Pre-Summer Madness

WOW, long time between posts! I really dislike this time of year, it seems like we are just so busy! Im a devoted 'soccer mom' who's son just had end of year tournaments and parties followed by tons of tryouts for the next level teams and meetings for said teams. Plus my little dancer just had her recital this week and all my kids are working on end of year projects. I cant help thinking that school cant end soon enough but I know it wont help, lol. We will just move on to bored children that need entertained, summer day camps, more soccer practice, swimming lessons and vacation! *grin* You gotta just roll with it I guess!

I do however, have some fun things to share with you today...first of all a belated CONGRATULATIONS to Becky Fidelman who is the winner of this month's blog candy posted over on Holly's blog. She will soon be getting her four free new release sets in the mail!

Also, I took some time to make a card yesterday. I hope not to offend anyone but this idea has been brewing in my head ever since I drew the image.

I REALLY wanted to put a sentiment in the set like the one I wrote on my card but I chickened out! LOL I recognized that not everyone has my sense of humor. *grin* I do hope you get a kick out of it though...my 10 yr old son saw it and just took it at face value, with no idea it was a 'tongue in cheek' sentiment.

And lastly, I've been working really hard to bring you something fun and different next month, though we may end up getting it out a bit later than mid-June, like I had planned. Hopefully, you will consider it worth the wait. I'll be sure to update you as soon as I am more sure of a release schedule.

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Card Deets:

Stamps: Music a la Carte by Artful INKables

Paper: Queen of Hearts dp by Rusty Pickle, All other by SU

Ink : Black by Momento, Coloring with Copic Markers

Accessories: Making Memories snap, Glitter stickers by Stampendous, Flowers by Prima and Hero Arts (I think).

Thoughts of Super Woman, Tea, and Clean Slates

Some of you may already know that there is no such thing as Super Woman, but honestly, it was news to me! I generally believe that everything will fall into place, if I can just keep up. I happily run two businesses (AI and our family delivery business), while raising three great kids with the help of my loving hubby. But about 2 months ago, I realized that there are a limited number of hours in a day, a limited number of days in a week, and a lot of people depending on me...and I was slowly falling behind! Add the stress of the holidays and multiple family illnesses and I was sunk! So instead of trying to fit myself into that ever shrinking Super Woman suit, I dug out my loving mommy smile and wore it with pride! I gave my family the part of me they needed and wanted with no strings or stress attached over the holidays and was there for all the memories and excitement. It really was worth the trade off! My businesses didn't suffer, but my creativity and participation here did. I missed you all, and I soooo missed stamping and creating and I cant wait to get back into the swing of things now that things are settling back to the way they should be.
As they new year starts, we all have a clean slate of sorts, a new beginning. To fit in with that feeling, I have given my blog a new, clean look with a banner featuring our Plant Prints and Pressed Petals stamp sets. Be on the look out this month for some more fresh changes, fun ideas and more.


As I worked on my blog today, enjoying a cup of herbal licorice tea, I was inspired to make the card above...my first creation of the year. The background and paper for the teapot, were made using the shaving cream technique...one of my favorite techniques! If you don't know how to achieve this look, click here for a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers. The colors were inspired by the envelope my teabag came in and the tea set stamp comes from one of our newest sets, Warm Drinks For Cold Days. And there is a little twist...some twisted wire to add some interest to the corners of my main image. Fun, huh?

On a sad note: as the new year begins, it is time to say goodbye to our fabulously talented design team. Their tenure with us is up but I sure hope to see them keep in touch! I am in their debt for doing so much to get the Artful Inkables name out there! Thanks so much ladies!

Some Awesome Scenery

My family and I just returned from a relaxing vacation in the northeastern part of Utah and I wanted to take a moment to share some pictures I took. I am in awe of the variety of beautiful landscapes here in Utah! I didn't grow up here, in fact we moved here from Virginia 5 years ago so I'm still exploring the beauty of our adopted home state. This week we camped near Flaming Gorge and took in some beautiful sights there. The kids loved camping and getting dirty and I loved the scenery. The pictures above are of this beautiful canyon with the Green River (yes, it really is a lovely deep blue-green) flowing through it. Apparently then name Flaming Gorge come from the reddish striations in the rock.


Here are a few more shots taken while we were driving through the geological loop. Here we saw many different rock formations, lots of animals and even some spawning salmon!

One of the days we took a trip to the Vernal area of the Green River. My son is a real Dinosaur nut so we wanted to drive through Dinosaur National Monument and go to the museum. It is amazing to me how, just an hour's drive can take us to an area with a completely different type of landscape! Here are some photos.


The one in the center is of most of my family (excluding me and one dog) climbing up a cliff area to look at the cool cliff drawings there.

On the way home we took the scenic route over some mountains and again we had more different landscapes to look at. We stopped to enjoy a 'ghost town' of sorts...an abandoned logging camp with some neat examples of cabins from days gone by. We also had a lovely picnic at Mirror Lake and enjoyed the view of the changing foliage up in the mountains. All in all a great trip!

IKEA is my Friend!

Well, I've been commenting on my stamp room make over for a few weeks now and I guess it is time to share the results. Below is a picture of what my stamp room used to look like...well, sort of! It was never this clean and it had much more 'stuff' crammed up on the counters. That was actually one of my pet peeves about my room, no counter space! The other peeves were: 1) cant see the tv from my spot (See the mirror hanging from the bottom of a shelf? That was how I watched tv while stamping!) 2) Cant see the GORGEOUS view out over the valley from my seat since Im facing a wall! 3) No organization so that all my most used items were easily within reach. 4) No more wall space since I continued to add shelves and iris carts all over the place. Infact, I had no where to put the great craft cabinet that the kids gave me for Mother's day. And finally, the most important peeve, 5) Im just not comfortable sitting on a stool (or standing) at the counter anymore! When I first started stamping, I HAD TO stand up, but I've found age and my ankle injuries have made that a very uncomfortable way to stamp and I started avoiding my stamp room in favor of more inviting places to sit.

Before:

This is a picture of the other side of the room. That desk belongs to my husband, he is a coin collector and he sits there to research and admire his coins. There is actually much more on those shelves...this picture was taken shortly after he moved into my room. And no, Im not allowed to sit there. lol This is where the tv is located and the door to the deck. Also, alot of my stuff ended up over here including my paper and single stamps!

Before:

So, my plan was to rip out one half of the counter and everything above it and put in a nice desk, some storage and my new craft cabinet from the kids. The removal was fairly simple, but it sure left a mess! I had craft supplies everywhere and I ended up having to paint that wall after removing all the shelves and the cork board.

Then I went on a trip to IKEA! Can I say just how much I really LOVE IKEA? We had one of the first ones in the US when I was growing up in Northern Virginia and I have to say, I was quite spoiled having one so close!! When we moved out here to Utah, 5 years ago, I was very bummed to find out there wasnt even an IKEA anywhere in the whole state!! Luckily they built one just 10 miles from me last year so I can again be spoiled by IKEA's lovely products!! Anyway, during my shopping trip I pick up a great storage unit called an EXPEDIT book case, which can be detailed to your liking with drawer units, doors, boxes and baskets. I also picked up 2 drawer cubes (2 drawers each cube) for the unit, a basket and a few paper storage boxes.

They also have a system for desks called VIKA where you pick what type and shape of desk top you want and choose legs or tresles of different types to hold it up. As you can see in the picture below, I picked one with a curved end and some fairly cheap (but with adjustable height) legs. I also got a 'tote tray' to attach under the desk as an extra drawer and some stackable CD racks to keep all of my Artful INKables stamps in, right next to where I sit. Oh, and speaking of sitting, I chose a small desk chair there too, a JANNE swivel chair, so I can be mobile and zoom around to the things I need without getting up!

After:

Now I can keep all of my 'counter top clutter' (or in other words, things I need all the time) ontop of the bookcase unit so it is in easy reach but not in my way. Above the book case I put the unit my sweet kids got me for mothers day. It was a happy surprise to discover that the front doors are magnetic so I picked up a ton of those magnetic storage containers and filled them with all of my small embellishments. Inside, I have all of my ribbon (YES...all of it can fit in there!) and some lesser used 12x12 paper. Between the old counter top area and the new book case, I placed my paper storage unit within easy reach. My uncle made me this unit by hand, back when I first started this hobby and, though it isnt beautiful, it serves it's purpose well and I couldnt live without it! Above that, I 'artfully arranged' my 3 single stamp display shelves, including a shelf displaying all the stamps from my first plate of AI stamps on wood blocks.

After:

The only change I made to the remaining counter unit was to leave the corner cabinet open as shelves. This keeps my 12 x 12 paper with in easy reach on the stackable trays, along with my coloring and painting cupplies and my big box of paper scraps. I did however, reorganize the cabinet space and drawers, so now I know where everything is!! My cutting station is up here on the cabinet, along with my Portaink pad holder within easy reach from my chair. I am still waiting on the arrival of another unit I ordered to keep all of my other, non-SU! inkpads on.

The only things left unfinished in my opinion, is some wall decor...maybe a hand made Artful INKables sign? And I storage place for my punches. I guess I'll just have to make another trip over to IKEA and pick up some pieces from their KROKEN rail system! LOL

So now, I can sit, stamp, watch TV, reach and find all my supplies and enjoy my view! The only reason to leave is to eat, lol! Maybe I should think about putting in a mini fridge! :D

Get Well Thanks!

A big THANKS to Jennifer over at her Glitter in my Hair crafting blog for the lovely Get Well card she sent using AI stamps! I really appreciate you thinking of me Jennifer and I LOVE that you sent a card using our stamps...how cool is that? I'm posting her card here for all of you to enjoy but be sure to visit her blog for all the card making details.


And for those of you who have asked for an update on our healing: we are both doing well! Thanks! My daughter is all healed and has moved on. As for me, there were some setbacks but lots of progress. The setback...a broken foot bone that went unnoticed in the ER. The progress, I now have a walking cast boot which makes it much easier to walk. In fact I can get around the house without crutches and even take the stairs to bed. The less injured ankle is much stronger due to my physical therapy and is also making it much easier to get around. A few more weeks and I should be as good as new like my daughter.

Feeling Quite Thankful

My youngest child and I were in a scary head-on collision this past Thursday and while I dont share personal experiences here often, I feel the need to share how grateful we are to have come through this awful experience fairly well. I have never been in any kind of accident that was more severe than a fender-bender...and let me tell you this was Scary!! We were going about 40 miles an hour when we hit a car that lost control and was suddenly in our lane, just feet ahead of us. After the initial hit, both airbags deployed and we veered to the right and ran into some boulders. At first, I couldnt feel my legs and my arms felt like they were on pins and needles...my child was screaming and shaking with fear and bleeding from the arm. As I looked around I realized there were already concerned citizens on the scene, taking stock of our situation, calling 911 and offering calming words. Shortly there after, the paramedics and fire trucks arrived and my child and I were quickly assesed, extricated from our vehicle, put on backboards and taken swiftly to the local hospital. Once there, it was determined that there were no major injuries sustained by my daughter...she was SOOOO lucky! There were some minor abraisions on her arms and a fairly deep cut at her wrist but it only required a dressing, a teddy bear and some stickers to fix her up! She didnt even need stitches and we are so greatful! She is doing so well and seems to have a happy sense of how lucky she is!! As for me, I didnt fair quite as well but Im still happy to say I came through the situation very well. There was some initial concern about my heart and my breathing but after the initial shock, those things seemed to straighten themselves out. It turns out that my injuries were mostly to my feet and ankles. My right big toe was majorly dislocated (sickeningly so) and both ankles were severely sprained. After tons of xrays, I was shocked to find there were no broken bones! So I my toe was put back into place and I was given 2 compression boots, some pain meds and a set of cruches and allowed to go home to my worried family. So, though I am fairly immoble since my ankles are too swollen, weak and sore to hold me up, I am SOOOOO Greatful to haven gotten away so easily! If we didnt have such a big SUV, the front end would have crushed in on us much more severely and we would have have been critically injured.

To further add to our blessings, our neighbors are all pitching in to help...providing meals, transportation to school for the kids and much more. My husband has rented me a wheel chair so I can get around the house more easily and my parents are coming tomorrow to visit and help out as well. The bottom line is we couldnt be luckier and we are so thankful for our good fortune! The only bad side...I dont know how much stamping I'll be getting done in the next few weeks, lol!