My new craft space...(sneak peek) + new cards!!

    Brrr!!!  Was I ever chilly when I work up today!   I can already tell that winter is starting to creep in and fr this girl, that's not fun -- I LOVE Summer and dread the long cold and gray days of Winter! UGH!!   We even had our first "Freeze" warning last night we all know, it's get a LOT colder before the warmth of Spring return here in New England!   Some day, I hope I never have to endure cold winters and would LOVE to be heading to a warmer year round climate, right about now!!  But, we need to wait for Hubby to retire and still have some time to go!!   On a happy note, it's a sunny day today and I'm happy to savor every moment of the warm sunshine!  Especially when the forecast for the rest of this week is "Rain".... and rain is never good me!   It's hard on Fibro and achy joints and  my pups are terrible about going outside to do their "business" when it's rainy!  Something "Dachshunds" are well known for -- they do NOT like wet feet, especially cold wet feet!

    I guess the good thing is that all this "indoor" time will give me more time to create and also continue the move into my new room!  I'm doing it little by little and try to spend at least some time "every day" moving more things in or organizing what I have!   I am slowly making progress and if things go well, I may just have my old room 'cleared out' by the end of the week.   And because it's taking so long, I though I would start sharing some updated pics of who the move is going!   This first picture was taken in my "old" room and was taken the morning that we started the "move".  As you can see we had a LOT to get moved and I also have the huge task of completing a major purge and also totally re-organizing all of my craft supplies.  My new room is smaller, but that's okay with me, as I really do HAVE to much, as do many of my fellow "crafty" friends.  And everyone who does eventually scale back, is also happier.  It's not nearly as overwhelming and it's MUCH easier to find and USE what you love!

    As you can easily see by the first picture -- I had a LOT to move and purge!!    NOTE:  Happily I donated several boxes of supplies to one of my favorite Dachshund Rescues "Little Paws", who held their annual fundraising yard sale this past Saturday!   Happily, they have now raised over $1000, all for the doggies and every thing they sold was donated!   YAY!!

My "Old" craft space!!

Overflowing !

This is my new "Craft Space"  

Before, we started moving things in!

   As you can see even from this one angle, this room is nice and sunny and offers a lot more light!  I also love the nice 'old' Pine floors!   I was so excited the morning I took this picture!  It was the day the "move" began!!

  It's come a LONG way since this day!  All my "IKEA" furniture is now moved in, as well as my work desk and my computer desk and about 80% of my supplies!  I am already out of space, so it's NOW the big decision time and that's why I'm taking it slow and continue to toss things and put things aside that I'll donate!  !   I have a LOT done and still have more to do, but will definitely share more pictures, very soon!   

    Today, I did quite a bit organizing in the morning and then hit my craft desk for a fun-filled afternoon of cardmaking.  I completed four new cards today and I'm happily sharing each one with you now.    My first card was inspired by the newest challenge over at "Addicted to CAS" where our code word is "Vellum".  

  I knew right away that I wanted to stamp on Vellum and also heat-emboss my image.  It's a trend I'm seeing more and more of lately and I really love how it looks!   The hardest part for me, is choose which "Stamp" to use, especially since I feel like I have a huge new Stash, after finding so many favorites that were kind of buried in my old room.   I chose this wonderful "new retired" Wire Star from Hero Arts and it's one bought in 2012!  If you love the style, then you'll be happy to know there are two newer versions, still available, including this beauty "Big Star", which I also own and love. Once I had my stamp, I went to work on the card and quickly inked it up with Versamark and stamped it onto a sheet of Vellum.  

    Next, was choosing what color embossing powder and I picked a fun new one I bought over the weekend at my LSS.  It's one of my first bottles of the popular WOW brand of Glitter embossing powder and this one is called "Vintage Champagne"!  A very pretty combo of white powder with clear and gold glitter!   Fabulous and one I know I'll use often, ow that i have it!   Once I had my star all embossed, I decided to add a hint of color and covered it with Ranger's Lilac Ink, a favorite for me.   I then cut it out using my dies, and also cut a second larger star from some Purple Polka dotted paper.  I added my Vellum star on top of that piece and added it to a piece of white cardstock which I embossed with this new "On Point" embossing folder, which is from Stampin' Up!   I used foam tape to add that panel to my pretty "purple" cardbase and stamped on this cute little "Twinkle Twinkle" sentiment, from Studio Calico!  Its' actual a free set that I received for signing up in Lisa Spangler's "Send Joy" Card Class!   Super cute !!   

    I was very happy with the "Vellum" card and it reminded me of how much Vellum can add to a project!  I plan to use it even more in the next few weeks!!

   My next card of the day, is my card for the brand new "Muse Challenge"!   After almost being too late for last week's challenge, this week I'm done very early --- the first day!   And it was a lot of fun because the Muse Card was so inspiring and just happened to feature a die that I have owned for ages, but don't ever recall using - (hanging my head in shame)....how many things do YOU own that you have yet to use?   Me --- too many, but with my new plan, that should soon be a thing of the past! Wish me luck!   Hubby to me that I should only buy new things if I am getting rid of something older - something he does with his tools and such.   Good idea, I might add, but he's far more stringent then I'm sure I will be.   He said it keeps him from spending too much and keeps his cellar neat and organized!  I'm going to give it a try...(soon)!!  It's hard with all the new Holiday goodies, but its' a NEW goal that I want and NEED to work on!!

Marion's Muse Card

My Card

  I am so happy that I finally put this die to use and it's a beauty, called "Sunshine" and is one of the many exclusives from Simon Says Stamp.  It was so great to see it used this week and that's just one more reason, why I LOVE challenges.   I totally changed my card to a simple "Hello" them and chose a color them or Teal and Aqua.  Hope you like it and hope the "Muse" team will too!!   Thanks to Marion for getting me to use another product that i had never touched!  Yay!!

  My next card also featured another fun SSS exclusive die and this one is one that I think is perfect for more Christmas Cards and since that's my goal, since I am creating the for card drives, I thought I would continue making some more today!  I also used some of the "scraps" left over from my card above and put together this sweet card, which I am entering into the new "Anything Goes" 

challenge over at the SSS Monday Challenge !

  This turned out to be another card that I love and one that I do think I'll re-create in different colors.  I love the teal and white, but think it could work in pretty much any color combo an with a variety of sentiments, including the other three stamps that are part of the wonderful "Winter Wonders" set that I just LOVE -- by Hero Arts!    It's a set I've used quite a bit lately and will continue to do so!  The font is amazing - Kudos to Heather Ruwe, the gal who's amazing handwriting inspired this set  :)

 I will also be sharing this over the the new "Simon Says Stamp" Flickr Group, that I happily now belong too!   They are now hosting challenges there too!  Come on over and meet the group!!!

  And now moving on to my last card for today, which is another card that all started with one of the adorable "Art Pad" images from Lili of the Valley!   I simply picked out this sweet little "Bear" family image and then using a Circle Die, cut it into a circular shape and layered it onto a larger circle die cut from the my new "Fave" Christmas papers - Snow Day from Lawn Fawn.  I used the same paper set to create to banners that I placed behind the circles and added them all to a Hero Arts notecard, another of my favorite products, which are really handy to have when you are making lots of cards!   Love them and we have a ton of great colors over at the a2z Scrapbooking Store!!

   I have a question for you all and its' about the "We R Memory Keeper's"  Evolution  Machine, in particular this new bundle which is being sold on HSN.  One of the gals in the card class I took at my LSS on Saturday, had recently bought this, (I believe with it was the deal of the day) and she LOVED it and said it's going to replace her Cuttlebug and Big Shot, plus also now allows her to do Letterpress, which she also raved about.   She also loved how it has "dials" which can be set for each cut or embossing, so that you get the perfect cut every time !   While I have not tried Letterpress (at least not yet), it does interest me and this bundle does seem like a great price for all it includes?  I'm really tempted to order this, especially since it's still available at a good price and also offering the option of "three" payments - (Evil Pay), as I call it because it makes the purchases easier and you dish out less money.  I also could return it, and only have one payment invested and that's what is even more enticing?  But, do I really NEED this and will I use it?   I could easily and happily donate my older machine to charity, but want to hear from someone I know who has this, uses it and can tel my your "honest" opinion!  Here's a picture of the bundle and this is a link to HSN, where there are also videos!   Please tell me more, if you can and/or if it's something you might ask Santa to bring YOU for Christmas -- that's my thought??

Thanks everyone!  Have a wonderful night!!