Monday, February 24, 2014

Kicking Things Off

Greetings! My previous blog, The Frugal Cardmaker, sort of got lost in the shuffle of my busy life as a college student and now I can't get logged back in to it, so I decided just to start over. I graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, Wisconsin in May of 2013 with a Bachelors of Science in elementary education and special education-learning disabilities, fully intending to be gainfully employed as an elementary classroom teacher for the 2013/2014 school year.

Interestingly enough, the LORD (YHWH, Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, Guardian and Shepherd of my soul) had other plans in store and instead, since September 2013, I have been gainfully employed by At Home Care, a company providing in-home services to the disabled and/or elderly so that they can remain independent and in their own homes. A year ago I would never have believed that this is the work I would be doing or that I would enjoy it so much, but it's true! I love my job! I love the people I work for and I love my clients! This job is a perfect fit for me in so many ways. I work six days a week, Sunday through Friday, and usually 35 to 40 hours a week. That's just the face-to-face client time. Add in the time I spend driving from client home to client home and I put in a lot more hours than that each week.

My challenge with this job is managing my time at home efficiently so that I accomplish all that I want to do. That is easier said than done, especially for a first-class procrastinator. It's all too easy to come up with excuses and just play lazy. I am definitely NOT a Type A person. I've never had a lot of drive or ambition. I'd rather take life slowly and smell the roses along the way. However, I am working on it. 

Anyway, back to this blog...I'm not sure that I really have any more time now to work on a blog than I did a couple of years ago when I was in the midst of my college studies, BUT I want a place to showcase the cards I've been making and a blog is a good place to do that.

When I began the blogging thing back in 2009, I wanted to show how you can combine frugality and cardmaking. I still believe in being a frugal cardmaker. Along the way, however, I have accumulated some of the more expensive tools--tools like a Big Shot and a Silhouette Cameo. I did just get a more expensive set of colored pencils (PrismaColor) instead of using the RoseArt and Crayola colored pencils that I've been using, though I still have those on my crafting table, too. For the most part, though, I'm still a frugal cardmaker. I throw very little away. I continue to look for inexpensive (cheap) materials to incorporate into my cardmaking. I continue to save my paper scraps. 

You will see that I use all sorts of things on my cards. I do have some stamps and use them more than I used to, even though I would not call myself a "stamper." I am a cardmaker and as such, I refuse to be boxed in by any particular approach to making cards. I like reusing items that might otherwise end up in the trash. I have my Sweetheart Tim trained to ask me before he throws anything away that I might be able to use for a crafty purpose, especially on a card. Thankfully, we live in a big house and I have the third floor (the attic) all to myself so I have the room to save lots of stuff. I love STUFF!

So let me cut the talk and show you a couple of my most recent cards. I'm running out of time tonight so I won't go into details on the materials used on these. As always, if you have a question about the materials or techniques I've used on a card, please post a comment and ask. I'll do my best to reply as quickly as possible.






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