One Little Word 2nd Page

I am an art journaler!  Ok, that might be jumping the gun just a little bit, but I have now done 2 pages in a row for this OLW project with paint on them, without pictures, and with relatively thoughtful writing.  That's all it takes.  Right?  I'll be the first to admit that my pages aren't as messy and free flowing as most of the art journal pages that I see, but what can I say?  I'm a non-conformist...Actually, maybe I'm too much of a conformist to do anything like the lovely things that these people are creating.  So here's my second page

I might just be over using that butterfly punch, but I like it.  It doesn't look so great in the picture, but the journaling is on a white paper doily that was colored using distress ink followed by antique gold perfect pearls, so it has a sheen that you can't see in the picture.  

The journaling is about how difficult it is to focus on self improvement when I'm still only a few weeks postpartum.  It's not always easy to distinguish between when I'm engaging in meaningful introspection, and when I'm just beating myself up over things I can't change.  I added another journaling card behind this page with a string to pull it out.  I'm challenging myself to dwell on 3 of my favorite memories when I get caught in a destructive thought pattern: 1) My wedding ceremony: we laughed through the whole thing; 2) The first time Lilah said, "I love you;" and 3) Catching Michaela's first smile on camera.  How do you keep your thoughts positive, when you're not feeling the best about yourself?

Michaela's first smile.

No more hoarding!

I have resolved to use my stash this year.  That isn't to say that I won't buy anything new at all, but scrapbooking often seems like a hoarders' hobby.  Kind of like Warhammer, but I digress.  Like every other scrapbooker out there, I have a bunch of beautiful papers that I've had for years because I just can't bring myself to use them for fear that I'll ruin them.  No more! I'm going to use all of this stuff I've got lying around.  That's what I bought it for after all...Isn't it?  Most of my pages last year were digital because I didn't have time or inclination to get out my supplies, but also because my craft room was next door to my daughter's bedroom. She just wouldn't sleep if I was in the next room working.  Now, my craft space is in the basement family room, so I can sit there and work while my husband is playing video games  or while my daughter is playing with her toys.  Another serious benefit is that I don't have to schlep supplies to the dining room anymore.  All my stuff can stay at my table, and I can leave projects out to work on until I'm done.  No more clearing up for dinner!  Well, not clearing up craft supplies anyway.  I made two more cards that I have to show you.  The first is the same design as the smile card from a few days ago.  I just swapped out the paper an stamp, an I wrote a different word.  Other than that, it's exactly the same, not having to think about the design meant that it only took 8 minutes. I know this because I recorded it, thinking I would post a video to youtube.  I'm not quite ready for video editing yet, I'm afraid.  The second card is a thank you card.  The butterfly tag is another one from the same BasicGrey element pack that I used before.  I did the scalloped border using my American Crafts knock outs border bunch.  Distress ink and letter die cuts and that's it. What do you think?  Any suggestions about what kind of card I should make next?

Cardmaking

I know that there is a lot of overlap between the scrapbooking and the cardmaking communities, but I haven't made very many cards.  I think it's mostly because when I sit down to make a scrapbook page from scratch, I start with the photos and/or story that I want to document.  Somehow, that makes it easier to come up with a design.  When I look at a blank card, I'm just not sure where to start.  That being said, I received a 50 pack of blank, plain white greeting cards and envelopes in my stocking this year, and it seems a shame to let all that go to waste.   I decided to sit down and try to make one for the first time today.  Here's the result:

I started with a group of blue glitter letter stickers and a multicolored chevron paper I had in my stash. I inked the edges of the paper with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  I had used the letter sheet a couple of times before, so I had to use a little bit of scrabble logic to figure out what word I should put on the card.  I settled on smile, and thought that the butterfly stamp in a nice blue Studio G pigment ink would work well.  The small butterflies were punched out of white cardstock that I distressed using Distress Ink in Broken China, Peeled Paint, and Vintage Photo. I bent them in the middle so they would pop of the page a little and adhered them with Studio G glitter glue. It's not terribly exciting, but not a bad firs attempt.  What do you think?  Are you a scrapbooker that is intimidated by cardmaking or vice versa?