I'm very excited to be writing my first post on my new crafting blog! I've been wanting to create a blog where I can post photos of my cards and other crafts for a long time but I've been waiting until my schedule loosened up a little. I'm on my 4th year of homeschooling my kids, which has been extremely time consuming, but things are changing! My two boys returned to public school where they are thriving and enjoying themselves tremendously. That leaves just my daughter at home. She's a senior and will be graduating in just a few short months so my days of homeschooling are just about over. Even at this point, I don't have to do much to help her. Mostly just our daily math lessons. I'll admit that I will not be sad when we've finished our math curriculum in the beginning of May. I used to think I was a "math person" but when the time for me to teach Pre-Calculus and Trigonometry came along, it quickly became apparent that I am, in fact, not a "math person"! Miraculously, we are making it through and I can just about see the light at the end of the tunnel.
My hopes for this blog are that I will use it to enter various card making challenges. I love the challenge of using supplies, images, colors, themes, etc that are not what I normally reach for when I sit down to make a card. For example, I almost always make A2 sized cards. I'm comfortable making them. I know exactly which of my rectangle, circle and banner dies that I will likely use and it doesn't take a lot of planning. My goal is to make at least one card of a different size each week. That might include slimline, A1 notecards, 4x6, 5x7 or something completely different.
I love trying new techniques. Sometimes I spend time browsing YouTube looking for new fun folds or creative ideas to use supplies that I already have. I also love organizing my craft supplies and am always on the lookout for new organization/storage tips!
This week, I used sketch # 649 from Tuesday Morning Sketches to create this shaker card. I love bees and spring. And honey. So I thought this was an appropriate card for the season. I laminated a portion of a yellow honey comb, which is a die from The Stamps of Life, and used it to make a shaker card with yellow and black sequins. Looking at the photo, I realize I should have photographed the card flat so that the sequins actually showed. I'll remember that for future shaker cards. The bees were from a paper pad (also by The Stamps of Life) and since I didn't have to color them, this card was actually pretty quick to put together. The card is fairly thick with the shaker and the bees, so I'll hand this one out in person. It will be perfect for a teacher, neighbor, or friend.
