It hasn't been forever ...

... since my last post. Surprised, huh? I know I am! Although, I suppose a week and a bit in blogland can seem like a long time.

I made the following card for a friend of mine in Canada. And it really has been like FOREVER since I sent her something to remind her that she is in my thoughts and heart. I was thinking how easy it has been for so much time to pass by in the whirligig of every day and, in that time, not reach out to those that I care about - especially those who may be far away. Definitely time for redress...

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Always Artichoke
Chocolate Chip
Old Olive
Soft Suede
VersaMark

Stamp sets:
Defining Alphabet
Vintage Vogue

Cardstock:
Always Artichoke
Naturals Ivory
Old Olive

Accessories:
Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon
Earth Elements Brads
Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon
Rich Regals Brads
Soft Suede Polka-dot Grosgrain Ribbon
Sponge Daubers
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Stampin' Dimensionals

Not A-Mused

I've really struggled for a few months to get back into papercrafting. As one of the sweet people who have visited my blog, you would have noticed that the frequency of my postings has declined drastically. Initially, after Christmas, I had attributed the lack of interest in things crafty to a little burnout ... and consoled myself with gaming in the hope that the passion for creating would build up like forest litter waiting for ignition by lightning or, possibly as a worst case, a passing firebug. But, alas, no such conflagaration has eventuated and the fire danger rating is sitting on "No Great Need to Worry".

It finally dawned on me, about a month ago, that my Muse must have absconded after I overworked and neglected her during that Christmas period. I've been imagining her flitting from country to country, enjoying the sights and sounds of novel surroundings while gifting the odd local with some inspiration to add a masterful new ingredient to an existing speciality or, perhaps, injecting new life into a tired artist's caricatures of willing tourists. I imagine her ending up in Tuscany, holed up with a poor yet talented writer - sharing cheese, olives, wine and ciabatta ... and exhorting him to finishing that one manuscript that will make his career! Of course, it would be published first in Italian and I would have to wait for the English translation to really appreciate the end result. *grin*

I think that she may have paid me a little visit when I made the following card as it took several hours to complete and I didn't notice the time passing by. I'm dedicating the card to my Muse and to Muses in all their forms ... for if you do love your Muse (like life), I expect that they will love you back.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Certainly Celery
Old Olive
Orchid Opulence
Rich Razzleberry
VersaMark

Stamp sets:
Cottage Garden

Paper:
Certainly Celery CS
Cottage Wall DSP
Old Olive CS
Orchid Opulence CS
Rich Razzleberry CS
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
1/16" Circle Punch
Eyelet Border Punch
Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon
Sizzlits Buttons #5
Stampin' Dimensionals
White Embossing Powder

On bended knees

I am typing this post while kneeling at my computer. Why you may ask? OK - other than the really obvious need for forgiveness for neglecting my blog, I've just read that sitting down is the new smoking! A study has

...found that for every hour that a person spends sitting..., their individual risk of death from all causes rose 11 per cent, their risk of death from cardiovascular disease rose 18 per cent and their risk of dying from cancer, 9 per cent.

I'm really surprised that I'm still here after those statistics. Given how much I've been sitting all these years, I'm pretty sure that the risk from all causes would be pushing 100% (albeit at an ever decreasing rate). Also, given how my knees are feeling already, I'm sure that knee replacement surgery is now on the cards.

Anyway, I thought I would try making a whole card while standing up¹ just to see how tricksy it would be to avoid this sitting health hazard going forward. Here it is:

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Brilliant Blue
Chocolate Chip
Old Olive
So Saffron

Stamp sets:
Good Friend
Simply Said

Paper:
So Saffron CS
Tall Tales DSP
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Circle Scissors Plus
Rose Red Double Stitched Grograin
Sponge Dauber

After that experiment, I can honestly say, "I can't stand it!" Oh noes! Is that a varicose vein I see appearing?

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1. Most demonstrators are probably adept at demoing cards standing up BUT who would choose to design a card doing so? Yeah .. thought so ... who's quite that crazy, hey? Doh! Me apparently.

Goodness! It's February already!

Oh no! This blog has no entries for January 2010. I can imagine in the far distant future, in a dark post-apocalyptic setting where people will be using stamp pads for make-up and wooden stamp blocks for firewood, a copy of this blog will be discovered by the accidental activation of back-up server in a mostly destroyed Google disaster recovery centre. People will only find fragments of this blog from 2010 and incorrectly deduce that there are only 11 months in a calendar year - all because of me!

Totally unlikely, hey? SIF¹ anyone would burn their stamps...

I have been very badly distracted during January (that's right, people from the future - we have 12 calendar months). After the pre-Christmas creative binge, I fell back into an old love-hate relationship that I have with a PC game called Counter-Strike: Source. Mainly played by male gamers, a CSS session is usually fuelled by huge doses of testosterone (and hence, swagger, swearing and raging) - so much so that I'm really starting to miss genteel female company! To try to get back into the crafty swing of things, I took part in this month's INKlings Cyberstamp hosted by my upline, the wonderful Jayne Mercer. Her first challenge was to create a flower using punches.

Stampin' Supplies
Ink:
Kiwi Kiss
Riding Hood Red

Stamp sets:
Stem Sayings

Paper:
Sweet Nothings Simply Scrappin' Kit
Whisper White CS

Accessories:
Butterfly Punch
Heart to Heart Punch
Trio Flower Punch







Having not made anything in a rather long while, I really struggled to appreciate the aesthetics of this card when I finished it. Is it good, bad or just ... as CSSer's would say... meh?

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1. SIF: CSS for "as if". As in, SIF you headshot me while blinded