#1571 at Kathi's Corner

Hi friends! I have determined that spring is not my favorite season. Instead causing a surge of energy that results in a flurry of positive activities, spring fever knocks me into a hole that is dark and kind of hard to climb to climb out of.

Yup. With no mojo and little ambition, I have been in a funk these past few weeks.

No. My life has not been all bad. In fact, aspects of it have been wonderful, as my family and I have celebrated birthdays (Mathias turned six on April 11 with Grandpa turning 62 the very next day), Easter, and most recently, Mother's Day. It's all good in the family department, and there is not a day that goes by that I don not realize how truly blessed I am.

My funk has had more to do with expectations. With the new job I started in January, I anticipated a lot more time to get things done not taking into consideration I am no spring chicken and that staying up all night three days a week might leave me weary for a day or two or three... LOL. Kinda. Management, too, messed with the process and deemed quantity to be more important than quality. For a perfectionist who deems to do more than take mediocre photos of electronic components, the changes have not exactly been embraced. Thus, I'm not loving this new job that is leaving me feeling like I've been run over by a semi on Saturdays.

OK. So I have realized that, all things considered, I am not going to make great strides with regard to some of the things I want to do. Rather, I will have to settle for baby steps. That will be alright just so long as I keep moving forward.

Now about this blog. You know how it's fun to change things up a little once in a while? Well, due to the way this blog is configured and changes Blogger has made over the course of the past couple of years, I cannot make the alterationsI want to make without going through 1,570 posts and resizing the photographs. Ugh! And I'm not gonna do it! Instead, I am moving and invite you to visit me at Paper Past Times, Etc. (www.kathicarlson.blogspot.com).

If you follow me here (via My Followers or Google Reader), I hope you will follow me there and let me know what you think of the new look/format. You will notice the new blog is much simpler - no muss, fuss, side bars, or stat counters. It suits what I want to do, which is simply to share what I can when I can.

Are you with me? I hope so, because I'm back with you and anxious to resume visiting and commenting on your posts. I've missed you.

Oh, and I made a card today! You can see it here.




 

Night Owl Here…

Thank you so much for your oh-so-sweet comments on my last post. Having been such a lousy blogger for the past couple of weeks, I didn’t expect ‘em.

Here is a card I made last week with new stamps from Flourishes. While I saw so many lovely cards made with this set (here and here and here), it was this gorgeous card that made this set irresistible to me. That sweet nest – I couldn’t help myself.

This one was colored with a waterbrush and ink from my ink pads.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Olive, and Stampin’ Up Crumb Cake cardstock; Passages paper packet; Black, Olive, Garden Green, Heavenly Blue, Desert Sand, Brown Bag, Chocolate, Stampin’ Up Crumb Cake, and Tim Holtz/Ranger Antique Linen Distressing Ink stamp pads; Flourishes Spring Has Sprung and Stampendous Pattern Trio stamp sets; CTMH Speckled Background stamp (retired); Garden Green mini brads; Ecru crochet lace and olive twill ribbon from reasonableribbon.com; waterbrush; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; Foam texture tool.

A Slice of Life: I had a fun afternoon with my Mom. We went out for lunch and then did some shopping. I finally found a pair of jeans that fit better than any of the others I currently own. What is it with all the “low rider” jeans these days. Fine for 18-year-olds maybe, but I don’t think the crack of a 57-year-old’s backside is very becoming. LOL. Tonight, I am trying to get my mind wrapped around the idea of going back to work tomorrow evening. I hope things are straightened out from the end of last week. Management couldn’t leave a good thing alone and decided to make some procedural changes in the way we get the parts we photograph. Things didn’t work out at all on Friday night, which was very frustrating, so I am hoping they have either worked the kinks out of the new process or have gone back to the way things were done previously.

For now, I am off to bed with hopes of sleeping a little later into the day. I hope yours is a happy Hump Day! Take care, and thanks for stopping by.

Don’t Get the Wrong Idea

The theme of my card has nothing to do with my absence from the blogosphere even though we have had a bit of a run on sympathy cards around here recently. It feels like one of those “You know you are getting old when …” type things. Not really funny … but kind of. Certainly nothing one can do anything about. 

Having made this card almost two weeks ago, I’m struggling to remember the details. One thing: I used the
“Saran Wrap” technique to add texture to the Kraft/Crumb Cake base. This technique amounts to a wadded up piece of plastic wrap used like a stamp. The result is a suede look that I love. The image was colored with Copics. One more thing: None of the cardstock colors I have coordinated very well with my image so I used a Copic to color around the edge of a piece of Colonial White cardstock and used that for my mat. One last thing: I mounted my matted image to my card using foam tape. I guess I remembered more than I thought I did. LOL.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Stampin’ Up Crumb Cake cardstock; Black, Olive, Stampin’ Up Crumb Cake, and Tim Holtz/Ranger Antique Linen Distressing Ink stamp pads; Copic markers; Stampin’ Up Elements of Style and Impression Obsession Sympathy Sentiments stamp sets; CTMH Speckled Background stamp (retired); KaiserKraft pearl accents; Ecru crochet lace from reasonableribbon.com; Sponge texture tool; 3M foam mounting tape.

A Slice of Life: And here I thought the new job with the new hours would give me more time for stamping and blogging. It’s not working out that way. For one thing, working while everyone else sleeps means I need to sleep when the rest of the world is awake for three days. That is not as easy as I thought it would be, and I am experiencing two, if not three, days of what feels like jetlag (or better said, kinda like I’ve been run over by a truck). I am not complaining but rather love the job and the hours. It’s just that I am not as perky as I thought I would be on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. As for Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays until 7 pm, I have been trying to be more domestic, getting my house in order and spending more time with my family. I’ve also expanded my horizons a bit, exploring different crafts and picking up on an old past time or two. As for time, I still don’t have as much as I would like and probably wouldn’t if I were retired. Should I live long enough to do all of the things I want to do. Sigh… LOL.

I hope this post finds you healthy, happy, and enjoying spring. In the weather department, we have had a few nice days interspersed with some lousy ones. Typical “spring” in the frozen tundra where Mother Nature is usually kind of slow to make up her mind. With a few cards in my “bank” that I haven’t shown you yet, I am hoping to be back soon. In the meanwhile, take care and have a good week. It was good to “see” you again!

You Make Me Smile

Here is my take on FTL #132 as featured recently on the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. The image was colored with Copics – more than once. What is with the inked up sentiment stamps I am dropping on almost-finished cards these days? It’s like the stamping gods are testing my patience and/or perseverance. LOL.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy cardstock; Doodlebug Design Black Eyelet patterned paper; Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad; R24, R29, YG3, and C1 Copic markers; Penny Black Gossamer stamp; Hero Arts Thinking of You stamp set; Red/white gingham ribbon from Wal-Mart; Button from my stash; Close To My Heart Licorice Opaques.

A Slice of Life: Hello! I hope this post finds you healthy, happy, and enjoying the first days of spring. I’m doing OK with regard to happy and healthy but have yet to enjoy spring – much. Currently, Mother Nature must think the inhabitants of the frozen tundra need one more blast of winter in the form of a gigantic snowstorm. While the precipitation has not yet arrived, the forecasters keep saying its coming. Ugh!

The past few days have been busy. We had three overnight guests on Saturday night – the grandkids – which made for a fun evening and Sunday when the “big kids” turned up here, too. Yesterday, I pretty much spent the day recuperating from the weekend and my funky workweek. Today, I had lunch with Mom and did some shopping. Tomorrow evening, it’s back to work. Bummer.

Speaking of “bummer,” there is so much going on in the world right now, I don’t think the media knows what the heck to report. Surely, they are not telling much in the way of good news. Much of it is depressing. Some of it is scary, and we hear much, much  more about the people who are doing bad things than we do about the activities of good folks. I find that sad, because regardless of how wild and crazy the world appears to be, I maintain that most people are good people – ordinary people living ordinary lives – people like you and me.

I have met a lot of good people and wonderful friends through stamping and this blog. One of those special people is my friend, Jeanne, who took the time to email me and offer encouraging words – in a way that only she can do – when my blog was young.

Last week, I mentioned a surprise in my mailbox. It was a package from Jeanne that contained this wonderful cross-stitched birth sampler for baby Mari. I was as touched by this beautiful gift as I was by the breathtakingly gorgeous afghan and hat that Jeanne made and sent in January. While I consider myself to be reasonably good with words, I stumble as I try to describe the beauty of these keepsakes and what they mean to me – what Jeanne means to me.

In the card that accompanied the sampler, Jeanne noted the joy she derived from making it as she thought of me spending time with my new granddaughter. I believe that to be true, as she is clearly one who derives joy in using her many talents to bring happiness to others. I am so blessed to be one of the recipients of her goodness and generosity. This is one of those times when “thank you” doesn’t seem like enough. Nevertheless, it’s all that I have. Dustin, Miranda, Mari, and I thank you, Jeanne, from the bottom of our hearts.

If you are still with me, thank you for stopping by my little corner of the blogosphere. Whether it’s posting or visiting other blogs, I haven’t been around nearly as much as I would like to be lately. So much to do… So little time… and seemingly less now that I have more. Whoa. Figure that sentence out. What I am trying to say is that I have a lot going on right now. My hope is that life settles down a bit one of these days and I find more time to show up here on a regular basis. In the meanwhile, take care. Hope to “see” you soon!

Friendship

"… Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world."-- John Evelyn. There. I saved you from having to read the fine print. The quote is so true.

When making this card, I kind of wished I had a punch or die that cuts waves. When I made this card, I was wishing for a die or punch that cuts grass. In both cases, I used what I have – a pair of scissors for the grass on the other card and a punch that creates gentle waves for this one. The specific punches or dies would be nice, but what I have worked, and sometimes, it is rather satisfying to simply “make do.”

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Holiday Red, and Pacifica cardstock; Black and Sky ink pads; Copic markers; Verve Stamps Text Objects; Red mini brads; Cloud stencil; EK Success border punch; Sponge texture tool.

A Slice of Life: Marv picked up Bjorn and Mathias after school today and brought them here until their dad finished work. They were sporting the green St. Patrick’s Day T-shirts I got them. While Marv was fetching them, I hid 20 “gold” coins in the living room and kitchen, which, once they found them, were redeemed for dollar bills. They thought the treasure hunt was great fun. It was nice to have a couple of hours with them.

The hours sped by at work last night. We were busy. I anticipate more of the same tonight. And as “tonight” begins in a little more than a half hour, I had best get my stuff together and make my way across town. Whether you are Irish or not, I hope your St. Patrick’s Day was a good one. Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back soon.

Just Saying Hi …

… With a simple masculine card.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Black cardstock; Graphic 45 Communiqué Collection; Black and Ranger/Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distressing Ink stamp pads; Hero Arts Just Saying Hi stamp set; Black velvet ribbon from reasonableribbon.com; Black button brads and photo clips; Sponge texture tool; Cricut w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set;3M foam mounting tape.

A Slice of Life: I’m late for Tuesday and early for Wednesday. Go figure. Yesterday, I had lunch with Mom after which we hit Wal-Mart and then the grocery store. When I got home, there was a wonderful surprise in my mailbox – something I will tell you about in the next day or two. Today, I have a few things I want to get done before going bowling and then to work. Thursday and Friday, I don’t anticipate doing anything more than working and sleeping and trying to maintain my good humor. LOL. I do hope I am not too tired on Saturday. We’re going to have three little houseguests for the night. It should be fun. 

Enjoy your Wednesday. I’ll be seeing you again soon.

With Sympathy

After having turned this card into a sympathy card last week, I decided to make another that was something like it to have on hand. This one turned out a bit on the feminine side, however, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but will be a determining factor with regard to how I use it.

The image was stamped with VersaMark, embossed with white embossing powder, and colored with a blending pen, using inks from various stamp pads.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Olive, and Stampin’ Up Crumb Cake cardstock; White Daisy Pigment, VersaMark, Baby Pink, Blush, Hollyhock, Garden Green, Olive, and Dutch Blue stamp pads; White embossing powder Hero Arts Flower Bird Garden and Leaf Cluster stamps; Impression Obsession Sympathy Sentiments stamp sets; Dove blending pen.

A Slice of Life: How was your day? I had a great day, crossing a few items of the bottomless “to do” list and enjoying a visit from Dustin, Miranda, and Mari early this evening. Have I told you lately that little Mari is the sweetest little thing I’ve ever laid eyes on? LOL. Yes, Grandma is smitten. Grandpa, too. She was propped in the crook of his knee for this photo. and evidently, she thinks he is a pretty funny guy.

I did some stamping today, too, and am happy to say I have something prepared for every day this week. No more sloughing off. LOL.

Tonight, I am tired and am about to do the sensible thing – go to bed. I hope your Tuesday is terrific. “See” you again then.

One More …

Here is another really simple card made using the big Stencil Flower stamp. The only thing I can think of to say is that Close To My Heart’s Sky is about the prettiest blue I have ever laid my eyes on.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Sky cardstock; Black and White Daisy Pigment ink pads; Hero Arts Stencil Flower stamp and Truly Appreciated stamp set.

A Slice of Life: Good morning! How was your weekend? Ours was quiet and restful. As for what I am still doing up at 2 am, I am not certain. Maybe the past couple of days have been too restful. That said, I really should go to bed, so I can get up tomorrow and do something, so I have something to talk about. LOL.

I should say, too, that I wish you a wonderful week. And, as always, thanks for stopping by!