30 Days of Creativity - Day 30 - June 30 : A remake and thoughts

A continuing journey of daily creativity....

As the thirty days draws to a close, I started to reflect on the month.  I've learned a few things.  1)  Even though I may not have a finished project everyday, I am creative everyday.  2)  When I am depressed, creativity takes my mind off things.  It gives me a little break.  A break I most definitely need.  3) Being more organized and having an objective is very relaxing and takes stress away from creating.  4) I love sharing what I make.  5) I love seeing what everyone else is up to.  I love the diversity. 

I am going to say that my 30 Day challenge was a success.  I managed to do 31 cards, two complete 2-page a month calendars and started on three two-page a month calendars (Jan - Mar.)  I am quite pleased even though I had a few setbacks.  It took me less time to get out of my funk this time, thanks to this challenge. 

For my last day, I decided to remake the New Years calendar pages that I made a few days ago.  That's the one I was just not feeling.  So I used the scraps from the winter themed pages and made a new set.  I'm going to keep the New Year's set.  I may end up using them for something else.

Here is the original:

And here is the remake:

Now they all match. 

Do you ever finish something and are just not pleased with it and tweek or re-do it?

I enjoyed the journey and thanks for taking it with me.  I will not give up this challenge.  I will continue to be creative daily and so should you.

Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Days 28&29 - June 28&29 : More calendars

A continuing journey of daily creativity...

I just couldn't help myself.  I had to continue on the calendars while I was in that frame of mind.  Don't mess with the mojo!

Now I am making 3 sets of general calendars based on my sketches. 

Here is January:

For the first month I decided that I would make two sets winter themed and one set New Year themed.  When I finished, I was not too happy with the New Year set.  Something just wasn't sitting right with me.......  Well, I put those away and started working on February.

Here are February's pages:

I used up some old CTMH paper here and looooove the colors.  I showed these to my hubbie and he said, "It's not as shiny and blingy as January."  Hahahahaha!  He knows me so well.  But I decided I would leave it as is. 

On to March:

Ahhh, now there's the bling!  Kinda like a pot of gold that the leprechaun guards!  Here again using up some oooooold patterned paper that I've had for years.

Hope you have a creative day!
Mel

Materials used:

January CTMH New Years:
White cardstock - unknown
Curved Rectangle Nesties - Spellbinders
Good Times paper, Sweet Leaf and Twilight cardstock, Chocolate Distress Ink, Good Times Stickease - CTMH
Chestnut glitter tape - American Crafts
D1268 January Word Puzzle, C1402 In the Month of Jan - CTMH
Turquoise rhinestones - Want 2 Scrap
Cinnamon Stickles - Ranger

January Winter:
White cardstock - unknown
Curved Rectangles Nesties - Spellbinders
Pumice Stone Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
C1402 In the Month of January - CTMH
Glitter Wishes pp - DCWV
Winter stripes, Snowflakes paper - unknown
Snowflake die cuts - unknown
Snowflake brads - Making Memories
Glue Dots- 3M
Silver glitter tape - Bazzill
Silver Funky Swirls, light blue rhinestones - Want 2 Scrap

February:
White cardstock - unknown
Labels 8 Nesties - Spellbinders
Chocolate Distress Ink, That's Amore paper, Chocolate and Blush cardstock - CTMH 
C1403 In the Month of January - CTMH
Glitter Wishes pp - DCWV
Winter stripes, Snowflakes paper - unknown
Snowflake die cuts - unknown
Snowflake brads - Making Memories
Glue Dots- 3M
Silver glitter tape - Bazzill
Silver Funky Swirls, light blue rhinestones - Want 2 Scrap
Hearts Icons - Me and My Big Ideas
Glue Dots - 3M
Pink Rhinestones - Want 2 Scrap
Heart Die cuts - unknown

March:
White cardstock - unknown
Labels 25 Nesties - Spellbinders
Shamrock, Celtic knot paper - unknown
Parakeet, Gold cardstock - Bazzill
Lattice border punch - Martha Stewart
Peeled Paint Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
C1404 In the Month of March, D1270 March Word Puzzle - CTMH
Yellow Swirl, Yellow Rhinestones - Want 2 Scrap
Glue Dots - 3M

30 Days of Creativity - Days 26&27 - June 26&27 - Operation Write Home

A journey of daily creativity....

Now that I am finished the Place in Time calendars, I really wanted to do something else for my next project. 

I have been making and sending cards out (along with my ladies at ScrapbookPlace) to the troops for some years now.  I think about five years.  The first group that was sending cards overseas found it necessary to close.  So, I decided that we will start participating in Operation Write Home.  (For more info on OWH, click on the link.)  I've already sent in a box full of cards in May and time to send in another box. 

I decided to make some cards using scraps and odd pieces of paper.  I was able to make 30 cards for about .75 a card and used up a lot of scraps and odd pieces of paper.  Win, win, win!!!

Here are some of the cards I made.

It took me two days to finish the project, as I had a vampire appointment on Friday and was gone for half the day.  It was fun and love how they came out!  Plus, I was able to ship another 140 cards to Operation Write Home for the troops!  It's worth it!!!

I hope this gives you some inspiration to get those scraps out and use them up for a great cause!

Hope you have a creative day!
Mel

Materials used for cards:
Mauve, Celery, Navy Blue cardstock - Bazzill
Pink cardstock - DCWV
Green, light blue, gray, ivory cardstock - unknown
Red/White dot Washi Tape - SU!
Stamped images, sequins, buttons, patterned paper - unknown
Flourish rubons - Oriental Trading
Lace tape - Recollections
Flowers - Prima
Glue Dots - 3M
Glossy Accents - Ranger
Scallop edge punch - EK Success
1 1/2" Circle punch - CTMH
Stardust Glitz - CTMH
Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, Chipped Sapphire Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
D1283 Say It in Style, C1350 Dainty Thoughts - CTMH
Butterfly punch - Martha Stewart
Card punch - We R Memory Keepers
Roeland Cape Town paper - Scenic Route
Top Note Bigz - SU!
Kraft, Crème cardstock - Paper Studio
Artistic Collages Tim Holtz Collection - Stampers Anonymous
Candy Stripe, Blueberry Sew Easy Floss - We R Memory Keepers

30 Days of Creativity - Day 24 and 25 - June 24 - 25: Cleaning up, organizing, getting painty!

A continuing journey of daily creativity....

Now that I'm starting to feel better, I've organized a little, cleaned up a little and painted a little.

I worked on organizing my embossing folders.  I have them in plastic sleeves that fit in a three-ring binder.  I have two binders.  I kind of know what I have in the binders but in a crunch, I have to go thru the whole binder to find what I need.  I had an idea to make a little index of the embossing folders, their name and location.  So what I've done was to emboss these little tags then on the back, write the name, location, etc.  Then, those little tags went into trading card pages and those pages into my book. 

You ask what book?  I have a book (binder) that has my Copic color charts, Distress Ink swatch page, etc.  It has scanned copies of all my stamp sets with names and manufacturer.  That way, when I need a stamp set or looking for something particular, I take out my binder and can look to see what I have instead of going thru each stamp set.  It works well for me.

Wanna see some pics?

Here are the embossing folder pages:

Here are the pics from some of the other things in my book.

Where's the painting you ask?  I painted with my 3 year old nephew today while he was here.  That was such a mess!  He was covered with paint and thank goodness water and a little soap cleaned him right up!

All right, now I'm up to date once again!  This evening I will be cutting and gathering materials to make some Operation Write Home cards.  Hoping to have a shipment going out tomorrow. 

Hope you have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Days 18-23 - June 18-23: Place in Time Complete

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Well, it looks like health issues reared its ugly head.  Some bad news sent me in a little depression but I'm on the upswing and feeling better.

In these six days, I did manage to finish the pages for the Place in Time Calendar.  Whew!!!  I haven't put them in the easel album yet, nor did I decorate the album  That will come a little later.  I was thrilled just two finish the two sets of calendars!

In these days, I never stopped being creative.  Sometimes I wrote notes/ideas down, pinning, sketching, organizing materials.  A little at a time to try and cheer me up. 

Here are October, November and December pages:

I am so excited how the pages came out!  I hardly ever like the work I do.  My husband is the same way.  He is a phenomenal painter, illustrator and all-around artist and he rarely likes his creations.  Even though they are just awesome!

Hope you have a creative day!
Mel

Materials used for October:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
Black Textured cardstock - Paper Studio
White cardstock - unknown
Labels 8 Nesties - Spellbinders
Frayed Burlap, Rusty Hinge Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Bat diecuts - unknown
Glue Dots - 3M
Black Pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Pumpkin, Orchid Liquid Pearls - Ranger

Materials used for November:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
Green cardstock - Bazzill
White cardstock - unknown
Reverse Wonky Rectangles Nesties - Spellbinders
Frayed Burlap, Rusty Hinge Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Pumpkin, Leaves - Bazzill
Glue Dots - 3M
Sage Green Pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Pumpkin, Avacado Liquid Pearls - Ranger

Materials used for December:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
Green cardstock - Bazzill
White cardstock - unknown
Labels 4 Nesties - Spellbinders
Frayed Burlap, Fired Brick Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Handmade pointsettias - unknown (ScrapbookPlace)
Glue Dots - 3M
Red Pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Rouge, Buttercup Liquid Pearls - Ranger

30 Days of Creativity - Day 17 - June 17 - September calendar pages

A continuing journey of daily creativity....

Finished up the September pages today.  Even pulled and started cutting for October.  Not really sure if I'm going to have enough time tomorrow to finish them with my doctor's appointment getting in the way.  I really want to stop and work on a couple of blog challenges, but I'm in a particular mindset, right now, with the calendars and I don't want to mess with the mojo I've got going. 

Here are the September pages:

Here are a few more ways from 40 Ways to Stay Creative (makeuseof.com):

10.  Break your routine
11.  Be around creative people
12.  Spy on the competition

As I was working on this post, I was thinking that I really need to get back into my routine.  My routine used to be:  get up at a certain time, coffee/breakfast/look at blogs, check bank account, etc.  With my meds, it's hard to get into a routine because I'm either not feeling well or didn't sleep the night before.  I thought that, maybe, being in a routine should help free up time to be creative.  Not sure on that one.  I love looking at everyone's creations, especially my papercrafting group.  I guess that would take care of 11 and 12.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather.  I do miss the winter.  Summer here, (south Louisiana) is brutal and it's not even July or August yet!

Have a creative day!
Mel

Materials used for September:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Black textured cardstock - Paper Studio
Labels 25 Nesties - Spellbinder
Frayed Burlap, Fired Brick Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Black and red pearls - Want2Scrap
Buttons, twine - unknown
Glue Dots - 3M
Rouge, Onyx Pearl Liquid Pearls - Ranger

30 Days of Creativity - Days 14-16 - June 14 - 16 : June, July and August....

A continuing journey of daily creativity......

I'm on a roll!  I think it has a lot to do with trying this challenge.  And that's exactly what it is, a challenge.  Even with Father's Day with the family, I managed to finish three months in three days.  Whoo!

Here are June's pages:

Here are July's pages:

Here are August's pages:

Did you catch my blinged scissors in the corner of the last pic?  We play a gag gift game at Christmas and that was one of the gifts!  Loooove it!

There's my creativity for the last three days.  Now I need to straighten up my desk to get started on September's pages. 

Have a creative day!
Mel

Materials used for June pages:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Blue cardstock - Bazzill
Frayed Burlap, Tattered Rose Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Colonial White crochet trim - CTMH
Baby Pink pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Foam dots - unknown
Baby Blue, Petal Pink Liquid Pearls - Ranger
Petite Petals punch - Stampin' Up!
Glue Dots - 3M

Materials used for July pages:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Black textured cardstock - Paper Studio
Frayed Burlap, Fired Brick Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Cranberry pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Rouge, Royal Blue Liquid Pearls - Ranger
American Flair - K&co
Glue Dots - 3M
Labels 4 Nesties - Spellbinder

Materials used for August pages:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Black textured cardstock - Paper Studio
Frayed Burlap, Wild Honey Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Curved Rectangles Nesties - Spellbinder
Black pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Hot Cocoa, Buttercup Liquid Pearls - Ranger
Flowers - Bazzill
Glue Dots - 3M

30 Days of Creativity - Day 13 - June 13 - A lot got done today!

A continuing journey of daily creativity....

Thanks Mother Nature for having horrible thunderstorms most of the day!  This got me in the mood to create!!!  My doggie by my feet and my handy-dandy trimmer, and I'm off!

I completed May's Place in Time Calendar pages, started June's and made a simple graduation card.  I can't believe I did that all in one day!!

Here's the May pages:

Materials used:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Black Textured cardstock - Paper Studio
Orchid, Lavender Liquid Pearls - Ranger
Frayed Burlap, Dusty Concord Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Pearl Brads - unknown
Handmade crochet flowers - Linda Weber
butterfly punch - Martha Stewart
Lavender Pearls - Want 2 Scrap
Reverse Wonky Rectangles Nesties - Spellbinder
Glue Dots - 3M

And here is the graduation card for a family member.  Her school colors are gray, black and maroon.

Here are a few more of the 40 Ways to Stay Creative (makeuseof.com):

7.  Learn a new skill.
8.  Read books.
9.  Use Sticky notes.

I like to read history books.  I know, not very creative but I'm a history geek!  And as far as sticky notes go, they are stuck everywhere in my notebook and my computer screen.

How many of these do you do?

Hope you have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Day 12 - June 12 - Pulling and cutting

A continuing journey of daily creativity....

Whooo hooo!!!!  Caught up!!!  Yeah!!!!

I know, I get excited by the littlest things but for me, it's kinda big!

Today, I caught up on by blog entries and pulled my materials for June's calendar pages. 

Nothing really to show but here's a pic:

Please excuse the mess on the desk too! 

Here are a few more of the 40 Ways to Be Creative (makeuseof.com):

4.  Experiment
5.  Socialize
6.  Keep up with trends

Ok, how many of these do you do?  I'm sad to say, I don't experiment much.  I see everyone's step cards and pop up cards and it just terrifies me to try those.  I'm not mechanically inclined and am so intimidated.  But I will be able to do it one day.  I know I can. 

I love to socialize with the ladies on the my scrapbook/papercrafting group.  They are so fun!

And I keep up with the trends on Facebook and Pinterest.  Right now I see a lot of washi tape, layouts using scraps and the color combo of yellow and gray.  Oh and anything chevron!

I'm off to go and try and work on my May pages and get those finished this evening.

Have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Days 10 & 11 - June 10 & 11 - April Place in Time Calendar pages

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Up next is the April Place in Time calendar pages.  These normally take one day (about 2 hours) to complete; but just doing a little here and a little there, it took two days.

Here are the pages:

Materials used:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Classic Rectangles Large Nestibilities - Spellbinder
Blue cardstock - Bazzill
Frayed Burlap, Broken China Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Butterfly punch - Martha Stewart
Mini square foam dots - unknown
Pink Swirls - Want2Scrap
Sage Green pearls - Want2Scrap
Gold cardstock - DCWV
Baby Blue, Daffodil Liquid Pearls - Ranger

I also pulled and sort of started the May pages.  Hopefully, I will get those done soon!

Have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Days 8 & 9 - June 8 - 9 - Ways to be creative

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Usually while I am stuck in bed, I'm on Pinterest looking for inspiration.  Oh sure, there are lots of recipes, hair and makeup tutorials and wedding planning, but there are tooooons of papercrafting ideas on there too!!!

I cam across a pin that was a graphic - 40 Ways to Be Creative (from makeuseof.com).  So here are a couple of ways this graphic suggests to be creative.  It is universal to all mediums.

1. Create an Inspiration board.   
2. Get out more.
3. Sketch more.

Those are only the first three.  Well heck, I already do two out of the three.  My inspiration board is my Pinterest pins.  I have a card folder, Christmas card folders, Disney layouts, sketches, etc.   And I've already posted my layout sketches from my notebook. 

And with that being said, here are a couple of sketches for my Days 8&9:

Sorry, I don't think they scanned all that well.  They are for my next set of calendars to make. 

Hope these little daily items are helping you or at least pointing you in a good direction.

Thanks for checking in.

Have a creative day!

Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Day 6-7 - June 6-7 - March & April Place in Time Calendar

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Well, I did well on the first 5 days of this challenge, then I started feeling ill.  A virus hit my house and sent me to bed.  I did manage to either sit at my craft table for a little bit or did things from my bed.  I started feeling guilty about not getting a finished product but I've learned that I need to listen to my body. 

Here and there I sorted thru a stash box, separated some cards to be donated to Operation Write Home, and sketched out some ideas.  So those days weren't a total bust.

On these two days, I finished up my March pages and pulled materials for April for the Place in Time calendar that I am working on to complete.    Really love the colors that Graphic 45 used for this month - green and purple.  Lovely!!!

Materials used:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
White cardstock - unknown
Labels 25 Nestibilities - Spellbinders
Green cardstock - Bazzill
Orchid, Avocado Liquid Pearls - Ranger
Frayed Burlap, Pine Needle Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Pearl brads - unknown
Purple flowers - Petaloo
Green mesh - unknown
Sage Green Pearls - Want2Scrap
Glue dots - 3M

I don't know how I am going to part with these calendars because I am loving the way they are ending up!

Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more!

Have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Day 5 - June 5 - Awww Scrap!

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Awww scrap!  Yep, today I worked with scraps.  Today was one of those days that I felt horrible and didn't want to get out of bed.  I figured I would work with some of my scraps.  I keep a little cardboard box (a bottom of a Velveeta cheese package) on my desk to put my scraps in when I'm done with a project. 

If the scraps are larger in size, they go in a three-ring binder.  I'll show that another day.

The little scraps go in the box for me to go thru at a later time.  I usually pre-stamp sentiments - thanks, happy birthday, for you, etc - and put them in my images basket to be used when I'm making batches of cards for the troops.

I grabbed my box, Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress Inks and my three CTMH sentiment sets.

And just do a little trimming and put in a clear baggie.  You have instant sentiments!  I usually only do it on white or ivory cardstock so that it can be used with almost any theme.

What about the patterned paper and colored cardstock small scraps?

For those, I get my Martha Stewart butterfly punch and my SU Petite Petals punch and go to town!

I separate each pile and put in a little baggie for use later.  I can use these for embellishments or send them as RAKS!  Now I need to get my hands on a leaf punch, a star punch and a heart punch!

There is my creativity for today.  All brought to you from my bed.  Hope that helps you figure out what to do with those scraps and how small you should keep them.

I want to do more of these tips on scraps.  I have a couple in mind. 

Let me know how small you keep your scraps, if you keep them at all! 

Have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Day 4 - June 4 - February Place in Time Calendar pages

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....
 
Today's project is the pages for February using Place in Time paper by Graphic 45.  It is going to be so hard to sell or give these away as presents.  I am sooooo liking how they are coming out.  :(
 
Two complete sets of February for a total of 4 6x6 pages.  Total time to complete 2 hours. 

 

Products used:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
Black textured cardstock - Paper Studio
White cardstock - unknownGlue dots - 3M
Fired Brick, Frayed Burlap Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Flamingo, Rouge Liquid Pearls - Ranger
Pearl Brads - unknown
Cranberry pearls - Want2Scrap
Crochet flowers (handmade) - Linda Weber
Labels 8 Nestibilities - Spellbinder

I've saved the extra pieces for each month that was not used to either decorate the cover of the easel album or to make some cards to go along with the album.  Haven't decided that yet.  I guess that would be my tip of the day. 

Hope you check back tomorrow to see what's going to be made!

Have a creative day!
Mel

30 Days of Creativity - Day 3 - June 3rd - Graphic 45 Place in Time Calendar - January

A continuing journey of daily creativity.....

Today's creativity is January pages for a calendar made with Graphic 45's A Place in Time collection.  I have to admit that I am a Graphic 45-aholic.  I loooooove their style!!!

I've made two complete January pages for two calendars, 4 pages.  In total it took me about 2 2.5 hours to complete.  Most of the supplies used came from the 8x8 A Place in Time paper pad.  The finished page size is 6x6.

Products used:
8x8 Place in Time paper pad - Graphic 45
Black textured cardstock - Paper Studio
White snowflake die cuts - unknown
Glue dots - 3M
Stardust Glitz - CTMH
Baby Blue, Ocean Blue, Royal Blue Liquid Pearls - Ranger
White cardstock - unknown
White pearls - Want2Scrap
1 1/4" square punch - EK Success
Salty Ocean, Frayed Burlap Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Ranger
Curved Rectangles Nestibilities - Spellbinder

All of the projects I am working on, I am trying to use existing materials that I have in inventory.

My objective that I am working on is to have some items to sell at a fall Farmer's Market. 

I've already pulled my items for February's calendar and that is my project for Wednesday.

I hope you enjoy my project for today.  No big tips or tricks for this project.  Oh wait, I do have a tip.  Be sure you measure everything.  I had to print out my little monthly calendar twice because I didn't measure first. 

Hope you check back tomorrow and have a creative day.
Mel