Before I Go Away for Awhile...

I wanted to be true to my promise (although a day late) to show you a cool template I bought online that coordinates beautifully with the Simply Stationery set I profiled on Tuesday. It's for a desktop organizer created by Lauren Meader.

She is an amazing artist, and she has teamed up with Papertrey Ink (PTI) to offer these as Timeless Templates. For a one-time $5 fee, I downloaded the template and also received 5 ideas for how to use it! I can reuse it time and time again, but I can't share it with you. You have to get your own. I may offer it as part of a class sometime this spring; it would be a great end of the year teacher gift, don't you think?

I thought you might want to see how these clear acrylic blocks help you position the images where you want them. It's really quite simple. I stamped this background creator image (also from PTI called Retro) after I lined it up on the grid that is etched into the block. Not all clear acrylic blocks have grids, so look carefully when purchasing them. I inked it up in Bravo Burgundy and was able to see where the stamp would "land" on the flap. I did this twice on the flap that folds up to create the pocket, and once on the edges around the organizer. It's so easy!

And now I take my leave...I've decided that I need to participate in Lent this year by giving up blog reading (I truly feel addicted and obsessed) and blogging. It has been a growing distraction, and I want to put it in perspective and not let it dominate my life. If I can do it for 6 weeks, hopefully I'll be able to keep it from being the first thing I think about in the morning! If you need to get in touch with me, I will still be reading and responding to emails. My address is in my profile. Or you can just leave a comment here; it links to my email.

Take care, and I'll see you after Easter!