How To Loose Your Mojo In 4 Hours Or Less

WARNING: Picture heavy.

I am sure there are many recipes for this, but I came up with one all my own :o)

1. Pick your paper, a brand new die, basic embellishments and perfect image the day before. Make sure the die fits the size card. Spritz the flat non-shimmer paper with the Angel glitter spray so it shines like the other paper and let it dry over night.

2. Cute die shape. Making sure it comes out just about perfect the first time. (make sure to notice all the holes that DON"T need to be nudged out, this is important for the finale step) Realize that you cut it in the wrong color.

3. Cut the die with the correct paper. Work on this for 20 or so minutes because this time it will not cut well for some reason. Finally try a metal shim to help it along. This WILL work.

4. In the process of accomplishing step 3, you MUST warp both the metal shim and brand new die.

5. Attempt to attach die cut and realize that although it fits the bottom layer, it definitely will not fit on top of the other layers.

6. Find another new die and image that fits inside and with the paper.

7. Stamp image a MINIMUM of 3 times all of which are not correct. This step works perfectly when the first time the complete image does not stamp, the second image gets a black mark and the third time is to close to the edge of the paper to fit inside the die.

8. Decide that it is better to cut the die first and then add the image, cut the die, making sure it cuts perfectly in one try. Remove die and find out that ink got on the die when placing it on top of one of the previous images.

9. Cut out 2 more times after cleaning the die. Look at it on the pattern paper and decide to use an oval underneath to see the design better. You will NOT find an oval die that fits, so you must settle for the best you can find.

10. Start making the front of the card to encourage yourself. But do remember not to attach the image before coloring.

11. FINAL STEP: Decide it is best to clear off desk and put some items away before trying to color image. NOW is when you see why the die would not cut correctly the second time. All the tiny "holes" that popped out easily on the wrong color paper got stuck in the tiny holes of the die and you did not remove them before trying to cut again. Spend at least 30 minutes poking them out, which is very difficult because the paper is really stuck in the holes from forcing the 2nd cut to work.

***NOTE: It is very important to use a fine sewing needle for the last step so that you can make sure to poke your fingers several times as you try to force the paper out of the die.

Now if you followed these directions properly, your head is now spinning and your back is sore from bending over your die cutting machine to long. Soooo...you decide to do something that is absolutely fool proof and you have never messed up before: take a nap.

Today, the mailman is in the neighborhood much later than usual and all 3 of your dogs bark the whole time until the sound his jeep fades away (this will take exactly 22 minutes). At this point you finally doze off and the phone rings. It is your husband who called to say he is coming home early, which happens as often as Easter falls on a Monday. NOW, at this point, you have failed at your fool proof napping!

NEXT DAY (the good one): Slept well...get up at 4:30 with hubbie...daughter calls to say the grandson is sick, can you babysit for 11 hours today...tell her of course you can...grumble words you can't type into you blog on the way to the shower...have extra time so take photos of yesterday's accomplishments since it will be the only thing that can possibly be posted on your blog for the next couple of days...Now it's late...rush out the door...start to silently daydream about a 2 year old who is not sick to his stomach and naps all day...see flashing blue lights in your rear view mirror...speeding...licence and registration please...finally dig out registration and hand over your "I have to keep this photo hidden" licence...wait...he starts back to the car as you prepare your self for the dreaded word "ticket"...suddenly the words "just a warning hits your ears...YEAH!!! Thank you, thank you!!! IT IS GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY!
 
I hope you have a great day too!!!
HUGS, Sandy O

Unique Use For Stickpins

WOW! I don't think I will ever sell off my stuff again, unless it is during a yard sale. Doing so has totally monopolized my free time :o( all week. I think I might have made a whopping $1-2 per hour, lol I am not complaining, really, I am trilled to have sold the items and gotten them out of the house.

I finally got a chance to try out my idea for using stick pins. Of course, in my mind it looked a bit better, but all in all, not to bad for using stick pins.

It's not really an original idea since I got the idea from making the snowflake the in my previous post.

What do you think? No flower I have ever seen is surrounded by leaves like this, lol. The leaves were originally white which I colored with Copics.

I was thrilled when the shimmer of the white leaf showed through the coloring, it made them look so pretty. I just NEEDED to add the tiny little butterflies, lol, What would spring be like with out them!

I tried a few beads and butterflies in different colors. Then I tried to color the flower to match. Well, the green looked best, so I used my Staz-cleaner to clean the Copic from the flower. It actually worked great, just missed one little spot that I noticed when taking the photos. I wonder if I will ever make something without a tiny mistake, lol

I left the back without a flower, unlike the snowflake. Instead of using paper, I used some chipboard circles I have had forever, coloring them green too. The pins and beads were quite heavy so to glue them on I used 2 part 5 minute epoxy. It worked great, but, I'll tell you, the 5 minute wait was grueling! I used the same thing to add the flower. I would be completely surprised if this fell apart. The epoxy is totally impossible to budge once it is dry.

Here it is hanging on my "totally needs cleaning in the spring" craft room window. It is hard to tell with all the snow behind it, but I think you can see how pretty the flower is with the light coming through it. I am thinking in the spring and summer it will cast a rainbow when the sun shines through it.

Funny, on Facebbook, someone had a picture of snow in their yard, just about as deep as this. She said they were snowed in. bwaaa ha ha. Not sure where she lives, but here in NH we call this a dusting!

I hope you all have a super duper Sunday!

HUGS, Sandy O

Problems With Blogger Comments

Hi Everyone, I was trying to leave comments on some blogs today and Blogger just would not let me. I tried several blogs and found the fix in a pst on the last blog.

I guess Blogger made some changes, one would think they would have let us know and how to change our setting so we could get comments.

This will only work on YOUR blog, it will not help you to leave comments on other blogs until they change their settings.

I changed my settings, and left myself a comment, LOL...It was a really nice one too ;o) JK, it really said "testing new comment settings"

Here is the link to the fix it if your setting is not already set like this.

http://craftsfriendsangels.blogspot.com/2012/01/blogger-issues.html

Thank you so much, Theresa!

HUGS, Sandy O

Finally Finished...Well Almost

I have a couple of small things left to do, but I am basically finished. I can not believe how LONG it took. My gosh, I would have never guessed when I started. A week and a half! And that is just one room. My mother is trying to organize 2 rooms and a cellar full of items she has accumulated over 15+ years. I only had stuff from about 7-8 years. It is going to take her forever!

I am sooooooo excited to have time to visit blogs again. I missed it so much. I love seeing and learning from them all. And leaving comments too, I enjoy leaving them as much as I enjoy recieving them :o)

Here are the results of my craft room :o)

That is my doxie wondering if he can get away with attacking the recycle bin, lol. He thinks I am to busy to notice right now, lol

No more baskets and clutter under the tables :o) One of the things I have left to do is the basket on the far right. It is full of scrap papers and tutorials and such that need to be filed. I hope I can be disciplined enough to get it done soon, not leave it waiting another year or so, lol

Here is the over flowing cabinet that is no longer over flowing. Forgot to get a photo of the inside, but as you can see, the doors are completely closed now, lol. I pulled all of the excess "stuff" off the front. Pulling the tape and Velcro off left spots on the outside where the brown stuff (I have no idea what that is called, lol) got pulled off too. That's OK, I certainly can live with that.

The closet no longer has doors on it. It is deep enough that I can stand in front of the book case to get what I need. The top shelves on the right still look a bit cluttered to me, but I can get things out without it all falling on top of me, tee he he.

What's to say, lol, no really pretty, but it serves it's purpose. The little yellow tin is full of stamps waiting to be cleaned...one of the small things I still need to do. The top shelf is full of cards I made that I kept. I actually threw loads of them away from when I first started crafting. Two of the boxes are full of envelopes, one clear ones, the other has white envies to go with the cards.

Finally have a place to put the Cricut I bought months ago and had no place to put it so I could actually use it, lol.

Thank you for sharing my "organizing" journey with me!

HUGS...Sandy O

Snowflake Tag/Ornament

Yeay...I finally got something done in my newly organized craft room, lol.

Such a pretty snowflake ornament. It was really quite easy too...well, to put together. The blue gems were a bit difficult to cut until I figured out the easy way. Both sides are exactly the same. The little burrs on the edges of the legs can't really be seen in real life. Funny how when I get the new camera to do what I want, it picks up details that the eye really does not see.

Hmmmm...I just noticed that the cord to hang it fell off! Yikes! LOL

This is what I cut them from. Isn't it so pretty. I bought it from Cynthialoowho (I am figuring her real name is Cynthia) at her Etsy store HERE. It is a 1 yard by 4 3/4 inch roll for only...ready! A wopping $6.99! She has lots of colors too. I can see using it for card borders and on eggs, so bought 4 colors.

Isn't the center flower stunning! She also sells these at her store HERE. She has these in a few different colors, too.

I wanted to get a photo showing the clear crystal in the center of the flower. You can kind of see it here. You can see it a lot better if you click on it to get a look at a larger photo.

I did not come up with this idea on my own. I saw a link on a blog to a tutorial on YouTube for it. I can't for the life of me find it now. I wrote her to get the link, but never heard back. So if you would you would like to know, just shoot me an email.

Hugs to you all...
Sandy O

Craft Room Day 2

Do you want to see how far I have gotten so far? Well, I did get something done...

I got these Copic desk cubes which arrived last week. Ohhh...I really like them now that I have them on my desk! Each tower is 3 sections, stacking on one another, of course. I spent a lot of time going through my markers by color and # (at my kitchen island) and got them in. Then...dropped the towers 2 times while trying to move them. Sheesh :o( I finally decided to pull out my scor-tape and attach each section with it. Worked great...after about 2 1/2 hours of work, here they are! If you decided to get these, they are quite expensive, but worth it I think, make sure to use your scor-tape BEFORE adding your markers!!!

It is hard to see, but I finally went through my laundry basket under here and replaced it with this wide draw rolling thing. Sadly all it holds is my ribbon in the bottom 2 drawers and "some" of my jewels/pearls/pin items in the other. That's OK, at least they are where I can get to them :o)

Some good things I found in the basket were:
-my sewing machine directions
-loads of tutorials, 4 of which I want to read/make before tossing them
-packages of items that I traded (on an SU forum) for items I don't use for items they don't use
-my envelope maker, you know, the purple ones
-LOTS of really good paper, my much loved shimmer kind, that I was to lazy to put away at one point
-many other items I had looked for, could not find and was afraid I threw away
AND MOST IMPORTANT--some photos of my Step Dad who pasted away 2 1/2 years ago. Now, how THEY got in there I have no idea!

Here is the "in the process of organizing" mess. So far I have filled the recycle bin, have another bag full of recyclable paper and 2 full garbage bags full of, well, garbage, lol. See 2 of those rolling things that you fill to take to someone else's house/store full of your stuff to craft with them (I don't remember what they are called) they are the black things in the middle of the picture. One was FULL of files from when I sold SU 3 or 4 years ago! I think that is what the recycle bin is full of.

The second one is full of those clear paint cans that were so popular a couple of years ago. I know I will most likely never use them, but just can't force myself to throw them away. :o( What a dilemma!!

On day 0, I bought this shelving unit to put in one half of the closet. Get free shipping from Amazon because we are prime members, but, I decided to splurge and pay the extra 3.99 to get it the next day, which would be day 1. After all, the UPS guy always comes between 9-10 in the morning, I was soooo excited!

Well, don't you know, he must have reversed his route that very day!!! I am making that clicking of the tongue sound but have no idea how to write that, lol. It did not show up until 4!

On day 2, I excitedly put it together and went to put it in my now empty closet. Well, it did not fit. Who would have thought you had to measure the space before buying it, NOT ME! Soooo, as you can see, it is replacing the shelves with the doors. Doesn't really fit here either and is pretty ugly, but I can live with that.

I had no place to put the items that are in the unit with the doors, so decided to push HARD to get it in the closet. After all, I did not want to wait until Paul came home that night to help! I got it mostly in, then it got stuck, of course. I can't even budge it now. AFTER this, 3 thoughts occurred to me
-the closet doors needed to be removed to get it in there
-the doors of the cabinet need to be removed because I will not be able to open them once it is in
-the plastic things that hold the closet rod in have to be removed or the inside will be 2" to small
Now, I have to wait until Paul can help this afternoon. Sheesh, I should have just waited for him to help when he got home from work, it would have been faster.

While I am accomplishing absolutely nothing, my doxie got into the recycles. Here is just part of it. He even chewed the wooden closet rod while I wasn't looking and now it won't be able to be used any more. You can see one of my chihuahua's checking out the doxies booty.
What did I do after all this...I took a nap! I figured I better quit while I was NOT ahead.

Have you made it this far into this boring post? If so, here is some good news. I went through my SU stamp book to see what sets I will no longer use. There are 67 sets as well as some wheels (do people still used these?) I also found a few more items that I will not use either, some even brand new! When I bought them I was "certain" that I needed them, lol

I will be making a page of them as well as other items in case someone else will use them!

THANK YOU for letting me share this with you. Phew...I feel so much better now!!!

Have a super weekend...HUGS...Sandy O

Oh WOW!

I had the last 2 weeks off of babysitting and decided to "CLEAN" my house. I had not done so since my illness 14 months ago. Though my husband tried to keep it clean (dishes and laundry basically) it was a total disaster, to say the lease. I am 1/2 finished with the last room and hoping to finish it today.

What will I do then? Well...here are a few pictures to show you, lol

This wall is not so bad. The problem I have with it is that I have more stamps and such to put here and there is no more room.

OK, this needs no explanation, tee he he. I don't even have the shade on the light, lol. That laundry basket has been waiting for me to go through it for at least 2 years now. It is full of tools, tutorials and stuff. Where oh where am I going to put them? Or, if they have been there so long, do I really need them? I am sure I do, bwaa ha ha

Sniff...look at that floor, if you can see it! The rolling bins in the middle of my craft room are supposed to be under the desk on the left. I have just been walking around them.

The outside of my cabinets. What a clutter I have made on top of them.

The inside :o( the top right cubbie is the only place I have for my egg art items. My mother has 2 rooms and a cellar full, ha ha ha

Half of my closet. What a mess! The shelves on top are so full I dread looking for something on them since loads of stuff comes tumbling down.

The other half of my closet. YIKES! More stuff on the floor looking for a home.

Did you notice all the ripped paper and bubble wrap on the floor. That was my doxie when he got into my garbage barrel. And the doggie beds...3 of them. The doggies just HAVE to be in there when it am. Boy, they seem to take up so much room even thought they are small since the doggies are chihuahua's and a doxie.

What I really need is a Scrap box desk, The biggest one! But, since that is a pie in sky dream, I guess I will have to work with what I have.

How long do you think it will take me? I am hoping it will only be 3 days. I would rather just craft, but as you can see, it really is not an option right now. WISH ME LUCK!

HUGS, Sandy O