Time For Another Hop!

Hello again! I am back, and look what I have found! (I am at home with a grumpy tummy if you are wondering how I have so much time today). There is a hop going on over at Simon Says Stamp!

You can find the beginning of the hop here: http://simonsaysstampblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/simon-says-stamp-valentines-day-blog.html

Join me and hop along!! :) (You might even win a prize...)

The Daily Marker Giveaway!

I am posting here to remind everyone that Kathy is having a giveaway over on her blog, which you can find here: http://thedailymarker.blogspot.com/2013/01/hero-arts-blog-hop-and-giveaway.html

Don't forget to stop in and give her some blog love for a chance to win!! :)

Snowy Monday

Hello and Happy Monday! It is snowy here...and plenty more on the way! Makes me happy to see the beautiful light of things and the peaceful, quiet, insulation of the snow. I do miss summer, though and am looking forward to many more adventures this year. Thought I would share more summer photos of our backpacking trips since I am missing the sun. :)

Our hike into the wilderness led us through ankle deep mud. It had rained on the west coast for six days before our trip.

I was not about to let a little mud get me down and even had some fun with it! :)

Trudging through the mud was worth it. Here is one of our views. There were many of these. I love to be outside, especially at the ocean!

Here is our home for a week. Actually, quite sturdy and nice. There was one night we had a crazy storm with heavy rain and winds and had to guy out the tent. That was another fun adventure all its own!

And here is the view from our temporary home. Gorgeous! :)

Here are a couple of our resident neighbors. I love eagles! Isn't he so regal?

We also had negative tides the whole trip, so we saw many creatures that ordinarily are hidden. I was in heaven!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful Monday! :)

Favorite 2012 Project...And A Challenge At Paper Issues!

Hello, everyone! Happy Saturday! I am just stopping by to show you my favorite project from 2012. It was a tough choice, but I decided that this is near and dear to my heart.

It is a card I shared previously on my blog, which I sent to my parents. It is made with multiple layers, including stamped images which are cut out, ribbon, acetate and paper layered butterflies, butterfly washi tape, a stamped background, and recycled avocado netting. I loved how it turned out and added the metal charms with hand written words in honor of the anniversary of my grandmother's passing. She was an amazing woman and taught me so much. She was always there for me and I hope that my presence in her life brought me as much joy, love, and peace as hers did (and still does) in mine. I miss her every day. I don't think anyone has ever known me so well and I cannot help but miss her beautiful face. So many fond memories, but, back to the card :) ....

Here is a close up of the detail of the butterflies, too. I hope you enjoyed viewing this card as much as I loved making it! Let me know what you think!! :)

I am posting this card on the Paper Issues blog, which you can find here: http://www.paperissues.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-favorite.html There are so many talented women and beautiful projects to see. You should check it out! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Wish me luck! :)

Happy Friday-Golden Oldies Challenge Post! :)

Today I am sharing the card I made for the Golden oldies challenge over at A Blog Named Hero. I am sharing with you, then on my way to post it on their page before the last work day of the week! Hooray!

So, here it is! I used four different Hero Arts stamp sets for this card, to follow the theme of using older stamps they have produced. It was fun to come up with! I used the "Poppy Background" cling stamp for the main portion of the card. I embossed it with Stampendous' Sapphire Pearlustre powder. Then, I colored it with distress ink in peeled paint and wild honey by Ranger. This layer is attached above a square border made from the old "Design Borders" stamp set. It is stamped in fired brick by Ranger. I also stamped the sentiment from another Hero Arts set, "Truly Appreciated". I used the wild honey distress ink to stamp it, then wrote over hello with a marker...not sure by who! :) Lastly, I added a tiny lady bug, also from Hero Arts, in the set called "Antique Engravings." The lady bug is stamped in black over barn door distress ink by Ranger. There is a close up here:

Hope you like it! I sure had fun making it and trying a new combination of colors. I love the way the blue embossing powder and yellow look on the poppies! Oh, and there is a touch of fired brick on the poppies to make them go with the border in red. Such a fun card to make! Don't forget to hop on over to the A Blog Named Hero to check out the other entries or enter one of your own! It is here: ablognamedhero.blogspot.com

Happy Friday everyone! :)

Organization....

So, I must confess: I did something decidedly brave (foolish?) last night...I re-organized my craft bins. Not, however, in a way one might think of as organized! I separated out three bins which previously contained: 1)stickers, 2)embellishments, and 3)chipboard/vellum/etc. I decided, per the inspiration I gained from Shimelle Laine, to re-organize in a way that makes sense for my crafting process, so that I will get more out of my supplies. Here is what I came up with: 1)sticker/vellum bin, 2)journaling card/die cuts bin-note, there are some stickers here, as they fit into the journaling/labeling category,as well as homemade 2D embellishments which can be used as journaling/die cut pieces, and 3)3D embellishments, such as gems, mini clothespins, unique brads and charms, etc. I must say that it took a certain element of bravery to put together the journaling card/die cut bin. It meant taking all of the little die cuts out of the packages from which they came-the same packages which were hindering my use of them-however, once I poured the first one out and felt the liberation, I was on a roll. It feels so good to be able to sift through them, to see and touch each one. And, it sure feels like I have a lot more than I could have conceived of when they were all packaged up. I even pulled each tag from the journaling tag booklet I had. It is fantastic! I am excited to get back into the creation station and play after work!

Have a great Thursday! Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Summer Recap-Oh, How I Miss The Sunshine!

Here is the first, of what will be many, posts about my outdoor adventures! We love to be outside when the weather is nice, and enjoy as many backpacking, hiking, running, biking, and fishing trips as we possibly can each Spring and Summer. Here are some photos from our 2012 adventures!

Here is a picture on a mountain biking day when we were hunting for huckleberries, planning for the fall....

Here is a picture of the first evening we stayed near the ocean. I am saying hello to the ocean after a long time away.

Another picture of me and the ocean....

And a picture of where the river meets the ocean.

This last one is a picture of an eagle being tormented by a little bird. We saw tons of eagles on this backpacking trip! I love them!! :)

Thanks for visiting! I will post more tomorrow! Happy Saturday!! :) Time to craft....

A STEAL! PaperPals Facelift Sale! Check it out!! :)

So...I headed out to my local scrapbook store and guess what I found? MEGASALE! Karen over at PaperPals has some exciting new changes coming up if you haven't heard already. The result? Great deals for you and me!! Here is some of what I picked up:

This first picture is an overview of my wonderful finds! There is so much fun stuff in here!! Papers from Graphic 45, EK Sucess, Basic Grey, 7 Gypsies, sEI, Luxe, and many others. (I like to buy 2 sheets each of most papers I love so that I can use them for cards and scrap layouts...that way I can see more of them...so there is more paper here than it looks like, since most are doubled up.)

This second picture shows the adorable MME stamps that I picked up and a few other embellishments and papers...Soooo glad it is a 3 day weekend! :)

This one is a close up of the papers and tags...

This last one is a close up of all of the tags I picked up...70% off! Plus, other fun stuff I picked up....Hero Arts stamps, Kaiser Craft rub-ons, other embellishments, etc. I am so excited to start making stuff with these!

My entire purchase was quite a steal, with a savings of $44.07. The price I paid for all of these lovely supplies? $29.19 plus tax! I am so happy!

Head on over to PaperPals today and see what you can find. And, check out their blog, here, to see all of the new and exciting products, classes, and upcoming expansion going on: http://scrapatpaperpals.blogspot.com/ They have a super design team, too! While you are there, click the link and check it out!!

You can also visit their facebook page, here: https://www.facebook.com/PaperPals?ref=ts&fref=ts

You can also sign up for their newsletter, here: http://ymlp.com/zVXVvc

Tell Karen I sent you! :)

Happy Friday! :)

Good morning! Hope your week has been a great one! Just finishing up the Hero Arts Hostess Blog hop here...It was such a fantastic and inspiring experience! You can check it out here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/

Also heard back from ablognamedhero last night...did not make the team this time, but will try again later in the year. It was my first design team application. I am a little disappointed, but know it was a hard choice for them. There are so many talented women out there! Now I can't wait to see who will be joining the team. I am excited to see what they share!

Lastly, I just wanted to thank all of you for your encouragement and inspiration. You're the best! It is all of your love and support that reminds me how important it is to do the things I love and to always be grateful for the wonderful people in my life....that is the driving force behind all of the creations, as they are an expression of my love for friends and family. You give me determination (that's why I had to share that wonderful sentiment above!) Have a great weekend! I will be back to post more tomorrow. {I picked up some really cute stuff at a local store here and want to show it off! :)} Plus, I want to share some of the summer trip photos with you that I meant to put on here a million years ago. Here is a preview!

Happy Friday!

Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop Day Four

Good morning! :) Happy Thursday, everyone! Just wanted to say hello. It has been a pretty busy morning already...including watering the plants. Have I mentioned that I love plants? I will have to tell you more in a confession about them and share some pictures with you. In the meantime, I am excited to join the gals over at the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop for Day Four! You are invited to come along. You can find them here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/

See you there!!

Hello (Hoppin') Wednesday!

Good morning, Everyone! Just wanted to say hello and thank everyone over at Hero Arts for a wonderful blog hop so far! The girls over there have done such a wonderful job putting everything together...and the hostesses? Wow! What beautiful work! If you have not already checked it out, you can start the blog hop here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/

So...I just wanted to let everyone know about a fun challenge I found over at Paper Issues!

You can check it out here: http://www.paperissues.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-favorite.html You can also check out their facebook page, Paper Issues! If you like it you will get all the updates and lots of fun project ideas, inspiration, challenges, and prizes! :) This will be my second challenge entry, so if a newbie (that's me!) can do it, so can you! Join the fun! Can't wait to see what you create! Have a great Thursday!! Thanks for stopping by!! :)

Day Two Of The Hop

Good morning! Just finished Day Two of the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop while enjoying a cup of hot cocoa with mini peppermint marshmallows, yum! There are some extremely talented ladies on the hop; you should check it out! Here is the site. http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/ Can't wait to see what tomorrow's blogs will bring! I am super excited about the new Hero Arts releases! Can't wait to get my hands on the "Leafy Vines" and "Pinstripe" background stamp! Happy New Year!! :)

Hop Along With Me!

Happy Monday! Just wanted to check in and remind you all of the Hostess Blog Hop over at the Hero Arts Club Blog. You can start the hop here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/ I hope you'll join me! :) Oh! And if you follow along and leave some blog love for the hostesses, you may win a big gift prize from the Hero Arts Catalog! Check it out! They have lots of fun stuff to create with this year! See you there...

Hero Arts Blog Hop...And My First Challenge! :)

Good morning everyone! Happy Monday! Today I wanted to share with you the blog hop that I will be hop, hop, hopping on...it is sponsored by Hero Arts and runs today, January 14, through Friday, January 18, 2013. You can find more at the Hero Art Blog.

Note: This is the banner, but not an active link. You'll find more details here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/ Check out the Hero Arts blog for more info! Also, I will be working on my first challenge project! I am excited. I will post my project as soon as it is complete, just to see what you think. You can check out the contest here: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/january-2013-contest-details/

Have a great day everyone! Enjoy the blog hop! Hope to see you there!! :)

A New Journey

So I have given it a lot of thought and have decided that when it comes to cardmaking, I am in love. In regards to selling my cards, I am thinking I should give it a go. Here are some of the cards I have in mind, though I also intend to make more complicated, layered ones, too. I thought simple would be the way to start, just to see how it goes. We will see!

All of the cards are blank inside, but with a themed tree on the front, to represent a season of trees...I love trees and thought it would be a cute way to express one's affection anytime of year. :) The first one would be fitting for St.Patrick's Day, Spring, or for a friend who is Irish/Celtic.

This one is obviously modeled for Easter, but would also make a great "Happy Spring" card. :)

This one is simple, but my favorite. It would be a great fit for "Just Because," "I love you," Valentine's Day, Anniversary, or even an "I'm Sorry" card.

This final one has little gift packages with bows on it. I thought it would be a great idea for Birthday, "Happy Holidays," or "Thinking of you" (when you find a special little gift that makes you think of someone you care about, but there is no holiday). Just some of what is on my mind for ideas. I would love to hear your ideas or opinions. What do you think? Do you think they are buyer friendly? They would be customizable color-wise, so the backgrounds and embellishment colors could be chosen by the buyer. I was thinking of selling them individually, as well as in a pack with a discounted sale price. Your thoughts? I will post more as I come up with cards for my Etsy shop, which I am in the process of setting up. When it is all set up I will post the shop address so you can check it out. I am also planning to put the cards up on a pinterest page to gain exposure...I am interested to see how this goes. In the meantime, I am working on a little more organization to make my creation station a little more user friendly. The goal is to be organized, but with easy access and visibility. Here is a little box I made last week to hold my washi tape. I'm in love!

This box is an altered Christmas tree light set box which I covered with craft paper, decorated with washi tape, and am also using to store my binder clips, which, strangely, look quite nice on the edges. I love it! Before I go I just want to add a couple random, but important thoughts. Thank you to all of you who have been kind, thoughtful, and encouraging to me regarding my craft hobby. I appreciate all the comments and the positivity that you have brought to something which is so important to me. I try to express my gratefulness as often as possible, but always feel there is much more to express than words can say. I would not be here without you, nor would I be posting on a blog, nor have the courage to apply for a design team position with a company as amazing and inspiring as Hero Arts. I cannot say it enough: Thank you. And, if you have not had a chance to check it out, you can check out the Hero Arts blog at http://ablognamedhero.blogspot.mx/. Happy Sunday!

Happy Friday!

Hello! Hope all is well! Just wanted to show a recent card I made for my Honey. This is one I am particularly attached to....

I picked up the stamp during Michael's Christmas clearance sale...fell in love with the snowmen! They are paper pieced and enclosed in a "snow globe" made from acrylic. There are tiny snowflakes stamped with white Staz-on ink if you look closely. Oh! And I got the paper in a huge Christmas paper pack that was on sale at Jo Ann Fabric. I was excited to put them to use, so this is what I came up with. It has been much easier to access all of my supplies since I reorganized...more on that later! Happy Friday! :)

So....something else to update you on...a confession! I am going to apply for the Hero Art Design Team!!! Wish me luck! :)

An Update For You!

Hello! How is everyone? I just wanted to let you know what I have been up to since it has been a few days since I posted....so...drumroll please...(this is exciting!)....I have decided to start selling cards and little crafty things, such as magnets and embellishments! So, the past few days have been about putting together a plan, including starting an Etsy and Pinterest account. I am not sure how this will go, nor do I want to get my hopes up, but we'll see. As soon as I have created and posted on my Etsy page I will let you know so you can check it out! :) Hope your Sunday was a great one. Talk with you soon! P.S. If anyone has any suggestions on getting things set up and organized, please let me know. I would love to hear how you do it! :)