That Inky Comfort Zone

This Monday Musing is all about noticing where your crafty comfort zone is and being cool with the days that you just need to curl up in that warm comfy place....and also about having the courage to step away from that place and work at liking that new place too.


So we have all heard that it takes 20 tries to form a habit, 6 weeks to build muscle, 3 months to train for a half- marathon, 3 weeks to die from starvation and 8 views of a new brand to start recognising it...( I just made up thoses numbers by the way....). This means that when you feel the need to throw off the comfort blanket and stride into a world of different colours we need to give it a chance, to let us get used to it  and play about with different shades and combinations before we run back to the snugly duvet. Clearly not everything "works". Here are a couple of great starting points for fining some new colour combinations.

First the stunning Stampin' Up! Colour Coach ( Color Coach) where all the gorgeous ink and card stock colours are sampled with suggested combinations. This is a great place to start.

Secondly turn to a piece of patterned fabric that you have in your home or wardrobe. Exercise caution here - don't automatically turn to "your colours" but maybe reach for something a bit different.
I discovered by chance that having a tray with tiny samples of all the Stampin' Up! colours lying on my crafting table was a great help. It happened like this: I have a drawer in my studio ( which of course is Beyond the Greenhouse) for each of the SU colours in card stock. Yummy I know! I labelled them with the name of the colour and a small butterfly punched shape in the card. When I was making the labels I put them in a tray and saw that they were so pretty lying in a jumbled scatter. Then I started using them to audition colours for projects.....in the end I had to punch another set to use on the drawers! I would recommend you giving it a try.

It's Almost Spring - Lets Sale-a-brate!

So what the heck is that title meant to mean? Well fellow Stampin' Up! devotees will totally recognise that this fantastic Papercrafting supplies company is holding its annual Sale-a-bration where all orders of £45 will earn FREE products ( YES totally FREE papers, stamps, ribbons, buttons.......) for each and every £45 you spend. For me it's a great time to stock up and win out.....and the ladies that come to my classes also benefit because they get to use these limited edition goodies in class and have a play before they get their own. There really is nothing like seeing ( and stroking and sniffing!) the products in the flesh, as it were.
I have also set myself the challenge of making a scrapbook page every Saturday. I love the speed of the Project Life pocket Scrapbooking system but also revel in the traditional style pages where I could easily spend a whole day making a beautiful intricate work of art.

Here is the page I made this afternoon after seeing a great page that Michelle Philips made last week after seeing a page that Linden Rosam made in her monthly Scrapbooking class! Love these girls and the way we all CASE from each other ( Copy And Share Everything!)
Contact me by clicking here to email and get full details of the products and colours used and to book yourself on to a course so you can make your own!

Scrap book page every Saturday