Poly creations

Cards are little creations i can generally finish in a short amount of time, and that helps when you have a young son to take care of, not to mention all the housework, gardening, etc. that needs to be done. When i have more time to play, i love to pull out my polymer clay. Following are some things i made over a year ago during a spree of poly-creating. These have been posted elsewhere on the internet in the past, so some of you have already seen them.

This is a glass container, with lid, that i covered in poly slices.

i love to make beads! My mom calls these "Miami Vice" beads. :)

These are my favorite! They're loosely based on a design i found in a book. On the left is a pendant.

More beads...

Nautical star beads!

i made these with the intention of selling them, and while i still plan to, i have yet to let go of most of them. They're not difficult to make, just very time-consuming, and after spending all that time with them i become very attached and find it hard to let go! i have an entire plastic shoe-box full of bags of poly beads, and i really need to start seriously considering selling them. i'm thinking of putting them up on ebay or maybe etsy. Does anyone have experience with etsy? Would i have better luck there than ebay? If anyone has advice on this, i'd love to hear!

Thanks for visiting my blog. Have a wonderful day!

Little bird

On Monday i had the chance to be in my craft room for a little while and made a couple cards. They're not my best, but i'm happy with how they came out.

i love the little bird image on this card! i wanted to make a very simple card that showcased the bird (my original idea was even simpler than this, but my need to embellish won out). This has to be one of the simplest cards i've ever made.

Ingredients: CS - white/light green from my stash, textured light blue by Colorbok; PP - My MInd's Eye, Magnolia; stamps - Inkadinkado "Tree" set, sentiment from SU!'s "Gently Falling"; ink - Ranger Archival, Versamagic Spanish Olive, Colorbox fluid chalk Lime Pastel, Palette Hybrid Burnt Sienna; ribbon from Wal-Mart; brad by MM; pop dots.


This card is also very simple, but took a bit longer because of the cutting that was involved. i just got a slab of PP by My Mind's Eye and i wanted to play around with it. The flowers were all cut from the PP. i love the colors and patterns on this paper!

Ingredients: Brown CS from my stash; PP - My Mind's Eye, Magnolia; sentiment - Papertrey ink; ink - Palette Hybrid Burnt Sienna, Colorbox fluid chalk Blue Ice; ribbon from Wal-Mart; brad by MM.

Tip: For awhile now, when i sit down to make a card, i try to make at least 2 of the same card, and sometimes 4. This helps my need to hoard - it's easier to part with a card when i know i have another the same - and uses my time more effectively. i already have all the stuff out to make one, might as well make 2! Also, i'm hoping to maybe sell a few cards here and there, and by making more at a time i have a better/bigger stash ready for sale.

Have a great day!

Heidi's blog candy...

My friend and fellow artist, Heidi, is offering up some blog candy! Go check out her blog - http://embellished-dreams.blogspot.com/ - and leave a comment and she'll enter you in the drawing. Be sure to check out all her amazing creations while you're there. You're sure to be inspired!

Art heals.

Art has always offered me comfort and solitude during difficult times in my life, as well as made the happy times even happier. i'm sure it's the same with most, if not all, of you. Lately happiness is yielding this sudden spurt. That's always a good thing.

The day i made this first card, though, was not quite so happy. One of our three kittens died suddenly after a brief sickness. i had started the card the night before, and came back to it after she had passed the next day. It might sound strange, but this card is for her. She only lived 2 1/2 months, but during that time she gave all of us many happy thoughts.

Ingredients: White/orange/lavender CS from my stash; stamps: Rhonna Farrer - Swirls V:1, Brenda Walton - Garden Words, Papertrey - Paper Tray (text), Studio G (stems), Art Warehouse - Ribbons and Lace Set (faux rick rack); ink - Colorbox fluid chalk, Ranger archival, Ink It Up; chalks.

With matching envelope.

i made this card for someone special! (Don't want to say who, in case she reads this...)


Ingredients: Lime green textured CS - Colorbok, black CS from stash; PP - Basic Grey; stamps - Technique Tuesday, Skin Deep ; ink - Ink It Up, Ranger archival, Inkadinkado gold pigment; brads - MM; hand-written script.


For those who might not know, i love tattoos. My husband is co-owner of a tattoo shop and has been at it for 15 years now. i actually was interested in tattoos before we met, that was just a happy coincidence, or synchronicity, depending on how you look at it. Anyway, i was extremely excited to find a set of tattoo stamps by Technique Tuesday recently. The carp image in my previous post is from the same set. i also found a company making tattoo stamps. If anyone's interested, here's the link: http://astaarts.com/index.htm Fun stuff!


As always, thanks for visiting my blog, and have a lovely day!

More cards...

i've been on a card-making frenzy lately! Here's a few recent ones:


Ingredients: Blue/white cardstock (from my stash), textured lilac and lime green cardstock from Colorbok; asian stamps - flowers, butterfly and kanji (can't remember who makes these!), friend stamp from SU!'s Noteworthy set; turquoise ink by Ink It Up, Lime Pastel fluid chalk ink, Cyan, Royal Blue and Lilac pigment inks, all by Color Box; embossing powder; ribbon from Wal-mart and A.C. Moore scrap pack; brads by MM.

Ingredients: Blue/white cardstock from my stash; flower stamps, butterfly and believe sentiment from Brenda Walton's Garden Words set, swirls from Rhonna Farrer's Swirls V:1; Lime Pastel and Blue Ice fluid chalk inks and lilac pigment ink by Color Box, Ranger's black Archival Ink; embossing powder; ribbon from Wal-Mart; brad by MM; pop dots.

Ingredients: Black, white and burgundy CS from my stash; mulberry paper (scrap pack from Wal-Mart; carp stamp - Technique Tuesday's Skin Deep set, kanji (unknown); Chianti pigment ink and Yellow Ochre fluid chalk ink by Color Box, Ranger's Archival Ink; embossing powder; Chinese coin (from my friend, Dana!); ribbon from my stash; envelope from Wal-Mart.

Thanks for looking!

Howdy, howdy...

My first post! i created this blog solely as a place to show and share my art, and to share in the creations of other artists. i won't be posting about other aspects of my life here - i have a livejournal for that.

i have been making art since i was a child and will continue to do so until i am old and grey. i love all kinds of art and create using many mediums - paper, ink, photography, polymer clay, textiles, and the list goes on. i'm also a gardener, and much to the delight of my family, i love to cook. i live in the country, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, with my lifelong companion, our son and a small menagerie. i am a traveler, but for now i'm happy to be settled here. The road, though, is always calling.

And now to christen this blog with a bit of art. This is the Father's Day card i made for Paul (my DC, "darling companion") this year. Z. (our son) helped me create it, and it was loosely based on a card in the June/July issue of Paper Crafts.

Ingredients: White and blue cardstock from my stash; i think the PP is Deja Views, but i can't remember for sure; stamps - Rhonna Farrer, Swirls V:1, faux ribbon from Art Warehouse, Ribbons and Lace set, letters from some foam set i got at Wal-mart; black ink is Ranger's Archival Ink, turquoise ink by Ink It Up, Versamark; brads by MM; Cadillac image from an old National Geographic; red soda can tab, black photo corner.