Five on Friday: February 13, 2015

Wow, this month is going fast!  I think my time in New York and then an 'almost-week' of dogsitting last week put me mentally behind. Plus I have another upcoming dog sitting 'gig'. Sadly, all these times with the dog are because of a death and a funeral. But that's life.

1. My ongoing clean out project seems to have stalled. I realized I was doing anything I could to avoid the sorting and purging so yesterday I finally got some things shuffled around so I could put the final bits into the red Christmas box that sits up on a shelf of other 'stuff'. That did make me feel good because those Advent wreaths were getting to me mentally. One small weight is off my shoulders.

2. I have only seen one of the Oscar movies, Grand Budapest Hotel which I found weird. I hope to see a couple others and hope they come out on Redbox soon because I think there are one or two that dh and I would enjoy. I am too cheap to see them in the theater and he always wants popcorn AND a drink which of course necessitates a bathroom break. At home there is the beauty of pause but not in the theater.  These are my top two. You can tell what kind of film I like!

3. Every other week or so, I try to send a postcard to my granddaughter. She is just at the age to enjoy getting mail Just For Her. It's a good way to use my postcard collection rather than just let it sit and age. Do any of you do something like this?

4. I finished up one book that I took with me for the dogsitting stay.  "Some Luck" by Jane Smiley. While I did finish it, all in all it was meh.  Ok, I don't have any interest in farming, the heartland etc but darn if even the parts of WWII and Washington DC, spies and the cold war were pretty flat. I cannot imagine two more volumes of this trilogy. ymmv.

5. One good bit of clutter and excess that is NOT growing is my digi stash. I give much of the credit to Lightroom which allows me to see just how much I have. I have also become tired of some styles and while there are other stores and designers who have caught my attention, I also realize I can make a lot of what I like.  Just like too many clothes in the closet, too many digi supplies leads to choice exhaustion. 


Today being Friday the 13th, I hope you have a super GOOD luck day and an even better weekend.  We're going out to lunch and then it's off dog sitting for me.

What I've been Up To

Well yesterday was 07-08-09 for those of us who use that date format. In fact there was a time in the earlier part of the day that it was 04:05:06 in time and then later last night it was 10:11:12. Did you do something creative? I had a postcard swap to do and made this.



But then I forgot that I'd done it so I made this! which is the one I actually sent to the swap. Helps if you know what you've done but it was fun doing them both.



If you did something, I'd love to see it.

update: For Cathy and others the o4:05:06 is 4:05 and 6 seconds. Very digital time!

My Creative Space

Creative Spaces can be found over at Kirsty's so jump on in if you like on Thursdays! Memes are so much fun.

I have been working like mad on trying to get most of my December Daily pages done before this weekend's retreat and I've made good progress on that front. I'm up through Dec 28th! and will work through with Jan 1st and then the Christmas cleanup page. But that's for next week. Phew! Next year, I will have learned enough to make a start before the holidays. Well, I will have learned enough but doing it is always another thing as well I know.

Here you see the pages of the elements/templates/papers I plan to use for some of my pages. I don't have all my digital elements printed out (there would be another ink cartridge or so gone!) but it does help me if I do have them (in a binder) to see what I might like to use. The long list on the right is the list of items that must/could be used for the ATC I was doing. You had to use your partner's choice but then could use others. In the end I enjoyed this one but procrastinated a bit too long, making it harder in my mind than it actually was.

These are the two, the one on the left was done but then I moved the quote a bit under the crow, which moves. (Cool, huh?) Gotta love those glue dots when you change your mind. I still had the 2nd one to cut out etc. They will be up on Flickr later this week, should you care.

And then I have postcards to swap and also some to send to my grandchicks. I have a new glue spray and is it every sticky! I'm afraid it's getting everywhere. I stick the glued postcards under the mat rather than try to smooth them down with my sprayed fingers. I need help here!

And that's been my creative week, other than downloading a boatload of free digital items. Tomorrow I'm off to a spiritual retreat, but lord is it gonna be cold out! High 23F, and low 9F. Lots of fleece and socks.

To All My Friends

12 Days of Halloween - Day 2

You still have time to get Halloween postcards to send to those little ones who will have fun with mail Just For Them. But for older folks, how about these vintage postcards from Dover Publications ? They also have electronic ones you can send.

On my desk...August 27

It's good to be back in the groove of making things in the a.m. Making with paper and scissors and all the ephemera that goes with atcs and postcards.



I slept until 7a.m. today but the light was still great. Soon it will be dark when I come in here so it's nice to relish in both the light and the 'approaching autumn' coolness.



A final shot of a postcard I did yesterday with one of our vacation pics. Working with a .png frame came easily - for a change. ;-)



For peeps at more desks, click the On MY Desk button on the right and you'll be wisked off to Kirsty's list. She's Kootoyou in case you're wondering.

On My Desk...July 30

Wow....July is fading fast.


Postcards to be sent off tomorrow as soon as I glaze them. This swap used cardboard boxes...who knew I'd find pizza on the back of a Kashi box!

And I've started a postcard bulletin board until I get my wall painted with magnetic paint.



Click the ON MY DESK button Kirsty made to see other players' desks. Look to your right --->

On my Desk...July 16

An early morning shot, just after 06:30, to do some work before it gets hot. Working on some swap postcards and last night two "Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip" cards printed with the wrong orientation...grrr. With an a.m. brain and a quiet house, I am going to redo some those two...in'shallah. I have an idea of how to tweak the 'mistakes' to use them up too.

The journal silently waits.



So for your patient reading, here is the recipe that will be on the back of the postcard. It really is simple, and oh so yummy.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 C. Texas Pete wing sauce (or other wing sauce/HOT Sauce)
3/4 C. blue cheese salad dressing

Mix all together, pour in baking dish, and heat at 350 until bubbly (20 to 30 minutes).

Friends of mine made this. They used low fat blue cheese and reduced fat cream cheese. It freaking ROCKED! (quote from original poster on GardenWeb)

There are more desks with creativity or the chaos that comes with creativity over at Kirsty's list. Go have a peep!

On My Desk...July 9

Not overjoyed with these postcards today as it appears that I brushed the ModgePodge on too thickly. I'm not sure if I'll redo them or not. I also want to get some heavier cardstock so that I don't have to double layer them. You 'do' and you learn, don't you?!?

The recipe template came from Smilebox and I wasn't overjoyed at the clarity of the printing. Anyone have a good recipe template to share? This is a SwapBot postcard exchange, Recipes starting with A. If I decide to continue in the alphabet series, I know I want a better template to work with. (btw, I don't like pastels so this is sooo unlike me. )

Look! I finally FOUND my iron!! I put it on the desk so it will be really visible for a while. Now go check out some other desks at Kirsty's.

On my desk...April 30

Lots of sunlight! Wow it's nice in the a.m. these days. I suspect I will be getting up by 6am or earlier now.

And other than sunlight?? items to go to the Post Office when they open. Postcards for a swap-bot exchange I joined. This Birthday Card swap needs some more people but it is not international. US readers? think about it.

There is also a package finally getting on its way to Australia. ;-)

And then there is the crinkly blotter....got wet one rainy pm, and I'll be glad to get to May tomorrow which still looks ok. Today I will be starting...god willin'....two postcards for a handmade pc swap. This one is international and I hope it will get my creative juices flowing. I have an idea to cobble/collage some extra pics I played around with for Christmas cards. Wish me luck! getting the idea from the head to the hands is quite a challenge I find.