Holidays Are Coming...

That time of year is upon us again, like it or not :-) Getting some things ready to send back to the family... Holiday cards to go with the little gifts meant for hubby's brother & sisters...

Place cards for my Thanksgiving table - even made one for the dog, trust me, he will notice.

It's a bit of a challenge to have the holiday spirit, when the sky is constantly this blue, and the weather is not the least bit winter like, but I've been doing my best - listening to holiday music and viewing those cheesy Hallmark specials. One thing that helps is painting Santas - I've had fun revisiting that old hobby...

My children will be here for Thanksgiving. Hooray!

Hello Autumn

Not a lot of crafting this week, I've been busy with other things - (ie; spreading all kinds of autumn cheer all over Tumblr) Just this one little card to share today;

It seems a little lopsided to me, but it's because I was waiting for my black scrunchy ribbon to arrive and it was taking a little too long... (don't you love getting little prezzies in the mail?)

Anyway, I've also been spending a lot of time searching Pinterest for some new things to try, such as... This amazing box album - I wish the video was less show and tell and more how to ( via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an7BDd7-RBQ ) And Melissa Phillips is always using die cuts made from fun things like fabric and felt - for some reason I've been afraid to try it, but if she keeps doing cute stuff like this, I'm going to have to!

( via http://lilybeanpaperie.typepad.com/ ) There's lots more, but I don't want to over do it! LOL Just so happy that Autumn is here. The temps have gone from "don't step outside or you'll fry" to completely bearable. :-) In fact, some nights we throw open all the doors and windows and just let the Autumn in...

( via http://warrengrovegarden.blogspot.com/ ) Hope you're enjoying Fall where you are... .

Encore

I know it hasn't been a year yet, but I'm back again - already. Ha ha. I made a trip home over Labor Day weekend, and while I was there, picked up some cute and fun Halloween papers.

I am completely addicted to 6 x 6 paper pads. They are so perfect for card making, and the designs are scaled down to fit the paper size. Couldn't be better! The Doodle Bug one is a favorite - love the colors and the playful designs...

For this one I added a cute little cut out from Graphic 45, and the wheel is from Echo Park - something I've had for a while and been dying to use...

This last one is a little "creepier." I used the Echo Park papers, the cut out label is from Teresa Collins.

Check back again, I'm not through playing yet. :-) .

Howdy

Found some energy to create this past week. The arrival of Autumn always gives me renewed energy and enthusiasm. Autumn colors are my favorite - made this one with an old BG rub-on I had in my stash...

And I've been dying to use this little owl for something fun...

I made this one for my grand daughter, who has a birthday in October - she is my most girly girl, she's all about pink and bling. :-)

Hoping to be a little more productive this fall... .

It's been a crazy week, so I retired to my craft room yesterday, for some paper therapy. Nothing calms the nerves more than doing something completely apart from life's situations and being creative. I did this card for my mother in law. She has been in the hospital all week with a nasty staff infection. Wishing her well, and missing my home town where all of my family is... This second one was just for fun - I'm thinking my oldest grand-daughter would like the colors and theme... It's already getting HOT here! Going to try to get my floors mopped before I have to find a cool-ish corner to take a siesta. :-)

Playing with Paint...

This week, I tried out another paint/craft project. I saw this in one of those Somerset magazines, and I really liked it - changed the colors to match the theme of my crafty room. It didn't quite turn out like I wanted it to, but what can I say - I'm trying to teach myself this stuff, and the student can only be as good as the teacher... Anyway - finished project: If I don't get any better soon, I am going to give up and go back to work. Ha ha. Forgive my lack of format here, but I can't get the editing program to give me paragraphs, breaks, or decent spaces. :-( .

Bon Jour!

Hello again! Tearing myself away from my busy busy life (sarcasm) to post again. I had some visitors last weekend - my daughters came to spend a couple of days with us. Finally had a chance to make it down town again. I spotted some chalkboard jar labels at a little import store over a month ago, and have been obsessing about them ever since, so while the girls were exploring Barnes & Noble, I snuck next door to pick them up. I am going to have fun with these - they are the perfect size, and fun shapes for cards, don't you think? (this is one of 6 shapes.) Really thrifty too. Love it! Picked up some things to do a little more painting - slowly decorating my house... Have a great weekend! .

Spring Things

I had a busy week last week, visiting with family members. It is SO sad and depressing when they leave though... I got myself busy with some projects, to occupy my time and improve my craft room for future guests. Created this banner to hang over the window - inspiration and decoration rolled into one little project... ...I'm calling that room my "heavenly peace" room, so it's somehow appropriate - no? Also, I started some cards for my grand girls for Easter - had a little trouble designing them, so much so, that I missed the holiday completely - however, they are springy and fun-ish, and will work for my girlies anytime... The sun is shining - it's another beautiful day - off to clean up and go for a walk... .

Projects

Hello there - glad to see you again! I've been keeping very busy trying to put a house together, but every once in a while, I give myself permission for a creative break. I've been dabbling in a few different things of late, but here's what I've accomplished since I was here last... Just a couple of little cards I did while I was in our tiny apartment. I intended to do Valentines for everyone, but that didn't happen... My grand daughters visited about a month ago, and the oldest told me that she has no book marks - she said that she just grabs anything that is handy (like dirty socks!) to hold her place. Well, Granny thinks that is unacceptable, so when I learned I was going home for the weekend, I made her a few. (And you know, you can't just do for one gran, you do for them all or not at all!) I color coded them so that they would know who's was who's... I've been collecting images and tutorials of mixed media stuff on my Pinterest account (it kind of fascinates me) - decided I just had to give it a try... (However, I haven't been brave enough to try painting the lettering for the title "Bloom where you're planted" yet, because it's been so long since I've done that - knowing me, I would ruin it.) ...So, you're seeing a pathetic use of letter stickers here. Lastly, I made this magnet board for my kitchen. It is supposed to keep me organized with my menu planning. I'll let you know how that goes. LOL That's it for now. I'm still trying to put my craft room together, which is a challenge, because it's the smallest room, and it has to double as a second guest room. Space is seriously limited. Trying to get ready for company this week, so Granny is over and Out. :-) .

Telling Time

So little to do in this far away place - I had all my projects done the first week, now here I am in week four... Didn't get this one posted because, well, I forgot about it. :-) My husband likes these little calendars I make him for his office, so that he can see pictures of his family on his desk at work. So I had the photos printed before we left to keep me busy wile he's away all day. (Always a good excuse to buy more stuff, right?) Anyway, here are the pages for this year's 6x6 calendar - now if I can just remember what box I packed the frame thing in...

Like the Phoenix...

Rising out of the ashes, here I am again. What a crazy year it was for us - so many changes! Moving for the first time in 36 years and starting a new adventure at our age, sometimes makes me wonder if we have lost our minds. Things are going well for hubby in our new Vegas home. His work is progressing well, and ahead of schedule. For me? It's a bit more of a challenge. Having no car to get around, and not a soul here that I know, days can be very long and very dull! I don't have all of my craft supplies here either yet, so what is a girl to do? I picked up a few things when we were home for Christmas, so I could create some valentines for my favorite grand girlies.

...I got this far, but hubby has already absconded with this one to use for a wedding card for one of his workers. Back to square one. One thing I am enjoying about this place is that the sun always shines. I'm sure I'll tire of that when Summer comes and it's 120 degrees out there, but knowing that it's in the negative register back home, and with a foot of snow, I'm not minding it right now. Determined to set some goals, so I don't go out of my mind with boredom here. If I can come up with a little creative energy, revitalizing this blog just may be one of them. :-) Best wishes from the sunny SouthWest! .