Merry Christmas!

Every year at Christmas, my husband and I exchange cards with one another.  It's fun, and a good way to remember to do some crafting during this busy season.  This year, it's also a sort of preview of the Club Scrap blog hop on Friday, since the card features the papers from the Aspen kit.

We usually go skiing today, and the trails are lined with birch trees, making this paper feel just like our ski trails.  And, since we are obsessed with ice skating, this is the perfect stamp this year.  A pop of red from my table full of scraps gives a happy feel to the card, and some silver pearl pen in the corners gives a little sparkle and dimension.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, blessed with happiness, fun, and good health.

Finding my crafty mojo...

Why has it been so long?  Well, first, I get really, really busy at certain times of the academic year.  I've always struggled with how to balance work, crafting, blogging, and the million other things that we all do at the same time.  Like, snow blowing.

Second, I'm happy to report that in between this year's busy times, I earned a promotion at my job, which led to increased responsibilities.  In addition to those extra responsibilities, I was primarily responsible for moving forward some policy changes that also required extra effort this fall.  Frankly, I've just been plain exhausted ever since August.

Finally, along the way, I seemed to have lost my mojo for a while.  I'm sure you can all identify - who hasn't been stuck in a rut or just plain uninspired?  This weekend, though, I think I broke through the mojo barrier, and over the next few weeks, I'm going to share some of my successes as well as some paper crafting ideas.

First, my friends really help here.  From KnitterPam (who is always gently reminding me to blog) to my wonderful Club Scrap family (who encourages me and asks me what I'm up to) to my local friends who admire my paper crafting, knowing that someone is interested in what you do really makes a difference.    I had a great craft show last December, which made me really itchy to start making stuff.

For example, last year, I made this calendar for my office and shared a tutorial.  These were very popular at my craft show and my local shops where I have work for sale.  Who doesn't want a pretty calendar as a gift?

My friend from work has been admiring it all year, and asked me to make her one this year.  A deadline helps get the mojo sparked - if I don't get her the calendar by the end of January, it starts to lose a bit of usefulness.  So, I buckled down and asked her what color she would like.  This immediately eliminates a choice for me, which makes it that much easier to get started. She said pink, and I happened to have the Birds of a Feather kit out in the open with a fabulous pink in it.  If you've lost your mojo - don't spend all day looking for the perfect paper.  Use what is there!  The kit had this fabulous saying in it, and the cute wings stamp, so I just played with that to start.  I figured if Kay likes a little glitter on everything, more must be better, especially for wings.

The easel came together really quickly with the pink paper, and ribbon from the kit.  So, presto!  I had a great gift and made a friend very happy today.

So, my restoring mojo tips of the day:

• Find some friends to encourage you!  I love the Club Scrap community, and all my friends there. It's the board I most regularly visit to check in on everyone.  A BIG thank you to everyone there who asked (or wondered) how I was doing.
• Find a deadline - they always motivate me!
• Eliminate choices - having my co-worker pick a color made it that much easier to get started.
• Use what is around - don't go hunting for the perfect pink, or that paper you remember buying - just use what is visible!
• Finally, I started by cleaning my desk, too.  Still my most helpful way of getting going.  As I clean, I always find something to inspire me.

Happy Valentine's Day! Cards with love.

My sweetie and I have exchanged valentine's cards for another year.   His featured quilled hearts.

Mine featured stamping, misting, and masking.  I loved using the newest stamps from Club Scrap!  In case you missed it, I have some videos on showing how I made the mask, and inked the panels.

My whole card used pink paper from Club Scrap, and some in color cardstock from Stampin' Up!  I love the Island Indigo cardstock and the matching baker's twine.  My friend MaryFran can place an order if you need a stamping consultant.

Together, I think they make a great pair, just like us  (awwww.....).

Happy Valentine's Day to you and those you love.  If you want to see some other cards my sweetie and I have exchanged, check out these posts:

• My Christmas card for Paul in 2010 - a tag tutorial
• Anniversary cards in 2010
• Anniversary cards in 2009

A Lovely Flag Book Class

I had a lot of fun teaching a flag book class at the Copper Country Community Arts Center.  You can see everyone working busily and intently!

Joanne is especially serious:

We were working with a technique I presented last fall on my blog to create embellished panels.

We then created a flag book to hold the panels.  It was everyone's first time making a flag book - see my tutorial if you want to learn how to make your own or my etsy shop if you want one for yourself.  Ronda and Bonnie very carefully glued the flags into their book.  Ronda was so excited that she said she was going home to make another book!

Ramona and Anna were very happy with the end result!

We joked that Cari should be our model for the class, since she had her hair cut just before coming to class.  She and her book both look fabulous!  Cari has her own blog and teaches zentangle classes - she thought this book would be great to hold tangles.

Cynthia had a great time, and toned down the pinks to make a more neutral book.  She plans on drawing in her book, and I hope to see it later after she's done more work in it.

I really enjoyed seeing how everyone used similar materials to create unique pieces of art. It was a great time, and I can't wait to teach again at the CCCAC.  If you live near the lift bridge, check out the CCCAC, and if you don't, try your local art center for some great classes and fun people.

Kaleidoscope Card

Now that I'm organized, I have been creating up a storm lately.  I'll be sharing some holiday cards later in the week, but first, it's time for Paul's annual birthday card.  At the Club Scrap retreat, I learned a new technique that they called "Pinpoint Rotation."  This is the result of that technique:

The "happy birthday" is mounted on some foam tape, which results in a little bit of distortion on the scan. The stamp is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and the coordinating punches (Word Window and Modern Label) are from Stampin' Up! - one of my favorite and most versatile greeting sets.

Believe it or not, I used one stamp and one ink pad to make the design on the cream colored paper.  That stamp isn't available anymore (Solstice Club Stamp kit), but check out this image from a different stamp.  To replicate this technique, you will need a:

• Stamp - border stamps work particularly well
• Stamp positioner, like a stamp-a-ma-jig or a Position It (I'll be talking more about the Position It later - this is a fabulous tool)
• Ruler and pencil
• Mulitcolored ink pad - I used the Kaleidacolor ink pad Fiesta

Nobody shows this better than Tricia, so check her out demonstrating the technique, and see where your imagination takes you!  I love this technique!

Some cool tools I used in this post:

   

Easy Labels for Home Canning

I love canning.

I never thought I would say that, but I just love to hear that "pop" and opening the cans later to find some deliciousness from the fall.  This year, we made a few cans of chutney.

Of course, I also love paper, and I was super excited to find that the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper contains 2 x 2 inch squares of his paper.  These squares fit perfectly on a canning lid (after being cut into a circle).  The other benefit of this paper is that it has a micro-version of the print, so instead of a small piece of a big pattern, you get a really nice scaled version of the paper.

Some people think I'm strange to make pretty labels for the cans, but I think it makes it easier to give them as gifts later, and it feels more special to me.  Why shouldn't my cans look fabulous?

After a few years of hand-stamping labels, and storing them in my (slightly yucky) basement, this is the process I use to make my labels.

1. Print the text on a sheet of desired paper.  For these labels, I chose a slightly translucent paper, since I wanted to see a bit of the pattern.  I use a table in my word processor, with the width and height of the cells equal to the size I'm going for.
2. Cut out the labels with a circular punch, die, etc. of your choosing.  I used my spellbinders dies.
3. Trim the patterned paper to 2 x 2.
4. Glue the label to the patterned paper.  For a translucent label like this one, I just put a little glue behind the black writing.
5. Run the 2 x 2 patterned paper through a xyron with a laminate/adhesive cartridge.  This makes the top protected with plastic (good for our basement), and the bottom with a strong adhesive.
6. Cut out the label with a die, punch, etc. of your choice.  I used a spellbinders scalloped circle.
7. Stick on your can and admire!

And what, you might ask, is Marrow Chutney?  Well, chutney is a sweet-and-sour type of relish that is popular in indian food, and in England.  Marrow is the British name for zucchini.  We got a huge zucchini from a friend, and Paul has been wanting to make marrow chutney for a while.  We use this on our sandwiches quite a bit to add a bit of zing.

Just love these new papers by Tim Holtz - I can see a lot of crafting possibilities with these.  And, the spellbinders dies are used constantly in my craft room. Basic shapes are the best - circles never go out of style, so you can't go wrong stocking up with these shapes.  And, the laminating/adhesive cartridge for my xyron is something I make sure is always in stock for canning season.


          

Great Lakes Art Showcase

In my day job, I work at a University.  This means that the end of the school year (now!) is very busy, and I have limited time for crafting.  I am very proud to report, however, that four of my little books are on display at our Great Lakes Art Showcase.  It is a juried art show, and it makes me so very happy to see my work with a lot of other great work.

These have mostly been posted on the blog before, but for a little eye candy, here is my "gallery" of work at the show!

Copper Country Cruising and Scrapping

I haven't scrapbooked since last year sometime. It's kind of crazy - I love to scrapbook, but I got more focussed on projects for the last year. I've found that I like scrapbooking ALSB style (Assembly Line Scrapbooking). Two Club Scrap members came up with the method - they would make pages out of their kits without picking pictures out. Club Scrap has instructions each month to make your entire kit into layouts for your current kits.

Club Scrap also has these great idea decks. You can find a layout you like, pick the papers, and follow the instructions to make a great layout. Sometimes, I can be more creative with these layouts by adding a whole bunch of embellishments, but sometimes I just want to get the layouts done. I like looking at the pictures later, and it's not as important to me that each layout be completely designed by me. The idea deck is great for using up older papers that might match, but you don't have the whole kit anymore. These layouts are both rotated from the sketch, which leads to a whole variety of layout options. I've actually used these patterns to create whole books, and by the time you add pictures, different embellishments, and journaling, nobody even recognizes the identical layouts from page to page.

These layouts are from my mom's visit last fall. We went Copper Country Cruising to look at the leaves, and took some great pictures. The paper on these layouts are mostly from a design classic remix of the collections paper printed on a variety of kits. The foil stickers with the gold leaves are from the Autumn Splendor kit.

Tap Dancing in the Wild West

One of the great things about living in a small town is that anybody can do anything. Three years ago, I took up tap dancing. This past weekend was our big show, and you can see from the curtain call picture that everybody was there! I think the cast was at least 130 kids to adults. Of course, all of their parents, relatives, and everybody in the community came out for the big show. It was a blast. It's always fun to surprise people I work with with my hidden talents!

Our theme was "Who's really who in the wild west?" and it followed two clueless folks who were wrongly accused of crimes. I played one of the "gold diggers" in the show, and did a tap dancing number to a great Bob Fosse tune from Chicago (Hot Honey Rag). It was a great challenge, and great fun.

Houghton in the Spring

Yesterday was a picture-perfect day in Houghton - unless you're going downtown! The weather was just-right, and we walked to the Suomi for a great breakfast. The whole town seemed to be there, so we were able to say hi to a bunch of people. We walked back along the lakefront to get home. It was a bit chillier that way, but the beautiful blue water was irresistible.

Downtown Houghton is partially chewed up because of construction. They've started with the two blocks closest to the bridge. Montezuma is a two-way street during construction, and traffic on the "yooper loop" is two way, as well. It makes for an interesting start to the day and some interesting photos! After driving through Green Bay last week, however, we quietly thank the construction folks that they are doing great work, and it isn't really that big of an inconvenience. The end of the project should be lovely. I'll keep you posted!

Signs of spring and tweeting

This weekend was definitely a move forward in the spring direction. Paul did a lot of gardening, I did some spring cleaning, and we heard the first real sign of spring - a boat signaling for the lift bridge to be raised! I really love this sound in the summer, and generally wind up running around the house yelling "boat!".

And, for those of you on Twitter, I have finally taken the plunge! The final push was Club Scrap. They're going on a 10th anniversary cruise (departed on Sunday) and they're going to "tweet" about it. I couldn't resist joining in on the fun, so I signed up. Paul found a neat program for the mac that allows me to follow facebook status updates and twitters in one window, so it is pretty groovy.

I'm "liftbridgecards" on twitter, or http://twitter.com/liftbridgecards. Plain old liftbridge is taken up by a brewery in Minnesota!

Busy meeting deadlines!

I've been busy crafting, but mostly more thank you notes and some projects on a deadline. One of those projects for a deadline was a book for my dear friend and mentor, Dr. L. He is having some health problems, and I decided to spend last weekend finding lots of photos of us together and send him a special package. Since he's received it now, I can share it with you. The pictures are from his retirement party (left hand page) and my wedding (right hand page).

My other projects for a deadline are submissions to the Great Lakes Art Showcase. After the show, I can share them with you. Suffice it to say, I'm pretty darn excited by them! I tried some new techniques and folks who have seen them in person have given me good feedback.

A Snowy Valentine's Day

Paul and I went snowshoeing around Hungarian Falls today. It sure is amazing to see running water with all of the snow! We had a bit of an adventure by choosing a different way to hike back, and even saw a woodpecker! If you ever wonder why we choose to live "at the end of the earth" the beauty of this day might help you understand.

Hope you have a great day with your loved ones.

Snow, snow and more snow

We expect a lot of snow in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and we love to play in it! Paul and I went skiing this weekend at our favorite downhill spot - Powderhorn Mountain. Today, however, was a different story. I think we got a dozen inches of snow in one day. And yet, we keep on going! The roads were pretty clear, but the parking lots and side streets were in rough shape today. It gets dark early, so no light to take a photo today.

Back at blogging

So, after deciding to start blogging, my life got too busy to blog. I avidly read lots of blogs, though, so it seems only fair that I contribute something to the blog world.

My most recent crafty adventure led me to teach a course at our local scrapbooking store. I adapted a technique I learned at a Club Scrap retreat and used it to make cards. Everybody in the class made twelve cards and learned a lot of fun techniques. The cards turned out great and everybody had a great time at the class. We had so much fun using Memories Mists that I'll be teaching another class on March 14th. Contact me if you want more information!