WOYWW

It's the global blog hop of crafters'  searching for a better way! Julia over at Stamping Ground  http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ hosts this world wide peak at every one's favorite spot, their craft desk!   Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!

On my desk today is a scrapbook of cards people are sending me, I decided I needed to have something nice to put these lovely cards in so I worked up a bound book.  Not a fancy scrapbook, just a nice functional one I could whip up in an hour.

The Cover is actually Navy Blue and  I used one of my peacock cards to adorn it. 

The inside pages are also a Navy Blue, linen finish 80#

I'm also trying to improve my photography, one small step at a time!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by! ~ Ginny

Keeping the cogs turning

After I posted about 'Staying calm and carrying on ' on Friday, how little I realized I would be saying that to myself for hours and hours. Steve went into the OR at 7:30 and was supposed to be out at 12:30.  by 3:30 I was ready to pull the door off the hinges and find my sweetheart. At 4:50pm  , I was the last person in the waiting room, (I was also the first person in the waiting room at 5:30 am)  an exhausted looking surgeon came to talk to me, the 4 hour procedure took almost 9, there was just so much more cancer than expected. There were no complications, no problems, just more than the test results showed, it became much more complicated.  Steve is home now and on the mend, we still have a great prognosis. But this has changed our lives, for the next couple of weeks for sure, but this may be the threshold of the life we had been planning for. This may be the door opened for us that we were reluctant to grasp and go through.  It does happen, major changes, derailments, they can happen to us when we least expect it. Sometimes they are nightmarish, sometimes they are opportunities.  At first it is hard to tell the difference. The difference depends on which side of the door you are looking on.  When our house burned down two months after we were married and we had no insurance, well that door was pretty frightening, until we were through it then it became a door of blessing. I wish my sweet husband didn't have to go through this, that we didn't have to go through this, but like millions and millions before us, we don't have a choice in the matter. So we are going to do one of the things we do best:

Stay calm and Carry on,

we can do that because we know,

He has got the whole world and us in His hands! 

Now I am stamping, when I can, and trying to blog.  Funny thing We are all such creatures of habit , one of my habits is this Small field of art called rubber stamping.  I have heard for years people say things like stamping and scrapbooking and quilting (etc) are thier Therapy.  I never really understood that.  Maybe because I didn't understand what they meant by therapy. So I looked at in using another word.  It is my Blessing.  God gives us all gifts, and when we activate them whether or not we understand, we active the power of God within us, the power to create, to be touched by color and texture. To leave the world of rules and enter the world of gifts.  I think that is why we crave it, what ever it is we do, in that art, we spread beauty and joy, we lift our minds to a better place and bring others there too, even if only a for few minutes.

I have entered a "mingle" which is like a swap on OSA  it is a 4for4 swap with one entry for a magazine.  This was my first one:

Well I like her, but not enough to make 4 more, so I went back to the drawing board.  I decided to use some samples of silk fabric and keep this simple

Here they are, I hope you enjoyed your vist here! ~Ginny

the day after THAT day

I'm on the road today, Things didn't go as planned yesterday. Instead of 4 hours in the OR, Steve Was there 9.  All will be well , but right now it is a little hectic.  I colored these flowers yesterday while I waited.  I was blessed in that my 3 friends, Jane, Lori and Betty stayed with me that long, long day.

It is THAT day

It is THAT day and I can't sleep. That is okay, plenty of time to sleep later on.
 
I love this slogan, not just because it is a fad right now, but because of what it meant to about 47 million people in 1945 UK.  The bombs were dropping nightly, nobody knew what they would wake up to in the morning, if they would wake up.

Did you ever go out to your car in the morning and it wouldn't start, or had a flat tire, do you remember the panic of 'what do I do now, I'm gonna be late, I'll get fired, I'll miss the important meeting, the bagels will be gone'.  I've had those days, but it was just a day, and hour, 15 minutes.  I never had to wake up and wonder if the house, the block, the city or the Island I lived on would be there. 

 For 47 million people, that was the order of the day.  And not just for them, in almost every country of the world, at that time, life was trying to carry on.  For most people, in times like those and times like these, it isn't politics, it is the certainty or hope of tomorrow that is so important.  

This simple  poster was plastered all over London and other cities in England.  The Government was attempting to reach out to people, to avoid panic and hysteria. Those two sisters are just about the worst companions you can have in times of stress.

I'm not living in a war zone, the most threatening thing outside my door is actually 3 baby skunks and their mama that made there home by our wood pile.  But THIS day is the day that I need to Stay Calm and Carry On, Only I'm looking at a different poster, written by a different king.

 This poster says "Be Still and Know that I am God, I will Never Leave you or Forsake you  unto all the ends of the Earth", including the Hospital.   By The Way, we are going to a hospital that is called 'Mercy'.  
Thanks for stopping by, have a great day~Ginny

Just a note Day

Today is going to be a 'Just a Note' kind of day.  Steve an I have been so busy for the last week and a half, getting everything taken care of for tomorrow and just our normal daily life of work and teaching and family. Late nights early mornings.  Funny how when my kids were little I used to look forward to life slowing down when I hit the middle years.  I'm here in those middle years and I am still pushing it every day!  I guess I wouldn't have it any other way, Life is such an adventure, I'd hate to miss anything!   Today we are just going to relax.










I made a few cards last night for ORCAS, a CAS happy birthday.

A "note to self" on this ; remember to use a non water soluble ink when using distress stickles!

Why do I forget that all the time?  Maybe because I just love all the great colors of the Stampin' up dye inks, with the new style pad the stamped images come out beautifully the first time!

The pad is a firm foam kind of pad, not like the pigment ink pads, but firmer with a type of top layer that is very smooth.   When you ink up the ink just clings to your stamp, whether it is rubber, or polymer.  you just need a gentle tap or two and it inks up beautifully!  With the old style felt pads you really had to pound that stamp on the pad to get it inked and chances are you would still have an image with missing ink.  In my work shops I gave little demos on how to "fix" those spots, what a pain!  Now they come out beautifully!, I liked these new pads so much I got rid of all of my currant 52 colors and replaced them with the new pads.  Yes this was an investment, but I spend a lot of time on my card making and this just eliminated a big problem:  image fails.

I highly recommend these lovely pads!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day, and don't forget to stop and smell the Cornflowers!~ Ginny

WOYWW #164

Today is The world wide peek of the crafters' desk tops, hosted by Julia at http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/ !  This is  a giant blog hop that travels around the world!  Normally I need the entire week to stop in every where, it is a lot of fun! I especially love to here from other            members that stop in at my blog! 

What is on my work desk today , Well I have multiple work desks, the fun one first - my stamp room!

Today I am working on a 'Tananbata Swap' hosted by Oriental Stamp Arts Group.  This one is a 4 for 4, so I am making four of these cards and will receive 4 in return!  I always love to see what my fellow crafters' are using for material and layout. Especially in locations other than the US.  Materials and availability change from country to country so it can be very interesting!

On the desk my Lovely Asian Lady, I am stamping and heat embossing her 8 times on Wausau Birch paper 90#. 

One for each card face and another to put in the card as a fun thing for the recipient.

I'm auditioning colors, all I can say about these is Blek!

Working the first card

And the final result, for card #1 of 4. 

 I stopped stamping in 2002 after a house fire and I lost all my stuff. We were newly married and no renters insurance. With three kids at home, starting over with stamping supplies wasn't on my mind.   I started again last year when my daughter asked me to do her wedding invitations.

I tell you, I have hardly come up for air!!  In 2001 the cool tool was a fiskar crimper,  The Internet as a resource then, sure  AOL, Dial up 40.00 for 72 hours Remember? Now the cool tools are totally over the top, and papers,unbelievable how beautiful and easy to come by and the Internet as a resource takes all over the world !  The Industry has boomed while I was hibernating! However  in that 10 years I learned how to do contract commercial sewing and for fun, quilting so it was still a very busy creative time!   But Stamping,   No Problems, I made up for lost time.

Now my other work Desk, well I think I have posted this picture every day this week.

Fuel pod covers for F16's  This one is #55 of 63, almost done!

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop!! ~Ginny

I am just consistent! Adhesives! ORCAS!

"I'm not OCD, I'm just Consistent!!"

That is what a friend of mine said a couple of weeks ago.  He was referring to his very orderly life, and the need to use a certain color towel for the gym, one for home,  and that everything be in the same place that it has been for 16 years in his house. Remarking how well his wife handled these "needs".  He was Speaking publicly and when I heard that it made my little newly labeled "consistent"  heart so happy!  Now I know I'm not OCD!  I just like Constancy!!!!  And Order!!  My crafting room makes me get on my own nerves at times, I just can't work when thing feel off kilter.  Today is one of those days, I am sitting here typing away when I want to stamp and make cards, but I don't want to do that until I make more space, I'm feeling cluttered! I want to start having "days" like Mojo Monday, Tuna Tuesday, Weightlifting Weds, Throw down Thursday and Fry pan Friday!  It sounds so wonderfully organized and productive!  But how do you get that all done and posted by 5am? Plus Prayer, plus get to the gym, plus get the dog walked Plus take a calming sensation spa shower, Plus end up with perfectly Coiffured hair by 7:30 am - just to be ready to start work for 8.  How do people do all that?    They must be very, very CONSISTENT!    So I' going to work on fine tuning my levels of consistency, but in the mean time, here is my latest batch of cards:  I made these late last night so that I could get my post up early, so I could get my hair perfectly Coiffured so that I will be better able to sew F16 fuel pod covers in a more efficient and genteel manner.

These cards will go to ORCAS.  ORCASis a Non Prof Group (started by Oregon Coast Avid Stampers) they work with http://www.operationcarepackages.org  .  Cards are made and sent into Orcas and they prepare and send them to OCP. Ocp then puts them in care packages that go round the world and target troop groups.  Many of these cards will end up in hospitals for our wounded to write home with.   With these cards, I will bring them to my local LSS (life's Memories and More in  Palmer MA and the owner Tanya will ship them along with many others to Oregon.  I am now making cards for two groups going to our Hero's, OWH (www.operationwritehome.org )and ORCAS.  If anyone locally would like to join me please let me know I have card party nights where a group of us get together and make cards, it is lots of fun. 

These cards were made using bases of Neenah solar white 100# and 3 sheets of DCWV 12x12 paper.

Stampin' up early espresso ink and studio g glitter glue.

One thing I would like to share on the crafty side, because I am making so many cards a week, i am finding using ATG tape solo is not budget efficient.  So I went back to some really old school favorites:

Yep, you were afraid of this weren't you!  The only thing different is the product on the left has a brush and gives you really good control, it cost 2.95 at a craft store, I bought 10 on amazon for 16.00. on the right, with the tacky glue I just make sure I prick a very tiny hole in the tip and use it sparingly and my results have been excellent!!  I am still using ATG  and I love it, I just can't afford a roll a day!

I bought this stamp at Tanya's and just thought it would be great for the Hero's cards.  

Here is an Idea for cleaning up in craft room,  I had a ratty old towel hanging around, It was about to become a car wash rag, but instead I cut it up :

and then surged it in to 8x8 squares:

removing the rattiest pieces, I now have a stack of very nice wipe up towels in my craft room.  My new dish towels were becoming all ink stained, (can you believe it I don't have a dishwasher!  I have never had one! - well I did have one, it came with the house , but since it was plumbed into the dining room, I asked my Sweet Hubs to rip it out!)  I especially like these for wiping the cleaner off my stamps. I keep a wet one handy on my work table  when I am stamping,                                        folded over in a Stampin' up clam shell.

And Now:

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by! ~Ginny  

Monday, Monday!

I started this post at 4:30 am, no actually I started this post last night at 9pm so that I could post it early today. Now it is almost 10am and I and I should have been in the Studio sewing for the last two hours!  Ahh Mondays, I'm not going to even mention the mess my stamp room is!  But the Good this is I have a dozen cards made today! 

We really had a great weekend!  No big projects, Steve put in a lot of study time and I made cards and read cookbooks in between the laundry  and cooking!  A few cook books I was able to spend some time in!

Right now I have so much mojo happening, I don't want to leave my room, but I must, fuel pod covers are waiting for me !!  Here is my card set for today.  I won't add commentary I don't think you will need one.   The stamp is an old milltown stamp from 2000, the card base of Neenah #130 solar white card stock.

I did make a mask :

These cards are all A6 size  aprox 6x4.75     Thanks for stopping by! 
When you read this, I'll be here!!

I hope you have a great day~Ginny

Trust

This week of vacation has been such a great relaxing time, I really enjoyed our three day getaway and I enjoyed the time at home.  Steve normally works so hard both at work and home and church it was especially nice to see him relax.  We got the big projects for the summer done a few weeks ago, we were able to enjoy the newly restored deck. The car repairs were done, no Dr's appts or tests, (Steve is feeling very good).  It has been so hot, our lawn it a beautiful toasty brown - so that was beyond work.  My big contract sewing job is down to the last 9 units and I felt like I could turn the machine off for a week. The kids were all okay and busy with their lives and  My mother won't be having her bi- pass until 8/6.  It was a week we could relax and for me a week to be thankful.  All of our lives seem to have a common thread, it's called Chaos, or the threat of it. All it takes is one event and it can derail us.  I think as women we build our lives serving others and keeping status Quo, I 'm not talking about material or financial status quo, I'm taking about about the status quo of laying down in bed at night and counting little heads sleeping in the rooms next door, and thinking, we're all here and we're all safe.  That count changes through the years, but we are always counting, the kids, the parents, the friends, the cats the dogs , the goldfish.  The heads lay down on different pillows in different states, in different countries, but we still count them and we need to feel we're all here and we are all safe.  In the Last couple of weeks I've done a lot of counting, With the health issues my family is facing and life changing  issues with kids, I've spent some extra time not just counting, but talking to my heavenly father, Lord keep them safe, Keep them in your embrace,  I know you love them more that I do, but they are not only a portion of my life, they are my life.  I think times like these boil things down in our lives, they boil it down to a very essential element. Trust.  And I do, I trust Him with my Loves and I trust him with Me.  I don't need to have all the questions answered, I need to understand that he has my whole world in His hands and that is the BEST place for it to be.  This is a Scripture I memorized years and years ago, when my life was a tempest in a teapot.                                              It blessed me then, it blesses me now. 

From Psalm 73:  

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
  Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
  Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

I've given my thoughts a lot of space here this morning, because I don't think they are uncommon, I am  another link in a chain of sisters and wives and mothers and daughters. Roles and relationships, life and death, we all face it.  We choose how we face it, I choose to face things as I always have, hiding behind God, or in the biblical term, Hiding in God.  I'm good at it. I'm not a scardy cat, I'm smart.  I'm also saying all this because if anyone out there is counting and the numbers aren't coming up good, there is a Person to turn those heads over too, there is a hope,                                              His name is Jesus and he cares.

I'm not just about stamping and cooking and my family, I am an ambassador.  If anyone has question or would like me to pray for you or put you on our women's prayer group list, send me an email: maxamsewing@hotmail.com

Thursday night my life long friends stopped into see us, this couple Is Gus and Jane, two of the finest people on the planet, and they are part of the hiding in God package.  He sends what we need when we need it before we know we need it.   Thank you Gus and Jane for a life time of love and support.

Now some stampy stuff

Last Night while Steve was attending a  church service in RI, I spent the time in my stamp room, working on putting things away from my LSS shopping during the week (not done on that either)!  I did get a few cards made while watching 28 Days with Sandra Bullock (gotta love amazon prime movies) and reorganizing. 

I also had a couple of ideas, the first one was to make using my new H2O's (paints) more usable and organized.  These come in darling little pots, they are similar to my much loved pan watercolors.  What I didn't like was these cute little pots were sitting in a crystal bowl , and I was  told me to leave the covers off so the paints can dry out, other wise they will mold.   This can be bad news because my cats thought they were for sure the best toys I have ever brought home, totally more fun and roll-y than  sewing machine bobbins!!                      Here is what I did:

I glued the pots into a stampin' up clam shell case, now I have them all together in a non-rolling state, I can let them dry,flip the cover and then put them in a drawer ( and yes there is room to complete the collection).  The pallet of paints in the black holder  is something I picked up at Michael's a couple of years ago for under 5 dollars and they work great.                                                                               The trick to this is, for max opacity, use min water! 

The other tip I wanted to share, was one I shared on OSA tip Thursday:

This is my water color plate ( I love water colors) I normally keep it very clean, I have a palate tray that actually looks like I use it, this one is too small for serious work, I purchased it for CQ beading. Anyway in the center is a small piece of wool felt, it is saturated with baby oil.  Sometime I use Gamesol.  With either medium, I simply tap my colored pencil on the wool and it pick up the perfect amount of liquid for my colored pencils.  Colored pencils is another favorite for colorizing.

My cards for the night started here with my package of peacock coasters, a mini deck of DCWV, mulberry paper and card stock.

     I pulled out twelves sheet that I liked and thought would work with this.                                          This paper had a lot of shine on it as you can see!

a few of the finished cards

To finish them, I added crystals and a glittery spot on the eye ball.  The card bases are the Neenah 100# solar white that I sell.  The 100# paper gives this card lots of weight. 

I hope all of you have an awesome weekend and I look forward to blogging again on Monday.  If you too are out there and counting, you aren't alone, and there is One Who is Faithful that will hold your hand!  ~Ginny