Brushing Off the Winter Blues

It seems appropriate that today feels like a spring day in central NJ, because it is also the first day that I am starting to feel better after multiple bouts of winter illness. So unfortunately, no new projects to blog about but I have been busy getting ready for a scrapbooking crop I'm planning on attending on Sunday.

I've never really been a scrapbooker before--although I always loved paper crafting. I recently went to a crop at a local scrapbook store with a few friends and had a blast! I spent the whole day putting the finishing touches on a mini-album I started for my son to commemorate his 2nd year--he's now 4, so it was about time to finish it up!

This time I'm planning on starting on my daughter's baby book, it's hard to believe she is a year old today!  I've already bought loads of adorable patterned papers for the book, plus last night I printed out a few vintage images that I plan on using as embellishments in the album.

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to those of you that have been reading this blog and leaving comments, it really means a lot to me. I love blogging and sharing my work and making connections with other creative people. I would really love to see this blog grow, and although I blog out of love and not for numbers, it's always rewarding to have an audience.  I would love to hear your suggestions, as more successful and experienced bloggers. Any advice you might be able to share on how to get my blog out there and make more connections and grow would be greatly appreciated!

So, in the meantime I plan to continue to plug along making my art and writing my blog posts. I would love to do a giveaway for this adorable winter themed plaque I'm sharing a sneaky peek of, plus some other goodies, so look for details about that soon. Also, I'm planning on another tutorial featuring some fun techniques from Claudine Hellmuth's wonderful book Collage Discovery Workshop.

Moxie Fab World Challenge: The Appearance of Cameos

There was no way I could resist creating a card for the Moxie Fab World's latest challenge, The Appearance of Cameos.

Literally, I had just put the finishing touches on my photoshop tutorial on how to make your own re-vamped silhouette when I saw Cath's post on Cameos. I am so happy that silhouettes and cameos are making a come-back of sorts. I have had them floating around in my head for about a year now and am very excited to finally get some of those thoughts down on paper--so to speak.

After I finished my first card, I suddenly got the idea to make a second card. Does this ever happen to you? You can completely visualize how the card will look in your head, but not so sure how it will all look together as a finished piece? I do this quite often, completing a card or other creation entirely in my head and then sometime disappointed because it doesn't live up to my own expectations.

Well, this time I am extremely happy with how it turned out, couldn't be better--I hope you enjoy both of my card creations too!

Vintage Valentine's Love Banner

Just stopping in to share one of my latest holiday creations. I am so excited about this as it is the first ever banner I have made, and I just love the way it came out. I definitely feel a case of banner fever coming on, so there are sure to be more soon.

I'm also really happy I made this banner for Valentine's day because that means that I have actually decorated my house for the holiday.

Every year I start off strong and steady going all out for Halloween, then pushing it with all I've got for Christmas time--but by the time I get through Christmas I'm usually too exhausted to drag another box of decorations out of the basement.

But I was determined this year, and my four year old was my main motivation.

This is the year that he has really gotten into decorating for the holidays, so I didn't want to let him down. And what a better way to get over the Christmas tree than to decorate for Valentine's day!

I used a package of Jenni Bowlin Chipboard banner pieces that I dug out of my stash as the base for my creation. I truly was inspired to make this type of banner by Elizabeth at Creative Breathing and all her wonderful vintage creations.

The Shabby Tea Room's "Get Creative" Challenge

I love challenge blogs because they really offer you a chance to step outside of your comfort zone and try something that you might normally shy away from. I think it's such a great way to exercise your creative muscles!

Normally, I am a patterned  paper maniac. I love to combine patterns and to use them in as many ways as I can in a project. So when I read that this weeks TSTR's challenge was to not use any patterned paper, my first thought was --that's just not possible!

Sometimes it's funny how inspiration strikes you at the strangest times and in the most peculiar ways. My almost 1 year old daughter has this pink shirt covered in hearts of all different colors and patterns that I just love, and every time I put it on her I think that it would make such an awesome piece of patterned paper. Well, when I was recently asked if I would make a get well card for a little girl who happened to break her arm, the daughter of one of the mom's in my mom's club, I knew instantly what I wanted to do.I just think this pattern is so fun and girly, and just happens to be completely hand stamped.