A Little Time to Play!

My poor craft studio has been sitting lonely and neglected all winter long. It's been too cold to go "all the way out there." And most days there's not enough time! But I've been missing my "play time" and so has Ruthi. So last week we decided we NEEDED to spend some time out there! And that's exactly what we did.

I spent a couple hours cleaning and doing a little bit of organizing. It is an enclosed room, but it's in the "barn" and still gets dusty and a little dirty. Plus, there were a few 8-legged visitors that had apparently perished in the cold. They had to be cleaned out, along with their webs.

That was all the time I had to spend out there that day, and now that it was all clean, I couldn't wait to get back out there to play! We've now been out there a few times for a couple hours at a time, and it feels GREAT to be crafting again!

I always feel like I don't have time to go out there because there's always so much to do in the house! But I'm doing my best to "allow" some crafting time several days a week, because it makes me so happy! And if I'm happy with that, it carries over into everything else!

So to make this work, I am actually scheduling time to craft. Today I knew there were a few things that HAD to get done. So my incentive to get them done more quickly was knowing that I could reward myself with some studio time. And then I set a time limit for how long I can be out there (and try to stick to it!) so I lose all track of time and fail to get other things done.

Hopefully I can motivate myself this way - to keep things taken care of in the house, and to make time to go play! It works both ways!

I've had fun making cards again, but I don't have any pictures to share yet, because I've lost the charger to my camera. I could take pictures with my phone, but they just don't look as nice, so I'm holding off taking pictures.

I'll be ordering a new charger this week (which means I'll find mine!) and will share the pictures as soon as I can!

I've joined a ribbon club over a year ago, and get these beautiful and fun ribbons in the mail each month. Not that I've had a lot of time to do anything with them, but even when I did, I didn't want to open them up and use them yet. I just liked admiring them! But I've finally broken into a few packages and used some on the cards I've been working on.

I love the fun colors and designs they send. They are so pretty! (But this picture does not do them any justice!)

If you are interested in getting some great ribbon for a reasonable price, you should check out Really Reasonable Ribbon.

(I'm not affiliated with them in any way - I just love their ribbons!)

I LOST MY BLOG!!!!

No, Seriously! I lost this blog AND my personal blog a while back and have been trying to figure out what on earth happened!

I purchased domain names a few years ago, and renewed them each time I was supposed to. But something happened in early 2013 when Google decided to make some changes. I had free web hosting through them, and from what I understood, since I was already established with them, I would be able to continue the free blog hosting.

But something went wrong. Sometimes they throw a lot of stuff out there that is very confusing, and I apparently missed something. But all of a sudden, my blogs were all distorted and I couldn't do anything about it! I was VERY frustrated! And sad! (Especially about my personal blog...so many stories and pictures!)

I decided that somehow, the blogs must still be able to be accessed. They HAD to be! Obviously, my domain name was outdated, so I managed to take care of that. I renewed it with no problem. But then what?

I did figure out that the reason my blogs weren't accessible, is because I had them redirected to my domain name. So I fixed that, and they are BACK, but in blogger. With the doggone blogspot.com address on the end.

So, I have my domain name, and web hosting at GoDaddy, but now I have NO CLUE how to make this work like it did before! If I just click on jmdesigns.com, it goes to the GoDaddy landing page, not to my actual blog.

It was so easy before, because everything was connected. Now I need to figure how on earth to get it set back up so that I can lose the blogspot.com in my address! For now, the page just tells you to click to get here. But I don't want that!

So, here's to hoping this isn't as difficult as I seem to be making it!

And I WILL be back soon to post some new things...even though it's been a YEAR!!!!! Ugh....

Masculine Birthday Trio

I think masculine birthday cards are the most difficult to make. Unless I am adding an image that has to do with sports or a male hobby, it's a bit tricky for me. And I kind of steer away from those images unless I know for a fact the intended recipient is really into that sport/theme.

So when coming up with a general card with a masculine feel, I'm still not great with the options. Most of the time, I pick a design and recreate it in different colors. That's exactly what I did here. I made the same card three times, only changing the colors.

The stamp is by Stampin' Up! from the Alphabet Soup set (which I don't believe is available any longer) The other materials are various from my stash.

Here's one final picture of the three together. 

The only problem here...I'm not sure which one I like the most. Which one is your favorite?

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Today I have two cards to share. I often pick a stamp or a card layout and make more than one similar card with variations. In this case, though I was using the same stamp, the cards look completely different. 

Both cards use the large cupcake stamp by Inkadinkado. The sentiment for the first card is by Studio G. The patterned paper is by DCWV and was the inspiration for the color scheme. The ribbon and jewel were in my stash, so I'm not sure where they came from, but the ribbon most likely came from Michael's. The little flower is Heidi Grace Designs with a small brad added to the center. I used the Polka Dots embossing folder for the background.  

I don't have any of the fancy Copic Markers...just haven't made the investment yet. So I color with other markers and colored pencils. The problem with colored pencils is that you can see the pencil strokes. But I saw a great tip on Pinterest where you take a cotton swab dipped in some rubbing alcohol and rub it over your colored image. I gave it a try and I am very pleased with the results! It really did blend my pencil strokes for the most part and it's not so obvious I used colored pencils! I'll be using this technique a lot...until one day I make that investment for the "good" markers! :)

For the second card the sentiment is also from Inkadinkado. No clue who the paper is by...like most of the paper in my stash! And again, the ribbon is probably from Michael's. On this cupcake, I used Studio G glitter glue to highlight the sprinkles, and a small gem for the "cherry" on top. 

There is a similar card buried deep in my files that I saved forever ago where I drew my inspiration. I wish I knew who the original card belonged to so I could give credit, but I saved it long before I knew to keep up with that sort of thing. But to whoever designed the original card...thank you for your inspiration!

Thank You Monkey

I made this set of thank you cards for my same friend I mentioned yesterday. This was just a small part of her gift. I always try to include a set of handmade thank you cards when I buy a gift for a baby or bridal shower. What's more practical than that? And I love it when I know the recipient actually uses them, because they send one to me! (Then I have one I get to keep!)

I kept these SUPER simple using a stamp from the same set by Stampabilities. When I was making these, my daughter pointed out that this little guy was the same one that was used on the background paper of the invitation to the shower that we had received. Bonus!

Welcome Little One

This was a fun card to make. I have a sweet friend who is expecting her first baby - a boy. The nursery is so adorable decked out in monkeys, including an awesome mural painted by her sister. Her shower had a monkey theme as well, so the card I made her HAD to include a monkey.

I think this little guy is so adorable. The stamp is by Stampabilities. The sentiment is by Studio G and is foam mounted for a little lift.

Your Germs are Irresistable!

If that made you sing a certain Robert Palmer song, then great minds think alike! :)

I love this get well card. This Dudley Dragon image is too cute. It is a pre-colored digital stamp from Dustin Pike. He has quite a few Dudley designs, and I think the are all adorable! I can't remember where I found the sentiment though. I THINK it came from Ginger's House, but I'm not sure. (She has LOTS of awesome word art!) I have searched and searched my files and can't find it, so again, if anyone sees this who knows where it came from, let me know so I can give proper credit!

The inside of this card says "Get Well Soon."