Not that Inspired

Ahhh!  I've been struggling with motivation to design May's "Rough and Rugged" cards/projects these past few weeks... I'm having major creative block as I catch up in other areas of life.  When life is busy, I tend to avoid these "harder" creative tasks, such as designing cards.  But I've been making major progress on my Holy Land digital album.  Woohoo!
Some ideas I will employ to hopefully help me get out of this funk (soon, I hope!):

• Take a step away.  I hate sitting with all my papers and tools a'clutter with no end product that I'm pleased with.  Sometimes it's part of the creative process, but most times I know myself well enough to just put the project on hold.
• Back to the drawing board.  I look through old magazines, crafting websites, and the CM project center to hopefully get that new burst of inspiration.  You never know what will catch your eye as you browse these resources multiple times.  Old projects can also be given new life with a simple twist!
• Pray.  Since God is the source of inspiration and all things creative, why not offer Him a prayer?  I find He will pop amazing ideas into my mind at the most random times!

Happy Easter and April Projects...

Blessings to everyone on this Resurrection Sunday!  May Jesus' triumph over the grave become a reality in your life... and give you HOPE. He is Risen, indeed!  It's been a busy Easter weekend, but I promised myself that I would catch up with a post to share the projects we completed during our April workshop.

Bliss again did a fantastic job finding creative cards for us to mimic. Our first card is a preview for May's "Rugged Boys" workshop.  She originally created her card as a Boys' Day card, but I turned mine into a Father's Day card.  She played off of the CM "Boyfriends" samples to create our personalized guy using the tag maker punch.

No hair on this guy because it's supposed to be my dad. Lol!

This next project is a perfect fit for the Fabulous paper flowers that we used in this kit. 

A potted plant card... but where do you write?

Pull up the flowers to reveal a journaling card, where you can
compose a thoughtful message. So cute!

This next project took the most time to put together, but the finished product is worth the effort. The accordion card measures 5x5 inches and contains 3 pages (or six sides) to add pictures, embellishments, or messages.  It would be a nice gift for a bridal party or a perfect group card for any event!

A view of the accordion card from the front... all tied up.

A view from above when the card is opened up and stretched. 
I kept my card plain since I don't know who I would give it to.

The added cardstock gives the card a unique crisscross effect when opened.

Thanks for reading... hope to see you at our May workshop.  Gonna go look for inspiration now!

Paper Album Saves the Day!

One of the greatest products Creative Memories makes are paper albums.  {Paper Album = 6.5x6.5 album with coordinating papers, photo mats, epoxy stickers, die cuts, and title stickers = gift in minutes.}

It's perfect for the novice scrapper or someone who is overwhelmed by staring at 15 pages in a 12x12 album.  My challenge for this particular paper album was to incorporate thank you notes from 34 fourth grade students.  Because this album came with 12 photo mats in 4 different colors, I decided to cut them in quarters, so I ended up with 36 mini pieces of paper.  (I know you're wondering about my math... I didn't use one of the colors because it was brown and too dark for the kids to write on.)  I've learned from my many communal album experiences that it's best to give everyone individual pieces to write on, for the following reasons...

1. the back can be used in case mistakes are made

2. giving someone a defined area to work with is always best

3. one person is not "holding up" the album as others painfully wait for their turn to write in it

So here's how the project evolved... 

I used the "Spice of Life" Paper Album. 

Here are the notes from the 4th graders!
How in the world to arrange them in the album?

I slowly get inspired to try different layouts, mixing and matching pictures and notes...
Don't laugh at my workspace on the floor.

I was quite pleased with the finished product!  I hope the Aunty and Uncle that are on the receiving end enjoy the notes from the kids as well as the pictures of their time with them. 

National Scrapbook Day: Fun and Fab!

Bliss and I are gearing up for our April workshop... "Fun and Fab" is the theme.  I love the colors of this new power palette, and the paper flowers are especially fun to work with.  Come join us if you can!

Hearts and Flowers

My Creative Memories upline, Bliss Nishida, always comes up with cute card designs for our workshop sessions.  For our February workshop, we used new 8x8 Lovable Scrapbook Kit.  She designed several cards using the "Joy Fold" method.  I love these cards!

Bliss also created a ton of cards simply by using the decorative parts of the paper and adding some finishing touches.  We love bling! Later on, I went through my sticker collection to find titles for the cards. Instant greeting card success.

Just Desserts

Okay, time for my first crafting post!  I was feeling especially ambitious the beginning of this year... I had already completed my "Local Style" PicFolio calendar, and I wanted to do another themed calendar.  This was for my mom, as I had not updated her calendar in two years!  I was inspired to do a desserts theme because she loves late night snacking.  I searched around for some ideas.  My goal was to create all the desserts from Creative Memories papers and punches.  Here's what I came up with...

My favorites are the orange creamsicle and oreos!

Obssession meets reality

Stationery has always been my weakness.  Love, love, love paper products.  I would drag mom and dad into Sanrio Surprises almost every week to drool over their newest items in the latest design.  The obsession was kicked into full gear during the year I spent living in Japan.  I would constantly pick up postcards at every new town or city I toured.  And I could spend hours in a Japanese stationery store (one of my favorite places to shop) trying to decide what to buy.  However, when I returned home, I quickly realized my penchant for cards and letter sets... and I had enough stationery to last me a lifetime.

Merge that obsession with a heart for design and that can be a dangerous combination.  I was already hooked on scrapbooking, and with the popularity of scrapbook supplies hitting its peak a decade ago, the choices available became overwhelming.  I quickly curbed that problem by becoming a Creative Memories Consultant (thanks, Bliss!)  and deciding to exclusively use their products for my albums.  That was one of my most liberating decisions! It was time to give up stamping and resist the latest crafting craze.  I wanted keep projects simple, rather than requiring an army of tools and supplies. 

Out of this heart for simple design and love for stationery, I began a small launch of products to sell at a craft fair in December 2009. This gave way to Simple Stationery.  Right now, my main products are desktop calendars, mini notebooks, and card sets, but I hope to come up with some new items this year.  Stay tuned... I hope to get you caught up on some of my recent projects this year.