Springtime?

I get the feeling that Mother Nature isn't gettng on board with the whole Spring is coming sentiment.

Yesterday (St. Patrick's Day; which usually brings Springtime to my mind at least) brought 6 inches of snow and sore muscles from shoveling...definitely not my idea of spring starting.  It definitely has been a cold and long winter this year.

I'm sure it wil arrive one day soon!  
On a much sweeter note:  Yesterday morning Jaiden decided to make a Leprechaun trap with the two hour delay for school.  It was quickly done and all hers.

Spring Cleaning has arrived!

I've dabbled for the past week on getting this going but today is the day to really get going on this.  I will be begin with my kitchen and craftroom...taking a full week to get my kitchen done and allowing the craftroom more of a good straightening today.  I know I won't get it all done in two weeks time but at least a good start for the month.
Yes as crazy as it may sound I'm putting a time limit to get it done in....deadlines tend to help me out....lol.  Nothing like putting pressure on ourselves.
I'm trying to get back on track with Flylady by using the weekly zone plus adding extras each day; hence the kitchen taking a week....second week of the month is the .....you guessed it Kitchen!
I feel by doing it this way when the rooms next roll around for the zone of the week I will have a headstart with doing some of the overlooked areas of it.....at least it sounds good early in the morning to my mind.....LOL.
I still have a few things to get done on my swaps for the month and really need to get busy with scrapping LOs for the amusement park album before adding more pictures to get to for this subject...not to mention a dance recital and birthday party coming up for my favorite subject....Jaiden.
So for now I leave to go get busy....perhaps later I will post pics of my progress in the adventure of Spring Cleaning!

January Swaps and Ornament

Boy it feels good to be getting caught up....sorry for the backpeddaling.
First for my tag:  Love was the theme; Je t'aime Paris!

Next was the Heart Shaped Card:  This was my first easel card to make but I like the way it turned out. (Please excuse the mess in the background; when creating I have things all over....lol)

ATCs: Valentine's themed

The Bride's Tree Ornament was January was a heart symbolizing True Love.

I'm making my ornaments about 4 inches tall so if I decide to give them to a young couple they will fit on a smaller tree but won't be totally lost on a larger tree either.  I'm leaving the backside blank so a photo of the couple could be added if they would like.

March Swaps and ornament will have to be completed before adding them so this will be the last post today....lol.

Hopefully Spring is on it's way and we can all begin to thaw out.

More updates on creative play

Although not quite as soon as I'd planned; here are some more photos of playtimes
First working with a new to me technique for a swap:  Technique is the "brick wall" technique from the www.splitcoaststampers.com site (I really love this site!)

As a trial I made a card with it. I like the way it turned out, but thought it needed a little something more.

 So for a swap with this technique was time to make the tag:  The first stamp used was a little too much for my tag so I used a set of Stampin' UP! stamps (tulips).  This time I inked the edges of all the "bricks" and love it!

 Next was time to make a card for a swap: The theme was Green and Spring (I know I am so ready for Spring like most everyone)  I cut the thistle from a Cricut Cartridge (Art Nouveau).  Thistles are dear to me filling me with fond memories of the 4 years we spent in Scotland.

ATC Swap: Pastels were the theme!  I went through many different ideas before coming up with this simple but sweet card.

Next is the ornament for the Bride's Tree Ornaments: This is a series of 12 ornaments with a symbol of something specific.  A custom in Germany is to give a set of the ornaments to a Bride for their first Christmas. 

The Teapot is a symbol for hospitality

More photos will follow soon of swaps from January and the ones I'm working on now for March.

Prayers for everyone to be safe, warm and healthy!

Time for new beginnings

It has been such a long time since I have found my way back here......too long!  I decided today after much soul searching over the last several weeks that I really need to work on things for me.  Although it may seem selfish to actually say that, I really think when you hit a place where you feel you are losing who you are and not taking care of yourself something needs to be done.

I have continued to work occasionally on setting up my craftroom and still have a ways to go...of course it is easy to get sidetracked and make a little mess to get some creating time in...lol.
I have been doing some crafting; mostly for swaps and enjoying them I just haven't been posting to share them.  I will be working on trying to share them over the next few days.

This hula girl and palm tree will be the stars for Jaiden's birthday invitation this year.  She is very excited to be having a luau party....got to get busy on things.

I have been busy making swap items every month and often this is my only crafting, but I'm hoping to get things going again.  I'll share items soon (I still have to load them onto my computer or tablet....lol).

Photos of craft room so far

Keep in mind this is just the beginning.....lol.

On the left is storage for cutting station: cricut cartridges, spellbinders, sizzix, CM cutting system, etc.

short shelf unit has binders of notes from online classes, inventory of punches, stamps etc. And my cricut until I get the cutting table set up.

Shelf unit on right has my adhesives, totes for scraps, punches (these will move to the cutting shelf soon), a storage box for projects being worked on, and extra storage boxes for organizing things not sorted yet.

One side of the wardrobe is for papers, still have lots to get sorted but it started...lol.  

This side of the wardrobe is a work in progress also: a few storage boxes for quilling supplies, page kits and right now miscellaneous.

Playtime posting

Today I got to work on a few things which finished up a couple swaps.
First up is a set of Christmas cards and I went for a simple design.

I love the holly embosed cardstock.  This is from paper pad I bought a couple years ago.  I layered it on the red cs to draw out the red berries.  The green circle is a wreath pattern from the cricut lite cartridge JOLLY Holiday which I decorated with red stickles and cut out the doily from a spellbinders set.  The white flower is from the same set to finish it off I used a red pearl adhesive embellishment.

Next was a set of 6 gift tags:  I just love making my own gift tags.

I used a shimmer white cs that I embossed with a "Victoria" embossing folder then inked the edges with Brick Red distressing ink.  Used a small punch to make the flowers (two shades of red cs) and used a clear glitter stickle to outline the top flower for definition.  Cut a leaf from the Sizzix Susan's Garden set of hibicus.

Next is an ornament: For this I cut out the Christmas Tree 4 times and tore three of them at the different lengths and slightly curled the edge. Layered these onto the fourth tree, then used the stickles (clear) to give a slight "snowed" look.  I then used some adhesive pearls for the ornaments and a glittered star for the topper.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my little creations and now I'm off to watch a game between OU Sooners and Baylor Bears!  Have a great weekend and check back later for more creations.