sweet

Quotable

Hello there, last year I participated in a inspiration deck swap held by Jessica and recently she asked me to explain my process for any of you interested out there. Unfortunately my computer was stolen and I lost my original pictures so I have nothing to show you of the original deck except what's on my facebook page. But here's a look at some of the cards I made for the tutorial:

So here's how I put mine together, first I start by gessoing my cards:

Then I run them through my trusty Cuttlebug to emboss them:

I have a few different embossing folders:

I love that one-very romantic...

Next I coat one side with metallic paint, I look for paints that are very bright-these Martha Stewart ones are ok, though I like Liquitex too...

 

Next I spray em with an acrylic spritzer like Glimmer mists:

I'm a sucker for purple. Next I spritz the other side, the non metallic one..

And then I spray a plain piece of paper:

And punch a bunch of tags out of it, hand write my favorite quotes and glue those suckers down:

Voila, inspiration in a deck :)

A detail from my favorite one...

 

Thanks Jessica for teh invitation to show you my process! xoxo-ang

Testing the waters

Sooooo, I'm not sure what my plans are at the moment, but I think I am going to give this space another try. Closing the UCC hasn't really sunk in yet, and I'm not sure how to use the social media we built around it, but I don't think I want to make it about me. So I turn again to this space, to share my projects and keep myself motivated. My summer todo list is long and ambitious, maybe having this will keep me focused :).

Here's to new (and returning to old) adventures.....

Angharad

This is my computer.

Random

So..why?

I have a couple of blogs I follow that are about buying less. One is about being frugal for financial reasons, and she's amazing. I have an immense amount of admiration for her ability to set a goal and stay the course. You can read her story of saving to buy a house here. Another is about being frugal for environmental reasons. Her goal is to create as little plastic waste as possible, a little like my no waste week only it is her whole life! Check out what she is able to do here.

So what is my purpose is setting a buy less goal? I don't have financial pressures to make me think twice, and I feel strongly about environment, but you can buy just as much needless organic recycled crap as toxic landfill fodder, so I need something more to motivate me. I figure public accountability might help. I find that it's just so easy to fill my shopping cart with things just because I like them, or the kids ask for them, or because they're an easy solution to something I could solve with just a little more effort. I want to put up a filter for those purchases. One that says things like, "Do you really need that bottle of wine? You have 3 others just like it at home. Wait, more soap? You haven't used the soap you got last time! And you can make it yourself for blinkin' sake. Mini rose plant? But you kill all plant life just by looking at it." If this filter had been in place the last week, some of these purchases might have been avoided.

Also, I do find it ironic that I run a craft center and yet I make very little of what I use in my life. Sure I buy the supplies to make things, but they rarely get used up. So the craft filter might go something like, "What!! More yarn! NO, absolutely not. NO MORE YARN. More fabric?? Are you crazy?? Put that down." So maybe rather than buying that beautiful Etsy candle (and I truly believe in supporting handmaking crafters) maybe I will use the candle mold and wax I have sitting in my garage (for the last year and a half I might add) to make my own.

I am not going to go rabid about this, I want to make an obvious but substainable change that I can maintain in the long run, so it's not a buy nothing policy, or a completely no waste goal, though i hope to see my garbage load go down. I just want to place some checks and balances on myself, especailly as for the last few months I've been in a stupid funk in which I justified buying everything I laid my eyes, because, you know, "I'm just so sad."

Time to snap out of it.

More soon, :)

I feel it coming on again

Maybe it's because I went to Target today, but I think I'm going to challenge myself to another low spending/low consumption week. This one I want to call "Do I really need all that crap?" week. I want to have a week (and if I can, expand it to a month, and then hopefully to a lifetime) where I ask myself truthfully about everything I am going to buy, "Do I really need that?" If the answer is no, or that I do but I can make it out for resources I already have, then I don't buy it. I know this isn't in the same vein as no trash week, but it might be an easier one to maintain.  And I don't want to be too starry eyed about it either, I include time in the resource question. It doesn't matter if that I have all the yarn in the world, I am not going to be able to knit a blanket before my cousin comes to town and I need to cover her up at night, so I will need to buy one. But if I can make a nutritious dinner out of what I have in the fridge, then I don't buy anything new, and if I do, I only buy what I need to compliment what I already have.

I need to think more about the rules, because "need" can be a little subjective. But if you are inclined to try it with me, leave a comment and I'll get back soon with my dates and definitions.

Happy June everyone-thus far mine is looking better than May!

:)