Creative Chaos

Still rolling.......

except right now I'm rolling into the couch and counting down the minutes until bedtime.

I had my avastin treatment this afternoon and it just wiped me out.  Everytime I go in for my treatment I'm armed with magazines to read, a notebook for jotting down witty blog posts and my bagel to eat.  And every single time, as soon as I sit in the comfy chair with a blanket on me, I'm like Pavlov's dog and can barely keep my eyes open.  I don't even get premeds anymore! 
 
 

Something about that chair just makes me go to sleep.  So now I'm going to finish making dinner and then convince the boys to go to bed at 6:30.

I think I'll go change all the clocks to convince them it's really 8:30.

As you may or may not know, I love my Target snowflakes.  So this holiday season is going to be the year of a thousand snowflakes.   Here is a snowflake banner I'm working on for a class at Paper Tales. 

 

Talk to you later.....zzzzzzzzzzz.......  
 
 
 

On a roll......

This is for a project I'm working on.....

New snowflakes for a class at Paper Tales.....

Some revisited tags......
 
 

Ok...back to work....
 
 
 
 
 
 

This is the new notice on the outside of my bathroom door....

 BEFORE KNOCKING, YELLING OR CRYING PLEASE CHECK THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

1. Does it involve blood?
2. Does it involve fire?
3. Is someone not breathing? (Hyperventilating while crying does not count)
4. Is there someone at the door holding an oversized check, balloons and a microphone?

If it does not involve any of the above items do not, and I repeat, do not knock on this door.  This includes, but is not limited to: 

• asking where your tootsie pop is and can you eat it now
• telling me your little brother won't let you watch World's Most Extreme Rollercoasters
• Telling me your big brother won't let you watch Yo Gabba Gabba
• wanting to brush you teeth at that precise moment
• notifying me the cat needs food and won't stop meowing
• asking what your password is for Toon Town
• both of you coming to the door arguing about something that I neither care nor want to care about in this lifetime nor the next. 

I believe that by following these simple rules you will find that mommy doesn't stomp out of the bathroom as often proclaiming everyone is losing computer privileges for the rest of their natural lives.  (and yes, I will call your wife and tell her to tell you to get off the computer)  Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.  If you have any complaints or questions please fill out a form in triplicate and file it with management. 

Oh boy..........

How......

in the world.......

did this.....

happen again......

Same table.....different season. 
 
 
 
 
 

Trying to stay focused......

on what I need to do.  But I'm getting lured in by Christmas.   I fell in love with these papers and have to do something with them.......

They are Webster's Pages.   Love them.......

When I was eating my lunch yesterday at Paper Tales, Michelle was hard at work stocking them on the shelves.....

I was going to help her after I was finished eating but then got distracted by this.......

and this.....

 

By the time I made my way back she was already done......

Trying figure out color combinations and textures....

I pulled out some tags from last year to see how I could change them up.....

Alrighty.....someone is breathing down my neck wanting to go on Toontown.  I have a ton of food to cook today since our freezer went on the fritz.....Talk to you soon!  Karin
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

  
 

Can a shelving unit change your life?

Well maybe not your life....

In my case it changed the entire direction of my day.  On Sunday I decided to clean and organize my craft room.  Yes, I know, it's the story of my life.  However, it really needed a good scrubbing. Plus, I wanted to be all organized for the big Christmas crafting rush.   So as I stood in my room overwhelmed with too much stuff and not enough storage, Cosme walks in and asks me if I want to take a look at this shelf he got from a client before he puts it in the alley.   Ack!  Yes! I'll take it!  It was as if I read "The  Secret" and all my wishes came true.  I then stood back in my craft room and wished for him to walk in with a bag containing a very large sum of money.   It never happened so I got back to organizing my ribbons.   I love the little light on top. People are going to think they stumbled into a museum.

Hopefully, when everyone is distracted by my lighted shelf, the rest of my messy room will be ignored.  I was able to free up a considerable amount of space on the other shelf......

Still not sure how I want to fill it.   And this table is driving me crazy.  It's supposed to be a "work" table but it just ends up being a catch all.  The room is slightly too small for it. But if I remove it then I have all this wasted space.   I think I'll pretend to read "The Secret" again and wish for a larger space.......

Some cans made the cut.....then I took them off...

Crepe paper storage.....the never ending battle.....

Sigh....I love my vintage wallpaper.  By the way Donna will be putting some new packs in her Etsy shop soon.  I only divulge my super secret source so I don't go crazy buying more......

This is what happens when you put cute little things in cute little drawers.  You completely forget about them.......

I found my little birds that I had been working on before all the Halloween craziness began.....

Back to the museum......

Ok....back to work.......
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  

 

What kind of mother........

lets her child walk the trick or treat parade at his preschool dressed like this.......

 

Yep.  That would be me.  For the last three weeks, he has been saying his costume was going to be "a blankie on his head and one sockie."   He never budged from this well thought out disguise. I begged and pleaded with him in the Target costume aisle to consider Thomas the Train or a fireman.  Nada.

 Although, it was vaguely reminiscent of last year's costume......

It was completely different in attitude......

In my defense, I made him wear two "sockies" as it was very chilly this morning.   What can I say, he's his own little man.  However, I have a feeling I won't be asked to be on the Halloween decoration committee next year.......

 
 

Still packing.........

At least no one can say they can't place a plate of food down anymore. 

I've managed to gain an extension of a couple days by at least organizing things into boxes.  The problem is I have no where to put them because my studio is such a mess.   I'm woefully behind on everything because I've been extremely tired this past week.  I got a flu shot and then became so tired that it reminded me of chemo tired.   Everyday for the past week I've been sneaking in a nap during the day.  Today I had to go to get a CAT scan.  I think that had me a bit stressed. I've had a pain in my chest for the past few weeks so they wanted to check it out. I'm sure it's nothing.....but you know how the mind works.

On top of just going through the test,  I now have to go up to oncology to get my iv's started because my veins are blown.  I only trust my chemo nurses.  When I was getting my blood drawn last week I told the receptionist that I needed someone with years of experience and who knew what they were doing.  She said "Oh, I'll give you to so and so.  She's pretty good."  Very nicely I said, "I can't have pretty good.  I need really good....astoundingly good.....worthy of awards and standing ovations good."   Luckily, the gal I got was "standing ovations" good and did a great job. 

  
 
After getting back this morning, I promptly cancelled my 11:00 am hair appointment lay my head down at 10:00 am not stirring until 4:00pm.  I was tired.  Cosme picked the boys up from school and took them out for the day....playground...McDonald's.  The boys hardly remembered they had a mom they were having so much fun. 

Surprising, though, I'm already thinking about bed as I'm writing this.  Before I hit the sack, I just wanted to show you some things I got at a craft fair a couple weeks ago.  The necklace above is an old brooch from Sara Coventry circa late 70's.  I just love it.   And the earring are just fun.  

Talk to you soon!  Karin

 
 

I've been evicted.......

He called me a squatter. I said I had rights.  He said no you don't.  I said I watch Judge Judy. I know I do.   He rolled his eyes and said I had until the end of the night to remove all my belongings and get off the premises.   I knew my flimsy excuses and time had run out........

I reluctantly started packing my Halloween bags, boxes and great unfinished ideas. It was going to be their fault when the awesome paper mache pumpkin idea of 2009 never comes to fruition just because "they" want to eat at a kitchen table.   Idea crushers.  I was going to pursue the matter legally. But since he did give me an extension on my original eviction notice I let the matter drop.   Besides, I need to give enough time between now and the Christmas crafting rush to drum up enthusiasm for picnicking at the coffee table again. 

Off to pack more boxes.......  

Seriously, are you people trying to kill me here.......

So I go for my mammogram today.  Very surreal experience I might add. I actually decided to go to a different office than the one last year in order to not experience any post traumatic flashbacks or anything. So I bravely walked into the empty little waiting area surrounded by useless magazine like "Forbes" and "Caribbean."   Oh yes, let me first read about how much money I have lost in the market and then I can read about places to which I can't afford to go.......  ANYWAY, I sit down and start to think about what I need to pick up at Target later today and if I feel like making dinner tonight and then I turn and see this........

Really.  You are going to leave me by myself with no reading material to speak of and a whole bowl of tootsie rolls?!?  Isn't that illegal....or, at least against hospital policy?   Here's my relationship with tootsie rolls.  I wouldn't buy them, I don't think about them, I would even go so far as to say I'm not even sure if I really like them.  However, if they are sitting in a bowl, or in a 8 year old's trick or treat bag, all of a sudden, I have left all self control on the second level of the parking structure finding myself unwrapping "just one more."   So thanks to the Kaiser Permanente Radiation offices, the one mile walk I did this morning was completely obliterated by bite size chewy chocolates sitting in between two pink balloons.  On the bright side the test went without a hitch.  Let's just hope for the "no news is good news" letter in two weeks.....

Wrapping up the Halloween madness..........

Well, it's time to end the madness and reclaim my kitchen table again.  The novelty of eating at the coffee table in front of the t.v is wearing thin for the boys.  My pleas of "come on you guys, pretend it's a picnic....with a coffee table....and a TV.....Yay!"  Are met with "I want to sit on a chair!"   Plus, there are some things I want to make for myself before Halloween arrives at my doorstep.  Today, for instance, is the annual "spookily lighting of the house."  We are putting up all the lights and spider webs up in the front.  It's a very complicated endeavour as I have to put the spider webs up in such a way that that balances the effect of sheer terror with not getting soaked by the automatic sprinkler system.  It takes years of experience to achieve this.....

The construction on the haunted house was stalled due to other pressing projects.  But I got contractor Andres back on board and it's slated to be finished by next week.  Unless of course Paper Tales gets some new things in to distract me......


 

I did a tutorial for this can over at Kari's A Year of Color.......

Poor little unfinished tags that I completely forgot about.....

Boo tags that were done en mass yet no where to be found......

A bunch of banner kits on their way to Paper Tales.......

Sad, forgotten cones that had so much potential at one point.....

 eh, there's always next year.....

 

Also here's a fun tutorial to do over at Joli Paquet.......

Talk to you later!  Karin
 

 

 

Looking for some places to stay on Halloween weekend?

Might I make a few suggestions......
 

1. Abandoned on Haunted Hill, 2. this old house, 3. Hocking Hills., 4. Behind the Bates Motel, 5. Webster Wagner Home, 6. Haunted house, 7. House of Spirits!, 8. Alone, 9. Mysterious and spooky, altogether ooky, 10. Welcome Hoooome......., 11. haunted, 12. Patina's Family Home - Page One

I'm guessing they would be recession friendly alternative to pricier hotels. 

So am I the only one fascinated with old abandoned houses?   I'm always curious as to the family that lived there, what was their life like or who was the last person to walk away from the house.  Old houses have so many stories to tell.  There was a time when it was a new house. Fresh with promise for a newly married couple or a young family.  Abandoned houses remind me of a shell of a body.  When the family leaves so does the soul of the house.  The abandoned house no longer breathes without a family to inhabite it.  Well, unless of course, a few ghosts stuck aound to keep it company.....

Crazy for Halloween Mosaics......

1. skelly 31 ornie 005 STJ, 2. halloween tags, 3. BOO Banner, 4. Haunted Moon Hand Dyed/Altered Ribbon, 5. Vintage inspired "good fortune" Halloween candy container crown, 6. Halloween Swap sneak peek # 5, 7. Brooke's Hallowen Hat for Speckled Egg'S Swap close up of Glittered Rose from VIntage Crepe Paper., 8. Spookytime- trio, 9. Slipper Detail, 10. Halloween Goodies, 11. Eat Candy & Cake~NFS, 12. My orni's for a swap

 

1. Welcome to Boney's, 2. Halloween card - closeup, 3. Ghost' around the tree :), 4. Autumn leaves crown, 5. black and white, 6. solitary, 7. Masquerade Cat Candy Box, 8. Poe and Raven, 9. "always in my schemes" sweet & sinister, 10. Close-up of Hostess Gift, 11. black and white vintage dance costume FLEA MARKET FRIDAY, 12. Halloween Goodies!!, 13. Vintage witch (Halloween), 14. beware banner, 15. Jolie Paquet Halloween Kit - Boo Girl, 16. Gothic Chic Slipper

 

1. Batty ? Moi ? ........, 2. Halloween Cupcake Treat, 3. Halloween Screamsicle Cupcakes, 4. Cupcake Diving, 5. Halloween Cupcakes, 6. Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcake, 7. Trick or Treat!, 8. Happy Halloween!, 9. Pumpkin Pie Cupcake with Whipped Kreme & Candy Corn Gummy, 10. Take your pick, 11. squash halloween cupcakes, 12. There's a spider on my cupcake!, 13. cup cakes!, 14. Halloween Cupcakes, 15. Tuesday Toppers: Witch Hats, 16. No tricks, just treats...

My boyfriend's back in town.........

And he brought some friends with him.........

They should all be gone by this weekend. Possibly sooner. 

While I was at Target I also decided it's never too soon to start stocking up on Halloween candy......

I'm guessing it will be gone by the weekend also.....
 
 
 

Kicking off the Halloween countdown............

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