Copics and a Cause...

Not that I needed an excuse to play with my new Copics (yes, I had a moment of temporary insanity and bought into Copic-mania yesterday), but I wound up having a really good reason to.  The other day I got an email about a child of an acquaintance of mine who was recently diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer, and all he wants is cards from all over the country to wallpaper his room with.  So they're reaching out to people they know to see if they wouldn't mind sending something.  I figure that's the least I can do, so I threw together a few cards tonight (and I might still do some more), and I'm going to bring them to work and have a bunch of people sign them.  The cards turned out cute, and I'm glad to help bring a little happiness where I'm sure it's needed.  If anyone is interested in sending cards to this little guy, let me know in the comments section and I'll get back to you soon...I'm going to try to find out if this is an open invitation to send cards (since it's a personal address and not a P.O. Box, I didn't just want to post it).

Anyway, I did a few cards, and they're not all particularly kid-centric.  I decided the point of this whole thing is variety...all sorts of different things from all over the country.  Also, I'm in the midst of a re-org in my crafting center, and about 2/3 of my stamps are buried at the moment.  So yeah...working with what's available.  The farm animals are a Stampendous stamp set, the girl leaning on the counter is from Rubber Romance (that Heather let me steal from her stash last time I was there!), the gnome (remember him from the last post?) is from Stampabilities, and the girl with the suitcase is from Stamping Bella.  Here they are:

Have a good night all...and remember to leave some love if you want to participate and I'll get you the info if I get the okay to do so :) 

Feeling Crafty and Inspired...

If I didn't have to work in the morning (and all dang day at that), I would totally be up till dawn crafting.  I finally really got the bug again, and I got a quite a few cards done tonight, and would be perfectly content in continuing.  However, since I DO have to work in the morning, I'll just post what I've gotten done this evening, and hope the creative streak continues through tomorrow :)  Here we go!

Just Keep Swimming Card - Inkadinkadoo Cling Stamps, BoBunny Paper, Watercolor Pencils, American Crafts Ribbon and Twine, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Zig Millenium Pen

Phone Me Card - Unity Stamps, EcoPark Paper & Sticker Sheets, American Crafts Ribbon, Gems

Trying to Relax Card - Stamping Bella Stamps, BoBunny Paper, Watercolor Pencils

A Good Day Card - Unity Stamps, My Mind's Eye Paper

And that's all for tonight...not too shabby :)  Hopefully more to come tomorrow night!

Button, button, who's got the button...

Well, my blog has been a little neglected for the last week.  It's been busy, busy, and I made a trip home to visit family since I'm not sure when or if I'll get back before Thanksgiving.  We're short-staffed at work, and the schedule is getting a little hairy at the moment.  Anyway, I was flipping through a card magazine at work the other night looking for crop demo ideas and I ran across these cute little cards with buttons.  Apparently it's supposed to be a button combined with a stamp set specifically designed to go with the button.  However, the designs aren't really complicated enough to necessitate a stamp set in order to re-create them, so I just used a Zig pen to draw in the details.  Here they are:

Chickadee

Up, Up and Away

The buttons are green, brown, and black, although for some reason my camera phone has decided to make them appear purple-ish. 

I think they turned out pretty cute :)  And now off to work on Christmas gifts!  More tomorrow, perhaps :)

It's the little things...

I continue to be amazed at how much the little things can make a difference.  I'm not that person who is constantly seeking validation or support.  In fact, particularly since I've been on my own again, I've definitely grown into that stubborn girl who doesn't think she needs any help.  "No, I've never done that.  No, I have no idea what I'm doing.  No, I DON'T need any help.  I can do it myself!"  Ummm...yeah.  And I do figure it out eventually, sometimes a little more wear and tear to my ego later.  But still, it makes me feel good to know that I can handle it, even if it may or may not be with the level of expertise or grace intended. 

It never hurts, though, to know someone is in your corner.  Not someone to step in and fix it for you.  Not even necessarily someone to tell you how great you are (although that's nice sometimes too).  But someone who will recognize where you are right now, and remind you that regardless of whatever is going on, you WILL get where you're going.  And therein, the lesson that men all over the world would do well to learn early.  I don't know for sure if men are fundamentally different in this, but as a general rule, the women I know don't want a guy to troubleshoot their problems, come up with ideas or solutions, or really even have an opinion on the matter, unless we specifically ask for it.  We just want them to listen, let us know that they understand, and that they'll be there when we're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, and possibly give us a small kick in the ass when we need to consider getting over it and moving along.  (VERY small...and as a reminder, this move is potentially risky.  lol)

Now, I don't know many guys who have mastered this skill.  Perhaps it comes with age or something.  But, I do know there are guys out there who resist their instinctual urge to just try and fix the problem for you and move on.  One of my best friends is married to one of these guys.  Somehow this guy manages to be some magical combination of the traditional "guy's guy" and the guy who not only volunteers to dress up as Santa, but also writes letters back to the kids AS Santa.  I seriously could NOT make this stuff up.  At any rate, where I'm going with this is my creative inspiration for the day.  My friend has been having a particularly rough go of it at work lately...she's way overstressed and unhappy and overall just has a lot on her plate.  So, her husband, completely out of the blue, drops a little card in her car before she leaves for work.  Nothing huge or earth shattering.  Just a cute card to say that it's gonna get better, and he'll be there every step of the way.  Needless to say, waterworks ensued, but could one tiny effort be any more perfect?  We don't need to be knocked over the head with support.  Just a little reminder that someone is there if we need them.  Perfect. 

So here are some little reminder cards that things are looking up.  I just used solid cardstock, Imaginisce sea creature stamps, Faber-Castell watercolor pencils, and a couple of scraps of self adhesive Basic Grey paper ribbon.

Don't be Crabby...

Front

Inside

Just Keep Swimming...

Front

Inside

I Know this Blows...

Front

Inside

And that's all for this evening.  Some potential I may not be crafting for a couple days after this...going to adopt a new friend for Lucy :)  I'll post pictures!