It's not that I haven't been doing anything...

Alright, I obviously can't seem to get the hang of this whole blog thing...
I have never been very good at keeping a diary or a journal, so it's really not surprising to me that I keep letting the blog fall by the way side...
But it's not that I haven't been doing anything.
Since my last post a lot has happened in the crafting department.

In the early part of February I became a certified PaperEd instructor for my local Michaels store and that has kept me a "little" busy.
I have been teaching several different kinds of paper crafting classes from cards, to scrapbooking, and inking techniques. It's been fun - but it's also been a little chaotic. I have been enjoying having the customers come in and take my classes, I really enjoy the art of teaching them new things and helping them to learn new skills.

I don't have pictures of all the items I've created for the classes, but here are a couple of the mini cards I've created for it:

I need to take pictures of some of the other items I've made, especially of the tags using the inking technique class, I will try to get those posted, honest!



Other items of note:
In April I; with the help of some very awesome friends, worked on some paper flowers that were cut from the Cricut machine. I didn't count exactly how many we cut out, but the results were fantastic! We made them for a friend's bridal shower for the beginning of May. We cut out and assembled enough flowers to decorate an arch, two hanging swags, plus have extra flowers to disburse among the garden of the home that the shower took place in. It all came together wonderfully and was praised by everyone at the party.
Here is a picture so you can get an idea about the flower's size.

And here is one of the completed arch.

I have gotten a few other things started in the process as well as worked on Sonja's letter project.
As soon as they are completed I will share them.

Take care until next time...who knows when... ;)

Recently...

So I did one item on the "Projects" Project, but I don't have pictures...mostly because I forgot to take a picture.
I switched out one of the scrapbook album covers of the Paris trip collection for a new scrapbook album that I had picked up.
The new album has a picture of the Eiffel Tower on it, so I felt it was fitting to use for the Paris books.
I would have liked to use that cover for the portion of the trip that we actually visited the landmark; it just seemed natural that way, but that book has a photo on the cover of us in front of the tower which I really like, so instead the cover with the icon was used for a different one...I hope that's not too hard to follow.
But either way, I crossed something off the list! Yay! Of course, I feel I should work on another item since that one wasn't "technically" a craft project, but I will not think too much about that.

I did work on a craft item yesterday; but again - I forgot to take a picture! ??!!
I have got to get out of that habit now!

Two of our friend's from our beloved geek group will be marrying each other this October and I have happily volunteered to work on decorations and all around helping with the wedding.
It is a fall theme with wonderful warm colors mixed with gold accents.
I made a small garland of leaves that were free hand cut from felt in seven different colors of browns, goldenrod, reds, and orange.
I stitched them together with dark brown DMC embroidery floss, including veins. The idea is to make large garlands that we can drape from the terrace.
It looks like I will be making approximately 900 felt leaves or more between now and October.
I will definitely be working on that a lot in the next few months.
Another thing to keep updated on...perhaps I should make a widget for that...tee hee.

A little later today I will be meeting with Sonja; one of my fellow sisters from the civic sorority that I am in, she has hired me to work on memory books for her three daughters that will consist of letters that Sonja and her husband wrote to each other during his time in the service.
I am excited to be doing this for her, and I am so honored that she would ask me.

Along with those projects; and my ongoing "Projects", I will also be planning a "By The Sea" Alice in Wonderland Tea Party for the geeks, and a big going away party for one of our geeks who is moving out of state, sadly.
And I am sure that by next month I will probably be on two planning committees for sorority, for the convention that we will be hosting in 2014.

So my days will be full of craft activities and planning for a while, which I am very happy for!!
I will have to remember to get out of the chair and walk around every once in a while...so very important!!

I will also need to make sure I make time to see friends and go beyond my four walls! :D

'Til Next Time... HUGS!!
~Ren

Sharing Some Projects

It's only been a couple of days and I have things to share!!

I have completed two items that I had set out to finish, I didn't have them on the "Projects" list because they were almost done when I put up the list.
But here they are to share!

First, I had given myself the challenge to make a mini album.
I have been enjoying different video tutorials online and have been wanting to make one, so I did.

I made it really small, it's only 3 1/4 square, I thought by making it small I wouldn't use too many supplies.
I also was inspired to make it that small by a set of cards I had gotten at Michaels and I thought they would work well in the mini.
As I was working on it I wasn't happy with how it was coming along and I did end up making a few small errors that the next time around I will be sure to not do.
But as the time went on and I was getting close to finishing it I started getting happier with it. I do like how it ended up and I like it so much that I am giving it to one of my friends who could use a cute little gift to cheer her up!

My other project was a while in the making.
On a previous post; a long while back, I had shared that I had completed our Paris vacation scrapbooks.
The vacation took place in 2008. We took over 3,000 photos.
The trip has been captured in 7 scrapbooks!

Silly, I know. But hey, we had a fantastic time and I wanted to document as much of it as possible.
Later I realized that seven scrapbooks is a lot to ask someone to look through, especially in an informal setting, so I decided to make an 8x8 "best of" mini album.
It has been lingering in my "to finish" items for a while now and I challenged myself to get it done, so...as of an hour ago...I finished it!!

On the back cover is an index; of sorts, to direct people to which of the seven large scrapbooks to look at to see more about specific places of the trip, that is if they want to know more...

So...two projects down...I'm off to go get more done.
Thanks for peeking in!
~Ren

No More Kidding Around

Alright, the title of this post is meant to be a stern reminder to myself to do something useful. I have floundered around lately and have gotten lazy, the last few months I have been telling myself to knock it off and to start getting busy again. For the fear of calling them resolutions; because we all know how well those work, I am just going to call them goals. I have reorganized my craft room. I have made a long list of all the unfinished and intended projects and have started a "Projects" Project plan. I will have my list to the side of the blog and will set to accomplish one project a week, along with the other things I want to get done during the week, and will do a blog post each time I finish one. I am trying to gain my confidence back to do something great with my crafty talents, the first part of that being my getting over my self doubt and feelings of not being good enough. I need to update the blog and get it to a functioning site that has interesting content that I can use it to share my enthusiasm for all the things I like to make. Okay, so much I need to do and stop being unproductive and sluggish. I have a lot of scrapbooking to do, a lot of places I still want to see, and I need to take every opportunity to spend time with friends and family that I can. So here we go!! Bare with me through the bumpy ride of learning a pattern again and accomplishing my new goals. Have a wonderful day! ~Ren