"I'll Always Have Your Back" Card

I know I do these things backwards. 

I posted another video on YouTube yesterday, and am only just blogging about it now.  

For this card, I used the "You Make My Tail Wag" stamp set from My Favorite Things, and the rest was just drawing a few squares and rectangles and a few fridge items, and colouring with Copic markers. 

For the card base, I used Simon Says Stamp Smoke Fog cardstock, and Simon Says Stamp Slate cardstock to back the image.  I also trimmed the coloured image using the largest of the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die set. The sentiment is just one I created and printed off my computer on white cardstock and trimmed down.

You can watch the video from here or from my You Tube channel.  It was challenging to edit, since I had about 3 hours of footage to trim down to 15 minutes, but again I learned some lessons for the next one.  

Today is a statutory holiday here, and (sadly) the last day of holidays for me.  I have really enjoyed having this time to be crafty and recharge my batteries.  It's a beautiful sunny  day, and I will be savouring the remaining hours of my freedom by doing all the laundry I did not do while I was playing in the craft room.  

TTFN!    

An Update

Oh, I have neglected my poor little blog!

A few noteworthy things have happened since my last post, and most of them have been playing out on Instagram and YouTube.  

First of all, one of my cards was "spotted" on the My Favorite Things "You've Been Spotted" feature of the MFT Challenge and Inspiration blog!  I was blown away by the recognition, and humbled to be included in the company of such incredibly talented ladies.

I made this card during The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge, using the MFT "Penguins in Paradise" stamp set and Copics and Glossy Accents.   

I have mentioned before, I love Kathy Racoosin's colouring challenge, and the latest one in June was no exception.  Again, I met so many talented, kind, and inspirational people.  And I would also add Kathy herself to this list.  She takes the time to look at and comment on each submission, as well as participating in the challenge herself, and also posting video tutorials.  Clearly it is a labour of love, since she must not sleep at all for those 30 days.  She has hinted there will be another one soon, so I am on the edge of my seat waiting for her to announce when it will be!

The other thing that has happened is that I have posted two more YouTube videos.  What makes them significant is that I am actually speaking in them.  Yikes!  That was tough, but I made it through, and though I won't be receiving multiple offers of voiceover work, I was proud of myself for stepping WAY outside of my comfort zone to try something new.

The first video is the making of a card I made for the winner of my 100 Instagram follower giveaway, depicting a laundry room scene, using Paper Smooches "Squeaky Clean" stamp set.  

The obvious question here is:  Why a laundry room?  Well, when Tracy contacted me with her email address, she said in her message that she had been busy doing laundry all morning, and was rewarding herself with some Instagram time when she found out she was the winner.  So this card idea seemed entirely appropriate and even necessary!  (By the way, Tracy turns out to be a really nice person, and you can see her own wonderful creations on her Instagram feed here, and maybe one day you could even be a lucky recipient of one of her beautiful, one-of-a-kind hand-drawn "Birthday Queen" cards.)  

The second video is the making of a card using an Art Impressions stamp set, "Goldie Golfer".  This is my third go at this image; the first time was my first attempt at no-line colouring, and it turned out alright, but I wasn't happy with my choice of colours for her outfit, since I wanted to put her on a golf course.  So I made another.  And a third for the video. 

I know...multiple videos in a matter of days!  What is going on here?  What is going on is holidays.  I am in the middle of two glorious weeks off work, and have actually had plenty of time to colour and make videos.  Sadly, the dream ends next Tuesday and I go back to work, but until then I am making the most of my time by doing as much creating as I please!

Well, that's it for now, folks.  I have whiled away a good part of the day already, and this post is already becoming quite long.  Thanks for stopping by!

Instagram - 100 Follower Giveaway!

Sometime around Christmas, I came to realize there was quite a bit of crafting awesomeness going on without me being aware of it.  I had created an Instagram account quite a while ago, but I had pretty much just posted a photo of Rico and then got distracted and stopped playing with it.  I didn't even remember my username.  

When I started watching Copic colouring videos on YouTube like a woman obsessed (well, yes, I was obsessed), I would frequently run out of videos to watch after I had watched all the videos posted by the people I subscribed to (I watched a lot of videos).  I needed more, more...MORE!  I followed one YouTuber over to Instagram and that was that.  Oh my.  So many photos!  So much information...so fast!  

Anyway, the point is, I like Instagram.  I have found so many wonderful artists and crafters to follow, many of whom are really nice people with interests similar to mine. Craft supply hoarders gatherers, "procraftinators", enablers, encouragers, inspirers...it's a little community and I feel like I have fellow tribe members there.  No one raises an eyebrow when I share my latest crafty purchase; they all know I "need" it, and what's more, they approve.  Yes, they say, we are happy for you that you now have this thing.  You are one of us and you deserve it!  

Last Friday, I reached 100 followers on my account.  I haven't promoted myself; I've just posted my crafty creations, which some people apparently like.  I couldn't help giggling about it all day.  Imagine!  

So, as you do in the world of Instagram, I am hosting a giveaway to say thanks.  Details are over on my Instagram account, here.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Planner Love

Oh my...it's been a bit longer between postings than I had planned.  

I had full intentions of posting about my new Erin Condren Life Planner when it arrived, but no sooner did I get it and start using it than this happened:

And it really knocked me back. I don't remember feeling that awful in a long time, and for so long.  Anyway, that was then and this is now, and I do love my planner.

It took me a while to be ok with putting anything permanent in it, and everything I wrote was in pencil until I was able to lay hands on some Frixion erasable pens.  

I had to keep it pretty.  Until I realized I really didn't have to.  

Beyond being a place to keep myself organized, my planner is a place for me to express myself, and it should make me happy when I look at it.  


So, far from being pretty, a typical layout for me might look like this (sorry for the bad lighting):

I felt I'd need some extra motivation on this particular Monday, due to some things going on that I'm having a bit of trouble...let's say...adapting to.  That glittery unicorn sticker cracks me up and it seemed like he was sending me a message.  And the red Swingline stapler sticker is one of a few sets I designed and cut out with my Silhouette.

I'm still working out which way will work the best for me, but I am having fun with it.  And I feel like that is the point.  :)

In Search of Planner Peace - Erin Condren Life Planner

I have been seeing a lot of posts about planners lately, but had not yet ventured down that particular rabbit hole, mainly because I use my iPhone for most things, but also because it seems to involve a lot of accoutrement such as stamps and stickers and washi tape, which I can see as a potential high-risk area for me.  First I'll purchase a lot of pens and stamps and stickers and washi tape, then I'll want to make myself customized stamps and stickers, and then I'll be busy doing that and really get nothing else accomplished.  This obviously defeats the purpose of getting a life planner.  

So, having had this internal dialogue with myself and patting myself on the back for deciding to leave well enough alone, I naturally found myself ordering an Erin Condren life planner in the wee hours of the morning last Monday (in my defence, YouTube and insomnia were involved...).  

I thought I'd give it a try anyway.  The simple fact is, my iPhone is really not keeping me as organized as I would like to be. I don't care much for the calendar (and here, I fully expect black-suited, sunglass-wearing Apple representatives to burst through the door and drag me away), and I never hear the reminder alarm because my phone is usually in my purse when I'm at work, and although I'm sure there are great apps out there, I have yet to find one that works for me.  So, if I'm trying something out it may as well be something I can easily customize and doodle in.  I had also considered Kikki K and Hobonichi, but the Erin Condren one seemed much easier to lay hands on.   

It was not as expensive as I had expected.  I ordered a Daytimer planner 20 years ago (I sent a form and a cheque through the mail even!  That's how old I am.), and spent well over $100 then for a personalized binder I could never change.  All tolled, the Erin Condren planner was around 85 US$, including personalization, shipping, and a few extra accessories like the pen holder and the clips. I ordered one with a foil cover, and was pleased to find out there is a promotion code on the site for $25 off the gold or platinum.  Given this, I now regret not paying a bit more for the faster shipping, but I was overcome with practicality for a change (and a need for sleep) and went with regular shipping.  

As expected, I have also wasted a good part of this weekend putzing around in Adobe Illustrator with custom stamp and sticker ideas, and I haven't even received my planner yet (it won't ship until this week, and Canada Post will want to let it sit in stasis for a few days once it gets through Customs).  But I am looking forward to the rush of organizational euphoria I am sure I will experience once it arrives!  :)

Spiffy Scooters

Well, look at me figuring out how to do things!  Not just posting videos to YouTube, but also now linking them on the blog.

So, the important information here is that I have learned some lessons from the last one, and posted another video.  This one is a bit longer, as it has both colouring and card assembly.  Also, it does not contain scenes of violence like the last one (no body parts were harmed, although I did put my arm in the ink pad this time, so watch for that.  Such a pro.).  

For the card in the video, I used the Paper Smooches "Spiffy Scooters" stamp set and coordinating die set, as well as a Hampton Art Vintologie stamp set, which I show in the video.  

I could colour these scooters over and over; they're just the perfect size, and the sky is the limit when it comes to colour choice. There are even flames and decorations included so you can customize your scooter any way you like.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the video, and please feel free to comment to let me know if you'd like to see more of these.  

Good night!

Colour Me Happy

Happy Saturday!  My favourite day of the week.  

I've been participating in the The Daily Marker's 30 Day Coloring Challenge.  The idea is to colour or paint something every day, even if it is only for 5 minutes, for 30 days straight.  The challenge kicked off on March 4th, but you can jump in at any time.  

Being Canadian, I will of course be colouring instead of coloring, but I don't imagine that will disqualify me.  :)  It's a great excuse to take a few minutes every day to work on  something I find fun and relaxing, and a skill I would like to improve.

Last night, for Day 4, I worked on this Art Impressions "Chair Spinner" image.  

I love these spinners.  A few weeks ago, I made this card for my mother-in-law, using the "Full Throttle" stamp set.  She has a shiny metallic red scooter, and it brought a big smile to her face when we gave it to her, which was the whole intention.

I purchased these stamps from Simon Says Stamp!, but have also ordered directly from Art Impressions, where they have a massive selection to choose from.  

On that note, I guess it's time to go get my colour on.  Have a great weekend!