Reasons to Stamp in March!

Doing a little me time ... blog surfing ... I visited this saved in my favorite places blog ... I've seen lists before ... but enjoyed this one because of all the fun samples. I plan on cleaning my desk today in my home office (getting ready for April 15....) ... MAYBE going for a walk (I have somehow managed to throw my back out...) ... then spending the rest of the day in my craft studio!!!!! I don't plan on coming out of it until I've finished some undone projects...(like all my delinquent RAKS...plus new ones...) I'm going to pick one of these on the March list...I think it will be fun!~


http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2010/02/reasons-to-stamp-in-march.html


I need a countdown clock too...for some reason, my computer is not letting me pull up gadgets ... I have some computer issues to say the least...anyhow, I'm thinking of what my countdown needs to be....countdown until sis's gift is done. I'm going make August 1 my goal... by the 1st I need to get busy for our holiday sales in my chocolate business...if it's not finished by then...it will be put on hold even longer!

I think this accountability will motivate me!

Trudi

Sis's Gift....

Just getting all of this out ... is inspiring me to get busy on this book. Most of the pages are pretty intense, including this one...there is quite a bit of detail on the fence....but that's me...I tend to scrap this way. I wanted to get all of the layouts photographed, for my reference, before I give the gift away, I want to be sure I can recollect what I have done. I will someday, want to recreate....for myself!

Bear with me on my uploading pictures...I do not know how to rearrange once I've uploaded...I've tried and things have gotten put in odd ways....trust me, it's not my preference, but ... I've come a LONG way, computerwise ... I'll go with it. This blogging stuff isn't as hard as I envisioned....in fact, this is pretty easy.

A little history about this layout....this is where you would find me all summer, when not working in the orchards. We typically were done with bringing in the fruit for the day by noonish...so, all we needed to do was be alert for customers....who often got to see us in our bathing suits! We did have good tans! I LUV Eastern Washington weather!!!!!

Happy Friday!

Trudi

My Sis's Gift

Was supposed to be finished August 2007....but....life happened, and good intent went to the wayside. 2 other sisters and I are making a scrapbook of her life, she hit a milestone year, and this was to be her birthday gift. Prior to her birthday, serious tragedy hit our family...so horrific that plans to finish her gift were not even a consideration. I found, however, those sleepless nights, my crafting time became one important element as I made my journey finding our new normal....I have to be honest...my "normal" I still struggle with...

I've been consumed with papercrafting for over 12 years now...and have never hit a long slump like I have this last year. I'm thinking part of the slump is the fact my children are a little more here, there, and everywhere, making me exhausted...but I also think I've reached another stage of dealing with grieving....when I first attacked the pages of this gift (right after my dear niece was killed) I found a creative side in me that I had not entertained on paper quite yet....I'd be awake until 2:00 a.m. creating funky looking Christmas trees (I could have driven to Seattle in the time it took to create ONE tree...that's a 4 hour drive from my house!!!!) using designer paper in ways I never dreamed of....SHOCK....I CUT INTO EXPENSIVE PIECES TO MAKE LITTLE DIE-CUT FLOWERS! NO LONGER A 12x12!!!! yada yada yada....Well....about 9 months ago...something snapped in my psyche...and my goal to get this book done...was put on the shelf....I have about 6 layouts left to make....and it can take forever and a day for me to do one layout....

So...I am inviting you all on my journey....some of this was so painful...as I look at the innocence of my youth, my sisters youth, my nieces, nephews, parents, etc.....there were times this was hard to do...and moments that were so naturally easy....I promised myself...I will reproduce my layouts for myself...as the created layouts were so much my story too...and my story with my four sisters....

This layout...was sort of simple...it's not my typical style...in fact...I would say I want a do-over...but I NEVER EVER EVER do a do-over with ANY OF MY SCRAP PAGES AND LAYOUTS....I might with a card...but once a layout is done...I move on....I go with the moment, during the moment...and that is that! So...simple layout here it is...I'll fire up the camera and try to share from time to time...layouts done...and layouts to come...once I finish the one I had put on hold....I have a super fun one in the making....I'm using weird colors on it too....it should look kewl!

This layout is 3 generations of little girls....

Trudi

My Certificates

For starters, I need to say 2 things.....

First, the quality of the pictures is AWFUL. I could not get anything but BLUR when I photographed these...I pulled them out of their auction spot and took pictures when I thought nobody would see me....but....there were bidders lurking around, so I was "hurried".

Secondly, this is NOT my finest work....I did not like these, and was tempted to just print out a piece of paper....but after doing these now for 7 years or so....I learned on Sunday...the bidders expect to see what I'm going to do....I think the same ladies fight over the asparagus....it's all good, and goes to a good cause...the preschool...which ultimately is put into a scholarship fund to help families who may be in a financial pinch now and then....I've served on the board for years, and am thankful that we offer this, the preschool is top notch and I'm glad to be a part of it!

Enough said....I think I better pull out some of my scrap pages next...I'm finishing up on a very intense project...super uber intent, but have not touched it for MONTHS! The goal is to be finished by August....I'm going to pull it out ... might be fun to share the journey with you all! BUT...I do have cards in the making...promise!

Trudi

Valentines!

My 4th grade daughter designed these...my workstaff made the suckers, but my daughter designed the card/colors/etc....she had 7 different color schemes....but I photographed only 3...I did operate my Cricut...but she did the stamping...I helped a little with assembly...we were up so late working on these...and I was getting cranky...next year, we will start sooner to make it more fun...we waited until the night before her school party!

New Craft Pictures Coming

Remember those gift certificates I mentioned about 3 weeks ago? Well, I finally made them...the auction was yesterday, and I did what I swore I wasn't going to do...I made them the night before the function, was up until 2:00 a.m. doing them. They are SIMPLE ... and one of them, I flat out DO NOT LIKE...BUT...that one auctioned off for $35...go figure...the other 2 did respectfully well too...the one that I want a do-over with was pretty popular! Our packer would pay us: $7.50 for what brought in $35...if only in real life that could happen! I DID get pictures, but it was at the church, and they are blurry...I have them at home on my other camera, I will attempt to upload TONIGHT....if not, tomorrow morning....

My craft studio is a TOTAL MESS...I closed the lids to all inks...and turned the lights off...I have "stuff" scattered EVERYWHERE...and it is NOT inviting to finish or start any craft projects! In my attempts to create these 3 cards timely (took 4 hours)...I did stumble upon some items I really do want to play with...and I have a friend who wants to come over and learn this craft...so, I hope to get cleaned up, and motivated to get going more!!!

In the meatime, I'm posting something a little sweet.....it's Easter here in the factory, we literally produce THOUSANDS of these little guys which get sent out to specialty retailers all over the nation...I know, it's not crafty, but it does make this post a little more fun to look at!!!

So far, a much better start to this week than last...I have decided to move past the issues that kept me awake every night...I did get some quality sleep last night and Friday night too...(not Saturday night though....I had my little certificates in the making way too late!)

TTFN!

Trudi

I Have a Headache

It's been a long week...this volleyball politics has both my husband and I in KNOTS...and for those of you who may be my facebook friend...you will see I had a little joke about LET IT GO...(my SU grandupline likes to tease me about dwelling on things, so she has to give me my LET IT GO fix once in awhile....which she did....) Anyhow, NO sleep, tossing and turning, and even a few tears....so my craft goals literally were not even a small consideration! BUT....I do manage to get to work every day, and I'm making big proposals for upcoming events that might need or want our chocolates....so....I'm adding a little picture of something that I could use right now....a big GIANT CHOCOLATE ASPIRIN!!! Of course, we all know, I'm a gummy kinda of gal....but, I recently submitted this particular product into my ad specialty line, so....it's the first thing I thought of. I HOPE that maybe I can get some ME time this weekend....if the weather stays nice...I'm going to forget the treadmill, but hit the pavement...I have to clear my head and make some decisions....if it was all about ME, it would be easy...it's not, that's why the tears......

Valentines

Quickly, I'm posting the Valentine that my 8-1/2 year old son designed. Keep in mind, he is a HUGE Oregon Duck fan....ever since they played in the Rose Bowl...he recorded the game, and still is watching it. I'm not understanding why he won't consider WSU, I'm a true blue Coug myself, but, this is a much easier Valentine to make...he wanted it simple... :)

I will later post my daughter's creation...she designed them and assembled them (for the most part) by herself...I did do the cutting on the Cricut, and some taping ... and my employees made the chocolate hearts....but the rest was all her....I have those pictures on a different camera, at home! In the meantime, my little Duck fan chose to go this route...it was my idea for the little treat...it was sort of his idea, but he didn't realize we had the perfect color to complete his project!

For those of you who don't know it....the symbol on the front of the card is the similar to the logo for UofO ... and their colors are: Green and Bright yellow!

Thinking of My Eastern Friends

This was total impulse to post this. Actually, I'm working trying to organize my picture gallery in the factory...(I literally have thousands of pictures of chocolate items that are uncategorized....) I stumbled upon this picture, it was part of a swap group I participated in a few years back. We all took a saying out of a 8-10 line poem...I won't go into detail about the verse...just my spin on my line.....anyhow, after getting off the phone with a customer of mine in Connecticut....hearing about her weather, this picture popped up. (Actually, I was searching for something for her...and found this)....THIS IS HOW MY MIND WORKS....

Baby Novelties for Baby Shower---->Search my Gallery---->Found Trudi File---->Sunny Saying---->Customer Location---->Connecticut---->Bad Snow---->Eastern Crafting Friends---->Post on Blog

And...believe it or not...it's SPRING in Eastern Washington!!!!

Changes!

I'm looking at my card...and THINK I know how I'm going to change it!!! You'll just have to wait and see!!!! This time, however...I will mail out to my RAK group first...so, it may be a week or so until my final version is up! In the meantime...I'll have something DUCKY to show in the next couple of days!!!!!!!!!

The Results of My Impulse Card

It's growing on me...I know I said I wouldn't post this until the recipients received theirs, I changed my mind and decided to post this early, fully knowing, that I may end up tweaking this a bit! I've worked it until I am beginning to resent it!!!! But...it's growing on me! I really like the Stampin Up! courderoy buttons....I'm a button freak! I'll let you know if I do make any changes, or if this is it. I have to do crafting this week whether I want to go to sleep early or not. It's Valentines time, and both kidlets are requesting handmade cards. My daughter will get the task of making her own, with me supervising the Cricut...my son...well, his is a bit specific....it has to have Oregon Ducks stuff on it....I'm thinking a little green card with a bright yellow "o" on the front of it...some little heart inside or something. One would think we live in Oregon (not), or that we have an Oregon Duck alum in our family (not not)....I'm a COUG (WSU) all the way...and my husband isn't a Duck eithor, but he is from a little town in Eastern Oregon, the whole community are (mostly) DUCKS! Anyhow, I can't wait to see how I'm going to pull a rabbit out of a hat this week!

Toodles!

This Is My Life

Another weekend of volleyball bliss...this time, the "politcal stuff" wasn't too bad, but something sad happened....(my son left his DS at the hotel...although we have our name on a lost and found list...I suspect this is a goner...)....as far as the tournament....I only saw 3 girls with tourney tears, mine included........but it all stems down to a very young coach who, although I will give her the benefit...and not hold her age against her...she doesn't verbalize things very well...and she has said some things that are very hurtful to 10 year old girls. This week...it was my setter, last week it was the other. Both girls are pretty skilled for their tender young ages, and compete their hearts out. I look at the knee pads to see who has little holes already in the padding...mine does....if you know or play the game, you will understand. Anyhow...I cried for both children yesterday...a very sad little brother who lost his prized possession, and a sad girl, whose coach wouldn't let her in the final game to get the winning point....I can't complain about play time...she was never taken out of the game during the entire bracket play....huge compliment for her...but during the final serve....a huge substitution, the coach announced...no way will I put (my daughter) in. I don't understand the motive or reason.....nor will I second guess it...but, my daughter heard it...and was very hurt by it. Today, I am going to do some light house cleaning...then head on down to my craft studio for some me time...(oh and put an hour on the treadmill)....I have a creative block on my card that I hoped to finish weeks ago...goal is to finish it and move on...it probably won't be one of my best...but, I really can't be at a standstill with it much longer or I will resent it! KWIM?! Be looking tomorrow for new pics!

Trudi

Weekend Stress

Some of you may know that my daughter plays club volleyball. (now you know) This is her 2nd year of it...and she absolutely LUVS the game. What I really like about it for her...is she has a passion for this sport, and she gives it her all...I adore watching her play. What I DON'T adore...is the drama that is generated by the us PARENTS! It was a roller coaster weekend...and now, I'm needing to destress. I started eating icecream and candy...and refused to get up and run on the treadmill! It's been a whirlwind of a couple of days to say the least! I really want to get something new on here...so, once again...I'm pulling from my picture gallery of projects from the past. This picture is a project that I absolutely loved doing...and giving it to the teachers for Valentine's Day. (I think I mailed these out as a RAK, once upon a time....) I know I entered this in a little local competition too...so...IF you have seen this before...don't be surprised. I don't believe you saw the little gift that went with though! The set I used was one from a Stampin Up' mini catalogue I believe. The fun stuff inside is from my chocolate business, except the cocoa...that I buy in quantity from one of my favorite companies that I've known since the first year we ever exhibited in The Seattle Giftshow. (About 20 years!)

I HOPE to de-stress tonight with ink and cardstock...I'm settling down since the weekend...I do have to comment though...we have another tournament this weekend! I may need to bring some of that cocoa with to settle my tension! LOL!!!

Bye!