Inspired and Unscripted

Whimsy Mouse Christmas Card and California Coastal Drive San Simeon and Cambria

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 21:01:49 +0000

Hello Friends! I'm sorry I haven't posted regularly like I said I would. I have had a bit of issue with Google saving my photos that I took with my phone in a timely manner so I couldn't upload photos to my blog. I, finally, figured out that if I upload photos to my blog through my phone instead of my computer I can post the photos and use my computer to type the narrative. It's a little cumbersome but it's okay.

I've been playing around with using my embossing folders and coloring the embossed background with ink. It's been really fun to experiment. I also started working with mixed media using watercolor, distress ink, acrylic pain, collages and stencils. I'll share my creations with the mixed media next time.

The image on this card is by Whimsy Stamps. This stamp is an old one but it has always been one of my favorites. The image was colored using Copic Markers.

I just want to share more photos of my drive along the California Coast through the Pacific Coast Highway. Sadly due to a hurricane and high waves the last 2 weeks, some of the coast along the highway are eroding and the cliffs are falling into the ocean. Part of PCH may need to close down along the Laguna coast. Luckily, I've driven that part of the coast many times but I hope it doesn't fall into the ocean. It's a beautiful drive through there.

These photos were taken in San Simeon and Cambria, towns near the Hearst Castle.

Vista point in San Simeon where the elephant seals like to sunbath.

These photos were taken in Cambria overlooking the coastal homes located on the cliffs.

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Christmas Card Set and Hearst Castle

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 21:20:56 +0000

Hello Friends! I went on a little California adventure last weekend. Drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and made several stops along the way. Our first stop was the Hearst Castle off PCH in the town of San Simeon. I've lived in California for over 20 years and have not once visited the Hearst Castle. One of my retirement bucket list is to go on a California adventure visiting places I've never been to as well as those I'vpreviously visited but have not done so in a long time. California is such a large State that there are so many places to visit and lots of things to do. I'm going to do a monthly California adventure maybe once a month or maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks. I guess it depends how busy I'll be.

Last week I mentioned decorating for Halloween. I've been slacking in that department. I did put up a few decorations in the house but I guess I'll try to finish decorating the house by tomorrow. I decided not to decorate the outside too much because of El Nino and it's expected to be rainy this fall and winter season in California. Next weekend it's forecasted to rain so I don't want to deal with the decorations getting wet and having to take them down when there is heavy rain. I'll probably only decorate my porch this year.

I've worked on quite a few cards but I just haven't had the time to post them. I even started working on Christmas cards. With this set of Christmas cards, I rubbed ink to white card stock using a sponge dauber/brush then splattered a bit of white pastel paint to create the snow. I used various brands on this set of cards. I colored the images with Copic Markers.

I'll try to fit more time to posting the cards and tags I made before the pictures I've taken of them gets lost in all the photos I have on my phone. Hope you all have a great weekend 💓

Just a few pictures of the Hearst Castle.

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Rose Thank You Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Hello Friends. I recently started working on organizing my garage and I came across 3 additional containers of wood mounted rubber stamps. I had already unmounted 170 Stampin Up sets and I thought I only had 2 containers remaining of random wood mounted stamps to unmount. I was a bit shocked that I had 3 additional full containers of rubber stamps. I was looking through them and it brought back memories of when I first started blogging and really getting into card making. It felt a bit nostalgic.

I then started looking at all the craft stuff I have and a realization came to me that I will never in this lifetime be able to utilize all the things I have. It sort of gave me a bit of anxiety and a renewed motivation to really start using them. It would be such a waste to not have enjoyed using all the beautiful craft items I have.

I've been to a lot of garage sales where crafters were trying to get rid of their craft stuff because they are no longer interested in the hobby or a loved one has passed away. I am always shocked at the shear volume of things that are put up for sale for a fraction of what they originally purchased them for. There was one seller who acquired her neighbor's paper craft stuff because her neighbor was moving into a nursing home. She was selling at least 20 containers full of scrapbook paper. Not to mention all the dies, stamps, and even Copic Markers that were being sold. This same lady also had jewelry making things, containers full of beads, etc. It made me think of all the things I have and it started to make me feel a bit anxious about it. It made me feel that I really need to get cracking on creating more projects. I don't want my daughter to have to go through the burden of having to try to sell all my stuff when I leave this Earth.

Anyway. . .just a little info about the cards I made a few days ago. The images are by Stampin Up. Again, a retired set. I rubbed a card stock with dye ink then stamped the image on top of it. It's faster than trying to color the images with Copic markers. It took a minute or two to complete the coloring of the image. To design the base I embossed a white card stock. It was pretty quick to make these cards.

I also created a Thanksgiving card and tag which I'll share on my next post. Have a wonderful Thursday. Until next time 💓

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Halloween Card and Tag

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Hello Friends! Happy Tuesday. I resumed unmounting my Stampin Up rubber stamps. I ended up unmounting at least 175 stamp sets. I'm almost done unmounting all of my wood mounted Stampin Up sets. The stamps bring back some good memories of when I first started rubber stamping and card making. I was so obsessed with making cards when I first started. I needed to buy everything. I remember when cards were made with all sorts of embellishments and ribbons. Now cards are no longer designed with bulky embellishments. Unfortunately, I still have all of my embellishments. Luckily, I can still use the ribbons, stickers and embellishments on my scrapbook projects.

After I'm done with the remaining Stampin Up stamp sets, I'll start unmounting loose stamps which I have many of. I still love the stamps so I'm not going to get rid of them. I eventually will sell them but I'd like to still use them. I really need to work on more cards and projects.

I worked on a few cards with matching tags and boxes. This set is a Halloween and tag set. Most of the images on this set are Stampin Up. The word stamp background was stamped then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

My goal this week is to put up some of the Halloween decorations in my foyer and work on pruning the plants in my yard. Sadly, with the intense summer heat, some of the leaves on several of my plants burned to a crisp. It bothers me because the plants were so lush and pretty during Spring and the heat wave ended up damaging some of them.

Well that's it for today. Hope you all have a wonderful day. 💓

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Fall Card and Box Project

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 18:32:55 +0000

Hello Friends! Happy Friday! I worked on a few Halloween and Fall/Thanksgiving projects last night. I even tried a few stamping techniques. It was fun. The temperatures are finally cooling down a bit. I'm thinking of maybe driving out somewhere today. For the past week I rarely stepped out of the house because it was over 100 degrees. It was intolerable. Luckily, it's dry heat but it feels like I'm stepping into an oven. It seems it's been one of the hottest summers for as long as I can remember.

I actually made this box and card set last week. I used a retired Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin Kit for the box and mini card. The regular size card is not part of the kit but I did use the accessories from the kit. I have a bunch of retired Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin Kit. I won't buy any more of them until I use up all the ones I already have. I am in a craft buying freeze. I have so many stuff that my craft room is beginning to look cluttered and I'm having difficulties dealing with it.

Anyway, back to my project. I embossed the card and smudged ink on the embossed parts. Other than that, I used the die cuts, stamps, and embellishments from the kit.

That's it for today. Hope you all have a wonderful Friday. 💓

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Halloween Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Hello Friends. Wow, a week has already gone by since my last post. I've been really busy this past week. I decided to start working on organizing my garage. The first thing I decided to tackle was to reorganize some of my craft stuff. I managed to unmount 3 containers of wood mounted rubber stamps, including about 70 wood mounted Stampin Up sets. I still have about 5 storage containers left to go. It's been a tedious job to unmount the stamps and put them on clear sheets and plastic storage envelopes. I ran out of the plastic storage envelopes and had to buy more of them. They'll be delivered in about a week. I decided to take a break from unmounting stamps until the envelopes arrive.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to really sit down and craft this week. I did make a few Halloween tags the previous weekend. I really had fun making these tags. I used a bit of embossing powder and used my embossing folders for the design elements on my tags. My future goal is to learn to make pop up and fun fold cards. I always loved pop up cards and have made a few way back in the past but I have to relearn how to make them again. I've seen quite a few that I would like to try to make.

With these tags, I used a few random stamps from different brands. I'm not really a "brand" sort of person. I just use images that I like. It doesn't matter who makes them. I've never been the type to buy stamps from specific brands. That's part of the reason I sometimes don't list the brand on my post because I sometimes use different stamps from different brands all on one card and I can't remember who made them. A lot of the images on my cards, I had stamped and colored quite some time ago but never made cards for them. I did this a lot, especially when I sit down and listen to music or watch TV. I would just stamp away and color images. It was very therapeutic.

I also made a Thanksgiving box and card set that I'll share next time. I'm hoping I can find time this week to make a few projects. It's crazy because now that I'm retired, I've been so busy that it feels like the days have been flying by so quickly. I'm glad I've been able to work on home projects that I've put on the back burner for so long. It's going to get busier because the holidays are right around the corner.

While we're on the subject about the holidays, I'm going to have to start decorating for Halloween soon. I'm going to start early. I've never decorated the inside of my house for Halloween, just the outside. I decided I'll do some decorating on the inside this year. I want to try something new. I bought a few indoor Halloween decor recently so it'll be fun to decorate the inside this year. Nothing crazy, just a few decorations here and there.

Anyway, that's all for today. Hope you all have a wonderful week. Until next time. 💖

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Halloween Treat Box and Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 03:22:18 +0000

Hello Friends. I haven't posted anything in a week. I was meaning to post a few of the projects I created but I got side tracked a bit. I've been working on a few organization projects and I sort of got caught up doing that last week.

I did work on a few Halloween projects the past few days. I'll work on a few more Halloween projects then I'll start moving on to Autumn/Thanksgiving projects. I had to dig trough my stamps to look for Halloween images. I need to organize my stamps. I've organized them several times through the years. I've tried organizing them by stamp brands/style then by themes then back to brands. I think organizing by theme is better. They are easier to sort through when I need to create a card or project.

I decided to work on treat boxes and cards. I also created Halloween tags but I'll share them in my next post. The Halloween treat box is a crayon box style treat box. I actually traced a Stampin Up box template from a Stampin Up Paper Pumpkin kit. I trace a lot of my treat boxes from already cut boxes then use them as templates. I create a master template that I use for various projects. I calculate the measurements then cut them to create the boxes.

For this set I used an old retired Stampin Up stamp set. They have always been my favorite. I also used a few retired Stampin Up designer papers. I have so many older retired designer papers that I tend to ration knowing that I can no longer purchase them because they are retired. It makes me sad when I finally run out of my favorites.

Currently, I'm organizing my garage. I finished organizing my pantry and kitchen cupboards. I would like to redesign my pantry but the current organization is pretty well organized so it's nothing pressing that I have to work on right now. Maybe in the future when I have nothing else to organize. Organizing is a constant thing in my life. My daughter said that I organize things just because I like to organize even when it's not needed. I believe she's right. 🤣

Last week I decided to change things up a bit and headed to Laguna Beach. It was sort of spontaneous. I wanted to find a place that I could read a book and decided that the beach would be a good place to go but when I got there, I didn't realize it was going to be so hot and humid. I didn't last very long sitting in the hot sun so I decided to sit at a French Cafe for a bit to cool down and eat lunch. I'll probably go back to the beach once the weather cools down a bit.

Anyway, hope you all are having a wonderful week so far. Until next time 😀

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noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:01:23 +0000

Hello Friends! Happy Tuesday 💓 I don't know too many people that are retired that live in my area or people who are not working. Most people I know are still working so as a retired person, I have to do a lot of things by my self. I do need to network and find other people who are not working or at least retired also. Honestly, I don't mind doing things by myself but I have difficulties doing things that have a social component to them such as eating at a restaurant or watching a movie at the theater by myself.

I decided along with my daughter and her boyfriend to purchase an AMC membership that allows 4 movies a week at the theater for $30 a month. We typically watch a movie once a week so we do get our money's worth but I decided that I'll go and see a movie at least twice a week. In order to do that, I would have to go alone sometimes. For the first time ever in my life, I went to the theater to watch a movie by myself. I went to the first showing of the day for the movie "Insidious", terrible movie by the way. My daughter didn't want to see that movie so I decided to see it by myself. It actually was quite fun. There were only 4 other people in the theater watching the movie so I took over two chairs. I pushed one of the arm rest up and lounged on both chairs. There were two other people watching the movie by themselves so I was in good company. Now looking at the experience, I don't know why I've never gone to the theater by myself. It's actually not bad at all.

On the weekend I worked on a bunch of cards. I also organized my embossing folders and dies, many of which I have never used, not even once. I decided that I would create a check list of crafting "To Do'". With these set of cards, I used a bunch of scrap designer papers and embossed the card stock with various embossing folders so I was able to check off it off my "To do" list. The images were stamped using Penny Black stamps and colored with Copic Markers and Prismacolor pencils.

Yesterday I took a little time to organize a few of my kitchen cupboards. I'm planning to finish the remaining cupboards today and tomorrow I'm going to work on re-organizeing my pantry. It has been on my 'to do" list for over a year. I just never could find the time to do it when I was working. It's pretty organized already but there are a few things that I need to straighten out so it won't be that much of a job to re-organize it.

That's it for today. Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday! Until next time 💖

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noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 02:05:52 +0000

Hello Friends. Happy Friday. I haven't been able to do my daily walking for the past few days. I have not been able to wake up early enough before the temperature begins to get hot. I need to start walking before 7 am. It doesn't look like the temperature will be cooling down any time soon. It's been in the low 100s this whole week and will continue on to next week. I attempted to do some yoga but my DVD player stopped working and my favorite yoga program is stuck inside my DVD player. I do have another DVD player that I will need to set up. It's unfortunate that my DVD is stuck in the player.

I did not work on a card last night. Instead I organized my dies. I am shocked as to how many I have and how many I have not used, not even once. That has got to change. There was a time that I would buy stamping, card making and scrapbooking products in hopes it would motivate me to start creating again but it never worked. Or, I would have a momentary moment of motivation and start buying new products then in a short time lose interest or life gets too busy. That is how I ended up accumulating things and end up not using them. Does that happen to you?

I made this cute birthday card the other day. I can't remember the brand name of the stamp because I colored the image last year but I did use Echo Park designer paper for the card. Echo Park has monthly warehouse and clearance sales. They currently have their summer warehouse sale. I'm tempted to buy a few things but I will refrain from doing so until I start using what I already have. Anyway, check the Echo Park Warehouse Sale.

There are a few projects I would like to work on this weekend. I'll share them once I'm done. Hope you all have a lovely Friday. 💖

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Bouquet of Flowers Thank You Card

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:14:12 +0000

Hello Friends! I can't believe it's almost the weekend. Since retiring, the days seem to go by faster than when I was working. I thought it would go by slower. I am now 60 years old. My birthday was 2 weeks ago and I decided to retire earlier than the typical retirement age because I wanted to be able to be free to do things while I'm physically able to, such as traveling, go on mini adventures, do some home improvement projects, etc. Before retiring I researched information about retirement, not only the financial aspects of retirement but quality of life information. I read that many retired people experience isolation, boredom, and loneliness because for most of their lives, their workplace was not only a source of income but many built their social network at work. Their coworkers were their main source of social interaction and friendships.

I worked remotely for the past 7 years since COVID so I am accustomed to the "isolation" and lack of workplace social interaction other than through Teams messaging and meetings. I never considered my coworkers as "friends". Maybe when I was younger I did consider some of my coworkers as friends. It was a time when socializing with coworkers outside of the workplace was a more common experience for me. In fact, I am still friends with a few of them. We mainly communicate through Facebook because I no longer live in Hawaii and a few moved to different parts of the US. As I grew older, I learned to separate "workplace friends" from friends outside of my job. Other than the occasional Friday happy hour get togethers or team building activities, I did not socialize with my coworkers outside of the workplace. I don't think I'll experience the isolation, boredom, and loneliness that some retirees experience. Quite honestly, I have way too many hobbies to worry about becoming bored.

As I stated in yesterday's post, this week I had planned to focus only on crafting. I have other things I plan to do next week so I wanted to put most of my efforts this week to creating cards. I worked on a few cards yesterday. I am trying different design styles. Many times we have our signature style of cardmaking because it's easier to stick to a certain style. I would like to experiment a little more and try new techniques of card making. I am behind on the new card making techniques; a decade worth of new techniques.

On the most part card making, especially with rubber stamping, hasn't changed much since I started rubber stamping 20 years ago. I do notice that there has been a major decline with using embellishments on cards such as ribbons and other embellishments that cause bulkiness on cards. I think the trend to scale down on embellishments is due to the cost of mailing cards. The cost of stamps has increased considerably. Unfortunately, I have a lot of embellishments such as brads, ribbons, Prima flowers, etc., but it's okay because I'll be using them to design my mini scrap albums. They come in handy with scrapbooking.

With this card, I piled on a bunch of stamped floral images. I had mentioned in my previous post that I had a stock pile of stamped images that I had stamped in the past few years but never created cards for them. I originally intended to use them on my mini scrapbook albums but I have so many of them, way too many in fact. Now that I'm making cards again, they have come in very handy.

Drop me a comment below. I would love to hear from you. If you are retired, tell me your experience as a retired person. What experiences surprised you, do you have any regrets, did your retirement meet your expectations, what does your typical day look like? I am still trying to navigate this new chapter of my life so it would be nice to hear your perspectives on retirement. Anyway, until next time hope you all have a wonderful day 💖

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I'm On The Roll - Birthday Card

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 20:42:47 +0000

Happy Wednesday! The week has been flying really quick. I've been on the roll with creating cards, I worked on a few cards last night. I decided this week I'm going to concentrate on relaxing and focus on crafting. I want to organize my pantry but I think I'm going to work on it next week. There are a lot of organizing that I want to do, especially my garage, but I need to wait until the temperature cools down a little. It's been in the 100s the past weeks. There are a lot of projects I want to work on including crafting projects but I need to be patient. I can't do everything all at once.

Last night I followed a sketch on Pinterest. The card sketch was a simple design. I didn't save the card sketch but the next time I follow one to make a card, I'll share it on my post so if you want you can follow it as well to provide you an idea on how to lay out your card design.

I believe the stamped image on this card is Penny Black. I can't exactly remember because I stamped and colored the image a year ago. I colored the image using Copic Markers and Prismacolor pencils for the shading. Speaking about Copic Markers, I've had my Copic Markers since 2007 I believe and I have rarely refilled them, only a few of the skin tone colors had to be refilled. It remained juicy for almost 20 years. It's pretty unbelievable but it's true. I've always stored them in my closet and in an air conditioned house so it never dried up. I only would bring them out when I colored images then returned them back in to the closet.

I have a lot of scrap designer papers from projects I created in the past. I've created mini scrapbook albums and I have a lot of scraps because of it. I'll share some of the mini scrapbook albums I created when I'm done designing them and adding the photos. It's really something I really need to get done. I used some of the scrap designer papers on this card. I also have a lot of embossing folders so rather than adding a plain card stock to my card, I embossed it to give the card a little bit of dimension.

The photo is blown up a bit so the coloring on the image doesn't look as good in the photo as it does in person. Are we all critical of our work? The truth is recipients of cards, especially handmade cards aren't critiqued in the way we critique our own work so we need to be kinder to ourselves and not be so critical about how good or bad we colored an image or designed the card. Recipients don't care what brand of stamps and materials we used so we don't have to buy the latest and greatest. They are just happy that they received a handmade card made out of love, right?

Anyway, until next time. . .have a great day 💓

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Floral Thank You Card

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 23:08:30 +0000

Hello Friends! Happy Wednesday. Since retiring I've been trying to work out some sort of life schedule. I've asked a few retired people for advise and some say for the first few months to just relax and go with the flow; to just enjoy my free time and not focus on any sort of schedule. Before I retired, I had the mindset that when I retire I would immediately tackle all the projects I have put on the backburner such as organizing my garage; redesigning my office and craft room; start on home improvement projects like painting my exercise room; and start exercising. I actually started a list of goals and all the things I want to get done.

The first week of retirement I reorganized my office. Because I worked remotely from home, I wanted to turn my work office into a journaling/planner room. I did manage to reorganize my desk, drawers and cabinets. I also started an exercise schedule. I started going for a walk daily. I also worked on my yard by pruning my plants and other yard work. I traveled to Vegas for a family reunion my first weekend. After returning from Vegas, I felt so burnt out. On my second week of retirement, my body started aching a little. I think I over did it the first week of retirement. I continued on the same schedule but I felt so tired from all the activities the previous week. I decided on this 3rd week of retirement that I'm just going to relax and slow it down a little. I have to remind myself that I don't need to do everything all at once. On the other hand, I feel like I'm wasting my free time and I start to have a strange feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out). I feel like I should be going on adventures and start on all the projects I had wanted to do. I don't know, I'll figure it out. Right now, today anyway, I decided to focus on just relaxing, take a nap if I need to and do some crafting.

This morning I woke up early and did my morning walk then later sat in my backyard to drink a cup of tea before it got too hot to sit outside. It was nice to be able to sit in my yard in the morning; something I couldn't do when I was working. It's the simple things that I really am grateful for. I do feel blessed that I was able to do an early retirement. Honestly, it was something I had wanted but didn't think it was actually possible. Everything aligned in a way that allowed it to happen.

I created this card this morning. I used a few floral images that I had stamped and colored about a year ago. I have a stockpile of already colored stamped images. I had stamped the images with the intention of using them to design a bunch of mini scrapbook albums that I created but never had the chance to finish.

I colored the images by using a dauber. I rubbed ink on to white card stock and stamped the images over it. It's the fastest way to color floral images. It allowed me to color a lot of images. I then cut the images out with scissors.

I'll work on a few more cards today. I can't wait to share them with all of you. Have a great day!

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Hello, I'm Back!!

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 01:49:34 +0000

Hello Friends! I'm back! The last time I posted on this site was in 2015 but I decided to give blogging a try again. I am a newly retired person. I retired from my job on August 1st, 2026 (yipee!!) and now that I have a lot of free time, I want to give card making and scrapbooking another try. I really miss blogging. I remember back over a decade ago when blogging was popular,. I had so much fun interacting with other bloggers and paper crafters back then. I know a lot of the original bloggers no longer blog, many have moved on to other hobbies or are now using other social media platforms such as Instagram to showcase their creations.

I do have an instagram specifically for paper crafting and although I've posted on there on occasion, I haven't been consistent in posting any of my creations on there. I have tried over the past10 years to make cards and to scrapbook but, sadly, I could not get my crafting mojo going. It has been mainly because I just didn't have the time due to my job and I had also lost interest in crafting in general. I shifted a lot of my focus on gardening but I would really like to get back to paper crafting again.

I've kept most of my cardmaking and scrapbooking supplies with the belief that I would some day use them again. I know there are new products and techniques for cardmaking and scrapbooking but my focus will be mainly to use the materials that I do already have and resist buying any more new items. Like with anything in life, that can change. 😆

There were moments when I did try to craft throughout the years but I could not stick with it and be consistent but let me see how this goes. Blogging always motivated me in the past to create new things because I almost treated my blog as a journal and I enjoyed sharing my new creations. I'm hoping that by blogging again, I will be inspired to create again. I also have other things I would like to share about my life as a retired person such as my life adventures, gardening, and other things I plan to do as I navigate this new chapter of my life. If you want you can also visit or follow me on Instagram: Stampin Inspirations I plan to post on there regularly as well.

I'll share this card for now. It's a card I actually created last year. Most of the products on this card are retired Stampin Up products. Keep in mind, the products I'll be using on my cards are not current products because my goal is to use materials I already have. I've hoarded craft materials for the past 20 years and I really do need to use them. Say hello if you come across my post. Although my intentions is not to obtain new followers or focus on anyone visiting my blog, it would be nice to hear from you. Until next time. . . 💗💗💗

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Penny Black and Magnolia Stamps Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 21:21:00 +0000

Hey Friends! I recently stopped by Joanne's and Michaels and I noticed that they are downsizing on their paper crafting section, especially Michaels. They no longer carry a wide variety of punches like EK Success (which I loved), they discontinued carrying Spellbinder dies, they no longer carry that many scrapbook papers like K&Co. I think it's the CAS trend of card making and Project Life style of scrapbooking that is leading to the down sizing. I know it's the trend right now but wow, I feel they killed the paper crafting industry. For people like me who still like to use designer papers and punches, bows and embellishments, it saddens me a bit to see how limited the selections are now. Even the rubber stamping businesses are closing shop. Ugggh! I know simple is good in a different way. . .it's faster to create cards and scrapbook layouts and also less expensive because you don't have to buy as many items, but gosh, in my opinion, it haven't been good for the paper crafting industry.

Thankfully, I still a lot of scrapbook papers, punches, dies and rubber stamps to last me a lifetime! Anyway, just my thoughts with what is going on in the paper crafting world.

Just a brief information about the cards. . . for the first card above, I used Penny Black for the image and Magnolia stamps for the second card. For both cards, I used retired Stampin Up designer papers. . . which thankfully I have a ton of.

With this card, I also used Penny Black. The designer papers are by DCWV which I also have a ton of! I have a ton of everything. . .I probably can open my own paper crafting store with all the stuff I have. Anyway, that's it for now. I'll blog again when I have the time. Hope you all have a wonderful day!!

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Masculine Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 19:56:00 +0000

Hi Friends! Gosh, it's been a while since I last blogged. I'm finally done with my classes and on summer break. It's nice to have a break from writing papers and studying. It's been over a decade since I last was in college and it's been hard to get back to studying mode, especially writing papers and such.

I normally don't make masculine cards but I did make a few a while back and wanted to share them. It's hard not to add a bow on my cards. . . that's primarily the reason why I don't make too many masculine cards because you have to keep it simple.

Distressing the card is a great way to design a masculine card and using baker's twine rather than ribbon. I don't have too many masculine image but geese flying I guess is a good masculine image.

Black and white with a touch of blue is another way to keeping a card masculine.

This is simple I could get. LOL! I did use a ribbon so it satisfied my need to add embellishments to the card. Copper colored brads are great embellishments for masculine cards.

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping by my blog.

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4.5 x 6.25" Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 18:04:00 +0000

Hey There!! It's me again! I actually have time off today from my school assignments. The week starts all over again but it's a free day for me so I decided to blog something. The cards I've posted are actually larger cards from the typical A2 card size. These measure 4.5 x 6.25". I had a bunch of Stampin Up envelopes that I wanted to use up so I made these larger cards. I actually prefer it from the A2 (4.25 x 5.5") size cards because there's more room to work with.

I have a lot of "sentiment" stamps that I really would like to work with. They're too large to use as a sentiment along with large images so I've been trying to incorporate images into the background of the sentiment designs. Flower images really make for good background images for sentiments.

The fern images in the background are by Stampin Up.

The butterfly images are by Stampin Up as well.

I don't know who makes the rose image for this card. I used a clear stamp but I threw away the packaging and now I can't remember the brand. Sometimes clear stamps are difficult to use with markers. They give that splotchy appearance on the image so I had to fill it in with Copic Markers. I actually like the effect though.

The image on this card is by Flourishes and the paper is by Stampin Up. I added dots to the image using iridescent paint.

Anyway, since it's my free day I think I'm going to spend my day making cards. It'll be a fun day for me. I hope everyone has a beautiful day!!

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More Cards. The Greeting Farm, House Mouse, Pink Cat Studio, Whipper Snapper

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 18:03:00 +0000

Hi there Friends! I felt like blogging something today. I'm back on my Fitbit routine. On my last post I mentioned that I use Fitbit to track my walking and other activities as well as my caloric intake. I went off it for about 2 weeks but I'm back on tracking my steps again. Trying to lose weight and exercising regularly is such an effort. My day actually revolves around it sometimes and it can get exhausting. It's no wonder people can't stick to a diet or exercise routine. The key is to not get to a point where you have to go on a diet and exercise is actually a normal life routine rather than something that you have to work at incorporating in your life. I hope to get to that point one day. In the meantime, it's a struggle.

Anyway. . . .I'm sharing a bunch of cards I made in February. I do make cards regularly but I no longer blog them regularly. I'm still old school when it comes to making cards. I haven't jumped on the CAS bandwagon. Honestly, the CAS trend is killing the papercrafting industry. . .LOL! I went to Joanne's a few weeks ago and I no longer saw the EK Success punches. I love them! I also saw less of a selection of scrapbook papers. I didn't see any K&Company papers. I think they stopped making designer papers which I find very sad. I loved their paper designs. A lot of paper crafting businesses have closed down. I think the scrapbooking industry has suffered the most by this CAS trend. For consumers, it's a good thing because you no longer have to buy a lot of supplies to make a card or scrapbooking so it's good for your wallet. Personally, I want my cards to look like I made them not emulate printed cards. I love blings and pretty paper designs. I like my cards layered with bows with lots of pretty colors. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

The image on this card is by Penny Black. I love Penny Black images. They have really cute animal stamps.

The image on this card is by Whipper Snapper. They also have very cute animal images.

The image on this card is by the Greeting Farm.

Awww and the image on this card is by Pink Cat Studio.

That's it for today. I have a paper to write for one of my classes. I have so many papers to write, reading assignments, and projects to do. This quarter has been a struggle for me. I can't wait to finish. I'm hoping to complete the program by May. I have thought of getting my Master's degree but after going through this certificate program, I'm not quite sure I could handle it. I love learning but I don't love writing papers and graduate school requires a lot of writing so I'm not sure it's something I want to do anymore. The future is uncertain right now but I'm trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel but lately, it's been a bit of difficult to see it. I'm just hoping things will work out and good things will come my way.

Thank you for stopping by and hope to blog again real soon!

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Hi There! Just a Bunch of Cards I Made!

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 17:38:00 +0000

Hi Friends! Gosh it's been a while. I was hoping to blog regularly but I guess that won't be happening. My classes started last month and there are so many reading requirements, papers, and projects that I haven't had time to do a lot of things that I typically do. The load is heavier this quarter than it was in the last quarter.

I did make a few cards this month whenever I was able to squeeze in the time. I also started on a fitness journey. I bought a Fitbit. For those who don't know what that is. It's pretty much a pedometer that syncs with your phone so you can keep track of your steps. You can also connect with friends online to encourage one another. I was doing really well up until about a week and half ago when my class assignments started piling up and I went off track a little. I'm very disappointed that I haven't been walking or keeping track of my intake the past 2 weeks when I was doing so well last month. I did manage to lose 13 lbs so I'm happy about that. I'm hoping to get back on track again. Anyone have a Fitbit?

I did work on a bunch of Valentine's Day cards and other cards. The images on both cards above are by Stampin Up. I've been trying to use a bunch of my older rubber stamps. It's a shame to not use them. I'm going to start selling a bunch of my craft stuff again. I have been selling a few on Ebay occasionally but I really need to work on downsizing my stuff. I have too many things I really don't need anymore. I no longer have the luxury or time to use them. I miss the days when I could freely craft whenever I felt like it.

With this card I used my Unity Stamps. I have a bunch them that I need to use. I'm thinking of letting go a bunch of my Unity Stamps. I'll let you folks know once I start listing them on Ebay.

For this card I used a Rachelle Anne Miller stamps and colored it with Copic Markers and Prima Color Pencils.

I used Unity Stamps for this card. This is the first time I've used these images.

The sentiment on this card is by Inkidinkado. The ones that they sell at Joannes. I have a lot of them. I remember I would head to Joannes and buy a whole bunch of them at a time. I no longer buy too many things anymore. I have just way too many things I bought that I haven't used and I need to focus on those items rather than buying more of them. The flower image is by Stampin Up and I added beads to the center of the flower.

Anyway. . .I have bunch more cards that I made. I'll share them on another day. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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Happy New Year and Valentine's Day Cards - Unity Stamps and Kraftin' Kimmie

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 18:06:00 +0000

Happy New Year Friends! Did you all have a wonderful start of the year? Honestly, I started on the wrong foot. . . .it started off with quite a few issues but I think it's settling down and maybe at this point it'll get better. On a happier note, I actually started on a diet and fitness plan and have stuck to all of my goals for the past 5 days. It's a good start and I'm confident I'll be able to stick with it. I do have to come to terms that I won't be able to eat the way I have been eating for years. I think with time it'll get easier. I just need to remain focused. My daughter said that I shouldn't be negative about it but I am being honest with myself. . .I think it's okay to grieve over it. . .LOL! I can't believe I'm grieving over food. . .but it is a loss. For example, my daughter and I were out shopping yesterday and she suggested that we stop by to eat breakfast somewhere and I told her I couldn't and wanted to eat at home. It disappointed her and it's disappointing to me too because this is something we loved doing together but until I can get into the habit of not eating fatty food, eating out in a restaurant will just sabotage my goals.

I was thinking of purchasing the Fitbit Flex but it's pricey so I need to hold off on it right now. Eventually I think I will buy it but I need to work out a fitness plan first before I do. I need to concentrate on changing my eating habit first before I can think of going on a fitness plan head on. I don't want to burn myself out early in the game. It's one step at a time.

Anyway, let me talk about the cards I made. The sentiment on the card above was rubber stamped using an Inkidinkado clear stamp. The designer paper is by Stampin Up.

I used a Unity Stamps for this card. It's a simple design but the paper design helps bring color to the card.

This image is by Kraftin' Kimmie! This is the first time I've inked it. I really love the Stampin Designer paper design with the little hearts.

For this card, I used Unity Stamps again. In contrast to my previous card, this card is really busy but I like it.

Anyway, my goal for this year is to blog more often. Not exactly daily but maybe several times a week. I hope I can stick to this goal. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

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Valentine's Day Card and Other Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 18:27:00 +0000

Hi there friends! I'm still chugging away making cards. I wanted to share cards I made this month that aren't Christmas related. I've already started on Valentine's Day cards and other cards that are unrelated to the holidays. My goal for the new year is to try to use more of my scraps so I'll probably do a lot more layering. I have so many small pieces of card stock and designer papers.

I used Stampin Up for the above card, both designer paper and rubber stamp images.

I used Whiff of Joy for this card and the sentiment is by Unity Stamps.

This is the first time I used this Greeting Farm image. I have quite a few TGF stamps. I don't use them as often as I used to. I have too many stamps that I own that I haven't used so I'm concentrating on them right now.

The sentiment on this card is by Unity Stamps. I have a lot of sentiment stamps that I would like to use more so another goal of mine for the new year is to use more of them on my cards.

The designer papers on this card is by Stampin Up. I have A LOT of designer papers that it's not funny. It's sad that I know I won't be able to use all of them no matter how many cards I make. Maybe I should focus on making scrapbook layouts so I can dwindle down my stock of scrapbook paper.

I love most or all of Stampin Up flower images. All of them are such great rubber stamps. The designer papers on this card is also by Stampin Up.

The image and the sentiment on this card is by Unity Stamps. Honestly I initially didn't know how to use the tree image. I used markers to color the image but I didn't like how it turned out so I added a bit of glitter to the butterflies to make the image stand out a little more.

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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Still Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:22:00 +0000

Hi Friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and many blessings. I'm sharing a few more Christmas cards that I made in December. I know Christmas is over but I just wanted to share these cards that I made.

I used a retired Stampin Up image for the card above as well as retired SU designer series papers.

I used a Rachelle Anne Miller image for this card.

I have a bunch of Whipper Snapper rubber stamps that I love. Their images are really cute.

Here's another card I made using Whipper Snapper.

This image is a digital image. I can't remember the company name. I'm typing on my laptop and the image is on my desktop so I can't look it up at the moment.

The image on this card is by CC Designs.

This image is super duper cute. It's a stamp by Crafter's Companion! I never heard of this stamp company but they are actually the company that makes the EZ Mounts. OMG! Their rubber stamp images are super duper cute. I was going through all their images and I wanted to buy so many of them!! I'll have to wait. . . .maybe I'll buy a few at a time. What I love about their images is that the images are very detailed and beautifully drawn. Here is their website if you've never heard of this company: Crafter's Companion

Finally, I used Rachelle Anne Miller for this card . I used a little embossing powder to the edge of the image. It's something different. I think I'm going to continue to make Christmas cards throughout the year so I won't feel rushed during the holiday. This year I actually started in August but I think I need to start sooner. One or two cards a month is a good pace.

I made a bunch of Valentine's Day cards and I'm already starting on Easter cards. I'll share the cards next time! If I don't blog before New Year's Day, hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

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Vintage Inspired and Clean & Simple Christmas Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 19:14:00 +0000

Hey there Friends! I decided to work on a few vintage inspired cards and much simpler cards. I'm not really good with "simple" but I'd like to get better at it. Back in the day, I bought a lot of lace trimmings for shabby chic type of cards. I really like the shabby chic style cards but I have difficulties putting the design together. I'll look around on the web for inspiration and practice a little. I did try with the card above by adding lace and bead trimming and seam binding. I still have a lot of lace and seam binding that I'd like to use up so maybe I'll start using them more often.

Another thing I do have are a lot of large sentiment rubber stamps. Most times I don't know what to do with them because they're so large but going the simple route, I think the snowflake embellishment worked well with this sentiment.

This is a really old Stampin Up stamp. I heat embossed the image with silver embossing powder and layered it on to a silver metallic card stock. I kept it simple to give it a more elegant appearance.

This card is my idea of clean and simple but I can't seem to avoid using designer paper and layering my card. I love layering mainly because I have so many card stock scraps that I do need to use up. Layering helps me to use the smaller sized cut up card stock that I've collected through the years. The image is by Stampin Up and you can't tell by the picture but I heat embossed it then mounted foam stamps to give it a 3D appearance.

I was able to clean my craft room last night so I'm excited to make a few cards today.
Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

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House Mouse Christmas Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 17:36:00 +0000

Hello Blogging Friends! My last finals for school was yesterday and I feel so free! I have a break for about 4 weeks then it starts up all over again! I think the first thing I'll do is clean my craft room. It's a mess in there! I just didn't have the energy to keep things tidy.

Are any of you House Mouse fans? I love House Mouse images. The images are so cute and always so detailed! I love using them for Christmas cards. I made quite a few more and I'll share the others some other time.

Off topic but have any of you seen the movie "Gone Girls"? I saw it a few weeks ago when it was first released. Typically a lot of movies bore me but wow, this movie kept me at the edge of my seat. It was such a good movie! It was one of the type of movies that leave you a bit stunned as the movie progresses. Anyway. . .it's probably not in the theaters anymore but if it comes out on DVD, I do recommend the movie.

Well I'm off to clean my craft room! I'm a bit excited to see a clean and organized craft room again!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday. Until next time!

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Happy Thanksgiving and Snowman Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 03:03:00 +0000

Hey there! Happy Thanksgiving Friends!! I'm back. I actually made some of these cards earlier this month but I figured I'll share them with you. Someone mentioned that they like that I still create "layered" cards. Honestly, I don't like clean and simple cards. You have to be very talented to make something simple look . . .well, creative, if not, it just looks plain ole' simple. LOL! Besides, if I create simple cards what am I going to do with all the stuff I have? Sell them at prices that aren't even 25% of what I purchased them for? Nope. I'm not rich enough to literally give them away without feeling bad about it. In the meantime, I'll try to use up what I can until I feel comfortable enough to sell them at dirt cheap prices on Ebay. I have a rule for many of my rubber stamps. I have to at least use them at least 3 times before I consider selling them unless I really don't like them. But the ones I do like, I'll use them as many times until I get tired of them. It helps that I do sell my cards on Etsy because it forces me to use my stuff and continue creating.

Okay back to my cards. For the card above, I used my Unity Stamps. I've used this image several times in the past. I think this is the first time I inked it this year. I used Stampin Up designer paper which I have tons of. I recently bought the "chevron" design embossing folder which I used on my card. I love it!!

Not sure the brand of this image. I threw out the packaging and I can't remember who makes it. Anyway. . .not much to say about this card. Again SU designer paper and ribbon.

I love this snowlady! She's my favorite snowman stamp. I use her every year.

This snowman image is a Stampin Up image. I really love some of the older retired Stampin Up stamps. I don't think good images get old or outdated. Besides, the trend seem to recycle itself every few years. Clean and simple cards is an example Back in the day before designer papers were popular, people were making clean and simple cards. Also the old outdated designs for scrapbook paper are popular again. I have really old paper and they look similar to many of the newer paper designs.

This image is a digital image. I can't remember where I downloaded it from. I'm not very good at organizing my images. I don't care about brands so much so I don't keep track of who I bought the stamps or images from. I only care if the image looks good on my card.

Well I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Until next time!!

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Just Christmas Cards and a Bit of Rambling

noreply@blogger.com (Maria) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 23:26:00 +0000

Hey Friends! So much for my blogging regularly. It's been 3 weeks since I last posted. Time sure do fly quickly. Still busy with my classes. It's been difficult to jump back into the studying mode and working on assignments, projects and papers. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a handle on dividing my time.

I have been making cards on days when I don't have projects due. I wish I was more discipline when it comes to working on my cards but I've managed to make a few.

The card above is literally all Stampin Up products, from the designer papers, rubber stamp and bow. I wanted to try a different color combo this time around rather than my typically red and green for Christmas cards.

The image is by PSX. I don't have many of them but interestingly on Ebay, they are considered collector items. I guess it's because PSX is no longer in business? Not sure but I'm assuming that. I colored the image with Copic Markers and used my Prisma Color Pencils to color the background. I added a lot of glitter to the background although you can't readily tell by the photo.

I wonder if anyone actually read what I write . . .LOL! But what's a blog without any writing, right? If you want to only look or post pictures, you can go to Pinterest to do that. With this card, I used a House Mouse stamp. It's another brand that sells for collector prices on Ebay, primarily the wood mounted ones. The cling on ones you can find in various stores. I think it may be the ones that are retired that are selling for high prices. This card size is 6.25 x 4.5" I like this size better than the A2 size. I used Stampin Up designer papers again, colored my image with Copic Markers and Prisma Color Pencils. I only have one spool of baker's twine. . .the red/white color. I don't want to buy more of them because I don't use them very often.

The image on this card is by Verve Stamps. I again used Stampin Up for the designer paper, as well as the ribbon. I still have a lot of the SU stitched grosgrain ribbon left. I need to use it more often so I can use it up.

I can't remember which brand of stamp I used for this card. I believe the sentiment is by Inkidinkado. The ones that you can purchase at Joannes but I don't know about the snowflake. I believe it's Stampin Up. Speaking of Stampin Up. Remember their rhinestone brads and Hodge Podge hardware? Well I used them on this card. Do they still sell them? I haven't looked through a Stampin Up catalog in ages so I have no idea what they still sell.

I think this is the first time I used this rubber stamp. I didn't even look at the brand. I was considering selling it but now that I created a card with it, I think I'll use it a few more times. The designer paper is by Stampin Up as well as the sentiment. To create the puffy snow, I used liquid applique by heating it up until it puffs up. You can find them in the fabric section at most craft stores. Liquid applique is basically fabric paint that puffs up when heated.

Again, this image is by Inkidinkado. It came from the same set as the sentiment of one of the cards above. I used Stampin Up designer paper again. I have a lot lace trimmings that I also need to use up. I was into the shabby chic/vintage style cards a few years back so I had purchased a bunch of lace for my cards. Wish I hadn't bought so much of them.. . .LOL!

Off topic. . .but I would love to eat healthier and lose weight with the New Year approaching. I actually stopped making a list of resolutions because I never followed through on any of them but I think I'll do one for next year. I was thinking of starting a new blog documenting a few personal things and posting about subjects that I'm interested in other than crafting but ugggh, I can't even keep up with this blog. Maybe I'll just use this blog to do it. I had changed my blog name a few years back so I could post other subjects besides crafting but I never followed through on it. Maybe for the new year, it's something I can work on doing. Anyway. . .right now it's just a thought.

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Until next time.

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