New Product - New Venture - New Jersey

The past few days have been about getting some new things in my life. With so many stressful things going on, it seemed like it was time for a bit of "renewal." For the last four days or so, I took some time off from my 9 to 5 office job and brought some new things into my life to get a recharge.

First came some new product. Basic Grey "Green at Heart." Picked it up to create a layout for a "solution" at NESC. Fell in love! Those darn felt flowers are AMAZING. Those papers are absolutely "Springy." Not only did I create a layout, but I began to see the possibilities for so many other projects. This picture does not do the product justice. It is absolutely adorable.

Then came the new venture . . . ATC Camp. That's Artist Trading Card Camp. The group had met once last month and I missed out on it. Did I need something new to add to my plate. Well, I must have because I signed on for it, and I even agreed to teach the next one coming up in April. I figured if I could attend the March session and understand it, then I could teach it. Right? Well, I get it. I got all excited. I turned, yet again, to "Green at Heart" for my inspiration. The theme of the cards was to be "Spring." Can't get much Springier than those bright, vibrant colors. I cut. I created. I inked. I stamped. I colored. I stickled. I signed. I numbered. My cards were done.

Yet as I went to put them into a plastic bag to take to NESC, I realized . . . I should have a box to carry them. I remembered that I had an empty Maya Road lunch tin that was sitting around on the floor near my computer just waiting to be loved. Back to the "Green at Heart" collection where I found some paper, some die cuts . . . matched it up with some ribbon and before I knew it I had created a beautiful tin to transport my ATC's. On the box it says . . . "A little birdie told me . . . Make ATC Cards." And the best part about ATC camp was seeing all the great cards. So different!

I'm so looking forward to leading the group next month and having the opportunity to share my time with such awesome women!

Now comes the part about the jersey. That's a new jersey . . . not New Jersey. It's not a place, it's a thing.

So many people are surprised by my love of hockey. I love the game . . . everything from the arena smells to the fast paced game. I love the skill, love to watch the players develop and make their way to the NHL. And I love combining my love of hockey with my love for scrapbooking. For many years I have created scrapbooks for the Hartford Wolf*Pack players, and as I blogged a few weeks ago, this year is no exception. I have two really great guys that I have been following this year.

At tonight's game, the guys were wearing these great new jerseys that I believe were designed by a fan. They were running a silent auction that would later turn to a regular auction for fans to bid on game worn jerseys off the players backs. I always leave these auctions disappointed. The jerseys are expensive, and I can never bid that high. But this year I felt like I was in the market for a new jersey. I had my eye on a few in particular. I quickly calculated what I was willing to spend, found the sheet for one that I really wanted and I placed my bid. I didn't go a mere $25 over the last bid . . . I put my top bid.

A few hours later, between the 2nd and 3rd period, my husband showed up to tell me that I had won my jersey. Just mere seconds after he told me, my jersey was involved in a fight. It was right in front of me, and I got to see my game worn jersey go a few rounds. I turned to my husband and said, "That's my jersey." Any doubt he had about the expense was gone. We realized as we watched my #27 jersey get grabbed, stretched, yanked, and pulled that it was meant to be. Rick said, "It's a sign." And a short time later he was on the ice with Jared Nightingale . . . #27 . . . getting my jersey. The somewhat stinky thing made the trip home where it will hit the washer tomorrow and be on my back for the next game. So . . . new product, new venture and new jersey. The combination has been a great renewal!

It was a great weekend.

Creative Ramblings

I have been so, so busy that I've not had time to blog. Between work and projects, I've just been swamped . . . and then there is that thing they call "my personal life." It's been a little nuts. I've been really busy hitting deadlines on some scrapbooking projects. At the top of my list this month was getting my player scrapbooks done for the Hartford Wolf*Pack players I follow each year. This year I have two player books that I'm working on. The first is a young defenseman, Corey Potter, who has been with the organization for a couple of years and has even had the opportunity to play up with the New York Rangers this year. Defensemen are great to scrapbook because they spend a lot of time down at my end of the arena! My second player is a two-time Olympic athlete, Andres Ambuhl, who just returned from Vancouver, having played for the Swiss hockey team. Andres is a fast forward, and what was really neat about scrapbooking for Andres is finding some great on-line shots of him playing in Vancouver that I could include in the book. He really seemed excited to see them, and I got him to autograph one photo for me for my own scrapbook (now just where did I put that darn photo). There is #10 on the left there admiring a Little Yellow Bicycle Generation Z layout of himself chasing the puck. Nothing better than combining two of my great loves . . . hockey and scrapbooking.

My creativity has been a bit sparce . . . but I fired it up a bit tonight. My favorite day of the month is the Employee Crop at New England Scrapbook Company in Canton. It is usually my time to look at my upcoming schedule of classes and get busy picking out paper, ribbon, and embellishments. Even better than the scrapbooking is the company. I get to scrapbook with not just creative people, but awesomely cool, fun and creative people. It's an afternoon/evening filled with laughter . . . and boy did I need it.

I found tonight interesting. I was working on a Designer Series kit for the store, and then buckled down on the store's monthly challenge. If you haven't checked out the challenge . . . you should. It is a lot of fun. But what was interesting about the challenge is that I was working on my layout to post, and while working looked over and saw Vanessa working on a page using the same paper line. A short while later I looked over and saw Chris working on a class page using the exact same paper line. Great minds! Great paper! Great embellishments! I highly recommend that you check it out in the beach section at NESC. It is TPC Studios paper and embellishments called "Undersea Adventure." Love it! Love the paper. Love the ribbon. Love the embellishments. Love the bling. What was really fun for me was having great photos of my daughter and her friends at the beach this past summer. Found them on Facebook and sent them to Snapfish. I hope to make a nice 12 x 12 album for her (one of my many projects on the list that is not started).

Wait! Strike that! It is started now. One layout down . . . many more to go.

Hope to post more soon . . . but I've still got that challenge to announce, so . . . later!