publish/design teams

I know, two posts one day... man... Actually, I'm procrastinating so that's why. :P

I wanted to post a link to Jen's about not being discouraged about being published. She basically said sometimes her heart isn't even in it and remind us that remember why we craft in the first place. Because it's fun, for me it's therapuetic, and it's to make ourselves and the receiver of the cards happy. Worth a read.

But, if you want some directions to get on a design team or published, here's a link to Scrap Scene. They have some tips and links to help you get on a team.

Bottom line, and this is my sour grape line to myself too: I do this for fun, and as long as I'm satisfy with the work, it's ok if someone doesn't. Art is in the eye of the beholder.

2 scrap cards

There are times that I do scrap cards because they're fast and quick. Not that stamping isn't, but some things come together faster than stamping some times.



This is a card for a friend w/ a baby boy. Like I said before, I know nothing about little boys, but a baby card is just need to be cute, right? So, this will be nice, cute, and easy. The intention of the sheeps are really like they're jumping over the moon or like how we count sheeps to go to bed... One of those. Hee hee...



This is the 2nd scrap card. This is really a bday card, I love dandelions and being in the city you don't get alot of that. (Now I'm talking like I live in NY or something, which I'm not.) Anyway, there's something romantic about them, despite the fact that they are really weeds. Go figure, right?!

Supplies:
Baby boy card:
Card by DCWV
Patterned paper by MAMBI Chester
Embellishment by Soft Spoken Chester
Ribbon by SU
Sheep by Great Impressions

Dandelion card:
All by Pebbles Inc.
Brown cardstock by SU

Oy to the vey, I've been sick all weekend... started w/ a scratchy throat and then it went down hill from there. Needless to say, didn't get much stamping done, but here's something I worked on last week.

I needed a Just Because card, and it's difficult when someone is into cheerful colors when you're not in the mood to be. But, I think this turn out pretty colorful, all in all.

I got these chipboard for free when I worked for Lil Davis at the Arlington convention. Don't know if you guys have ever tried it, but whenever you go to a show/convention, each of the vendor often times will need extra hands to help make sure people are directed in traffic, restock, or just being helpful.

I actually was reading Lil Davis' blog and they sent out a plea for help, figured I'm there anyways, might as well help them out. In the past, my friends told me that they'd get products in return for their help. But, I didn't expected to get paid. So, I got paid as well as some products. That was cool. It basically helped cover my entry fee and some stuff I purchased. And the products I got was just bonus because a, I was going to get them anyway, b, instead of paying retail they charged like $1 or $2 for them; and c, I got them for free for working. So, that rawked for me.

Anyway, as great as that sounded, I may not do it again. Some ladies were awfully rude just because I was 'working' for them. I am not exactly on the payroll but I am helping. They were just treating me quite unfriendly because they expect that I give them what they wanted. Well, that's hard to do if I don't know the inventory nor do I really work for the company. The other thing is that people often time take their pullie and/or stroller (with the kid still in them) with them, and take up alot of room and basically the set up was to get you in a one-way traffic kinda style. That way, it forces you to look at everything before you get to check out. In between, however, I have to restock, and between the pullie/stroller, and they think that I'm rude trying to swim upstream. Basically, it's hard to restock when the traffic is mean.

Now, that is not to deter you from helping or volunteering, just that no one had told me that would happen. I'd figured that we're all crafters, should have the minimal respect for each other, if not as human beings. Being rude wasn't part of the game plan, so to speak. But, if you get a chance to do it, I highly encourage it, because it has a good payoff. And, the next time the vendor remembers you and you get a better set up than before.

Supplies:
Card by SU
Flower stamp by SU
Flower chipboard by Lil Davis
Enjoy your day by Hero Arts

Bugs

I am truly not a bug person... talking about a city girl. I wouldn't last a day out in the woods. I don't know how many Gilmore Girls fan out there, but as I paraphrase... 'Get Nature off of me!'

Yes, I am that bad... no bugs, no pets (allergic), I can do flowers and fruit, but other than that... no picnics, no alot of outdoor stuff. Sad, I know, but since I grew up that way, tend not to miss much of that either.

Anyway, today's card is Bug related, but I couldn't resist, this is just too cute. This image is from Eclectic Paperie. I bought some stamps and they included some images for me to play with. So, heck yeah, I'm gonna. Plus, the little hedgehog is too cute to resist...

Supplies:
Patterned Paper & Butterflies by Target
Image by Penny Black

2 days in Paris

Don't know if anybody got a chance to see '2 days in Paris', it's done by Julie Delpy. She's the girl that's in Before Sunrise w/ Ethan Hawke. But, she's also very talented on her own merit. She wrote, directed, and acted in this film. And it's a comedy. It totally clear up any romantic notion about her as a person, she's very sarcastic and very sharp in her humor. She was teamed up w/ Adam Goldberg, and he's clearly the victim than the funny man he's known for. Basically, anything romantic about this film, the main character, the location ~ Paris, the relationship on display, has nothing truely romantic about them, more like comedy of errors.

Anyway, I've never been to the real Paris before, so I don't know how true of an image this is. But I think it's pretty darn close. When I bought this stamp set at the convention, it was sold by the husband of the owner (at Crafty Secret). So, when I went to check out, he asked if I've ever been to Paris. I said no, he said, this imagine is the exact replica of it. I asked, really? He said, he has no idea either. What a funny guy!

I actually had this set for a month or two already, but I just haven't been struck by my French muse to play w/ it. I'm not a French-nophite or anything, but there is something romantic and nice about that, even though it's just a stamp.

This card is one of those I've stamped and set aside thing. I did the stamping of the background over a year ago... and then this seems fitting w/ the tower and a hello.

Supplies:
Diamond Background & French Script by Hero Arts
Eiffle Tower, Bonjour, Postmark by Crafty Secrets
Ink by Paper Salon

Gosh, sorry to post so late in the day... it's been weird, there are days I post in the morning and Google Reader doesn't show up until late in the afternoon. Go figure.

Anyway, this is one of the neater girls that I like. I had the inside that said something like, Life is too Short to have a fake diamond and cheap wine. LOL :P I'd say boy is that true or what... hahaha...

Truly, I'm a lightweight, so good wine is really lost on me. BUT! All girls can appreciate diamonds. Maybe I will use that stamp w/ the Bling Bling girl. Hmm... have to give that a try.

Don't know if you guys noticed or not, but this month is National Stamping Month. If you go to Close To My Heart website, they're giving out stamps daily and you can enter for their sweepstakes. If you want some mini tutorials, they have one per day. Kinda neat to see what other people are doing. I can always use a good short cut. ;P

Supplies:
Backgroup stamp by Paper Source
Patterned Paper by DCWV
Girl stamp by Inky Antics

Loooong weekend

I love long weekends, I think all weekends should be 3 days long. I mean, think about it, you have time to run errands, take care of business, and count in the fact that some businesses closes on Sundays. By the time you catch a movie, talk to friends over lunch, you have one true day of rest. I'm all for it. :P

Anyway, I did work on some cards, more scrap cards than stamp cards, but hey, it's all the same ~ fun for me. :)

These two cards I made to go along w/ a gift cards I had for my 2 DJs at the Sunday night dance. This past Sunday is our 'free' dance at HSDS. Since no one took charge of it, I stepped up and said I'll teach the class, except forgot that I was in charge of the DJs that night too. Seeing that it's a holiday weekend and we can get our top notch to show up and do a shift I was super excited. So, I wanted to give them both a gift card as a thank you.

Since they're both book lovers, a bookstore gift card cannot go wrong. On the flip side, I was dying to make a card, so I said, the heck w/ it, make the cards anyway.

The blue one, it's actually leftover paper from the Box I made back in July. I had already put the layers down already at the time. It didn't speak to me then, so I set it aside. And now, it seems perfect for a Thank You Card. Does that happen to you? Where you get all inspired to do a card and then half way you're stuck? I must've set aside alot of cards that is waiting for them to speak to me.

Anyway, the brown one is actually left over cuts from another card. I just love that teal blue. It's so nice.

Hope you guys had a good weekend too!

Supplies:
Blue Card
Card by SU
Patterned Paper by Autumn Leaves
Thank You stamp by Sassfras Lass


Brown Card
Card by SU
Patterned Paper by Pickles Inc.
Stamp by Stampendous