Working my way into my new simple

My friends, I have been an online craft teacher with Cricuts, stamps and coloring for a long time and as I stepped back from Stampin' Up! I have taken some time to think.

It is now time to "retire" from my crafting job and craft just for fun! I love that I am crafty just like you.

My days now will be spent crafting for me, spending more time with my husband at the lake and enjoying my grandchildren.

I love lots of crafts beyond paper crafting with Cricut! Some days I might be crocheting or knitting or trying something new. I am honestly just taking time to breathe.

Thank you for being part of my journey.

I have de activated my Lets Learn Cricut Facebook page after YEARS!

I am still here just not teaching Cricut crafting anymore. I am teaching myself knitting! Send your tips my way. I will share my journey. So far it is a lot of start and stop lol but I am getting there!

So many good friends have shared their tips and ideas.

• Google knitted dish cloth patterns

• it is relaxing

• check out free patterns on Lion Brand

• sometimes we need a change

• don’t hold on real tight and try to relax

• try long tail cast on

My first actual project:

Things I learned on this one:

1. how to long tail cast on with circular needles

2. but first to choose a circular needle that is the right length for your project (actually a bit shorter is better)

3. how to connect and knit in the round

4. how to decrease and finally

5. how to cast off!

Mort is not quite as excited as I am but he was the perfect model for this project!

Next, let's get chunky!

Oh we collect a lot of stuff!

Remember these cabinets? They were behind me in my classes over the years. And boy oh boy, I collected so much. They were bursting at the seams. We are downsizing here. As I have retired from my crafting job, I realized I no longer needed my own craft store.

Several weeks have gone by and I can share this process with you. IT WAS HARD!

Yes I could have kept everything but honestly I was so overwhelmed with the volume of stuff I had. There was no way I would ever use all the paper, ribbons, and so much more.

I created a box (ok 2 or 3 actually!) to donate to my granddaughter's pre school! Remember I was a business focused Stampin' Up! demonstrator so I stocked almost every color cardstock! (we can talk about how wrong that was some day!)

So now I have two of those cabinets in my kitchen area. One has my current card making supplies and a work space and the other is holding scrapbooks and too many boxes of photos waiting to have something done with them.

This was hard but so freeing! Crafting now has returned to a place of comfort.

As we continue to de clutter our spaces, we actually feel lighter! I thought I needed all this stuff but actually now that my stash is so much smaller, I can use what I have. Yes, I am loving the simplicity of Lawn Fawn stamps and dies and coloring with Spectrum Noir markers. I can carry all my card making supplies is a small bag back and forth to our campsite at the lake too.

The past month has actually left little time to craft as we have been busy busy with our de cluttering but so looking forward to simple card making and my long time wish of teaching myself to knit. I am happy to share this journey with you too.

Why did I choose Spectrum Noir?

Why did I choose Spectrum Noir? 

Honestly, because I still had a small collection! When I first started coloring with alcohol markers, many years ago, I thought Copic was the way to go. As I collected the many shades, I found I often was missing a lighter or darker shade of a color I really needed to complete a project. I then explored Spectrum Noir and learned how to use them too.

(I then got wrapped up in the Stampin' Up! world)

So I pulled out my Spectrum Noir box and gave them a try!I was pleased to see that they were still aok even tho it had been months since I put them in that box!

The size of Lawn Fawn images is perfect for these markers and having 3 shades in one marker makes them more affordable. I am not trying to create works of art, I am coloring my stamped images to add to my card and share a smile and warm hug with a friend.

There are lots of sets to choose from and I know it gets confusing! You can always add on too. I wanted to share what colors I have and will be using. Yes, these are Tri-Blends with a "fine bullet nib" not a brush.

The set linked here has these colors.