Do you have a New Year's Resolution?

I don’t!  Like many people, I have tried to make resolutions but they come and go just as quickly as I came up with them.  In 2010 I decided to come up with a word; a word that I can live by in some sort of way instead of a resolution.  I came up with five words: Go Outside My Comfort Zone.

On the Paper Wishes Message Board there is a new challenge to find your word and put it into an art form.   I never thought of doing that for myself.  I do it all the time for my daughter.  It made me look back on this year with my words and see if I did live by my words.

Let’s take a look!

My paper art – I love art.  My mother use to say that she had this need to create something every day just by sitting anywhere and draw.  Over the last three years I truly know what she means. When I can’t get into my craft room it’s hard for me to concentrate and focus. My mind is in that room and reading many of my favorite blogs doesn’t help!  My art has always been for me. I only have a few people that I make things for because I know they appreciate it.  Most of my art doesn’t see the like of day. This year I put my art up in online communities like Paper Wishes Message Board and Scrapbook.com.  It’s nice to meet people from all over the world who love paper like I do.  I’m not crazy and don’t need to go to Crafters Anonymous!

My photography – I love to take pictures.  I always have a camera with me no matter where I go. My family and friends know that if they don’t have a camera with them I do.  Prior to 2010 I joined a camera club and even entered my photographs into competition. I actually won a few first places. I still continue to enter competitions but I’m having a hard time getting behind my camera.

A blog – I started this blog.  Mostly just to try it and see what happens. It’s a work in progress. I’m still struggling with quite a few things. I still don’t understand blog hops and challenges but the New Year is approaching and it’s time to try a few more things outside my comfort zone.

The Gym – I gained weight and felt terrible. I knew I wasn’t doing anything at home. I couldn’t get motivated. I would sit in my craft room instead of walking or doing an exercise DVD.  How many exercise DVDs do you have?  I won’t lie I have quite a few.  I just wasn’t doing anything.  The gym was always taboo for me.  Working out and having people watching me?  Not me!  In February I decided to try it.  I walked into Planet Fitness signed on the dotted line and even made an appointment with a trainer.   Four days a week and once a week with a trainer and I’ve lost lots of inches and 25 pounds.  The most important thing is that I love the gym.  It keeps me focused, it helps alleviate stress, and lifting weights is an amazing feeling.  Just call me a gym rat!

Now I’m thinking of my new word or words. It’s hard this time. There are lots of changes coming in 2011. Some are happy and some are sad but mostly happy.  I know I will definitely come up with a collage.  It will be something big enough to hang on the wall to look at but what word?  

I’ve got it!  It’s more than one word again.  “Go with the flow!” or something in that direction. I’m not always good with changes; I can dwell on things too much or think too much and end up not doing it and upsetting myself. We all have our faults.  I believe these words are more than just taking one step at a time.  For me it means don’t get upset or frustrated, just let it all happen, see where things take me. Maybe, just maybe, it will be an extraordinary year! 

I hope your New Year is extraordinary and exciting!

Go Create and BE EXTRAORDINARY!

Happy New Year!

Salutations! I thought I would show you the last of Christmas.  I have a couple of photographs I took in front of the Christmas Tree and my Christmas Card I sent out this year.

First my card:

The snowflakes and trees are from Stampin Up; the deer I traced on paper and made a stencil from it. The inks are all distress inks.

Here are my photos in front of the tree:

I bet you thought it was going to be photos of my family in front of the tree?

That's it until next year!

Thanks for stopping by.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Salutations! Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday and a joyous and healthy New Year! I will leave you with a few Christmas cards and gifts I made this year.  If you have any questions, please email me.  

Go Create and Be Extraordinary in the New Year!

So frustrating when your brain and fingers don't work well together!

Salutations! This card I'm going to show is a complete surprise to me. I had this wonderful card design in my mind but I couldn't get it to work out.  I had the background paper and the red ribbon already on the card but my idea just wasn't working.  It's so frustrating when your brain and fingers don't work well together!

I walked away from the table and decided it was time to clean up and start fresh.  With a basket of stickers in my hand and a large dining room table I decided to dump the basket. Yes, I do have a binder to store all the stickers but I haven't been able to sit long enough to put them in there. Well, the only sticker package from the large pile on the table that fell on the floor was the poinsettias. Those stickers were meant to be used. Hey, the jumped right off the table at my feet!

Enjoy!

Supplies: Black card 5.5" x 5.5"; Graphic 45 Christmas Past Paper Pack (background paper and Santa); gold stickles, red ribbon found in my stash, and Jolee's Boutique Dimensional Poinsettia Stickers.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting more cards this week! 

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

String Art Christmas Card

Salutations! I thought I would show you a Christmas card tonight. Cleaning my craft room I found so many things I bought but never used. I've been wanting to do more string art on my cards and I found this precut Spirelli ornament that would be perfect for a card.

Supplies: Precut Spirelli ornament; silver and gold thread, Paper is from a photo mat tablet from Little Yellow Bicycle called 25 Days of Christmas, the two small chipboard pieces I found in my stash and a 5.5" x 5.5" white card.

That's it for tonight. I hope you like my card. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary

Scrapbook.com's Video "It's Always SUNNY Here!"

I had to post this video. You have to check it out. For those of you who do not know about Scrapbook.com they are an online store to order all things crafty. You can also join their online forums and galleries. The video is so cute.  You have to watch it.

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY HERE!

Did you enjoy it? I thought it was so cute. I love the retro look. It was written and produced by Scrapbook.com employees, former employees, family and friends.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!



Happy Everything!

Salutations! I spent Thanksgiving visiting my daughter in Chicago and did it go by fast! WOW! It was very cold while we were there and of course windy! Thanksgiving we get up early and go watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's like New York's but not nearly as large. We have reservations every year for a very yummy dinner and the best part is the Chocolate Mocha Pecan Pie! My daughter and I save desserts for later in the evening. After dinner we do our annual walk (have to make room for dessert!) around Chicago looking at the lights and window shop. Chicago is such a beautiful city but with the holidays the decorations are outstanding. 

Today I thought I would show you a picture I took of the city from Navy Pier. I'm not the greatest photographer but I love to play with all the settings. The one thing I haven't mastered yet is taking a pictures at night.  The beautiful shots of the stream of lights from cars going down a street or over a bridge are wonderful. I love those shots. This time I wanted to do the same thing but with the city scape.

I thought this was different and fun. Yes, I was actually trying to do this! I really like this shot. I love modern art so this shot for me is my modern art in photography.   Thats it for today.  I will have Christmas cards to show you soon.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Gift Card Holder

Salutations! With a large cup of tea I went to my craft room and decided to use more paper scraps to make this gift card holder.  It was trial and error in deciding how big I wanted it. This one is 2.5" x 3.5" and fits a gift card perfectly. I still have to do a little tweaking so I can make a template to use over and over.  The back, which I forgot to photograph, has a Velcro closing with a tiny red tassel.

I did make a few Christmas cards but some of the embellishments are still drying. When I make cards I piece together everything on the card before I use any adhesive. I usually have a two or three cards in process at once mixing and matching embellishments.  This may sound nutsy but I find that if I take a picture of the card, with cell phone, it helps me see it in a different light before I finalize it.

That's it for now. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I hope you all get to share some wonderful time with your families.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Tags, Tags, Tags!

Salutations!  I have a three tags to show you today that I made last week. I have not seen my art room for a week and I'm going through withdrawals!  It was was time to get things done in and around the house that just couldn't be ignored. On with the tags (one is card!)!!!

All made with scraps, distress inks and stamp.

Distress inks, star stencil, Dazzles stickers, and scraps.

Distress inks, swirls and circles stencils, Dazzles stickers, fancy brad, ribbon and stamp

This is the inside.

I really like working with tags and making them into cards. I just have to design an envelope for each tag card. I'm going to start with the size of an #10 envelope and then cut it down. It should work perfect.

I have a question for all paper artists. There are many that sell their cards either online, craft fairs or boutiques.  My mother was an artist and she always told me that as an artist you should always sign your work. I have always signed my cards, tags, canvas, and ATCs.  Here is my signature:

I use a little lizard punch and sign and date it. I do have a new signature that I just created but I haven't perfected it yet.  My question to you is do you sign your pieces of art?

When I decided to start a blog I couldn't think of a name. I almost named it "I don't have enough time for art why am I blogging" but then I remembered my tea. I always go into my art room with a cup of tea before I start anything. My favorite time in my craft room is Sunday morning IF (big if) I wake up early. I make a cup of tea and go in and start or finish a piece of art. Now that I've been blogging since September I realize I might change the name of my blog. Not sure if I will but the thought has crossed my mind quite often lately.  Anyone else change the name of their blog after its been up for a few months?  

Thanks so much for stopping by! I really do appreciate it. 

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Enjoy The Journey!

Salutations!  Today will be a short post. I had one of those weekends where I had so many ideas floating around in my head that I had a hard time actually creating anything. I try to write down all my ideas so I can focus on at least one. It didn't work this time!  Many things were started but were put off to the side to try again another day. 

The one tag I created and completed was made with Tim Holtz stamps, distress inks and two stamps from Stampin Up.

Thats it for today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Dude!  It's my daughter's birthday today. She finally received her party box and gift. I still have one more gift to send her but I'm trying to figure out how to mail it. I have lots to show you.

First I will show you the money card and party favors I sent her. Yes, she's a senior in college but she loves handing out little gifts on her birthday so I do it every year. 

Party Favors - These are filled with peanut M&Ms.

This next picture I tried to turn the cans so you can see other sides.

I also made sure the tops of the cans were decorated!

The background for the money card and the cans were made using 6"x6" template called Cosmic Swirls that I purchased from PaperWishes.com. I love these templates. They make great backgrounds for all sorts of things.

Supplies:  Distress Inks in concord grape and orange marmalade; Black Archival Ink; various Halloween Clear Acrylic Stamps. I keep all my arcylic stamps in CD cases so I don't the stamp company.  Card: Tree Stamp from Stampin Up and blood spots by Tim Holtz.

This next card is her birthday card.  She loves Alice in Wonderland and I fell in love with Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland paper. 

I made this sign to hang from a door knob. You can hang it anywhere. She loved it. She has so many Halloween decorations now that I don't think she'll have to buy any!

Supplies:  Background is a piece of Halloween paper scrap; Tim Holtz grungeboard for the letters, numbers, bats, pumpkin and haunted house.

I started making cards out of tags. #8 manilla tags 3 1/8" x 6 1/4".  I stapled the ends and scored a line on the top so it will open easily.  These are Halloween Cards. The first one has a haunted house and when you push the button the lights go on and off in the windows of the house.  The second one has a raven in flight. I stamped it once on the striped paper and then again on card stock so that I can cut the raven out and pop it with pop dots.

Almost done!  I made two tags from Graphic 45's Halloween in Wonderland.  The first one is called "Off With Her Head" and the next is called "Who Are You?".

Thats it for Halloween for now. Thanks so much for stopping by and reading this long post. Have a great Halloween!

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

The Witches Halloween Tea

Our tea time on Halloween day

Is oh so special in every way

The brew is hot from the cauldron dark

Over a roaring fire with lots of sparks

We rest our bones for our evening flight

On brooms we will soar to the greatest height

We sit and ponder on Halloweens of the past

And the hexes, potions and spells we have cast

So on Halloween night look up at the sky

You may see us on our brooms flying so high

But don’t turn your back on us this time of year

Black hats and cute smiles can be something to fear!

By Karenliz

This photo inspired me to write this poem.  I've always loved this picture. I've had it for a long time and I don't know where it came from. For all I know they could be nuns!  If anyone knows anything about this picture I would like to hear from you. 

Thats it for now!  Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Scraptoberfest!

Salutations! Saturday I attended St. Vincent's SWIM Across the Sound Scraptoberfest for breast cancer. What is so nice about this event, besides scrapping all day, is that all the money raised does not support research. It provides cancer education, screening and prevention programs. It also helps individual cancer patients with specific needs, such as wigs, prostheses, medication assistance and free transportation to treatments and appointments.

It was a wonderful day scrapping with so many who love to scrap. I don't know how many actually finished any pages. I love to walk around and see what everyone else is doing.  Those special pictures, the perfect paper and embellishments and how they are being used.  The best part for me is looking at all the scrapbooking bags and how each one is so different from the other.  It's amazing the different ways all their scrapbooking supplies are organized and how they set up their tables. It was a fun day.

I actually didn't scrap. My daughter's birthday is on Halloween and I'm a little behind in making her "party in a box". This is her last year in college and every year I make simple favors for her friends and throw in some money for pizza or whatever.  This time I wanted to do a little more than usual.  I can't show you what I made since she has not received it yet but when she does I will post pictures.

I did make this card for my daughter. She is studying to be a sign language interpreter and it has been a lot of hard work. This year all her hard work has paid off and she's enjoying her senior year working out in the field.

I love these papers from Graphic 45, Steampunk Debutante. The colors and the graphics are beautiful. I can't wait to use them again.

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante

Black Card Stock; 5.5 x 5.5

Distress Ink: Black

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Sprocket Gears

Thats it for now! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

I'm Cricut Challenged!

Right now you can't see the top of my table because it's covered with paper, paint, embellishments, projects started and not finished.  This weekend I decided to play with the Cricut cartridge called October 31st. For all those who don't know what a Cricut is, it's an electronic die cutting machine where you can cut thousands of images from different cartridges. I don't know about the rest of you who use the Cricut, I'm either completely challenged or my Cricut has a mind of it's own. I think it hates me. It would not cooperate with me this weekend. It wouldn't cut anything I wanted unless it tore the paper.  After trying most of the weekend (new blades, different pressures and speeds), I was able to cut four Halloween trees, pumpkins and crows.  The Cricut and I are not talking right now. I will try again some other day to see what else it will allow me to cut!  After playing all weekend, I have this tag to show you.

SUPPLIES:

Crow: Cricut Cartridge October 31st

Stamps: Tim Holtz Bitty Grunge

Cardstock:  Black (scraps); Manilla Tag #8

Patterned Paper: Martha Stewart-Vampire Mat Pad (Beware)

Ink: Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Frayed Burlap and Fired Brick

Accessories:  Scrap of Halloween Ribbon; Stickles Yellow for crow's eye

I really like the way it came out. It's always the quick last minute projects at the end of the night that I end up finishing.

A CHALLENGE!

Here is another project I will share with you. It was a challenge on the Paper Wishes Message Board. It was called "Who Will Make Me" Swap.  A member requests a card for someone to make but the catch is you have to make it with their requirements.

Here was my challange: to make a birthday card for someone who liked black, silver, gray, bling, and on the modern side.  Here is my card:

Here is the close up of the String Art flower:

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: StampUp

Cardstock: HOTP Card Makers Classic Creative Pack

Bling: Say It with Pearls

Accessories:  Dazzles, Silver thread, silver embossing powder, pop dots

Size: 5.5" x 5.5"

How did I do? It was a quick card and one of those projects where once you chose the cardstock it didn't take long to complete.

Thats it until next week.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Happy World Card Making Day!

With my tea cup in hand, I walked into my craft room today to make a few cards for World Card Making Day. I just received an order from Paper Wishes and decided to take their Vintage Rose Paper Pack and make Christmas Cards.  The papers don't scream Christmas but you know when you see a paper pack and for some reason you know exactly what you're going to do with it? Well, thats what happened with these papers. 

The next picture is the inside of both cards.

I cut black cardstock for both cards to 4.25" x 5.5". All the pattern paper is from HOTP from Paper Wishes called Vintage Roses Paper Pack. I cut the blue herringbone paper to fit on the front of the cards. The snowflakes are Dazzles and I put them on another piece of blue medallion paper and cut them out.  The silver word stickers Joy, Peace and Merry Christmas are all Dazzles, too. These I also bought from Paper Wishes.  The inside of both cards I just tore the medallion paper into strips and had one large snowflake left so I cut it in half and placed within the torn strips. What do you think? They were really simple and fun to do.

That's it for now. I will have more to show you next week. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

My Other Art, Photography

I thought I would share with you my other art, photography. I love taking pictures. I have my point and shoot camera, Canon PowerShot SX200 IS, with me all the time but when I really want to shoot something wonderful I have my Canon Digital Rebel XTi. 

This time I decided to take my SX200 IS and see how it handles macro shots. Friday I arrived to work 30 minutes early so I took my camera and starting shooting.  These two shots are dew on grass. Not bad for a point and shoot camera.

Well thats it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! Grab your favorite beverage and stop by next week because October 2nd is World Card Making Day. I will have lots to show you.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday but I think because its the day my daughter was born. She decided to come nine weeks early and she weighed 3 lbs 1 oz but at 3:25 am. If she wasn't in such a rush maybe the time would have been 3:31 am!!!  Spooky?!?!

With a large cup of tea, I have been in my craft room making lots of Halloween items. I was on a roll today so this post will be a little long. First up, puzzle pieces. I painted them white a long time ago and for some reason they screamed Halloween.

The backgrounds were made by distress inks and Halloween stamps with archival ink. The two hanging bats  I found in my scraps. The ghost on the third puzzle is a button. I just cut off the loop on the back so it will glue flat.

I found this round clear cut frame from Yellow Bicycle and I knew I wanted to make a card from it. I love round cards.

Inside:

As you can tell in my cards this tree gets used a lot. I love this tree for some reason. It can be used for all seasons.

Supplies: Round white cardstock card, clear cut frame from Yellow Bicycle, Distressed Inks in Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Tea Dye and Fired Brick, Stamps: Stampin Up Branchin Out; EK Success Paper Punch for bats.

Next.....

This was a lot of fun to make. I wanted to work on a canvas piece and use grungeboard. I love Tim Holtz products as you see I use his distress inks all the time. I had quite a few pieces of grungeboard already painted, crackled, and embossed.  I was going to use it for another project until I found this canvas.

Supplies: Canvas is 3 3/4" x 4 3/4"; Grungeboard for Cat, "31", Scull, bats; Distress Stickles in Orange Marmalade ("31"), Black Soot (Scull); Distress Crackle Paint in Black Soot (Bats); Distress Embossing Powder in Black Soot (Cat); Paper is Martha Stewart Holidays "Vampire"; Alcohol Ink in Pearl (Ghost); Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Frayed Burlap (Sun); Acrylic Paints in blue, black and gray.

Last but not least ...

This is my favorite card of the weekend. It was simple and didn't take very long.

Inside:

Isn't this a cool card? If I do say so myself! The background is paper from Memory Box Blackbird and all I did was stamp "Spooky Collage" on the paper and applied Distress Embossing Ink all over the top and embossed it in clear embossing powder.  See the close up below. It gives it a real nice look.

The other thing I added to the images before I embossed was adding Distress Ink in Fired Brick to add more color.

Supplies: Spooky Collage stamp; Paper - Memory Box Blackbird and black cardstock; Distress Ink Fired Brick and Embossing Ink.

Well I hope you had enough of your favorite beverage to sit, relax and look at all my creations. I'm out of tea! Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed it.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary!

Swap on Paper Wishes Message Board

I am a member on Paper Wishes Message Board. It's a wonderful board with very friendly members. We all feel like one big happy family.  On the board we have lots of swaps that we can join every month. We can choose just one or do all of them. Each project must be made with mainly Paper Wishes supplies. September I joined the paper crafting swap where we had to make one ATC. It was called Shades of One Colour. I can never make just one so I made two.

I had lots of fun make these ATC. All the supplies I used are from Paper Wishes. The silver stickers are Dazzles. They are so much fun to use. Paper Wishes carries all sorts of Dazzles which are sized for cards, scrapbook pages and any other object you want to put them on.

It's a short post for now. Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and check back later. It's time for Halloween and I've made quite a few things that I can't wait to share.

Go Create and Be Extraordinary! 

There Are No Mistakes in Art!

That is so true. Have you ever started to make something and in your head you know what its going to look like but then you start and it turns out completely different? Well thats what happened when I made this card. It was going to be a scary Halloween card but it ended up being a very peaceful card.

All the papers used to make this card are all scraps so I can't tell you where they came from. I can tell you that the stamp set is from Stampin Up and it's called Branching Out. I love the tree in this set and I use it all the time. The background was made using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Tea Dye, and a little Peeled Paint.

I always try to design the inside of every card I make using the same stamps and colors. The inside I leave blank until I need to use it.

Remember there are no mistakes in art! I hope all your mistakes turn out to be remarkable.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Go create and be extraordinary!