Don't be scared of Holiday Crazy!

I'm a little late posting these....sort of....I say "sort of" ... since believe it or not....in my chocolate world/business...we are already working on March/Spring orders. (Not actual production, but lining them up)...Christmas is kind of officially "over" in my world, just last minute panic orders...all the big stuff is gone. (We own a specialty food business, mainly service corporate customers, but dabble a little bit in selling to retailers, which is what we started with 30 years ago....and we occasionally get direct orders too...)

http://adamsplace.espwebsite.com/

You will find no contact info on here for a reason....(our logo is there though) ... our website is setup for our distributors to send their clients too....I love the world of marketing, and we created this site for those who sell our products to very large companies...

Anyhow, back to my very late card ... I started making these on Halloween, 2015 .... and sent them out Halloween 2016 .... I planned on mailing them to craft friends, but family members snatched them up, shipped with Halloween gifts! I suspect there will be a new Halloween card for 2017, so I'm not waiting until next year to show what I did...I've sparked my creative gene, and feel inspired lately. I'm working on a series of Christmas cards right now....

Cutesy (check)
Religious (almost check, will be finished in a day or 2)
Vintage (started something very labor intensive, dreamt another design up...and it is finished in my mind....)

These 3 will be uploaded before Christmas! I'm having a ton of fun!

Anyhow....I struggled on the sentiment inside this card, and the need to mail/ship with Halloween treats was prior to before I came up with something I liked better....was thinking "I've Got My Eyes on You" or something in that category....but never followed through...

So...Happy Belated Halloween! This was a fun Stampin' Up! set that is a mix and match sort of thing~! The little bats are strategically place, mainly where I made "rocking" ink boo boos....yes, every little flaw bugs me...and I find ways to hide and fix. Not all were goofed up...but, I had a few that I had to place the bat over a ink imperfection!

The "gifts" were really not all dressed up....those, I personally sent to a few people in my family...the other gifts, I did not get a picture of...but, we put 40 or so fancy sandwich cookies inside a pumpkin trick or treat pail...along with the card...these went to a hospital staff ... sort of an office gift thing....similar to the candy kabobs picture here....

Til next Halloween! Don't let the stress of the holidays scare you!

Toodles!

Trudi

Bwha Ha Ha

Not sure why I titled it that...it sounded good. This is not a new card, but it is one that I really enjoyed making several years ago. I'm sort of dabbling a bit more in my craft room than I have over the last few years. I think it has to do with the fact that POOF all of the sudden my kidlets turned into teenagers and understandably so, they are spending their fun time with their friends. That leaves me a little empty nested....even though I'm not...when they were little, I was crafting up a storm....then...sports got involved, and there was stress and never enough time. Sports are still involved, but I'm not being the taxi driver to practices anymore....so....I ventured into a neglected craft room (store practically) stocked FULL of supplies. I'm not ready to ebay or sell online, but if I ever do...there are some really good treasures.....

This card, as I said was one of my favorites....and I thought I'd share since tis the season of spooky....

Looking at it...I see possibilities for Thanksgiving and Christmas, casing my own design....I imagine a turkey in the middle of this...

I'm 99.9% sure the skull and crossbones is a SU set, and the text on the front and the inside (along with the bats) are a Crafty Secrets set....If you look close....you will see doodle swirlies on the black and green circles/scallop....that too, is a SU set....I distressed the skull lightly with some background stamp....looks like "Weathered"..all the green is background stamped with my favorite: LINEN background stamp ... and the scallop background is stamped with a French Script background as well....it appears the inner circle is actually designer paper, but I'm seeing LINEN on it...so, it appears I LINENED until my love of the Linen background was used as much as possible!

Oh My!!!!! Just typing out the details, and even leaving out a few (like the crytal effects on the eyes, the lace bow, rhinestones,velvet ribbon, brads and the final: glittery glue highlights....) What a lot of labor! That being said...that's 100% me....and I really don't remember anything dragging out about this card....I remember it all being fun!

I'm finishing up a non-seasonal project that I will share with you next week or so! I started it last Spring...geesh...

Toodles

Trudi

Weight Loss Journey Journal

Hello!

Awhile ago, I promised an update...and never followed through. I wanted to overthink the completion of my journal book...and was hoping to share a book full of bling bling! I'm satisfied with the front of the book, but only lined the inside of the book with matching designer paper....one little pocket in the back to put my weight watchers membership thingy....and my tracking of weight loss.

I made this for Jan 1 start date...and since then, I've stopped and started my "journey" over and over and over again....

Today I hope to have started for the last time....I very much entered something in my journal for 6 weeks or so...I see my last entry was February 19....so, here on June 20...I start again...

My book looks a little "loved"...the prima flowers sort of curled, next time, I will only use c/s for that kind of embellishment...

That being said...this book is supposed to be "loved"....and "used"....

I had fun making the embellishments.....of course I scoured my cricut cartridges for my hot air balloon and bicycle. My gypsy battery needs recharging and I haven't synced it forever...I don't do the online stuff...I'm intimidated with all that, but sure love going through my little books that come with the cartridges. I have about 75 cartridges or more, so....it's a process!

The designer paper was on clearance from our local craft store...an entire wall of TONS of dp for $ .25 each....I'm not sure whose / in the trend or what...but I knew I liked this. You need 4 sheets of dp to make a journal book....for front and back cover and then for the insides to line....I really don't remember if I bought 4 of the same or not, I do know these were reversable, so I might have....

The WHO/WHAT/WHEN/WHERE/WHY pocket came from one of those kinds of dp, the inside back cover has one too...tracking my weekly weight....I'm too shy to take a picture of that to share with the world my weight...so, that's up to the readers imagination! :) One of the papers I purchase had rulers...I had fun making "pounds lost meters..." Originally, I did lost about 12 pounds...thus the "line"...it's all gained back, to what I started at....so, I'll take a dark sharpie on my my next round of measurements! It was sort of fun...

So...write ... doodle ... mark up and journal ... this was so fun to make...when it's all filled up, I'll make another! (I bought designer paper for that too!) I was finding a quote a day, and started again today.....

Thanks for stopping by! Somewhere I have all the cutting dimensions of the designer paper written down that works best for the journal...I'll find it and share if anyone is interested! Leave me a note ... and I'll find it somewhere in my craft studio!

Thanks for stopping by!

Trudi

I promise, I have things to share!

Long time no post...that being said...I HAVE dabbled in my craft studio...so much that I finished my Halloween cards over Christmas and am starting my Valentines card NOW....fully knowing I won't be home over the Valentine weekend. I love this no pressure crafting thing, and like the industry I work in on a day to day basis...I'm going to craft that way too....I'm at LEAST 6 months out prior to the holiday. Believe it or not...the previous post of the BC Awareness gifts?!....I'm securing October orders for right now....

That being said....I have something very personal and near and dear to share....

I have decided to get back into the size 9(ish) that I was in once upon a time.....I'm 5'10(ish), so I can sway on that goal, but...mainly, somewhere in my hectic life...and hard stuff...I managed to once again, get at an unhealthy size....


so.....


I am approaching my weight loss like a game...and sometimes there is a side of me who is going to TRY to beat me...but....I have plans to not let that happen....I may stumble and fall...but...I will win in the end...

I made myself a MY JOURNEY journal book....

and...although it is 60% finished (designer paper on / most embellishments on / binder painted and stamped and set ...

I do have a bit more to go, crafting wise....(I know this will be a 2 journal process, I have plans on my 2nd journal already)

I planned on posting it here .... 60% finished....BUT....I'm on a jet plane to Vegas (tomorrow), so it will have to wait until I get back ...

and for the record...

I weigh in tomorrow....3 weeks down, 7 pounds down...I feel optimistic, I just MAY hit that 10 pound mark tomorrow.

Come back to see what fun stuff I have stored in my lil book....I take it with me (for the most part) where ever I go~!)

In the meantime, I'm posting a pic from the past. My daughter has been dealing with some stuff, where a girlfriend and coffee is a must...in my day...it was coffee at maybe a trendy yuppie place, Starbucks wasn't yet "invented", although it was coming...now days...it's all Dutch Brothers....if you are on the West Coast...you probably know what I'm talking about....if not....well, it's on it's way to you...it's a phenom right now, especially with the high school crowd! :)

Toodles and ChaChing for Vegas!!!!

Trudi