Journal Page - Find joy in the ordinary

Background is from images in the Marta Lapkowska Maremi Small Art books.

Fairy from the Spring Stories book, flowers from varuous books, and the house from the Houses book.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

CraftPrint 31-Day Content Challenge

I decided to do the CraftPrint 31-Day Content Challenge. This challenge will inspire me to create daily posts following the prompts they give. This will inspire me to create more and share more of my artwork, journal pages, rubberstamped cards & other things I create.

This challenge will also allow me to start posting photos of the things I made in the recent past.

To start out, the challenge prompt is to tell you a little bit about myself.

In 2006, at age 49, I had a stroke. While I was in a coma, they told my husband that IF I survive the coma, I would never be able walk, never be able to talk and never be able to take care of myself. They suggested that he find a nursing home or full-time live in caregiver. He told them "You don't know her. She is stubborn and will inspire others". How true he was.

The doctors in the rehab facility told us I would be there at least 6 to 8 weeks. I laughed at that and told them that I would walk out in 2 weeks. They shook their heads and said that they would be shocked if I did that.

I went from needing to be belted into a wheelchair because I would slide out otherwise, to walking with a cane in 2 weeks and 2 days. I still believe it was because I didn’t want to be away from my husband any longer than I needed to.

This year I celebrate the 20th anniversary of my stroke on June 19, 2026. Yes, I still don’t have complete use of my right hand and other minor issues, but I am still alive & kicking.

Those 20 years brought many changes to my life. We bought a house, dealt with the effects of 911, lost the house, bought a larger second home 6 years later, lost my husband, my mom and my oldest sister, and much more. Through all of this, I thank God every morning that I have another day ahead of me.

Now, I am 69 years old, live in a little house I bought for myself (sold that big house I bought with my husband), and try to spend some time everyday working in my studio creating art.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

YouTube Videos on How to Make EASY Shaker Cards

If you like Shakers Cards, but don't want to deal with using foam tape, here are a few ways to make shaker cards without the foam tape.

This is the method I use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObTkM2190s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKItWBh31Oc

Here are some using clear envelopes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aasy0efj9TA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_JEj4AiULU

This one uses pre-cut panels rather than creating your own (like the first videos I gave). I have bought and used these, but it is MUCH cheaper cut make your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5SX4wc_Me0

Judy

Updated - My Storage Method for my Die Cut Ephemera/Paper Die Cuts

I have updated the way I store my images that are already fussy cut as well as I how store the images that aren’t cut out yet. Because of the way my brain works, fussy cutting images as I need them doesn’t work for me. But I came up with a solution that does work for me and keeps everything easily accessible.

This will seem like a lot of work to some, but if you are a person that needs to see what you have easily, this might work for you too. Because I started doing this after I got a couple of books, it is not a big deal for me.

For me, after the first couple of books, flipping through all the books to find an image was frustrating because I couldn’t remember what book I seen an image in. I can’t even imagine what it would be like now by having all but 3 of her books!

When a new book arrives, I remove all the pages from the books and scan the book from cover to cover (more on that later). Then I sort them into categories – backgrounds, main images bits & bobs, words, etc. on pages that have multiple categories, I cut the pages apart. I grab some hanging file folders, label them and put the files in a rolling file cart.

I have two drawers – one of just images and the other of backgrounds. The backgrounds are sorted by size and put into ziplock bags within the main background folder for that book. In front of the drawer are folders of images that won’t fit the 8.75 x 6.25-inch bins. Behind those are folders sorted by book then by category. For instance, Autumn Stories – Faries/Kids, Autumn Stories – Bits & Bobs, Autumn Stories – Animals, etc.

Most of the time, I grab the folder that holds the people/fairies first and take it to my chair in the front room. Then as I am watching/listening to my TV shows, I fussy cut.

I have the bins sorted by category/book for the most part. Things like rocks, planets, etc that aren’t specific to book, are put in one bin. But using Moss Stories as an example, things moss covered rocks, moss covered animals, etc, they are in a bun labeled “B&B – Moss stories” – B&B meaning Bits & Bobs. Within that bin, the images are sorted into small snack sized ziplock bags.

Back to the scanning. One of the reasons I scan the books is so I can print out extra background if I am making greeting cards (to give to family/friends) if I want to use the same background again. The other is that I can’t do fine hand movements to draw lines around the images for my ScanNCut to easily see. So, I use a graphic program to put an outline around each image, then print it out and have my ScanNCut cut it out.

I think the pictures will help explain what I am talking about, but I am more than happy to explain it more if you need additional info.

Judy

Sayings & Quotes I gathered

I create a lot of journal pages and art pieces for myself. I found that I hated to search the internet or books every time I started/completed a journal page or project to find the saying or quote that fit what I wanted.

So, I decided to search and gather up various quotes and sayings that "spoke" to me to have when I wanted one.

I took those quotes & sayings, but them in a database, then created word documents from them sorted my category.

Since I print out the sayings by category and I wanted them to easily fit on my pages, I put them in into tables to make it easier for me to format them.

A lot of the quotes didn't have the name of the person who made it, but since I don't sell my work, I figured that I didn't have to have their name.

Anyway, there are the word documents I created. You can download them if you would like from my Google Drive.

Quotes & Sayings

Hope this helps you in creating your journals & art pieces.

Judy

Flowers & Butterflies Multi-Media Piece

This this my first true Mixed Media piece. Created the background and added the texture with modeling paste. Then painted with acrylic paints and Glimmer Mist Sprays - I didn't like the result.

So, I wiped it all off (rubbing alcohol works great for getting most of the acrylic paint off, even when dry), and started again. Took painting it 3 times before I liked it.

Then added the painted swirly leaf chipboard, the flowers, and the saying. The upper right corner looked empty, so I added the 3D butterfly.

Detailed Photos

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

Creativity Multi Media Piece

This my take on "Collage in Squares" as taught by Marta at Maremi Small Art Marta at Maremi Small Art. She used squares, but I decidfed to use circles.

This was made on a Canvas panel, with circles cut from assorted scrapbook papers.

I torn apart a sheet of Stamperia Decoupage Imagine LOVE ART Rice Paper to fit in the spaces between the circles.

Lastly, I shaded everything and added some Quote chips from the Tim Holtz - Advantus Quote Chips Idea-Olo Theories set.

Detailed Photos

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

What is luck?

Luck, there is all sorts of luck, good and bad. I think, for the most part, we create our own luck, good or bad, by how we approach life.

Sometimes luck that at first seems bad, in the end turned out to be good luck. That is how I look at my stroke – It was bad luck that I had the stroke, but in the end it changed my life in so many positive ways.

Mike and I quit smoking the day I had the stroke, we had talked about wanting to quit, but we kept putting it off. Life said “You will quit NOW”. Who can argue with that?

It brought my family closer together – from my brothers to the extended family, we are closer now. It brought all the kids closer to each other and I think closer to me too. Heck, even Helen has come a bit closer to me too.

I think that the biggest positive change is how it brought Mike & me closer. I mean we were close, but we were sort of plodding along with no goals ahead of us. Now we have bought a house again, we are making plans for making improvements to it, and generally looking forward.

I’ve come to know that my “email buddies” are very important to me. They are one the reasons that the first thing I wanted to be able to do is use the computer again. Granted, I not only needed to learn to use the computer again, I had to re-learn where the specific letters were – nothing like having to hunt & peck & try to spell at the same time.

I now truly realize how much my “studio” and my “crafty stuff” means to me too. I thought that I lost the ability to create scrapbooks, and that really depressed me because I had not finished my Dad’s memorial album. But again, I wanted to get back my crafts, and a year after the stroke I finished the album and presented it to my Mom & the rest of the family.

I’ve learned just how strong and stubborn I am, how determined I can be to get my life back as close to what it was. Things have changed, I have changed. Some of the things that were important to me before my stroke have become less important. I didn’t think that having a cat and being responsible for it was important, now I have a furry friend that brightens up my day.

So Luck – it is what you make it to be, what you want it to be. Good, bad or indifferent, it exists and it affects our lives.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

Places to Donate Used Toys

I will add onto this list as I find new links - UPDATED 11/09/2023

Donating Used Toys in the San Francisco Bay Area - Places to Donate in San Francisco, East Bay, the Peninsula, and Marin

23 Great Places to Donate Used Toys - This is a great list of places

Stuffed Animals For Emergencies

There are three ways to donate to Stuffed Animals For Emergencies:

Through Their SAFE Volunteers (Chapters). Donate your stuffed animals and other items to SAFE and their our volunteers clean them and find places to donate to.

Urgent Needs Locations. Here you will find a list of our partner organizations that are requesting donations where they do NOT currently have a SAFE chapter. You can donate directly to these organizations if you are willing to clean any of your gently used donations first.

Host a Stuffed Animal Drive. Organize a stuffed animal drive, birthday drive, or corporate event for SAFE. Here you will find information you need to run a drive for SAFE.

Second Chance Toys

The website states - Thank you for your interest in recirculating toys with SCT! Our donation matching is closed right now, so please check back during our next toy giving season. Toy matching takes place twice a year; during the month of April in celebration of Earth Month and again in November and December for the Holiday Season.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy

Organizations that Pickup Donations

I will add onto this list as I find new links - UPDATED 11/09/2023

Salvation Army - To schedule a Salvation Army pickup, head to satruck.org/donate/choose and enter your zip code.

St. Vincent de Paul - Choose Regular Pickup

Habitat for Humanity - To schedule a Habitat for Humanity pickup, head to and follow the appropriate link to register and schedule your pickup< /a>

The Arc - Head to Page down to what you want to donate

ClothingDonations.org (service of Vietnam Veterans of America) - ClothingDonations.org/

Furniture Bank Network - operates in 34 states - Visit furniturebanks.org/furniture-banks/ to search for availability in your area and reach out to the organizations nearby that participate. Note that while not all participating organizations offer pickups, most do.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America - Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has offices all over the country. Check out their list of locations and schedule a free donation pickup.

Patriots and Paws - Patriots and Paws serve areas from Fresno, CA, all the way down to the border of Mexico, and to the Arizona border. For pick up, they are located in Orange County. Find out how to donate items in person, and schedule an in-person donation pick up. Pick ups are usually scheduled 3 days a week.

Load Up - Donation Pickup and Delivery Services. This company does charge for their services, but when you really want to donate, and you can’t find a local charity to do a free pickup, you can use this company. Our network of local contractors can help collect your donatable items and deliver them to a charity for you.

Places to Donate Used Toys

This is a link to a places to specifically donate toys

CALIFORNIA ONLY

Disabled American Veterans Department of California - https://davpickupservice.org/

CALIFORNIA, MINNESOTA AND NEW YORK ONLY

Vietnam Veterans of America - Pick Correct State

MARYLAND, WASHINGTON DC, NORTHERN VIRGINIA, DELAWARE, TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA

AMVETS Pickup - Maryland, Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Delaware, Texas and Oklahoma

Suggestions and comments are always welcome.
See you soon!
Judy