Overwhelmed and Appreciative

Okay, so the Akron Reading Festival happened, and we gave away 3,288 bookcrossed books. Wow, right? So many wonderful people helped—people from all over the world sent books and people from all around the Akron area came to help out to work the festival (10 AM to 4 PM). So many wonderful people came, I met lots of awesome people and was touched by the fact that they all read. Reading really can build bridges and unite people.

So, now it’s time to turn this blog back into the crafty blog it was meant to be. I still have lots of things on my creative plate, but they’re getting done and I’m clearing some time to do more.

First off, I have a swap of a 2 page 12x12 layout that I’ve got to finish. I’ve made the first layout, but now I have 5 identical ones to do and send out on Friday. Then there’s stamp projects to do at Stamp Haven—which I can’t wait to do. And there’s always organizing a workspace and getting things taken care of in that way. My creative room has 274 less books in it (thanks to the festival), so I have a little more ‘wiggle’ room. YAY!

I also became a Fiskateer! Yay! Now I am proud to be Fiskateer #5674. What is a Fiskateer, you may ask? Well, a Fiskateer is a crafter who promises to spread the word about the awesome-ness of Fiskars (and by the way, they’re wonderful!)… I’m over simplifying everything, but if you want to learn more about them, please check out the site—www.fiskateers.com.

And now, drumroll please, I am honored to have received my first ever award for blogging on this blog! It’s called the ‘Your Blog is Fabulous Award’ and it was given to me by Anne, who is gracious and totally awesome in her own right. She’s always got really great blog posts that make you think and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve never met, but follow her online faithfully. You won’t regret a visit to her site. Thank you so much, Anne. This award is truly appreciated.

Your Blog is Fabulous Award:

To pick up the Your Blog is Fabulous Award:
List 5 addictions
Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog
Nominate 5 other blogs you think are fabulous
Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award
Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation

So, here are my 5 addictions:
1. Reading—Can it be called an addiction if I panic when I realize I forgot a book I was reading at home, or is it truly an addiction because I’ve stashed five others in various places as backups?
2. Writing—I just can’t seem to help myself. I want to be a writer when I grow up, people. I’m constantly working on a story or two and have scraps of paper (and notes on my smartphone) about plotpoints.
3. Creating—I LOVE stamps and inks and paper. To me, there are infinite possibilities when you add these to the mix, and I really hope that at some point I clear some time to do more…because I just bought a few stamps I’ve been eyeing for a while and I’m just itching to start playing around!
4. Twitter—I tweet, therefore I am. Yes, I twitter quite often. What’s Twitter? It’s telling the internet (in 140 character bursts) your thoughts. I follow a lot of people and love hearing their thoughts, but I also use it sometimes when I need to vent. Not about my creative friends, but about the non-creatives…
5. Chocolate Covered Strawberries—Okay, I love chocolate (Good chocolate people, not old ‘found in a drawer foil covered hearts from 4 years ago’) and added the chocolate covered strawberries because they’re fantastic. I can eat 2 or 3 and just smile with happiness.
So in order to get this award, I am to nominate 5 other blogs for the ‘Your Blog is Fabulous’ Award. Now, I’m not trying to be picky, but I just went to the five people who I thought best embodied the Award.
Gwensmom: Sarah is amazing. And one of the first people I got to share my creative side with (from Nervousness.org). This woman is a genius with found cloth as well as sewing machines. Her work inspires me and her felted catnip mice are still my cat’s favorite toys. And her daughter Gwen is beautiful and amazing--and a little bit of a rebel as well (check out the cellphone post!).
Emilie: A virtual celebrity in the scrapping world! She has such wonderful photos and layouts that reading her is like opening a Christmas present every day—there are always surprises. And she’s blogged about her awesome shoes, which is a plus in my book.
Elaine: Elaine and I used to work for the same company. We went to our first rubber stamping show together and she got me to knit. She’s one of my favorite people on the planet and she’s wonderfully gifted and 100% grounded. And her birthday is Saturday (Feb 14) so that’s probably another reason she’s so sweet and wonderful. Stop by and read her tasty recipes or check out the sneak peek at some of her newly developed products. She’s got some pieces that are sure to be at a store near you. And be sure to ask her about Crazy D’s… J
Kristin: I met Kristin through 2Peas, and reading her blog is very inspiring. She is detailing her creative journey and she’s taking risks that turn out amazingly and she’s showing pieces of her art journal that just floor me because I knew that if I attempted it, it wouldn’t turn out as well. She’s wonderful and you need to go tell her so!
Samantha: Another creative I met through TwoPeas, you may have heard of Samantha through her work on her fabulous site, The Everyday Scrapper. Her personal blog includes links to her etsy site as well as great pictures and videos of things featuring her fun style and spirit. She’s been influenced by Elsie, but Samantha’s work is all her own.

I hope you’ll stop by these blogs and say hello to these wonderful people (including Anne)—within seconds you’ll see why I include these under my ‘must check’ blogs of the day. They’re wonderful. And very deserving of recognition.
Again, thank you so much, Anne, for my very first award. I’m touched. You totally rock!

I came, I saw, I cleaned...

Right now I've been prepping for the Akron Reading Festival. Our bookgroup, the Rubber City Book Posse, is going to be giving away 1000 bookcrossed books to people and families from all around the NE Ohio area.

Last year we were able to give away about 627 books, and this year I anticipate even more books, possibly closer to 1500 books. There are a lot of things that are involved with getting books ready... I have to gather them, register them on the bookcrossing website and then label them and then place them in bins in order to transport them.

The good news is that I'm able to get rid of a bunch of books that have been in the spare room. My grandparents and my book buddy at work also donated close to 200 books, so that's in addition to a lot of mine. I hope I can come to the festival with at least 300 books, which should be no problem.

And while I'm cleaning up that room, I've been trying to get the desk and other stuff in place to actually have a usable workspace. I've converted the desk into a craft/writing table. I still have to go through the drawers, but that can wait. The little table is next to it (inherited from family) and I was able to put my Expression on that table and plug it in. Now it has a dedicated spot.
I have my stamps in a big container just under the table and a tote full of supplies next to it. I have a lot of stuff that still needs to be organized, but that can wait until after the festival.
It'll be cool to have a dedicated place, I want to spend more time this year reading, writing and scrapping/cardmaking.

Creative to do list

1. Finish 12 x 12 Basic Gray Layout
take a picture
make 5 more layouts
send off to PO on Friday, Feb 6

2. Clean off desk and make a scrap space (also room for Cricut)

3. Die cut for festival

4. Die cut for Etsy store

5. Get supplies together and list nonessential supplies on etsy

6. Show off my Minibook for the Minibook Challenge on TwoPeas (may end up as a video because my camera isn't cooperating).

Musings on a Fellow Blogger's post...

It started out as just a little question--one sentence from Anne.

I'd love to hear from you, too: how have you been encouraged and nurtured as an artist?

And it continued as an internal dialogue that has made me rethink things. See, a few years ago I started writing novels in November. I'd always been a voracious reader and my need of pens and paper and labels and all manner of things was legend at home.

When other kids asked for barbies, I asked for a legal pad or a book. Now, I got that barbie too, because my parents (I'm talking my mom and (step)dad didn't think it was cool to just get paper or pens or office supplies for presents.

I went to career day in jeans and a sweater and when people asked 'What are you?' I said, 'I'm a writer, or maybe a lawyer, but mostly a writer working from home.' *Yes, I've never been able to give a short answer, even at 11*

And when I told my parents what I was trying to accomplish, I remember my dad laughing, "What do you want to do that for?" and I will admit it stung. After all, we're always trading book lists and talking about weird books. My mom was just like 'Oh' I mean, she tried to be supportive in college, but I think it was always just 'okay give me what you wrote.' We didn't talk about it.

Surprisingly, my biggest cheering team in the writer arena was my father and continues to be. He always asks how the writing is going, and now, because I rarely have time, I have to admit that it's not going as well as I'd hoped. That I want to get some time and feel like a writer and produce something worthwhile and go through the submissions again.

And it's just not happening because there's so much to be done. Cleaning up, getting things ready for the festival, organizing a work area/scrap space... And with work, I just want to go home and sleep. Maybe it's a nasty case of the doldrums or maybe there's a fear inside that I'm afraid to show--that for the first time I might try something, put my all into it and not accomplish it. Normally I don't try, and I'm still okay... But what if I fail at something I really want?

This became too much of a downer too quickly and for that I'm sorry. But the moral of the story is this: If you really want to do something, do it. Life is too short to live with regret.

Now, onto trying to listen to my own advice!
I have a music player below my current posts. And I challenge you to take a listen to the first song. You have to select it and then press play (I decided not to have it playing automatically, because it's a pretty loud song)... It's a song that I think really tipifies my creative journey, it's called 'The Middle' and it's by Jimmy Eat World. I remember buying this cd when I was in college, and I can't help but smile every time I hear it.

And when you have a minute, stop by and check it out!

Nerdiness!!!

I got a Cricut Expression (with Plantan Schoolhouse) and a Storybook cartridge. Yay!
So now I just have to figure out how to use the darn thing, LOL....

It's...So...Cool!

And once the reading festival is over, I'm dedicating more time to knitting and scrafting.
Yay!

Decisions, random verbals ahead.

Sometimes I feel like I'm too scrappy for my non-scrap friends and too non-scrappy for my scrap friends... Does anyone else ever feel this way?

For example, I was thinking of getting a Cricut from the boyfriend for Christmas, but I only wanted the expression and I definitely wanted the Storybook cartridge and Hello Kitty Greetings. CustomCrops.com will allow you to pick cartridges (but not hello kitty) to add for no additional charge (unless you order a premium/Disney one), but the BF is pushing for a locally bought Cricut, or a smaller one.

I like the functionality of the bigger one, but I hate the price. I understand that it will save me money in the long run (I can cut alphas versus buying them, and if I get a few other carts that have shapes then I won't have to try and cut those out by hand), but at the same time I just don't know if it's a feasible option.

I could be buying a camera (not a big one, just $150 tops) to replace the one that's currently hating me and focus more on pictures. Or I could just say forget it and not treat myself... Eeek!

Wonderful Giveaway opportunity

A fellow 'Pea is giving away an AMAZING kit, Project 365. Happy Daisy will be drawing a name from her entries tomorrow, Saturday January 10th to win this amazing and wonderful kit which sold out from the CK website soon after it was made available.
The kit includes:
•1 12x12 D-ring binder
•54 12x12 specially divided page protectors--four 6" x 4" slots and four 3" x 4" slots on each side
•399 3" x 4" journaling cards--21 designs, 19 of each design
•60 4.25" tri-fold journaling cards--4 designs, 15 of each
•60 4"x 6" header cards--12 designs, 5 of each
•60 2.8" x 3.8" footer cards--12 designs, 5 of each
•8 4" x 6" decorative title cards
•8 4" x 6" decorative end title cards
•12 12" x 12" decorative cardstock--6 designs, 2 of each•25 4" x 6" transparent overlays--5 designs, 5 of each
•12 3" x 12.5" monthly divider tabs
•27 days of the week cardstock sheets--378 total stickers
•11 days of the week cardstock sheets for journaling cards--429 total stickers
•2 yards ribbon--two designs, 1 yard of each
•2 4" x 6" decorative boxes to hold journaling cards
•1 date stamp

This kit is the perfect way to start the new year, it gives you a challenge to get some amazing photos and start working on journalling and getting into the habit of working on memorializing things. Too often, we get so busy we forget the little things and sometimes our most favorite things (like scrapping that awesome trip or that special event), fall to the wayside.

Be sure to check out Happy Daisy's site and enter for your chance to win this wonderful kit!