Time Flies

Hello All,

Wish I could say I have something crafty to share, but I truly have been consumed with my day job! Lots of changes going on, and it is taking all my time. I just checked my last post date, and wow! I have been busy. Sorry to be a sporadic blogger but sometimes life intervenes.

Since things are ever changing at work, a friend of mine and I have started a new venture doing bookkeeping for small businesses in our local area. If things go well we could spread out nationwide via the internet. Check us out:  http://www.justbookkeepers.net/

I am waiting for a Stampin Up! order currently, and can't wait to play with some of the new items. I'll post a few projects once it arrives.

Also, Lisa my neighbor and I have taken the Copic plunge...we decided to buy one set a month and the best prices we have found are here:  http://www.oozak.com/

Fast shipping and great service. They also sell Memento ink pads, best used with Copics. Free shipping for orders over $50.

Not much else to report. I am really craving some crafting time, hopefully this week.

Hope you got some time to create recently!

Happy Weekend!!!!!!!!

Hi Everyone!

Wow! This week has been a doozy at work! And all this snow on the East Coast! Keith told me today that he read that Atlantic City's little airport has recorded more snowfall than Anchorage, Alaska this winter! Yeesh!

I took a little break tonight and actually made something. Blogger has me locked out of posting video but here is a link to my Youtube channel. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG1e_MUb-24


I want to give credit where it is due.... I made the binding of the book from a tutorial I saw on Follow the Paper Trail, a blog and here is a link to her You Tube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FollowThePaperTrail

I merged a few ideas for this book. First the covers are actually mini stretch canvas 4 x 5 inches. Fredrix is the brand name. I painted them in Champagne Mist shimmer paint-(SU!), and used my So Swirly wheel(SU!) and Tiber Brown Stazon ink for the cover and page images. Then I used a sponge and blended Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry Inks across the covers. I added interior covers out of Dusty Durango cardstock cut 4 x 5 and cut a little door in the front cover. I reversed a brad for my catch to keep the paper door closed.

The binding was made using the method that Follow the Paper Trail detailed but this is how easy it is:

Your cardstock should be the width ofyour project by 11 inches long. You need two of these. Score every 1/2 inch. Accorian Fold with the first and last being a valley. Attach the folded strips together in the center. Excluding the first tab, gather two mountain folds at a time in your hand and punch holes on either end. Insert brads on either side. Continue for 10 pockets. You may find you have one extra tab at the end, I just trimmed it off. Attach the binding to your project with strong adhesive. I used Sticky Strip (SU!).

Then pop your pages- mine are 3x 4 1/2 from cardstock, which I spritzed with my homemade Glimmer mist, of Champagne Mist Shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol, and wheeled with So Swirly in Timber Brown Stazon. The pages fit into the pockets, and stay via mild pressure.

I decorated the front of the book with a coordinating butterfly I had in my stash and some Prima Flowers and a Chocolate Chip Cordoroy Brad (SU!).

Pretty fun. Please let me know if you like it by leaving me a comment, here or on Youtube. I am considering putting a kit together along with a color tutorial.

Hope you have a great day!

formspring.me

Ask me anything http://formspring.me/ldeviney

I admit it...I have an addiction to paper , stamps, glue....

Hi from snowy southern NJ!

Who would have thought is a short week we would see in excess of 30 inches of snow?  They say more on Monday, but I have no idea where we will put it!

Being trapped inside due to the weather, has made for some great crafting time. This year I am trying to organize time, money and things better than I have in the past. I thought a good place to start might be to go shopping in my craft room. You know, you get a little itch for something new, and you jump online to order it, or call up your demo, or head over to your local craft store...well not me. I have the best store ever right in my own home, filled with discounts gone by. Unorganized chaos, at the moment, but I keep telling myself, it looks worse before it gets better...

Anyway, as I am organizing ( and shopping ) in my little craft room, I was wondering how many others suffer from my afflication? I hoard the beautiful patterned paper, never cutting it, for someday, I love the darn $1 bin for ribbon, clear stamps, stuff, crap I don't need....
So here I am re-organizing, instead of creating! How do I let it get so out of control?

Here are a few tips to help get myself organized....

1. I am unmounting my Wood Mount  stamps. Frankly, I need the room! The method I am using is to microwave each stamp for five seconds. Then peel off the foam and rubber image together as one piece. I will store them in CD cases, easily obtained at the dollar store or office store. I am not worried about having an image on the back. I am cutting copy paper to fit my CD cases, and stamping the images on the front, and also cutting a 1/4 inch strip for the name. So far, I don't need to apply any adhesive to the back of the foam. They stick quite well. If it should wear out- Club Scrap's Mount It Glue or Aleen's Tacky glue will work just fine.
2. I am saving my change. I have one of those coin counter jars in my scrap room. Everytime I have coins, I throw it in. You would be amazed. I started doing this on January 1st. I have $100 already!

3. I plan my shopping. I watch a lot of YouTube videos telling me all about the new CHA products, or a new technique or tool. I do a lot of research on price and product before I buy. Then when the change jar hits enough for whatever I want, I splurge and buy it. Here is an example, where the research paid off. I have wanted a Scor-Pal for a long time. The best price I could ever find was $49.99. Never a sale. Then I hear about the Martha Stewart Scoring board- retail $19.99, and Michael's carries it. So I saved up the change, and found a 50% off coupon, so now I have a new Martha Scoring Board for $10. Sweet!

4. I made an organizer for my Cricut cartridges and books/overlays. These things were everywhere! I saw a great tutorial on a blog to make one, using a Snapware ribbon storage container. I now have 20 carts and books and overlays stored neatly in one container, and it cost me $7. I also have room for more carts. I think I mentioned this in an older post, and I can't find the blog at the moment- so Thanks Again! for the info!

5. I picked up a turntable storage thingy at Staples for $5! It is great and compact for little things you use all the time, scissors, brads, etc. In the past I have found invitation envelopes which fit A2 size cards for $5 a box.  So, I always check out Staples for the little things.

6. I made my own Clip It Up. Now I am sure it is not as great as the real thing, but it works just fine. I found a standing double sided towel holder at a Linen & Things going out of business sale a while ago. I think I paid $10 for it. It is weighted in the middle. I then used paper clips to hang my embellishments from it. I works really well.

7. You know those $1 photo albums you can get at a local craft store? They are about 4 x 6? I use them to store my sizzlets, and also to store $1 acrylic stamps. The books become very fat and won't close, but I have them up on my ink cabinet that is wall mounted,opened, so it does'nt bother me. 

8. Part of crafting is to enjoy what you make. I was looking for a way to display finished cards, and I have seen many. I use clothes pins and clip them to my curtains in my craft room. This way, I can change them easily, and I get to see my work all the time.

So, a few tips. I would take pictures, however that must wait until the room is clean. When I finish the unmount project, I will shoot a video of my clean space.....

So are you an addict too?  Leave me a comment with your organizational tips, or ways you save!
Happy Crafting!

Rainy Weekend Cards to share....

Hi All,

I managed to get a few cards made this weekend fooling around with some of the Occasions mini products.

Here is a link to the video on YouTube.


Hope you managed to craft this weekend....

Occasions Mini & Sale-a-bration

Hi Everyone!

Today I was happy that my order came in, and I was able to make a card using some new products from Stampin Up! Occasions Mini & Sale-a-Bration catalogs.
Hereis a link to a video I created which shows what I purchased, how to mount the labels on your clear mount stamps, and an example card I made.

Enjoy!

You tube


Have a great week- Stamp a lot!

Happy New Year!

Wow, I guess it is about time I got around to making a post! This has been the busiest holiday season for me, as I have been inundated at my day job.  I also have been sick. Caught an ugly cold right around Christmas, and it is still hanging on, so I come home full of ideas, and I do nothing but crawl into bed.

I also am considering moving my blog to a new service, as blogger no longer supports videos...I used to be able to upload right here, but no more, just a link to my YouTube channel. I will let you all know how this works out, or if you have suggestions of a good, free or low cost service, such as wordpress, typepad etc. maybe you could leave me a comment as to how it has worked out for you.

I have a lot of resolutions this year. Mostly about organizing my life in all aspects. One is to get out of my pocketbook for this hobby, or at least reduce it, and use my stash! I say it all the time, yet I keep the paper because I love it for someday...why? It's a piece of paper, just cut it already! Several of my friends suffer from the same affliction, we just keep on adding to our collection, and very seldom actual use it.I am hoping to change that this year.

I saw these words today at StampTV.com and thought it was a perfect adage to adopt for getting out of my creative box:

"Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”

Very well said. It applies in a lot of areas in my life. So this year, I am trying new things, and getting organized, saving money, and losing weight. I also am going to try and reduce my weekly work hours to under 55 per week. That will be hard, but I want to spend time creating, and stamping, not being a work-aholic.

Have you made New Year's resolutions? Share them via a comment and tell me how you intend to keep them.

I also made a discovery over Christmas in my organizational quest. I received a Cricut Expression for Christmas, and can you believe it- I have'nt turned it on yet...yikes. Anyway, my cartridges were everywhere. I have close to twenty now, and I needed to organize them. I had read about the Scrapcaddy which stores cartridges and overlays and books, and the lowest price I could find was $15. So, I found a solution for $8, that I made with some help from this blog:


http://splatpat.blogspot.com/search/label/Cricut%20Cart%20Storage

Shannon is super talented, and I made a version of her Cricut Cart storage for $6 for the Snapware container ( got it 50% off at Joann's Fabric's in the Christmas clearance) and $2 for the plastic canvas at Walmart. My version holds 40 carts on the bottom layer and 20 books & overlays on the top. This allowed me to get rid of all the boxes, and save so much space.

Check it out. It is easy, affordable and a real space saver. I have seen them on Ebay for $30 & up.

I appreciate all the comments regarding blog platforms and resolutions. I hope to be back soon with something I have made. Stampin Up also has a few new catalogs out, and it's Sale-a-Bration time! If you are interested in hosting a workshop, book party etc. please contact me.