Great weekend!

My friend Linda and I went to the CHA supershow this past weekend. For those of you who don't live in the USA, the CHA (otherwise known as the 'craft & hobby association') hosts a convention twice a year. The first part of the convention is held for merchants to purchase products from companies to sell in their stores. The second part, (also know as the CHA Craft Supershow -held on Fri & Sat) is held for the public/consumer. Usually the show is held in Florida or California, but this time it was held in Rosemont, Illinois. For us it was about an hour's drive to get there so we decided to check it out. There were tons of 'make-it, take-it' booths and we kept really busy doing all kinds of things. Many of the companies hosted these projects and everything was, believe it or not - FREE (sponsored by companies such as Michaels & JoAnn Fabrics, Delta, Plaid, Crafts & Things, Paper Crafts Magazine, National Sewing Council and numerous others. We sewed dog colars, flowers from fabric, made beaded necklaces, painted t-shirts and wall hangings and the list goes on and on. Simply wonderful and what a fun time as everyone was enjoying themselves. The National Sewing Association was even raffling off sewing machines on both days!

Many, many well known artists also were there, including the fabulous clay artist - Lisa Pavelka (who used to be on 'The Carol Duvall Show') and mixed media artist Bernie Berlin! I think my jaw dropped when this woman standing in front of one of the craft tables turned around and I realized it was Bernie! I hadn't expected to see her but had always hoped to one day. She was teaching people how to create ATC's. Even though I've made a few of them myself, I couldn't resist sitting for awhile and soaking up any info she was sharing. She's an amazing artist and in my opinion, a real 'earth angel' - a kind, generous and gentle spirit. For those of you who don't know her, Bernie operates and owns an animal rescue called 'A Place To Bark'. Anyone who has saved over 600 dogs lives, in my opinion should be given a special place in heaven. I asked Bernie if I could take a photo of her so I'm posting it on my blog. Thank you Bernie for showing us how to create ATC's and for being the beautiful person you are! She does accept donations so if you want to help her with this incredible mission she's on, please visit her blog. http://www.aplacetobark.com

Have a great nite everyone and thanks for stopping by:)

B-day card....

Today is my friend Linda's b-day so I thought I'd post the card I created for her:) She loves ballerinas and I thought she'd get a chuckle out of this one. I started with a water color paper that I washed with some ink, then stamped with a vintage background music sheet and a birthday word block that I cut apart. I used some scrapbooking paper for the banner which I added the word 'party' cut into pieces. (Stamps are from Purple Onion Designs, girl image from Lisas Altered Arts.)

Hope everyone is having a great day. Still hot here in Wisconsin!

Another quick card...

I managed to create another quick card today and thought I'd post it. Whenever I think I'm going to have some 'free time' something comes up on the home front:( Anyways, I'm hoping things will calm down a bit next week so I can putter a bit. I really could use some relaxing time and creating does just that for me. Good therapy, for sure!

All stamps used on this card are from Stamp Camp. Hope everyone has a safe July 4th and a great weekend!

Some Art!

Got a chance to make a simple card for a friend this past weekend. Hope she likes it:) Very nice images to color in too....(all stamps from Stamp Camp.)

It's been a wild and crazy ride this summer with constant things going on. It was nice to get a few minutes to create some art. Have a great week everyone!

Behind Again.....

Hi Fellow Bloggers,

Well, I am behind again in posting:( Sorry but life has a way of getting in the way. Anyhow, I was doing a bit of surfing this morning and discovered that Michelle from Digital Collage Sheets had posted some new freebies on her site! If you are interested you can find them here:

http://www.digitalcollagesheets.com/free.aspx

Her sheets are really beautiful and so much fun to work with. We "kids" are headed to the movie theatre to see "Toy Story 3" today...lol! I love anything that makes us laugh:)

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone!

Recently I was asked by the owner of my favorite scrapbook/stamp and gift store (Hannah's in Antioch, IL) if I'd like to be on their design team. A chance to play with new items is right up my alley so I was all for it!

For my first project I created this memory book. It was made with Webster's Pages and products. Gorgeous paper and perfect for this 'sea themed' book I wanted to create for a true fisherman I know. I cut the book pieces out on their AccuCut machine and even added some little bubbles above the fish image with some flat round beads that they carry at the store. Such fun!

We are expecting rain on and off all weekend long but hopefully the sun will peek out for a bit so I can do some garage sailing.... Enjoy the weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Blown away.....

Well, my copy of "The Stampers Sampler" arrived in my mailbox yesterday and all I can say is I'm TOTALLY blown away. You can imagine my excitement late last summer when I was contacted by the managing editor to try out for the guest artist spot. After seeing the amazing gorgeous artwork in the April/May issue featuring Wendy Vecchi, I thought to myself...who is going to be the next guest artist as those are some BIG shoes to fill! Then only to discover it was ME....lol! Yipes. However, I think the folks at Stampington did a fabulous job showcasing my art. Never in my wildest dreams when I started submitting (over five years ago) did I ever think I'd end up as guest designer. Dreams really DO come true if only you work at it. It was a lot of work, I have to confess. I'm slow at creating and it took me two months to make the 15 cards they requested. In my opinion, it was all worth it as I'm so pleased with how it looks. Here's a few photos of some of the cards featured. I took these shots before I submitted them so I don't think they will mind. You'll have to grab a copy of it in the stores coming out June 1st to see the rest of it. (Stamps I used are from Alpha Stamps, Artistic Outpost, Lost Coast Designs, Oxford Impressions and Stamp Camp. Digital images from Digital Collage Sheets and Lisas Altered Art.) Hope you enjoy seeing what I've created and that which brings me so much JOY! Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone:)