Some success

Well, I did finish my goal for today.  I found the floor and it got vacuumed.  You just don't want to look at my living room, where all that stuff is waiting to be sorted and organized.  Relatives arrived today and more will be here tomorrow to help with some of the other stuff in the house.

Easiest way to vacuum!

Mom, you forgot some stuff!

Looking better!

Making progress

After several full days, I discovered that I have a floor in my craft room.  However, the rest of the room has lots more stuff.  My goal for today is to get the carpet vacuumed!

I'm doing a lot of sorting in the living room.  Some will be kept, some will be sold and some will go in trash.

I have a brand new Milwaukee heat tool.  I bought it at a convention several years ago.  It was too hard for my old hands to hold and gets too hot.  I prefer my little Heat It tool, which has been going strong for about 15 years.  I even have a spare one still in the box.  Would anyone like to buy this tool?  It's new in package and has the price tag of $31.99 on it.  I don't know how much it will cost to ship.  Make me an offer.  oldstamper@gmail.com

More for sale

Another day of sorting and taking photos.  These are sponges that are usually used with paint to decorate walls or other items, such a wooden things.  I don't really know if people use these things.  I tried some of them, but didn't use most of them.

If you are interested in any of these, make an offer and we can figure out shipping.  They are light weight, so shouldn't be too much except for bulk.  I can take the alphabet and other sponges out of containers to fit in boxes better.

This Satin Sheen twisted paper ribbon was popular for a while, but I never got the hang of it.  You can open up the ropes to make a bow, I guess.  If you are intersted, make me an offer and I can figure out shipping cost.

This embellishment organizer looked so great at a convention that I bought 2 of them.  The other one is full of brads and works well.  I didn't really need a second one.  There are 5 levels with 8 compartments in each.  You have to take each layer off the center post before opening it.  This one has never been used, so it is stiff.  It will get easier to open after some use.

SOLD

I don't know what shipping would cost on this either, but make and offer and I'll find out.

This Ukrainian Egg Decorating Kit looked so neat on the old Carol Duvall show that I ordered it.  I never did try it out.  You use the little dipper applicator to apply melted wax to the egg shell.  You dip it in the dye, then apply more wax in a pattern and dip it again.  This continues until you get a finished decorated egg.  Finally, you remove the wax and all the colored designs appear.  If you are artistic and patient, this may be for you.  Directions and patterns are included in the kit.  If interested, make me an offer.

I have so much stuff, this may take me a while to get things posted.  Keep checking back to see what I've found next.  My email address is: oldstamper@gmail.com

Beginning the purge

I'm deeply involved in cleaning up my craft room, preparing for a move.  I decided to offer some of this stuff for sale here before having a yard sale.  Here's my first offering:

These are Sizzix Original dies.  They are the 5/8" thick dies with metal blades.  I use the Big Shot to cut with them.  I couldn't locate the paper insert from the Daffodil and Narcissus die (the yellow and black one.  The others are Lilac, Hydrangea, Tulip and Pansy Paper Sculpting Dies.

The frame dies are the same size and the frames will fill the front of an A2 card.

I also have samples that I had assembled and never finished the cards.  Lots of bits and pieces in this group.  Once you see how to assemble them, you can cut all you want out of many material.

Here are some samples of cards made with these dies.  I didn't make all of these cards, but had these photos in my file.

I'm offering this entire set (except the finished cards) for $50, including USPS Priority Shipping.  Email me if interested:  oldstamper@gmail.com

Life goes on

I'm trying to get my life back on track after such a devastating time.  There is no way to describe the effect of the loss of a loved one in our lives.  This is really a 'rollercoaster time' in our lives - lots of peaks and valleys.  With the help from all my friends and family, along with their prayers, I'm now enjoying more highs than lows.  I guess you could say I'm more in the foothills than the steep mountains and deep valleys.  I'm looking forward to the rolling plains.

I haven't been making cards because I'm just not ready to be creative just yet.  I am sorting and packing up my card making supplies.  I will need to begin purging the many unused supplies that are cluttering up my craft room.

These are things I have packed up to move to my new home at a later date.

This shows what my old craft room looks like this morning, after removing some of the things.  I have a lot more work to do before this house can be listed for sale.  This room became the dumping ground for things not needed at the time.  This is why I made the decision to remove the important things first, so that I could have the freedom to discard some of the rest. 

That USPS Priority box has cards made for Operation Write Home before my husband became too ill for me to make cards.  I've never mailed them, but will when I get to that part of my life.  Most of them were made during the early summer, so they can be saved until after the busy holiday season.

This is just a small part of my life at this time.  Yesterday, my real estate agent visited and signed the intial papers to authorize her to begin the process of getting this place listed for sale.  When we both feel that everything is ready to go, another change will take place in my life.

For now, I'm just taking things one day at a time and sometimes one hour at a time.  My goal at this time is to stay focused on the small portion of my life that is getting my attention at the moment.  When I try to do everything at once, I just get confused.  Life goes on and I'm now trying to control the process, instead of events controlling me. 

Attitudes are contagious.  Make yours worth catching.

Newspaper surprise

Imagine my surprise when I read our small town local newspaper yesterday.  I thought my friend, Jodi, and I were the only card makers sending cards to Operation Write Home from our small town.  I wish I had known about this group of ladies.  I would love to have joined them.  I'm going to have to figure out how to contact them.  If anyone knows them, let me know.

Mystery solved

I think I have solved the mystery of the box of goodies I received.  It appears to be blog candy that I won some time ago.  Read the explanation HERE.

Thank you, Grandma Lee!

Surprise Package

This surprise package arrived in the mail a couple days ago.  I'm trying to figure out who sent it.  If anyone knows, please let me know.  There are lots of fun toys here.  I haven't had time to play with them because I've been otherwise occupied.

I had outpatient surgery this morning.  Fortunately, all came out well.  The doctor had seen an unexplained area in my uterus on an ultrasound.  They put me to sleep and inserted a camera in there to see what was going on.  Mystery solved - I have a double uterus!  We are very happy that that's all there is.  It's been a lot of years since I gave birth and it didn't cause any problems then, so I won't worry about it now.

Thank you airplanes

I made this card today as a thank you for a good friend of my late husband.  He had not heard that he was gone and sent a CD with a video he took at an airshow of the Thunderbirds, along with a lovely song he had written.  He is a very good songwriter.   They met many years ago when my husband taught him to fly.  I wrote a personal note inside, giving him the sad news.

I love this marbled cardstock because it really looks like sky and makes a great background for airplanes.  The airplanes are a wood mounted rubber stamp that I bought at a used stamp sale.  It has no brand name on it, but it does have a $2 sticker on it so that must be what I paid for it.  The sentiment is a clear stamp that I won from Operation Write Home.  Both stamps are stamped directly onto the marbled cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Thank you friend

I made this card for my friend, Pat who sent me some nice cards.  The paper is by Basic Grey and the stamp is a new one from Studio G that I bought at WalMart.