De-Cluttered Stamping Tower

NOW YOU SEE IT, NOW YOU DON'T!

I've exchanged the messy look of a pile of things waiting to be dealt with and/or put away for the neatness of a beautiful 12" x 12" box from Hobby Lobby. They were on sale for 2/$10; but I bought only one so I wouldn't be tempted to let things keep piling up.

Here's what's in there:

a book to put in the bookcase
SU catalogs
two small notebooks
2 decorated notepads that can be given as gifts later
a package of cough drops (no longer needed, thankfully)
a red tote bag zipped up into a square to go back in my purse
a magazine article on exercises I want to do
another notebook for card ideas from other blogs
23 items to be filed, shredded or put away
15 items to be thrown away (done!)
and a collection of my grandson's artwork from his first year of preschool.

Here's what's left:

the catalogs
the notebooks
the gift notepads
and the magazine article.

AMAZING!

DE-CLUTTER DE HOUSE (Paper)

Today was our first week of the usual Winterim at our Ladies Bible Study. We are using the newest Vanderlaan video series as the basis for an informal discussion. After this series, which we use to give our teaching staff a break before the start of the Spring Semester, we'll return to our regular format of Lecture series and electives.

In addition to the video, I'll be putting out a different challenge each week to encourage us to get our houses in order before the warm weather returns. Since it's such a popular series, I thought I'd share it with you to follow along with us!

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: each week, a new challenge is issued for a specific area of our homes. When we come back the next week, we get to share what we accomplished, otherwise known as bragging rights (or rites!) Then the next challenge is issued.

This week's challenge is to attack and de-clutter all the piles of papers, magazines, books, and any other paper clutter in our house and reorganize or purge like crazy. Books and mags that might be of interest to others in our group may be brought in as giveaways; but whatever is left at the end of the session will be either donated to the church library where we meet (if appropriate) or discarded.

For those of you who are following by way of this blog, you could donate or discard things where you are. Maybe you could form a small group of your own to encourage one another, even if only for the next 6 weeks. Then check back here for the next week's challenge on Tuesdays. Meanwhile, I'll label all these challenges under De-Clutter De House so you can find the posts later.

As for your bragging rights, you can publish them here under comments. I'd enjoy hearing from you and sharing your comments with our group!

My Computer Is Back!

Thanks to a great computer doctor, my Dell was released from the hospital today. I'm so glad to have it up and running again!

Computer Problems

My computer is now at the computer hospital being purged of a nasty virus! I can access my blog and email with my laptop, but won't be able to post photos of cards until I get my PC back. Don't know when that will be (or how much it will cost.)

Take care with what you click on while you're online!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #10

Hoppy Valentine

Here's a Valentine I made for my grandson. The dsp is from the scrap drawer and happened to be just right for the frog with his green spots.

The gel heart is inserted slightly under a slit in his mouth. The eyes were added for a little extra interest. The red scalloped oval helps "ground" the heart, which is mounted with SU dimensionals.

The hardest part was trying to decide whether to label this one "Valentines" or "Scrap Drawer." (I decided against the latter since the scrap drawer isn't shown.)

Congrats to Blog Candy Winner!

And the winner is...

#13--ChrisD! Please contact me by email with your snail mail address so I can get your package out right away.

Thanks to all for your wonderful comments. This past year had a lot of ups and downs, with the loss of 2 family members along the way (in addition to my mom in Nov. of 2008.) Time in the Stamping Tower was a precious refuge from the storms of life, both literal and figurative.

I am constantly praising God for His gracious blessings of stamping supplies and fellow bloggers who share in this wonderful world of creativity. I feel as though I know some of you as well as stampers I've met face to face. The ideas we all share with one another go well beyond cyber space.

As I've said before, stamping (especially cards) gives us the opportunity to bless another person's life in a special way--so keep inking up!

HAPPY NEW YEAR--Blog Candy Style!

I can hardly believe another year has gone by. It seems the older I get, the faster it goes.

Once again, I'm offering some blog candy and this challenge: Look back over all my posts for 2009 and choose a favorite; then leave a comment here with your choice. On January 15th, I'll choose a winner at random and announce it here. Until then, I'll leave this post at the top of my blog (so be sure to scroll down for the latest posts.) Meanwhile, send some of your friends over to the Stamping Tower.

Also included are some clear stamps for Valentines!

Happy Stamping in 2010!

Phresh & Phunky Valentine

While going through a folder of Basic Grey papers, I came across a batch of pinks and reds that I had saved from last year. This Phresh & Phunky combo worked well with the cardstock I already had. Since I'm not fond of pink (yellow is my favorite color) I like the way these non-traditional colors toned it down a bit.

From the sheets of letters and tags, this tag was chosen to serve as a bookmark after the card is received. I hand-printed "remove for bookmark" beneath it and used the Slit punch to hold it in place until it is removed.

(After photographing the card, I repositioned the circle overlapping the large heart so that it's now completely on the heart for better balance.)

SIMPLE SATURDAY #9

FIRST VALENTINE FOR 2010

Here's the first Valentine I've designed for this year:

The silver x's and o's are stick-on letters from Making Memories alphabet stickers. The small sticker on the large heart is a dimensional sticker from EK Success. The red and silver gel hearts are stickers purchased at AC Moore.

The lacy heart was made with a Martha Stewart heart punch. To make it "adhereable" with all the cutouts, I used double stick tape on the back. Although it doesn't show up well here, (unless you click to enlarge) I sprinkled glitter in the holes and "mushed" it into the double stick tape beneath.

The right panel is also perforated to be used as a bookmark with a brad and embroidery floss to finish it off. I used some dsp on the inside where I will stamp something underneath where the large heart overlaps.

More Valentine ideas coming!

Stampin' Fun

Here are my stampin' buddies working on Valentine designs for the Mothers Class which resumes in February. There were six of us gathered around my dining room table: three from PA and three from NJ. The sunshine was so warm, we actually had to open the window a bit--delightful!

Of course, we also made some of our own cards as we tried various combinations of the dsp and embellishment supplies we shared.

We had quiche and cold drinks for brunch. Before cleaning up we enjoyed coffee and cake (made by Linda--delish.) Leave it to me to focus on the food (lol) but the best part was all the laughter. Every once in awhile, someone would say something that ended in a familiar phrase where we all burst into song--a sign that we're all in the same age bracket!

If you look closely, you can see my reflection in the mirror of the curio cabinet as I take this photo.

Scrap Drawer #5

When I came across this unfinished Easel Card, I headed for the Hero Arts birthday frames and the Scrap Drawer. Like the previous birthday post, I'm thinkin' chocolate again!

The cupcake icing features dollops of Frosted Lace Stickles and a Stickles red cherry on top.

Using scraps can be like a walk down memory lane as I re-use pieces from past projects. January is such a great month to use up leftovers while enjoying the bright sunshine streaming through the window--no cabin fever here!

Scrap Drawer #4

How can you miss when you have a nice large scrap of double-sided dsp and a simple Hero Arts clear stamp!

Matching the colors in the stripes, I used my SU markers to "decorate" the cake, with chocolate icing, of course. I "lit" the candles with pale yellow glitter and "wrapped" the image with blue and green embroidery floss. Three blue gems at the bottom give it just a little more sparkle.

This would serve well for a masculine birthday, don't you think?

SCRAP DRAWER#3

Here are two cards made from the same batch of scraps. The first is on blue textured cardstock
with narrow stripes and the sunburst design. The orange ribbon was a leftover piece which was taped over the "seam" and attached on the back. The knot was tied separately and added with a glue dot.

With a scrap piece of orange cardstock, some smaller scraps of dsp and the Boho Blossom punch, there was enough to make the oval greeting and the layered blossoms. The oval outline was colored in with a matching orange marker. For embellishment, I happened to have a tiny blue flower brad which also matched the blue cardstock.

The second card uses the white cardstock as a base, with wider stripes and oodles of gems for some sparkle.

Both cards turned out to be bright and cheery--nice for January!

Scrap Drawer #2

This light blue scrap is the last of the snowflake paper for this year and not too Christmas-y. It will go out as a birthday card.

The shimmery blue paper had just enough on the edge to serve as a scalloped border and still provide some pieces for the Boho Blossoms punch. The white snowflake brad with the silver twine bow was left over from last year's Christmas cards. The silver brads added a little more bling. I thought the combination of the snowflake and blossoms coordinated with the saying also.

The bee was enhanced with Frosted Lace Stickles on the wings and Black Diamond Stickles on the body.

After assembling the dsp and embellishments, I mounted it on the white cardstock with SU dimensionals. Enjoy!

Out of the Scrap Drawer

Here's a new Stamping Tower theme for 2010--a way to use some of those scraps we all hang on to! I plan to show a "before" and "after" for each card made with only scrap dsp from my drawer of leftovers, with added cardstock and embellishments, of course.

I already had this blank gate-fold card, perforated on the right side for a tear-off bookmark. The matching dsp was cut to fit the two sides, with enough left over to punch out the boho blossoms and the scalloped oval. The blue/brown plaid was on the reverse side. I had ONE triangular blue eyelet in my stash which I added to the top with some leftover embroidery floss, both of which matched my color scheme perfectly. Two blue gems and some matching glitter gave it some bling.

The inside greeting says "Celebrate with style."

As you can see by my scrap drawer, I have plenty more card possibilities!

ROLLING TOTE

Thanks to the 50%-off sale at Hobby Lobby, I now have a long-desired Rolling Tote! (Check out their flier, if you have a Hobby Lobby near you.) It has tons of open storage space inside, with lots of zippered or velcro pockets around the outside for punches, scissors, tape rolls, etc. There was even a 12 x 12 plastic paper holder included as a bonus.

I also picked up a mini tote with lots of pockets around the outside of it for an additional $3.50. I plan to use it for small items that I can lift right out as one unit from inside the tote.

This will certainly help me with carting supplies in and out of our church building for the Mothers Class--well worth the waiting!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

...AND HAPPY BLOGGING IN THE NEW YEAR!

Check back next week to see what new stamping goodies Santa brings...

KEEPING TRACK

Here's how I keep track of my Christmas cards:

1. Make a list (using last year's as a guide) with 50 family and friends on the left side and 50 Silver Stampers on the right side. This year, I did it on my computer to make it easier to amend next year.

2. Color Copy (4 to a page) each card design. Then I use the 3-hole punch on the pages (usually only 2 or 3) and store in a 3-ring binder.

3. Since I make batches of 4 or 5 designs each year, I write down which one I'm sending next to each name.

4. As cards come in, I put a red star next to the name for reference next year. (I limit my cards to 100, so I may have to drop one in favor of someone new. I hate to do that, really; but I need to draw the line somewhere.)

5. After Christmas and New Years, I add the list to the binder and store in the Tower until next November when I start all over again.

Hope this helps!