Clearing A Creative Block

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Last night as I returned home I was welcomed by a surprise in my garden. The moon flowers that I had planted months ago and that never germinated (or so I thought) had not only sprouted but had climbed up my trellis and were in full bloom. Apparently they were hiding among the other vines climbing the trellis and went undetected. If you are not familiar with moon flowers, they are glorious. Their blossoms are creamy white and are the same shape as those of a morning glory (the two are related) but they measure anywhere from four to five inches across, only opening at night. Because of their creamy color, they look like miniature moons floating over the garden. I can't tell you what a smile it brought to my face to see the return of one of my favorite nocturnal flowers. HERE is a link to a one minute video I found online of a moon flower opening in real time - FAST!

The feel-good emotions I got from viewing my gorgeous flowers helped me to crack through a creative block I was experiencing with a Halloween decoration I was working on. This scene was created using several free digital cutting files, most of which came from birdscards.com. You can find many of the files used in this scene HERE. Choosing which files to use and where to place them was easy. My block came at the very end of construction when I didn't know what to do with the top border and the space between the words at the bottom border. I let the project sit and stew for a day, then returned to it the morning after my moon flower surprise. The creative cobwebs were gone and the project was finished in no time.

Moral of the story: A walk in the garden can clear your mind.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Creative Withdrawal Pains

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In the past two weeks since my parent's birthday celebration and all the work that went into planning the event (click here to read about it), I had hoped to catch my breath and slow down for a bit. Not a chance. I spent the time catching up on things I had to set aside in advance of the celebration. So busy have I been that I haven't had any time to sit down and craft just for the pure enjoyment of it. I don't do very well when I can't create something. I become irritable and easily annoyed, much like a smoker in need of a cigarette. Tonight I finally decided to put everything aside and make a card.

My layout is rather simple and yet while I was making the card I felt like a neophyte, trying to figure out what to do. It seemed to take me forever to complete. One reason is because I chose to hand color the flower with colored pencils, something I haven't done in quite a while and had been missing. I suppose another reason is because I'm out of practice. Now that the card is complete I can go to sleep and rest.

Verse and floral image stamps are from Stampin' Up's Asian Artistry stamp set. Background washi paper from Hanko Designs. Stardream Gold accent paper. Black satin ribbon layered onto sheer gold ribbon for embellishment.

I'm off to bed. Zzzzzzz.

Ballo ergo sum

- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Memories Are Made Of This.

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Every summer I vow to slow down and enjoy. Every summer I do anything but. This summer was no exception. I'll not bother to mention my gardening work. There's plenty of that in other posts. I'll just get to the rest of it.

I had heard that one of my cousins in Arizona had sustained a very bad leg break that would keep her in a cast for three to six months. I sent her this black and white get well card. Materials used were Spellbinders Nestabilities Scalloped Circles and Standard Circles, Spellbinders Borderabilities A2 Curved Borders 1, Memory Box Vivienne (cutout) and Darla (solid) butterfly dies, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Sprigs (leaves) and Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. Solid butterfly was cut from vellum and embossed. I punched tiny flowers, sponged the edges with a coordinating ink and embellished them with tiny self adhesive rhinestones. Stamped verse from Inkadinkado Round Frames set.

My parents share the same birthday. My father, who is a year older, turned 80 this year and we marked the occasion with a semi-surprise luncheon at my house. The birthday card I made for them also served as an invitation to dine at my home. I call it a semi-surprise because although they knew my sister's family and mine would be there, they were not aware of the other family members that had been invited. My father, in particular, was surprised at the attendance of his brother and nephews who live nearly three hours away and whom he doesn't get to see very often. Card materials feature a variety of die punch and electronic cut flowers and leaves, Spellbinders Floral Ovals and text from Cloud 9 Design's Simple Thoughts - Happy Birthday clear stamps.

In a large heart shaped basket I placed some paper, envelopes and pens along with this oversized tag (left)  featuring a photo of my folks taken during their youth. It was the same photo I used for their anniversary favors. The guests were encouraged to write a message to the birthday couple or to insert a card of their own into the basket. As decorations I created more oversized tags, this time featuring a photo of my handsome father taken at my parents' 60th anniversary celebration in April on one side and the event on the other. I hung these around my house and in the backyard, then distributed them to the guests as favors afterwards. The tags, the heart, the corner stars and the black text were cut using Craftwell's eCraft electronic cutter. I created the cutting files in Serif DrawPlus 6. The black text is self-stick vinyl.

Here is a picture of my father posing with his photo cake. Yes, people, he really does look like that. No Photoshop. No trick photography. My dad is a handsome man who looks much younger than his 80 years. Eat your hearts out, ladies.

This is a photo of some more handsome men, my son, Alex, holding my cousin's grandson, William, both of them wearing a good coating of cake frosting on their faces. The expressions on those faces are priceless. My nephew Michael in the background is also enjoying the moment. The fact that a sudden deluge washed out the backyard and we all had to run indoors didn't dampen the fun.

Family, food and good times. This is what memories are made of.


Ballo ergo sum

- Gitana, the Creative Diva

My Babies Are Back!!

Two weeks ago, the unthinkable occurred. My computer died. Well, not exactly died. It was more like it went into a coma. It would begin as usual and then hang at the BIOS screen and not boot up so for all intents and purposes it was dead. I couldn't access anything on my hard drive and  (HORROR OF HORRORS!!) I couldn't connect to the internet. This state of affairs was particularly vexing inasmuch as I had just upgraded my system's RAM, video card, operating system and power supply. I had invested in enough upgrades to consider my computer brand new. It was working beautifully for three weeks until PFFFFT!...it wouldn't boot up. I immediately called my brother-in-law, the computer whiz who installed all the upgrades. He had never before seen anything like the problem I had. After eliminating all the obvious causes, he guessed that the problem was either the motherboard or the hard drive, neither of which is good news. It was now time to call in the big guns.

I took my electronic lifeline to Sysut Computers on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn and left it in the capable hands of Adam. The following day I heard the diagnosis...it was, indeed, the motherboard, a rare but not unknown condition. A replacement board had to be ordered, installed and the computer checked to make sure all was running well. The new replacement took nearly a week to arrive. Although it took very little time to install, there was still the issue of testing the machine to make sure everything was running correctly. This ran into the Labor Day weekend so, of course, I couldn't get it back until after the holiday. All told, I was without a computer for 15 days. My trusty Kindle Fire allowed me to access my email during the downtime.

Normally I lose my mind when my computer acts up. My heart starts to race, my breathing becomes quick and shallow and hyperventilation is a distinct possibility. The thought of cutting the electronic umbilicus is gut wrenching but this time...nothing. When faced with the reality that my machine was not going to move past the blue BIOS screen, I just sighed, then turned to my second favorite machine...my trusty and ever present sewing machine. If I was told I had to leave in a hurry and could only take three things with me, my computer and my sewing machine would be my top two. THAT'S how much they mean to me.

Let me be the first to tell you not to believe those who say that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place. Why? Because my sewing  machine also gave up the ghost not one, but TWO times in a span of three days. I had it serviced after the first incident, brought it home and it worked like a dream for about 24 hours until I heard an unwelcome CRUNCH and the feed dogs came to a stop. (For you non-sewers, feed dogs feed the fabric past the needle. You cannot machine sew without them.) A second repair shop trip revealed a drive gear that broke into several pieces and tumbled out of the machine like confetti when the repairman opened it. Fortunately it was a quick fix and I was back to sewing in no time. I caught up on loads of mending while I was waiting for the computer to return.

So my mechanical and electronic babies are back at home and I am a happy, happy woman. Happy, that is, until the credit card bill for all these repairs comes in. Hyperventilation may yet be the order of the day.


Ballo ergo sum - Gitana, the Creative Diva