Don't Know Where To Begin

so just like me i'll jump in sideways and just start! for those of you who don't know me...by nature i'm very impulsive, impatient, loud - in both volume and style, and a just a *little* over the top. i am NOT methodical, precise, accurate...which is a tad problematic when you LOVE LOVE LOVE to craft.

becoming the mother of 2 has changed most of those qualities. by no means am i now a khaki and cardigan kind of girl...but im VASTLY more patient...both with children and the general public, while inside i can be impulsive - i am reserved in my purchases for myself (sometimes not so much for my children), my style is now whatever is clean or not completely gooed up from beautiful, sticky little hands and faces.

but all of those qualities still come out when i'm crafting. i rarely measure...unless i have to...i mix and match everything and anything...sometimes the zaniest or STUPIDEST things...the wilder the better (in most cases). sometimes things don't even remotely match...but that's what i love about crafting...you REALLY can't make a mistake.

so...with all that said...i love scrapbooking and i love stamping. i got myself sucked into the world of scrapping about 2 years ago when my daughter was an infant. i was so taken with her that i wanted to remember every second and every movement that she made. and so...i did. her first year encompasses 2 huge 12x12 albums. and i havent even started her second year. oh and THEN there's my 1 year old son. everything for his album is categorized, organized and color coded. i just have to find the time. but IN THE MEANTIME...one of my oldest and dearest friends http://stampedbyhand.blogspot.com/ got our other oldest and dearest friends http://www.freewebs.com/sbd529/index.htm completely sucked into rubber stamping...and she in fact became a Stampin' Up demo. So between the 2 of them...i stood no chance. so here i am...

i've been gingerly playing with the few sets i have and the bit of cardstock that i've collected. ive had a party and am considering becoming a demo myself. just working on the financial aspect of it as well as the time commitment. but in the meantime...i gave a few cards to my cousin as a thank you for having us over for a playdate recently and she called me the next day and asked if she could order some! i was thrilled. so i've got pictures of all the ones i made her that ill be posting. but one of my favorites that i made last night is this 'just beecause' card. I found the sparkly cardstock at Joann's yesterday when just getting out and about with my dynamic, miniature duo was necessary. It is a 4.5x6.5 Mat Stack of cardstock. It comes in a pack with 60 sheets, normally 9.99 but they're having a huge Easter sale so i got it for 5.99. It comes with a ton of patterns and colors with a few sheets of each. i was totally dying to use it. i came up with the yellow and black theme from the SU bee stamp and i saw a similar card in this month's The Rubber Stamper magazine. well...there was NOTHING similar (see above about being over the top and loud) about my card to the one i saw but i got the idea from a card in the mag. i colored in the bee with some markers that i had from scrapping, the wings are filled with glitter glue that i grabbed from the $1 bin at Joann's, his antannae are colored with an old silver gel pen i had lying around and he's punched out with the SU 1 1/4" circle punch and mounted with Scotch brand foam squares. the ribbon is misc brand from AC Moore that i got for $1/spool and the little circle embellishment was found on the floor of my car. HAHAHH...this description sounds ridiculous. but again...that's me. oh and i stamped the background with a flower from my Delight In Life set as well as my Reason To Smile set. so all in all i'm really loving this card.

oh and for anyone who cares the name Paper Canteen just kind of came out of the blue. i was wrangling with names and nothing hit me. then i thought about paper, letter writing, arts and crafts...etc, etc. (i cant get into the way my thought process works) but i was a kid who went to overnight came for the entire summer from the age of 6 or 7 on. so we always had to write letters home and when we'd run out of paper to write on we could order some from the Canteen. for those of you who didn't 'do' summer camp the Canteen was a place where you could order basic stuff - toiletries, stamps, some candy, paper and envelopes, etc. your parents would pay extra for this stuff so in case you ran out you could replenish without having your parents send you stuff. so...i just put the 2 together. Paper Canteen. it just stuck.

thanks for anyone who visits!