Take a Breath

There's been such a flurry of activity lately is seems almost impossible to sit down and get anything done.  Not true, I've finished four 12x12 layouts, got the new organizer in place and well stocked, and have accomplished quite a series of hauls.  

Most everything revolves around an incredible discovery at TM.  They had retail packs (24 each) of almost then entire "A Proper Gentleman" collection.  Martin actually stumbled across this treasure, bought two packs, and made the mistake of telling me they had stacks of other G45 retail packs in different designs.  At the end of the quest I have twelve full 12x12 pads of this collection, minus two pages... for less than what a single pad would have cost.  Profit time!!!  We were also able to pick up almost half the "On the Boardwalk" collection in retail packs.  I think we've exhausted the bonanza.  There were arm fulls of book board, but I stopped at six sets.   They had Tim Holtz Grunge Paper sets, retailed at $40; I paid $8.  Finally, a 5 inch Xyron.  A couple of adorable embellishments and the run ended there.

I decided to hit JoAnn's because we were in town it's rare we make it that far south. Phew!  Almost all paper crafting supplies are 50% off this week, plus a coupon in the paper allows an extra 10% off from the total purchase.  60% savings?!  Heck, yeah!!  I managed some control and walked out of the store with only two large bags.  A wider variety of adhesives, the first alcohol inks, specialty paper, and yes a Crop-A-Dile II (Big Bite).

The stamps, ink, paper, embellishments, etc never quit coming in; however, it's hard to imagine any other tool needed to carry on this business.  Maybe a Zutter Cutter for the extra weight chipboard?  Maybe, but not a necessity. 

I'm attempting to design my first, original mini-album.  It's sketched out, roughly, but I'm finding it hard to cut that first page; there seems to be so little room for error, which, in itself, is an error.  How, besides looking amateurish, can a person go wrong with G45?  For sure it won't be the best album I'll ever create, and will quickly prove true, but it's all part of this glorious process called creative expression.