Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving!

Its been so long since I posted anything ... spent about 3 months recovering from "the flood" ... but life is back to normal now ... and as awful as it was in the midst of "the mess" .... my home is prettier than ever. A blessing in disguise ... a mandatory remodel ... but its very nice!

This is one of the first projects I made when I finally had a chance to set back down in my room.

I now have an off white 2x3 travertine brick kitchen backsplash and I couldn't have a plain tissue box setting against it ... so I made this cover ... pearl metal with my favorite mold from 10SS, a little black paint and a touch of "gems" and its ready to go ...

Christmas decorations went up this past weekend ....

Don't blink .... that day will be here in a flash!

Very slow progress ...

I have to admit that clutter is something that makes me a little crazy ... so after a month of living like this .....
.. I've certainly had my moments of insanity! But I pick up the pieces and get back to doing whatever I can to help with any part of this process. The photo above is/was my studio .. the only place I found sanity, but now that the painters have started, there's not too much going in there anymore. They're doing the slow tedious stuff first, so I'm hoping over the next couple days they'll pick up some speed. I can't wait to show you the "after" photos!

And this is the family room ... isn't it lovely! This shows slow progress ... damaged drywall and insulation are being replaced today ... one step ahead of the painters!

This is the living room ... funny thing ... what I miss the most is just having a chair to sit in for a moments rest!
Well back to shuffling stuff to keep out of the painters way!

Happy Day!

A little sidetracked ....

... just as I was settling into the summer, staying out of the heat and spending more time in my studio, catching up on the abundance of projects that have been begging to be worked on .... I got a little sidetracked ...

NOT by choice ...

July 24, my husband came downstairs around 1 am and stepped into 5" of water covering our entire downstairs floor ... he hollered up to me .... who was still in a deep sleep ..... there's water on the floor ....

oh, really???

Being in the insurance business, we knew just who to call, and Service Master was at our door at 3 am with a crew of workers, blowers, dehumidifiers, and water removal equipment .....

They sucked up the water, removed the baseboards, put the necessary holes in the walls and left us to dry out ....

5 days and lots of heat later .... the blowers and dehumidifiers left ... only to find out that the water had corroded the motherboard on the furnace that controlled the A/C unit ... no wonder it was so hot in the house .... 100 degrees one day with 80% humidity ... pretty bad when its cooler outside than in!!

And this is my pretty kitchen after the blowers left and the hardwood was torn up .... thank goodness we were able to remove the plastic after a few days ...

Good bye beautiful hardwood ......

I'm very thankful that my art studio is upstairs and came through this event untouched ... well, until I have to pack it up for the remodel ...

I'm thankful for Farmers Insurance, who has been fabulous through this, and everyone who has reached out to help us .... I just keep looking forward to a couple (or 3) months down the road when we are whole again ...

The moral of this story is ... know where your main water shut off valve is at all times!!

Stay dry .....

A quickie ....

... card ... made from some cute new stamps that I found at Frenzy Stamper last week.

Hope everyone is staying cool!

Back to basics .....

I've had a real urge lately to start again ... back to the basics .... use up old product ... rekindle favorite old techniques .... scrapbook some of the many memories I've been making over the last few years.

I'm tiring of some of the things I've been doing ... and find myself longing to go back to a 12 x 12 pallet .... where each page brings such a satisfaction .... I've been looking through many of my old scrapbooks .... remembering how much I enjoyed the entire process ....

This is the first double spread, 12 x 12 layout I've done in a very long time ...... and it really got me thinking ..... back to the basics.


Have a wonderful week ....

I promised ....

... so I must follow through.

I was reminded this weekend by an old friend, that it had been a very long time since I posted anything on my blog .... and I had to ask "well, how do you know" ... and she said "because I check it every day" ..... soooo, now that I know someone is actually reading it .... I promised I would post an update ..... thank you, Jennifer! Thats was just the push I needed to get back into it!

And the timing was perfect to have something to share!

I got to experience the Creative Escape preview days this past thursday evening, all day Friday and part of Saturday.

We're sworn to secrecy about everything we saw and heard .... but I will say this ..... IF you are on the fence about signing up to go to the last Creative Escape ..... go ahead and sign up. This will be my fourth year of assisting at the event, and I can say that I enjoyed the classes this time around more than any of my other years! Good projects ... useable projects!

Just before finishing up on Saturday, Bazzil sponsored a door prize .... a drawing .... and here goes my brain .... oh, I don't like drawings, I'm just so unlucky with drawings ... i never win drawings ..... oh, how I wish I could win this drawing ... forget about it, finish your project .... oh, I know that box is full of Bazzil goodness ..... oh, I wish ...... and then I hear ... I don't know how to pronounce her last name, its sharon .... and her eyes go to me .... ME?? Me .... I won??? No way!!!!

Yes, way!! I was one happy girl!

and that box was full ......

of lots of Bazzil goodness .....

Thank you to Bazzil for the special box of goodies ... and the opportunity to work at Creative Escape.

I'll miss it next year .... but you shouldn't miss it THIS year!

I've got all kinds of things to catch up on this blog with .... keep reading Jennifer .... I'll try to be better!!

Tidbits ...

... of nothing imparticular.

The sky is a beautiful broken china blue with a spattering of white fluffy clouds ... far from the rain, wind and cold temperatures that have been forecast for a week. Our warmer weather is right around the corner.

Tuesday is March, 2011 .... March, 2009 is when I started this blog ... really can't believe that its been 2 years. Time just sprouts wings and flies away .... everyday I tell myself that I need to grab hold of it. My life is pretty simple. I work long hours at our business, have the duties that come along with being a wife and keeper of the household domain, and dance as fast as I can to keep up with a busy life. I enjoy quiet time at home, working in my studio, watching a little tv at night (ie American Idol, Castle, Grey's to name a few .. thank goodness for DVR's) ... and feel pretty blessed. I don't long to travel the world, I don't need to go shopping every weekend, I don't need to be on the go constantly. But sometimes I can't help but wonder if I'm missing out on something, should I want more? But I feel satisfied .... will I wake up one day when I'm old and feel like I missed out on something .... who knows ..... what are your thoughts on this?

Yesterday was a busy day, but one of my normal Saturday stops is at Frenzy Stamper .... there was a Zentangle class going on ... which I swear I'm going to take one day ... love Zentangle .... Debbie brought to my attention a 2 hour class at 3 in the afternoon .... the sample looked pretty cool ... so I jumped on board ..... went home, gathered up a few photos for the class and headed back in the afternoon ..... and I'm very happy I did .....

Joy taught an altered photos transer class ..... here's the results of what I learned ....


The photos here don't do the technique any justice ... they're going to be repeating the class in mid-March ... you locals should check it out ..... fun, inexpensive, very cool results. Call Debbie for details ... 480-946-0007.

Have a delightful week!

Spring is around the corner ...

.. you can see it and feel it everywhere ... in Phoenix, at least!

After reading Carol Wingert's blog, and seeing her blossoms in bloom, I was inspired to make somthing bloom in my house. I decorated my dining room chandelier at Christmas, and now that all the Christmas decor is gone, it looked so naked .... so I made some miniature roses bloom on it, which is really nice against the rich burgundy drapes that highlight that room ... and the crystal dangles were a Christmas closeout at the French Bee ....

Speaking of closeouts .... thats another delicious thing about Spring being close .... you can get some irresistable deals on winter clothes right now ... its kind of like Christmas decoration closeouts ... you know you won't use them right now, but its hard to resist such bargains for next year! I took advantage of a few "opportunities" this weekend ... now I hope it stays cool for a few weeks longer!

I can tell spring is close too because I am having a hard time concentrating on being creative in my studio. When its so beautiful outside, it just seems I can't sit still in that chair. Thats okay though ... because I know I'll have plenty of time for that in a couple months when its 100 plus outside.

But for now, I'll take advantage of the beautiful outdoors ... which I did this morning. Metta, where I practice yoga, is sponsoring a free yoga class on the center lawn at the Biltmore Shopping Center each Sunday this month at 10:30 am. It was a tad bit chilly this morning when I arrived, but I found a nice spot in the sun. It didn't take long before Jordan had us warmed up very nicely .... there's something magical about doing yoga, outside, on the lawn, with the sun warming you up!

Have a great week!

Those days ...

Does everyone have those days when you feel like you don't have a creative bone in your body ... and then there are those other days when things just fall into place without a thought and you just love the outcome!

I've been planning this day for awhile now ... all day in my room, working on projects, no interruptions ... I couldn't wait!

But then I couldn't decide what to work on ... I played with this, and then that ... I finished a couple pages in my last heirloom book ... and made this card ..... made another card.


It was an enjoyable day ... any day I get to spend all day, uninterrupted in my room ... is a great day ... whether I get things done or not!

CHA is in the air ...

.. a very exciting time of the year for all us crafters, artists, hobbyists.

I've had the pleasure numerous times working at CHA in the Advantus booth, the Ranger booth, and many years ago with Timeless Touches. It's a great experience! Many hours on your feet, talking all day until your tongue has a hard time forming words anymore ... but I wouldn't trade a moment of it. It was fun and exciting to be amongst all the new products and tools and papers and "stuff" ... wishing that I could take it all home NOW!!

I've also had the pleasure of going as a retailer with my good friend, Debbie Bick of Frenzy Stamper .... being on the buying side of the counter. As a retailer you get to wander all day amongst the rows and rows and rows of vendors, doing make and takes, looking at all the new product, collecting brochures, trying to remember which row and aisle that one thing was that you wanted to go back and see!

Lots and lots of fun!

This year I won't be attending, but I was invited to make some samples with the new big caligraphy alphabet set from Ten Seconds Studio

I love this alphabet ... so versatile with so many products and applications. Its a large alphabet, but still so versatile .... check it out on the website

I made some personalized Christmas gifts using the alphabet, which everyone was thrilled with, but I failed to take pictures of .... and made these for the Ten Seconds Studio booth at CHA .... Cheryl has been working like crazy on ideas/samples and been posting some of them on the blog. I can't wait to see what she and the others came up with!

I've been sewing since I was 8 years old, so I feel right at home with a needle and thread in my hands ... that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw these letters. I made a banner with each letter hand embroidered ...


The letters were stamped on tissue paper, colored with pencils and melted into the candles ....

The letters are perfect for embossing on metal .....

This cross is from one of the new, very cool, molds ...... the letters are a new mold too!

The funky flowers background is another new mold .... so fun, so many things that can be done with it ....

All the new molds and alphabet are on the website and available NOW!! And I'm sure that once the craziness of CHA is over, Cheryl and Megan will be posting lots of great Taco Tuesdays and great ideas!!

Here's to a great CHA!!