Great Give-Away ....

There is a great "give-away" on The Creative Connection Blog. Go there for a chance to win 2 tickets and hotel stay for the Creative Connection/ blogHer coming up in MN. Have a blessed day everyone!

Time out

Ok, so I have taken some much needed time out from my blog and my arts/crafts to spend some much needed spiritual time w/ God, a vacation w/my family and some great friends to our favorite place at the beach, and a trip to the mountains to my mom's place there, with my mom and sister. Here and there, under no pressure, as it should be, I have created a few projects though that I will share, a couple of which were shared with me, and one my own custom design. As for my spiritual time out, I have SO enjoyed my time alone w/God, He has blessed me in SO many ways ...family, friends, health, church family, the things I see, hear and feel everyday of my life that are so frequently taken for granted and so often go unnoticed. Along with my Bible and my devotional "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young, I have also read a couple of books by Francine Rivers, "Redeeming Love" and "Unshaken". Also, "Having a Mary Heart In A Martha World" by Joanna Weaver. The latter three books were referred to me by( a friend to me and relative of my husband), Karon, who has been a real inspiration to me. I encourage any and every one to read these books, they are wonderful....not forgetting to mention a previously read "The Purpose-Driven Life" a "must-read". I keep buying extra copies and have been handing them out. As for the projects I have been working on... the bracelet is a "spoon bracelet" ( I saw while in the mountains with my mom and sis) and just had to make one (customed designed it though)... a necklace I created out of the Tim Holtz fragment pieces and some jewels, charms, beads, and some circle-punched, embossed , aluminum soda cans. Also, a "record bowl" of which I saw on you-tube.

Card Organizer

I designed and created this card/organizer in hopes of being better at sending cards on birthdays and special occasions. I used bookboard and covered it with paper for the cover and the book is bound using the Bind-it -All. The front cover has my inital and a frame, both of which I made. The "flap" on the front has a magnetic closure. The organizer includes a page with a pocket to hold cards/envelopes for each month of the year. Included on each page/pocket is a numerical listing of dates with a line beside each, on which to "pencil in" birthdays, anniversaries, etc. for that month. Also, included on each is the birthstone and flower for that month. In the back of the book I created, printed, and included "address book" pages so that I will have them handy when I am ready to mail the cards. This organizer/book was quite time consuming, but very well worth it. I am pleased with the way it turned out!

Pottery Painting

My son's girlfriend ( who by the way is a very talented artist) and I went to Hearts of Clay Pottery in Columbus, NC a few weeks ago and painted pottery there. It was soooo fun and relaxing. This is the plate that I painted. She painted coasters (wish I had a pic). It was a very nice day together as we ate lunch, painted the pottery, and went thrift shopping. I will be going back to paint again in a few weeks with some very special friends of mine, as we have planned lunch and pottery time together.

Card Class

I created these 3 cards for a card class I taught at a local retirement facility for a "Open -House type event they held. Have taught the ladies there at the facility cardmaking for a couple of years now, on several different occcasions and really enjoy those ladies very much. They actually have a lot of talent there, some are painters (watercolor,oil, and acrylic) and some make jewelry, while others knit and crochet. There artwork is beautiful and is diplayed in their art room for sale. I have bought several pieces of jewelry in the past and just recently had my eye on a watercolor painting that I hope to purchase soon. Sweet, Sweet ladies!

Handmade Art Journal

I incorporated paper and fabric in the design of this art journal. I painted the flowers on the fabric with acrylic paints (fluid acrylics) and stamped the butterflies and script with Staz-on ink. The fabric is sewn onto the paper (for the cover) and then the paper is glued onto the bookboard. I bound the book using the Bind-it All and coils. I covered the coil by making a spine out of the bookboard and paper . This book is one of those projects that I definitely WILL do again. Sometimes I just want to meet the challenge, but this book was a lot of fun to create, from making the cover to painting the fabric, even the sewing!

Well, Ain't that the Bombdiggity!!!!.....

And just how much fun was it making this? Way too much!!! Last Tuesday night I went (along with a friend)to The Inman Quilt Cottage and made the "to die for" casserole carrier. So practical and so easy to make. I am not good at sewing, so, I was elated to have been able to make this. Cutest thing ever... so proud of myself.