I am so happy to have this as mine...told you I'm spoiled! The frame and idea are from my Creative Memories consultant friend, Lisa. It's magnetic (the black blobby bits) so I can just change the LO to suit my mood; Lisa uses hers as a calendar and I just had to copy the idea. It's hanging already, although I appreciate that April isn't open till next week. Also I plan to utilise my Xyron with magnet cartridge to make other bits and bobs. Am probably big headed enough to show you the May page when it's done too; it's fair to say that I have the odd amount of stash that's waiting for a use!

This frame has reminded me of a short debate I've involved myself with on Paula Pascual's blog. Quite unintentionally, but if you've read this blog more than once, you'll recognise my need to have a say! (I strongly recommend you look at her fantastic work even if the debate leaves you cold!). I firmly believe that no matter what others think of your pages or cards, that you craft first and foremost for your pleasure, then for the pleasure of giving hand crafted gifts/cards/blah and then in scrapbooking, for the preservation of your memories. I really am at the stage where I know that after my death (and it will be untimely, even if I'm as old as methusalah), there's a chance that my albums and other craft stuff will end up in a skip somewhere. I'm totally over it. It's all about the pleasure I'm having doing it right now. Forget my cardmaking for now, I wanna focus on the scrapbooks. Part of me wants each LO to be a frame-worthy masterpiece, and when I am pleased with what I've done, I consider it so. Then it goes in a protective sleeve, I remove my head from my butt and move on. What's the point of doing it to impress anyone else? It's fab, just fab to see the work of others - all styles and types. It's so subjective; we gravitate to certain styles, colours and blah, and so the debate about who is better than who is not a fair one. The style of scrapping that you prefer may differ wildly to those on my list of faves. It's all about celebrating the diversity and admiring the work within the boundaries of the expectations of the person creating it. Some - many - people have formal training or understanding of design principles and colour theory. I don't, and you can tell that from my LOs. And for every one you see on here, there are 4 that you'll never see because although I like them, because although they tell the story, they aren't particularly interesting examples of either technique or graphic design! I agree with Paula that if your work is for publication or display then it shouldn't need to be tidied up digitally to remove fingerprints, splotches, bits of tape sticking out etc, but to be honest, if it's not for the public eye and you're pleased with it, does it matter? And as my very dear friend the Slipper Lady reminds us each time we talk about her ability to do a dozen LOs at a single crop - it's actually all about the photos. Lose sight of that and really you might as well stick your photos in regular albums and you'll have bags of time and money to do something else. I think as your scrapbooking confidence grows, you become increasingly fussy about finish anyway, and the more you see of other people's LOs the more you subconciously try to emulate the style and finish of those you admire. I do. That's why my framed masterpiece is a calendar, and not just a black frame waiting for me to do something with, as so many of my purchases remain! Thanks to Lisa.

A cupcake kind of day

That sums up yesterday! I was part of a team that presented a series of mini workshops to a bunch of people in the very sunny and really charming seaside town of Exmouth. Such a fun day; it was really nice to meet so many keen stampers! If you've read this blog in the last week, you'll know I've been fiddling about with cupcake card ideas. I promised to post these for a semi-permanent reminder, but whether you were at the workshop or not, cupcakes are a good way to open, doncha think!
I know I've yammered on about the benefits of demonstrating a product (or two), but I was relieved and delighted to hear from lots of my new chums in Exmouth that they felt the benefit of being in a workshop environment - picking up tips for much used products and experiencing other stuff on a 'try-before-you-buy' basis. Got to be good value for money for that alone, but add in the camaraderie and the appreciative feeling of a few gals enjoying some time off - magic, for me certainly. I don't work, but I love that work.
But wait there's more! I had the great good fortune to follow a link that wound up at Helen's site, http://www.enfys.me.uk/ She crochets. I'm sure she does other things, but man, she can crochet! I have a niece that doesn't eat anything except carrots, gravy, pringles and PINK yoghurt and PINK french fancy cakes (there is a connection..keep reading!) So because even a chocolate treat at Easter is totally wasted on our beloved mini-niece, I thought it would be fun to give her one of the Easter baskets that Helen is selling on her site. How fun! Then I realised the potential, so I ordered one each for micro, mini, maxi nieces and Miss Dunnit. (It's OK, she wouldn't read my blog if it were the last written word on the planet). Helen offered me ridiculous amounts of choice over colour and was even tactful enough to point out that the 'piggy' was actually, when I put my glasses on, a rabbit! Anyway, never one to tear the backside out of a story...they arrived at the weekend. I'm sooooo pleased with them, they are cccccccute and lovely and will just look great with a few edible and non edibles in them - look:

I can picture the girls walking around with them..brace yourselves, I so just bought myself a multi photo layout! Thanks Helen.

Been (again) at a CM coffee morning/demo/crop today and of course, came away truly inspired and with a challenge..so girls if you're tuned in - I'm working on it, in the next hour or so. Will photo the result tomorrow just to prove it!

Shallow as a puddle...

Y'all know by now that I make cards as well as being a scrapbooker, and stamping is really my habit/hobby of choice. But I'm totally and completely over the need to give hand-made cards to everyone, all the time. In the early years of my addiction, I would rather have posted/delivered the hand-made greeting late than buy a card and celebrate the actual occasion on time! Daft. I also am frequently found lurking in card shops trying to suck in a few ideas. Especially Paperchase and Marks Expensive...they have lovely 'hand finished' numbers that are sooo easy to imitate. Anyway, that's a bit of a digression. Today, I had an hour to kill in Salisbury city centre. A lovely city in which to wander for sure, but I'm a frequent visitor and tend to take it all a bit for granted. So I found myself in a discount card shop. I have LOADS of birthdays, anniversaries and events coming over the next 3 weeks - truly. And to relieve some of these people I'm sending some bought cards - after a year's break, my stuff won't look 'same-old, same-old' - good theory, huh! Anyway, come with me if you will to the Female/Friends/Sisters/Aunts rack of cards. It took a few minutes to realise that the majority of them are based around images of jewellery, shoes and other lovelies. Very few florals or views or (clean) funny cards. Are we so shallow? No mate, I tell myself. Look in another shop. So I did. Lots of those cards with silly texts added to knitting pattern type pictures, but these were worse really - images from a time warp era that just allow for jokes about modern women's lack of domesticity and preference to shop. Lordy, are we really so shallow? Apparently. Some of the cards are downright funny, but by now, I was feeling a bit put out, so I stopped looking. I stamp images of lipstick, shoes, blah blah and use these on cards for particular personalities in my life, and I'm the first to dig out the text stamps - 'When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping' etc etc...so why am I suddenly so affronted? I don't know. Maybe, in those two card shops - a totally non-scientific survey reveals nothing more than the fact that the buyer is a bloke who thinks he knows what women find funny or (brace yourself) thinks he knows women. Or maybe it was just the sheer number of similar cards that made the thought pop into my head. I dunno. But to make myself feel less shallow, I rushed into Lakeland and bought a silicone muffin tin. Shopping, and Suzy Homemaker type purchases at that. Shallow and blindingly transparent I think!

Oh, and something for the weekend (!)

My friend Sally-Ann, a welcome and frequent commenter here has a ridiculous amount of blog candy to give away. Love to Doodle is where to find her. Even if you don't want the Candy, visit her, .....what Sally-Ann calls doodle is what lesser mortals call art. No wonder I'm excited about the news that some of her images are going to be made into stamps!

It's an 'all or nothing' thing

With a book I'll do it. Read. Read to the exception of doing anything else. Ask the family; in the last fortnight I've read 5 books by Jodie Picoult. It helps that for 5 days Mr Dunnit was away (and Miss Dunnit is of an age to barely notice) so I only had to 'function'; at least two of the novels were guilt free reading!
Give me an idea for my scrapbook or a craft project of any sort, and I'll want to be relieved of other responsibilities until it's finished. It's not healthy is it! Makes me sound really obsessive and spoilt. I am. But I'm working on that too. After all, this blog is therapy, right?
Anyway, I'm here, trying to fill a folder full of cupcake images and ideas and dying to get on with stuff for next week. My good friend Cricut Queen is in the process of re-doing her craft space. She is working hard to a schedule: empty the current room so that she can barely get into her bedroom, paint, re-floor and custom furnish the new look room, and finally re-home, in good working order, all the stash and equipment. Looks so easy in print! There are three hard parts to this exercise - the first is to manage a way through the stash in its temporary bedroom home because it's logistically difficult; needing clean clothes from a cupboard that is wedged shut is just an insult. The second is to avoid the thought process that concludes with how much stash there actually is (brush over this..there isn't enough room on the Interweb for a post about it). And the third - is the thought process that makes all the great ideas pop into your head. We discussed this yesterday - our creative 'genius' juices run away with themselves at precisely the time that they can't be used. Cricut Queen can't use any of the stuff carefully stored in her bedroom, but she's exploding with ideas. I'm colouring cupcakes (the same 4, by the way) but bursting to get on with the ideas that keep popping up for a workshop next week, next month. I hate that. And of course, I love that! So give your mojo a holiday - go and do something unconnected with your hobby. But keep a notebook handy! (Oh no..I just made an argument FOR gardening!!)

Oh so suddenly it's Spring?

Sunshine. Cloudlesss sky. The daffodils under the kitchen window have finally opened, washing is billowing gently on the line, there's a coffee cup on the arm of the garden bench - it was so lovely, I had my breakfast out there. With one notable exception, every car in our road was washed yesterday. With one notable exception, everyone in the road cut their front grass (we each have a small patch about 6 foot square, let's not get too carried away with the enormity of their combined energy!). Of course, the sloth at number 1 is the exception, but you knew that. Mr Dunnit spent yesterday returning from a golf escape in Spain. Which you understand, fully explains why my car is still dirty and the lawn is un-mown.
I love the promise of spring. I love the fat buds and bursting forth-ness of it all. I love the longer daylight hours. The dark doesn't make me ill or anything, but I'm happier with heaps of daylight - preferably sunshine. I rather like the changes that herald a new season, even though Winter is a trial for me. And I know that these seasons change on a regular calendar, laid down by some brilliant Roman some hundreds of years ago. I knew it was coming... but I'm not ready for Spring! I've got stacks to do inside that I haven't quite got around to yet, without having to take on the self-imposed guilt of the garden chores too! And one day of spring weather (really - it was 16C here yesterday!) bouncing through the windows of Casa Dunnit reveals more neglect that I can face! The windows need cleaning inside. The cushion covers and the bedspreads need washing. Oh you know. There needs to be some spring cleaning action. Oh and I think I'll probably forget to worry about going through the wardrobe...lordy, I hate that job so much! Then there's the toss up - once I've wrestled some 'free' time from the domestic guilt, do I craft which is what I want to do, or do I go into the garden. You see, the garden has been a building site for two years and last summer we started the great reclamation. Last year, I did figure out that I don't really like the gardening, although I'm more than happy to plonk about and do the clearing up type of work - edging, weeding, keeping it looking nice. I tried to explain it by saying that I use up my creativity indoors on my paper crafting habit, and therefore I don't really have enough creative energy left for the garden, dahlings! And then I got over myself and admitted that it's because I'm too lazy and too in need of ultra fast gratification to be a gardener. So, now I'm going to stop blethering, clean the one window that I need the sunlight to stream through, and get on with my cupcake cards. The garden will grow whether I'm working on it or not. The cupcake cards won't, but their deadline will grow nearer!

Try this...

OK, here's another look. I was missing the black background and so I've increased the point size and changed the colours again. Try it on for a coupla days. I love the custard colour, but it made the page look empty, cavernous, uninspiring. Or maybe it is! There's a lot of sites that offer fantastic 'decorated' blog templates and the reason I don't use one is because I want space on the page..which I know, is a total contradiction of my reason for not liking the custard. But I can't help it! What you won't find here is anything approaching customising that has to be done other than by templates or downloads - I'm not up to it, at all! There's a growing propensity towards a chandelier encrusted look....images of baroque style flourishes and chandeliers. Some of them are lovely. Some of them are so over the top they are looking a bit like some Tim Burton-esque funeral parlour. (Heidi Swapp's, for example.) It's only my opinion, share yours with me.

Questions about the SODA page on the last post: - Steph, it's Basic Grey paper; I'd never be bothered to produce a background as lovely as that for one measley LO!! The pink letters are from Craftwork Cards about a century ago, I stamped a bar-code image across them to hide the sticky. The S of soda is a doctored, lower case g...which is why it has the bottle top stuck over the worst bit. The journalling (top right) is done in such a narrow nib pen as to make it illegible, but in real life, it's pretty clear. The bar-code image across the letters and at the bottom of the photo is from a set by Autumn Leaves. They appear on LOTS of my scrapbook pages.
COR! Thanks for looking so closely, didn't expect that!

So..comment away, do. It's fab to read your input. - you must read Love to Doodle's comments on yesterday's post...total logicalising (I know what I mean) of an illogical trait. This is such a sisterhood!

Domestic Goddess

Today I have done overdue domestic chores, everyday domestic chores and I visited with a friend who was holding a Creative Memories coffee morning. The coffee morning part of my day was lovely. I've found new tools and some bits and pieces to add to my arsenal of equipment. The domestic part of my day was just that really, domestic. It was while I was making a cheese sauce to go over the macaroni for supper that I realised why I've become the domestic goddess that I see in my daydreams. Because I have a post it note on the window above my desk reminding me of two projects that are due this month. SLAP! I'm a postponement goddess! No amount of bragging about being Suzy Homemaker is going to hide that! I wonder why I find the stress, indeed sometimes terror, of a deadline so inspiring? I don't think I do actually. I just find that the more I have to do something, the less inclined I am to do it. The more people recommend something to me, or advise me to try something, the more I resist. Like Titanic, the movie. Still haven't seen it. Too many people told me to see it. I knew the story from the get-go - it sinks, he dies. I only saw Mama Mia! last month, same reason. A particular friend who saw it 5 times within 3 weeks of its release could be forgiven for guessing that each time she rang to try and encourage me to go see it with her, I was making lame excuses. I just get stubborn. It's genetic, I think. Miss Dunnit has severe last-minute-itis and I have to say that I hate it as a trait and rail against it in her. But I, apparently am the same. I hate that! But there is a light at the tunnel end...the whole Lent thing for me was an attempt to self-improve rather than deprive myself...and I'm getting there. 15 days before the deadline, I've recognised the problem. Sometime tomorrow, I'm gonna roll my sleeves up and tackle it. Right after I've made the beds, washed the kitchen floor and created another, erm, gourmet supper.