Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Introducing Hey Chick!

From the new Hey Chick! release from Unity Stamp Co. Isn't it the CUTEST???

1) hey chick

PP is October Afternoon
Felt is Prima
Punch is EK Success (Martha Stewart)

Technique: Prismacolor pencil and gamsol





2) Flaunt it

Unity Stamps - also used:
Keeper of My Heart Kit (branch)

PP is Sassafrass Lass
Flowers are Prima
Die cut paper is Making Memories
Stickles

Technique: Prismacolor with Gamsol




TFL! Wendy

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

ready for a sneak peek?

oh, you are going to so LOVE this kit!!!

check back tomorrow for a full reveal of one of the five, yes FIVE, new kits being released tomorrow by Unity Stamp Company!! (you'll have to blog surf us all to find all five, though. HEE HEE...)

Unity's also hosting a release party at Splitcoast Stampers tomorrow night so check in here at 8-10 pm (central time...)

Remember - the kits of the month are limited edition. Once they are gone, they are GONE.... so get yours today!!

Monday, July 28, 2008

dressmaking part two

i know i'm not great at it, but I really do enjoy sewing. I also love vintage patterns, so here, I tried to mix it up - a 50's pattern with a modern mix of prints. i liked it kind of but disliked the way the collar looked so homemade - mom said my mistake was not cutting the top strip on the bias - heh. pattern didn't say to. so bleh...



but it looked awkward and I hated it (though A loves ANYTHING made for her. it makes her feel special - and so, i soldier on in my attempts to master the skill)

Anyhow. Reading Amy Karol's blog, she rhapsodizes about fold over elastic (FOE), bias trim AND elastic in one. I hopped on to ebay and bought some. When trying to take apart the top collar I ripped the fabric. woops. So had to cut the whole dang thing off. which, actually, turned out to be a GREAT thing... I really like how it turned out!!


Sunday, July 27, 2008

you are safe here

Supplies used

Mix Up of Cuteness Kit and Gratitude = Joy Kit from Unity Stamp Company

PP from Creative Imaginations, October Afternoon
Punch from EK Success
Felt from Prima
Stickers from KI memories, American Crafts, Making Memories
Flowers from PRIMA
Gaffer Tape - 7 Gypsies
Mirror - Heidi Swapp

COLORANT - Prismacolor with Gamsol technique

TFL! Wendy


Wednesday, July 23, 2008

21 Copic Markers for sale.....



Hey everyone. I am selling 21 Original Copic markers. I bought these before I realized I much prefer the Sketch Copics. They are very gently used - maybe twice at most - like new.... These retail $5.95 each; I am asking $3.25 each.

I can ship in flat rate envelope, so it would be $5.00 for the shipping.


1. B04 Tahitian Blue

2. B05 Process Blue

3. B06 Peacock Blue

4. E25 Caribe Cocoa

5. E27 Africano

6. E29 Burnt Umber

7. E34 Orientale

8. E35 Chamois

9. E55 Light Camel

10. G99 Olive

11. R24 Prawn

12. R27 Cadmium Red

13. R29 Lipstick Red

14. RV10 Pale Pink

15. RV11 Pink

16. RV13 tender pink

17. y21 buttercup yellow

18. Y23 yellowish beige

19. Y26 mustard

20. YG21 Anise

21. YG23 New Leaf

let me know if you are interested. :) THx....

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Lifetimemoments sneak peeks

As many of you know, the boards went down right before CHA. :( .....

Jackie uploaded pictures to Flickr, if you want to take a peek.

Lifetimemonets CHA Sneak Peeks

Friday, July 18, 2008

he's mr green thumb

journaling reads

"ever since I can remember, my dad always collects seeds. He searches the ground, brings them home, and often coaxes them into life."

PP is fancy pants, KI Memories, MME
stickers are Creative Imaginations, Pink Paislee
flowers prima
buttons making memoris
ribbon KI memories
tree die cut - sizzix
journal card: Martha Stewart
Stamp: from the Eco Chic kit from Unity Stamp Co.

TFL! Wendy

Thursday, July 17, 2008

thursday reveal

and the theme was sparkle.

TFL! Wendy

1) Invitations

KI Bloom ....




2) Weekend

KI Lace Cardstock
Mememto paper
AC Thickers


Friday, July 11, 2008

a writing workshop, part 1

This is the reprinted text from a series I am running through the Lifetimemoments blog... If you wish to participate as offered - please go there. LM BLOG LINK

*****************************************************************************
The written word is a powerful thing. It can evoke a vast array of emotions, memories, images. It is, however, an extremely difficult skill to master, though it remains both basic and elemental, needing only your mind and nothing more. Even while we have shifted substantively to computers, the written word retains a vintage pureness.

It is no secret that I make my living through words. I read thousands of words every day - funny ones, stilted ones, angry ones. I write thousands more. And as these words dance before my eyes, I am constantly honing my writing. While I have not by any means perfected it, I thought it would be worth it to pass along a scrappy version of what has worked for me.

And so, in this workshop, I will be writing a few entries that build upon each other for effective writing. By design, this is not meant to be limited to journaling on layouts. We will focus on general writing principals that are applicable to any medium you choose. From those overarching techniques, you should be able to extrapolate what you need to apply it to your scrapbook pages. I will end with a scrapbook journaling entry - but that will be the very end.

I invite you to join me. I will give assignments for those of you who care to participate. And if you request it, I will give feedback, and if appropriate, constructive criticism. Sometimes I will rewrite your entry to simply illustrate how the particular principal applies.

I give you full disclosure though. I do not favor academic formalities and I probably won't cite a single grammatical rule in all the weeks we do this. English is my second language, and I have always been surrounded by accents, word usages, and verb tenses that are often correct - in Chinese. But making their way into English, the words sometimes sound "off". Perhaps since I still sometimes think in both Chinese and English, and because this mixed cadence is in my everyday reality, I probably have a much higher tolerance than most to formal errors (and an equally low tolerance for those who would mock those like my family). My thoughts are based upon my experience alone. Some English gurus may take major umbrage. If one seeks textbook precision, I promise you this workshop will disappoint. Instead, I simply (and humbly) proffer my thoughts developed from the sheer years of working, training, winning, and yes, losing, based upon words.

So, if you're still with me, let's get started.


The initial steps to effective writing are so obvious that they are sometimes overlooked.

Define your goals and your players.

What are you writing? Are you writing a report? A journal entry? A letter? Does the item you are writing require a certain tone? Are you to be neutral? Adversarial? Or are you trying to advocate a position?

Who is your speaker?

And who is your audience? A friend? family? A loved one? A Judge? Someone who hates you?

Each and everyone one of these possibilities has a profound impact on the tone of your item - and thus, the words you will choose to present it.

So, now - pick a topic - define your goals - define your speaker - define your audience. Write it down if that will help you.

* I will pick ---- a pet peeve ---- automatic check out machines at the stores. YES. oooh. I can feel my blood pumping now.

* I will do various goals, speakers, and audiences to illustrate what I mean by
how it differs.

Make a 30 Second Outline


Eventually, an outline may not be necessary. But in the beginning, its a good exercise to train your brain to follow the process. After you have gone through the exercise of defining your goals, your speaker, and your audience, ask yourself, what do I want to say? Pitch it. Subject matter descriptors only. 30 seconds. That's all you get to set the parameters of what you will be writing. Get the topical words out. Fast. The speed is designed to force you to spit out what is sitting at the forefront of your thoughts (and thus, which likely comprise the core of your feelings on the issue). Since we will not be writing any books, 30 seconds should be plenty for the exercise.

Ready ... set ... go!!

* WENDY'S EXAMPLE: impatience, broken, never works, overly sensitive, discomfort, unfamiliarity, time waster, stubborn, rude, personal space, stopped

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

I am sorry to break the news that good writing takes practice. A lot of it. Over and over (and over and over) again. The good news is that it does not need to be on the same topic. But there is a reason professional writers keep journals, blogs. Continuous practice makes these "rules" become habitual and innate - your brain will moves through the steps at light speed. Eventually, you should be able to sit down and pound out a very good product first try, very quickly. But you must practice first.

My hardfast rule. There is never a final first draft. This is closely followed by my second hardfast rule. I like the throw up method of first drafts (sorry for the crudity of the title). Meaning - the best first drafts result when you sit down and just spill, WRITE. Write what comes naturally. Don't think about it. Don't edit it. Just get it out and on paper/screen, whatever words pop into your mind even if they look like they don't match. Let yourself go and just write what comes to mind. Stop when there are no more words.

Do it now. Skim your goals/plan and your 30 second outline. Nothing deep. You don't need to memorize it. You are just giving yourself a (very) quick refresh. Your brain should now be primed with the key elements of what you are seeking to convey but nothing more - just that "hint" that hovers at the back of your brain. Now, quickly, before that wears off, write your first draft on the topic you chose.

* WENDY'S FIRST DRAFT:
* If there is a line - if you are not comfortable with technology or computers, please don't do self checkout. If you are not able to handle more than one task at a time, please don't do self check out. Invariably, you will stare at the machine for a minute or two between items as you take out reading glasses and read instructions carefully. finally run the item. bar code wrong way. read some more. bar code still wrong way. please don't slam the machine. bar code wrong way. you have to put it into the bag. they don't like when you don't. don't sit on the scale. please. bar code!!! machine thinks you are stealing bceause you press skip bag too much. no clerk there to clear you. frozen. stare at machine. 20 minutes. seven people behind you. your bar code is still the wrong way. i'm late. why did i think this was good idea to stop in on way home from work. not fast.

Next session, we will start to put some structure on this. I recommend you actually have a draft of something in front of you to work with. The edits will make much more sense (and stick better) as you actually put it into practice and see the results. See you next time......

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Thursday reveal

And the theme was stars and stripes.

Be sure to catch my article in the LM Newsletter today!!


Thursday, July 3, 2008

Project of the Week - Unity - 7-3

I needed a hard shell box to protect my hands free device for my blackberry/phone.

I decided to alter a small candy tin and use the new BLOOM line from KI Memories.





This project works for anything you'd need an altered box for - tooth fairy cache, misc. storage for anything, etc.

How perfect the Eco Chic Kit from Unity Stamp Company is for this re-purposing project.

Go HERE for Project Instructions

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

When I first started scrapping, everything I owned fit into a single rubbermaid storage box that I toted around when I wanted to scrap. Fast forward 8 years later and I have gone full circle - from that little box - to a large room overflowing with stuff - to the same room, but now purged to a much more manageable stash that no longer paralyzes me.

My organizing system has similarly evolved. I first went the tackle box route - with a separate drawer for everything. Hee hee... I still fit on a single table back then... (December 2002)



Pretty soon, though, I graduated to something that I thought was more decorated, mostly out of necessity because I outgrew that table pretty quickly. This was the garage in my old house with the cabinets stacked back to back with a large board over it:


Inside the cabinets were iris carts and many little tackle boxes - each with a separate compartment with each particular color of everything - red brads had one. purple eyelets had another, etc... Needless to say, it took up a HUGE amount of space. It was also very much out of sight (read... out of mind...) So... that didn't work either. This was from about maybe 2003-2005...

Then we moved and I had the opportunity to re-do my room from ground up. These cabinets were way too big for the new room, though and so I had to think of something else.

As I get older, I find myself moving towards a less is more philosophy - in my house decorations, in my clothing, and in my craft room. Who was it that said it? Simplifying is a luxury for those who have the ability to choose... And I recognize that I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to have made my way through these cycles to the place where I do feel that I can comfortably let go of some of my stuff. I also recognize that I am a "I need to see it or I will forget" type. Now, everything is organized into loose containers, all out of its packaging, alot of it openly visible, on shelves that line the walls. I find that when I keep it loose and mixed and open, I see combinations and products that I never otherwise have thought of. People often say that my layouts have lots of bits and bobs on them - its a direct result of this organization method, because I just kind of riffle through and pick this or that. They sit nicely up on a shelf.





I'm a long way from my dream room but for now, this very much works for me. If history proves correct, though, I'll be changing it up in a few years. :)

TFL. Wendy