Just a quick update on me...

My studio at ScrapbookGraphics closed yesterday. I haven't designed anything new in a while, and it made the most sense for it to close since I'm not sure how quickly I'll get back into a design groove again. I'll really miss it... being there and working with that stellar array of designers and Maya was a dream come true for me.

I will continue to have my designs available for purchase at Altered Art Chicks, so you can always get your Krista design fix there.

My mom asked me on the phone yesterday if I had done anything crafty or any designing lately. And I told her that I hadn't. And then I went on to tell her that I was okay with that.

So after we got off the phone, I started thinking about it more. Being okay with not doing anything lately. I think I got a bit burned out with my design schedule the past few years, and I just need to take a little break, really. But the Type A Personality side of me kept kicking me in the head and telling me that I need to do stuff. Design stuff. Create stuff.

To be honest, I like it better when the Design Muse does that. Gets me going and doing because I want to. Not because I feel I have to. Not because I have to fill every moment of every day with work. But because my mojo is flowing and I WANT to.

It's been hard to get to the "it's okay" point. I've been having a lot of guilt feelings for sitting on the couch in the evening and taking some "me" time... watching TV, reading books or magazines, doing a Sudoku puzzle or five. Yes, I've been doing those things when I would normally be chained to my laptop, and it has felt gloriously wonderful. But gloriously wonderful with an asterisk, because there was a lot of guilt I was putting on myself too. I felt like I should be designing (read: working). Because that was the rut I'd gotten into over the past three years. So if I was doing something besides that, well, I should feel guilty, shouldn't I? So I did. Workaholic much?

But lately, say in the past week or two, I've lost the guilt. I've shed it like an old skin I no longer need. I've been okay with, even comfortable with, enjoying my evenings and weekends however I want to spend them. And, really, isn't that the way it should be? I spend enough of my day doing work!

So I'll design again when I feel like it. I know I will. But in the meantime, the guilt-free "me" time is really delicious. I needed this more than I realized. And I'm finally able to enjoy it: sans guilt. Hooray!

You know, most of the time when I post anymore, I select the "other slices of life" category or "music musings." Rarely do I select scrap stuff... Hmmmm... I'm not sure what that means. Except maybe that this blog is shifting toward becoming less of a promotional place for my designing and more toward just being "my place" online. It's all good, whatever it means.

There isn't a whole lot new in Mettler land. Mike got back from Vegas and the Consumer Electronics Show last Thursday night, so I've been happy to have him home after he was away for six days. While he was gone, I secretly made a 2008 calendar for his office desk. I'd made him one last year for his desk and ran out of time to make him another one before Christmas, so he got it belatedly. He was thrilled. I love the way it turned out. In typical Krista fashion, I failed to take a photo of it before he took it into the office. Suffice it to say, it turned out really cool. I digitally designed 4x4 squares with the dates on them and a photo of us (which, of course, I quirked up by merging backgrounds with the photos in a very funky way), which I then mounted onto an 8x8 piece of patterned cardstock (the Old World Stack from Die Cuts With A View -- probably my favorite collection of scrapping paper ANYWHERE!). I used the chipboard frame I built for last year's calendar over again, and punched two holes in top of each page, put eyelets on the holes so they'd be sturdy, and fed the holes into jump rings so that you could flip the pages easily. It turned out really well and he has a year of pictures of the two of us together on his desk!

In very exciting healthy living news, I have officially dropped another size and can fit into three pairs of jeans I had stashed in the guest room closet (for when I could fit into them again!). This means I now have three "new" old pairs of jeans that I can put into rotation. This is very exciting, particularly coming on the heels of the holiday indulgences in which I partook. I still have a lot further to go, but I feel really good for making some progress during a time of year that is typically a weight-gaining and not a weight-losing time. I've also gotten less apt to deny myself a small treat on occasion because I think, even though it will take a little longer to lose the weight, that I do better when I don't feel like I can't have something. Instead I want to be able to not have something because I don't want it at that time or don't feel like eating it... if that makes any sense in the least.

And finally, I want to share with you a very whimsical thing my now on-again CT member Muka did recently. I just love the way she does things in such a vibrant, quirky way!

(full credits here)

I think it's a nice reminder that we all need to laugh more! It's good for you!

Over at Altered Art Chicks, we thought it would be fun to ring in the new year with some cool news and some hot new products, so read on (and check out the SALE PRICING!).

Altered Art Chicks is proud to announce the arrival of an amazingly talented artist to the Emporium... Michelle Thompson (a.k.a. eMpTy Designs) of Scrapability/Scrap Rants fame has joined us as a quick page creator! She's taking our digi designs and making some amazing altered-to-the-max digi quick pages!

We're offering two sets at the launch and they are both too terrific for words. They're on sale for $5.95 per set for one week only ($2 off the regular price)!

Check out the freestyle, quirky coolness that Michelle has created:

Just think of how easy these could make your altered life. Pair one of the sets with a Mootsie chipboard book from the emporium, pop in some photos and journaling, print out the pages, stick them in the book, and you've got a quick and easy gift or keepsake!

Sale price is good for a week, so stop over and grab them both NOW!

My brother would probably not admit it willingly, but I really do rock. I spent a large portion of my weekend working on a holiday card for him and my sister-in-law (third year in a row). This is no simple only-the-front-is-decorated card. No, no, no... it's the front, it's the back, and it's the entire inside. A double-sided masterpiece. I finished and got final approval (after three drafts) last night.

And then because I'm even cooler, better, and more awesome still, I found a site that would print them and uploaded the order for my brother (because the site I'd originally sent him to to print it wouldn't do full front/back and full inside printing that he needed). I did all of this before I even THOUGHT about my own holiday card/letter.

I am an awesome sister. I say this here because I fully intend to send a link to this blog post to my brother and he really SHOULD leave me a comment telling me, in a public forum, how awesome I really am. I deserve it.

I won't share the results of my hard work here, though, because it's his to send out. But it turned out really sweet. The inside looks like a gallery with all of the photos in frames.

So, I still have to do my own card. And then, maybe, just maybe, I'll get back to the kit I started designing last month and deserted due to holiday insanity and busy-ness.

In the interest of sharing some eye candy today, though, how about some goodies from my Creative Team chickadees?!?!?

First up is this gorgeousness from Melinda Staley:

(full credits here)

And then there's this beauty from Lilian:

(full credits here)