What Have I been doing?

IT'S A FAIR QUESTION

What Have I been doing since I last wrote a blog?

Well, I'll tell you since you are asking...................

I have been clearing out my craft room and putting in some new storage.  Now, when you start to clear out a craft room, you should be aware that you could get lost amongst all the crafty stash that (quote) 'might come in handy one day'  (unquote) GET RID OF IT!!!!!!!!

So I decided that if I hadn't used it or noticed it over the past 6 months...........I DIDN'T NEED IT!

Now I know there is a difference between needing and wanting, but I slowly realised that I had to keep what I needed and discard (see what I did there? dis-card? lol) all that I didn't need... even if I thought I might need it!!!!!!!!!

Some of you will know I have a room that used to be my office, which I have turned into my craft room, and inside the room there is a walk-in cupboard........which, recently, I could not get into because of everything being everywhere.  I don't have a before photo......when I pointed my camera at it it refused to work!!!!

You will just have to use your imagination................and I can assure you that you will never imagine the mess as bad as it was, so if you try.............then at least double the effort of messiness in your head!!

The down side of all of this is that I haven't been crafting .......OH NO!!! Panic stations............I might forget what to do with everything..........or maybe not!!

This is what my desk area now looks like and the large photo is on my computer screen of a card I made a while ago.  

So that's my desk area..........this is it tidied, by the way..........if you had seen it before, well the spiders cobwebs were being sub-let!!!!!

If you swivel to the left, as you look at this desk you will see a wall at the end of which is my walk-in cupboard.  Here it is  all neat and tidy....ish!!

The cupboard is really quite deep and you can stand inside it before you get to the shelves.  I removed the door and hung the net curtain to lighten up the space.

If you swivel round a bit more you see the opposite wall from my desk, and it now looks like this:

This is my new storage system of boxes and I'm really impressed with it.  It's on wheels, and held together with a very sturdy top.

Here is a photo of it before I put anything into it:

So you see why I am so excited?  I hope so.

Everything that I had stashed away in boxes and tins and in every nook and cranny is now in this unit.....it is so surprising how much it holds.  From the bottom up there are 3 rows of 3 boxes each holding 9 litre of emptiness.........and now they are full.  Bottom right is full of white paper, bottom middle is full of mixed odd paper and card, bottom left has a lot of die cutting stuff in it!! Across the middle from left to right.........CD's and projects I have never started yet e.g. books for altering etc (things I have never attempted!) In the middle is all different bits of patterned card and paper for matting or cutting, and the right one  is full of part made cards and ideas. The next row up from left to right......the first box is full of ribbons, the middle one has loads of paper and card that is plain but partly used so ideal for matting and cutting.  The next box is full of paper and card pads and freebies from magazines.

The next two rows are 4 litre in size.  So the top row from left to right are.......the first box has all my stepper and shaped cards and templates, the second box is full of glittery paper and card and the third box is full of        mirricard and mirripaper.  The row beneath it from left to right: The first box hold my already to use cut out dies , the second box holds the safmat, greaseproof paper, acetate and any other special kinds of paper or card.  The last box in that row has wedding things in it.

The tiny containers above hold all the little embellishments such as buttons, small flowers, die cuts, wooden items etc.......I am not going to go on abut what is in the boxes next to them..........maybe another time.

Today I cleared the drawers in the sideboard, which is against the opposite wall to the walk-in cupboard:  As you can see the top still needs sorting as tdoes the pile next to it.........I have ordered some more useful boxes so that I can get rid of the unsightliness of the filing cabinet etc, so I'm looking forward to them arriving.

This is the window ledge, right next to my storage system, which desperately needs a clear-out and sorting............that will be one of the last jobs as I will change the net curtain when I get round to it, although I have inmind asking a friend to help as I can't get up there personally.

Opposite the filing cabinet etc is my lovely piano, which I have tried to sell, but so far to no avail!  I really want to put up a work bench where it is sitting right now.  The reason being is this:

This is where I work and make everything.....on a 12' x 12" board balanced on an open drawer!!!!!  How crafty is that then???  

Oh, I forgot, I also sorted the drawers out in the desk and they now hold everything glue, stickles, cuttlebug and such like!!!

So there you have it.  That's what I've been doing for the past couple of weeks.  Bearing in mind I have need of a walking stick to get around and have to raise my leg for periods of time to rest it............I think I've done a stirling job!!! SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!

There is more to do, but I'm taking a rest now for aday ro so and then I will get right back into it.

Thank you for visiting today, and remember, if anyone says the job is too big..........well, you eat an apple one bite at a time and that's what I've been doing......one bit at a time.

Love and hugs

Annie xxx

Word Art Wednesday

WORD ART WEDNESDAY

13th June

Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a great weekend and that the weather is spoiling things for you:  This is the state of the weather here in the UK:

Oh well, we may get some sunshine eventually, but I won't hold my breath!!!

The week's Scripture for Word Art Wednesday is from Philippians chapter 4 verse 6, and it says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God."

So I did a little study about this.  At first it sounds as if it is actually saying don't be careful.....however when I looked up the various Bibles I have it actually means, 'Don't let other things get in the way of" or, in the context of the scripture, it says, " Do things correctly, you are being watched by other's, so don't give them a reason to see anything other than your thanksgiving attitude!"

All believers have the power to stay thankful in every circumstance or situation, because the peace of God (that passeth all understanding)  i.e. the peace of God, which is unfathomable, SHALL keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

It is the power of the peace of God that gives us the strength to go through every day, and all the trials and tribulations we encounter.  We cannot do it ourselves, so this Scripture is very precious to me, because it tells me it is not what I can do, but it IS  what Jesus has done for me!

Here is Joseph Prince's meditation for the day, which is the same scripture.

Meditate On

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through  Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Experience Jesus’ Robust Peace

Peace is not the absence of trouble in your life. It is possible to be in the midst of the biggest crisis in your life and still experience peace. That’s the true kind of peace that Jesus gives—peace that surpasses all understanding. Naturally speaking, it does not make sense for you to feel completely at rest and at peace in the middle of a clearly stressful situation, but supernaturally, you can be filled with His peace!

The world defines peace based on what is happening in the sensory realm. Its notion of peace would look something like this: A man lying in a hammock on a white sandy beach with waves rolling languidly along the shoreline. It calls that peace—until reality kicks in!

Beloved, you cannot use your external surroundings to permanently influence the turmoil that you are feeling inside. Only Jesus can touch what you are feeling inside and turn that turmoil into His peace. It’s not the other way round. With Jesus, transformation is always from inside out and not outside in. So when you turn your cares into prayers and seek His presence and favor, He puts a peace and rest in your heart that is robust and secure. You will find yourself able to face any challenge without worry or stress, regardless of your circumstances and environment!

Blessings,
Joseph Prince

Here is my offering for this week:

I hope you like it.


Love and blessings


Annie xxx

Bookmarks

BOOKMARKS

Hello everyone.  It's beautiful outside but very cold in the wind, so I think I am in for the rest of the day if possible.


Today will be a short blog about making bookmarks.


I don't have stuff like photoshop, or any other crafty type software, so I use the Apple equivalent of a document, which is called 'pages' .  In windows it is called 'document'.


So, first of all, I get up a blank document.


Then I remove all margins, so the page is edge to edge on screen.  Although I do this, when it prints it still has a small border around it, which you will see when I put up a photo.  


The next thing I do is fill the page with 6 columns, as each one will end up being a bookmark.  This way they are all the same size and width. 


So you now have a blank document with 6 columns.


The next thing to do is fill the columns with your desired patterns.  I have used designs I keep for crafting and make them all different if possible, but you can use the same design for every one.  I have found that when I take a jpeg or pdf image of a design, it only wants to fill one bookmark, so this gives you a great opportunity to experiment.


Once all the designs are on, I then write the text, using the fonts on my computer.  For some reason this is not very easy to do for me, possibly something I am or am not doing.  However.  I end up on screen with the document and a second document under it.  i.e.2 pages or 2 documents ---- one with the book marks and one blank.  (I tell you this in case it happens to you too), so be aware for printing that there is one of each per page.  


Here is what I mean ............... the following two photos have been taken of the screen of my computer, so there is a little distortion on them, but it shows you exactly what I am talking about.


Here is the finished page, but you will see that is another page with it:

It doesn't matter what I try and do, I always get this.  I think it is because I removed the margins, header and footer to fit everything in.

So anyway, I then print off the page, and it looks like the one below.

As you can see it has a margin all around it, which the computer does all by itself.


The next thing to do is to cut them up and trim then, like these:

I
t's at this point you can decide whether you want to laminate or decorate them in addition to what you have printed off.  I tend to punch a hole at the bottom of the bookmark, in the centre and then thread a ribbon through, just like these:

So there you have bookmarks.  


I make most of these to give away, and I have a friend that does mission work in India and for her I put scriptures on them as that is what she wants.  she then gives them to the ladies she works with on the streets etc.


I am sure there are easier ways of making them, but I am not that clever, so I just use what I know about.


Just to let you know that it is entirely up to you if you want to put the pattern on both sides.  I tend to leave them blank on the back so that people can write on them.


I hope you have enjoyed this journey into my bookmark making.


Love and hugs


Annie xxx