I'm here! I'm creating but I've failed already

Before I start...Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I've been so busy that I haven't had time to update the blog. And, sorry to say, but I have fallen off the wagon already! Unfortunately for me, life sometimes gets in the way. It will happen again so I'm making a caveat to the rules...I can only complete something creative when I'm in town, not sick and not working 12+ hour days. I have to face it...my job can sometimes get in the way.


So since the time I last wrote, I'm trying to piece together the projects I did.
2/10: Bunco Night and we made a fabulous card using ribbon scraps and punches
2/11: working on digital scrapbook/brag book of all our dogs! Doing two page spreads on each dog in My Digital Studio. If you are not a traditional scrapbooker but like the idea of creating layouts on your computer, this is the software for you! I finished a two page spread of Bailey
2/12: Today I made a birthday card for my sister-in-law. I used one of my Sale-A-Bration free stamp sets (Happy Moments)and inked the bunch of flowers and then embossed with black embossing powder. I then colored the stamp (and didn't have to worry about going outside of the lines! I also made a Valentine's Day card for my Sweetie. I used some bits of fabric and sticky tape and used the Heart Shaped treat cup. I like him more than M&Ms!
2/13: Today I did a page on the Snow Storm we had and the dogs playing in it.
2/14: Today I did a page with pictures of all the girls
2/15: Had a ball this afternoon as I invited two young ladies over to be crafty. Amanda is age 7 and Olviia is age 9. I took pictures of them when they arrived and we made a photo layout. I had them pick out their favorite colors of paper. We used the Sizzix Circle die (with four different sizes of circles) and cut out their favorite colors. Then I cut 2 1/2" strips of paper and ran them through the crimper tool. It was great fun to see each girl
2/16: Today I did a spread of Izzie. She is getting so big but boy oh boy is she so cute! The My Digital Studio software is really easy to use. I used a photo template and copied the page to get the two page spread. Then I added the embellishment. Easy Peasy!
2/17: Today I completed a two page spread on Phoebe and Viola. I guess they are our neglected dogs...I didn't have enough pics of them to do a two page spread on each one. I must be a better doggie mommy.
2/18: Now that I completed the photo spreads, I made a 3"X3" brag book for Andy. I saved each page as a JPEG file. If you start out with a 12X12 page, you can literally shrink it to fit any square size. I found this kit for making 3X3 albums called Zoom Book. You can either use a solid paper cover or you can stretch a photo into a wraparound cover. For Andy's brag book, I decided to do a photo cover. Then I printed using the zoom book software and their photo page paper. The paper is perforated and the whole page is peel and stick adhesive. You fold accordian style, matching "A" to the front inside and accordian fold until you match "B" to the inside back cover.
2/19 - 2/23: It's been too long since these days passed and I can not remember all the stuff I did! I will try to not wait so long to update my blog!
2/24: Spent the day traveling to Philadelphia airport, sitting on the tarmac waiting for a gate for about 2 and a 1/2 hours (way longer than the flight itself) and then driving to Newtown Square.
2/25: Meeting with some bigwigs and then dinner with a friend who lives up there. DARN...missed punch class! Wish I was home.
2/26: Spent most of the day in the Philadelphia airport with no crafty material or my personal laptop!
2/27: Uhoh...head is beginning to pound. Lots of pressure behind my eyes.
2/28: Full-fledged sickness. Head feels like it is about to explode. Throat feels like I swallowed acid. Can't stop blowing my nose.
3/1: I'm down for the count. No creativity. No work. I feel bad.
3/2: Now no voice. There is an alien trying to force its way out of my head through my eyes. No work. No creativity. I am one with the couch, two blankets, a fresh box of Kleenex, hot tea and antibiotics. Full-fledged sinus infection zapping any energy I have.
3/3: Still no voice -- throat feels a little better. Headache still intolerable but I feel the antibiotics starting to kick in
3/4: I feel like a human again! And good thing...BUNCO tonight! We made a really cute double sided note card
3/5: Yay my monthly day off so I can go to Stamp Club at Mandy's and Lunch with Cathy! This month we made a really beautiful card using the Vintage Vogue stamp set and a technique called two step stamping. With one color ink, we were able to stamp three related colors with this technique - Light, Medium and Dark. We also made a really cute candy bar holder using the Movers and Shapers Sizzix die. Also, Mandy taught us a handy technique using packing tape and Dazzling Diamonds!
3/6: I didn't do a craft per se but I did make really awesome chocolate chip cookies!
3/7: I liked the brag book I made Andy so much I made one for myself. This time, I used a solid colored cover but I cut a 3x3 piece of paper from the Sale-a-bration paper back and using 2-way glue, affixed it to the cover. Then I used my D is for Dog stamp set (I got free from Sale-A-Bration)and put paw prints running up the cover.
3/8: I worked late and then had Book Club -- although i don't have something tangible to show for the evening, I can say that the creativity of my Book Club girlfriends is huge...we had so much lively discussion and LAUGHS!!!
3/9: Worked LATE...had to run Andy's suit to the dry cleaners and almost didn't make it. I was tired so I sat down at my computer and started writing this blog trying to catch up on my lack of communication.
3/10: This wasn't so creative but being a computer geek, I wanted a way to search my stamp inventory for the images I want so I started looking at each stamp set and writing out each stamps attributes. For example in the Wings of Friendship stamp set, there are two stamps with birds on it. One has got a fancy swirly wing and one is a negative image of a bird on a branch. I can create a database that I can easily search for stamps with birds or stamps with flowers or sayings...whatever the attributes I decide. what can I say...I'm a geek!
3/11: Bunco!!! Great Card using Sizzix dot texture folder, two different size circle punch, our new scallop corner punch.


So, dear readers, that's my creative conundrum. I can't always complete a creative adventure but you can bet I'm going to try to add some creativity somewhere in my day.


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