WELCOME FALL...

I know the official first day of Autumn isn't until Friday but...I'm so ready. It's been a hot, crazy Summer! I *love* everything about Fall; the cooler weather, the gorgeous colors, the hayrides and pumpkin picking, farm visits, sweaters, jeans, Uggs.....{HEAVEN}. I love hosting Thanksgiving dinner, too. I'm already thinking of my menu. Is that weird? :) Oh, and the decorations! I'm just giddy with anticipation. I've got a few pumpkins out on the porch already. And now I'm on the hunt for a little wagon like this:

Source: countrysamplermagazine.com via Melissa on Pinterest

How beautiful is that vignette? And I might even try my hand at painting some of the pumpkins like this:

Source: gritsglamour.blogspot.com via Melissa on Pinterest

Can you stand it? Can you stand how cute these are? I tell ya, I can barely contain myself. So stinking pretty. Tomorrow I'm going to buy some mums, I decided. And maybe some hay bales at the craft store. I can't wait any longer! Yay Fall!!

Let me show you a couple of mini paper bag albums I've made for Halloween. You know I adore My Mind's Eye paper and this new Halloween line is adorable! I'm itching to get the Christmas one too, but my local Archiver's doesn't have it yet. I was trying to avoid buying it online but...I don't know how much longer I can wait!! I saw it more than a month ago online and I probably should've bought it then! Anyway, here are the two little albums I've made: (I should probably move on to Christmas stuff but I want to use up ALL the Halloween stuff before I move on ;) )














As always you can find both in my Etsy store :)

Oh! PS Did I tell you I won the Play Date Cafe challenge that time I entered?? Oh yeah, baby! can't wait to play with my new stamps! :)

I'm off to sit in carpool while I wait for my son to get out of school. Have a wonderful day!!

EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES, AND A CHALLENGE PDCC96

Yesterday I got a friend request on facebook from someone I didn't recognize. So, after I figured out she must be a fellow creative ('cause we had alot of creative friends in common), I accepted. And boy am I glad I did! Julie Ranae is the Senior Design Team member on The Play Date Cafe; a blog dedicated to weekly creative challenges. I've only just discovered the site and haven't really read through yet but I decided to participate in this week's challenge - to create something using the color scheme above (yum!). I don't have the exact colors but I hope this is close enough :)




Ever since the Life Preserver's Club closed in January, I feel so out of touch. I'd been on the design team since 2006 and I loved being challenged to have to create with a theme or guideline every month. I feel lost without it! I've started posting some of my work in other galleries and hopefully, I'll find more creative friends to be inspired by :)

The eastern seaboard has seen alot of action this week! An earthquake and a hurricane all in one week - scary. I'm near Raleigh and while I didn't feel any shakes from the earthquake in Virginia last week, my son and some of my friends did! I was grocery shopping with my little one but my big boy stayed home with Daddy. When he felt the earthquake he ran downstairs to ask daddy why the sofa in the playroom was shaking! LOL My husband hadn't felt anything downstairs so he wasn't sure what Ethan meant until my sister called seconds later to see if we had felt it. She was working in Raleigh and felt it!

Thankfully, we didn't get any damage from the hurricane either. Lots of rain and wind here on Saturday but that's it. My prayers are with everyone affected by the hurricane this weekend. My family & friends in NY experienced lots of flooded basements and power outages and I'm thankful because it could've been much worse.

Hope this week is completely uneventful here on the east coast and wherever YOU are! Happy new week, everyone :)

TINY TREAUSURES

I {love} making ACEOs. Love. They're the perfect way to use those tiny pieces of gorgeous paper that you can't bear to throw out, tiny embellishments that might get lost on a 12x12 page, and just the right size so they're not overwhelming to make or look at. I love them.

These tiny easels make them easy to display as proper works of art :)

It seems I have a 'style' or 'theme' - and it's all girly. I can't help it; I'm a girl. :) I love {old} {loved} {shabby chic} and {femme}. I wonder if everything I make looks the same. But then, that's ok if it does. It's what I love and what inspires me. Hopefully, someone else will love it, too. Here are two more I've made this week.

Hope Carries Us ACEO

Live Your Life With Grace ACEO

I'm off to try my hand at banana bread for the first time ever. I don't like bananas but my kids do. There are some older ones that are turning and I can't bear to throw them out. Wish me luck.

THE LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER

...yeah right! It seems I've been busier this Summer than I have all year. School ended on June 10th and since then it's been a series of out of town guests, museum visits, visits to the park, swim lessons, blowing bubbles, more out of town guests, bike riding, Bible school camp, playing, making s'mores, movies, library time, and plays. Exhausting but so fun!

I haven't had any time to create anything new and I thought I would shrivel up and die (think Wicked Witch of the West) but, thankfully, I got a little creative time in this week and boy am I stoked! :) I know it's only the beginning of August, but my thoughts are already on pumpkins, hayrides, candy corn, and mistletoe, Christmas trees, and candy canes! But first I have to get back in the game and get all this pent up creativity out on stuff I've had on the back burner for a while. Hopefully, that won't take until December!

Here's what I worked on this week:

HAPPINESS IS HOMEMADE ACEO

SPREAD YOUR WINGS ACEO

FAMILY ALTERED PRINTER'S TRAY

Thanks for sticking with me! I'm hoping the creative streak continues and that I'll post again soon :)

Happy Monday!!

SPRING CLEANING

Since the last time I wrote, I've had a few out of town guests and done very little crafting. And yet, somehow, my craft room is a disaster! Maybe 'cause I've just been putting it off for so long. I like to clean up after every project and start fresh but that hasn't happened in a while so...yeah, it's bad.

So, I'm cleaning up and going through everything. Hard-core cleaning and purging and consolidation and reorganizing. It helps me think more clearly and hopefully be more creative!
I've already sold some packs of Basic Grey paper and have some others listed on my Facebook page and I'm still going through lots more. If you're interested in purchasing any of the lots listed, write me and let me know. I'm hoping to get through everything this week but...who knows!

There are some things in my space that I absolutely love and are so useful, essential even!

Summer Garden Pin Cushion by Chet and Dot

Another sweet pin cushion by Sea Pinks

My tiny metal buckets from the dollar section at Target

And my must-have stamp keeper by Tim Holtz

I've gotta get back to my cleaning now. Don't forget to check my facebook page to see what I'm getting rid of! I'll also be listing things in my destash shop on Etsy.

If you don't hear from me soon, send someone to dig me out of this mess!

xoxo

TODAY'S THE DAY

I can feel it. Today's the day I'll get a bunch of sales at the show :) Yesterday was the first day of the Durham Art Walk and while I got lots of 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' I didn't sell a thing! Everyone who stopped by would say wonderful things, so very sweet, and then move on. When I did the Art Walk in November, it was a huge hit for me so, I guess I was hoping for the same success this time around.

I know my prices are high to some people. I get that. For a long time I've sold items for so much less than they cost me time-wise. I can't do that anymore; give away my time. So, I guess it follows that not everyone will buy. I remember one lady who purchased 3 of my mini albums in November's show saying 'I feel like I'm stealing from you'. I love that lady. I hope she's there today and steals from me again :)

The silver lining? I've met some great people, put my name out there to potential new customers, and had another one of life's learning experiences. That's never a bad thing.

So, friends, I'm gonna get ready for my last day at the Durham Art Walk. Wish me luck!

I'll leave you with a few of my new mini albums. These little paper bags are so awesome! I've only got a few left so I might try to hang on to them for a while. :) I made these with Mother's day in mind...

The Good Life

Domestic Goddess

Simple Pleasures

SHOW TIME

Spring has Sprung Tag

Happy April! Hope this new month is bringing you some sunshine and warm weather :) Can't wait to open up the windows and let some fresh air in! We had some wonderful summery weather a couple of weeks back but this week has been so COLD. Can't wait for Spring to come in again...

Next weekend, April 9th & 10th, I'll be at the Durham Art Walk in downtown Durham, NC, selling my wares. If you're in the area, I'd LOVE for you to stop by and say hi! I've been working frantically all week to create lots of fun stuff for the show and trying to keep up with sales in my Etsy shop. I had a sale this week - bad timing on my part 'cause now I have nothing to take to the show! LOL I guess that's a good problem to have.

I did manage to create a mini paper bag album. It's been FOREVER since I'd done one and I was just itching to do another! I really loved the way it turned out and was just a tiny bit sad to see her go to her new home where I'm sure she'll be loved, too :)

I've gotta get back to work now but, I'll leave you with a few of my latest creations...including the pretty little girl who's no longer mine...

Altered Jar

Spring Tag

Beautiful Girl Scrapbook

Garden Girl Scrapbook

Miracles ACEO

Happy Friday, friends. And a happy April to you :)

WELCOME, SPRING!

It's finally arrived! The weather has been just gorgeous here lately. I even got a bout of Spring cleaning done a couple of weeks ago. Ah, Spring.... :) How I love to declutter and reorganize!

I don't know if it's the weather but I've been on a butterfly kick lately. Seems everything I'm making has a butterfly on it. Maybe it's just that my butterfly punches allow me to use even teeny-tiniest piece of paper. And, heaven knows I can't bear to throw away even the tiniest piece. Whatever the reason, here are some of my butterfly creations :)

An ACEO

Wedding Sampler Set

Wedding Sampler Set

Gift Tags

More Gift Tags

I also made another one of those altered printer's tray - SO FUN!!

I'm doing the Durham Art Walk Spring Market on April 9th and 10th. I'm so excited but I've got LOTS of work to do! So, wish me luck. I hope to see you there!!