what silly thing...

[stamper-doodle]

do you keep on or around your stamping area that makes your smile or laugh?
What do you keep around for inspiration?

[SophieLaFontaine]

my DH.

[bluegirl]

lots of fun pics of my 3 DS and my DH then a bottle of bubbles I get stumped or to the point of throwing it in the trash I reach for my bubbles take a deep breath and blow =0~~~ the room fills with bubbles and I just go back to being a kid again and then I start all over or get a new idea or figure out what can make it just right.~~~bluegirl~~

[MNCarol]

My cat. Not always by choice; but pull out the first few supplies, turn around, and there she is with front paws all tucked neatly in showing she is settled in for the duration!! However, as time progresses on a card, one paw will come untucked and reach out to bat at or steal something.

Carol in Minnesota

[npstamper]

My schnauzer clock that has a tail that ticks back and forth. My neice gave it to me for Christmas last year. It looks like my Muffie.

[jennelf]

I have a house full of boys, so I keep my Hello Kitty collection in my craft room! My boys think I'm nuts, but it certainly makes me smile!

[knightrone]

My dog, Sophie, she is a mini-pekignese, and a royal pain in the butt!! She insists on sitting in the middle of what ever I am doing, even going so far as to lay on the keyboard while I try to type. She is a glitter thief and if you dont watch closely she will steal your ribbon too. But if she is not there, I always call for her to come in, I guess I like her company, no matter how big an inconvience it is!

[lutheran]

This sounds so dumb but I have a big red "easy" button from Staples on my craft table. When a project is complete, I can hit it and it reminds me that this is not brain surgery!
Mary Beth

[Debra Cherney]

My stamping room is off my kitchen and when I'm using it my dog has to be there too. He's almost a year old and such a good boy. While I'm working he's either under my desk, laying on his bed or playing with his toys (all of which have to be in my small room). He's a black standard Poodle. I wanted one for years. All the rumors are true, they are great dogs.

[PinkyPapers]

I have one of these:
http://www.perpetualkid.com/index.as...OD&ProdID=1830
I don't ever use the paperclips. Just looking at it makes me smile though.

[AlternateReality]

I have a framed print that says, "Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves for we shall never cease to be amused," and a garden gnome. (I actually have two garden gnomes in the house, but one is on the buffet in the dining room.) And, I just ordered a decal from a company called Uppercase Living that says, "Dull women have immaculate homes;" I plan to have my husband router a plaque where I can mount it. I must not be dull because my house always looks like a cyclone hit it!

[craftycrunchymama]

I have a tin sign that says, "Simplify". It's pretty cool, looks like it's inked around the edges. My life can get pretty hectic and when it does I slip into my craft room and create. I love reading that sign. I'm trying to make it my life mantra. ;)

[Stampaholic2004]

My sister went to a Build A Bear workshop and got me a stuffed cow...when you press it's paw it says "When this you see, make a card for me!" (in her voice) How funny is that? She named it Moo-Bella on the birth certificate, in honor of my fave new stamps =)

[gaylestamps]

I have a cracked coffee mug from ''Me and My Big Ideas'' that my SIL gave me in 1999, at one of our first scrapbooking retreats. The caption says ''Scrapbookers Do It For Keeps'' and it has cute kids faces all around.

It's now filled with paintbrushes, crochet hooks and photo pencils and sometimes it's in the way - but having it on my work desk just makes me smile!

[homestead]

I have a little heart plack(sp) that I gave to my mom and took back when she passed away. It says, Creative Clutter is Better that Idle Neatness.

It was a joke between us because we are "messy" and I have one sister that is a clean freak. Oh my h... her house looks like a model home.

[smitty2004]

sophie you took the words right out of my mouth! my husband is my strongest support, but keeps me from taking myself too seriously!

[One4Joy]

In a flip-flop picture frameI keep a picture of my toes, painted red, in the sand! It reminds me to be lighthearted! And then I have my favorite words scattered around...JOY, imagine, Dream, relax.

Susan:cool:

[SDiegoGal]

I have pictures that my kids have drawn taped to the walls around my desk.

[Stamping Bella]

i have 2 clear boxes containing 28 little clear vials of bella's baubles.. I keep them near me at all times.. the colours are so inspiring!
EM

[GinaP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamper-doodle

do you keep on or around your stamping area that makes your smile or laugh?
What do you keep around for inspiration?

okay, where have i heard this question before? ;)

I seriously need something... but I guess actually everything in my space makes me smile, except for the mess. lol

[jeanstamping2]

I have family and Friends photo's taped up around my stamping desk. To make me less homesick.

And to make me laugh and just feel good I have my Troll doll that I got when I was 5 years old His name is Herman.

So I've had him a very long time..Cause I will be 51 Next year.

[chrisations.ink]

Two items come to mind: a pic of my DH because he's got the best sense of humor, and my collection of raggedy ann's and andy's cuz each set was given to me by special people in my life!

[Lisa Loiselle]

I have a set of those black plastic glasses with the big nose & mustache. They remind me not to take myself too seriously.

[EllenD.]

Giant jar of M&M's. One of my projects I made with Tim Holtz, and giant pictures of my kids playing in the sand in Petoskey Michigan this summer. The pictures are timeless....

BTW - bookmarked Pinky Papers link - It's GREAT!!!!!

[stamper-doodle]

LOL Gina, can you tell I am looking for inspiration? BTW that is a Great picture of you!!!

Amy

Quote:

Originally Posted by GinaP

okay, where have i heard this question before? ;)

I seriously need something... but I guess actually everything in my space makes me smile, except for the mess. lol

[charming]

just having an obscene amount of craft junk on every surface makes me happy!

my mom always said stupid stuff like, "ooh don't waste those crayons , save them for school..."
and the exasperated, "you're always CutTing & PasTiNg & GluEinG!"
as if it were a bad thing!
and she would clean all my treasures out all the time.
"you're only happy in a mess!"
(so, DUH stop cleaning!)

she never stopped me from doing any of it,
(I*am* an unstoppable creative force, I get sick if I'm not making things)
and sometimes would get me kits and supplies...but
but I always felt somehow improper about how much stuff I make.
so after 30 years of working on this problem
and 5 years stamping cult,
and is it 2 or 3 years of scs?
I am proud and happy of my ginormous, messy stamp cave.

coming down here makes me happy.

and my 4 y-o ds loves to stamp...he adds so much to my creations. I love enabling him!
oh and I love movies while I stamp.
"elf" this season and all the rest of the time some Harry Potter movie is playing....
(I only have about 5 dvds that aren't kid movies...I need some musicals...something to really belt out during glitter sessions!)

sorry, I wish I could say something easy ,
like " I keep a feather to make me smile",
or a seashell, or a pebble, but that just ain't me!

[GinaP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stamper-doodle

LOL Gina, can you tell I am looking for inspiration? BTW that is a Great picture of you!!!

Amy

thanks chicky! And if you're not smiling now, you'd better be!! ; )

[SCEmily]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lutheran

This sounds so dumb but I have a big red "easy" button from Staples on my craft table. When a project is complete, I can hit it and it reminds me that this is not brain surgery!
Mary Beth

OMG, they actually sell those?! I so want one:mrgreen:.

[SammyStamper]

Yes, they sell the Staples easy button.

I have a cat clock that Dh hates, it makes me smile. My wedding bouquet dried in a vase. Photos of my friends and family. Of course the cats, they crack me up sometimes with their looks.

I love some of the plaques mentioned here. I might need to commission my mom to make me some.

[twgznseeds]

I have a little wooden sign that says "Martha Stewart doesn't Live Here."
-takes the pressure off!

[Quiltnstamper]

I have a picture of my dh bottle feeding a baby deer - IN OUR FAMILY ROOM! Don't ask.

[GinaP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCEmily

OMG, they actually sell those?! I so want one:mrgreen:.

yep, they really do! I think they're pretty reasonable, too. I thought it was funny that it was actually something they sold when I saw them in the stores, but it's for real! lol

[SCEmily]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GinaP

yep, they really do! I think they're pretty reasonable, too. I thought it was funny that it was actually something they sold when I saw them in the stores, but it's for real! lol

LOL, I just googled them, and they are only $5. I guess they must do something, because they come with batteries:mrgreen:. I'm gonna get one next time I'm near staples;).

[LunaMom]

I have a framed picture of me when I was around 5 years old. Reminds me to create like a 5 year old--no judgments, no serious analysis, no anguish about whether it is good enough, just go for it. I did this after a stamp club meeting a few months ago. One member brought her 6 year old kid yet again to our meeting. It annoys the heck out of the rest of us that she does this, yet at one point in the evening I looked over at this little girl and she was cutting and pasting and stamping away without any hesitations, deeply intent on her work and going like crazy working on her project. She was in a whole nother zone than the rest of us were. Here we were grown women trying to exactly copy the sample cards set up for us to work on as the nights project. It was one of those "aHa" moments for me.

[Jane D]

I have my tiara and even labeled a spot for it on my shelf.
Also a pic from a birthday card that I framed of an old (REALLY old, wrinkled) woman smoking a cigarette with the words, "once a bad ***, always a bad ***!" I don't talk like that but it's so darned funny it makes me laugh!

[LateBlossom]

This thread is great!

[Joeknee]

I have a deflated birthday balloon up on my wall and chicken dance Elmo. I just love Elmo. The year I got him for Christmas I was so happy that I cried!
Silly to see a ahem, 30 something woman cry when she received a Elmo doll ~ but yeppers, I did. He makes me giggle.

[eggette]

I have a beige room with white trim (blah) and I have 3 lime green canvas sided boxes that I keep my wooden stamps in - that makes me breathe a sign of relief and smile!
I just love going into my stamping room and closing the door....it used to be on my kitchen table - then I smartened up and claimed the spare room! I hope nobody wants to sleep over!!

[imatbrown]

My hubby sits across from me in the craft room while he does his painting . . . that's all the humor I can take! ;)

[AmyR]

My button jar: http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.co...essy-desk.html

And when I get sick of looking at it I just stir them up a bit and it looks totally different ROFL!