Christmas Coffee Filter Tree and More

Seasons Greetings to All! 

If you are one of my regular followers, you know how I procrastinate when it comes to taking photos of my projects...
but I do try to keep busy and so enjoy the creating mode!
Sadly though, I have found that far too often lately my energy soon wanes.
So getting photos and blogging have taken a back seat.

And just for the record my crafting space is a total disaster. 
It literally looks like a tornado hit here and it showed no mercy on my desk either!!
I guess it's about that time anyways to do another reorganization and possibly, if I can bring myself to do it...a destash.
Any offers of help?!  LOL!

I did force myself to take the time to snap photos of a couple of this years Christmas projects and the two cards I managed to create.

With all that being said, I am once again being 'The Rebel Blogger' and officially calling this 'My Holiday Season All In One Post'!



The Coffee Filter Tree

The W R Memory Keepers North Pole Designer Paper Wreath

 
 The Impression Obsession Candle Cards

May the Magic & Wonder, the Joys & Happiness of the Season fill your Heart & Home now and throughout the Coming Year!!

TTFN!
x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Happy Mail From The UK ~ A Handmade Journal!

Greetings folks and welcome back!
Have you all been creating art to your heart's content?

I am so overjoyed and so excited at the happy mail I received on Friday from +Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith who lives in the UK! 

She created a handmade journal book for me!
It is so amazing, and beautiful!

I hope these photos of her creation do it justice...the colors, textures and patterns of her Gelli prints and papers are something to behold!

I am still in awe at the beautiful work and time Zsuzsa put into her creation!

Check out Zsuzsa's tutorial on her Gelli print paper beads!

Packed full of awesomeness and goodies!!

I decided to make a video of the unwrapping.
And so you can see the inside of her creation too!

This will be my first video, so please be kind!
As you will hear, I was so overwhelmed that I did a lot of gasping, oohhs, and aahhs and repeating myself!  LOL

Sorry for the unfocused part, don't know why that happened.

So absolutely no staging here...

I know Zsuzsa wrote that she hopes I can make use of her creation, but....

I am not so sure I can bring myself to write in the journal, to cut up or partially cover up her Gelli prints and the transfer creations, and remove all the other goodies from their place.

I want to remember, what and where she placed every little detail.
Am I wrong for thinking I want to keep this just the way she sent it?

Oh boy...such a dilemma I put on myself! 

Thank you so much Zsuzsa!

I will treasure your gift always!

TTFN and keep on creating your life!

aka The Rebel Blogger

Hold It All Desk Organizer with Drawer

Happy chilly November from western Pennsylvania!

The colorful autumn leaves have almost all fallen. 

Only a few golden oak leaves remain...they like to hang on till the dead of the winter.

The autumn breezes are getting bone chilling!

Winter will be here in the blink of an eye.  

Brrrr  :(

It's that time again for some delicious, homemade hot cocoa and those cozy, soft flannel sheets are a must have!

Finally...I got off my derriere and took some photos of the organizer I created that I have been talking about in past posts.

The organizer measures 12 inches high x 9 3/4 inches wide x 7 inches deep.

The free tutorial is from Deb's Creative Choas.

It was so fun and easy to create!

I used Tim Holtz French Industrial Paper Stash and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The drawer knob is also a Tim Holtz product!

The sides are adorned with vintage ephemera from the paper stash and glued to medium weight chipboard. 

The small added detail of the brads holding the ribbon is from my stash.

Below is a photo of the organizer being put to good use on my desk.

I think it is a down right disgrace that the vintage map on the back of it has to be hidden!

Hope you enjoyed my creation.

Don't forget to take some time to create your life!

TTFN!
x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

PS...
I would like to send a warm shout out to my crafting friend +Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith. 
Sending positive thoughts/energy your way!! 



Supplies used to create my organizer.
Click on products/tags below for more info.

View blog post for supplies

Reading Books / Sunday Sentiments / #WOIW

Good day to all!
Hope your weekend starts on a good note!

Well, over at Kraafters Kommunity I saw the picture Heather posted of the new #WOIW, and it really inspired me to create!
The new #WOIW she choose for this week is book.

I am also linking my creation to the amazing artist Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith and her Inky Dinky Doodle Sunday Sentiments linky party!

I love to read and the quote by Mason Cooley is so true...right now I am in the deep south of the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the year 1969 with 'The Oleander Sisters' by Elaine Hussey!

I have traveled with Bilbo Baggins & Gandalf to The Misty Mountains in 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien. 

As WWII erupts, I lived in the eyes of Sayuri as she transforms to a geisha in 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden.

I have seen the beautiful and mysterious chair inside the church of a Benedictine monastery in Sue Monk Kidd's 'The Mermaid Chair'.

And how could I forget the famous, high-profile, fabulously successful, magazine editor Miranda Priestly and her newly hired assistant, small town girl, Andrea Sachs in 'The Devil Wears Prada' by LaurenWeisberger! 

I am curious, where have you been in your readings?!


I must be honest and admit, my creation is not my idea. 
The concept was taken from the very talented Vicky Papaioannou's art journal page.

I do not have an actual art journal book, so I just used pieces of Tim Holtz French Industrial Paper Stash as the background and glued those pieces onto a plain 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper.

I also stamped a little on the background using Bo Bunny Geometric Patterns stamp and a Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge stamp.

The books...

I hope you can see the dimension of the books!
The words are from Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Cling Stamp 3 

The globe....

The vintage globe is just a graphic from the internet and fussy cut.

I printed two to make the globe look dimensional.

The quote....

The quote is printed onto a die cut by Spellbinders ~ Postage Stamp

I had so much fun created this!
It really helped me get some of that 'crafting mojo' back.

Hopefully I will get some pics taken of the organizer I created a while back.
I also need to try to figure out/remember where/who I got the tutorial from so I can share it with you all!



TTFN!
Don't forget to take some time to create your life!

x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Lost Mojo & Autumn Days 1989

Something had to give!!

I have lost my creative 'mojo'.

I sit at my crafting table and nothing happens!
As my husband jokingly says "it's all dead space up there!"

I don't even have the 'mojo' to pick up my camera and take photos of some of my creations that I created while my camera was gone. 

Here is my excuses for now....
#1 ~ Tom and I have been getting up really early two days a week and driving one and half hours to go fishing by Lake Erie.
It is not the sit and relax, watch the bobber kind of fishing. 
It is the cast and reel, cast and reel repeatedly kind of fishing!

Why? 
Let me try to explain.
The big steelhead trout are coming in from the lake {literally by the hundreds} and running upstream in the nearby rivers. 
This event happens every year in the fall for only about 4 weeks. 
Fishermen and fisherwomen come from all over the United States for these mild tasting delicacies!

These big fish are loads of fun to catch and are a true mouth watering yumminess. 
Just fry them in some butter with a little black pepper and you think you have died and went to heaven! 
Some even say better than sex!!

#2 ~ I have been helping my daughter {who is moving}, clean and paint, which is making me more fatigued than I already am!

#3 ~ And then there is the trying to 'catch up' on the every day household things in between that need attention. 
You know the boring stuff....like paying bills, washing clothes, et cetera.  
And oh my, the gazillion and one leaves that just keep on falling!

So now you know why something had to give and sorta took a back seat, I guess.

I am sure hoping the lost creative 'mojo' is only a temporary thing.



Here is a scrapbook page I created about a month and half ago. 
I did manage to take photos of it then but I was and I am still not pleased with the outcome of how the photos of the layout came out, even with some editing.
But what the heck, I say share it anyways!

My daughter was in 5th grade when this pic was taken, such a long, long time ago!!

I have loads of photos from years past that are not scrapbooked yet.
Which is no surprise for me! 
Tom and I took an awesome vacation 4 yrs ago and most of those photos are also STILL waiting to be scrapbooked!

And remember that organizer I mentioned that I was going to take photos of when my camera decided to quit on me? 

Well it is back on my craft table, and I have still not taken any photos of it since I got my camera back.
And I am so dang proud of it, it even has a drawer in it!


So, I have now managed to make myself feel kinda guilty with this post, but...do you think it will be enough to get that creative 'mojo' back?
Then this thought also came to mind, a little trip to Michaels or Hobby Lobby or my local scrapbooking store just might be all the medicine I need!!


We shall see.....

TTFN!
x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Hope Grows In The Corners Of My Heart

Autumn greetings to all and welcome back! 

Well, the camera saga is finally over. 
But it's a good thing...they gave me a brand new camera. 
The old one was not fixable.
The whole time it was gone I was so wishing that my budget would of allowed the option of a back up camera. 

I am a big time procrastinator when it comes to taking photos of my creations. 
I have various cards, scrapbook pages and even an organizer that I could be sharing but have not taken photos of them yet!
Shame, shame on me...bad rebel blogger!

I guess I should take some time, and take photos....so if the same thing {camera less!} does happen again, I will be prepared for such emergencies!! 

Well, enough of my problems.

I am sharing my canvas at Kraafters Kommunity, Heather has a weekly art project ~ Word Of Inspiration Wednesday, in which she gives us a word, just one word to inspire and spark our creativity. 
This weeks word is HOPE.

I am also linking my canvas to Zsuzsa's weekly link party at Inky Dinky Doodle      

It is fun to read the crafty participants posts and admire their lovely creations! 

I have been wanting to create a canvas for myself to hang on the wall right by my computer, where I could reflect on the sentiment that I choose, incorporating the word hope. 

The definition of hope: 
A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

The words are so fitting... hopeful yet anxious anticipation with regards to the semiannual TgAb test {to check the status of my cancer}.

Ingredients:

7x14 stretched canvas

Chipboard die cuts

Lightweight Spackling from husband's stash!

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint ~ Sunny Day

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint ~ Key West

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint ~ Palm Leaf

Recollections Craft It Surfaces Doily Stencil

Cheesecloth

Hampton Art Chalk Marker

Assorted ribbon

Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Cling Stamps

Prima ~ 12 x 12 Art Journal Pad

Pinkpaislee ~ (Mistables) Muslin Scallop Ribbon

Heidi Swapp ~ Acrylic Hearts

Pinkpaislee ~ Artisan Border Elements

Tim Holtz Distress Powder ~ Worn Lipstick

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ~ Aged Brick

Here's to HOPING you got a little inspiration from my creation 
and 
don't forget to take time to create your life!

TTFN! 

x's &o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Friday Findings

Happy Friday to youns! 
Hope this day finds you well!

To those that do not know why I say youns instead of you all... 
It is part of the Pittsburgh English also known as Pittsburghese. 
Just thought youns would like a little bit of something about where I live!! 

Well, I really need to take some time to clean my craft space. 
I am so ashamed of myself, if you could see my craft table you would be appalled.
There is absolutely not one inch of space to create, and that's no lie, I am dead serious!!

Let me tell a little story behind why it is in such array...
I have an desk organizer I created that was sitting on my craft table, chock full of goodies.
Well, I emptied the whole organizer out onto my craft table to take photos of it. 
And then, that's when my camera decided to quit on me.
So now my table is a total disaster and  I have no camera!  :(

But my camera is on its way to be fixed or replaced.
Fujifilm customer service was awesome! 
They asked no questions and gave me no hassles! 
Which is how it should be when something is still in warranty.

I am feeling like a lost puppy without my camera {me > whine, whine, whine}!!

I am 'The Rebel Blogger', and here is another reason why...
I have no photos, or shall I say no photos of my past creations that I am not willing to share. 
Whether it be the creation itself or my photo taking skills of that creation. 
I guess I give up to easily when my photos do not turn out like I want.

My next thought was posting other crafters' photos of their creations but I am not familiar with the sharing protocol of photos from the Internet and other bloggers, even after giving credit where credit is due and linking.
Would anyone like to give me their knowledge of this, it would be so appreciated!!

I do have a lot of photos that my thirteen-year-old granddaughter captured. 
I would like to share just four of them with you in the meantime! 

I call this carving "The Man in the Tree"
We found him on one of our nature walks.

My 4 year old grandson acting goofy for the camera! 

"Frog Rock"

This rock is in the middle of Tionesta Creek in the Allegheny Mountains of northern Pennsylvania.
Someone many, many, many years ago had painted it to look like a monster!
And all through the years people have kept up with painting it.
This is a beautiful, quiet spot to just sit and enjoy nature, which happens to 
be close to our camp.

Just a photo of our neighbor's fresh chicken eggs.
Love, love, love them!

Till next time, a little quote for the day...

"A day without laughter is a day wasted" 
~ Charlie Chaplin


Have a crafty weekend!
TTFN

x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Love You A Latte Tag

Hello crafty friends, and the not so crafty ones too!!

I have a 'not so good for me' story to tell.

If you remember, back in April I had bought a new camera because my not so old Nikon was junk.

Well, guess what....now this camera is giving me problems!
The lens is stuck partially out, and giving me an error message saying that the lens cap is still on the camera.

The sad part is....
The creative and talented Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith had invited me to play along in The Creative Blog Hop this Monday and I was going to share another desk organizer I had created about a month ago. 

But of course, I kept forgetting to take photos of it, which is nothing new for me.  

I am so not a happy camper!

One good thing, I just finished taking these photos of my tag when it decided to quit on me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While I was crafter/blogger stalking a couple of days ago, I realized I had not created a tag or used my Cricut in quite a long while.
Shame on me!

So here is my latest creation, you guessed it, a tag.

The patterned paper pack is called Retro Kitchen by Nicole has been in my stash since Moby was a minnow!
The coffee/tea pot and the sentiment are from the Cricut "Just Because" Cards cartridge.
I fussy cut one of the cups from the paper pack and adhered it and the coffee/tea pot with dimensional foam squares.
I added a bit of shine to the pot with a Martha Stewart Glitter Marker.
I used a Signo White Uni-ball pen to create the funny little marks coming from the cup, does it look like steam??!! 
I finished by tying a white Tim Holtz Paper String to my tag.

I would like to enter this into the 
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #228 Tag Your It 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, since I do not have my blog posts planned and/or scheduled in advance and I don't know when my camera issue will be taken care of....I won't be posting any of my creations for now.   sigh :-(

Maybe it was meant to be for a little while, I do feel the need to 'sit back' and take some time to do some 'positive pondering' on some things in my life.


As always...
remember to take time to create your life!

TTFN!
x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Hi! This Is Me

Hello everyone and welcome!

First thing first before I get to my creation... 

I am so excited to have some brand new and talented crafty followers!

There is a kind, thoughtful and amazingly artistic lady that made it possible and her name is 
Zsuzsa Karoly-Smith @ Inky Dinky Doodle!

It all started by her commenting on Google+ on one of my creations that I shared. 
We started conversing and a day later the next thing I see is her mentioning me to a Google+ community called Kraafters Kommunity! 
Well, that started the ball rolling and those gals at Kraafter's Kommunity welcomed me with open arms!

This 'comfort zone' I am in is prohibiting my blog and especially my creations from getting any recognition and Zsuzsa saw that right away.
I have said this in the past, I over critique everything, my blog, my creations.... everything!
My 'comfort zone' is actually inhibiting me in more ways than one. Which I am working on changing.

Needless to say, I am so thankful to Zsuzsa's intuition {or what ever it was}.
Because of her much needed 'little nudge', I joined a group of awesome kraafters!! 

Golly gee, I am feeling truly blessed!


Now with all that being said, on to my creation.

There are so many wonderful and talented scrapbookers out there that have created layouts about themselves.

In spite of that...
The thought of me creating a scrapbook page just about me was out of the question, till now.
And the thought of journaling with my own hand writing onto a scrapbook page was out of the question also, till now.

And, for those of you that are new to me, here is a little FYI... 
I have always loathed getting my photo taken. 
Here is evidence from when I was an infant!

Today I fuss even more so since I had a muscle strap in my neck removed because of the cancer. 
Talk about a double chin, now I have chicken wattles! LOL

So I used the last decent photo I own of me {which of course I don't own many}, taken while on vacation in Yellowstone National Park. 

I was not looking at my husband but I did have a smile for him and the magnificent beauty surrounding me. 

I consider this a CAS layout, even though it has a variety of color and patterns, but there is not a whole lot of layers and the only dimension is the buttons.

I am kinda fond of pattern paper, I have quite a bit of it. 
I can not resist a good deal on patterned paper!
Mind you though, I am not a hoarder! 
No siree!

Supplies used:
Crate Paper ~ Paper Heart 12x12 patterned paper pad
Fiskars ~ Antique Elegance circle border punch
We R Memory Keepers ~ baker's twine
DIY Thickers Alphabet ~ Ali mistable fabric stickers
Stampers Anonymous ~ Wendy Vecchi sentiment stamp
Basic Grey ~ Hello date stamp


Well, maybe, just maybe, someday I will not be such a fuss button about getting my picture taken.

Hey I am doing this one step at a time! 



Thank you for stopping by and don't forget to take the time to create your life!

TTFN!
x's & o's
aka The Rebel Blogger

Distress Markers & A Fun Background

Hello Folks!

I don't know about you, but I am happy for September!

For me, the best rides on the Harley are in the spring and fall time. 

The 'fragrances' of nature are pleasantly fresh and clean when you are riding in the open air.
Those assorted 'bouquets' seem to have a distinctive quality that seem to only peak during those two seasons.

I call it 'incense' of the season!




Any who ... on to my next creation.

I so enjoy Tim Holtz's Distress Markers! 
They are so versatile and easy to create with.

I wanted to create a card with a sunny background, so I just played around with six different colors:

1. mustard seed
2. squeezed lemonade
3. broken china
4. stormy sky
5. shabby shutters
6. peeled paint

I scribbled each color onto Ranger Watercolor Paper then sprayed water onto the paper and used my finger to manipulate the colors around a bit. 

The sentiment is from Fiskars Sentiments 8x8 Stamp Set.

I used a stamp from my stash for a flower container {I can't remember what company it was purchased from}.

I stamped it onto wood looking paper from Crate Paper ~ Flea Market and fussy cut it out.

The three little flowers are also from my stash and from the same company as the container stamp.

They came in a unmarked grab bag from a vendor at a stamping show earlier this year. That grab bag is chocked full of cling stamps!

Darn it, I can not remember the company... my mind seems to be in senior mode more and more often!!

The suns rays is a Tim Holtz Grunge Cirque cling stamp.
I added a bit of shine to each sun ray with Martha Stewart's Glitter Marker in yellow. 


Well...that is my latest inspiration for you and I hope you find some time this week to create your life!


Oh and if anyone recognizes those stamps and can tell me what company, I would appreciate it!




Happy Crafting!

TTFN!
aka The Rebel Blogger

Cindy's Country Crate Organizer

Hey there folks!

I know I have said this before, and I will say it again... 
I so love this time of year!!

The abundance of fresh from the garden fruits and vegetables is truly a blessing.

Tom and I eat fresh garden goodies almost on a daily basis, savoring every tasteful awesomeness bite! 

We can't grow our own garden because of so many trees resulting in lots and lots of shade on our property. 
But the local Amish farm markets are everywhere and we take full advantage!

Here are just some of our rewards from the bountiful harvest:

#1 ~ grilled corn on the cob soaked in real butter.
#2 ~ fried peppers on Italian or French bread, sometimes adding a fresh egg from our neighbor's chickens, making it a pepper and egg sandwich! 
#3 ~ sliced tomatoes on toasted, buttered bread.
#4 ~ cubed cucumbers mixed with sour cream & fresh ground black pepper.
#5 ~ fresh picked green beans, fried in olive oil till they are a crispy golden color!

Shall I go on? 
Okay, you talked me into it!

#6 ~ mouth watering watermelon slices.
#7 ~ the sweetness of a juicy honey dew and 
#8 ~ cantaloupe, both topped with a dollop of whipped cream. 

Oh, I can't forget my homemade,
#9 ~ moist zucchini bread and zucchini brownies.
#10 ~ scrumptious blueberry pies!   

Have I made you hungry for some garden fresh goodies? 
I sure hope so!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, with all that in mind...
How appropriate is that my craft table organizer is made with the FARMHOUSE Paper Pad by Crate Paper!

I designed and created this for a friend as a thank you gift.

To make the paper lace trim around the top of each box, I used Martha Stewart's Doily Lace Edger Punch. 

The metal stamped brads on the corners of the base are from Graphic 45.

The entire organizer base is made of two pieces of 10 3/4 in. by 4 1/4 in. medium weight chipboard and glued together.

I added a crocheted doily from my stash and finished it with a chipboard letter S {for Sharon!} that I heat embossed {twice} with Tim Holtz Mustard Seed Distress Embossing Powder.

The small box base measures 3 1/2 in. square and the sides are 1 3/4 in. tall.

The middle box base is also 3 1/2 in. square, the sides are 3 1/2 in. tall.

The tall box base measures 3 1/2 in. by 2 1/2 in.
The sides are 5 1/4 in. tall.

I had so much fun designing and creating this organizer, I think I will design a different style and make one for my own craft table!



Well, apple season is next.
I can not wait to pick some wild, juicy apples for homemade apple pie with my mom's pie crust recipe, apple crisp and applesauce.



Don't forget to take some time to create your life!

Have a fantabulous weekend!
TTFN!
aka The Rebel Blogger