Because this is what I now do....

Has it really been June since I last posted? Geesh....I've been dabbling in my craft studio pretty consistently, although not in rocket speed time....I've actually gone out and about to buy new supplies....I have a bunch to share...and I have found inspiration, so...here I go!

Something I started a few years ago...that I haven't shared, thus the title of this blog....is I do what I do in my chocolate business....I start my holiday/season about a year in advance.....I have to do this in the chocolate world, if you wait until September/October to introduce new holiday items...you are about 8 months too late....

So...drum roll here....

I actually make NEXT year's holiday...during THIS YEAR...so...I had 2018 Valentines ready to mail, all finished...while I was making 2019 Valentines. Absolutely NO pressure...and enjoying the holiday. Did the same with Christmas/Halloween and other. I finished some adorable friendship cards with a summer theme, during NOVEMBER! hahaha

This way, I'm not up later than I need to be or should be, and I really am ENJOYING the process, rather than hurrying the process...then again, I have always scrapbooked that way too...it could take me a month to do one 2 page 12x12 layout...and I have unfinished "books" ... I've decided I do this for my therapy, solitude and sharpening my creative thinking, which I depend on in my chocolate biz....so, my grandkids will probably never see a finished scrapbook, but they will see pages and pages of memories put carefully together with fine detail and probably what a "less is more" style of crafter would cringe at looking at...afterall, I'm a "more is more" kind of gal...and it works for me....

So....you wanna see my 2019 Valentine? I absolutely have always wanted Crazy Birds....and I splurged and bought the whole shebang....then needed a magnetic plate and everything....yes, I still craft with my go to tools....my Big Shot, and even my old red sizzix and dies...not that I don't think my Cricut is the best thing since sliced bread, because I do....I faithfully use my "Expression"...although recently I was gifted a brand new Cricut Air...so welcome to the next century, I may have to learn a little computer technology along the way...I'm so impressed with what I see this machine can do...I wanna join the ranks of vinyl cutters and such too!

Enough jibber jabber for today....my 2019 Valentine....if any of you receive this NEXT year...I hope you don't remember it...lol...

Drop by again ... I have about 6 projects to share! :) Big big Big happy crafter smile here!



I have to admit...I'm a bit Copic challenged...for starters, I don't have nearly enough ... I may splurge and buy another dozen .... second, I'm petrified to ever add ink! I know that's what you are supposed to do when these quality markers run dry....but I'm SCARED to even attempt! I've had these now for many years, I know my day is coming. I never could figure out the little air thingy, I have one, but really never could understand how to use it, since my directions were in Chinese! Anyhow, I'm self taught. I need Copic to get to my area one day, and I'll take the class.

Toodles!

Trudi

Hey Diddle Diddle....

The cat and the fiddle...and Trudi created by the light of the moon....

That could have been the way the familiar childhood poem read last night! I've been above and beyond crazy busy in the chocolate world, and have dabbled a bit here and there in my craft room....so, I really do have a few to upload....

That being said, I needed a baby card TODAY...and didn't start until about 9 last night....go me...I found time to organzie and even clean while looking for a spool of white thread, which I never found....I found other fun stuff in my sewing stash, however.....

My look and style is loving letting the designer paper do the work for me...which doesn't mean there isn't stamping or tons of time involved. I tend to go the "more is more" route...but sure love love love what I'm finding in the craft stores.

In my chocolate world, I thought it was interesting that a customer of mine ordered baby shower favors in dark blue and turquoise...and I happened to find some fun designer paper in those colors too...so...I had that on my mind, and somehow envisioned a little bit of cream colored cardstock thrown in....

I'm not sure what the line was for the designer paper...I think it's BoBunny...I really like the quality and selection....(I'll double check)...if it isn't, I still like BoBunny...

Of course...lots of BUTTONS...and one of those rare occasions where a warm color (cream) and WHITE end up together....I followed the lead with the designer paper....the white cow with the cream colored (moon), which I converted into a planet I think...I just had to have a cut out of my own, the moon off of the Cricut Cartridge NURSERY RHYMES...(minus the cow and stars, which I cut off...)...STAMPED with music notes and glittered up....probably way more embellishments than what is necessary...but you know how us MORE IS MORE girls think! :)



Now...totally unrelated...but in my chocolate world.....the baby shower novelty shipping for a lil future baseball player....



I'm weekly adding to our website:

http://adamsplace.espwebsite.com/

It's a work in progress...but going on 32 years now....it seems to be working... :)

Toodles....and congrats to my cousin in law....the Hey Diddle Diddle card is for you...thrilled and excited for you!!!!

Trudi

Second post for the day....VALENTINES!

This finishing up...after the matter is fun! I plan on mailing these out Valentines 2018....I have more to make with...all the images from just one piece of designer paper! Vintagey looking ... and fun to work with. I'm glad I gave making the actual focal point of a card out of the designer paper...I resisted for so long because I love the stamping part and thought I might miss out on some fun. That being said, there is plenty of ink and stamping on these cards! I made a miniature replica of a notebook piece of paper with a background stamp, stamped a little distress look on it....BE MINE...and little hearts. The red cardstock is stamped with LINEN background stamp. I used my sizzix (now that's a dinosaur tool..yep, I still use my red sizzix) ... I used one of my favorite Cricut cartridges (Graphically Speaking) for the note paper. Now for the good part....once the design was decided, it only took a couple of hours to make.

The other 6 images I have are more Victorian Vintage...so, will do similar but with different colors...stand by for pics of those some time next week!

So for now...it definitely was a social media day, refreshing my knowledge and memory of uploading my craft items. I rely on my pictures for quotes in my chocolate design world, it was nice doing something more for pure labor of love. I sort of played hooky today, but to be honest, a few of my chocolate customers are so so so savvy in computer things, that I'm going to join forces and become savvy too.... that being said, I'm sharing that info because you are my friends...not my victims of my learning curve of social media!!!

Stay tuned for more and more....and when I do get links up for the Adams Place Country Gourmet, Inc. side of my life, I'll add....I'm having too much fun with cards today! ;)

Toodles,part 2!

Trudi

First and Last!

Sort of a scary title there....no....I'm not implying my last post/creation/yada yada yada.....

I have been bitten by the crafting bug again, but just haven't shared on my blog....I hope to get in the spirit of things again, now that I have a new Smart TV in my craft room...I can do a Netflix marathon while I stamp/stich/bow and button up!

While looking for some long lost supply (that after the matter, I found it in plain sight...go figure)...I stumbled upon the VERY FIRST CARD I ever made and sent out for Christmas....we are talking about 21-25 years ago...a long long time...and many many many $$$$$$ of dollars of supplies since then...I decided to share my very FIRST and my LAST (completed) Christmas card I designed. (I already have 2017 started, but need a little tweak here and there)

My first card....I was inspired by a class I attended at a local craft store.....

It was in my early early days....I even made hand made envelopes ....I probably don't need much explanation of the "how I did it"....

Now for my latest, and seriously one of my most favorite cards I have ever made. Favorite because I had tons of fun with each little step I made, and this, trust me...had many steps.

It is sort of "accordian" but I adhered a couple pages at the back. I know I had a good reason at the time, I really wanted this to stay shut and that seemed to do the trick.....many of the images are doubles stamped...I stamped in one color, True Thyme, a favorite color from my Stampin' UP! days...truly the BEST color ever out there...it was a special color that was introduced for a short time. I have hoarded my True Thyme card stock and it was my go to for this project! The second color stamped over the original True Thyme images is metallic gold....so, if there is a slight blurry look...you are right, there is...but up close...it adds a little mystery and subtle shimmer to the images...this is where that Stampa Majig came in handy! The rest is pretty self explanatory, yep, you see pirate gold embossing, some sparkle glitter, Platinum in this case.... And the canvas "sleeve" PURE IMPULUSE on my part. I decided to visit a craft store (who needs to when their entire craft room is a store)...(I used my Michaels coupon to buy a copic marker and came out with canvas)...

Anyhow...if I were to recreate, I'm sure it wouldn't take as long since I have the design down. But oh how fun...I find the little surface to design isn't as complex as a big scrapbook page, you do run out of room, so it's easy that way. Yet...I always manage to find ways to keep it labor intense! In the meantime, I made these with a few of my friends in mind, and wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Unfortunately, not all my friends got one, as I felt I needed to let go of a few of these to "relatives"...you know, the ones who I'm not sure are as appreciative of a hand made card as my crafting friends, but relatives that I hold near and dear just the same...(I guess what I'm saying here is I'll probably recreate to send to others next year, just I'll get a good start...plus...I may have to substitute my True Thyme...yikes)

Here are a couple more views ... the little tag is tucked under the sentiment on the last page...space for a to and from....

So there you go...FIRST and LAST .... with about 25 years in between!

I just finished a few Valentines Cards....(for 2018, I missed the deadline this year! hahahaha)....so check back...I remembered my password for my blog!

Til next time!

Toodles,

Trudi

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