the hard and the easy.......

sometimes i miss my old home....the one by the sea. i realize that many of the things that i long for are long past but...... i miss my friend. i miss walking on the beach. i miss the sound of the water. but if i were there i would miss my new home....the one on the prairie. and i would miss the smell of the earth. the endless land and sky. our little farm.

After that depressing little intro I'm sure you're dying to go on. Let's talk about crafting. Here is one of the little mini books I have been working on. I tell you I'm quite taken with this format. I often feel a huge sense of inadequacy in terms of the scrapbook. I'm not a photo taker. My children's memories are haphazardly strewn throughout our home. I am, however, seduced by and bound to, old yellowed photos. Strangers... but so familiar to me... I can almost see their lives swirl beneath their images. I want to ask - Why do you look so pensive? Do you smell your cake burning? Does your husband beat you? Are you tired? god, it's pure crack. I also eat up old hand-written recipe books. You can just feel the pride bursting through the careful script. Thousands of budding authors just wishing to be heard. It's a hard copy blog complete with oven temps and penciled in edits.



Clearly I strayed off topic. Back to the cute little Kraft albums. This one is a photo album made with October Afternoon's Farm Fresh. Despite the previous post still one of my favorite paper providers. I work slow, sometimes painfully so but for you keener's out there this is easily a 1 day project.











Photos go on the right and a wee journal card is in the left hand pocket. The pocket could also hold extra photos or drugs(sorry). Also very sorry for the poor photos. Photoing is second only to lyrical dance in skills to be acquired soon.

cheers,
bev

the perils of modern space flight.....

Salutations my little buds. Let's not talk about where I've been - let's just say -what goes up, must come down. I wish I had some words of wisdom, warning or wonder but it is what it is. Whether seen from space or ground level - life is good.

OK, so I removed the last post. It made me sad or uncomfortable - take your pick. Sincere closed mouthed kisses to Followers 1 and 4 for noticing. On a completely different note, I'm getting quite pissy with October Afternoon. I realize with that statement I've removed myself from the running for any fab new product consultant position but speak the truth and the truth will speak. The wait for the new lines has been going on and on and on. I am so sick of looking at projects made with these absent products. Apparently every second person in the known world received a box full of freebies to "PLAY" with. By the way, that word, play, makes me a bit nauseous, for the most part we are grown-ass women - only children and small foreign speaking fairies should play. I know that the lines will be beautiful when they get here and I'll regret this little tant but Good God people I've been staring at the preview since January. This situation falls under a name we had for certain girls in high school. Those girls made my life a whole lot busier.


Well, now that's out of the way. Better out than in. Here on the other hand is a bit of Cosmo Cricket. The always speedy quick shipped, Cosmo Cricket. Material Girl has been in the shop for awhile and is quite fetching.









I'll leave you with that little bit of angry bev and a little bit of crafty bev.

cheers,
bev

the beating of my heart........

Hello my sweets. Here are my babes. I just wanted to write a wee little love note about them. This is all I know about being a mother..... Every time my children's hearts beat it is a reminder to them that they are not alone, I am there and all is well. I will not forsake them. I am forever theirs. And when my heart beats, it is their voices I hear and I am reminded that love is all there is.

cheers,
angie and amy's mom

From inside the whale's belly

Holy mother its black in here. The only thing keeping me the slightest bit entertained, besides you of course, is the bright red exit light shining in my eyes. I'm so unhappy. How? - Why? - Gosh fearless entrepreneur, are you ok. (I can here you saying that). I'm fine - well perhaps a bit giddy. I am after all laying here in the pitch black dark with 14 people who could be described as mostly strangers to me. I am supposed to be going to sleep. Listen, right now there are 2 distinct snoring voices echoing through this cavernous wonderland. And all of this action is taking place in a peaceful mountain village. I realize this sounds more like a Nancy Drew novel and not the opening volley of a crafting blog, but....

I'm on location. Yes, the Black Ink papermobile is bringing the love to Banff. Of course the budget is so small I'm shacked up in the town's Boy Scout hall with the above mentioned strangers. How you ask? Well, in a nutshell it goes like this..... Amy went on an guided ice walk today (because of the location it became an overnight 4-H activity) and to round out the day's fun I agreed to teach the club a workshop on cardmaking. Honestly, you can incorporate a selling opportunity into almost any situation. So here we are - in the above mentioned building, with the above mentioned people. Which brings us to now. The people are fine. The setup - just about my second worst nightmare. This place was not intended for this type of interaction and group sleeping is just dirty wrong. For God sake, I'm an artist. I need privacy and a place to sit my dp.

Would you like a couple of pics of some cards I've made or should we just sit here quietly and try not to dwell on having to pee. I choose cards and considering just how much I fear rejection, that should demonstrate my level of desperation. The cards were made using October Afternoon's - Farm Fresh line. This release continues to be one of the most popular with my peeps. HOLD UP, someones walking around with a flashlight. Could it be my faux, lover Bill, here to find me or perhaps its the troop leader coming to speak to me about the faint light and the gentle tapping coming from this side of the great big damn room. I'll quickly go and fetch the cards.







good news, only 7 hours until morning

cheers, Bev

Sweet Complusions

Hello precious ones. Well, I'm here. I've been here all along. Thoughts surrounding this blog take up a generous piece of my cerebral cortex. We will have to see if all that thinking can produce a bit of good, clean, award-winning fun.

So - welcome to the 2010 version of your life. Are we setting little creative goals?? Are we practicing the principles of gratitude?? Are we taking care of our monkeys?? I should delete the monkey bit, but not right now. You may notice, over the next while, this blog becoming more personal- don't be alarmed or fear for my safety, it's all part of my plot to take over the world. You probably noticed it took longer than anticipated to return to this little spot. I was trying to allow myself some time to think and act upon projects I have for the store, the blog and my own creative pursuits. Well, to be completely honest I also spent quite a bit of time napping. How, oh how to fit everything in - family, homeschooling, friends, the store, the blog, the house duties, and my own desire to create and work on all the ideas I have. Sometimes it all seems so attainable - dancing around, just out of my reach. But for the most part it feels like an impossible task - like filling the ice-cube tray in hell. Nonetheless it is an amazing, beautiful struggle. I love every part of every part of my life. I even love the fact that I'm so disorganized - it allows me to make at least 10 very pleasant discoveries almost everyday of my life.

Enough of that. This is later - days later. We are in the car, driving speedy quick down the highway. I think I'll just post this and start something new. I have to get over this first blog of the year trepidation. Maybe I'll look for a picture. Hang on - I think I've got a recent photo


cheers, Bev

Be Brave - Be Bold - Be Kind

Good afternoon my beauties. It is breathtaking here in sunny Alberta. The snow is deep and a shade of white that isn't found in your colour box, it hurts your eyes to look. Everything appears like a picture card. This is what they came for - the people who came west - the endless grey sky and land that seems to go on forever. Then they got out of their covered wagon and froze their pioneer asses off. Cold, cold, cold - thirty below zero.

Sunday I went to the Christmas Farmer's Market. Despite the wintery conditions I stuck my lily-white face out the door and prepared to meet the people. I had a grand time. Of course, I had to compete with the knitted barbie toilet paper holders and all the precious grey haired ladies. What will become of all those groovey items that are created from non-natural fiber. I don't want to buy them but I don't want them to disappear. People who can knit a handy tote from plastic grocery bags are probably good to have around.

Anyway I could talk about my passion for senior crafters forever but the show must go on. I had a great sale. My table was back to back with the enthusiastic lady selling knives. I was afeared most of the afternoon. Her carrot demonstrations were practically animated. She sold me a completely unless $19 item on the promise it would sharpen my scissors. I thought she was telling the truth. She was wearing an apron and looked as sharp as her knives. Well the moral of this wee tale - opportunities for disappointment are everywhere and they cost $19.

Much later......

Well, it is almost Christmas. I'm almost ready. I have almost all of the gifts bought and wrapped. I'm almost relaxed. I'll wrap up this post and take a wee break over the holiday. During which - I have to figure out how to be a more consistent blogger. I think about writing and the blog all the time. Fear keeps me from posting projects, I must work on that too. I also have to be brave enough to put things in my etsy store. I must be a better businesswoman and strive to be a bit more organized. I don't think I can express how much this little school project means to me and how many ideas I have but first things first. So come on, gather up your fears and put them in airtight container, we'll head somewhere where you can leave that bundle. Everyone hold my hand and let's make our way through the turney bits.

Here are some tags I made. My lovely, practically famous friend Karen photoed them.








Cheers,
Bev

How Happy Feels

Hello my pretties. Miss me?? Come on, you know you did. Well, I know I missed me. I'm better! That's right, better, better than ever, better than before and best of all, a better person. And this on top of being a pretty grand girl to start with.

Sorry for that public display of self-love. I'll try to keep that kind of thing to myself. The store has been so busy this past week. When I look out and see a car at the shop I have this instant rush of panic. I will be a disappointment to them, I'm sure of that. Then that passes and I adjust my underpinnings and prepare to start the show. Such sweet, sweet women come... At first everyone is overwhelmed, too much to see - sensory overload. I want to say. "It's OK. Take small bites and breathe through your eyelids. Sometimes I do say that and I scare them. Its a risk, you know, to let your thoughts out. And when they find that thing that makes them have a happy breath, its pure joy for both of us. They pick up a little piece of possibility and then they imagine something that wasn't there before.... it's creation at its finest. And that, is how happy feels.

That's it for now. I'll be back soon

cheers, Bev