Things I have learned from moving....

Have you ever had to pack up and move your craft space. It is not that fun of a project. And throughout it all you're thinking to yourself- I just want to sit down and make something, but it's all in boxes. Here's a few things I've learned along the way...

• As awesome as it is to have a hobby, especially one that involves creating something, you don't just realize how much STUFF you have, until you have to pack it all up and move it. 
• Paper is really heavy.
• You also don't realize how much stuff you have that you don't want anymore or will never use again. I'm talking all sorts of product- boxes of old stamps, ribbon, paper, and more. It makes one feel wasteful and horribly consumptive. 
• I could probably hold off on buying anymore card stock for a long, long, long time. I have that little bit of crafter's OCD, where I'm down to 10 sheets of one colour, and I'm all "oh no, I better get another pack". 
• I packed all my full sheets of paper away weeks ago, and sorted all my scraps into colour families. I've been using that only for the last month, and you know what, it's been okay. I've had more than enough paper to choose from. The odd time where I didn't have the colour in the size I wanted, I just used something else. I'm thinking I'll unpack the paper packs, but will continue to not use them until absolutely necessary.
• You quickly realize the ridiculousness of hoarding supplies...If you buy something because you love it, use it! Otherwise sure enough, you'll come across it years later and think it's tacky or untrendy and question why you ever bought it and held on to it. I like to think this is a bit avoidable because I consider my current style of clean and simple, a classic. Of course, it took me several years before I found that to be my preference, so I have all sorts of stuff that doesn't really mesh as well now.
• This is a tricky one, and it's really more of a "hindsight" type thing. When you start out, it's all so overwhelming, and really you just want to get as much cool stuff as possible. So maybe you go and get the bargain card stock, and the cheap ribbon and the not so great quality stamps, But you know what, quality ends up winning anyway. Even though you didn't want to "waste money" on those expensive items, if you stick with the hobby, you'll end up buying the good stuff anyway. And then you're not actually saving any money.

Here's a card as well:

I made this one a while back, I also made it in 3 other colour combinations (aqua mist/hawaiian shores; lemon tart/summer sunrise; and spring moss/ ripe avocado). I really liked it in every colour combination.

Supplies: Stamps: It's a Jungle Out There (birthday sentiment)

Ink: Dark Chocolate

Paper: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, White

Accessories, etc: Block Alphabet die, By the Numbers impression plate, Hibiscus Burst ribbon, twine, button

Congrats Clothesline

A few weeks back my mom had a specific request for me- she had seen a cute congratulations card where the letters were hung out on a clothesline.

Well, as luck would have I had ordered these tiny clothespins on a bit of a whim, and was just itching for the chance to use them. Although the card itself is quite simple, it took a bit making sure the spacing was decent. I attached the string loosely to the back of the teal card stock, then I placed the letters to the string with tape. I started in the middle with the G and the R. Next up was adding the clothespins. I added a glue dot to the back of each pin so it would stay down. Due to the weight of the pins, the string naturally took the nice wide-U type shape.  Finally I added a few felt clouds. I've got a few more packages of these adorable clothespins, so I may yet try this again.

Supplies:
Paper: Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Metropolis (discontinued Scenic Route paper)
Die: Block Alphabet Upper,  Cloud 1 and 2
Accessories, etc. Felt, Mini Clothespins, string