Welcome to October!!!

Hello Crafty Friends

I know it has been some times since I've been actively around and I truly miss everyone. 

The past 2 months have been very life changing and I'm just trying to dig myself back out. 

I was doing well mentally for awhile and then BAM... I was just TKO'd without warning. 

I lost my Father in Law, family friends Father, and that same friends live-in sister in law. Then after all of this I have been diagnosed with more medical issues. We'll go into that more later. 

I have just returned from my fall crop with all my favorite crafty friends that live near me. We had an extended weekend at Sauder Village. One of my FAVORITE places to crop. 

Prior to leaving I had finished up my second quilt. I was asked after completing my moms birthday gift. Her quilt was my very first project and I decided to go big or go home. I made a King size quilt for her bed all on my machine. Did all the patchwork, binding and quilting myself. 

If I would make a quilt for my cousins girlfriends sister in law, that just had her baby. It's hard to say now when it comes to babies. I made sure to let her know that I am not a professional but I will do my very best. 

It turned out very cute and I made it all with baby flannel. It was soooo soft. I embroidered his name on it and it made it much cuter. 

And last but not least for now..... I'm going to be a GRANDMA!!! I mean a Mimi. No Grannies here. I'm too young for that. My son and his girlfriend are due on my birthday May 2015.

  

So hopefully everyone has been well and taking care of business. I will be listing more items for sale that didn't make it to the garage sale that I also had in that time frame. I have the Regular Expression and the Expression 2 for sale. I need to update my list of cartridges as many of those did sell. 

I was lucky enough to purchase the Cricut Explore on HSN for a crazy cheap price for everything that comes with it ( I paid WAY less than listed). But I just went to see if they still had it and again they have sold out. 

Talk with you soon as I would really like to get back on track. I really miss crafting and there is a lot to get done before Christmas.

Blessings

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday #269

Guess what day it is!!!

WOYWW #269

Yes, it's that day of the week again when we take a tour around the world. We start over at Julia's Stamping Ground. Make sure to stop over there to learn a little more about the WOYWW that has been traveling the world for 5 AWESOME years now. 

As for me, this is what is on my workdesk this Wednesday morning. 

Yup, it's crazy my room is almost spotless. I'm kinda stoked. I just got the bug yesterday to start working on my room and here is what I've come up with right now.

So, I've been starting to list items for sale on my blog. 

I start a couple of months ago making my ink storage and just yesterday I thought a good place to put my index cards was on the side. So in go a couple hooks and hot glue and now I have a place to grab them.

Hoping to have more for you later. This is a mini tour for my tour Tuesday.... That I happened to miss yesterday. I really am working on getting better at a schedule. The problem lies in the fact that I never know how I'm going to feel when I wake up in the morning.  I have also been researching the fact that if I would like more followers, I really have to work on staying on schedule. 

Have a fabulous blessed day. 

See you Friday for Find your Mojo Friday. 

I'm such a terrible......

Blogger

One day, two days, three days in a row. Then what.... I can go for over a week without a peep. I really am trying to get on a schedule I promise. I just have had more bad medical news handed to me and was taking a little rough.

But what other way to get back on the horse than to share my days with my friends around the world. I know there are some that come back on a regular basis and some that just come back when they see that I happen to finally post something.

Well I will share with you the schedule I have worked out and what I will try to accomplish over the next couple of weeks. I will be down again for sure on July 25th due to a medical procedure I will be having done.

So here it goes - 

Tuesdays - Tour or Technique  Tuesdays

This will hopefully be a way to get me doing more videos again. It will consist of a tour of parts of my craft areas or a different technique. Hopefully I will be able to advise what the next project will be incase you would care to join along.

Wednesdays - What's on Your Workdesk Wednesdays

 This is something I have been following along with for a couple years now and truly enjoy talking and meeting new crafty friends. The main link up place is over at Julia's The Stamping Ground. This is when you take a snapshot of your workspace and give a little info as to what is going on in your world that day. I LOVE Wednesdays when I get to travel the world from my desk in just a couple of clicks. I also want to start doing videos for this when I'm able, but of course we will see how that goes. 

Fridays - Find your Mojo Fridays

Since I have dealt with my fair share of losing my Mojo I thought it would be fun to help each other find theirs. Maybe if I'm having an off day someone can help me find mine. Hopefully Fridays will consist of ways that I have gotten myself back on my feet craftwise after many many knockdowns. 

I will also be posting about my new machine.... My Janome Memory Craft 350E Embroidery Machine! I am so excited to add that to my collection of wonderful machines. I have been blessed with a hubby that helps me try to combat the ever changing medical conditions I have to deal with. 

As many of you know I am not tied to only posting about one craft. I was in the past mainly scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper crafts. But I have been sharing more and more of the fabric things that I have been working on. I would like to continue to keep my blog about all things crafty. This is how we can meet new people and talk through ideas and tough times. 

Since I had a really nice ending to this post and my internet crashed my post, I totally forgot what I ended with. 

I do remember that, I will be adding a couple new pages to my blog. Since I am a crafty girl of many crafts, I have come to find that I have a LOT of stuff. New stuff, used stuff and what was I thinking stuff. So that's good news for you. Why, you may ask. Well I will be posting items for sale with payment through PayPal and hopefully most of the items will be free shipping. 

So for now, that this has become a long post, I hope you all have had a blessed and safe week. 

Blessings
Mindy
The Determined Scrapper

WOYWW #266

As we all know it's that time of the week again, where we travel around the world in just a few clicks.

Give it a try, I'm sure you'll be back to try it again. Start over at Julia's Stamping-Ground to get the heads up and where to go.

Ben staking his claim on the ink table.

Finally have my runner already to quilt. 

I don't think I have introduced Varuna. This is my daughters baby bunny. Her other 2 bunnies had 4 babies and this was the only one to survive. She/he is getting so big now. And cute as can be.

This week my desk as of Wednesday is not too bad. I have been working at my sewing table for the past 2 days. This morning was another day in the adventure of the bathroom remodel.

I think for the first time in a long time I really don't have a whole lot to tell you guys about.  

Other than, I'm so super excited for August 1 to come. I have just received my new copy of the upcoming catalog for Close to My Heart and I CAN'T GET OVER ALL THE AWESOMENESS INSIDE!!!

So short post for tonight but hopefully I will get my schedule up and get some more things posted this week.

Blessings

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper

WOYWW #265 - What's on YOUR Workdesk Wednesday

Yes I know again, I'm a little late.

But as I always get caught saying, it's better late than never.

Welcome to WOYWW #265

So if you are new to WOYWW, make sure to stop at Julia's Stamping Ground to see what all of this mess is about.

I mean not everyone desk is as messy as mine but some are and that's the best part. Take a tour around the world from your own desk. See what other crafters are up to and share your space. 

This week in the life of The Determined Scrapper, I have come to find my way in a few things. I am getting my blogging back on a more normal schedule and actually have a schedule that I am pretty sure I'm going to put into gear next week. I think I have found my mojo again that I have been missing for a couple years. And best of all I am starting to make videos again for my YouTube channel.

It will take a little time for me to get back into feeling comfortable with my videos but I really have missed everyone. I am also about to reach 500 likes on my Facebook page!!! Ok scratch that... I just went and checked my page and I'm OVER the 500 mark. I have 526 Likes. I guess it just took me getting back into the swing of things. I know God has a plan.

So as for my desk this morning when I took these pictures and was planning on doing my post, I was working on my Washi Tape cards. The other night I cut all the tags using my New Toy. I am making tag indexes for all my inks, washi tape, glitter, and other small color items for a quick reference. I also plan on doing a video or at least a full post on how and what I am doing.

That should be good for now. Hope you all had, will have or are in the process of having a wonderful week.

Blessings

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper

What's on Your Workdesk? Wednesday #264

Or as we call it WOYWW

Make sure to stop over to Julia's and see what the worlds craft desk have been busy creating.

This has been an amazing week!!!

Even though I have not gotten any crafting done in the physical sense, I have made memories to last a lifetime. This past week my daughter and I got in the Jeep and just drove. We left about 7am last Thursday and ended up in Mandeville, LA. around 11:30pm. It was a long but beautiful trip. I was able to go through parts of our country I had not yet been too. I'll do a separate post regarding our trip within the next couple days. 

I was able to get a little scrappy shopping done while we were there. I stopped at the Tuesday Morning that was in town and grabbed a couple things.

As for scrappy shopping, once we made our way to Rogers, AR., my favorite scrapbook store is no longer a scrapbook store. They are now concentrating on other things and all scrapbooking supplies were 75% off. So I made sure to grab a couple of things while I was there. Very sad to see that I can't even go to visit my brothers and make a trip to a local scrapbooking store. 

The Happy Campers and washi tape was from Tuesday Morning the the rest was from Signed Sealed Delivered. The blue pages are template material that I can't wait to play with. The binders at the top are just 6x6 albums that can be stamped on and played with.

 Vacations are wonderful but to get back and sleep in your own bed and shower in your own shower are amazing.

I can't wait to get crafting now that I am back home and have a nice clean space to work in.

Blessings

Mindy - The Determined Scrapper

WOYWW #263

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #263

Some weeks I think, wow, it's taken forever for Wednesday to arrive and other weeks.... It is here again and I don't even realize the rest of the week has happened. That was this week.

Where's what my main desk looked like right before I started my post. A little bit of a mess. But there is usually fun where there are messes in craft rooms.

I have been a busy bee this week. I have even posted on my blog a couple of times and I still have more to share.

As I ready to leave on a road trip to wherever my little heart desires (with my teenage daughter) I am finding my heart a little more at ease than normal.

So last night when visiting my parents I noticed a bag of crayons, of course I had to ask what they were going to do with them and they were going to throw them away or give them to a shelter. Now normally I would not want to take away from others but some of these crayons were from when I was younger, so I thought it was time that I re-purposed them for my craft room. 

I just loved doing this and can't wait to do another. 

I also received my new storage container for my washi tape. And after sorting through them, honestly I thought I had more. But that is ok, that just means there is room for more. 

And one more exciting thing came in the mail this week. Too bad I can't use them just yet...

I am still waiting for my machine which was in the world release on HSN. What was pretty awesome was the total was less on the world release and I will come home to a surprise. It should be delivered while I'm away. Too bad hubby doesn't care to play with it.

And one other item I can't wait to come home and play with is my new Quilting template. My best friend and I have decided we are going to make some T-Shirt quilts with our collection of MS shirts from over the years. She was diagnosed 12 years ago with MS and together I will fight every step of the way with her. 

Ok, so for this week's WOYWW post I think I have shared a lot and made a rather long post. Sorry lots going on here. I still have more but don't want to bore you. If you don't know what this WOYWW is all about make sure to stop over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground to find out. 

Join in this week or next. Just make sure to join in it is a blast to travel the world right from your desk.

Have a blessed week and until next time.

Blessings

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper

WOYWW #261..... Ok Friday but who's going to yell.

Ok so I'm a couple days late.... AGAIN. But I really do have a good excuse this time. I was taking pictures and was going to post on Wednesday but like normal the day had gotten away from me.

Here goes What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday #261, Friday edition. If you don't know what I am talking about make sure to stop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to check it out. There are wondrous desk around the world that await you. 

This week in the world of The Determined Scrapper a lot of semi-crafting has been happening. I have not been able to locate a storage system that I really like for my inks so I decided to create one from foam board. In addition to that I have completely changed around my craft room. 

So as for the ink storage, I'm still working on this and I will post more about it in the coming days(weeks) depending on how long it takes me to complete. 

I have a sizable area that I am trying to use and I want to make as many cubbies as possible for one unit. I'm planning on having a couple drawers and an area for pens and markers. I may have to enlist the help of my hubby for this one. 

As for the room change. That all steamed from my hubby not wanting to move my wall mount for my TV, so I had to move my entire room around to accommodate the new shelves I had purchased at Ikea. I only have one wall that doesn't have a window or door on it and it turns out I LOVE the new set up. Once I get things cleaned up a little more I will be posting a room tour. As for right now here is a pic of a couple of the shelves holding my kids art from when they were little and mementos of family that has passed on.

So until the next time, have a wonderful week and keep on crafting.

Blessings

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper

FIVE YEARS!!! WHAT'S ON YOUR WORKDESK WEDNESDAY #260

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!

5 YEARS

Five years of traveling the world to look at others workspaces and see what they have been up too. I know I'm a couple days late but around here you just never know what day it is. 

Welcome to WOYWW #260. If you are not aware of what this wonderful creation is or if you are interested in looking around the world in just a few clicks make sure to stop over to Julia's blog and check things out. 

I have been doing WOYWW for about 3 years now and I have to say it has been great fun to see and meet people from all around the globe. I try to take this time every week to see what everyone is up to and look into the creative minds of others. It really does help if your mojo has gone for a vacation or if you just need a little cheering up.

So for this week in the life of the Determined Scrapper

While finishing the last couple rows of my quilt my cat Maggie decided that she was going to be a weight and not let me get to it. But I finally was able to get her to move and...

FINISH My first quilt top. This top has taken me a couple months but it is a King Size quilt top. Now the rest of the quilt hopefully will not take me as long. 

While I'm waiting to get the rest of the fabric for the backing on my quilt I decided to start a little project. On Thursday morning I pulled out my new Block idea book from MSQC and decided to do the Flower Fancy Table Runner pg.21. I was VERY surprised when I was completed with most of the top in just a couple hours. 

Here it is on my design board waiting for the border and to be quilted. Wow I really wish I knew what took me so long to get to quilting. 

Although I've been down for a couple days. The pain from my neck hasn't gotten much better so I am still having a lot of trouble feeling my arms. 

Enough of the boring stuff. Hope everyone has a wonderful week and gets lots of crafts completed or started. 

Have a blessed week.

Mindy

The Determined Scrapper