"Waste not, want not!"

I really try to be a good steward of my resources, so when I gave the local printshop some cardstock to cut for some 8.5" square journal pages, it left 2.5" strips. I had some cut into two inch squares. This gave me two cute sizes for books. I thought the size here would be cute for child, perhaps to draw little comic strips in, or as a list book for adults. It was fun to make!

Excuse the poor quality of the photo. It looked fine on the camera, but I should have downloaded it first. The album is not here now, so I probably won't retake it. I definitely need a good photo editing program, that would have made a difference in appearance!

"Genuine" Scrapbook pages

I thought I'd show a sample of my "scrapbook" pages. On the left are a couple of scraps; I really did use a bunch of scraps ... I keep drawers of partially used pieces of cardstock. But of course, I added a lot, especially in the efforts to have most "pages" full size. When I paired up two (occasionally three) scraps, I used post-it notes or tape to keep them together when punching the holes. :-)

Genuine Scrap book ... as simple as it gets!

Here is the second "genuine" scrap book. As I said in yesterday's post, I could not get the computer to work properly (still haven't). The printer worked fine with the last computer, but this one can't seem to "agree" with the computer over color. Running a sizzix through cuttlebug is a nuisance, and the sizzix dies shed all over the place as well, so I didn't want to just copy the first journal. I finally just pulled together the flowers and brads, and decided I really liked the simple look! I played around with a few embellishments, but this just looked so sweet and simple, I decided I would quit trying to "fix" it!

Genuine "scrap" book

So odd, I thought I had posted this yesterday, I even can remember how I described the scrap book ... but the post is not in drafts, hmmm... this morning I spent 20 minutes seeking the description I'd used for the blog and altered slightly to print out for the journal itself, and couldn't find that either. ???

Anyway, this is a I'm calling this a "Genuine Scrap Book”. That is, it really is created with cardstock scraps! I put interesting cuts and strips in (wide enough to be useful, and to be sure the bind-it-all punched at least a couple of holes so those scraps wouldn't just hang out), and plenty of full sized pages with some borders and punched outs. It was more time-consuming than I expected it to be, but I liked the concept enough to try a second one, which I'll post tomorrow. I had major frustration with our new computer: the colors do not work properly. It's so weird. I finally gave up and used the sizzix alphabet dies instead!

Home Alone

Actually, I'm not alone, but it's just family, for the first day in over a month ... so it feels like being "home alone," in a group of us sort of a way. :-)

It's been good, but now there are less distractions as I get ready for the craft shop. I spend the afternoon painting a huge bookshelf that I am being allowed to use. It's been crazy. I had some white stain blocking spray paint, that I used up with the shelf, and so I bought another can while at the paint store. When I arrived, I realized to my dismay that somehow, with all the shelves (horizontal AND vertical) on the unit that I was trying to cover, I had completely overlooked the sides of it! So, I sent a daughter back to the store for another can. I don't know why I just thought one more would do it! But I was NOT going to go down again or send my dd! (Small town, remember!). I looked at my cans of white paint and knew those would not be enough. Hmmm... is it possible that at the back of the barn there might be some old cans of spray paint? Ones that allthough years old, cans covered in rust, having been frozen and thawed and baked in the summer heat might do the job? Wow! Two partially used cans! Since I plan to rag on some beige paint, I'm not worried about how it might look, as long as it goes on white! So, spray away. It's odd stuff, I'm continually stepping out of clouds of paint dust, and it's going on the shelf a bit oddly. Oh well. At some point, I actually look at the can label ... it's not regulary paint, it's enamel! At this point, some of it has gone on most of the shelves, so I use it up anyway. Tomorrow I paint ... should be interesting...

I have a "not yet posted" file in my photos, and Saturday, fully intending to post, I moved the card I was going to used to it's proper folder. We had two extras staying with us, and since I'm naturally distractable anyway, I got derailed before starting my post. Of course, I can't remember which card I was going to use. As I looked through all my folders, I discovered this card I had made a couple of months ago for someone. I never posted it, so it seemed a good choice to just go with this one! The gal I made it for is a lot of fun, so I though she might appreciate loud, vibrant color!

Cards for soldiers

I love sending scripture cards to my son in the Navy. I'm not sure that he's spending much time in the Word, so this is my way of encouraging him in that area without lecturing. :-)

Unfortunately, I've had these for sometime without mailing it to him or a young friend of ours in the Army for whom I also made one of these.

Last night when I hoped to post, I instead had to turn of the computer. We had incredibly fierce and long-lasting thunder and lightning storms, and I had not turned off the computer when we had a sudden black out. Ouch! I've had enough problems with this new computer without zapping it! So, I unplugged it. When I turned it back on later that night, we could not get the internet going. Fortunately, this morning my daughter got it working.

We have two young people staying with us now. It's so odd; instead of the empty nest I expected to face when I imagined this time years ago (with absolutely no dread, mind you, lol!), we instead have a fuller nest! I love it, though my love of quiet and privacy makes it a challenge at times. It also interfears with my ability to get things done, so I am constantly needing to consciously give my time back to the Lord. I had unexpected adult company last night, but God had helped me actually finish early the things that I absolutely HAD to have done yesterday, so it worked out just great. I really need to trust him more!

Some MONTHS are like that!

I can't believe how complicated getting a new computer has been. And I totally do not understand how an "upgrade" can be a downgrade, lol! After a week of trying (with unplanned responsibilities popping up, and a graduation party for our youngest happening this past weekend), my husband finally got the old computer hooked up to get our former photo editing program that came with Windows-whatever-it-was put onto this computer (Vista), but it won't work on the new one. So, I am having to use a really limited editing program. Nonetheless, I'll start putting up cards Thursday. Tomorrow is new Student Orientation for our daughter, so we'll leave early morning (as soon as the carpet layers arrive with our new living room carpet). When we get back, we'll have the great fun of re-setting up the living room! :-/

Caught!

I've mentioned this before, but I am really bad about getting birthday cards done on time. I don't know why I continue to struggle with this, but I do. We celebrated our oldest daughter's birthday Sunday, and I had to use a card from my stash that was not made especially for her. She loves butterflies, and her gift was a butterfly necklace so although this is admittedly not one of my best cards, it was the best choice. Of course, she turned it over and saw my business sticker, which I don't put on family cards. "Recylced, Mom?" she asked with a grin. At least I could deny that! It wasn't made for her, but it was not previously owned, lol!

The new computer did not come with a decent photo editing program, and my dh has not yet been able to load the old one on. In fact, I'm not positive he can, so I'm still a bit stuck ... I hope tomorrow or the day after to finally be able to get some pictures ready to post.

Encouraging Impressions

A couple of years ago, I got an idea for a line of rubber stamps, but I didn't - still don't - have the financial means to get it started. This was the one sheet I did manage to have created; I really wanted many of these sayings, and they were nowhere to be found. (Since then, a very few of the phrases have popped up here and there, but not most.) These are available as a full sheet or individually, here.
But now I am feeling released to start making more stamps. I'm just trying for one sheet per month or six week period of time, as I'll need to earn back the money for each sheet before creating the next. I'm also need to decide if I will have them done at the same place as I did this sheet; I'm not sure the owners of that particular company are still interested in that. Anyway, I'm excited!

I'm back!

Wow, I had no idea I would be "gone" so long! Added to everything else I had going, we had to get a new computer, and I naively assumed that a)it would be a quick process for my dh to transfer everything over, and b)that I would have no problem finding where all my pictures and files had gone. Wow. It was quite the ordeal, lol! I still am missing things, and when I find them, I forget how I managed it, and they are lost again! But, I'm getting it figured out, and I don't need to find the missing camera cable because this computer just needs the chip. Oh, happy day!

Now I'll be back to posting more or less every day (except Sunday - not out of legalism, but my own personal knowledge that I NEED A DAY OFF!). Actually, my goal is 5 days a week ... this keeps me from sliding too far from regular card making!

This is one of my older cards, but it's a scripture speaking to me right now. I've got a couple of things in the works right now related to stamping that are pretty exciting - and time consuming, lol - that I've been thinking about for a long time, but it's never seemed like the right time.

Now our oldest daughter is commandeering everyone for a picnic, so I'll post more on Monday.

Have a great weekend!