Creative Chaos

Still rolling.......

except right now I'm rolling into the couch and counting down the minutes until bedtime.

I had my avastin treatment this afternoon and it just wiped me out.  Everytime I go in for my treatment I'm armed with magazines to read, a notebook for jotting down witty blog posts and my bagel to eat.  And every single time, as soon as I sit in the comfy chair with a blanket on me, I'm like Pavlov's dog and can barely keep my eyes open.  I don't even get premeds anymore! 
 
 

Something about that chair just makes me go to sleep.  So now I'm going to finish making dinner and then convince the boys to go to bed at 6:30.

I think I'll go change all the clocks to convince them it's really 8:30.

As you may or may not know, I love my Target snowflakes.  So this holiday season is going to be the year of a thousand snowflakes.   Here is a snowflake banner I'm working on for a class at Paper Tales. 

 

Talk to you later.....zzzzzzzzzzz.......  
 
 
 

Oh boy..........

How......

in the world.......

did this.....

happen again......

Same table.....different season. 
 
 
 
 
 

Trying to stay focused......

on what I need to do.  But I'm getting lured in by Christmas.   I fell in love with these papers and have to do something with them.......

They are Webster's Pages.   Love them.......

When I was eating my lunch yesterday at Paper Tales, Michelle was hard at work stocking them on the shelves.....

I was going to help her after I was finished eating but then got distracted by this.......

and this.....

 

By the time I made my way back she was already done......

Trying figure out color combinations and textures....

I pulled out some tags from last year to see how I could change them up.....

Alrighty.....someone is breathing down my neck wanting to go on Toontown.  I have a ton of food to cook today since our freezer went on the fritz.....Talk to you soon!  Karin
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

  
 

Can a shelving unit change your life?

Well maybe not your life....

In my case it changed the entire direction of my day.  On Sunday I decided to clean and organize my craft room.  Yes, I know, it's the story of my life.  However, it really needed a good scrubbing. Plus, I wanted to be all organized for the big Christmas crafting rush.   So as I stood in my room overwhelmed with too much stuff and not enough storage, Cosme walks in and asks me if I want to take a look at this shelf he got from a client before he puts it in the alley.   Ack!  Yes! I'll take it!  It was as if I read "The  Secret" and all my wishes came true.  I then stood back in my craft room and wished for him to walk in with a bag containing a very large sum of money.   It never happened so I got back to organizing my ribbons.   I love the little light on top. People are going to think they stumbled into a museum.

Hopefully, when everyone is distracted by my lighted shelf, the rest of my messy room will be ignored.  I was able to free up a considerable amount of space on the other shelf......

Still not sure how I want to fill it.   And this table is driving me crazy.  It's supposed to be a "work" table but it just ends up being a catch all.  The room is slightly too small for it. But if I remove it then I have all this wasted space.   I think I'll pretend to read "The Secret" again and wish for a larger space.......

Some cans made the cut.....then I took them off...

Crepe paper storage.....the never ending battle.....

Sigh....I love my vintage wallpaper.  By the way Donna will be putting some new packs in her Etsy shop soon.  I only divulge my super secret source so I don't go crazy buying more......

This is what happens when you put cute little things in cute little drawers.  You completely forget about them.......

I found my little birds that I had been working on before all the Halloween craziness began.....

Back to the museum......

Ok....back to work.......
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

 

I've been evicted.......

He called me a squatter. I said I had rights.  He said no you don't.  I said I watch Judge Judy. I know I do.   He rolled his eyes and said I had until the end of the night to remove all my belongings and get off the premises.   I knew my flimsy excuses and time had run out........

I reluctantly started packing my Halloween bags, boxes and great unfinished ideas. It was going to be their fault when the awesome paper mache pumpkin idea of 2009 never comes to fruition just because "they" want to eat at a kitchen table.   Idea crushers.  I was going to pursue the matter legally. But since he did give me an extension on my original eviction notice I let the matter drop.   Besides, I need to give enough time between now and the Christmas crafting rush to drum up enthusiasm for picnicking at the coffee table again. 

Off to pack more boxes.......  

Crazy for Halloween Mosaics......

1. skelly 31 ornie 005 STJ, 2. halloween tags, 3. BOO Banner, 4. Haunted Moon Hand Dyed/Altered Ribbon, 5. Vintage inspired "good fortune" Halloween candy container crown, 6. Halloween Swap sneak peek # 5, 7. Brooke's Hallowen Hat for Speckled Egg'S Swap close up of Glittered Rose from VIntage Crepe Paper., 8. Spookytime- trio, 9. Slipper Detail, 10. Halloween Goodies, 11. Eat Candy & Cake~NFS, 12. My orni's for a swap

 

1. Welcome to Boney's, 2. Halloween card - closeup, 3. Ghost' around the tree :), 4. Autumn leaves crown, 5. black and white, 6. solitary, 7. Masquerade Cat Candy Box, 8. Poe and Raven, 9. "always in my schemes" sweet & sinister, 10. Close-up of Hostess Gift, 11. black and white vintage dance costume FLEA MARKET FRIDAY, 12. Halloween Goodies!!, 13. Vintage witch (Halloween), 14. beware banner, 15. Jolie Paquet Halloween Kit - Boo Girl, 16. Gothic Chic Slipper

 

1. Batty ? Moi ? ........, 2. Halloween Cupcake Treat, 3. Halloween Screamsicle Cupcakes, 4. Cupcake Diving, 5. Halloween Cupcakes, 6. Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcake, 7. Trick or Treat!, 8. Happy Halloween!, 9. Pumpkin Pie Cupcake with Whipped Kreme & Candy Corn Gummy, 10. Take your pick, 11. squash halloween cupcakes, 12. There's a spider on my cupcake!, 13. cup cakes!, 14. Halloween Cupcakes, 15. Tuesday Toppers: Witch Hats, 16. No tricks, just treats...

In celebration of my one year anniversary of recovery.......

I bought a Ferrari....... 

Just a little something to tool around town in.........

Just kidding.  I'm still toolin' in my Sienna Minivan.  We went out to dinner with some old friends last night and this is "one" of his set of wheels.  The picture of me sitting in the driver seat didn't turn out....I'm bummed because I was going to use it as my blog banner. 

I've been working on a bunch of stuff the past week.  I did this "Boo" Banner kit to sell at Paper Tales....

 

I was so excited about my new scallop punches that I came up with this when I was supposed to be doing something else.....as usual.  The kits come with everything except the glue and glitter. 

I'm also working on a collaborative effort with a little known local artist.......

 
Andres (well, he is little and very local) and I are working on our very spookily haunted house.  This is totally inspired by Tricia at Vintage Bliss.   She did this and this .  Her houses are amazing!!  Ever since I saw them I just had to do one.  Andres wanted to join in and I couldn't say no.  I'll show you our progress as we try to finish it before Halloween. 

Off to bed....We are going to Sea World tomorrow...no school! Talk to you soon!  Karin

   

I can not get enough of Halloween crafting.......

I think I'm making up for last year plus getting a start for next year. So, anyway, I was hanging out at Paper Tales yesterday.....here's what I was doing when I told Michelle I would help her stock sticky back gems.......

 

 I was taking pictures of Halloween stuff that inspires me everytime I walk in the door.....

 

 Here are my top picks for the 2009 Halloween season......

I LOVE this flocked paper from creative imaginations.....

I can not get enough of the polka dot paper.....

I bought the Jenny Bowlin Bingo cards....I have no idea what I'm going to do with them other than I just had to have them......

Here's a cone I started with the flocked paper.  It is the absolute perfect shade of pumpkin........

Here's what I made when I was supposed to be working on my gift tag kits......

And, frankly, I put the blame of my distraction squarely on Paper Tales shoulders....specifically Michelle.  If she had not ordered that beautiful flocked paper I would not have gotten segued into making cones when I should have been concentrating on tags.  If that paper was not sitting there next to the ribbon (which is what I came in for in the first place) calling my name and whispering inspiration in my ear, I would have been done with the gift tags as I type.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it........

BTW....if you need any of that flocked paper like me Paper Tales ships across the country; so you can get your fix too!  Today is the official "finish what I started" day.  So hopefully I will get a couple of project done before I go to pick up Andres from school.  Talk to you soon!  Karin

Please raise your virtual hand..........

if you would like a tour of Paper Tales via a video.  I thought it might be fun to act as a tour host.....a sort of a Julie McCoy if you will......and take you on a day in the life of Paper Tales.  Ok....not a whole day.  But some fun time meeting Michelle and the gang.  Should I grab my camcorder?   Let me know!

Well here is the completed "Boo" banner for the class kit.  I finished it last night and have to say I'm really happy with the way it turned out despite all the changes I had to make.

I ended up tracing the chipboard letters and then filling in with glitter.....

I think it works......I had to change the top and the letters but most of it is the same.....

Oops....looks like there's a lunch meat container jumping the gun on its glitter storage duties......

I'm getting some Halloween gift tag kits ready for class.....

Some spooky town visitors arrived early......

Some were a little to excited when they arrived.  They immediately asked where I kept the liquor......

Others looked like that last drink did them in.....I swear this is the same guy I see down at Mission Beach all the time......

Anyway, tomorrow is the "Official Halloween Opening Day" here at the Chateau Chaos.  All Halloween items will be taken down from the attic and for the next 30 days rearranged continuously by two young boys.......Talk to you soon!  Karin  

My love/hate relationship with chipboard letters: when creativity clashes with reality.....

Everyone one loves those cute little letters. Right?  What's not to love?  Everytime, I see a set I have to get them.  And if it's glittered?  Forget about it...I'm a goner...

So when coming up with my newest Halloween class idea for Paper Tales "The Boo Banner",  

I realized that my glittered word "Boo" was over before I even got started.  There was no way I would have enough "B's" much less "O's" to be able to do even a small class.   Oh sure, if Boo started with a "Z" or better yet a "Q", I'd be in business.  But a "B" and two "O's"? ......Ha! That's top real estate.  With one of my other chipboard sets, I was completely out of luck as it did not provide the crucial "O" to complete Boo.....

Somehow "Bo" doesn't have the same scare power......

Bobo?

I needed to figure out something quick. So I decided to trace the chipboard and fill it in with glitter.  It just didn't have the same dimension as the chipboard.  So I started experimenting with outlining the letters with black and orange glitter.  Hmmmm....maybe it could work......

As I spent the day burying myself in glitter trying to work my way out of this alphabetical mess that I had wandered into, I realized I should call Diane at Paper Tales to have her set aside the items I needed for my class. 

See....here's the thing. What I was supposed to be doing was working on my gift tag kits for class and the store.  What I was doing instead was getting side tracked with these cute Jenni Bowlin chipboard pennants and some new paper.  Nonetheless, I had the forethought to call Diane to set aside everything I needed.   Paper....check.  Cute cream with black polka dot ribbon......out.  No problem. Just give me still as cute black with cream polka dot ribbon....out of that too.  Uggg...ok I'll figure something out.  Ok....Don't forget the all important, key to the whole project Jenny Bowlin Chip board pennants......one left.  Sigh. 

Creativity crashing headlong into reality.....and short notice planning.  Tomorrow  how I figured it all out.......Right now, off on a date with a 4 year old.  We're taking a ride on a  trolley!