Christmas sneak peeks...

i have been spending hours over the last few days in my craft room, hunched over my desk making Christmas cards and working on the batch for my customer. i have so many things i want to show here, but can't yet. Some of the x-mas cards will be going to people who read my blog, so i don't want any spoilers. i do, however, have some little sneak peeks of the x-mas batch...





i've been making good use of the new Papertrey Ink set Take A Bough (thanks, Dana!) - it's a lot of fun to play with!

This year i decided to keep most of my x-mas cards fairly simple, relying more on paper and stamps than embellishments like ribbon and metals. By doing this, i'm able to make more cards more quickly (a big plus since, like last year, i plan to make all of the cards i need to send out and not rely on any store-bought ones) and i spend less on shipping.

Well, i'm off to make some grub for Z.'s dinner. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

You Make Me Smile...

My buddy Heidi nominated me for a You Make Me Smile Award! Thanks so much, Heidi! You make me smile, too! :) i am supposed to nominate others that make me smile. There's so many who deserve it, but today i'm nominating 3 (several i wanted to nominate have already been nominated by others!).

The first blogger who makes me smile is Roberta. i recently discovered her blog while searching for others interested in polymer clay. She has some amazing polymer creations, and she uses her handmade beads to make some truly beautiful jewelry. Go check out her blog and you can see for yourself!
Another talented lady who makes me smile is Julee of Verve Visual fame. i'm sure most or all of you visit her blog already, but for anyone who doesn't, you won't be disappointed when you go! Her handmade cards are beautiful, and her Mojo Monday challenge is great fun. It's no wonder her new stamps are so popular - she's got boatloads of talent!
And finally, a blogger who is already famous in the crafting world, Kristina. i doubt she reads my own blog, but i sure visit hers a lot! Her style is simple, eye-catching and memorable. If you check out any of the paper-crafting magazines, you've probably seen her designs before. Go to her blog for some serious inspiration!
And anyone who's blog or site i've linked to on my own blog - all of you make me smile!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank you to all my readers...

i just wanted to say thank you to everyone who visits my blog and especially those of you who leave me such nice comments! i really appreciate your support and compliments on my artwork. In the beginning, i responded to comments on the comment page, but i quickly realized that most of us don't have the time to go back and reread comments on others' blogs. i just wanted you guys to know that i read every single comment and am always uplifted by your kind words. i will be posting some handmade blog candy sometime in the near future, so be on the lookout for that! ;)
Have a great day everyone!

A thank you card for someone special!

My buddy Dana over at Kismet, Art and Life recently sent me a wonderful package of goodies (including the new PTI set Take a Bough!) for my birthday, so ofcourse i had to send her an extra special card to say "Thank you". i worked on this card over the course of a couple days (i'm often in and out of my craft room trying to juggle the rest of life and art, too!). i was very happy with how this one turned out.


i actually colored the roses with Prismacolors first, but when the rest of the card began to overwhelm the main image, i went back over it with markers. i actually liked the combo of the two, though you wouldn't know by looking at it that i'd used pencils, too.

Ingredients: CS - stash, Paperbilities; stamps - $1 stamp from A.C. Moore (roses), foam harlequin stamp, SU!'s Noteworthy; ink - Ranger Distress ink, Colorbox Fluid Chalk, Marvy LePlume II markers; ribbon -Bobbin ribbon; brads - MM; pop-dots; Prismacolor pencils; envie from Office Max (don't know brand).

Dragonfly birthday card and my first criss-cross card...

i've been making a lot of new cards but can't show most of them here just yet. Some are for an order and some are for friends who might see them before they arrive in the mail. Here's two i can show.

This one is for my MIL's birthday. She loves dragonflies (Paul even tattooed one on her arm!), so i thought this dragonfly from Technique Tuesday's Boho Buzz set was a perfect choice. i inked and embossed it and then added some Stickles. Simple, but i know she'll like it.

Ingredients: CS - Bazzill, Paperbilities; PP - MME; stamps - TT's Boho Buzz, Papertrey Ink's Papertray; ink - Versamagic, Colorbox, Ranger Archival; ribbon - American Crafts; brads - MM; EP - Stampendous; Stickles; pop-dots; envie from Papertrey Ink.

And here's my first ever criss-cross card! i really enjoyed making this; it was a nice change from the standard card. i love this PP from MME, even though i'm not a huge pink fan - it reminds me of a hankerchief. This is actually part of my customer's order, but i'm hoping she either won't see it before i send them out, or won't mind me sneaking it in! ;)

Ingredients: CS - Bazzill, Paperbilities; PP - MME; stamps - Brenda Walton's Garden Words, Rhonna Farrer's Swirls V:1; ink - Versamagic, Colorbox Fluid Chalk, Ranger Archival; brads - MM; Stickles.

Thanks for stopping in! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Random old photos...

No new paper art to show today, but i do have some random older photos that i've never posted, so i thought i'd share them. Some of these are a few years old, some a little more recent.


These first two were taken at my mom's house, several years ago.

My dad's old truck (he's since sold it). West Virginia, maybe 4 or 5 years ago.


The June House, Ferrum, Virginia.

Rusty parts at the old sawmill site near my house, maybe 2 years ago or so.
Thanks for stoppin in. Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

A birthday flower...

i finally have something new to show, and i was able to sign on today! It's a good day! Here's a card i started Friday and finished this afternoon.

i stamped then cut out each petal and curled them before adhering them with pop-dots. i kept the rest simple since the flower was such a dominant main image. i like the sentiment stamped in white, but it seems i just can't find a nice, crisp white ink that shows up really well on dark paper. Has anyone had good luck with a certain brand? If so, i'd love to hear about it!

Ingredients: CS - Paperbilities; PP - My Mind's Eye; stamps - Tech. Tuesday's Loves Me, Loves Me Not, Papertrey Ink; ink - Pallette Hybrid, Colorbox Fluid Chalk; brads - American Crafts; button - American crafts; pop-dots.

Thanks for visiting! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Just a quick update...

i just wanted to let everyone know why i've been MIA lately - my computer has finally kicked the bucket. Sometimes i can sign on for 10 or 15 minutes before it shuts down, sometimes not even that. i can only get dependable service over at mom's, so my posts will be few and far between until we resolve this situation.
Hope everyone's well!