Make It With Washi! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she saying, "Make It With Washi" which just means she would like to see washi tape on your project.

This is what I did.....

Not a whole lot of washi, just that "shelf".  But it's some washi so it works for the challenge.  Digi is from Fred She Said.

Update on my (never-gonna-be-finished) craft area.  So, I spent the day Sunday putting together some inserts to go in my new Ikea furniture.  It's amazing how long that can take.  Now, before I get into it, I have to issue an apology to a friend of mine.  We were "talking" (in quotes because our talks are via email) and she made the comment that while she understands the reasoning, she hates the fact that Ikea instructions are only pictures, and there's no text to tell you what you're supposed to be doing.  When I read that I thought, "Huh.  Never really had any problems with having just pictures."  Well, let's just say, my friend is right.  Totally right.

I had bought some of inserts when I had made the first trip to Ikea back in January.  I pulled one outta the package and looked at the instructions.  And looked at the instructions again.  And looked at the instructions again.  Then I shook the instructions and said, "What are you saying?!?!  These pictures make no sense!!"  So, I shoved them off into the corner telling myself I wanted to wait until I got the larger piece of furniture anyway.  (Yeah, I didn't believe it either, and I was the one saying it.)

On Sunday, I decided enough was enough, I was putting together the inserts.  2 x doors and 2 x drawers.  Got the instructions again and decided to talk it out.  And I think I've come up with the exact wording these directions would have, if they were to have wording.  Here they are:

Get this long piece of what looks like white cardboard and bend it this way.  No not that way, this way.  Now just shove it aside.  It'll fall over and you'll just have to fold/unfold it properly again, but we decided it had to be done first.  Put this screw here, that screw there etc.  Now before you go any further, grab that doohickey.  Yes, there is a doohickey, look at the picture, we drew it comically large, so it would look way bigger than it is so people would be maximumly confused.  Now take it and set it on the shelving unit.  Not that way, don't you see the picture with the X through it?  This way, not that way.  This way, the one without the X on the picture.  I know you don't understand what this is all about, turn the page.  Now, get a pencil and draw a dotted line.  Not in the air.  Look at the picture.  We know it looks like that pencil is drawing a line in the air, but why would we do that?  That's silly.  Draw a line of the inside of the doohickey.  Get your first piece and refold it.  Yes, we know you have to turn back to the first page now.  That's what passes as funny at Ikea.  Put that long piece of cardboard in the cubby.  Remember the pencil line you drew?  I'm gonna blow your mind now.....use that pencil line as a guide, and don't let the long piece of cardboard stick out over the line when you screw it in.  Bet you just said, "Ohhhhhhh."  Now screw it in.  What do you mean it keeps falling out on the one side?  Look at the picture again, just screw it in.  Oh.  The area you're needing to screw into is basically hollow so the screw has nothing to grab onto?  Well.  Yep, you're on your own now, we got nothing.  (I ended up hammering wall anchors into the holes and then screwing the insert in.)

All that to say, the craft area is still a work-in-progress, but we're headed in the right directions at least.  (:

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

Cardz 4 Galz:  spring flowers

Addicted to Stamps:  make your mark

Crafty Gals Corner:  add a flower

Through the Craftroom Door:  anything goes

A Place to Start:  two by two - two buttons

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

Allsorts:  in the garden

Can You Handle the Pressure:  green + embossing

Di's Digi Designs:  show texture

Sweet Stampin':  use older stash - Embossing folder is 10+ year old, digi is over a year old.

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Simon Says:  anything goes

Emboss Everything! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I'm saying, "Emboss Everything!" which just means I would like to see some embossing on your project.  Just some, everything is not necessary.

This is what I did.....

As you can see, I've used an embossing folder, as well as a sentiment embossed with silver embossing powder.  What's that?  All those little dots of embossing powder around the sentiment?  I don't know what you're talking about.  Perhaps it's your screen.  *slides bottle of screen cleaner in your direction*

Ha, kidding of course!  While this is my favourite sentiment for sympathy cards (from MFT), I never have much luck getting a clean embossing of it.  This was my third attempt, so I just decided to go with it.  I was thinking about doing a light splatter of grey on the whole card to make it look that it was done purposely, but given what happened yesterday (more on that below), I decided to just leave it as is.

So, I had a bit of an.....issue.....here yesterday.  On the weekend I brought all my craft stuff up from where it was stored in the basement so I could get my craft area all back together again.  But, I had something come up.....nothing major at all, just something that needed my attention so I didn't have the opportunity to get everything put away on the new furniture.  Yesterday, while I was working, both my cats were kinda laying/playing around where my craft stuff was piled, which I didn't have a problem with until Ollie started chewing on some paper.  When I went over to take it from him, I noticed that a bottle of spray ink, which I had carelessly left on the carpet, was leaking.  Like, huge.  And, of course, Ollie had stepped in that ink and there were little smudges of cat prints all over the carpet in that area.  Now, luckily, the ink is very water soluble, so the little smudges cleaned up easily.  The big blot is another issue though.  The amount of ink that soaked into the carpet is A LOT.  The only way to clean it up seems to be to wet the area, and then use a paper towel to soak up the water/ink.  It's time consuming, to say the least.  My daughter spotted a plastic bag stuffed full of inky paper towels and asked if I had killed someone.  So, that's where my spare time has been going these last couple days.  Blotting at an ink spot on the carpet.  'Coz that's what counts as fun around here these days.  lol

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

Retro Rubber:  anything goes using stamps older than 1 year - I'm not quite sure how long I've had this stamp set for....definitely at least a year...but probably more like four years.

Can You Handle the Pressure:  anything with embossing goes

Sweet Stampin':  KISS

Try Stamping on Tuesday:  sketch

Double Trouble:  cas + white + 1 colour

Use Your Stuff:  white + one other colour

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Incy Wincy:  nature  

The Sisterhood of Crafters:  sentiment only

Die Cuts! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Chrissy's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Die Cuts!" which means that she would like to see die cuts on your creation.  Easy-peasy!

I love die cuts.  I almost always use dies when I make something....generally stitched shape dies.  Gotta love those.  But I do also have a collection of die that aren't just shapes.....well, technically, they are shapes, since everything is a shape.....but I'm thinking you're knowing what I mean.  In fact, I have a number of dies that I've never even used.....I can't seem to pass up a good deal on dies.  So, when I saw this no-name die, I snapped it up.  Like, at least a year ago.  But, I finally used it and made this....

Originally, I was going to make a baby card, but apppppaaaaaarently, I can't see a bear and not use the sentiment Bear Hugs with it.  Yeah, because in looking for this picture to upload it was nestled in amongst a number of other cards of the same....picture files named bear hugs, bear hugs 2, bear hugs again, brown bear hugs, black bear hugs and so on.  But, I'm not going to apologize for my overuse of Bear Hugs as a sentiment....it's pretty general purpose when you think about it.  Could be for a friend, or a special *wink* friend or a kid or a teen, or just for someone who's going through a tough time.  I mean really, who doesn't like a bear hug?  For the record, I'm meaning just a nice, tight (consensual) squeeze, I'm not talking about an actual hug from a bear.  Though, admittedly, if I could have assurances that the bear wasn't going to eat my face off, I'd definitely be up for an actual bear hug from an actual bear.  

Update on my craft area situation....I finally got the piece of furniture I was waiting on....but I had to make two trips to Ikea on consecutive days to get it.  *sigh*  Our closest Ikea is an hour and a half drive...because, for some reason, Ikea feels like they can only have stores in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) in Ontario.  Like, seriously...excuse me while I rant for a minute.....

So, this is a map of the Ikeas in Ontario....

aside from the store in Ottawa, at the upper right corner, all the outliers are either Pick Up Points (where you can get your Ikea purchases shipped for a fairly steep fee), or Ikea Design Centres (they don't have stock, basically, they help you plan your room so you know what you want to buy when you go to Ikea) all the Ikea stores are in that clump next to Lake Ontario.  Now, while I know I'll never have an Ikea on top of my house, they could certainly put one in Kitchener/Waterloo or London or, somewhere that's not the GTA.  I know, in the grand scheme of things to complain about, it's very minor....but seeing as I went to Ikea on Monday when I got an email alert saying the piece of furniture was in, and when I got there, it was sold out, only to see that it was back in stock on Tuesday, at like, 6:30am and that time, unlike Monday, I was able to buy it through Click & Collect, so I at least knew it would be there when I got there and yesterday it snowed like crazy the whole day, so there I was, creeping my way to Ikea again, on roads that were more snow covered the closer I got to the Ikea....well, I'm just gonna allow myself a little b#$ching.  That's the long version on how to say I got my (probably final) piece of furniture for my craft area all put together last night and I should be all set up by the end of the weekend.  Yay!  I'm hoping to be able to post pictures in my LRW post next Wednesday.  (:

Well, if you made it through all that reading, you deserve to take a little time for yourself!  So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.   

P.S.  Alpha dies are from Taylored Expressions.

Also for:

Simon Says:  favourite things - stitched dies, dies, bears, kraft paper

The Male Room:  animals + male

Through the Craftroom Door:  anything goes

A Place to Start:  two by two - Two words, two patterned papers

Cutie Pie: cute + beginning with B - bear, brown 

Use Your Stuff:  masculine

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams:  something to make you smile

Critter Crazy:  anything featuring a critter goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

CAS Makes! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "CAS Makes!" which just means she wants to see those clean & simple creations.

This is what I did.....

Not exactly thrilled with this photo but it was the best of the bunch.  In hindsight, I should have went with a different background than white, that might have done the trick.  Also, now that I look at it, I wish I would have taken the time to line up the sentiment in Word so I could have printed it directly on the card front.  Oh well.  One thing I'm not regretting is that image.  That cat is the sweetest!  I've had it for years, not sure where it's from because it's from back in the day before I named files with the artist's name.  And, I'll never, ever regret a punny sentiment, of course!

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Addicted to CAS:  feline

Allsorts:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  CAS

As You Like It:  interactive or not - Not.  As cool as I think interactive cards are, I'm usually not down with the extra time it takes to make them.

Through the Craftroom Door:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams:  something to make you smile

Corrosive:  anything goes

Cupcake Inspirations:  pets

Let It Be! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Kate's turn to choose the challenge and she's keeping on with her Beatles music theme and she's saying, "Let It Be!" which means that she would like to see things that start with the letter B on your project.

This is what I did.....

Let's see......I've got a bear digi from Teddy Bo, coloured brown, holding a blue box with a big bow on a birthday card, with paper that's black, blue...and some other colours.  I think I've met the quota for Bs.  (:

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Allsorts:  hand coloured image

Addicted to Stamps:  any occasion

The Male Room:  animals

Crazy Critter:  anything with a critter goes 

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:  inspirational photo

Through the Craftroom Door:  anything goes