I'm Switching Cardstocks

For years now I have sworn by Stampin Up's cardstock for my card bases and have been able to justify the price by reminding myself of the quality but now I will be switching cardstock.

Each year it seems SU raises the prices on their products and I know prices always go up but I am going to stop ordering the SU cardstock for my card bases and start using the Bazzill Smoothie cardstock. I placed an order the other day with Joann's because they had the Smoothie on sale for half price. I know it is a little thinner than the SU but I can live with it since the SU is now $8 for a pack of 24 and the Bazzill, when on sale which is often enough for me, is $3.75 for 25 sheets. I am talking the 8.5 x 11 by the way. The Smoothie cardstock comes in some great colors and you can check out the colors at BAZZILL BASICS.

I did find how to match the colors to what SU cardstock I already have by using the My Create Ink ColorMatch site. The cool thing about this site is that you can compare colors between Stampin Up, Close to My Heart, Bazzill, ProMarkers and Copic. Once I get my order I will compare the colors I got to the Stampin Up colors I have to see how well things match up and then I will also add them on the Excel sheet I talked about yesterday. 

Bazzill also has some cardstock called Card Shoppe and it is more comparabe to Stampin Up but is a bit pricier. I was able to get quite a few packages of the Peanut Cluster cardstock at Zipp for $1.50 and of course I snatched up every package I found. I even shared a few packages with Carmen and Linda. 

One of the main reasons for my switch is that I do a lot of cards with my groups at McCalls and it gets rather expensive using the Stampin Up cardstock and I have found that the Bazzill works just fine. 

I'll keep ya posted on the colors when I get my order and how well it compares to the Stampin Up.

Goodwill Find Caused Me To Organize

I ran into Goodwill the other day just to pass some time since I haven't been finding much of anything in the store as of the last few months and I walked to the back where they bring out the new racks that will be stocked by the workers and found a stack of paper in packages.

Of course when a crafter finds a stack of paper in packages we have to look and see what it is and when I saw, well I quickly put the whole stack in my buggy! Especially since they were marked 99 cents and with my discount card that would put the cost at 90 cents. I went through and checked all the packages and there was one that was open and only had a few sheets in it so it when back on the rack but the others went back in my buggy. 

Did I mention that the paper packs were Stampin Up? Yes you heard me right...Stampin Up! I ended up with the following lines -

Attic Boutique (2)

Beau Chateau

Berry Blossoms

Delicate Dots

Festive Finery

Holiday Thyme 

Letters to Santa

Nursery Nest

Parisian Summer

Pocketful of Posies

Woodland Park

Simply Scrappin Kit - Just Delightful

Simply Scrappin Kit - Island Blossoms

I was beyond thrilled with my find, because ya know I don't have enough paper *okie does a huge eye roll*, but I knew it was going to cause me some problems because the holders I have my Stampin Up papers in were full and I would have to reg-organize to get the new paper in the appropriate order. Luckily my friend Carmen and I have been on TV date nights watching Game of Thrones and I was able to sit and work on the paper organization while watching TV with her. Since she is in Houston and I am in Oklahoma our TV date nights are on the phone. I have been trying to get her to watch Game of Thrones for a few years now and she wouldn't do it but once she did she hasn't been able to stop watching. I have seen all the episodes at least twice so it is nice to be able to explain things to her during the show as they happen. Oops...got side tracked!

I got out my label maker and went to the closet and got some more paper dividers, which I am out of now and will have to find something else to divide collections in the future, and went to work. I like to keep some of my paper collections by alphabetical order. I will make a bit of confession here and tell you that I had a couple of collections in there that didn't have dividers so it had been awhile since I had worked on keeping my Stampin Up papers organized. I did know I had them, just didn't have them organized with dividers. 

Since each collection matches up with Stampin Up cardstock I thought it would be nice to know what colors match and instead of having to do a search each time I wrote them on post it notes and put them on the dividers so I have quick access. After doing a search and finding SCSDSP Color Chart it was easy to get the colors for the collections.  I don't normally buy the SU designer paper unless it is on clearance *okie figures everyone knows okie doesn't like paying full price* and luckily for me all the papers I had were in the list since it hasn't been updated since 2014. The asterisk next to the cardstock name means it is still available. 

While I was at it I made an Excel spreadsheet inventory of the Stampin Up Designer Paper I have, don't ask me why I did that because I have no idea other than I like making inventories of some of my crafting items. But I do plan on going in and marking which cardstocks I do own *okie honestly believes this need to organize is a curse at times*. Honestly though, it will make it easier to just open up the Excel file and quickly see if I have what matches instead of having to rummage through my papers. By rummage I mean pull out the folder with paper which is organized by color and check the name on the tab.

I really need to work on my 12x12 cardstock organization since I found some more things to use as paper holders at Goodwill last month (which I will post about when I use them) and if anyone would like to come help me do that I will allow you pool time and all the cold beer you can drink!! 

Dear Men Of The World

Dear Men Of The World,

I think you somehow got mixed up when getting in line for the maturity gene. I, on the other hand, have reached the life marker of 50 years and have matured since who and what I was in early adulthood. Since I have never been married and raised my daughter alone I had to become independent. My independence affords me the following...

• dinner in a restaurant alone without feeling uncomfortable
• seeing a movie in a theater all by myself
• call for my own car repairs, use to do a lot of my own repairs
• deal with used car salesmen and buy a car
• take care of my yard
• organize my garage
• do minor plumbing repairs
• own power tools and know how to use them
• change fuses and sockets without getting electrocuted
• make my own money
• pay my own bills
• and many, many more things 

but mostly I have learned to enjoy my own company and can make it through life without needing a man to feel I am worthy as a woman. 

If I chose to have you in my life it is because I enjoy your companionship. The definition of companionship in my life is simply, to quote Merriam and Webster "the good feeling that comes from being with someone else". Let me dumb it down for ya a bit, *clears throat* I mean explain it more clearly so there is no misunderstanding - "being with" is spending time with and having conversation on a regular basis. So yes, actually doing activities, attending events and talking to one another. One more explanation, talking requires face to face conversation with words coming out of the mouth. It is not words on the screen of a phone. 

Please take a note, I'll wait while you get a pen and paper...

My amour-propre doesn't rise or fall with what you say or think about me. Instead it is based on belief in myself. There is nothing you can say to or about me that is going to make me want to suddenly have your penis slide into my vagina. So unless we are companions do not approach me with any suggestions of sex, and even then don't ask but instead let things happen as time goes on. I can and have done without sex and have learned that while it is wonderful with someone I love I don't need sex to have a happy life.

In other words, go grab a magazine, some Vaseline and get it on with yourself because this woman right here is NOT going to be your

• fuck buddy
• booty call
• one night stand
• Netflix and chill chick
• hit it and get it
• friend with benefits
• whore

or any other euphemism you might want to use for the situation of having sexual intercourse without being a companion in life. 

Sincerely,

ME