Livin' in the Crazy Lane This Week!

Whew! Is it really only Tuesday? It is gearing up to be a busy week at our house. The big deal (look out this is going to be some proud mom stuff!) is that my 17 year old son is in his high school musical this Thursday-Saturday. He has always been involved in music but I never thought he'd do musical theater. I can't wait to see him on stage! He also got a letter from the school board yesterday saying he is being recognized at their upcoming meeting for his selection to the Wisconsin State Honors Choir. Makes me teary-eyed, I'm so proud of him! OK -- enough proud mom blather and on to some stamping stuff!

Do you ever just wish you had days on end to play in your craft place? I do. I have these wonderful day dreams of quitting my job and just making cards/papercrafts all day. But, alas, they are just daydreams. My wonderful husband supports my crafting habits but I'm pretty sure he'd draw the line at that. Besides, I have to work to support my Gina K. habit! LOL -- don't you just love everything she comes up with? So, what do you do if you work outside the home or if you are at home with your kids all day? When do you find time to work on your projects?

Here's a couple of things I have done to carve out some time for my stamping. Sunday afternoon has become the one time during the week that I am able to have a couple of hours to focus on stamping. Our Sunday afternoons are usually spent at home, rarely do we have anything planned, so this is a good time for me to throw in some laundry and get stamping. Sometimes I can find an hour or so in an evening to squeeze in stamping time but quite often that is only if I know I really need to get a card done for someone's birthday or another event. I'm kind of a night owl so I don't mind staying up a little bit late sometimes if I have a project I want to complete.

Another thing I have found helpful in getting more out of the little time I have is to keep my craft room well organized. That isn't always easy, but I try very hard to make sure I put everything away when I finish a project. It helps me to have a clear space in which to work and to know I will be able to find my tools when I do want to work on a project. This is a little thing but I've found it a time saver; cut a stack of card inserts from white and cream paper. For the majority of my cards I use the same size inside piece so having a stash of pre-cut paper saves some time.

When all else fails and I really need a stamping fix, I take a half or whole day of vacation! That isn't always an option but once in a while it feels so good to take a day for myself so I can just play with all of my stamping toys! It feels so decadent! I have to admit that I usually feel guilty about taking a whole day off just to play so I will do some laundry or a bit of cleaning just to sooth my guilt!

Enough of that for now. Here's another card I made a while back for a friend. I'm sorry to say I don't recall all of the specifics. I do know I used Koh-i-noors and OMS to color the orchid, which is from the Gina K Designs set, Botanical Dreams. The DP and buttons are from Basic Grey's Euphoria. I used my long rectangle nesties to make the purple background piece and the scalloped white piece. I think the base paper is SU Taken with Teal but I'm not positive about that. Guess I need to write down these details when I make a card!Here's a parting tidbit for you to ponder . . . do you know the difference between 'its' and 'it's' and when to use each of them? They seem like such small, innocent words but you would be surprised at how often they are used incorrectly. Stop back tomorrow and I'll give you the answer!

Hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you may be!