My new garden....

Last weekend I went to Sears with my grandson, TJ.  We picked out an awesome new mattress/box spring set for him.  After concluding our purchase, we were browsing through the store and I found an AeroGarden on the clearance rack.  Well, while I was visiting Denver a couple of years ago, one of the restaurants had all these wonderful herbs and greens growing in AeroGardens in the window.  I was amazed and in awe.  See, I do not have a green thumb.  Every plant I bring home, my husband just calls the "next victim".  Seriously, I even killed the silk plants! 
But I saw this AeroGarden with it's little box of herb seeds and it said all I had to do was add water.  How hard can it be, right?  So I bought my AeroGarden and carted it home with visions of lush green vegetation growing in it within a matter of weeks. I was so excited!  So much so that I couldn't sleep.  On Sunday morning, I got up around 4:00 a.m., read the instructions as I assembled the AeroGarden and 'planted' my herbs of basil, thyme, dill, parsley, purple basil, mint and chives.  I added the correct amount of water and nutrients just like it said in the booklet, I popped in the little pots of seeds and covered them with their tiny little bio-domes and I wait. 

On day 3, I see the tiniest little sprouts of Thyme!  I am absolutely thrilled beyond belief.  Something is actually growing in there!!!  Ecstasy! 

On day 4, there is a basil plant emerging!  I jump for joy!  Basil!!!  I quickly texted my husband.  His smartass reply:  "It's time to make sauce!" 

Today is day 5.  The Thyme is now officially peeking out over the top of the little container.  There are several little seedlings now, all clamoring for freedom.  The Basil plant has a pair of leaves and has nearly reached the top of the pot.  Maybe by bedtime tonight.  Close examination has revealed a Chive plant has sprung from it's little seed and is trying to make it's way up toward the light.  There are also little tiny green specks (could they be little leaves) showing in the soil of the Mint pot.    And maybe the dill is starting to sprout!!  I will keep you posted as they grow.  Now I know how Jack felt when that beanstalk sprouted! 

Ooh, La La! French Foliage and Letterpress are tres jolie!

The new letterpress plates are so easy to use and make great projects.  Now, you're supposed to ink up the plate using craft ink, but you know I have to make up my own rules as I go, sooooo......   I ran Sahara Sand cardstock through the Big Shot using the Lots of Love letterpress plate (120983 for $7.95), then used Crumb Cake ink to gently brayer over the resulting image.  I then used the Bigz Top Note Die to cut out the image attached to the front of the card.  And don't you love the little pearls on the heart?  (119247, $4.95 for 150 of them!) 

Ooh, la la!  I think French Foliage (121166 clear for $14.95) is one of my new favorites from the Holiday Mini Catalog this year.  I added the element of "vintage" by using the new Distressing Essentials Kit (118762), but the fun part was creating a shimmering effect by mixing equal parts of Champagne Mist shimmer paint (116806) and Classic ink refills like More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Soft Suede.  The mixtures were painted onto the stamps using a watercolor brush, then stamped onto Very Vanilla cardstock.  See close up image below for detail.   I then used the Tea Stain ink spot to drag across the cardstock and to accent the torn edges.  And isn't the Victoria Lace (118481 $6.95) so pretty?   Of course, I had to use one of the new Antique Brads (117273 $5.95) to attach a saying from Just Believe (120453 clear $25.95).  Everything was then attached to a Cajun Crazy cardstock that had been stamped with Cajun Crazy ink and En Francais background stamp.  All in all, I think it turned out rather well.  I have a special someone to send it to, so we'll see how she likes it. 

Here's a close-up to try to show the shimmer effect of the paint mixtures.  It really doesn't do it justice, but this is such a fun technique that you really should try. 

That's my post for today.  I'm still trying to get all my stuff moved into their proper places, but my craft room is now useable and I just couldn't resist spending some time with my stamps today.  I hope you enjoyed the projects I created. 

                                                                                          Creatively yours,
                                                                                                               ~Sandy~

Miss me?

I just realized that I haven't posted anything for a while.  Well, life has been super busy (isn't it always?) and I just haven't taken the time to catch up.  In case you're wondering, I decided to make several changes in my life.  I accepted a new position and I'm very excited about it, so that has had the majority of my attention lately.  I quit my part-time job and although I will miss my co-workers, I do enjoy the feeling of less stress. 
I also decided that since I will be working from home now, I needed a more comfortable work atmosphere where I can focus on my work.  Thus, I decided to switch my craft room and my current office spaces.  Now if you have ever seen either of these spaces you must be thinking, "What?  What is she thinking?"  or as my husband said, "Impossible!  It can't be done!" 

So, with that said, I started to pack up all my craft supplies - a daunting and sometimes overwhelming task - and empty the contents of the new office into my dining room.  I moved 2 of my larger bookcases into the small soon-to-be craft room and filled them with necessary stamping supplies.  The smaller bookcase will hold other supplies and magazines and the tiny closet contains my scrapbooking supplies.  Now, at this point, I think I should mention that the small space is only 7'X7' and the closet is actually tiny - only 19 inches wide and 24 inches deep - but perfect for shelves of 12x12 papers and supplies. 

The new office is being painted by my beloved nephew.  My husband nearly freaked when he saw the color (can you guess what it is?) but I love it.  Unfortunately, I will have to move everything out again when the new flooring is installed, but that will be the easy part.  I have a huge computer desk that takes up most of the wall in the small room that must be moved to the new office.  The hard part will be getting it OUT of the small space and INTO the larger space.  I love my house, but there is an angled hallway between these two rooms. 

As I plan to utilize the vertical space in my new craft space, I have decided it would be a moot point to paint the walls there, so I will just leave them the pale blue-- for now.  I may change my mind later.  Probably.  But the flooring in there will also be replaced, so I have a few days to decide.  Either way, I'm very excited about my tiny new craft space.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but downsizing my space will force me to get organized and stay organized and hopefully prevent me from hoarding unnecessary supplies, as I have done for years. 

Now for the really difficult part:  I have to get rid of a LOT of stuff!  I am currently storing as much as possible until our neighborhood garage sale in February, but I will be hosting an inventory clearance sale once my rooms are done.  I didn't take "before" pictures, but I will post the "after" pictures when the rooms are complete.  Check back later for the results.  My targeted completion date is October 10th.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Happiness to you!

Sandy