Snowflakes are a few of my favorite things

Being a California Kid and spending my younger years in the Southern part of the state, I think it is funny how much I love snow or anything to do with snow. Maybe it is because I only visit it or have had only a handful of times that I got to live in it. So for my ATC monthly swap over at Paper Traders Group   I created a snowflake card. Using white ink with my stamping is always a challenge but this turned out ok. What I like about creating ATCs right now is that they are small, fun ways to try out techniques, and in trading I get to see how others create them too. FUN...

End of the beginning

It feels so good to be in blogland. I hope that the Holidays and this special time of the year has been good to all. I have enjoyed my family and friends so much this year. However, with the crazy job and all the other parts of life, I have drifted away from my personal love of blogging. I sneak in and out every now and again by checking other sites and leaving a few comments when I can but I miss creating and writing in my own spot. I also see that my book for 2011 is smaller than my first book 2010. Well there are a few days left of this year and I plan to make the best of the end and will look forward to the beginning of the next. Wishing all a good New Years!

Moody Monday

I am better on a Moody Monday when I know there will be some fun. Tonight I hope to have friends over to make some of these fun gift tags. It is created using VersaMark ink and chalk. I like the soft image it creates. Then to add a little bling added the small jewels. I hope to make a few different ones and will upload those later.

Busy Day

This is a busy time of year and there was lots to do this weekend and then I added one more thing. I purchased this desk from a coworker and we picked it up yesterday. I am so happy because not only is it a lot bigger than the one I was using, it is a beautiful piece of furniture. It was made in the early  1900's by her uncle. A simple design made of solid oak. I have not figured everything out yet but I just love it.

It is definitely a larger area of working space. On my old desk, my computer was over the top of my working sheet and then my stamping pad was covered with my scrap box and this photo doesn't even show the pen box I use now. It was getting pretty crowded. I am so thankful for the new space and this week the top 5 are:

1. Room to create
2. Beautiful winter days
3. Putting up Christmas decorations
4. Spending time with the family remembering old memories
5. Looking forward to more opportunities to grow into my art

Have a wonderful week.

Sixth Anniversary Shrine

There is a tradition at the Paper Trader Group to have an Anniversary project. This year it was to make a shrine to swap with the other members who participated. I have never made one before so thought I would try it. The only guidelines were the size and to have something tie to six (years for the group). I added the six domino for that.  I used an ocean theme. I found the mermaid on Graphic Fairy. She is the perfect fit. The base of the shrine is a piece of drift wood I found on a trip to the lake.  A fun project project.

Fun Guys

These two new guys are part of a new set I just got. Each of the snowman, the sled, and the package are individual stamps so you can create so many different layouts. I have big plans for these guys!  For the snowman stamps, you can ink them using pens instead of an ink pad. For example, I was able to alternate their hats and scarfs. This makes the possibilities endless! Hint, Hint..  to get a crisp stamp after you have colored all the parts, give the stamp a good HUFF and then stamp. Oh and only for water-based ink pens! As for the sled and the packages, I used ink pads and made them a solid color. Fun stuff!