Another Glimpse Into My Crafty World

Today I bring you a repeat, since, once again, I have stamped nothing. NOTHING! But I am preparing for my Stamp Camps, so I thought I'd talk about that, partly because I don't want you to think I've fallen off the earth, and partly because I've done it to myself, again. Yes, I am my own worst enemy.

Remember this card?

It's CASEd right out of the catalog, with a minor modification, and is one of the four cards The Ladies will make and I thought I'd show you how I dug my hole, once again.

Here is my Mis En Place, just like every month:

We have 4 cards, all the supplies needed to make them, and the card stock I've cut for each of them. The next step for me is to do the collating thing, one of each of everything goes into a pile and into a bag.

Let's look closely at this card:

We have three pieces that need the Big Shot: the white piece, the leaf, and the blue strip. There is no way I can set up space to have The Ladies do all three of these pieces themselves without at least one (and probably more) head exploding. So in a Good Demo moment, I decided to cut the white pieces for them. I also die-cut the green leaves, but left them in the card stock for them to punch out on their own.

Here's the bunny card pile of parts-is-parts:

Once I assembled all the kits, I realized I still had no place to set up the Big Shot, so I had two choices. (1) Have The Ladies traipse into the Captain's Quarters and use the Big Shot in its home, or (2) make them myself. I chose option (2):

... and since I'd already assembled the kits, the embossed pieces are now sitting at the station. Now all The Ladies need to do is stamp and emboss the bunny and assemble the card. I am so good at making work for myself, I think I deserve an award, or something.

Speaking of the Captain's Quarters, I have reached a milestone. Yes, I am officially unable to work at my Captain's Table, which may account for my non-craftiness this past week. Let's take a look. Oh, if you are a neatnik, or a non-stamper who knows no stampers, please just look away.

Yes, this is bad, even in my world. Let's do the numbers:

(1) The Avalanch. To the left is my usual pile of stuff that took an unfortunate tumble the other night, but I tried to persevere and continue on my creative path.
(2) The Work Space. It is now so small, I cannot even fit a card on my paper... it's hanging over the edge of the table.
(3) The UFO Pile. My pile of started but stalled project attempts, and my endless source of inspiration. LOTS of crafty goodness in there.

But it doesn't stop there. Oh, NO, for I AM A PROFESSIONAL, and it all overfloweth onto the floor:

You can see several stamp sets piled up here. This is really just another staging area, because none of this will fit onto the table.

Behind the stack of stamps to the left is a canvas waste basket with only card stock scraps in it. I am a major recycler, and since I generate so much s-crap, it's only right that I separate as I go.

But wait, there's more! In the name of full disclosure, let's look at the floor to the right side of the table:

Here we have my smaller paper trimmer, my ATG, my SU markers, and a miscellaneous punch I'm playing with (with which I am playing). Behind that, from left to right: a bag of stuff from Mike's, my non-card-stock trash receptacle, and a box that holds most of my recent acquisitions, yet untouched, because, well, where exactly would I use them? So they sit there, in what I call another staging area, for a future date.

There you have it: my full reveal of the mess that is my stampin' area. My work here is done.

In other news, I have joined blip.fm and have started looking for music to share with the world. I have a very eclectic collection of music, a lot of it by artists most people would not recognize. I experimented last week with importing a CD into iTunes, and it was crazy-easy, so I'm well on the road to filling up my iPod, but this blip.fm thing lets me play music while I'm on my laptop, without getting off the couch. Sweet.

So while I've been working on that, and not stamping, I have been fighting with Koshka for lap space. She sees the laptop and insists on being between the keyboard and me, which makes typing difficult. Plus, I blew about 4 pounds of cat hair out of my keyboard the other day. Some of my Tweeps find it difficult to believe, but my cat listens to me. She does! I tell her to stay back, and after 6 or 8 times, she gets disgusted with me and ends up doing what I wanted her to do in the first place. In this case, she lays next to me on the couch instead of on top of me. See?

Yes, she is giving me a cold shoulder, or a cold butt, but she gets to 'touch' me and sleep and my typing doesn't bug her because she is not laying across my wrists so my every movement jiggles her bones. I say it's a win-win!

After two full sessions tomorrow, then the Day Job on Monday followed by my third of three sessions Monday night, I hope to come up for air on Tuesday. Once I visit and hopefully survive the Montgomery County, MD, Finance Office to dispute my late fees, I hope to get inky! After I clear some space on the Captain's Table, that is.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Tour of The Captain's Table

As promised, I bring you a tour of the Captain's Table. From afar it looks like a disaster, but if you get closer and look at all the stampy goodness, you will realize, as I do, that it is a treasure trove of inspiration.

The only problem is - there is so much going on, I am unable to focus. Let's call it sensory overload. All the possibilities spin inside my brain until I need to just walk away.

Let's get started, shall we? Oh, and let me warn you - this could be the most boring thing you've ever read. You've been warned.

First up, we have this stamp that I guilted myself into taking out of its shipment box and placing it on the table so I'd maybe use it or something. I did eventually mount it the other night. Baby steps.

Next we have another stamp I forced myself to take out of the shipping box and place on the table:

I've mounted this one, too. Even introduced it to some ink. Then I got distracted.

In case you are wondering, I am doing a show in March, so having maybe one or two Easter cards in stock might be a good idea. So far, like I've said, the stamps have made it to the table. I have no idea what I'll do with them. Another baby step.

Ah, a new die I just had to have:

It's unwrapped.

A stamp I bought at Angela's, undoubtedly swayed by a cool sample card on the wall:

Still no ink yet.

And in front of the stamp are left-over bird parts from last week's classes:

WHAT? Throw them away? Are you nuts? I actually have an idea for a card with these birds. No, really, I do!

Next we have my Tessa Ann button collection in its new home:

I love these buttons. I want to look at these buttons. I want to be inspired by these buttons. One day I may even use these buttons.

Then we have the Hero Arts Woodland Creatures set:

I want to make more cards using the other images (I've used the squirrel and the row of mushrooms and one sentiment so far) so I cannot put it away. Did you notice that pad of BG papers under the stamps. Mmm-hmmm.

Oh, here's a stamp I took out over a week ago:

My plan was to CASE a card I saw, and maybe use it for my February Stamp Camps. That's still my plan, but since I have not made a card with it yet, here the stamp sits.

Here I have a mostly-hidden container of new brads:

Yeah, I even put in a red arrow so you could find the container in all that mess. I got three packs of the chocolate epoxy brads from the Occasions Mini, and fully plan to use them on a card for February. I hope.

Here is a calendar I bought from the last mini catalog:

As you can see, I also got the brown magnetic-closure box. LOVE that box. Also please notice the calendar is unadorned, much like the chipboard easel poking out from under it. Wanna take any bets on my success at completing the January page before the end of January?

I also pre-ordered the egg decorating kit:

... NOT to decorate eggs, mind you, but because it is full of cool die-cut shapes that should help me crank out some Easter cards. Uh-huh. I just opened the pack and looked at it the other night. Hey, it's open. Baby steps. Oh, the kit also comes with a sheet of adhesive bling - YAY!!!!! SU bling!

And lastly, I bring you yet another Easter set I got:

... that is (1) mounted now and (2) sitting here on the lamp base because there is no other room on the table.

The end.

Do you now understand my dilemma? I have a bazillion options here for card creations, and I have no idea where to begin, so I do nothing. I sometimes go in there and look at things, then I retreat. Monday night, instead of touching any of this stuff, I made two completely out-of-the-blue cards, which reminds me: I now have some scraps from those papers that I need to address, as in "use".

It is truly an embarrassment of riches. I only hope I can kick-start my Easter mojo in time to make some cards for my Feb Stamp Camps and my March show. I will be doing some major CASEing for Easter. Oh, yeah.

Tonight I hope to actually STAMP something, maybe even with one of those items I have mentioned above. Wouldn't that be a nice change!? Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by!

Just To Make YOU Feel Better ...

I am in the middle of at least three different projects right now, and the one I am working on at this very moment has me going, "Oh, what about ...", which sends me into The Other Room to get yet another alphabet set, and when I came out just now, I stopped in my tracks. Behold:

See that Choc Chip ink pad on top of the Vanilla piece of card stock? That is my next victim. See the corner of the grid paper upon which it sits? It barely fits. I'm officially down to about a 6x6-inch work space, and I am not done yet! I cannot take the time to clean the last alphabet that failed me and sent me into The Other Room to get a different one. I cannot clean them because of all the other stamps stacked up on my box of wipes! I'd have to clean those before I could clean that last bad-choice alphabet, and who has the time?! I'm creating, here, people!!!! So there it all sits.

How's that saying go? If you cannot be a good example, be a dire warning. Is that it? So, do YOU feel better about YOUR so-called mess? Hmmm? Okay, then, my work here is done.