The Serendipity Design Team Blog Hop Challenge this time was to do a layout

or card using stamps.  I knew exactly which picture and stamps I wanted to use.

Mary from Serendipity Stamps asked me if this was a family picture. 

Sorry to say, it is not.  I purchased the photo several years ago.  I liked the photo

because there are four sisters in my family.  One of my sisters and I used to joke

at which one we were.  (Since, it's my photo I always got to be the pretty one. )

Background papers and stickers are "Little Black Dress"  (www.basicgrey.com)

Jeanne Jachna

Kathie Bailey

Miriam Napier

Amy Cockley

Some of the ladies in one of my Facebook Groups have been brave

enough to share pictures of their work spaces.  So... I decided to

share with you the real "Sue's Creative Workshop".

My space is really small, it's only 8 1/2 feet by 10 1/2 feet. 

I have to be really organized to be able to be creative in this space. 

(I totally trash it everytime I work on a project.)

My Desk: This is the cleaned up version. 

I really do like it clean. When I'm working on a project, it's completely covered

with piles. I always feel the need to clean it up before starting a new project. 

Behind the cabinet doors are my office supplies. I also have a filing cabinet

underneath the bookcase area. Up above the cabinets are black storage

boxes from IKEA. I have a couple of drawers to my right that holds my favorite

inkpads and the other holds scratch paper and tape runners.

In my tiny little space I have three doors.  One to my bedroom, one to the hall

and another large patio door to our upper balcony where I take most of my pictures.

My Stamp Rack:  Just a few of my favorite stamps and punches. 

It also holds extra cardstock.  I have hundreds of stamps. 

I have most of my stamps in boxes by seasons or type.

 Another view of my stamp rack.  To the left of the rack is the door leading

to my bedroom to the right is the small little closet with shelves.

My Die Cut Center:

I have an old school Accu-Cut machine with lots of dies. The cabinet above

holds my embellishments and doo-dads. The drawers hold stamp pads and

refill inks.  I have a paper rack for my go to cardstock. 

The basket holds misc cardstock scraps and the wooden box holds glue.

Just a few punches hanging over the door leading to the hall. 

I have two extra large storage boxes full of punches underneath my bed. 

(hazard of working with a punch company for so many years) 

White cubbies full of paper and Markers.  

I have three drawers that are Christmas, Valentine's Day and Fall/Halloween

the other drawers are divided by manufacturers.

The Closet:  My dirty little secret.  But.....I can find anything I need in it. 

I may have to remove things to get to it though.  I love shutting the door

so I don't have to look at it.  My dream space would be much, much larger

with a center work space and sink.  I hope you enjoyed the tour!

We have had such a mild winter here in my little corner of the midwest.

Today another beautiful sunny day.  I believe I have Spring Fever.

I just love Basic Grey. 

This card is made with Basic Grey's "Out of Print" Collection.

Look for it at your local scrapbook store.  Or you can find it here.

 This is the inside of the card.  I love their letter stickers!

While trying to clean up my office the other day, I got side track by my box of felt. 

I just had to make a couple more flowers before putting it away. 

These simple little flowers are so easy to make. 

(If you're new to the blog, scroll down about 6 posts for directions.)

My sister asked me to come and help her girl scout troop with a

project this Spring. I think this little Purple Polka Dot pouch with

velcro enclosure would be fun for the girls.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

 

I wish I remember where I got this idea.  (I love giving credit to good ideas.)

I used a wood sign that I purchased from Hobby Lobby for around $3.00.

The letters on the sign were put together with small tack nails. 

I took the sign apart and covered each letter with scrapbook paper and

glued it back together with my favorite Fabri Tac glue from Beacon Adhesives.

I eliminated the frame portion and decided not to use it as a hanging sign. 
I have it up on my mantel instead. 

Would you believe that as I was taking the picture it blew off the balcony and fell

into the bushes?   You'd think one day I'd learn!

The Egg Scroll Stamp is from Serendipity Stamps.  You can get it here.

Today is Serendipity Stamps Easter Blog Hop. 

It is available as a set here at www.serendipitystamps.com

Check out more Easter cards from the Serendipity Design Team Blog Hop.

I call this My Restless Heart for a couple of reasons. 

First because I wanted to do something completely different. 

And second, because I fully assembled a different tag,

photographed it and then tore it apart because I wasn't satisfied.

I used the same Scroll Heart from Serendipity Stamps that I used on the

previous post.  This time I stamped it in black onto chili cardstock. 

I used my white opaque stix from Marvy Uchida to color in the image. 

I used it to make brush strokes.  The color goes on light and darkens as it dries.

The back ground paper is from Basic Grey's " Out of Print" and

" Little Black Dress" Collections.  "love you" stamp is also from Serendipity Stamps.  

  Here is the project in process.

 It just goes to show what you can do with a little creative imagination.

The Serendipity Stamps Challenge for today was to make an all white card.  

The only color we were allowed to use was in the image.  

A simple white card.  That should be easy right?  (You'd think!)  

Like I've said before, I have a way of making things a lot harder than they should be.  

But...I am happy with the result.  

Nothing warms me more than soup on a cold winter's day.

So you can imagine how happy I was when I received this 

special surprise present from Jill at Jillibean Soup.

I had sent Jill one of my Holiday Planners from the Holiday Workshop.  

She in turn sent me the Sept. 2011 Card Kitchen Kit Club.  

It completely made my day!!!

Inside the box was a complete card kit with full instructions to make 8 cards.  

To show respect to the designer, Kimber McGray, I made the cards

98% as shown.  I had so many goodies left over I had to add a 

couple of extra embellishments to the cards.  I could easily make

another 6 or more cards and a layout with the materials left over.

The kit used was the September 2011 Card Kitchen Kit Club.

It is available to purchase from Jillibean Soup here for $24.99.

Check out all the great products at Jillibean Soup www.jillibean-soup.com

Here are the correct Calendar Pages for the Serendipity Design Team's

first challenge of the year.   (see previous post)

I used the Picadilly Collection from Basic Grey for the August Calendar.

I used the Summer's End Collection of papers from Fancy Pants Designs for the

September Calendar. 

 

Stamps from Serendipity Stamps www.serendipitystamps.com

 

 

 

I have most of the months on a board on Pinterest.  Check it out here.

Well.... Today was the first Challenge of the Year for the

Serendipity Design Team.  We were each assigned two months

to create the Calendar.  I'm not sure how I did it, but I mis-read

the comma in the email and I mistakenly created the wrong two months.

Since they are done and photographed, I will share them with you

anyway.  Please check out the other Serendipity Design Team member

on my side bar to see their calendar pages.  My two months were

August and September instead of October and November.  I promise

I will create the correct pages and post them here and on Facebook.

I used the Illustrated Months Stamps 597FCL 

it is available as a Cling Set for $29.95 from Serendipity Stamps.

www.serendipitystamp.com

I used Marvy Uchida's Border Punch System to punch the inside pages

and to also add a lace detail to the inside back cover. 

Yesterday was Spring.  Today is Winter.  I feel cold just looking outside.

Funny thing it makes me want to settle in and get creative.

Yesterday I made a couple of Valentine's Cards for my Etsy Shop.

Today I've got bigger plans in the works. 

What are you working on???

More tomorrow....

This book was the most talked about Family Gift of the Season.

Why settle for a plain old planner when you can make it truly special.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to getting my new planner for the year.
It needs to be a "month at a glance". It needs to be thin, fit in my purse,
but big enough to be able to put multiple entries if necessary.
And... I don't want to pay over $10.00.
I was originally frustrated when I couldn't find the same old planner that
I've been using for the last several years. 

Then I ran across this at CVS for $1.99
At first I wasn't impressed because the cover was kind of thin.
It came with a clear protective plastic cover so I knew it had potential.

Then I started thinking I could beef up the cover with additional papers.
The colors were limited and bright, but then I stumbled across this teal one
and I knew exactly what papers I would use.
I used papers from Picadilly and Indie Bloom line from Basic Grey. 

 
  (back of my planner)

  (a subtle reminder of my 2012 Goal)

Now I'm completely happy and somewhat giddy with my new planner.  

I just realized this morning that today is the first day I've been

alone in over two weeks.  I'm not complaining though.

I love having the family home. 

I enjoy being lazy, sleeping in, no real schedules. 

Except, I find it's really hard to concentrate on being a good blogger. 

I've thought about this blog several times. 

Wishing I had something really great to share with you.

Something really Profound. 

I read an article recently on blogging, how we get caught up

on the numbers.  That's Me! 

How many people are on your Facebook Page,

how many people read your blog.  (Sometimes, it surprises me.)

Then I feel guilty like I should be blogging more,

that I'm letting you all down. 

(It was a lot easier when I thought no one was reading.)

A while back I started following other designers for inspiration. 

Sometimes it helped, most of the time it just made me feel inadequate. 

Why do we do that to ourselves?  We are all creative individuals!

We all have our own special talents.  Right? 

With that said, I've decided to work this year re-focusing on

finding my own style again. 

The great thing about January is a fresh new start.

A brand new calendar with clean empty pages, just waiting to be filled.

Gone is the messy one with scribbled notes and dates.

I'm ready to get started.  (I've got a lot to do.)

So here's to a brand new year!!!

     The Holidays are barely over and I'm thinking Valentine's Day. 

I love it when the Creative Juices are flowing.  I started rummaging

through my drawer of valentine's stuff and found all kinds of

neat stuff to play with.  I worked on this until 1:30 this morning.

     This afternoon while I was waiting in line to do a return, I was chatting

with a couple of ladies.  The line went past the Valentine's Display, they

started talking about how it was too soon.  (I didn't say a thing!)

To make your own Customized Trinket Pins. 

Use Marvy Uchida's Deco Color Markers to paint plain corsage pins. 

So many colors available. 

Get real creative and add polka dots, lines and other designs.

I just love Pop-Up cards.

The card was made using Basic Grey new Picadilly scrapbook paper and Stickers. 

Check out all the new releases at www.basicgrey.com

this is the front of the card  

(I also used a couple stickers from the new Indie Bloom Collection)

this is the inside of the card

close up of the dimension  (I also used Martha Stewarts picket fence punch)

Enjoy!!!

"This is the Life" Album measures 5 1/2" x 6".

The "Memories" Mini Album measures 4" x 5".

I punched the inside pages of my book with the border punch before I assembled.