Soooo...I know I have been away for awhile...for the summer, to be exact, but I will be back soon and will have many stories and adventures to share. And, of course, crafts! I just ordered a new sewing machine, so, stay tuned... :)

My Oh My How Time Gets Away...

Hello! I cannot believe it has been so long! I have been preparing to post pictures of my latest excursions to show what I've been up to since I clearly have not been sitting inside on my blog, but instead have been out enjoying the world. There are many exciting changes coming up, all of which I am excited to share with you as they come to light. Some of the excitement includes: the start of a community garden plot and my first rodeo! The plants inside are going crazy, too, and my Honey Bear is teaching me how to propogate them all. (In case you haven't yet noticed, I am minorly obsessed with plants!) So, with that said, you will also get to see many of my plant creations. :) There always seems to be so many fun things to do, yet so little time! And, another blog hop is on my list of things I would love to do in the upcoming weeks as well. I'll have more cards to add to the gallery soon, too! So...please hang in there and I will be back! Have a lovely day!! :)

I am falling in love with letters....

I have recently realized that I absolutely love letters! I love their shape...straight lines, curvy lines, loops, angles...all of it! I love chipboard letters. I love glittery letters. I love polk-a-dot letters. I love textured letters. I love patterned letters. I love letter stickers. And, I love handwritten letters, expecially those which are written by people who really know calligraphy or other techniques. Here is one of my favorites, Kristina Werner. She has such beautiful handwriting! I love to watch her handwrite the greetings on her cards. It is an art in itself! You can watch her blog here:

http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?p=6990

Or, if you are patient enough to watch her make a card, you will get to see her in action, writing a gorgeous greeting here:

Hooded Towels, Halloween, and More 2011...

Here are some more projects I have completed in the last year or so...

This first one is a hooded towel with a monogram:

This is the first hooded towel I made, before the monogram. They are super easy! I am planning to make one for my niece, too, but have not found colors I like much...need to go towel shopping again and see if any new ones are out for spring/summer! Oh! And if you peek behind the door you can see part of my creation station! :)

This is a towel I made for a student who moved:

Another one for a special student who moved:

And a close up. (It's a butterfly):

This is a table runner I made for fall. It has "pieced" pumpkins, like the stamped cat card for Halloween in my card gallery here:

http://www.mindfulmusingscreationstation.blogspot.com/2012/04/and-more-cards-from-past-year-or-so.html

here is a close up of the detail on the pumpkins:

And another:

Bottom edge of the table runner:

Pumpkin my Honey and I carved together for Halloween (free hand):

Christmas table runner:

Close up:

Mom's Birthday gift bracelet. Her favorite colors are yellow and blue. :)

Earrings for Mom's birthday:

The little box I sent them in:

Iron on for my stocking! I made one for everyone else and decided I should have one, too. Oh! And that is my Honey in the background, baking... He is an amazing cook. I told him I wanted homemade french bread for Christmas, so that is what I have in my stocking! Yum!! :)

This Is Why I Scrapbook

Here is another video that I found inspiring...Shimelle Laine says things the way that I so often think of them and I find that we have many ideas in common. The difference? She communicates them with others on a much broader basis. This is definitely a skill I could stand to improve? increase? I don't know. All I know is that I will practice it with this blog. :)

Hope you enjoy!

And More Cards From the Past Year or So

Here are a few more...I will look and see if I missed any so you don't miss out! :)

This one is a based around a Penny Black Stamp image. I love their stamps and the cat looks just like my parents' so I use it quite frequently as they are fond.

Here is a side view to show the dimension. I love popping up the layers!

Here is a fall color inspired card:

Side view:

This is one I made for a friend with an Irish heritage just to say hello. :)

More Penny Black...this one I made for Halloween. I stamped a separate pumpkin and use the kitty from one of their birthday stamp sets. He is so versatile! I absolutely love thinking of new ways to stretch my stamps and creating little "accessories" which make them seem new or different. :)

Another view:

Close up showing the dimension and details. The pumpkin is paper pieced. It actually inspired me to make a special fall table runner with pumpkins made of separate pieces of fabric rather than a single piece of fabric pumpkin. Exciting! I will post pics of that, too. Sorry about the blurriness!

Happy Valentine's Day to my Honey!

Close up of the stamped detail:

Here is the Congratulations card I sent to my sister when she found out that she is having a girl! So exciting!! :D

And a side view...love using the banner stamps to make the card more layered. Plus, they can be made unique by changing so many little details! These are the same stamped banners I used for the "Congrats" card in my last post, yet they look totally different!

Happy Easter to Mom and Dad:

And here is a close-up! (I made those ears! This is from the same stamp set as the other Penny Black Stamp cards I have used so far, believe it or not. So versatile!!)

Oops! Missed one! Happy Valentine's Day to my sister! Same layout as the card to my Honey, but different colors and some slight detail changes...

And a close up to show the glitter and dimension of the hearts. (I used Glossy Accents-love that stuff!)

Hope you find some inspiration here! Happy Monday!! :)

More Cards From the Past Year or So

Here are a few more...

This one is for my Honey...

And another for my Honey...

This card idea was inspired by another crafter in a craft video, so I cannot take the credit for the clever greeting, though the stamping and layout were my own...

This one was for someone I work with who found out they were going to have a sister. She loves to dance, so the ballerina was especially for her. In order to make it more 3D I opted to design a miniature tu-tu. It turned out pretty cute! :)

Here is a close up from another angle so you can see the dimension. Love it! :)