I cleaned, and not just a little, I cleaned my craft room.  I can see some space opening up before my eyes and it’s thrilling.  I also decided I don’t need the computer that is in there.  I usually use my laptop so why take up valuable space that I can clearly use for something else.  I’m so excited by this new found space, I’ll immediately find something to fill it.  It’s only inevitable.

I also did a video on what to do with scrap paper.  Scrap paper can and will take over our lives if we don’t control it.  I’m not one of those people that will keep every small piece of paper, but every page I cut to make a card with, I should just use the other half right then and be done with that scrap.  I need to get serious about this problem because although I’m not buying more 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper, I am seemingly increasing the amount of paper I have there.  It’s time to make more projects that use a lot of scraps.  I saw someone do a video with their gelli plate pictures.  They cut the picture so that some of it became the envelope, and the rest they tacked onto the bottom of a premade card and called it done.  Genius!  I think I’ll start doing that with some of my 12 x 12 paper as well, because let’s face it, I have a lot of that as well.  I need to destash and in a serious manner.  I have so many things that I bought thinking I could use them, but I can’t.  It’s time to get serious about ridding my life of these things.  I’m starting to feel like a plan is forming, although I’ve said that before.  Maybe this time it will stick, or maybe not.

I’m almost ready to start playing with my gelli plate.  I think I have everything I will need to play with it.  Unfortunately, the thing that stands between me and the producing images, is room to work.  I need to seriously clean my work space so that I can either hang the prints once I make them, or find a spot to lay them once I make them.  Herein lies my dilemma.  I need to devote a serious amount of time into arranging, cleaning, moving, you name it, the things in my space. I just don’t seem to have a system that will currently work for me.  I’m not sure why I can’t stay organized, I just can’t.  I clean the room and am really proud of myself, and within a week, it’s back to bedlam.  I even sent a photo of it to a friend and she thought it looked like a hurricane came through.  It is pretty close to the look of a hurricane.  I’m trying to use every available space, but somewhere in the mix, I’m not doing something right, because I just can’t keep it clean.  Maybe clean isn’t the word, maybe the word is organized.  I feel like I am buried.  And frustrated.  In the time it’s taken me to type this, I could have cleaned something.  Motivation is also a problem.  I really lack motivation because the task seem daunting.  I’m going to make a plan and stick to it.  First part of the plan, quit buying anything crafty.  Second part of the plan.  Give away a lot of my accumulated projects.  Third part of the plan, make more projects and videotape them.  Fourth part of the plan, give those things away as well.  I love it when a plan comes together.

I woke up this morning full of ambition.  I know, crazy right?  I had to do something creative as I’ve been feeling completely out of sync, creatively, the last few days.  I had the idea of what I wanted to do and had very little time to accomplish it.  I had to interview students starting at noon and it’s about one-half hour drive to get there.  I wanted to make a prototype of my project, then make one on video, all in under an hour.  It was a really ambition plan, I’ll say that.  The video doesn’t have any fluff in it because of my time constraints, but at least I got it done.  I wanted to make a post it note holder with matching pen, but not the regular post-it-notes, no, the ones they sell at the Dollar Tree.  They are almost double in width and come 100 in a pad.   There are a lot of vibrant colors instead of the normal yellow, and that made me happy as well.  I had to make the holder so that the top flips up, so why not include a pocket inside.  The pens I used were ones that I could screw the back off, so I bent the patterned paper to fit around the tube with the ink in it, and put it back inside the plastic casing.  All in all, the project came out pretty nicely and I’m glad I have a new video up.  I had requests for a post-it-note holder, so I was happy to accommodate the viewer that requested it.

Now. that I’m feeling like I’m back in the saddle, I think I’ll do a video on what to do with scraps tomorrow.  Like every other crafter, that’s one thing you never run out of.   I need to make a couple of Easter cards for friends, but just haven’t had the ambition.  Tomorrow could be a whirlwind of crafting activity.  You never know.

So far it’s been kind of a crazy week as I volunteer to practice interviewing with the college seniors from my alma mater.  I haven’t had much time to think about crafting and I still haven’t made my Easter cards.  I’m thinking of doing an assembly line technique using the Misti and hopefully, it will allow me to get my cards done and sent in a timely fashion. (Timely meaning I actually get them to people before Easter.)  I really love Easter themed cards and hate not taking the time to get several different ones planned and finished.  I think I need to do a much better job of time management going forward.  I’m not sure why, but I just seem to lag when I never did before.  I need to prioritize better and going forward, I’m going to plan better and accomplish more.  That’s the plan anyway.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

In case you’ve missed hearing about Honey and her never ending health concerns, we went to the vet and her heart murmur has disappeared.  Apparently that is common in puppies.  We just can’t get rid of her diarrhea and the last time we went to the vet, they thought she might have something else wrong because her urine was too diluted.  This poor puppy has been to the vet every week since we have had her.  When is she going to get a break?  I would think that all of the things that happened at the breeders, dirty conditions, contaminated water, mites from cats, and fleas, would be treated by now.  She’s had so many different medicines that you’d think everything would have been covered.  Still no signs of stopping.  The AKC don’t want anything to do with bad breeders, they just want the money to call an animal AKC.  If they have no monitoring responsibilities, then who is looking out for these dogs?  I called our local Humane Society and we currently don’t have anyone to handle it.

I apologize if I’ve said all of this before.  But it is really frustrating to have an animal that is ill and you can’t seem to get to the bottom of it.  I guess it’s time for another call to the vet.

I just got an email from Linda Bauwin saying she had achieved her million dollar goal.  I asked her how many people had achieved that level of sales in their company, and she said she is the eleventh person to have done so.  That is quite an accomplishment and one she should be really proud of. She had asked them to do a very low key affair, and I’m sure this is a very emotional time for her.  I can’t imagine working so hard for something and not having your husband there to share it with.  I hope she has a really lovely time and shares some photos on social media with us.

I went to Michael’s yesterday and they had their craft paint on sale for 3 for $1 and I already have more than I need, but I have really been thinking about getting out the thing I bought from Stampendous that is similar to a gelli plate. I’m not sure how long these pages take to dry or if I need a drying rack .  I don’t know much other than how to make them.  I bought some really fun foam stamps to use on it, because I really want to put my pages in my art journal once they are done.  Should I just use inexpensive card stock for these pages or computer paper?  These things are a mystery to me.  I’m going to watch some more YouTube videos.  I’m looking for a video called “Gelli Plates for Dummies.”  Do they make those books anymore?  They were genius.  I need someone to tell me step by step, exactly what and how to do this.  Then I’ll be ready.  Maybe I’ll get that clothes drying rack that’s never been used and put gelli prints on it.  It’s a plan.

 

I am so behind on Easter card tutorials.  I have an idea for one with the Misti using Cyndi’s templates.  They are different shapes that you use with the Misti to stamp in a circle or a square and I wanted to show viewers that they are available free on the internet and how to use them.

I have so many cute Easter stamps too, and I really want to get them out and use them and I just keep getting side tracked, “Squirrel.”  For those of you that have never seen the movie “Up”, there’s a dog in it that gets distracted by squirrels.  It normally takes less than a squirrel to distract me.  My friend Linda says “ribbon” instead of squirrel, because she knows ribbon always throws me into a frenzy.  My plan for tomorrow is to get serious about Easter cards and to put together things that I keep promising I will mail, but just keep forgetting.  I also need to get some videos loaded before the week starts because I’ll be volunteering at the college Rich and I graduated from on Monday and Wednesday, so I’ll be too tired to craft when I get home.  I really need to get serious about my plan and tomorrow is going to be video on top of video until I feel like I’ve accomplished something.   I really hope I get something to turn out well or I’ll be even more stressed on Monday.  Yikes, I need to get serious about making videos.