Whew! It's over!

It's hard to believe that after all the hype, the shopping, the wrapping, the cooking (well, not me, but some people!) suddenly it's over. Just like that. Now we're just left with the mess . . . what to do with all the boxes, the leftovers (again, not me!) and the gifts that need to be put away.

I tend to be one of those people that is ready to move on as soon as Christmas is over. I'm ready to take down the tree, partly because I want to get the living room "back to normal" and partly because it's really, really dead. As long as I need to get out the ornament storage box I might as well just put it all away, right? I would guess that by the time this weekend is over our house will look as if Christmas never happened.

We had a wonderful Christmas full of family, great food and so many gifts. Way too many gifts - we are very blessed.

My daughter, a poor college student, gave me the gift she could afford which was using her talent to draw the picture shown here. Below the drawing was a list of things that she will do for me while she is home on break, including keeping her shoe count by the door "low". Not sure how many pairs she feels is an appropriate number, but I appreciate the effort.

I have already moved on to Valentine's Day in my 1000Markets shop! I told you I don't mess around! Here's a sample of new items listed in my shop - I'd love to have you visit my shop, write a comment on my "wall" and buy a few things! Happy Shopping!

Merry Christmas!

photo by Angie McDonald from ParentMap.com

No matter how you spend the next fews days - with family, with friends, working, catching up on sleep - enjoy. Turn off the lights, light a candle and sing Silent Night. Stay warm. Eat something you love. Merry Christmas.

The pressure is . . . off!

This is my first holiday season as an on-line seller at 1000Markets, and as I sit back and review my holiday performance I am . . . underwhelmed! I knew way back in September that I should be making lots of Christmas items for sale. My plan was to have several different sets of Christmas cards for sale and some gift card holders too. I stocked up on green cardstock and sat and thought, and thought, and then I thought some more. Try as I might I could not come up with any ideas!

I moved on and worked on other things, waiting for the Christmas creative block to clear, but every time I tried to come up with ideas I came up short. I tend to be a procrastinator and work well under pressure, but I really wanted to have Christmas items for sale early. I did eventually come up with some cute gift tags and mini cards, but that was it.

Now that the holidays are upon us and it's too late to for Christmas cards for this year, I feel free to move on and make other items and suddenly I'm full of ideas! Some of my ideas are even Christmas related - how irritating is that?? Tonight I've been working on some birthday and thank you cards and the ideas just came to me in no time at all. I guess the pressure of making the perfect Christmas cards got the best of me. Next year I'm going to get started earlier, and hopefully I won't suffer the same creative block I faced this year.

Let it Snow card

One of the cards I made over the weekend is the snowman card pictured here. It would work well as a holiday thank you card, or just to send a note to a friend. It features the cutest little snowman which has been attached using pop-up adhesive so that he really stands out. You can purchase this card in my 1000Markets shop.

Happy Holidays to all - enjoy good food, friends and family, and those holiday traditions that make this season so special.

Oh the weather outside is frightful . . .

Winter is definitely here in Minnesota! This tree is in our front yard and you can see the snow on the ground and the tree, but what you can't see is how hard it's snowing right now. It's one of those winter days where you just want to snuggle in, grab a hot drink and do crafts!

Normally I would love a day like that and plan not to leave the house. However, today is the day that my daughter comes home for Christmas, so I have a 1-1/2 hour drive to the airport planned for late tonight. Her flight is scheduled to arrive at 11:45 p.m. from Oregon . . . and I'm very worried that the flight will be cancelled. That would be very bad news! I'm so excited to see her and even a one day delay would make me very sad.

I'm checking the flight (still showing as on time), watching the weather on the news and on-line, and looking out the window every minute!

Since it seems to be too much to ask to have a direct flight from Portland to Minneapolis she has to fly to Phoenix first, and there is a chance that she could end up staying there. The good news is that my cousin is in Phoenix visiting her in-laws for the holidays and she has graciously offered to host my daughter if need be. Thanks Jana!

Ok, I need to get back to the window and watch the snow fall. If you would keep your fingers crossed for me I would appreciate it very much!

Christmas Gift Cards & Tags

I've been having a lot of fun making cards and tags for Christmas. I've really been focusing on very simple items because I think there's enough chaos in the season!


You can find them in my shop at 1000Markets. Take a moment to check them out!

Merry Christmas!

A sticky situation

Anyone that does paper crafts knows that your work is only as good as your adhesive. When you spend time creating a special card, tag or scrapbook page you want to feel confident that it will look just as good even after it's been handled, mailed, or given as a gift.

I've been doing paper crafts for many years and there have been so many improvements in the quality of products available for use, from scrapbook supplies that are archival to embellishments that come in so many varieties that people need a whole room just for their "hobby". Have you even seen a group of people heading to a "crop"?? If you didn't know better you might think they had been forced to move from their home and they are carrying with them everything they own. I go on a couple of scrapbooking weekends each year with a group of friends. Four of us usually ride together and we need a suburban! And we hardly bring any clothes!

The advancement in product and equipment for paper crafts is really astounding. Have you seen the Cricut? It's a truly amazing machine that cuts out shapes and sizes - anything you can imagine! Are you familiar with the number and sizes of punches available? Holy cow! Even rulers come a variety of sizes, are made from a number of materials and have a variety of edge types.

So with all this advancement why is it that it's so darn hard to find adhesive that works?? I've been known to say that adhesive is the bane of my existance. And I meant it. Until now.

My good friend Becky Higgins (ok fine, we haven't actually met but I admire her work and she DID email me once!!!) recommended Duck Double Stick Adhesive on her blog. I thought I had tried every brand known to man, but this one was new to me. I figured if Becky used it with all the paper crafting she does then I should definitely check it out.

I bought some Duck adhesive, used it, loved it and now it's a staple in my crafting world. It's a little more expensive than some of the other brands and it's not refillable, but man does it work slick! It doesn't get all gummy, it rolls nice and smooth, and it fits nicely in my hand. It's not available in every craft store, but 2 of my favorite store do carry it - JoAnn Fabrics and a local scrapbooking store. At JoAnn Fabrice you can but it in "bulk", as shown in the photo, which is great because I use lots of it. I go through TONS of adhesive, and finding a brand that works well for me is like, well I can't think of anything better or even as good.

If you use adhesive and you aren't happy with it, give the Duck brand a try.

Oh, one more thing. When I was in 6th grade I went to Bible Camp and met and "fell in love" with a boy whose nickname was Ducky. Maybe that's why I like this adhesive so much.

Confessons of a Neat Freak

I admit . . . I'm a bit of a neat freak. Is that bad? I don't think so, except that sometimes I spend more time organizing my "stuff" than I do making "stuff". I'm lucky to go on 2 weekend getaways with some scrapbooking friends during the year, and I always get the prize for the neatest workspace. I like to have everything in a cute container and lined up "just so" while I'm working.

I've included a few photos of my workspace. My space is in our basement, open to our family room, so I can be part of the action while I'm working (that's kind of funny because there's very little going on! But if there was anything exciting happening I would be right in the middle of it.). My craft table holds all of my most often used tools within easy reach along with some of my favorite embellishments. I have nice task lighting and some bits of inspiration as well. Right in front of me, taped to the wall, are tickets to one of the many Bruce Springsteen concerts I have been lucky enough to attend. Right next to the ticket stubs is a cute note from a friend of mine - it inspires me to write neatly! Can you believe that's her actual handwriting? She rocks.

Next to my craft table is a small shelving unit which holds so very many things. In this photo I actually think it's messy . . . a little too cluttered for me. The stackable tins on the top shelf are not only cute but very functional. To the right of the shelving unit hangs my assortment of ribbon. If you haven't heard of the Ribbon Ring you really want to check it out. It is one of the best inventions ever when it comes to storing ribbon.

I spend so many hours at this table making cards, gift tags, scrapbook albums, etc. I'm thrilled to have a space to work at rather than having to pack up every time I finished working, which is what I used to have to do. Having a dedicated craft space means that I can run downstairs and work on something even if I only have a small window of opportunity.

The only bad thing about the location of my craft space is that the computer is right behind me. There's way too much temptation to sit at the computer and surf the net. It's handy if I need to look something up or print some text, but I might get more work done if the computer was a bit farther away!

Leave comments about your workspace here or feel free to comment on my space. If you just want to talk about The Boss that's fine by me too!

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