I’ve been cleaning the studio the last few days. I’ve made a lot of headway and in the process discovered that I have a work table in here. Seriously, I thought the Boogeyman came in here one night and replaced the table with a great, mountain like pile of stuff. It was a mad, overflowing assortment of card stock, stamps, beads, ink pads, books, ribbons, glue, paper, sponges, markers, and, well, junk. It seemed like every project I have ever done left a bit of itself there for posterity. That might not have been so bad but every project I planned on doing and even some I had only dreamed about had felt compelled to add a little something.

Lots of reorganizing and a couple of trash bags later I have my workspace back. It really feels good being able to spread out and make a mess (with full intentions of putting the mess away when I am done!). So good, in fact, that I decided to write today’s post about the glories of a clear work table. Then I got to thinking that you might find it more interesting to see what I made. My first project on the clean table was for my daughter. Her Etsy shop has been doing well and she requested that I make her some thank you cards to include with orders. That’s something else that feels really good… your family appreciating your art enough to make a request for it.

These are two of the cards that I made for her. They each have a place inside for her to insert her business card as well as room for a personal message. I hope she likes them. (Isn’t that a cool stamp? It’s from Wordsworth.)

As I was scanning the cards to include in this post I thought that it might be nice if the post was about thanks. That brings me right back to my clear table top. Have I mentioned how wonderful it is to have the free space again? I really am thankful not just for the clear table but for the luxury of having my own room to play in. Like many of you I spent years dragging out the supplies to work at the kitchen table and then having to pack it all away in time for dinner to be served. I know I am a very lucky lady and I am thankful for that.

Now I am going to give you a head’s up on my next contest. Ever since my doll template was featured in Stampington Inspirations I’ve been wanting to do a contest involving my templates. I haven’t picked out the prize yet so I am not officially announcing the contest but… When I do announce the contest I will say that to enter you need to make something using one of my templates and then send me a scan or photo of it. So while I am thinking up a really cool prize you can be thinking up a really cool project. If there is anything I love more than comments on my blog it’s seeing what people use my templates for. Here is one that really turned out great, and another, and another, and what the heck, one more.  I promise I’ll get the prize figured out soon so keep watching and be ready… the contest is not far away!