Sketchspirations!

That sounds catchy, doesn't it?  SKETCHSPIRATIONS!  It's a combination of SKETCH and INSPIRATIONS, in case it isn't obvious enough.  Haha.

It's 12:28pm.  CST.  That's 'Central Standard Time,' in case you don't know anything about time zones.  I learned about time zones from TV commercials when I was a child.  Every show's commercial said, "TONIGHT AT 9! 8 Central!"    I also thought that the new day started at 4AM.  Because that's when the listings in the TV Guide began at each day.

Anyways!  Tonight is the opening night for this show I'm working on- wanna see the 'commercial' for it?  You do?!  Well, you're in luck- cuz it's on YouTube.
 

Looks like fun, huh?  It is!  If you're in OKC, come check it out!

So, onto the sketch- I just made this, using my POST-IT NOTE SCRAPBOOKING LAYOUT PLAYSET- and then drew it up on the computer, to share with all you beautiful people out there in the dark.  (Do you know what movie that line is from?) 

I am going to make something up with this sketch tomorrow, when I finally have some free scrap time! 

Happy Friday, everyone!

-kory

An Infomercial! Or: A blogomercial?

There you are, with a racing heartbeat and endorphins flooding your bloodstream.

Your face is glistening with sweat.  That's right!  You just returned home from another trip to the Scrap store!

You sit down at your scrap table, trying to clear a 12X12 space, pushing as much as the clutter away and BAM! It hits you.  Hits you like a beer bottle in a bar fight.  You're SCRAPBLOCKED!

What do you do when you're blocked?! 

Well...

You can cruise the gallery at http://www.scrapbook.com/.

You can read Frank's blog, Haus of W, and gaze at the amazing work he does...

You can search Google Image for sketches...

OR!

You can pull out KORY K'S NOT SO PATENTED POST-IT NOTE SCRAPBOOKING LAYOUT PLAYSET!



Kory K's NOT SO PATENTED POST-IT NOTE SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT PLAYSET!

But KORY, what's that?!

It's a fun, handy way to experiment with ideas, developed while sitting at my desk while I should've been doing something a little bit more productive!

But KORY! How does it work?!

Thanks for asking, Judy!  It works easily!  (I love pretending to be in an infomercial.)

You get a stack of POST-ITs from the office supply cabinet.   The regular, well-known, classic POST-IT is 3 inches by 3inches.  A nice, perfect little square.  That's going to be your regular piece of 12X12 cardstock.  Or your fancy piece of scrapbook paper.  You decide, it's your imagination!

SO- since we've decided that a 3X3 POST-IT equals a 12X12 cardstock, that means a fourth of an inch equals one entire inch.  How'd I figure that out? No, I didn't just know the measurement.  I'm artistic, not mathtistic.  I used my handy "Say No To Drugs" ruler to count!

Why do I have a "Say No To Drugs" ruler?  Once a year, we hold a thing for school kids, called "Camp Red Ribbon."  I thought you’d ask.

A ton of excited, screaming kids come to the office.  Kids so young they don't even know what drugs are, but start telling them early is the idea, I guess.  We have games and a fire truck and a giant slide and bouncy-castle, and over their shouts of excitement, we shout "DON'T DO DRUGS, YOU WILL BE POOR AND DIE!"

And then we give them gifts.  The item I decided our department would order are these classy, multicolored rulers WITH alphabet stencil built in-  I picked these out because I wanted a ruler with alphabet stencil.  I'm smart that way.  Wow, long story just to explain why I have this ruler.  Where was I?

Oh yeah!  Our scale measurements! 

To review: 1/4 inch equals 1 inch.  Using this scale, you can then cut out little squares for different sized photos and embellishments.  A brightly colored Christmas pencil that you boss put in your Christmas stocking is helpful for marking the cutting lines on your paper.

I made a few generic squares, 4X6 and 3X3 'sizes,' and some random sized 'paper pieces,' such as a long strip, some border shapes, a couple of circles, and a bracket-y shape.  Just cut out any shapes you can think of- these are going to be our little 'placeholders' on our POST-IT layout.  Once you've made a nice little set of little shapes, you're ready to start arranging them on your full square POST-IT- remember the full square is your base piece of cardstock. 

Peel off a few POST-ITs and line them up in front of you and write TITLE in random places on each one.  Then, just start placing your 'picture' sized square pieces onto the big square.  Or lay down some long strips and place a 'photo square' on top of those- and SURPRISE- your layout will begin to take shape!  Fun, easy, and amazing- huh?

Now, that you've got your very own Kory K style POST-IT NOTE SCRAPBOOK LAYOUT PLAYSET, you're ready to let inspiration grab you by the weave and shake you around a bit!  Keep all your pieces together in an envelope, and next time you're standing in line for forty-five minutes at Michael's, behind a lady who SWEARS there was a sign over that item that SAID it was a dollar, so they better sell it at that price- no worries!

Pull out your 'Layout Playset' and dream up ways to put your stash to work!

As Brini Maxwell used to say, “Now why didn’t you think of that?!”

Have fun, and let me know if you try it out!

-kory

SALE ALERT!

The 'new' JOANN's GRAND OPENING!

Yes, the 'NEW' JOANN that I mentioned the other day or so, at NW EXPWY and ROCKWELL is having her GRAND OPENING shiny good time happy party this **NEXT** WEEKEND! It begins THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16 and continues until SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17!  **note: I excitedly/mistakenly read the dates as being THIS weekend- but it is NEXT weekend!  Which is even better- that's my payday weekend!

When I went in last Sunday, they gave me a sheet of coupons for 50% off one item for EACH day of the weekend.  Which, really- I gotta go ALL three days?  Okay, twist my arm.  50% off! 

ALSO- for anyone in the OKC area- the first 100 shoppers each day get a 10.00 gift card.  So, that means- with my 50% off coupon AND if I'm one of the first 100, I can get a 20.00 item for FREE.  This is IF they don't put ALL scrapbooking items 10%, causing your 50% off coupon to be useless, tho-

Let me know if you're in the area and want to meet it up at JOANN's on Saturday morning.  You can bring coffee and I'll bring .. I don't know.  I'll think of somethin'.   ;-)

-kory

Sale Alert!

    This weekend, Tuesday Morning's weekend sale circular advertises that they'll have closeout TIM HOLTZ products!  Including the texture hammer!  Also pictured were some of the long fasteners, the Retro Grunge paper pad, and the Configurations boxes!  See what I'm talking about at http://www.tuesdaymorning.com/!

     Of course, selection varies by store- but my experience at Tuesday Morning had been good- identical stock at each location.  Quantities will surely vary- so get there early for the best selection!  Prices range from .99 to 6.99. 

Get out there and get some bargains!!!

-kory

A Sketch A Day Keeps The Stash At Bay...

Sometimes, I stare off into space.  Not outer-space.  Not inner.  Just...space. You know.  Air. 

No, I'm not on any strange medications I may or may not have talked someone into smuggling back into the country from Mexico.  I'm just tired.

But, Kory, why are you tired? You're young and don't you sleep?

I'm actually 76 years old.  And no, I don't sleep.  Because I'm stage managing a new play that opens this week.  This Friday night.  The set isn't built and the lights seem to have developed a mind of their own.  They're doing all kinds of tricks, like- changing color and swinging to the right, before spinning straight up to light the ceiling.  So the director sends a guy up to the booth- he checks everything out, and tells me, 'Yeahhhh...they do that- there's something wrong with a data cord and it won't be fixed for like thirty days.'  So no, I don't sleep.  I'm battling possessed electronic lighting equipment.

What am I getting to?  Oh, I remember-  I decided to wisely spend some time designing some sketches!  I put some thought into the scrapbook supply store I call my home.  For realz, guys, I could hang a neon 'OPEN' sign and go into bidness with all this stuff.  How do I remedy this overstock situation?  I COME UP WITH IDEAS TO USE IT!  That's what!

If I don't go into battle with a plan, I will sit there- like a drunk hooker with smeared lipstick and no chance of employment.  (Sorry, I don't know where I come up with these analogies.  Just go with it.)

So here's the plan:  SOME SKETCHES!

So, that's it!  My inspiration for the day.  Will I get to put this inspiration to any scraptacular use, this evening?  No.  Because I will continue my reenactment of THE EXORCIST, with myself as the Priest, and the lighting system of the theatre as the little vomiting girl.

Wish me luck!

-kory

PayDay FriDay!

Oh, hi!

One of my favorite holidays is, definitely, PAY-DAY FRIDAY.   Sometimes abbreviated as PDPF- which isn't really shorter to say, but is a heap of fun to say!  Sometimes I format the spelling differ-oh, anyways-  So-

"WHAT IS PAYDAY FRIDAY?"

Oh come on, you know what it!  It's that special, magical holiday that occurs whenever you get paid!  Whether it's a biweekly holiday, like mine- or a monthly holiday for a government employee, or just whenever the money gets thrown on the dresser as your, um, 'employer' finishes getting dressed to head home to his wife-  THAT, my friends, is PAYDAY FRIDAY!

How do I celebrate this glorious day?  With shopping binges at my favorite crafting meccas:  Hobby Lobby!  Hobby Lobby Outlet! Micheals!  Home Depot!  Byron's Liquor Warehouse!

I went a bit overboard, this weekend.  I began at the Hobby Lobby outlet, which is actually called BASKET MARKET- but I still just call it the HL OUTLET, cuz, that's what it is...  More on this trip, later but soon, because that's my upcoming SURRRRPRIZE! 

One of the highlights of my weekend was visiting the newly opened JOANN, at Northwest Expressway and Rockwell, here in beautiful OKC.  Our former Joann was 'down the street.'  It was one of those 'antique' Joanns- with barely room for a sad fabric collection and a few sadder pads of DCWV paper packs...  The 'NEW' Joann, I'm excited to note, is large and in charge! 

When I spotted all the fully stocked shelves, I think I gasped a little-  but when I saw all of Mr. Holtz's dies and texture fade embossing packs- WOW!  My eyes lit up like a methhead finding a crate of Sudafed! 

And, as usual, my insane rationalizing crafter's mind took over.  Some people will say, "Well, since I'm buying this die, I will wait until next PAYDAY FRIDAY to buy this nice embossing folder..."

My mind says, "If you're going to spend 20.00, you might as well spend 40.00!"  Yeahp, my little internal BAD IDEA BEARS were running on overdrive!   See the photo of that shopping haul?    Please don't surprise me with a televised intervention.

Coming soon:  The NEXT EXCITING EPISODE of KORY K's PAINT CHIP PARTY!

Paint Chip Party!

WHO doesn't love paint chips?  I understand you might not love them as much as I do- but I'm sure there's a part of your little black heart that loves them even a tiny ounce.  They're COLORFUL.  They're FREE.  What's not to love?  Yes, there have been a few paint-chip-craft related bickering about the ethical concerns with using these 'free' paint chips.  I do not feel it is stealing.  Why?  Because I've asked the people at Home Depot.  That's all you have to do for paint chip crafting with a conscience.  The Home Depot conversation went something like this:

Kory:  Hey, is it okay if I take a few of each color of these ones?
Home Depot Guy:  Yeah, sure.  Take all you want.  I might have a box of some that we picked up on the floor that you could have, if you want.
Kory: Why thank you, you're too kind.  You're going to go far in life!

Yeah, so that isn't verbatim.  But you get the idea of how it went down.

So, again- what's not to love?

Oh, I can think of ONE thing!  The tiny printing that labels the paint chip with it's descriptive information.  But you can get rid of that!  Yes!  An answer to prays!  So what is this little miracle worker? Yeah, it's an eraser.  A 'plastic eraser.'  A WHITE, plastic eraser.  It can be found nearly 'anywhere fine art products are sold.'  (Doesn't that sound like a commercial?  Love it!)  And it's cheap. 

I cannot claim to be the sole originator of this technique.  But there doesn't seem to be much about it, out there- and in a way, I came up with it one my own.  How?  Well, I was sitting at my craft table, thinking.  As I was thinking, I was rubbing my pencil with my thumb.  No, sickos.  'Pencil,' as used in this sentence, is alluding to nothing but an old fashioned No.2 PENCIL.  I glanced down, and saw that I'd rubbed whatever advertising was written on the pencil.  I began thinking, as one does, and wondered if I could somehow 'rub' off the text on a paint chip.  I'm often heartbroken when I find a nice, big, perfectly colored paint chip which I hafta cut up to remove the paint name and product number. 

So, I try a couple of erasers that I had in my craft arsenal.  And it works.  Crazily elated, I dream up all kinds of ideas and feel on top of the world- then I think- I'm not THAT original.  Someone has surely come up with this idea BEFORE.  SURELY, there's plenty of PAINT CHIP PIONEERS who've come up with a way to do this- so I google.  Yeah, it's happened- but not as much coverage as I'd thought.  So here ya go- and check back soon- I'll be sharing some exciting Paint Chip Valentine Crafts!