Re-Runs, Reclaimed, Recycled

I cropped and improved the lighting on this photo once but dang if I can't find the photo now...sorry.

Being a part of the artful card making community means I receive as well as send some really great cards. I save them, it's only natural.

My parents get the majority of my card art and they live in a small space that cannot accommodate the dozens of cards they get every year from me and from others. They can't bear to throw them away.

I participate in card swaps that are enjoyable and inspiring and that means I have more cards in my "saved" files too.

I got out my box of saved cards and started re-designing them one week and the result is pictured above. This entire grouping was finished in about 3 hours--now that's a FLASH CARD.

When I used a design from someone else, they are always credited on the back. I have had some fun sending them back to the people who first made them as well.

I had a stack of larger envelopes that originally matched holiday cards and odd greeting card sets I picked up at yard sales. This project was a great way to enlarge some of my A-4 size greetings into larger cards that fit the envelopes.

Stop hoarding your solid card stock (I know you do this--grin) and cut some larger card bases that can be translated into reclaimed cards to mail out. Share the environmentally friendly joy my friends.

The Anna Griffin Kit Adventure--Flash Cards!

Bonus: card not shown on video or web page.

Finally, I'm getting around to publishing the video and companion web page for these kits. Sir Henry gave me an "auto-ship" collection of Anna Griffin card kits from HSN last year. I surprised myself by really enjoying the kits.

I have only completed about 50% of them, but it's great to be able to put them down and pick them back up whenever I want to create more and think less.

Summary: When you find a really great kit for a good price, it's okay to color inside the lines once in a while.

Tips for selecting and using kits:

• Don't skimp on quality--these Anna G. kits are really high end and it shows.
• When reviewing for value look at how many cards you can make, what size cards you make, and whether or not the envelopes are included. (I know, sounds crazy, but there are several card kits out there without envelopes).
• Venture outside of your comfort zone, which for me was taking a walk on the mild side.
• Don't frustrate yourself with kits that involve tons of intricate directions, additional cutting, or creating your own embellishments.
• If you have a room full of supplies, check out how you can easily distress or add ribbon/glitter for a more personalized look.
• If you don't have a room full of supplies or a lot of time--just use the directions and be proud of your accomplishment.

More cards from the DCV card set--2

These fabric flower patches were purchased many years ago to decorate a pair of jeans. While I'm not beyond ripping off embroidered areas from my discard clothing, these particular flowers never made it to the jeans in the first place. The sticker words are also from an older set.

Get your stuff within reach and use it up my friends.

More cards from the DCV card set

This acetate tag has a pretty fairy sticker in between two layers of clear paper from Paper Temptress. The edge of the card was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.

Card Making with DCV

The fairy here is from a set of "Wallies" also purchased at JoAnn's.

As we've discussed before, when you stop buying new 'things" for the studio, you begin to discover the joy of what you already have in stock. My local JoAnn's store keeps a great inventory of DCV products including paper pads of all sizes and note cards with envelopes. I suspect they keep the regular price a little high just so they can mark them half price every month. Seriously, every single month they put the paper pads and usually the other products from this line on sale.

I bought a boxed set of print cards in 2011 and finally got around to designing fronts for them. I'm going to feature them over a few posts since I don't have the tutorial page up on the web site yet. Enjoy!

The entire box of cards are black and white prints. These left over embellishments
have been hanging out in my studio for years (as in 5 or more years).

Define Luck

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Amidst any celebrating and reveling I choose to count my blessings as well. My wonderful husband and I have had a long running inside joke about luck. Everytime he says something about being lucky or wishing luck I say that I don't beleive in luck. For me, it's all part of being blessed by my Great Creator.

Fibromyalgia is a strange illness that most would not count as a blessing or being lucky. While I'd release it if I could, I still see having the fibro as a blessing too. My life changed dramatically with the onset of this illness and much of it was to my advantage.

I get asked a lot to share some of my story to others and I have been working on a book called "Healing by Spirit" for some time now. In the meantime I have published a rather lenghy article on my web site called:

Living, truly living, with fibromyalgia

Peace be with you and the Irish everywhere.

I celebrate my Celtic heritage in my life and my art all  year long.

Reclaimed FLASH cards--quick cards with a little help from the thrift store

I ran out of envelopes and hit the thrift stores trying to find some "new" ones. Instead of envelopes, I found blank-inside stationary card sets. Poof--the inspiration for a newFLASH CARD tutorial! Check it out on my web site http://www.nachattin.com/recyclethriftcard.html and browse through a gallery of samples.

See all the flash card tutorials including videos from the FLASH Card directory page: http://www.nachattin.com/Flashmain.html 

Time flies

Seriously, I missed posting for an entire month? Just assume if I'm not posting that I'm off having too much fun. Life is good.

Setting up a series of posts today to give me some air time in March.

2012 Digi-Scrap projects

I've been creating at least 3 new Digi Scrap designs every month this year with the goal of continuing this process. I'm using the prototypes and extras in my visual art journal too.

Here's one of the January entries that I created with a kit from Crow-About-Studios at Deviant Scraps. The kit is called "She's a Doll"

I've become a big fan of downloading photos from the Facebook pages of my friends and family. This is a photo taken from my niece Kate's album. Kate is my heart and her daughter Hailee is my heart's delight.