Well I had a rather wordy post typed up here with all sorts of reasons WHY but I hit refresh and lost it :P And anyone who knows me knows that I *hate* having to repeat myself.....;)
OY - this week started out rather crazy for me and will continue to be so as I have a lot on my plate and lots of work to do!
Speaking of which I need to run otherwise I will be late for work!
I will be back as soon as I can - I'm taking a bit of a "breather" to re-charge before the next onslaught of filming and posting and all that fun stuff. I'm feeling rather overwhelmed with LIFE at the moment and need a few days to get back on track!
Have a fabulous Wednesday everyone, and a fabulous week!!
As usual I make all these plans to film videos, make cards, design stamps etc etc etc and don't get ANY of it done.
I did start moving things around in my studio/stamp space over the weekend. THAT's part of the reason why I didn't get anything else done. I had stuff all over the place and once I did get *mostly* everything back in place it was too late to stamp/film anything.
My hubby helped me with some of it as some of this stuff is HEAVY (well it's heavy when you want to put one EXPEDIT unit on top of the other one LOL) - then it was just a matter of moving things around till I got them where I wanted them.
I'm not done yet but it's better than it was - much more open in here:
I'll do more pictures/videos when I have things the way I want them. I tend to move things around every few months or so (when I have the space to do that) and work with whatever furniture/storage stuff I already own (trips to IKEA are few and far between!).
My issue with my current spot is that I have *very* little wall space. I do *love* the big window I've got as the natural light is fabulous - but between that and the way this room is utilized (this half being my "studio" and the other half (that y'all can't see) being our tv area with a big sectional) I don't have many options for shelves and things that would work well with more wall space.
Anywho - Tim and I did the re-arranging on Sunday and so far I haven't had a chance to finish moving things/organizing things/getting it all done. And I prolly won't get much of a chance 'till the weekend.
This working for a living really cramps one's hobbie's and *fun* time eh? LOL
BLAH. I am SO sorry I haven't posted in almost a week! Last week was a bit of a nightmare - way too much going on and then to top it off my salon was broken into. Getting that phone call was HORRIBLE - however I am so so SO thankful that the cretins that broke in were only looking for cash (which they didn't find! Thank God!) and didn't do any damage (well except for my door breaking in - but that was fixed).
It could have been 100 times worse than it was. In the end it just cost me a ton of TIME dealing with police, then I had to clean up after the fingerprinting specialist did his thing. Let me tell you fingerprinting powder is a bear to clean. I still have areas I need to go over and try to get stains out of. But again still thankful as they could have stolen/destroyed everything and ruined my business.
Then Saturday I was in the city all day for that scrapbooking garage sale I had mentioned earlier. MAN I have a lot of stuff LOL! People were just gaping when they saw the amount of boxes I brought in. I ended up selling a decent amount but still have a LOT left over so that all goes back into storage 'till the next sale.
I have had requests to list things here on the blog to sell but I'm sorry I just can't. Shipping in Canada is VERY expensive and even if I priced the items really low the shipping would make everything cost more than what you'd pay retail. Trust me I've looked into it - heck I had to mail back a pair of shoes I had ordered that ended up being the wrong size and they were REALLY light and the shipping started at nearly $30. It's ridiculous.
So no I won't be listing anything on here - I wish I could but in the end it's not worth it :(
ANYWHO - once the selling petered out at the sale after the first couple of hours I had a ton of time to kill. I'm so glad I decided at the last minute to bring my Copics and some cardstock and Anya images to pass the time. I ended up coloring all these:
I had brought along some packs of 6x6 patterned paper so that I could match some of the outfits to the different collections then wrote which collection on the bottom of each piece. That way when I go to make cards with them I'll already have the color schemes and papers picked out :o)
And yes videos - I will have videos going up soon. I've got requests for SO many different series I don't even know where to begin LOL! I have plans of my own I want to do, people are asking for St. Patrick's Day (which I really only have like one or maybe 2 stamps for so there won't be a "series" for that - plus isn't it coming up like right away? I haven't checked a calender in forever...), Easter (again I don't have a ton of stamps for Easter - and the ones I do have are ALL cutesy - so I'll do what I can do - and hopefully SOON), Spring (yup!), Birthday, Masculine etc etc etc etc etc.
As always not enough time in the day and way too many things on my plate. But I'll get to what I can and get back to posting videos (hopefully) quite regularly.
Excuse my horrible hair in this video. I didn't feel like making it "pretty" this morning since I'm just hanging out around the house - but it always looks way worse on camera for some reason LOL.
Anywho it was supposed to be a "quick" video but I blab on a bit about all sorts of things ;)
ETA- oy I am really scatterbrained this week. I meant to add a link to the Just Scrap It blog as there is info on there about the garage sale I'll be at on the 3rd:
So yeah for those of you that can make it it would be awesome to meet you! Just come up and say hi - I don't put myself out there and am a total introvert so it's really weird for me that people actually *want* to meet me LOL!!
It's so much easier to be "myself" behind a computer screen or in front of a camera (and if you've been watching my videos since the beginning you'll know how hard it was to even start doing the videos - it took a LONG time for me to get used to seeing my face and hearing my voice! Now I don't even have to think about it) so meeting people in "real life" is odd sometimes. I don't run in to other "stamping enthusiasts" very often - living in a small farming community means there just aren't that many people to begin with - and I can't even count the number of weird looks I've had from people when they hear that I "make cards" like - a LOT. *grin*
Darcy, one of my lovely subscribers, contacted me after I mentioned in one of my videos that I *need* to get myself a Corner Chomper. Turns out she was given two of them for Christmas and obviously didn't need the extra one ;) So now I'm the proud owner of it!
It arrived in the mail yesterday along with a couple of cute little cards and itty-bitty stamp set. It felt like my birthday LOL!
So I wanted to give a HUGE shout out to Darcy and say THANK YOU!! It totally made my day and I am going to have a blast using this tool!
(((((hugs)))))
*I've been rounding the corners of various peices of paper since it arrived - yeah I'm a nerd...*
I hope y'all are having a FABULOUS Saturday - I know I am *grin*. Me and my bestie got tickets to the Nickelback concert in May (4 months to wait! :( ) and that TOTALLY made my weekend - their concerts are SO much fun (I've only gone once years ago and it was awesome - every time since tickets have sold out before I could get any) and when they come to Saskatoon they sell out superFAST so I'm PUMPED to have tickets!!
It's funny b/c my hubby and her boyfriend aren't fans so us girls are going to make a night of it and the boys can go do their own thing LOL. Needless to say they're missing out :)
AND Seether, Bush and My Darkest Days are opening. Can y'all tell I'm doing a *happy dance* right now?
LOL
ANYWHO - here's another product review video for y'all. I hope to get some stamping done this weekend (I know I say that *every* weekend - but this one started on a REALLY high note so I hope it can just be awesome and productive all around *grin*) and some new Valentine videos up.
I have a very busy schedule at work ahead of me this week so I will try to fit in posts/videos as I can :) It's been difficult finding the time to fit in stamping these past couple of months - a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's so little prime daylight time here in Saskatchewan.
During the winter months there are only a few hours where I have *good* lighting to film videos - and since I am at work almost full time those *good* hours aren't available :( I have been trying to fiddle with lighting so I can do videos at night (I could get SO much more done if that were possible) but with what I've got it hasn't been working too well. I've looked into purchasing actual "studio lights" that are meant for filming but they're expensive! And of course shipping to Canada/within Canada is always a big issue.
So it's something I hope to be able to do this year. Since we have quite a few MONTHS of less daylight I really need to come up with a better solution for filming.
That and it's also hard to get motivated when there's so little daylight. I'm not the only one around here that gets grumpy when it starts getting darker out earlier and earlier and the sun doesn't come up 'till later and later! It can be depressing at times but we all learn to live with it and take measures to get over it.
Since I own a tanning bed at my salon I find that helps a LOT (when I can find the time to use it for myself) with the "winter blues". And no I don't need anyone's opinion on the use of tanning beds - I'm professionally trained and certified and have done TONS of research. I get enough e-mails/YouTube messages about how my blonde hair doesn't suit me and I should go back to having darker hair (seriously) that I don't need comments and e-mails about using a tanning bed LOL!! To each their own :)
ANYWHO - LOL that's what's going on here lately. People have been wondering if I've still been sick b/c of the lack of posts - but I've just been busy and then trying to deal with the lack of natural light to craft and film in! After a long day at work then coming home when it's dark out it gets difficult to get in a "crafting mood" so I usually put that time off until the weekends where I can get more things done in daylight!
I'll be back right away with a new video - I just wanted to post this separately so that it wasn't cluttering up the next post ;o)
Well my voice as of this morning seems to be (mostly) back to normal! I have to work all day but tonight I am planning on getting some videos edited so they can FINALLY be uploaded so stay tuned!
I just wanted to hop on here really quick to call out Sandy C!! You won the stamps giveaway but I haven't received an e-mail from you yet. I'll give you 48 hours to send me an e-mail with your mailing address - if I haven't heard from you I will go back to the original post and draw another winner.
You can e-mail me at prairiepaperandink AT hotmail DOT ca (I originally put it as DOT com in the announcement post - my bad! So that's why I'm posting again b/c if you tried the DOT com then it would just get bounced back to you).
Anywho I have to head to work so hopefully y'all will be seeing and hearing from me soon! :o)
OK this post was supposed to go up last night but there's always an explanation right? *wink*
Anywho if you don't follow my facebook page <-----click! then you've missed my updates.
Basically I've been sick ALL week - I lost my voice (figures) and have been too sick to stamp and keep up with my Holiday Video Series. And of course any voiceovers can't happen 'till my voice gets better (it's STILL really scratchy and gross - this hasn't been fun).
Needless to say this couldn't come at a worse time. I have SO much stuff to do - not just for videos and here on my blog but with my family, my house and my esthetics business. I'm trying to catch up this weekend but it's hard when I still have NO energy. I thought since I'm home all day I should get cleaning and moving/organizing - even though I can hardly BREATHE - so going up and down stairs and doing laundry and dusting etc etc isn't going so well. I should just be laying down but I can't - there's too much to do!
So yeah it's been a rather rotten week/weekend. I keep hoping my voice will be back to normal ASAP (and that I can stop coughing long enough to do some editing - but the more I talk the more I cough) but it's taking it's sweet time.
**and a little sidenote - I had a lot of people commenting on me being a Scorpio/fellow Scorpio. Hate to break it to y'all but I'm a Libra - my b-day is October 19 (that's when I placed my b-day order - it arrived 2 1/2 weeks later and that's when I filmed the haul and posted it). Not that I pay much attention to horoscopes/signs/whatever (LOL it wasn't 'till my late teens/early twenties that I even knew what my sign was) - but just thought I'd point it out :o)**
I used random.org to pick 2 random page numbers and then again to pick 2 random comment numbers from those pages and the winning comments were:
CONGRATS Sandy C and Kris!!
Ladies please e-mail me ASAP with your mailing addresses at prairiepaperandink AT hotmail DOT ca so that I can mail these packages out to you.
And thank you ALL for your support, get well wishes, and letting me know where y'all are visiting from. It was pretty cool to read comments that are coming from all over the world. Coming from a tiny little community in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada I find it all VERY cool :) ((((HUGS))))
~hope to be back posting my cards and videos SOON!
***you can skip down to the dotted line in this post if you don't want to read my chatter *wink****
It feels like it's been FOREVER since I've posted - well I guess it's been just over a week since my last post so it has been a while.
I hope y'all have been doing well.
I took a little "me" time last weekend - my mom took me to the city on Sunday and I splurged a bit on random things (jewellery, makeup, Christmas presents for my kids, etc etc!) and spent over an hour at the new Sephora in Saskatoon. I LOVE Sephora and have been waiting for MONTHS and MONTHS for the Saskatoon location to open (only a little over an hour away!!). Obviously I wasn't the only one - the place was a madhouse and it's been like that pretty much since it opened 2 weeks ago. I'm glad I didn't make the trip in on opening weekend b/c I had people texting and updating me and it was CHAOS. I love makeup but I'm not crazy......lol!
Anywho - I'm super pumped I can finally get my favorite schtuff (somewhat) locally rather than driving to Calgary (5 hours away) or ordering online. I can hopefully space out my purchases a little more and not have to spend as much all at once (not too hard since most of the stuff I wanted was sold out anyway....ah well just means I have to make another trip!).
My birthday was this week (thus the shopping trip) too so I ended up placing an order at ATS for some stamping goodies (which I already mentioned on my Facebook page) so now I just have to wait for that to arrive. Which is kind of nice b/c it always feels like it's my birthday when I get a parcel full of goodies to open!
I DID receive an order from them yesterday that I had placed a couple of weeks ago - in it were some Christmas goodies and stuff I got to make Christmas cards. I'll have the haul video up on that asap.
And yeah it's getting to the end of the month so I need to get my butt in gear and start making some Holiday Cardmaking videos!
I took down all my Halloween stuff *sad face* even though I'd like to make a few more Halloween cards BUT I don't have the space for everything to be out so it all needed to make way for the Christmas/Holiday stuff......
So stay tuned - since this weekend I have time set aside to GET THINGS DONE - which means posts/videos etc etc etc will start going up regularily. And the Holiday Card Series will start SOON!
I just wanted to pop in here and wish all my Canadian readers a Happy Thanksgiving!
Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend!
We're going to my mom's tomorrow for turkey and all the fixin's - I'm really looking forward to it.
We got our house (mostly) cleaned up (lately I've been going through stuff and seriously PURGING - I HATE clutter and having tons of little knick knacks (aka dust collectors) and just STUFF everywhere!) and then had family pictures taken this afternoon.
I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out (I won't know for a couple of weeks at the earliest) but I'm glad it's all over and things can go back to semi-normal. And I'm glad we can all finally put away the clothes I bought for the shoot because if I had a dollar for every time the girls asked when they'd get to wear their new clothes...
Anywho I'm going to curl up on the couch with my hubby and watch a movie :o)
And then tomorrow I'm gonna make me a sour cream apple pie to take with us to mom's.
I tried to get it all done yesterday but this week has already been crazy and the stress is getting to me. Our furnace needed fixing which was #1 on the list - when you live in a province that can get colder than -30 a working furnace is kinda important!
And lately I've been having vehicle issues - thankfully my hubby can get that taken care of - it's just one of those things though (and an extra bill!).
Then this weekend is Thanksgiving (Canadians celebrate it in October - why I don't really know - usually it's never an issue but right now I wish it was in November like the US so I'd have more time LOL) and not only have we got dinner and whatnot I have a family photo shoot booked for this weekend.
Nothing like it all piling up on me at once eh?
I'll survive - but between all that, work, the kids, needing to get my house cleaned (REALLY needing to get my house cleaned!), etc etc etc trying to pump out more cards/videos just isn't working.
I haven't decided if the Halloween series is over for this year or not. I still have one video on my camera that I haven't edited and uploaded. I may still share that and another one or two but no promises. Y'all know that I obviously love Halloween so I am not ready to stop yet LOL!
I still have to start planning the Christmas series and have other ideas up my sleeves as well so stay tuned.....
Card and video #9 will be delayed and will probably go up later in the afternoon tomorrow (Sunday Oct 2).
I just got home from a VERY long and frustrating day in the city. My kids had a lot of fun - me not so much. One thing after another and I am now exhausted and fighting off a migrane.
So no video editing or posting for me tonight. I'm gonna curl up on the couch and prolly go to bed early.
**post #2 for today! Scroll down to check out the previous post!**
I just posted this pic on my Facebook page but I thought I'd share it here too (since I know some people don't use Facebook!)
I've been going through all my stuff and pulling out everything Halloween-related - since I am going forward with the Halloween card-making video series (and will start working on those soon!) as a LOT of you said YES to it!!
**and yes I heard all the requests for a Christmas series loud and clear - I plan on attempting that in a few weeks**
Anywho I had a whole pile of schtuff going on and decided to put it all up on display so I can see what I've got and go from there:
