts that I need to mail out soon. Most of them you have seen if you have come to my classes - calendars and such. I need to make some more gift card holders still and I am still getting ready for my club on Monday. I have 3 different projects to make, so I hope they enjoy them. I'll share those next week.
We've been busy trying to get ready for the extra Christmas stuff. We just got our tree up and decorated last night and have repaired it at least 3 times - the cats see it as a new challenge. Hopefully it will be old news in a couple of days and they will leave it alone. :) We got our angel tree items in too, which is a relief. I had my DD help me with the shopping this time. She seemed to like that. We have a weekend full of activities and our first taste of Christmas as we get together with my husband's parents to celebrate early. I have had a little time to play between all that. I got to make this ornament, more sparkly ornaments, which I'll show soon, a countdown to Christmas box and a set of cards made with the simply sent Christmas card elements and the To You and Yours stamp set. I'll show them in the next few days as well.
Anyways, back to this ornament. This is a circle globe ornament, kind of like the big ball with less circles. I used 10 here instead of 20. The difference is I turned the flaps inward and not out. I'm now wondering what 20 would look like. This turned out pretty cool I think and they come out into different shapes. The last one was long and pointy this one is 5 sided and more flatter (looks the same on both sides). I used the Frosty Days DSP and my Big Shot and circle ornament die to make this. I also used the small hole punch and silver cording to put a hanger on it. It's all held together with SU glue stick. You ought to try some they are fun. I hope you all are having a great day. Try not to stress too much getting ready for the holidays. Remember one step, one day at a time - and don't forget to breathe.

labor day weekend

Hey everyone,
I can't believe it, I actually got some time to create this weekend. I got to make several items, but I didn't get to finish any one !set of projects, because I'm still missing parts. Part of my order should be here later this week. Yeah! Okay, here is a look at some of the projects I got to complete. I'll put them in different posts, so I can label them. I hope you like them.

just a general update

Hey everyone,
I haven't had time to create much lately. Between trying to get stuff back into my craft room and keeping up with all the weekly stuff, it hasn't left me much time. My kids started soccer this year for the first time. It was so cute watching them run around the field. They didn't really understand it all, but it was fun watching them try and then finally getting parts. Now if they were just a little more aggressive. hmm.

Another good note is that my craft room is almost usable again. Just some more supplies to put away and then the rest of the boxes can be at my leisure since they hold memorabilia and such. Now I just need to decide how I want to decorate it all and what projects to display. Of course I'm such an addict that most of the room is filled with stuff. :) There is a little wall space, so there are a few options. I'll probably wait until the new decor elements hit on September 15 to totally decide what I want to do though. Also starting this week, the Big Shot and dies are available to purchase. Yeah! I hoping to do some items this month with club using that. I've also been working on a scrapbook idea and a Christmas stamp-a-stack. I've just been waiting for my stuff to come in. I started working on my ideas and realized I didn't have a few items. Can you believe it, something I don't have. lol. I hope to have it ready to post by next weekend if it arrives this week. Hope everyone is doing well. Will post again soon.

An update 8/12

Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't written lately. I've had a lot of catching up to do since Salt Lake and I'm still behind. Don't ask me why. Life just happens. Well, I know part of it. School started this week, so we have been out getting supplies and getting DD ready for 4th grade. She has new teachers this year and she entered the advanced program, so we are going to have to learn all about that. I'm sure that means more work for all of us too. You know - every year - they have what I call parent homework - all the forms you have to fill out (worse then a mortgage) and they also have projects that kids can't do without parental help. I'm not sure why they do that, but they do. She has a small one due Friday. I'm off soon to find an extra shoebox for that. Now what to decorate it with. Hmm.... which of the thousands of supplies should we use. Lol. Also, this past weekend, between birthday celebrations, church, and visiting with great friends I got to start painting on my craft room. For those of you that don't know, we got water in my craft room around Christmas time. I lost quite a bit of money in supplies with the damage. Well, it took them till Memorial weekend to come out and fix it (a big backlog in this area with this problem). We had to wait about a month or so to let the cement cure, then between classes and swap making I had no time to paint it until this weekend. I've been without a room pretty much since not long after the water came in, so my lovely family has had to do without a dining room table until it's done. Now it's DH time to finish the carpet and base boards, then I can start putting back all my supplies, and we can start putting the rest of the basement in order then too (if you didn't know we had to fix 2 rooms and the family room to fix the problem - so they had to be either all or almost all emptied out). Can I say a lot of work. They supposedly guarantee no more water. I sure do hope so. It was miserable to go into my room and step into a big cold wet area. I have to say though, I'm not totally sure on the color I chose. It may have to grow on me. It looked different in the store. I chose a brown (neutral to best display lots of my projects). I ended up changing my mind at the last minute and decided upon darker, but not too dark because of the lighting in the basement. I have a feeling it should have been darker. I kept thinking it would dry darker. The guy might have mixed it wrong - that's a whole nother story about that special trip. If you are interested, just ask. Now mind you the color is suppose to be nutmeg brown, but I think what's on my wall is kind of like a cross between baby pooh and chocolate. My husband and son think chocolate, my daughter laughed and said pooh, does that say a lot. Okay, if you are done laughing now, I hope to put stuff back soon. Then you can come and see for yourself and come hang out and create some. Who knows, next thing you know you'll either want chocolate or "go do something else". LOL. I'm not right. Anyways, I'm hoping to play and create more this weekend, so hopefully I'll have some more samples soon. Hope you got a great laugh.