A Little Box of Love

The laughter in the trees.
The wailing in the wind.
The tears of a Summer storm.
The sparkle in the evening sky.
Without love, there would be nothing.
With love, miracles become the norm.

I admit that I am a hopeless romantic at heart, so when I get to create something focused on love I’m a happy girl.   This small memories of the heart box was my gift to my husband on Valentine’s Day.  I’m not going to share the meanings within each section, though I did with him, but I will give you a few details since I had quite the time trying to get a photo without lights reflecting in the little plastic cover.  I finally held a piece of poster board up and in front of the lights and myself and managed to get this photograph.

Using the smallest of the Tim Holtz Ideology Configurations, which is 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches, I got my heart on. (I will say that I found the measurements to be not exactly square, though I suppose it depends upon where you consider a side ending and beginning.)  I did end up removing one of the little boxed sections that come with this piece because I needed a wider area for the mated doves figurine that I placed within the box.  I painted the edges that might end up showing around everything a rich, chocolate brown. Cut, inked and pasted my papers down, sanded them to fit if it applied, and then reinked. I used hot glue to to hold the inside sections into place, painted the edges pink, and then used one of the tissue tapes that I thought would work good to tie it all together as well as to cover the lid of the box once I had painted it pink as well.

Starting in the bottom right corner, I created a specific theme in each section. It sharing a special moment or memory that we both would recognize.  The dove figurine is actually a piece my grandmom had in her house for years and that she gave to me before she died.  So that kind of makes it double as special. I used paper to create their backdrop. The leaves and flowers were punched out from a die.  I then just arranged them in an alluring manner so that the  doves appeared perched. There’s a brass heart dangling in the upper left corner to celebrate their love.

In the box just above it a small glass bottle is filled with little red hearts and glitter. A filigree heart tops the cork and a crescent moon and arrowed heart adorn the front. More of the little red confetti hearts lay at it’s base, as if they had spilled from it.

To the left is another section, more rectangular horizontally.  In the back a 3d acrylic sticker reads “amore”.  The front is filled with a treasure trove of the heart.  Everything from rose quartz spheres, to pearls, to flowers, a heart key, cupid himself guards the little bounty.  There’s a violin, some beautiful golden heart buttons, and broach of ruby and garnet colored crystals that has some meaning.  They lay atop a pillow of large flower shaped ribbon.

And in the final section on the bottom left hand side is a really beautiful gypsum desert rose that is seated atop more of the little red hearts that have been carried from the bottle up above upon the wings of love via the beautiful brass bird charm I adhered as if it were flying. A tiny red stone sparkles on it’s tail.  The gypsum is one of a pair that he bought for me at one of the RenFests he’s taken me to.  It’s special for a couple of different reasons.  As is the symbolism of the honey bee piece that hangs up behind it.  It’s just a really embellished sticker, but again there’s the hidden meaning.

I did end up gluing the lid on so that it can’t be removed.  My favorite four book corners adorn each corner. I had been saving them for something special, and I figure it doesn’t get much more special than love.  I attached a tiny brass handle to the right hand side. I LOVE these little decorative handles. They’re inexpensive, but enchanting. They have a nice weight to them. And they can be added to so many items to dress them up.  Best of all for this project, they are perfectly me so I know even just looking at that will remind him of me.  From the handle, I added a large jump ring to which I attached a few romantic charm bangles that I made.  Two are created with rose quartz spheres, amber, and pink acrylic petals. One is the same but with a white flower petal that I wrapped in a three pronged filigree leaf and it also has the gorgeous heart that you see dangling from the quartz within.  Seed pearls divide each charm upon the jump ring and a tiny key and locket dangle at one end with a heart charm that says “made with love” at the other.  It really is the perfect jewelry to this box. The photo just doesn’t do justice.

All four sides of box look the same. I had covered it with different sections of the pretty pink decorative cardstock you see and then framed that with the tissue tape that is seen on the front of the box.  I punched hearts using a Martha Stewart punch and double layered them to make them pop a little more. Again, the photo doesn’t show it well, but they have a beautiful duality in their tone from the shimmer sprays I used to color them.  You see part of the back of the box sticking out. Because of the doves, I could not close it completely, so I shimmed it to stay in place and gave it the modern recessed look that is often seen.  I gave it feet by using tiny wooden nubs that I painted to match the metal used throughout the piece.

The back was kept very simple using a square from the same sheet of cardstock that features some beautiful old world roses quite similar to a couple of varieties that we have. One in particular has a scent that is so divine, it must be an aphrodisiac.  I could breathe it in all day and night and just lull in a happy place. lol

I could tell that he was really moved by the whole thing, which is awesome!  While I figured he’d put it in his office here at home, he surprised me by saying he wanted to put it on his desk at work so that he could look at it throughout the day and think of my love.  Awwwwwww. Yes, so totally worth making!

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Last week was crazy. But I did manage to get in a little creative time one day.  I was so inspired by the collage pieces Anna is doing, that I wanted to try one myself.  Instead of filing it away as a “to-do one day” type thing, I decided to try it while the inspiration was fresh.  I’m so glad that I did.  Though it didn’t go as expected, and I had to do a little improvising, it was a lot of fun.  I was able to put the finishing touches on it yesterday and will be posting it in the next few weeks. 

I’ve also been doing some reading on my Kindle. I found a new urban fantasy series called Psy-Changelings  by Nalini Singh that I’m totally digging.  At the moment I’m reading Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning, a book from The Fever Series.  Another urban fantasy set.  I had preordered it upon finishing the previous book and being aghast at how it ended and I had been waiting, and waiting, and waiting- thinking it was coming out sometime this month.  Well it came out in January but for some reason Amazon had never sent it to my Kindle! Eeep!  So keep up with your preorders and check on them guys.  Oh but man it’s going really good.  The beginning of it was heart wrenching and now everything you think you knew is turning out to be wrong or possibly wrong.  Who knows how it’s going to end.  I’m halfway through it and having a hard time putting it down.  I can’t really tell anything about it without giving away details you won’t want to know until you read.  If you decide to try the series, this one is one that you MUST read in order to get the full impact and not miss anything.  I heard it’s the last in the series, which sucks. I always hate it when a series that I love ends because I’d like to keep reading about the characters or world that was created. But, I really have to give props to authors who have a successful series that they could milk dry but instead stay true to the tale they are telling and end it when the time is right.  I also really like authors who aren’t afraid to kill off popular characters if it enriches the story. I think I’ll post this and get back to my story, as I’m having a hard time putting it down.

Faith, trust, and faerie dust!

Hello Cupcake!

Love.
Sweet, sweet love.
Is there anything more divine?

 

Just like love, cupcakes come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors.  For Valentine’s Day, I really like to send out cards to friends, family, and unexpected children.  In the past, I’ve went rabid creating a variety of cards because I really prefer doing everything as a one of a kind item so that it is unique.  I think it’s kind of cool for someone to know that not a single other person in the world has this special little something that was created for them.  Alas, I recognized the wisdom in creating many of a single design if trying to produce for a lot of people and tried a hand at that this year.  Still, each card was made with love and delivered with the intention of surprise and happiness.

Back-dropped with some sweetheart polka-dots that play peek-a-boo, I used a Martha Stewart border punch to lace the top and bottom of the card with hearts. Stripes in the colors of Valentine’s love reminded me of a sugary candy shop or bakery.  With that in mind, I knew I wanted to deliver a little something sweet, and of course some flowers.  But instead of the traditional box  of chocolates and roses, I went with cupcakes and daisies.

The white oval spotlight and scallop behind it was created using Spellbinders dies and inking the edges.  I inked the edges of everything.  The cupcake came from a stamp.  I inked up the topping and stamped it onto one design of cardstock, and inked the bottom and stamped it onto another design. Both were embossed, the top with a red glitter, the bottom with a metallic red.  I also sprayed some shimmer spray on them.  I then cut them out with scissors.  Lots and lots of cupcake cutting!  Because the wrapper section curled up some, I ended up ironing them which caused the embossing powder to re-melt and leave an interesting look to the wrapper, but without the raised design that comes from embossing powders.  I also added some additional red glitter glue to the topping swirls and sprinkles.

The flowers started out as white, but I used some Shimmering H20 watercolors to color them to a vibrant red and dotted their adora-daisy selves with iced pearl viva decor dots.  ((Lesson alert! Lesson alert! This almost created a disaster. Apparently the Viva Decor pens, at least in this color, will pick up a watercolor that is beneath them.  My red, though dry, bled up into the pearls in the center causing them to turn a really icky brownish, dirty color.  In an effort to save the cards, I went back over the pearl droplets a second time, which gave them an odd shape. Some more than others.  But for the most part, it corrected the color from the bleeding.  A few still had the tiniest hints of it, but they were passable.  So now you won’t have to learn this little boo boo the hard way, because I did for you. Haha!))

The little banner tag was created with a Cuttlebug die that embosses and cuts at the same time.  I love the label/banner set it’s a part of.  I inked the edges, used glitter glue to dot the sides, and delivered a hand written, “You’re so sweet!” with a Spica pen in that beautiful red sparkle.

I kept the inside simple. Two stamps filled with love. A heart in different languages from a rubber stamp, and the words, “Be My Valentine” from an awesome Tattered Angel’s stamp set beneath it.  I traced over it with the same pen I wrote the sentiment in on the front and was left with plenty of room to write personal messages for each individual person and/or family.

The seal on the back was another Dollar Store rubber stamp find.  It says “Sent with love”, which was perfect for these cards.  I covered up the center part of the stamp with some miniature cupcakes which were created with a smaller stamp and then cut out like before and topped with heart shaped confetti pieces.  I adore these confetti pieces.  The red beneath isn’t part of the card. I just scribbled out my name on the photo.

Finally, I created these envelopes for each card using plain printer cardstock. Once I cut the basic envelope shape out, I used several different heart shaped stamps to cover the inside of the paper with hearts in the same colors that can be found on the base of the front of the card.  I also created a tiny envelope seal via using a small scalloped circle punch and gluing one of the hearts there were punched from the border on the front of the card into it’s center.  I sealed them up with love, let the moon bless them, and sent them out into the world to find the hands and hearts of their recipients.

I hope all of you were blessed with a wonderful Valentine’s Day.  That you were filled with much love and laughter.  I certainly was.  In the coming days I’ll be sharing a few more photographs of what I made for my husband.  I jokingly had told him I wanted a Dremel tool for Valentine’s Day.  Ok, half jokingly told him that.  Guess what! He got me one! lol…one with goodies included! He was humored to see me excited over a power tool and little metal star washer thingies. But hey, they were sooooo coooool and inspired by an article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors I will be making something incredible with the little pretties for sure!!!  I also got a wonderful love letter which he read to me that made me tear up (awwwweee! I know! ), an adorable tiny little heart footed bear that’s so soft(I know another bear who already has her eyes on him and is requesting me to slip him up on her shelf), and some of those Godiva treasures that have become available at Walgreen’s and other places.  Which was perfect too because I LOOOOOOVVVEEEEE Godiva dark chocolates, but they’re crazy expensive and I go all oinky on them and make myself sick being allergic and all.  This way, the pocket book doesn’t squeak, I get my chocolate fix minus the hives, and my hips get to stay their same size. Win/win!!!!

Now be honest ladies, how many of you would have squeaked just as loud as I did if you got a Dremel tool? Don’t be shy. I know there’s lots of you who would. We could start a new trend- heart stopping hand tools and the women who use them!

Happy Valentine’s to all of my wonderful readers and some additional love to each of you who have been leaving me such kind comments.  Your enthusiasm and passion for creativity is inspiring!

Doing Up The Artful Bag Challenge like a Steampunk Debutante!!!

First things first, please pardon how I keep switching fonts. I’m trying different ways of updating my blog and as luck would have it, not each way supports each font and ONLY the blogger version supports the one that I chose when setting up my blog. I like the way this other does the photos though so…. yeah.  I’ll figure something out, that I both like and that can be read easily by people whose eyesight is a bit compromised.

Also, I would like to let friends and family who read my blog  know that Valentines went out earlier this week.  Some of the notes inside might seem a little outdated for a few people, as I finished them at the end of January and sealed them all up. (I know right? No last minute rush! Go me!)  So yeah, it’s not a lapse of memory, or me being a little off my rocker, it’s just previously written.

And now for the today’s special. My entry for February’s Artful Bag Challenge hosted by Anna of Frosted Petunia.  Click the link to be taken to many links of other entries. I haven’t took a peekaboo yet, but I’m told they’re fabulous. Simply fabulous!  So for February, we were supposed to take something and alter it into a purse. For some reason, I was thinking “something other than a purse” but it reads “other than a bag” so my eyeglass case might not count.  If it doesn’t, that’s ok because I had lots of fun making it.  So check mine out and then go take a looksee at everyone else’s. Maybe join in on the fun!

Let the fun begin!

“If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him.  An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” ~Benjamin Franklin 1706-1790

 

I wish I had thought to take a photo before beginning. I found this little balsa wood eyeglass case at Michaels after the New Year a couple of years ago when they had so many of the holiday items marked down to a nickel or a dime.  I’m sorta wishing I had gotten more than one now. l knew once I read about the challenges Anna was doing, that I wanted to use that, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. Then, while sorting through papers, I saw the Steampunk Debutante line that a friend gifted me with and knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was a perfect way to use the paper to create a little something special.

So I did the usual when approaching this kind of project, laid down some paint so raw wood wouldn’t show through the edges, decided how I wanted the paper to layout, cut it, adhered it with gel medium and used waxed paper to smooth and get out any air bubbles, sanded the edges clean and smooth and inked away. I then went around the  edges of the entire purse with an aged brass crackle medium.  Next came adding some more paper details (which I’ll share with each photo.), applying a gloss coat atop everything (as I didn’t like the way it looked with a matte one), and then I added the various metal elements, which as you can see there’s quite a few.

So for this front look there’s the floral base on top and the turquoise scroll on bottom.  Atop that I used one of the tags provided in the set, and faux attached it to the surface with some washers and brads.  Carrying on that beautiful butterfly theme (cause I love me some flutterbies), I cut out and inked up two of the larger ones on the papers and adhered them at the bottom corners.  The words “Forgotten memories” from a different paper scrap I had seemed perfect, so I roughly cut them and inked it before applying.  A set of eyelets holds the brown fabric covered elastic ribbon/string thing that works as a latch.  A paper clock face sits atop the crackled brass painted knob, with an amber colored rhinestone centering it, and of course I couldn’t resist added a pair of metal book corners. (I love book corners.  I wish Tim Holtz would create a die to make some fabulous book corners. I’d be in heaven.)  These are made from brads. I just clipped the brad part off as usual.  There’s the double chain for a strap of course. I’ll describe the clips on the side when I get to the side photos.  Isn’t she just a delightful little purse?!?  I LOVE tiny purses. The smaller, and more unusual the better.  My husband’s trying to talk me into turning this one into a sculpture with some spectacles and whatnot on a base. I’m still considering it, cause really… I so want to use it.  Can you just imagine?!?

The back.   Gotta look just as good walking away, right?  So as you can see, that floral paper from the front flap wraps around the back to the base. It’s edged, like the rest of the purse with the crackle paint.  I cut out one of the elegant prints-strong winged woman, wielding a sword, and two more large butterflies.  As you can see, matching book corners from the front. And then, my favorite part of the outside, the two brass filigree butterflies that I hot glued atop the paper ones with their wings bent as if in flight.  More rhinestones, amber and turquoise, sparkle for just a hint of glitz.

 

I carried the turquoise from the front over to the bottom and again there’s the crackled brass edging.  A smaller strip of butterflies stretches across the center of the base. Very simple.  I wanted to add some small nubs/feet to the corners so as to raise the bottom off of the surface when sitting, but nothing I tried looked right.  So if I might still do that in the future. It all depends on whether this becomes a sculpture or my teeniest little “identification, money, and lipstain” bag.

So this is one of the sides. They both look the same paper wise, a tag trimmed to fit and adhered.  With a washer and brad on bottom and a washer and eyelet on top. You can see the double chain used as a strap in this photo as well.  What you can’t see is exactly how I attached it through the eyelet.  I used a base pin and a flat amber glass bead just a tiny bit too large to slip through the hole on the inside, formed an eye on the opposite end and attached the eye to the chain. Voila! A strap.  Any debutante has her adornments, so I took inspiration from the beautiful winged dressforms and added some beads to one of the fancy Tim Holtz clips along with a jumpring and a little “winged female” charm made of two beads and a gold wing finding dangling all pretty like.

On the other side, we have the same design on the paper.  I used a different antique clip to add a dainty key, a brass heart that reads “made with love”, and a small amber teardrop, each attached to the clip from their own jumpring.  My purse’s very own ear baubles! How divine!

About now, you  might be wondering if I did anything to the inside.  Paint it? Paper it? A little more?  Well, those of you who know me well know I couldn’t resist the opportunity to create a little special hidden treasure.  I have lots of little watch parts.  While watch parts are used in Steampunk design, they’re certainly not a must, but they do appear on the papers so….opportunity knocking!  First things first, the background.  I used the smaller paper of butterflies and covered the entire inside with it.  I’ll admit that I almost went with a tiny framed mirror, but it just look cheap and cheesy with everything else. So instead…. (warning, if you think the previous photos of the purse are bad, which they are, this next one is just…..I couldn’t get it to capture the colors right to save my life.)

The paper should be that beautiful yellow you see in the other photo.  I took a antique brass filigree frame and pressed it on top of a piece of scripted paper.  Once I could see the impression, I cut it, inked it, and adhered it to the frame.  Then I had FUN!!!!  (Actually, I made this piece close to the beginning and set it aside to dry while I worked on the rest of the purse.  It was still FUN!)  I cut out a tiny paper pocket watch, as you can see at the bottom. Inked it up, and added a real fancy watch hand to it.  To the left, I layered a larger gear, with a smaller one above it, and then the actual knob of a watch with an “emerald” jewel set in it.   Just to the right of that is an antique brass heart shaped brad, with the brad parts cut off of course.  To the left of that is a brass butterfly charm.  I cut away the charm loop, bent the wings up, and attached it to the inner rim.  Just beneath the butterfly’s wing is another gear that I have some weird hooky hand thing coming off of that disappears back under the rose.  Speaking of the rose.  It’s a white paper mulberry rose that I sprayed with two different shades of shimmering spritzes I’ve made in the past until I got it the right color.  At 12 and 4:30 are two of the TH “tiny attachment” brads (brads cut off again) that look like screw heads.  Once everything was set, I used glossy accents to create a “glass” dome over the interior of the circle.  The thinner pieces are beneath it and some of the “taller” pieces like the rose emerge through the top of it.  I really wish I had been able to get a better photo because I really like this part of the purse.

That’s it. My February Artful Bag Challenge entry.  If it inspires you even a fraction of what it inspires me, I know you’re smiling right now!  Happy Creating!!!  And thank you for all the lovely comments you guys have been leaving!

Dress Up 2011- January Impressionism, One of Three

The January theme for Dress Up 2011 hosted by Angela of Sew Loquacious was Impressionism.  I joined late, but loving Impressionism, I just had to create a dress, or as the title reads “three” dresses anyway.  And I’m really wanting to create a fourth too! Eeep! We’ll see if I’m able to work it into things.  I know it’s pretty predictable to choose Monet when you hear Impressionism.  I admit that was my first choice, simply because I really love Monet’s work.  But, when looking him up, I came upon another artist, who is alive and kicking. Or should that be alive and painting?  In another dress you will see my inspiration, of her inspiration “Monet”, but I’m going to share the dresses in the order I created them. 

The artist is Ginette Callaway, French born and living in the United States, she paints in every medium.  Gotta love that.  I cannot express enough how much some of her paintings move me.  If I could have a mural of this painting taking up an entire wall in my house, I most definitely would.  This one is entitled, “On the Way to Grandmas there is a Tree”.  Oh what a tree to daydream beneath.  Just looking at it makes me smile.

Laughter blooms.
Love grows.
Life breathes hope.
The way to Grandma’s house is always filled with enchantment!

 

I printed the inspiration piece out in quick draft mode, though I knew better but wanted to save ink, and I fear it showed a lot more blue than what is in the actual painting, but that’s ok. I still like what I came up with.  I had some Flowersoft from a sale that I hadn’t used yet and thought this the perfect project to try it out on.  I wanted the dress to have the airy, billowing, flowy feel of the tree as well as be something a beautiful young woman might wear in such a delightful environment.  So, I picked out a scrap piece of decorative paper that had a lot of print on it in a deep magenta background.  I quickly sketched out the frilly dress, and then I took my scissors to it and, clip, clip, clipped!

Out came the glue and 4 different blends of Flowersoft and the party began!  I started with the body of the dress, using one mixture in most of the areas and the second in an effort to add a little bit of depth.  Next came the ruffles, and I took the same approach with both a blue and a lavender mixture. (If you want the names, let me know. The jars are in my studio and I don’t know them off the top of my head.)  A few shake, shake, shakes and a dress was born.  Having the leaves, ground, and sky in the dress I knew it was important to ground it with a trunk. So I used Scribbles dimensional paint in Hot Chocolate (Hot chocolate, beautiful trees, and grandma’s house. It doesn’t get much better!) and created a sort of braid for the belt.  A tiny flower stained with Twinkling H20’s and budded with a pale pink acrylic rhinestone finished off the ensemble.

I really enjoy the whimsy created by the Flowersoft.  It’s so soft looking and yet so textural.  I have to admit, that I’m  kind of considering pulling out a small canvas and “painting” with it.  I don’t think I have enough though.  I’m going to have to try an alternative that I’ve read about on how to create my own and see if it really does have the same look.  For I can just imagine how insanely cool a “painting” would be using only it or at the very least very strong hints of it.

Dress Up 2011- Gustav Klimt February

Angela over at Sew Loquacious, is hosting Dress Up 2011.  Each month participants create a dress themed by either an artist or an artistic movement that she pre-selects and then shares a little info about the subject matter at the beginning of the month.  For February we were to choose a painting by the Gustav Klimt.  Klimt was well known for his erotic works of the female body.  I have to admit, I’m not really a fan of his work. It’s just not my thing.  But, I was inspired by his "Mada Primavesi” as seen below and I am excited to see what fashionable little numbers others as well as myself come up with throughout the rest of the year.  I’ve even went back and did a few for the month of January! You’ll have to wait for another post to see them though!

First blush and innocent-

dreaming of fluffy lace and candy kisses.

Soft as the rose petals tickling her nose-

perfumed with a fiestiness only an artist could compose.

So taken and inspired by the whimsical way Anna of Frosted Petunia is using napkins in her mixed media pieces, I knew as soon as I saw this painting, I wanted to use some of the vintage tissue paper I have in a similar manner.  Or at least I think it is.  I sketched the silhouette of the dress onto a piece of watercolor paper, then cut it out. Using skin toned watercolors, I painted a nude figure beneath dress and the proceeded to fold and crinkle the white tissue paper atop it. Once finished, I used Sparkling H20’s in two shades of white and one of blue to add highlights and shadow, as well as glowing luster. And then I used some Picket Fence Stickles and Alabaster Martha Stewart Glitter Glue to add a little more dimension and texture.  The roses are cut from a piece of white ribbon. I trimmed them down some because they were much too large. Then I used various shades of Sparkling H20’s to give them their color. Leaves were applied with a shimmering emerald dimensional paint and the neck was adorned with Ruby Red Stickles..

It’s been brrr brrr cold here.  I’m still blinded by white when I peek out my windows. It was really nice having my man home for a few unexpected days. I do worry about the wildlife and homeless though.  Amongst others, there’s many hummingbirds who have chosen not to migrate.  I’m just not sure how they, and others, handled windchills in the negative teens.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Name Change

After much consideration, I have decided not to use my name on this blog.  I can be very outspoken sometimes when it comes to various topics that I believe strongly in, especially when it comes to equality, animals, and the environment.  When seeing on the news so often how a spouse's or child's blog has affected a family member's employment, I just think it best that I give my family a tiny bit of anonymity, even though I do seriously doubt anything I write on here could really offend someone, as I really desire this to be a positive place.   So for those of you who do know me, I ask if you'll please not refer to me by my name in comments or on  your blog any longer.  If you would instead refer to me as "Dandelion Dreams" that would be totally awesome.  Thank you and have an extraordinary weekend! :)

Finding My Followers

I finished going through my "put in blog" folder yesterday.  I still have one other folder to go through. I've finally been able to get on the computer this afternoon so I plan on going through all the followers from my old blog today and shift people over in the categories they belong in.  Odds are that not everyone will end up in  a category (though who knows! lol).  Sure, a part of me would like to even make a "followers" category, but that becomes too much work because a person might sign up just to get in it and then leave and I don't have the time to keep up with who follows and who doesn't.  That isn't to say I don't appreciate everyone who does. I most definitely do!  It's just if I'm going to be updating this as I should be, I have to simplify things where  I can.

Oh and special note to Faerwillow! I read your comment and you made me smile sooooooooo big!  Woman, you are just like a vibrant ray of sunshine wherever you go! I swear you are!  I bet your middle name is "blessing" because it describes you so well.  As you can see, I've not made it public yet, I told myself I'd not do comments until I had everything all finished so I'm trying to keep my word to myself. Haha, semi-responding here doesn't count, does it?

Make a Wish!

Time trickles by for all of us who walk beneath the stars. It surrounds and engages us in an ever-changing dance of wondrous tempos and mesmerizing melodies.  Just like a caterpillar, we start out wide eyed, awkward, slinking gluttonously towards that one special, special thing that fuels us with energy and ignites our senses.  We get bumped and bruised, some more than others.  Not all of us even make it past this magical time.  We watch the world zipping past us, brighter, larger than life, filled with unknown wonders and terrors alike.  And if we're lucky, one day we awaken from our slumber renewed, invigorated, and transformed into something...more.

Like a butterfly we stretch our wings and explore the bountiful surroundings we're blessed to inhabit.  Some traveling much further than others. But each and every single one of us, individuals, stunningly beautiful in our similarities and just as exquisitely enticing for our differences.  With the flutter of our hearts and the beating of wings, time keeps ticking. It keeps chanting this seductive call that lures us forward. Onward and onward, step by step into a giant stream of possibility, where anything and everything is possible.

Stamps are one of my favorite tools.  A wonderfully designed stamp that is well taken care of can can provide infinite creative opportunities.  This card displays a couple of examples.  A neatly scripted quotation looks amazing when embossed upon a label.  Or how about that pocket watch! It's also stamped and embossed with luscious copper metallic powder.  By stamping it on decorative paper and then cutting it out to show a secondary paper inside, stamped with it's inner mechanics, I was able to cut multiple images and then layer them atop one another to create phenomenal depth and texture.  Those punched butterflies are just to die for too!

Inside, another group of stamps delivers a warm sentiment to the recipient while inked and embossed die cuts (another item I find valuable to have at the ready) ground the sentiment in a charming and cohesive setting. A few dots of glitter glue to give movement to the flutterbyes and a smudging of the metallic embossing powder around the edges makes this card more than ready to flit before Father Time for approval.

A special thanks to the birthday girl for sending me these two photographs since in my excitement to get her gifts wrapped up and sent, I forgot to take photographs myself. :)

It's a Brand New Day!!!

Bright and beautiful morning everyone! Thank you for coming to see me at my new blog! I'm hoping to keep my posts fairly short at this new blog, but this one might be a little longer so that I can explain to where everything is.  I'm still adding links of other blogs and companies. I hope to have several more added after I make this post, but I will likely still be adding some when I go public.  Not to mention of course new inspiring blogs I find.  First I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to Shabby Blogs for providing the gorgeous background that I found.  I did have to upload it to my own image server to get it to work right size wise for the layout style I went with, and I still couldn't get all of it to show. There's a whimsical tea party table somewhere down below where the screen ends.  But that's ok, because I just love, love, LOVE the serene, dreamlike quality of the background she created.  I created my header, grab button, and other images with the help of various free digital scrapbook design packs I've collected over the years.  So I would also like to give a thank you to those freebie digital designers out there who allow us to use their stuff in our many and varied creations.  Thank you all loads of faerie dust!!!

In an effort to keep my blog less crowded, with the exception of friend's blogs and blogs I really want to make sure I stay up-to-date on, I will be placing all the cool inspiring blogs I find enjoyable and informative on the "page" linked in the upper left hand corner titled "links".  I actually created an identical blog to this one for that page so that the format could be slightly different. And also, so that I could  keep an ongoing "blog" of posts of people that I'll be calling "Curiously Creative".  This is a recognition that I'm going to be giving out to both bloggers and YouTubers who catch my eye and ignite a fire to create inside of me.  I figure if they do it to me, they just might do it to you as well.  I'm also use this "page" as a place to share great tutorials I come across until I get my Tutorials page and running.  Then I will post my tutorials as well as point out great and informative ones from others because I know many of you guys love to learn as much as I do.

You'll also see a "Reviews" page on the list.  I've done this one the same way as my "Links" page.  This way you guys will have a full menu of nothing but product and company reviews.  I'm going to be reviewing old and new products, as well as companies that I purchase items from because we all know there's some amazing ones out there, and some who are really lacking in customer service.  This is the page where you will also find links to various Manufacturers and Company blogs as well arts and crafts suppliers websites.  Just like on my "Links" page, this is for me as well. I love having everything at my fingertips and this is great way to backup all of my links.  Since I'm very much a mixed media, crazy dabbling, will try anything once kind of artist, you'll find all sorts of companies on these lists.

I might even end up adding another "Page" for my writing, but that's all going to depend upon if I find myself in the mood to be writing as well as having the time to get around to adding that page. I really want to get the rest of this and the tutorials page up and running first.  So as you as you can see, just like my last blog this will still be a little experimental in trying to figure out where I'm going with it, but I have a really good idea so hopefully I won't get too off track.  I'll make sure and post any of the entries going on the other pages on this one as well so that you know they've went up so that you don't have to follow or check up on all of them, unless you want to of course.

I hope you guys are as excited about the creative potential of this year, as I am.  I know that I can't wait to see what dreamy concoctions ya'll showcase for all of our viewing pleasure.

Faith, trust, and faerie dust!!