Baby Steps in The Other Room, and Two Cards

I am about to take you on a very long tour of a very small part of The Other Room. When you see how much s-crap I have packed into this space, you will hopefully begin to understand the seriousness of my situation. Let us begin.

I was focused on the table top, but I thought I'd pick up this small, innocent-looking bag of UFOs from the floor to see what it contained. Oh, boy, what was I thinking?! From inside this small bag I pulled the following:

A few pieces of square patterned papers that I'd punched with my Wrought Iron punch, which I think I no longer own.

Some long-ago retired strips of patterned paper. I loved this blue back in the day... still do, actually. It's Brocade Blue, I believe.

Oh, look, more! These are actually pre-cut layers, ready to go on some cards.

More retired DS paper. I think this stuff was Holiday paper, but it looks very Preppy to me. This is a UFO ... a card begun but never completed. I see potential.

And more of the same papers, all Xyron'd and ready to go! Wanna take any bets on if there is any 'stick' left on these? I'll report back on that.

More paper I loved for the blue, and also the Cranberry. I should be able to make quick work of these two.

A pile of Cat bookmarks. I cannot bear to toss them, but I am not sure what I'll do with them. It might be time for some hacking into parts. We'll see. I no longer own this set, either, or I'd just toss these.

A card from BR #2! She does not even remember sending me any cards except the one on my Closet Door Gallery.

And, of course, the matching envelope. BR #2 always stamps the envelopes, too.

Some printed pics of ... I'm not sure what (maybe the canal) and a stray Rosie's Roadshow duck, all on top of a pile of computer-generated sentiments. All keepers.

TA-DA! A table top! YAY! (The crowd goes wild!)

I took the table DOWN. Then I set to work on all the s-crap piled up under it. Most of it was there because kitty helps me by jumping onto the table and kicking off miscellaneous items pretty much every day. So I did not consider my work here done until I also went through the stuff directly under the table. Just the loose stuff, mind you, not the boxes of stuff that will wait for another day.

I re-discovered my Just Rite stamper and some accessories, which I dutifully stored in one of my existing cabinets. Also among the items, I found ...

... my very first Farmers Market permit, which I got in September, 2004. That first day I set up in the pavilion with a card table and a table-top spinner rack. Ah, the old days.

I also found two of these partial cards (UFOs). Not sure what the paper is, but it is stuck to an Olive base.

TA-DA!!!!! The FLOOR! But I was not done!

For my next victim, I chose this pile of pillows and un-ironed ironing. None of the clothes in the pile still fit me, but they have been there so long, they need to be washed before they can be triaged for ironing. Then I'd probably give it all away. But un-ironed - no can do.


I tossed the pillows aside, then took all those clothes, and unceremoniously dumped them into the hallway. I have since washed them and as soon as they come out of the dryer (it took two loads), I have some decisions to make, and some ironing to do. This is the trunk post-ironing heap.

This trunk used to house my entire collection of craft items. That's pretty funny now, I know. Wanna see what's inside? Let's open it!

Hey, it's not even FULL! Wazzup with that?!?!?! Oh, look, some pipe cleaners and my stash of plastic canvas from my magnet-making days, and the no-longer-missing book of magnet patterns.

Okay, now THIS is old! How many years has MJDesigns been out of business?

Yarn and beads. Left from the days when my kids and I did crafts. We used these to make ....

... these! They are called God's Eyes, and they are a standard project in most pre-schools, which is when I think we made them. Given that my boys are in their 20's now, well, I'm just sayin' ...

And shells from years past that my kids could not leave behind on the beach. I have no idea what I will ever do with these.

Given the fact that all these items have been here for about 15 years, I think it is safe to say I need none of them. This means I could also get rid of the trunk. Well, I could! But not today, so I closed the lid, put the pillows back on top, and started some laundry.

While I washed all that un-ironed stuff, I went back to a project I started last night. I tried to do the Faux Linen technique and somehow incorporate the new SU Rich Razzleberry (I struggle with purples). I stamped the flourish from Baroque Motifs in Rich Razzleberry onto Glossy White card stock and dried it with my heat tool. I then used some sandpaper to rub off the gloss in one direction (let's call it 'vertical'), then in the other direction (that would be 'horizontal'). Then I sponged on some So Saffron to make the 'linen'.

This is one of those cards that just evolves. I sit there looking at it until I try one more thing, then one more thing, until I either give up or go to bed, which is really just giving up, only horizontally. Before bed, though, I added the sponged Razzleberry ink, then I distressed both the white and the DS paper, then I added the black layer, then I added the black brads, THEN I went to bed.

This morning, it was still there, taunting me. That's when I decided to work in The Other Room. But after The Other Room work was complete today, I had to face the music. I spied the first embossed Pretties Kit flower I'd done the other day. Remember the Melon Mambo flowers? Well, the first one I made was Rich Razzleberry. Then this card started to come together. I formed a faux bow out of a strip of the Razzleberry Lemonade paper; punched a black 1/2" circle for the center (and to hide all the seams); stuck in a black brad, which also goes through the flower AND all the layers except for the base; stamped the sentiment (it was out). Done! Whew! I am not sure I'll make another one of these.

Then I took one of today's re-discovered UFOs off the Mini Heap and made this. The image is from the several images Kristie sent me to try out. I colored her, cut her out, colored a chair, cut it out, and sat her on the chair.

The heart was cut from a Celery scrap and embossed with my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. I decided to put her on the heart off-center, and I added some ribbon from my stash and a(n) SU layered sentiment.

This was a LOT of work! I think I'll try something different with the other UFO. For now, it is back on The Mini Heap.

If you are still reading, I am amazed. I think I'll go finish the un-ironed re-wash so I can wash some clothing to wear to work tomorrow. Then I plan to get some sleep.

Hey, thanks for stopping by!