Innovative Inspiration Confirmed

For the past few years I haven't subscribed to jewelry or bead magazines. The contents of magazines were completely uninspiring and just regurgitated designs. The last magazine I looked through was the January 2009 issue of Bead Trends because it had some of my designs in it, which I knew would be the last for a while. I say this because I reached a point in my jewelry design career where publishers were contacting ME directly and asking for pieces for publication. I became overwhelmed with the requests and it was a pain writing up the instructions and forms required for each piece. So I started turning down requests.

The day before Christmas Eve we ventured out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner, which happens to be across the street from Barnes & Noble. After dinner, we decided to pop in for a browse.

What an unexpected surprise and confirmation of my design style when I was browsing through the magazine stand and my eyes stopped on this cover.



I immediately thought "who do they think is the best" to include in this Special Collector's Edition?? So I picked it up and started flipping through it. What a delight to see one of my designs, originally published in 2007, featured in the magazine!!! "Outstanding!!!" I thought. One of my older focal designs is still considered one of the best. With a huge grin on my face, I closed the magazine and put it back on the shelf and set off to find my husband in the Science Fiction area of the store. Innovative Inspiration Confirmed.

Stylish Baby

Hello all! Happy New Year!! Long time no blog. Totally inundated with orders and commitments. I'm in complete productivity overload and have files busting at the seams to share.

I was one of the few to be hired as a sample designer by Sherrill Graff of latenitestampinwithsherill. I cannot express the respect and admiration I have for this lady. She is kind, giving, honest, giving, caring, talented, giving and has INTEGRITY! Did I mention how giving she was? ;o) I am honored to be hired by her. I sent her a nice sized package towards the end of last year and this is one of the sets included in the box.

I used all Stampin' Up! supplies to create this duo. Designer paper from Stampin' Up!, which happens to be two sided is absolutely perfect for this type of design. The little girl dress template is linked on this post. GIRL DRESS

If you would like the little boy romper template, which is my design, leave a comment and I will email it to you. Be sure I have your email address. If you have a blog profile, I can find your email that way, but otherwise I won't know how to email you.

Till next time...go create something fabulous!

Missing a part of my heart

**ALERT** No card updates, just sad news and sappy reminiscing. If you only visit for paper crafting updates, you can skip this post.


I have been dreading an update to the blog due to the way our Vegas trip ended. The Vegas trip was so nice and VERY RELAXING. It was wonderful not having to rush around completing tasks like a chicken with my head cut off, but the vacation ended poorly. We weren't supposed to get into Houston until 10pm Monday night. Starting Saturday night the little voice in my head, which I call God, was telling me over and over and over we needed to get home early Monday so we could pick up the fur babies from boarding one day early. I did all I could to get us on that plane early Monday morning. Plane landed, we headed straight for boarding center to pick up the fur babies. All was well until several hours after we arrived home. Kona started hiding under the bed, which he NEVER does. He is usually in the same room with us being playful and loving on us. This was not the case. We started watching him. He became lethargic then close to 10 pm, he started howling and crying in pain when we were loving on him. We rushed him to the Emergency clinic to find out he had Arterial Thromboembolism. Basically blood clot killed him after causing deep pain paralysis, hence the howling caused by the pain. We didn't get home until 3am. While researching this disease, I found this is something that doesn't show signs or any kind of warning and 95% of the time they pass within 24 - 48 hours.

Despite the lack of sleep, I forced myself go to work Tuesday. I just couldn’t lie around and cry. It hurt too much and I felt like I was going to die from the pain and grief. I was practically non-functional. I really believe these babies are our family and in some cases, closer than regular family.

I now know why God was telling me to go home early. I never would have forgiven myself if we received a call that morning letting us know he was already gone. God sent us home so that Kona would have his loving parents with him in has last hours.

I want to have a memory layout dedicated to him, but it’s still too early in the grieving process. I realized I am scheduling way too many things than I am capable of completing to occupy my time and keep from thinking about what happened. You know how you keep yourself so busy, you don’t have time to stop and grieve. When I try to work on a memory page for him, I just bust out in tears. Kona was such a “Larger Than Life Personality” his absence has created a big black hole. The absence of the energy he exuded is certainly noticed. The other fur babies have noticed too. Jasmine, Kona’s girlfriend, is not herself and it just makes it worse to see the other fur babies suffering the loss. Sorry to be so long winded. I’m going to share some pics of our pesky, comical, loving and crazy Kona. The baby I am holding in my arms for the “About Me” picture is Kona. He would love for me to sing to him softly while holding him like a baby. Mike snapped this photo during one those sappy sessions.

Be blessed and love your babies. They are such a huge part of our heart and family, it just doesn't seem right to call them pets.

"O" Happy Halloween!!!

We have run away to Vegas and are having a BLAST!! Halloween Night is all about finally seeing the underwater performance of "O" by Cirque du Soleil. In 1994 "Mystere" was the first time I laid eyes upon this phenomenal show and I became a huge fan. I am not sure why, but the dynamic kaleidoscope of sights and sounds always evoke powerful emotions in me. If you get the chance to see any of their shows, as they do travel around the world, don't miss the chance. You will be amazed!

Have a Safe, Happy and Fun Halloween!

Cheers,

Warm Healing Wishes

It seems as though the summer has flown by, but believe it or not, it is already time to start gearing up for the flu and pneumonia season. What better way to send healing thoughts to a friend than with this little Tea Pocket. It's sure to brighten the recipient's day and speed their recovery. Be prepared and make up a bunch to have on hand.

I designed and created the Tea Pocket with all Stampin' Up! Supplies and my beloved Big Shot. If you would like to purchase your Stampin' Up! supplies from me, visit my website HERE.

*Sizzix die Petal Card #113467
*Sizzlit Lots Of Tags # 114508
*Cold & Cuddly # 116523
*Curvy Verses #114948
*Dasher # 116816 inked antlers only with White Craft Ink
*Snowflakes from Snow Swirled #111690
*Dazzling Diamonds on the edge of the iceberg
*1/2" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Bashful Blue # 110717
*Brocade Blue & Bashful Blue paper and ink used

*~~click on the images for a larger view~~*

Pumpkin Treat Holders

Whipped up some kits for a gathering of paper crafting friends this past weekend. I added Dove Peanut Butter Chocolates and Lindor Truffles in Halloween colors. I included a quick write up with the supplies and dimensions in case you want to make a few. I don't have time for a detailed tutorial. My templates and designs are shared for free.

All Stampin' Up! Supplies:
Ovals die Item #114525 The biggest oval in the set
Heart to Heart punch Item #113694 for eyes.
Small oval punch Item# 107304 for tall pumpkin mouth his nose drawn with black marker
Large oval punch Item# 107305 for short wide pumpkin mouth.
Word Window punch Item# 105090 for stems. 1 punch cut in 1/2 and decorated with marker
Swirls & Scribbles Sizzlit die Item# 113441 for vines
Merry Details Stampin Up sizzlit die in Mini Holiday catalog for black crow
Pumpkin Pie marker for the grooves
Old Olive marker to add shading to swirly vines
Chocolate Chip to draw on stem punched from Word Window
Dauber in Pumpkin Pie ink pad for shading outside edge of pumpkins
Signo white gel pen for embellishing crow, pumpkin eyes and mouth
~~~ CLICK ON PICTURE OF MINI TEMPLATE TO ENLARGE~~~

Strip of 4" x 2-1/2" Pumpkin Pie cardstock for each pumpkin. Use template as a guide for scoring. Cut grey triangle notches and throw away.Glue notched edges to decorated oval pieces. Add candy and give away. ;-)

There are so many ways to decorate these little treat containers. Have fun!!

Stinky Pinky

I felt like using the adorable little skunk from Pun Fun (Item # 115054) again and used my flower template I shared originally in this post. *FLOWER TEMPLATE*

All Stampin' Up! Supplies

Stamped and embossed with Iridescent Ice the flourish from Stampin' Up! Priceless set (Item #115052) on the pink card base. Butterfly is made from punched out Stampin' Up! Trio Flower punch (Item# 109183) and cut off one petal and decorate butterfly with White Unibal Signo Gel pen . Sponged sky with dauber and Bashful Blue ink. All coloring is done with Stampin' Up! Watercolor Pencils. Carefully cut him out and pop dotted him. Added white bow and pierced holes around the flower scene to make it stand out.

I am happy to share my Flower template if you want to make your own. Just leave a comment or email me and I'll send it to you.

That's all for now. Super busy deciding what to take to work on this weekend for a Stamper's Retreat!! Will be baking an award winning Key Lime pie and Down Home South bars for snackies!! ;-)