I L-O-V-E to organize! I will happily plop down in the middle of a giant mess and methodically sort everything into it's proper place. (As love as I don't have to clean it, too!)

So as one of my 30 days of creativity, I created a new organizational system for some of my paper that's been getting away from me. I like to buy pads of paper to work with - it gives me lots of paper that already looks good together, it usually comes with some solid or near-solid papers so I don't have to buy extra, and they always have really fun designs! I especially like 5x7 pads. For some reason, they don't intimidate me and it's usually just the perfect size and amount for full sets of cards.

After buying (and using) many of these 5x7 pads, I was having trouble keeping them together and visible enough that I would still use them. I needed to be able to see them all, I needed to be able to get them out easily, I needed to be able to keep papers from one pad together, even after they had been pulled out and even cut up, and I needed the solution to be cheap and cute!

And here's what I came up with:

I got this basket/bin from Target for about $5 (I actually got 2, the other one holds cd cases of acrylic stamps) and the 5x7 pads fit perfectly in it! I knew I needed some way to separate the sets from each other and keep them self-contained, so I cut up regular file folders and put the sets of paper in them - another perfect fit!

And to keep the patterns in the pads visible, I tore off the front cover of each of them and attached it to the inside of the file folder so I could see at a glance what I have to work with.

I like this system because it's easy to maintain, it's flexible, it's easily added to when I get more paper, and it's cute! I kind of want to make the same type of thing for all the 8x8 pads I have, but right now, they are easily accessible in a clean magazine holder, so we'll see if I ever need to change that. Besides, the file folders wouldn't stick up far enough like these do.

Let me know what you think of my new system! Do you have a paper-organizing system that works for you! Please share, I could always use more ideas!

Happy Creating!

Hmm... which first; the announcement or the creativity?

Announcement!

This week, I will be a part of a 12-day giveaway extravaganza on Linny's Vault! (Check out her adorable button over in the right column on this page.) I am so excited because Lin first contacted me about a month ago because she saw my Etsy site and liked what she saw. She wanted to feature my store for one of her days of giveaways in celebration of her blog's one year anniversary. A Blog-o-versary! Of course I said yes!

I've been working hard this last month to get some new stuff up in my store and get this site up and functional. My giveaway is on Friday, June 18 (also my husband's birthday!!!), so if you are coming from Linny's Vault, welcome!

Which leads me to my creativity for the day.

I made some gift card holders. They are a card and a gift in one! (as soon as you put a gift card inside, that is!)

Cute, right? I just pulled out a bunch of paper and started putting things together. I had a lot of fun working with such a small project.

So I'm really excited for this coming week. What are you looking forward to?

Happy Creating!

I find that on days I don't have to work, it's hard to get up the momentum to start working on anything. Most of the time I get some little thing cleaned, or I create something, if I'm in the mood. But it's very hard to post here for some reason. I don't know why - I like creating things, I like taking photos of my creations, I like sharing myself and my creations with the world.

That being said, I am in the middle of a 4-day weekend, so we'll see how my writing goes. I'm hoping I can keep the momentum going because I'm posting today, and it's going to be a triple-day post.

#30DaysofCreativity Day 10:
I did post about this, but my 10th day of creativity was spent planning out some photos for the June Photo Challenge over at Photohuntchallenges.com.
I spent some time thinking about all the 20 items and where I could possibly go to take photos of all these things. I don't have anything tangible for this day, but I feel I did some good creative groundwork for a large creative endeavor.

#30DaysofCreativity Day 11:
Because I was so inspired by my previous day of photo planning, I took out my camera again and took some more photos. I set up my tripod and took photos of my beautiful cat, held captive by sleep in his spot next to my desk.

Isn't he cute?

#30DaysofCreativity Day 12:
I went back to my scrapbook desk today and made a mini book from old photos and paper. I used one of those fold-out wallet inserts that people use for photos of their kids. I filled it with people (and animals) I love.

Here's a gallery of the whole thing:

So there we are. All caught up. I have some exciting news coming soon, but I will share that next week. You'll just have to come back to see what it is!!!

Happy Creating!

I've decided to add another project for the month of June.

A fellow scrapbooker and blogger, Kristi, has a monthly photo challenge and I decided to join the June 2010 one!

Here's the list of items for June:

1. Hilarious Out-Takes
2. Creative Crop
3. Sun Flare
4. Sweet Dreams
5. Work
6. Play
7. Cookout/Picnic
8. Transportation
9. Money/Currency
10. A Fountain
11. A Night Scene
12. B&W with Selective Coloring
13. Something Old
14. Something New
15. Something Borrowed
16. Something Blue
17. Something Musical
18. Something Purple
19. Something Yellow
20. Something Scenic

Interested in joining the challenge for yourself? Visit Photohuntchallenges.com for complete details and a chance to see and vote on the photos once the month is over.

I will be posting my photos here at the end of the month, so come back then to see them! I'm excited and nervous and inspired!

Happy Creating!

While I was driving to work this morning, a very annoying new song came on the radio, but instead of changing the station, I started making up my own lyrics. And when I heard it again on my drive home, I had almost finished re-writing the chorus!

What was this annoying song? Katy Perry's "California Girls". I know some of you probably like that song, and that's fine, but I find it annoying. Here's a video with the lyrics if you don't know the song I'm talking about. (The music video isn't out yet, so lyric videos are all that I could find)

Beware, it's catchy!

Chorus lyrics:

California girls, we’re unforgettable.
Daisy Duke, bikinis on top
Sun-kissed skin so hot we’ll melt your popsicle.
Oh- - - - - - - - - -
 
California girls we’re undeniable.
Fine, fresh, fierce, we got it on lock.
West coast represent, now put your hands up.
Oh - - - - - - - - - -

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And now: My new lyrics, special for MINNESOTA GIRLS!!!

Minnesota girls, we’re unforgettable.
Big snow boots, and parkas on top
Bright white snow so cold it's like a popsicle.
Eh- - - - - - - - - -
 
Minnesota girls we’re undeniable.
Ya! You betcha, we got a pot luck.
Midwest represent, now put your gloves on.
Eh - - - - - - - - - -

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So, what do you think? Play the video again and sing the new words - catchy, right? I'm going to be singing my new lyrics every time I hear that song on the radio!

I had a lot of fun stretching my creative muscles on this one today.

Happy creating!

It has been raining here today. All day. And when it finally stopped, I took the opportunity to grab my camera and take some photos of the rain-soaked world.

Click on the first photo to open the gallery of photos I took today.

I love the deep, rich greens. I also love the select focus and blurred backgrounds. I've been working hard lately on getting just the right settings for my camera to get the photos I want. I barely had to fix these photos, mostly just cropping!

I also took a few photos of a daddy-long-legs spider I saw near our front steps, but when I uploaded the photos, they gave me the creeps and I could not handle looking at them. I'm a wuss, I know.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Creating!

Another scrapbook page! it's amazing!

This one is of my sister's adorable kitty, Maddie.

She's a funny cat. She loves to be around people and 'talk' to you, but hates to be held! She has beautiful green eyes, and I'm so excited I found some paper that matched! And it's purple, too! (purple being my sister's favorite color!)

Thanks for checking out my site and my creative products for the last 6 days. I'm hoping I can keep up with this 30 days of creativity project - it's really inspiring and pushing me to just DO something!

Happy Creating!

Today's creative endeavor is this website! I started putting together my portfolio! You can check it out on the upper right of this page.

I created galleries of projects I have done.
The galleries are pretty cool - you click on the first (or any) picture and it brings up a larger version of the picture with an explanation below it and arrows to navigate the gallery. I really like how they turned out.

I have some more things to put up and I will be adding to my portfolio occasionally as I find more and make more. Please check back every once in awhile to see some new photos!

Ok, I missed a day, shame on me!

Today, I will simply leave you with a haiku inspired by a game we played tonight at a friend's house.

Bee, Soup, Frog, Shoe, Key
Much hilarity ensues
It's Huggermugger!

Thank you, and goodnight!

Today's creative result is a scrapbook page.

I have books and books filled with scrapbook pages; I have done it since I was in high school (13 years, if you're counting), but lately I've been so preoccupied (and enthusiastic) about other projects, scrapbooking has fallen to the wayside.

Tonight, it made it's triumphant (if brief) return to my creative workspace! Behold: a scrapbook page!!!

I have a uniquely-sized (12x6) scrapbook that I keep of all the celebrities I meet or get an autograph from. This one is from Robert Verdi, star (at the time) of "What Not To Wear" on TLC. He came to Minneapolis one summer and my mom surprised me and brought me to Macy's to meet him. Unfortunately, she forgot her camera! So I found a picture online. That's what took me so long to make this page - I didn't have a photo to use. But a quick stop at Google Images and here it is!

Curious to see who else is in my autograph scrapbook? Well, here it is:

Ok, so I have 2 designers and 4 scrapbook-related celebs.
So I'm a bit of a geek.
So what?
:-)

I also have a large stack of ticket stubs I've collected from concerts I've been to, I just haven't figured out what to do with them yet.

And thus ends Day 3.

Happy Creating!