Workspace Wednesday

I love the idea that Marcy Penner has for Workspace Wednesday.  A little glimpse into what she is up to right then.  So I thought I would join in and share mine.  This is about what my space looks like of late.  I seem to get just enough time to get a project done.  This one was a card for a workmate of my husbands. Then not quite time to tidy after. 

The great thing is that thanks to organising things the way that I have it takes just a few minutes to get it all reset ready for more creating.  Loving it

These jars have been a fabulous addition to my space.  All my embellishments are out in view and easy to pick up and use. It has been a great way to use up bits and pieces that have been sitting in my stash for some time.  They are the first things that I go to.

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Baby girl

I haven't needed as many baby cards lately.  Looks like I may have a few more to make in the next few months though as friends are due.  This card was a case from a card that I have pinned by Becky Jensen at Stamp That.  I changed the boy to girl and used some of the papers in my stash for the blanket.  Super easy when you need a card right away.

Colours:  early espresso, pink pirouette, certainly celery, rose red
Stamps: Onesie wheel (SU)
Finishing touches: heidi grace paper sweetest bug (HG), brads, dimensionals, coat hanger, square lattice embossing folder (SU)

Wish big

Making cards for special people rates high on my crafting things I love and you get to add special touches that are unique to the person that you are giving them to.  And as I make them I am thinking of and praying for the person that I make it for.

The idea for these cards came from this card from Danielle Flanders and this one by Maggie Holmes from a Studio Calico Kit that I had pinned on my pinterest board Cards for Her.  Great to have inspiration at your fingertips, especially when you haven't been creating for a while and are in a bit of a rut.  I used my alpha die from Papertrey Ink to recreate the WISH tag effect.  I had a couple of cards to make and decided to use the cut out letters to create another card rather than throw away or drop them in the bottom of a pile somewhere.  The washi tape made it super simple to do.

Colours: very vanilla, baja breeze, calypso coral, blushing bride
Stamps:  stylish sentiments - birthday and happy trails (PTI), sketchy flourishes (inkadinkadoo)
Finishing touches:  paper and ruffled ribbon (SU), watercolouring, rhinestones, headline alpha die (PTI), stitching, eyelet sticker, flower embellishment (rosies studio), essentials hardward clip (SU), washi tape

House warming card

Once upon a long time ago I had made a very similar card to this one for a friend that had moved cities.  I couldn't find it on my blog and wondered if I actually ever had.  Of late I realise too late that I haven't taken a photo of the card before I send it off. And of course I have been blogging them which doesn't help either.  I loved the colour combo and putting together different elements for the grid design. 

Colours:  going grey, basic grey, white, daffodil delight
Stamps:  Houses wheel and polka dot punches (SU), flourishes (inkadinkadoo), favourite memories (TT)
Finishing touches:  dimensionals, type writer alpha die (cuttlebug),  stitching, heart punch

Cards for sale

There have been a number of craft markets about New Plymouth that some of my crafting friends have had tables at.  When I got into stamping and cardmaking I bought products with the intention to sell cards that I had made.  Apart from making some for friends and my husbands work I haven't really made that many and branched any further into the market.  Seems like enough to keep up with making cards to give.  Anyway after being asked whether I wanted to have some cards to sell I put together what I had and made a stack more.

I started with repeats of cards that I had made.  You can see the originals here and here.

 And as the boy cards were few and far between I pulled out some boy products and picked a colour combo and had a play.

Colours:  white, basic grey, baja breeze, pacific point

Stamps:  kids zone (kaiser), itty bitty banners (SU),notes (studio g)

Finishing touches:  paper clip embellishments (unknown) , papers (various), star punch, notebook die (verve), banner die (SU), washi tape, circle punch, rub ons (rasberry), stars embossing folder (craft concepts), chevron embossing folder (SU)

Needless to say my cards didn't sell.  I had a chance to use them again at a ladies night fundraiser through our school.  I put together more of my organisation side of things and with my recent clean outs added a discount basket of supplies that was all but empty at the end of the night.  There is definitely a lot more to putting together a table for sales than just putting out your product.  What I did learn is that it isn't what I want to get into.  I will still make cards for sale but not for markets.  And my card stash is rather healthy.

Use your stash

So how have I got organised?  I am continually looking for ways to save time with my scrapbooking as time is so precious.  Over time I have built up some great supplies and then some not so great ones.  As I pulled out my old products I knew that I wanted to use them.  My youngest son scored lots of fun things for his crafting adventures.  But, what to do with the things that were usable.   Well I came across an awesome e-course through Elise Blaha-Cripe that she had written for A Beautiful Mess.  Use Your Stash has been a great kick start on using what I have.  It started with setting some goals and being clear about the direction that you want to head.

My biggest stash item was alpha stickers.  Once you have used up the main letters just what do you do with the rest?  When I first started scrapbooking (yes those alphas you see below are from my Creative Memories days when I started in 2002) I went with the sticker option.  While they are easier, I have switched to alpha dies and stamps as a result of the frustration of not having the right letter or colour .  Elise had some great ideas that I added to from a post at Studio Calico using up your leftover alphas.

My next oldie is stickers and paper packs.  When I bought these they were great to use but once I had done a couple of layouts with them the leftovers weren't so appealing.  Gone are the days that I buy specialty themed papers.

 The layout for this one came from a layout by Marcy Penner.  Love how she uses stitching.

 In the past I have tended to use larger areas of patterned paper but I am loving the layered look and how it tones down the brighter papers where you just get a peek of each of the designs without it being overwhelming.  The idea that Elise gave was giving different elements homes.  I used the frames to house the stickers that I chose to use.

While I didn't do layouts for each of the ideas that Elise gave I did use the ideas to try some new things like how I use my washi.  I have been looking at making more of my own embellishments and it was a great chance to do this before looking at buying new products.

A retreat to get me scrapping again

As I looked back on the projects that I have over the last few months I discovered that I hadn't even posted my pages from a retreat that I went on back in March!  As a special birthday treat my Mum and sister had organised a weekend away for a scrapping weekend. We found a place to meet in the middle at Ashley Park . We pretty much had the place to ourselves tucked away in the bush. We took over the lounge space and got into it.  These layouts are just some of the 20 or so pages that I got done.  

Much has happened with my scrapping and this is where I really had a chance to develop my style and play. I have spent most of my time of late re-organising my supplies and using my stash.  I had so much old product and bits and pieces of kits that I had leftover and it was really dragging me down.  The guilty feeling buying new things when I really had a lot that I hadn't been using.  So it has been time for out with the old, to make way for the new.  It was actually really freeing using up my stash.