Crafting in the Works

This is the second time that I'm writing this entry...I hit the wrong button and lost my truly inspiring post!! It really wasn't that inspiring, but I managed to write a few clever lines...so, here I go again!

Well, thanks to inspiration from many crafting blogs and true determination, I am finally on the road to creating my own craft space. I can't function where I'm set up now and feel very stifled! So I'm purging my daughter's first bedroom dresser set which is "high-quality" pressboard, cardboard and plywood!! You know what I mean....the drawers pull out crooked, sawdust spews all over, they don't stay on the center track and the bottoms are falling out!! Really if you looked at them you'd never know it. They are faux cherry with federal brass pulls...the outside shell is not laminated, but has proven to be indescructable....just don't pull out the drawers!! Hopefully the dressers will end up in the home of a DIY-er who will give them some new life.

So now.....I'm going to put a long work table/desk in the space where the long dresser was, a tall storage cabinet where the tallboy was, and fill in the side spaces with the storage cubes from Michaels. I'm probably going new with the first two choices unless I decide to repurpose an old table from my mother's hoarders-style basement! I decided to go with white as the room is a pale yellow with white moldings. There's an antique cherry bed in there which I will probably replace with an old iron headboard at some point. The room colors are primarily pink, sage, ivory and yellow with bits of other dainty colors. My mom is near 90 and has started giving me 'jingies' which include little cups and saucers, milk pitchers, sandwich plates, milk glass, Hull pottery, etc. I've been using that room to display what I have, so the white should work well. I'll post pics in the near future so that you can see what I came up with.

Hope you are having an inspiring day!

My Maiden Voyage

Well, I promised myself that I would create my first card or two by month's end....now I finally did it! I had a great time. I kept everything very simple...relied on some ready-made items to help give me confidence with color combos. My husband and daughters were my guinea pig recipients. They seemed very appreciative of their homemade cards...I was happy about that.

Here are my first little gems! The photography & detailing aren't as sharp as I would have liked, but hope you enjoy this newbie's first attempt.......

Now I realize that I should have taken a side-view picture since this is a vertical foldover card. The red area at the bottom is part of the inside of the card. I used Martha Stewart papers, embellishments and borders. The ribbon was from clearance at Michaels.

I got daring on this card. It's another foldover....is there a theme going here? I used Martha Stewart papers and embellishments. I punched a heart in the cover with a Marvy punch and placed a MS cupcake inside on foam. There is a bit of lace punching at the bottom courtesy of my MS border punches. The X and O ribbon was from a 90% off bin from last year's end-of-the-holiday sale at Michaels. I'm glad that the colors blended so well.

Last, but not least, is a matchbook folding card. I used K & Co. borders, Anna Griffin embellishemts, 10 cent/roll ribbon from Michaels and a self-cut mini mat behind the embellishment from scraps.

Well, there you have it...everyone has to start somewhere.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Gaining Momentum

I have been doing a lot of blog hopping these past few weeks. Kudos to many of you who have such wonderful blogs. I know it's apparent that I'm a newbie, so just grin and bear it....please!! There are many creative wonders out there and I am enjoying all of your hard work and artistic gifts. I hope that I will very soon have the confidence to share some of my work. I've got to start sometime, so I've promised myself that I have to get on the bandwagon by month's end. I'd like to take part in challenges and Papertrey's Release Events. Maybe someday I'll be on your Favorites list.......!!