You're the Best!!

A not-so-Halloween card that I sent to Chris and Nathan. I am not a real Halloweeny person so I used the opportunity to encourage them in the paths they've chosen. I also have to confess that being a Fall girl, I must embrace any and all things Fall!!

The papers are from Creative Imaginations, the border punch is Fiskars, the twine is Doodlebug and the stamp is a Hero Arts freebie.

You are my besties too! I hope you enjoy your Halloween, especially if you're still dressing your kids for the big day and taking them out trick or treating. If you're staying home, maybe something pumkin, like cookies or quick bread,  or my favorite: Candy Corn, peanuts and M&Ms!!

Enjoy the Fall!

Lorelei



Spark and Echo are coming to Grants Pass!!

In promotion of their debut album to be released this Fall (produced by Jay Foote-Welcome Wagon), Spark and Echo the Band will be touring the West Coast from November 2-26. We are thrilled to host them in a Grants Pass addition to their tour at Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church on November 9th at 7:00 pm. Our church is located at 230 Buysman Way, Grants Pass, 541-479-7929.
Hear duo Jonathon Roberts and Emily Clare Zempel play original art songs and piano rock featuring beautiful vocal harmonies, baritone ukulele, clarinet, and Emily’s trusty steed, Boris the Bassoon.
A free will offering will be taken to help Spark and Echo with the expenses of their entertainment. Please consider joining us for this very special event.

Open House at Anna's

There is going to be an Open House at Anna Bearden's house on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 am to 4 pm. I'll be teaching a card class and there's going to be lots of other GREAT things going on. There will be cropping of course, and Holly's goat soap and lotions, Pampered Chef, jewelry, candles, and more!!

Please come and kick off the Holiday season with some fabulous inspiration!!

Here are some of the cards for the class.

The theme of the cards is encouragement and they can be used for many different events, birthday, travel blessings, thinking of you and even a Christmas card!! More (Christmas cards to follow in another class. So stay tuned!)

We'd love to see you and I think you'll have a fabulous time!

Blessings to all,

Lorelei

It's been a long time since you've seen any layouts!

This is a layout that I made for Got Sketch Express 2 with Valerie Salmon. It's an online class where Valerie provides a sketch and some samples.  With my pictures and papers, I created this layout which is somewhat similar to the sketch. The patterned paper is BoBunny. The pictures are my Uncle Wilse's 80th birthday. The fish at the bottom is his pet catfish that lives in his pond. Uncle Wilse feeds him every day! (It reminds me of that Betty White movie.)

These two layouts I created while taking a class with Big Pictures classses (Bigpictureclasses.com) with May Flaum and Nic Howard. This is also an online class using sketches and samples that are provided by these two super talented women. This class has videos and techniques so I learn new stuff. I even sewed on these two pages!!  I used Stella Rose papers by My Minds Eye on the above layout and Creative Memories on the layout below to capture our memories of a tour we were blessed to take with Brady Adams. Brady is a real active man in making our community a better place to live by inspiring artists to make fun art pieces that are placed around our town.  

I have been making lots of cards too. So I'll be sharing those real soon. Until we meet again may God richly bless you,

Lorelei

Organization - That is the Key!! (or a key anyway)

I have been involved in the long process of organizing my studio. This organizational project has been ongoing and may not be done yet. I may never be done. You see, I'm always looking for ways to make distractions minimal. I will accomplish this goal if I have everything close at hand. Close isn't actually a very difficult prospect as the area I have to work is very small at 9 x 11! I have 4 bookshelves that are a huge help to me and I actually scrapbook on a small 4' plastic table! (I'm looking to change that soon.) So I want to share some parts of the process that are working very well for me.

This is not an original idea. I found this idea somewhere, on a blog or in a magazine. It is  the BEST way to store punches. This is a shoe organizer that I hung on the inside of the closet door. I can see EVERY punch I have instantly! "But I don't have that many punches," you say. Think about the possibility of this working for inks, stamps, embellishments!! I think it is a fabulous storage device.

Next I wanted to share my organization on the shelves. I wanted to have the studio be an ultra enjoyable place where I would want to spend LOTS of time. My husband and I love to travel so that theme seemed like the easiest to go with. There are lots of items that support the travel theme at Ross, Fred Meyer, Craft Warehouse, all around!! So in the hat box is my Cuttle Bug dies and embossing folders, the Paris suitcase holds all of my flowers and related ephermera. The shelf above that is for displaying mini albums I've made and the shelf above that is for my inks and applicators. My inks fit VERY nicely in another suitcase box I picked up at Michaels.

When I look around the studio, I love that my tools, papers and embellishments are nice and tucked away and look tidy. This has helped my productivity and my sense of creativity. I have freedom to be make cards and pages because there is no time wasted looking for what I need. 

I hope this has inspired you to:

1. Set aside a space to create (when the boys little I used a space in the living room!)

2. Pick a theme to work with so that you can have a decorative space as well as functional.

3. Work with your space and arrange your supplies so that you can be your most efficient self.

4. Put things away when you finishe using them. This accomplishes two very obvious outcomes; First you can find what you are looking and second your space looks inviting for you to come back to.

You will be more creative when the space you create in is inviting.

Hugs,

Lorelei