A Lesson In Best Intentions

I'm surely not the only person associated with this blog who fails sometimes to live up to our full potential. Not that I'm not super amazing, no friend, that fact does not escape my self assessment; I simply mean that there are many opportunities where I set out to fulfill a vision and fall short.

Take this beautiful card I found while scrolling my inbox. Artist Jennifer Bloomquist of Stampin' Up shared this awesome design which uses the impact of a black matted inset stamped piece layered over four strips of washi tape in different designs. Oh Great, I thought to myself when I saw it. This will be so easy to duplicate, was the continued thought as I quickly located my cardstock, a few stamps, a Close To My Heart ink in Slate, and my treasured tin of tape.
Sitting down at the table with my paper trimmer, gathered supplies and some spare time, my excitement and joy at just the right level of craft-productivity, and this simple but striking design, I imagined sets of four cards in assorted greetings that I could market in the upcoming months. I could even make some Christmas cards!
Or... not.

A simple strategy for mass production: a box of scrap papers + stickers+ bling = awesome!

Do any of these cards look even remotely like the very duplicate-able design I had before me? I didn't think so either! I ended up making 8 cards in one go- nothing to scoff about. But, there is not a singe piece of tape to be found. not one bit of matting. I did manage to get some cardstock in there as the card bases, and amazingly enough there is even some stamping! But friends, you see what I meant at the beginning of this post about not living up to my potential- no set of four similar cards can be made from this grouping lol.
There are a few silver linings to this short lived cloud of dismay; my scrap box is a little lighter! I used quite a few pieces of chipboard! There are some very old stickers that are finally out of my stash in this photo! And, best of all, I was able to Make Something! As I mentioned before, I even did some stamping, which is a tendency that escapes my creative impulses lately.

Another little cherry on this cupcake of intention is that my father-in-law purchased most of these for distribution on the East Coast. Just thinking of that is enough to make me smile- and want to sit down for another session of production. I fully intend to follow my papers as they lead me though the beautiful process of layering pretty on pattern with a side of sentiment. And in that, I will most assuredly not fail... I think lol.


#ScarfSelfie!

Thanks for joining me today as I muse my way down to Oregon for a three generation road trip of celebration over my mom's last radiation treatment for Breast Cancer. If you haven't heard, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month and you ought to get a mammogram. I had my first medically induced super squeeze at the beginning of the year following my mom's diagnosis. It was an opportunity to put myself in the shoes- or in this case, the bras- of those I know who have had the unexpected reading come back of "further investigation necessary." As in, I needed to go back for further scans, followed by a biopsy of found calcium deposits, followed by a weekend of wondering what the results are, and a few weeks of limited arm movements.  Hmpf. A lot of worry but also a new appreciation for what my family and friends dealing with the disruption of cancer go through, and the renewed understanding that everyday should be lived to it's fullest!
 Today is World Cardmaking day to boot- hmmm, I wonder what we'll be doing tonight !? Check out the social media links on the right and you can see some of most candid camera moments showing up on my Instagram feed.
Happy Crafting! 

Don't Retire Too Soon

I was asked to create three retirement cards for one of my associates on our Preschool board, and thank goodness I remembered to make them before getting carried away to vacation land at the end of the month! Working in a large card format is new for me, and I didn't realize that the ones they sell in the store are usually a bit smaller than the 8 1/2x 11 size paper folded in half sized cards that I made. Good news is, I got to practice making my own envelopes using my Martha Stewart Score Board! I still seem to be lacking a basic awareness of math when it comes to using that haha.
My Heidi Swapp die cut book and other bits and pieces of punched shapes, flowers, bling, and sentiment stickers give these cards a lot of dimension. I even repurposed the cover of the book to include a repeated image of my larger die cut within that wood grain frame. Oh, and that frame was made from a wood flooring advertisement! I hope there is plenty of room to write inside, and that the recipients enjoy their retirement wishes enclosed, each card is unique and hopefully the purchaser will be able to match them up to the personalities. I gave her a terrific price because I was so flattered that she ordered through me. Now, hopefully someone will deliver them at our next meeting, which I won't be attending due to my CRUISE (cue wicked laugh).
Don't forget, I plan to review each day in detail, as well as give tips and pointers about preparing for a cropping cruise, so be sure to click subscribe and my posts will arrive in your email as they appear. Thanks for stopping by- challenge yourself to use some garbage to make something pretty today!

Quick Card Share for Dec 15th

Just a quick look at a few cards I made last week, and I'll be back to share more of what I've been doing with my time this month tomorrow!

An Unexpected Punch of Fun

I absolutely love this card I made yesterday! It has layers of My Mind's Eye papers, a Jenni Bowlin argyle transparency, and Lawn Fawn stickers, a combination that pops with color and all the fun of the holiday season.

At the Creating Keepsakes Convention earlier this month, I learned a fabulous technique for creating Shaker Cards. Mike from Queen & Co. taught us to use washi tape to close our cards... WASHI! One of my all time favorites!

I brought home a lot of sequins from the convention, a product I sought out after I realized I have almost depleted my meager supply of 10 or so sequins I've been hoarding as they fall off our daughter's clothes and from Christmas decoration clean up in years gone by. Yes, I am too cheap to spend a dollar to get a bazillion sequins and prefer the distressed-by-my-concrete-floor versions... NOT.

Beloved washi, meet newly acquired mega-stash of sequins. Sequins, meet Transparency overlay that I never know what to do with. Washi, meet transparency... now that we're all acquainted, put it all together and look what happens!

Well, if you're me, what happens is that all that fun creates a bit of a mess and the inside of your card suffers. But, if you're me you go looking for a way to cover up you fingerprinting mishaps, and participate in a challenge at the same time~

Jen Schow is a somewhat new YouTube process video-er who has done what I haven't figured out yet; gained over 500 subscribers in the short time she's been 'Tubing! What an accomplishment. Jen and I sort of know each other online as members of the Nicole Jones 911 Facebook group, which a lot of fun. And to celebrate her gratefulness at all the subbie support she's getting, she is offering up an American Crafts prize pack for punched project share submitters!

Here is how I used my favorite Close To My Heart Scalloped circle punch: as a peek a boo to the back side of the background to my shaker card front. I fussy cut a snowflake and layered that inside with a pop dot, and ran another strip of washi tape down the side. If I were a forward thinker, I'd have ran the tape down the side before punching, but I just cut a fringe along the edge and folded the tape over the scallops and no one (okay, non card makers anyway) would know the difference anyway.

Thanks for stopping by and let me see what you're making!

Celebrate With Me!

Sparkle A Little Brighter Darling

  54 Subscribers on YouTube!

14 Blog Followers! 

125 Instagram Followers!

2 Gig Harbor stores selling my cards!

Wow, this is my 200th Blog Post, and NO, I'm not throwing these figures out for no reason- they are a little proof that YOU REALLY LIKE ME! lol, for the last year I've been working on increasing the amount of posting that I've done, hoping to attract more interested viewers, and it looks like it has paid off :-)

My initial goals were to have 50 YouTubers, and 10 Blog followers... so hooray for all of you who surpassed my expectations. Granted, I set them relatively low, but you know I love challenges, so perhaps by this time next year I will have DOUBLED that goal. ..

I'm especially hoping to have my cards distributed in a few more places; combining my love of crafting with bi-monthly shop visiting always brings more smiles to my craft room.

Speaking of smiles in the craft room, this week I'm throwing sequins on EVERYTHING it seems, so that will be my November product challenge item. I got so many beautifully colored and shaped sequins at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last weekend, and they are fun and flashy so what's not to love? I'm also taking a harder look in my bling box and am determined to use up some of those barely there bling backers, so watch as I apply liberal doses of all manner of bling to get us through the end of 2014.

Ok, now to celebrate with me, this weekend I've got another Bling-tastic giveaway, so go ahead and comment below to enter and perhaps I'll draw your name on Monday. Let me know of some cute handmade goods or artsy little shop that could use a little CraftWithAnna carding!

Thanks as always for your support and ideas, enjoy your weekend, and Happy crafting!



Sunday applies washi tape to the edge of a plastic bag full of sequins,
 and a foam adhesive keeps things sliding around in there.