The cardmaking-party hostess told us to bring our own supplies too, so I thought it was a great opportunity to pull out the stamps I bought a while back from JustRite. I hadn't tried them yet, so it took a little experimentation to figure out the right sizes and balance for the circles and scalloped circle. As I look at it, the white card in the background could have used some sprucing up, but again, for me, stamping is more about the experimentation than worrying whether the card is perfect. After all, the recipient of a card, homemade or not, is more interested in the fact that you cared enough to send a card than whether the stamped image is perfectly centered on the layered background or whether the card needs a little more spice. And if they aren't, they should be! I think there might need to be some practice with my circle cutter or the purchase of a large circle stamp to help me make the layers work better, and I look forward to having a little more time to play after I get the craft room set up in the new place.

Jenn really has lots of sets of stamps, lots of paper, and lots of inks. I got on a color-play kick--and the pink, green, and brown were available in both ink and paper. So I started playing with white paper and stamped the flowers and verses on five or six. The placement of the flowers is far from planned, but I made a total of five of them in the same color set and gave two to the hostess. She spent most of her time helping everyone else out, so she didn't get to make many cards. It was fun to try out different sentiments!

It's not often that I make a card in yellow and white. I don't personally have any yellow ink pads, but my friend Jenn does! So on the card play day, I made this card. I'm very much a "keep it simple" cardmaker, and this one is no exception, though it did use a few more stamps than the previous one. I stamped the iris first, and Jenn and I were concerned it was very pale. However, once I mounted it on the golden paper, the contrast seemed to help. When I placed the mounted image on the white card, though, we decided it needed a little more pizazz. So we used a swirly stamp and a speckly stamp to add color to the card front and then placed the image on the card and we were pretty pleased with our solution. Perfect? No way. But a good lesson on experimentation and breaking out of your comfort zone.

My good friend and Stampin' Up demonstrator Jenn had another cardmaking party a few weeks ago. Basically, she invited a few of us over to play with her stamps. And play we did! I made a bunch of cards, got to use stamps that I didn't have (or might not have otherwise chosen), and worked with some new ink colors.

Meanwhile, I'll be sharing some card photos over the next few days. Today's card is a very easy card, requiring two stamps--the main motif and a sentiment. This intricate stamp provided excellent results for this type of card. One ink color, two paper colors, and there it is.

The thing I love about this stamp is that it is actually very versatile. In brown on turquoise, it reminded me of a henna tattoo. But it would look very different colored in--Victorian or Dutch, depending on the colors. I'll have to keep an eye out for this stamp, since I think it might be discontinued. Ahh, discontinued stamps--the one flaw in getting to play with the stamp collection of a Stampin' Up demonstrator.....

I'm SO excited about how the cardmaking station came together. And I'm especially excited that it's no longer in the living room! Check it out--the plastic drawers on the right are filled with paper, punches, and coloring things--chalks, colored pencils, etc. The rolling cart under the table holds metal containers (free at the office surplus supply giveaway/sale) filled with rubber stamps. The drafting table and stool were purchased from a neighbor's garage sale several years back and have served me well. I love having it as a work area.

A few weekends ago, I framed out the pegboard and added support bars to the back. It's not perfect, and I didn't get the trim painted, and the mitered corners don't match, but it's turned out to be SO useful. Lots of ribbon, scissors, glues and tapes, and other stuff fill the board, and there are, in fact, still some empty containers, believe it or not. After I had it all arranged on the pegboard, I realized I needed to do more than just lean it against the wall. I took a bunch of it down, moved it to the floor, secured the back slats in place with screws and added big ole' OOK hooks along the top and on the wall so it was secured in place. With plaster walls, those OOK hooks are fabulous.

Valentine's weekend, I "won" a metal board with magnetic containers at the Camp Shaw fundraiser. Some of the containers are filled, some are empty, but again, that gives me room to get better organized. The colored containers hold eyelets; the little plastic containers were getting to be too much to handle and they kept opening at inopportune times. I did mix the colors, which seemed like it would be okay, since I was cautious about it and put very different colors/shapes in each container. The multicolored tins came from American Science and Surplus this week. I had to add magnets, also from American Science and Surplus, but that worked fine, because I was able to glue them to the back of some plastic containers I had around (see the top right corner). They hold eyelet setting tools and some extra stamped bits.

In all, I think this station will be great to work at, once I get the rest of the room all cleaned up! I'm looking forward to making some great stuff in this room!

As I mentioned before, I flipped the bedrooms in my house to give myself a little more space in the sewing and craft room and to get my cardmaking station out of the living room and into the craft room where it ought to be. I shared the "before" shot last weekend and thought I'd give you an update. Over the weekend, I organized the fat quarters into great containers from Ikea that fit perfectly on the shelf in my closet. Here's the mound of fat quarters, sorted by color with the help of my favorite four-year-old. It may not LOOK sorted, but it is.

Next, here's the closet "after", looking a whole lot better than it did in the "before" photo. The shelves were all already in place. Before I got organized, the plastic containers were on the top shelf, leaning over because the shelves were sagging. Now, with everything organized and in proper containers, I have a lot more space and everything I'm looking for is in its place. As you can see from the picture below, the little containers that fit so perfectly on that shelf are filled with fat quarters by color. And the nine-section shoe sorter holds fabrics that I bought in the past to make some quick quilts on which I can practice using my quilting machine.

I'm thrilled with how the closet is looking. This is the first step in getting this room pulled together. I still have to put the rest of the fabric, the non-fat-quarter-fabric, in containers by color. That's this weekend's project.

Stay tuned from the next section of the clean-up: the cardmaking station.

As I said, I have a weakness for demos. And Judi Watanabe does amazing demos. She was demo-ing how to use their Mica Gloss inks on glossy cardstock--both white and black, and using the brayer and stamps to create patterns. I was watching her demo and several others were watching as well. One woman who was also watching the demos actually admitted that she brought her hubby along so that, between the two of them, they might remember how some of these products were used once they got them home. Judi said the magic words. "We have videos online, in case you forget." SOLD! As you can see, the brayer, the papers, the inks, and even a sample as a reminder found their way back to Wisconsin with me. Nothing like a good demo to sell a great product!

Once you've watched Judi Watanabe demonstrate stamping techniques, you get inspired to make cards. And I was VERY inspired. A bunch of Judikins stamps were available for sale at Queen's Ink booth, and I made the best of this amazing opportunity and the inspired feeling the demos created! I should have brought my camera in, because I'd like to remember some of the very cool ideas they had for these stamps, but I know they have a bunch of sample photos on their site, so I'm not worried. But aren't their stamps great!?

Another great deal I found at the massive crop was ribbon. If I had been thinking, I would have unrolled it from the spools so it would take up less space in my luggage, but I didn't think of that until now. Can you tell I have a thing right now for stripes? I can't wait to start working this into cards!

I got some GREAT deals on some very cool items at the CHA SuperShow crop event. The crop benefited the Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation. I got to do the introductions at the event and had a blast hanging out with the amazing and energetic women from Scrapbook Royalty. I tried to win some of the raffle items, but I wasn't that lucky. But I did find some great deals, like these cards, ribbons, and embellishments from Kaiser. Can't wait to have some cardmaking playtime!

I have to admit, when I see a great product demonstrated and I really get to see what can be done with it, I'm much more likely to buy it. That's the case with these stamps. Such is the case with this stamp system from JustRite, a rubber stamp company based in Elk Grove Village, IL. The basic premise is that the wood stamper has a rubber layer that has slots cut in it. You insert letters, images, or curved messages or designs in the slots and you can mix and match the pieces so the stamp can say whatever you want. For instance, you can put the "Best Wishes" image in the center and then put little letters around the outer ring that say "good luck on your retirement, Judi". That's the flexibility I've always wanted!

So I bought my first set, stamper, and letter set at a booth at the CHA SuperShow, and then bought the punches locally. Now I'm going to have to keep an eye on their other sets, as I'm really intrigued about this whole concept. I think I need to check out what images I have that will fit inside that circle...

As I wandered around the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) trade show a week and a half ago, I wistfully watched retailers and other vendors making "make and takes"--projects designed by the vendors to showcase their newest products. I usually don't make them--not because they're not fabulous and not because I'm not interested. My belief is that the vendors create them so that retailers can learn how to use the vendor's latest products. Then, the retailers can take the finished project home and use it to promote the product that they were inspired to carry in their store. That being the case, I hate to take a chair or use up products that a retailer could benefit from. But I saw this card Wednesday afternoon and said hi to Melony Bradley who was leading the demos. She had a full house of folks wanting to make the card (who wouldn't?), so I watched them all create their own cards, as I was trying to commit to memory how the card went together. On Thursday around noon, I happened by the booth again and Melony was just wrapping up her final cardmaking session. She felt bad that I didn't have a chance to make a card on Wednesday, so she quickly walked me through one.

The funny part is that between this card and some purchases from the CHA SuperShow, I became convinced that I needed the Marvy Uchida 2-1/2" scalloped circle punch used on the front of the card. I found it at Ben Franklin Crafts in Oconomowoc a week ago Friday and will probably end up creating some more cards like this in the future.

Blame it on the codeine in that cough medicine, but I really messed up this month and missed Ornament Thursday completely. But not one to be totally absent, I'm going to share a card that I made a while ago in celedon and also share the links of those who did get it together this month. So there's the card--to your right. And here are the links from my OT pals.

Celadon Dreamer
Michelle Zimmeman creates a dreamer box from one of her molds and Helen Bradley grabs another for her jewelry project.

Embellished Ear Wires
Lynn Kvigne of Beading Help Web shows you how to create these embellished ear wires in spring colors (like Celedon!)

OT Goes Celadon
Lisa finds calm in the color "Celadon"

Strands of Beads
Melissa creates a simple necklace from a slab of chrysoprase

Since the last photo, I finished the two aqua fan rows, two tan fan rows, three brown fan rows, and one more tan fan row. It measures almost 20" long and 46" wide; the desired size is 60"-66" long and 46" wide. So I'm about a third of the way done, and it's been moving along so nicely! I don't know what has taken me so long to get working on this project, but I'm really enjoying the process and the finished product as well. It's predictable since it's a four-row pattern repeat, so it's great for working on in the carpool, in the office at lunch, and while I'm watching old movies. Last night, it was The King & I; tonight it's Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

Either Mom's not checking in on my blog or she doesn't know how to leave a comment yet, but I haven't heard boo from her about the fact that I'm working on her afghan. I hope to finish it by mid-March. Now if I could only figure out a way to crochet while I'm walking on the treadmill or riding the exercise bike at the gym, I'd be VERY happy.

As for the rest of the day, I did make it to the gym for a double workout (twice the cardio time and four sets of the weight circuit instead of two) after mass, and I did get the cards completed for my One World, One Heart winner (copies of some of the cards I made in December). And I did obtain a new laptop. As I've complained here before (or complained somewhere before), my six-year-old computer has not been very cooperative with the drills I've been putting it through in the last several months--blogging, photo editing, Facebook, etc. Unfortunately, I haven't finished the laundry, but there's always tomorrow night.

I had hopes of being creative tonight, but with 50-60 degree temperatures, I had to take a walk/run, and then walk over to the gym for a weight circuit, then walked back. I made dinner, did all my online checking, and now I'm on to dishes and laundry. When you get that lovely of a day in February in Wisconsin, you take advantage of it when you can, as we won't see it on a regular basis for months.

It was such fun walking around town tonight. Everyone was out walking--parents, kids, teens, dogs. Everyone I encountered was in the best spirits, thrilled with this break in the weather. These are the days when I really love living within blocks of the lake and in this neighborhood.

So hopefully tomorrow I'll get some time to make some cards and work on the afghan. I'll be sure to post photos as I create.

It's Ornament Thursday and my first official Ornament Thursday on my own blog. The overall theme this year is colors, which is a great way to play creatively, as there are some colors on this list that I don't work with much so I'll be expanding my horizons.

Wow, it's just one electronic mountain being conquered after another. The blog is working, and now, after several invitation from friends, I've joined Facebook. So if you're on there, you can friend me.

Meanwhile, in the health department, I finally went to the Dr. and got something for this cough. Hoping it kicks in fast, because I'm on a plane to the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Show less than a week from now. I can't wait; I get to see everything new and fabulous in the craft industry and all of the wonderful people that also work in the creative industry. And after the show, I get to spend a few days with my friend Vicki in Long Beach and my sister Alice in Phoenix. So I want to be healthy for all of that.

But before I go, I have to get my project done for the Ornament Thursday group. As I look at the stack of cardmaking supplies across the room, I think it might have to be a card.

Meanwhile, there's beef stew underway in the crock pot, so I better go check that.

I braved it today, going into work, but I didn't make it a full day. Don't know what this illness is, but it's more powerful than I thought it was. And with the snow overnight and the wind chill of 9 below, I find being home in my slippers and jammies to be a pretty good place to be. I have a retreat tomorrow for work, so we'll see if I make it through tomorrow without needing a nap.