Craft Studio Staycation

I am lucky enough that I am able to take a week or two of vacation each year that no one else in my family has off.  I LOVE these weeks.   I can go away with girlfriends, or have something I call "Laura Days" which are days that I can do whatever I would like to do (spa days, craft supply shopping, creating days) and I don't have to do anything I don't want to do (housework, cooking, laundry).  I am currently on one of these lovely vacations as we speak.

I was planning on taking my camera out and about and capturing all the wonderful colours that are popping up in the trees, but my son's hockey schedule and the weather had other ideas.   I actually spent the first three days of this vacation in a hockey arena watching my son play hockey in a hockey tournament.  Don't get me wrong I love watching my boy out there on the ice, but the weather was absolutely perfect outside.  It was warm, but not too warm and the sun was shining with beautiful white puffy clouds in the sky...perfect fall days....alas I have my priorities and in the arena I sat. Once the hockey tournament was over the weather started to turn.  My first day off was supposed to be rainy and miserable.  I decided to do all my running around that day and even though I took my camera with me for the errand running it just wasn't the kind of day to stand outside and take pictures. Today was even worse.  We have high winds going through the area right now....also not great weather for standing in or near the woods.   The trees were really moving today.  So I stayed in for most of the day and caught up on all the stuff I don't really like to do.  Today is a cleaning up day in my little studio and part of that was to make 3 or 4 haul videos before everything was sorted and put away.   I'm not so great at making or editing the videos and I think that's why its not one of my favorite things.  Why do I do it then?  I'm not sure why, its something that I feel I should do.  I'm not sure if it helps me justify all that I buy during the weeks but at this point I just want to share what I'm doing with people who get me.

So here are 2 new video haul videos.   There are a few more to come in the next day or so.  I want to finish tidying up here so I can start making all the cards that are swirling around in my head.  I try to post those too.

Thanks for looking.

Laura

So as I mentioned in the previous post I went on a bit of shopping bender.  I spent some time wandering the many pages of product at Simon Says Stamp www.simonsaysstamp.com, Lawn Fawn www.lawnfawn.com, Scrapbook.com www.scrapbook.com and Hero Arts www.heroarts.com .  It certainly did not help that Simon Says Stamps was having their Stamptember event and that Lawn Fawn had a whack of new releases.   I am certainly a sucker for Lawn Fawn.   I just love all their stuff.

I would place an order with one company and then I would go back and have another look the next day and place another order and it went on and on like that for a few weeks.  I ended up one week getting 3 packages from Simon Says Stamp and 2 from Lawn Fawn.   Now I'm waiting for 2 more packages.   Clearly I have a problem.   I should never be left unsupervised late at night with an Internet connection and a credit card.

So here are a few more haul videos from Simon Says Stamp and Lawn Fawn.  Enjoy and I hope I make you feel a little bit better about your own spending.  Cheers!

The Summer that Was

The Summer that Was

Hey all,

It's been a while but I tend to spend a lot of June, July and August out at our trailer and there is no internet connection in the woods, which is why I keep a trailer in the woods.  Sometimes you just need to slow down a bit and unplug from everything.  I find it helps to keep me balanced.  I am an introvert in the truest sense of the word.  I can be in groups and high energy situations and at times I seem to have a very active social calendar but I have to .... no I MUST have my alone time.  I need my time to re-charge myself.   The best place for me to do that is at my little trailer in the woods.  Just me, my hubby, the dog and my son...although my son is getting harder and harder to get out there the older he gets, but such is life.  

Our trailer sits on a little plot of land at the top of a small hill on the edge of a Carolinian Forest in an area of Ontario, Canada referred to as "Short Hills".  So named because of the abundance of small and some not so small hills in the area.  Our little section of heaven has some large old maples on the property with a small waterfall and creek that runs through the area at the rear of the trailer.  We are surrounded by all kinds of trees and animals and I can easily pass the day sitting on my raised deck watching the hummingbirds come and go. You can literally feel the tension drain away when you arrive.  

Of course my little piece of heaven wouldn't be complete without some art supplies. I alway bring my camera with me and of course some paints, brushes, papers, stamps and whatever I can fit into the one craft bag that I allow myself to bring. The supplies change every time we go to the trailer but I always bring something. If it were up to me I would bring all my supplies but space is an issue and my always understanding, and caring husband insists that I leave some room for him....he can be so unreasonable lol.

I also have a weekend or two that is dedicated to me and a friend or two to be there alone and we create any kind of art that we want, have blender drinks, junk food, and a lot of laughing.  We had perfect weather this year for our "Trailer Trashed Crafting Weekend" and had a wonderful time.  

But now it is back to reality for me.  We closed the trailer over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and now I'm back in my in home Studio.  One of the first things I did was hit the internet and shopped way more than I meant too.   I have a couple of haul videos to show you here and there are more to come.   I really have no self control and pretty much bought everything I saw.  Nothing came out of my carts.  I will admit that I had some buyers remorse but not enough to return anything.  

Enjoy the videos and come and visit my on my youtube channel at Laura Stewart Studio.  

Thanks for watching!