Seven

Warning! Warning! Warning! No-one should impulse buy craft items! But i'm sure none of you do that ...... rite!!!??

I am beginning to think that all craft supplies should have a risk assessment and be sold carrying a health warning.

By now you all know I have a newly organised workspace. I was so excited about getting stuck into making lots and lots and lots of cards. Arrrrrrggggghhhhhh!! Frustration is an understatement. I had a little time to myself during the week and took myself off with a cuppa tea to make a few bits. My mind went blank! Ideas popped in and out of my head so quick I couldnt't make any sense of them. I had paper here, card there, stamps, punches, ribbon, embellishments ..... but I couldn't get anything to gel together. Everything was gorgeous and pretty in its own right but nothing seemed to match anything else. All the patterns and tones clashed or were just a shade off.

I was disheartned, demoralised and totally fed up. After a long time and a lot of mess I did manage to get a couple of pieces together. Still didnt feel much better tho.

I have learnt my lesson and am going to try very, very, very hard. Note to self: no more impulse purchases ........

Six

In the words of 'The Killers' - 'Smile, Like You Mean It'

I've made this card from odds and ends just as a gentle reminder to keep smiling. I do feel that in this busy world some people have actually forgotten how to smile! I know, how shocking is that? It has to be one of the easiest things to do AND it costs nothing. It warms the heart and you never know, you may even get one back!

Do you remember being a kid and laughing so much that you could have been sick? Your belly and cheeks hurt from giggling and then when the fit had finally passed you couldn't remember what you were laughing at. That just set you off again ...... ahh...good times they were. I do still get the odd occassion like that. It's a great feeling.

Just take a look next time you're walking down a busy street. Folk are always in a hurry to get somewhere, bustling about, blank expressions, shouting into their mobile phones and some have hardly the time, energy or inclination to even lift their heads to see what's ahead of them.

I don't see this so much where I live, a small town in NI where you could have said 'hello,hiya' a dozen times from one end of the main street (which isn't all that long!) to the other. I do notice it more when I venture outside of this country area to the city. T'is funny, I know almost everyone who lives in this street but I have friends who live in Belfast and they haven't a clue who their immediate neighbours are. Can you imagine what it's like in huge city like London?

So anyway, keep smiling ......

Five

Isn't it so exciting, my trip to Ikea yesterday was very productive. Can you see my empire starting to take shape? Ha, don't be fooled! Although I have the boxes all nicely arranged .... they're EMPTY!!!!

I haven't started yet to fill them with sparkly things, beads, flowers, card offcuts, stamps, inkpads, cards ..... the list is endless.

So, on this extremely wintery Sunday afternoon, whilst the wind is howling and the rain is beating consistently off the window, I plan to make a start on filling the boxes ...... hmmm .... i wonder do I have enough? When I see the mountain of supplies in the middle if the floor, I am beginning to doubt it .....

My mind is in overload now, seeing everything together has given me lots of ideas. Hopefully it won't take me too long to get sorted (i do have netball practice and dance class to fit in as well!) and I can start blogging about some of my creations.

Think I need a cuppa ..........

Four

Organisation!!! What? I haven't chosen this word today because it's particularly strange or interesting. Oh no, it's because that is going to be my next major project.

I would love to be able to tell you that the tidy organised storage system pictured is mine, for all my crafty bits and pieces ..... but yep, you've guessed already haven't you, it's not mine.

I have been interested in making 'things' , lots of different things over the past many years. 'Things' could be defined as pictures, cards, patchwork quilts, christmas decorations ...... i think you get the idea? Over the years I have accumulated lots and lots and LOTS of products and resources. Sometimes when I'm looking for something entirely different and not at all craft related I come across an item I have purchased and put away for use later. So, as you can imagine there are craft 'things' scattered in various places of the house. This isn't a good idea at all, I never remember what I have and sometimes end up with duplicates (i'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem ....... i hope not anyway!)

The plan then, is to combine everything in the one place for ease of access. It's so much easier to come up with an idea too when you can actually see what you have to work with. Having recently converted the attic space into a bedroom for my youngest I now have some room in his 'used to be' bedroom that i plan to take over and populate with my creativity. So, I need an action plan....

1. Find all craft related items (this could be harder than I think!)
2. Find suitable storage solutions
3. categorise all items into appropriate boxes (this could take a LOT of time)
4. find space for all the boxes
5. fix and re-arrange many times until I get it just the way I want it
6. destroy the tidiness by beginning to make something :P

I have decided on a little trip to Ikea at the weekend, Saturday in fact. If I can't get storage there then I definitely have a problem!! I have had a wee nosey online and there is a great picture of something that would suit just fine (i did try to copy it but it wouldn't let me!) That leaves me two evenings in which to locate all the offending products and shift them to their new home. You know what it's like, once you get stuck into something it's all you can think about. I can see myself spending hours making sure everything has it's own space. I know it will be worth all the pain, sweat and tears (I won't really be crying ... t'is just a figure of speech).

There is something I have to remember though ....... now what is it ..... ummmm, .. oh yes ... feed the children .......

Three

There we go, that wasn't terribly difficult ..... quite pleased with the end result and first draft too. I did use the smaller shape cutter so not as much room to embellish but sometimes less is more as they say.

So that's me settled and contented now that I have experimented. For a little while at least ...........

Two

Two posts in 2 days ....i'm spoiling u's!

And it's not even two days, i'm still within a 24 hour time span here. That's why i'm quite ashamed to say i'm already a blog thief ... oh dear ... but you have to admit that the handmade bookmark pictured just has to be one of the cutest things for like ever! You can see more here http://elzybells.typepad.com/my_weblog/

honestly I don't think i'll be able to settle until I make one of these. My problem is that I don't have the shapecutter for the disc with the frilly edges (you can tell i'm not a seasoned crafter .... i dont even know the technical names for the tools!) I have a similar punch but its on a smaller scale and wouldnt look right. Think i'll have to call in some help on that. Anyone point me in the right direction for a quick purchase?

So if I manage to do this it will enable me to combine 2 of my 3 favourite things. Making and reading (the 3rd is music ... im working on geting it in the mix too). I love reading, love words and they way the can raise emotions. We, my siblings and I, were always encouraged from a young age to read. I remember reading and not even knowing what some of the words meant. If I asked my Mum she always made me guess first and then told me to look it up in the dictionary. I still have to do that sometimes, look words up. I have this friend you see (here we go again .... bit of a trend/theme emerging here .... just lets hope I dont run out of friends!!). We correspond by email and he has such a great vocabulary and uses words i've never heard of. I love it tho, 38 and i'm still learning new words :)

Actually, i'm just back from hols and i managed to fit in quite a lot of reading whilst 'caravaning in the country' Here are the titles:

The Twelve by Stuart Neville - this was fantastic. Having been brought up on the streets of Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles I could really relate to this. All the street names, areas and landmarks frequently on the news were involved. This painted a very vivid picture and I could just imagine all the going's on. I must be however more niave than I thought or maybe I just didnt think of how much high level government turned a blind eye or was directly involved in manipulating events/corruption/collusion. Anyway, def one to recommend.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly - This title was lent to me by a friend. It was a dark adult fairytale which incorporated traditional tales but with a alternative slant. Wierd but brilliant.

The White Tiger (sorry cant remember who wrote this one) - Set in India its about a boy who makes good in the city ...... but how did he do it?? A terrific insight into how things are done in other parts of the world!

Currently getting thro The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - have to really concentrate whilst reading this one but enjoying it all the same.

Not sure how to continue with this blogging, picking a new title for each post could be exhausting, that's why for now they're are just being numbered ^_^ I have this friend, the same friend mentioned previously in fact .... c'mon keep up, no scrolloing back up to see what I wrote, pay attention! He always manages to come up with better subject headings than me :( He calls them obtuse, not keen on that word myself (not sure why ... ) I prefer obscure but there you go. We'll see what happens ...

Just for fun whilst since we're talking lexis.

Ive opened the dictionary at a random page. This is the most interesting word in my humble opinion: Stultify - make ineffective, useless or futile. Now then, let's see if I can get this into a sentence before the end of the day .......

One

Oh wats a girl to do!

I got an email from a friend today telling me she had created a new blog. The link brought me here. Well not here here of course ..... to this site with the orange square and the white B. Blogger? Blogspot? Is there a difference? I dunno, fancy putting me straight?

Well, there went my afternoon down the pan! Curious as I am, I have spent a while (a long while) sifting thro the random ramblings of other folk. I have heard about this blogging lark but never really paid much attention to it. I do have to say tho I could be well and truly hooked, maybe not so much the posting myself, but definitely looking at other creations. This has been all very inspiring. I make cards you see, ok, I used to make cards, thats better. I haven't had much time lately what with one thing or another .... don't ask!

So I have this other friend who did something nice for me. Having perused many card/scrapbooking/crafty blogs I have in fact, this afternoon created a masterpiece, see picture above. Cool eh? Just a wee something to say 'ta very much' Now my kitchen table resembles a bomb site ..... all for one wee card ...... but it was worth it.

I really should make more of an effort to create more of these masterpieces ...... makes me feel good. Just must remember that I have to also feed the two children ........