Creative Chaos

Flowers from the garden.....

Fooled you....they are the flowers I got from Shinoda's the other day.  I love these small ones and plan on oing something amazing with them soon......or in the next year.  One of the two anyway.....

Ok....so we got thessee new Smash books at Paper Tales the other day.  They are the bigger ones......

So for the past week since we've gotten them in I've picked it up....... looked at it.....put it back......picked it up again deciding to buy it......put it back because I have absolutely no business buying it....... picked it up again convincing myself that I have every bit of business buying it...... put it back again knowing that I haven't even touched the last paper that I just bought because I loved and felt that I had business buying it......

I am leaving to go work at Paper Tales in the next few minutes.    Let's see what happens......Talk to you soon!  Karin

In progress.......

 

 

Busy week.....But I did manage to get started on a few gift tags.  I spent last week in the classroom subbing for 3rd graders.  I started a bunch of projects but never quite finished them.   Hopefully this week will be a bit more productive.  Off to Paper Tales....talk to you soon!  Karin

 

What's on my desk......

Some new flowers from Shinodas.  Some new paper to match the new flowers......

Addressing my love of burlap in the way of different sizes......

Some new fabric........

Die cut flowers......

My favorite stamps.....

Vintage postcards......

I think I love reading the back of the cards more than the front.  Note a couple things about the address....no address number and no zip code.....

Click on this one to read it a little bit closer.......

That's it for now!  Talk to you soon!  karin

 

 

Another page in the journal.......

 

Are you a crafty paper hoarder?

You can find out by taking my simple quiz.   Ask yourself these questions…..

1.  Do you regularly find yourself coming home with a bag full of new scrapbook paper with every intention of using it in some vague yet fabulous project that is swimming in your head?  No...give yourself 0 points.  Yes....give yourself 1,000

2.  Does that same paper end up in a pile on top of the last papers you purchased with the same vague yet fabulous idea that never came to fruition?   No...give yourself 0 points. Yes....give yourself 3,000

3. Are you scared to use your good paper because you might just need it for some vague yet fabulous project down the road?   No...give yourself 0 points. Yes....give yourself 4,000

4. Do you like to stare at your paper lovingly thinking of all the vague yet fabulous things you could do with it….yet the idea of cutting into it boggles your mind?   No...give yourself 0 points. Yes....give yourself 10,000

5. Do you find yourself going into your craftroom with a vague yet fabulous idea, take one look at the piles of paper and unfinshed projects then turn around and walk right back out?   No...give yourself 0 points. Yes....give yourself 20,000

6. Do you own any My Mind's Eye paper from the Tres Jolie Collection that you refuse to use you because you personally think it was their best work yet and you haven't come up with a good enough project in which to use it and in the back of your mind think that it could quite possibly worth a lot of money in the near future on the "Antique Scrapbook Paper Roadshow"?   No...give yourself 0 points. Yes....give yourself 90,000

Add up all your points: 

If you scored 0 points you have nothing to worry about and frankly I have no idea why you are reading my blog.

If you scored between 1,000 and 38,000 you are a classic scrapbook paper/crafty hoarder and help is on its way. 

If you scored over 90,000 you're hopeless.

I scored 128,000 points........

But the good news is I figured out a way to use my paper and hopefully help out the ladies who frequent Paper Tales too.  I came up with my first official "Hoarders Anonymous" class at Paper Tales.  The motto is "Taking it off of the pile and putting into a project!"   I've had this swimming around in my head ever since I had several conversation with like minded crafty people.   We have paper that we are afraid to use.  Because of that vague, fabulous and illusive project that is some where down the road, we hang on to it.   We don't want to "waste" it.  We're afraid we're going to ruin it......

It's ridiculous.   I decided this was going to be the year I use my paper.  I had this awful thought during the garage sale of the century last week that this was where all my paper, which is currently queued up and waiting for that vauge yet fabulous project, is going to end up forty years from now....... 

 

Or, possibly next week, if my husband and children have anything to do with it.

So I decided to do a class for Paper Tales that used my template for a mini book but everyone brings their own paper.  I'm going to supply the flower, ruffled muslin and chenille fabric.....Everthing to put the front cover together except for the paper.  It's like a class/crop hybrid of sorts. 

I'm excited about this self binding machine.  Debby Schuh used it for one of her classes and it's so much fun.  You put your own paper in and then it binds it onto a photo book.

 I thought this was the perfect first project for the class.  I'll post my project on my blog, so those of you who can't join us at Paper Tales can work with your papers too.  What do you think? 

Ok....talk to you soon! Karin

Little bits of this and that.......

I'm fighting a cold so I just thought I would drop in with some random photos.  I thought I would start with these cupcakes I made for a school party.  I spent three hours last night making 43 cupcakes because I only have one cupcake pan.  However, it was all worth it in the end because look at these babies........

Of course they are made with my famous buttercream frosting that will surely be unappreciated by the lowbrow palates of 5th graders.  Whatever.  All I know is I sign up for any and all cupcake requests so that I have a reason to make them.  We had cupcakes for dinner last night.   My kids think I rule the world.....

Anyway, here are some random photos of things at Paper Tales including all the new Melissa Frances paper........

 

 

 

Talk to you soon! Karin

 

Guess who came to visit.......

My friend Jenny Hernandez of Polka Dot Pixie fame came to Paper Tales to teach her adorable Party Chick paper clay class. 

A good time was had by all.......

If you ever have a chance to take one of Jenny's classes, do it! She is an amazing instructor....and working with paper clay is so much fun.....

Here are some more of her creations......

 

Progress is still continuing to unfold.......

The pace is comparable to a snail with a bum knee.....however, there has been progress.  My bird in a nest class is officially on the calendar at Paper Tales for March 25th @ 2:30pm.   There is a banner that goes on the top of the arch.  Unfortunately, my new MS Word program no longer has Edwardian Script on their font selection.   It is seriously the only font I use.  I can't believe out 100 fonts they offer, the one that I use is discontinued.  Arrrggg.  I would download some fonts from the internet but I have no idea how to convert them from a zip file.  I'm so lame.....

My lack of computers skills hasn't stopped my from getting closer to completion of my my new mini book class I'm working on......

I made the little flower with some raw silk, tinsel and a swarovski crystal.   I bought those glubers with every intention of making some homemade flowers. That was about six months ago.  I finally pulled them out and now I'm a gluber flower making fool........

Andres' "Beary" patiently waiting for Andres to come home from school today.  Andres provided food and comfort for the long wait........

I finally got over my fear of sewing on paper and sewed the clear overlay on to the page so that the photo can slipp in.  The last time I did that my needle broke and I swore off sewing on paper.  Now that I'm not breaking needles, I can't get enough of it.....

Ok....talk to you later!  Karin

 

Progress is starting to unfold.......

In between my sub jobs and coordinating the "Garage Sale of the Century,"  I have been attempting to get some classes posted over at Paper Tales.  Because Michelle instituted this ridiculous policy of not only having the projected completed, but also it must be somewhat formulated in one's head before setting a class date, I have been busy working late into the night finishing up my newest creation.  I was up until the wee hours of 8:30 last night putting the finishing touches on my bird cake.......

 

So I have to tell you about this garage sale that happened last Saturday.  It's the brainchild of Carlos and my husband who somehow both think we have tens of thousands of dollars worth of items to sell on our front yard.   I assumed this when I was completely met with resistence pointing out that putting a twenty dollar ad in the paper to make fifty dollars is not a sound business decision.   They both looked at me like I was a bumbling idiot.   I told them "fine" and that I was not going to help them in any way with this ridiculous lemonade stand of an idea.   They said "fine."  I said "fine."  And then we went our separate ways.  My way was supposed to be to the laptop to post the ad for the sale.   But somehow I got distracted on Pinterest and Facebook so the ad never quite made it to the Saturday morning paper.   Oops. 

They decided that a lack of an ad was in no way going to hinder their ablity to make tons of money on a Saturday morning......in our front yard......with a surf board and a broken dvd player....in a quiet neighborhood.....on a side street....However, they did go in the right direction hiring on the residen 7 year old sign maker for all their advertising needs.......

I love the way the signmaker anticipated helicopter traffic to the event. 

Here's how I found them after I woke up and stumbled out to the front door with my cup of coffee.   Evidently, traffic had been slow since 6:00 am that morning as the signmaker had time to sit down and enjoy a good book........

By the time the corner sign was brought in, the grand total for the sale was $26.00......

 

Of the $26.00 Carlos made, $6 of it was found in one of the backpacks they were selling, $15 of it was our neighbor across the street who took pity on them, and $5 was from his little brother buying his tennis racket.   As Andres bounded down the hall rushing past me to get his money, he excitely exclaimed "I buyed Carlos' tennis racket!"   Carlos, who was close on his heels ready to collect the $5 before Andres realized he had no idea how to play tennis,  made Andres "shake" on it, apparently already anticipating buyers remorse.

Ok....got to run and finish up the rest of my projects....and put an ad the the newspaper for the next garage sale of the century.....

Melissa Frances Monday......

I'm obsessed with burlap.  Can you tell?

How do you like that vintage Melissa Frances stamp I used?   I bought it back when I took the class from her at Paper Tales.  It is one of my favorite border stamps......

On the other tages I used Melissa Frances crepe paper, resin, tissue fringe and the new scrapbook paper line.  Gift tags are so much fun to put together.  You can use bits and scraps to create a fun keepsake.

Have a great Monday!  Talk to you soon!  karin