Awakening!

Have you ever really, really enjoyed something only to wake up one morning and know it's over!  I'm not talking relationship here - I'm talking hobby.  Sometimes I think we take a path, not because it's our life path, but because it's taking us somewhere we never dreamed we would go.

About six years ago, well actually closer to seven, I was invited to a "card" club.  That night I said please don't ever invite me to one of these again, but about a year later I had begun to pay attention to craft shows and scrapbooking and decided I wanted a second look.  My friend Martha's daughter held these card making events and she was a blast.  She made everything seem easy and exciting and I was in, in big time!

For about a year I attended her events and then I finally began to hold my own and I made some of the most precious friends.  Women I would never have known without stamping.  Some I already knew from church, but only casually and our friendships grew.  Some found me online and I treasure them so much.  We shared monthly gatherings and so much more.  We learned about each other's families, work and went through illness and some hard times, a new baby for one and a wedding for another.  What wonderful memories.

The fun loving, talented young woman who got me hooked, well she changed directions and left the stamping world behind and now I find like her I'm heading off in another direction, too.  She moved into digital scrapbooking ( still does this ) and quilting and her enthusiasm is still very contagious.  I follow her blog and she makes me want to sew like a crazy woman, something I haven't done for close to 40 years and then it wasn't really for fun.

I don't know if I'll ever quilt, but I have moved to painting on fabric as well as my stones.  I'm having a blast watercoloring flowers on bookmarks and note cards and have done pink and teal ribbons to raise awareness for breast and ovarian cancer. What I've awakened to, finally the title comes into play, is that there are things I really love to do and stamping isn't at the top of my list, but I'n not sure I would be close to where I am now in painting, sewing, needle felting, etc. if Sally hadn't hooked me on rubber stamping.

I do know my life wouldn't be as rich without Sally, Megan, Anna, Crystal, Macy, Martha, Sarah, Kathleen, Melissa, Loretta, Brenda and more!  Thank you ladies for a fun time and I look forward to sharing life with you for many years to come!

And without a doubt check out Sally's blog, you will find inspiration, patterns, tutorials and motivation to follow your dream.

New Adventures

This has been an adventurous week! Once again I said, "Oh, I can do that!" and so it all began. Our home owners association has a Christmas Decorating
contest and we wanted new winner signs for the yards. Thus, the I can do that, never mind that I never had!!!! And so the adventure began.

This was something I had wanted to do for years. Learn to use a jigsaw and make wood figures, of course, I always thought they would be for my yard, but not the case. My sweet husband helped me get the materials and off I went. I drew my patterns, cut them out and painted them. I even decorated the tree with garland. And so I survived my new adventure and even look forward to making some things for my yard. My dad would be so proud!!!








These were my two favorites. I will post the others later.

Now on to making beanbags!

Later, Bev Ann


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On a Creative Roll!

I have had a real dry spell, both in making cards and painting my flowers, but today it seems to be broken. I've done both!

I love these tiny little paintings. Just 1-1/2 x 2" watercolors are tiny indeed, but this leaves room to do layers and still stamp a sentiment!

Here are three I made as I tried different colors and layouts. I really like the one where I used the decorative label punch.

Finding this card layout using watercolor, stamping and punching is going to help me build up my stash of cards.


Hope this inspires you to get stamping and discover new ideas.

Enjoy,
Bev Ann

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Thank You

Just finished this thank you card. A dear friend gave Bill and I a wonderful bottle of wine for our 25th anniversary (Sat) and I wanted to say thanks, so I watercolored the small flower and framed it using my new designer frame embossing folder from Stampin' Up!




Enjoy,
Bev Ann

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's a Mac

I've been having some issues with my Dell for a while and so I've crossed over to the world of a MacBook Pro!  I never thought I'd want one, but guess what - it's wonderful.  Of course, I had already begun the switch, first with an iPhone and then my iPad this summer, so it wasn't really a hard decision.  Now I'm Apple all the way.

But, even with my small Apple devices, I'm having a bit of a learning curve and will take advantage of all of the training Apple offers. Next week I'll go in for a lesson on photographs and based on how long it took me to import one today to this blog, I need the class!  But, I got it done!

I've been having a blast painting flowers and veggies on bookmarks and note cards. This is a recent bookmark.  I just love sunflowers, they make me happy in my garden and when I paint them, so this is the first one I shall post.  I just completed 16 bookmarks last week for my Bible Study group - so there are many more pictures to come.  I've been experimenting for several months now with all sorts of little paintings, so I'll be sharing a lot over the next few weeks.

I have way too many things I want to do and way too little time, but as I move to mixed media, silk paper and machine needle felting I hope you will enjoy the journey with me.

And the icing on the cake, the Houston Quilt Show begins in just a little over a month!!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited?  I can't wait to see the new ideas I will have when it's over, not to mention the new craft materials that will find their way into my work space.  The only bummer is that I won't have my daughter here this year to shop with me.  The two of us together are very dangerous in a "craft" environment, so maybe I'll do less damage this year, but I sure won't have as much fun!

Time to go create (dinner) so I'll say adios and see you again soon.

Things They are a Changin'

Today I changed the look of my blog and gave it a new name. These changes were necessary as my focus has moved in a different direction.

I still use my stamps and am still a Stampin' Up demo, at least this quarter, but that's no longer my focus. I'm now what they call a hobby demo. I've begun to do a lot of watercoloring and am making bookmarks and note cards and enjoying it ever so much.

In 2006 I began painting for the first time. I began with round garden stepping stones, painting a variety of flowers on them and they were quite a success. You can see my stones on my Obedience Stones blog. I still paint the garden stones, but my focus is on watercolors and so many other things such as making silk paper and needle felting, that I changed the blog.

I will be posting again, but now rather than the focus on cards, one day you'll see some bookmarks, another some note cards or just the watercolors waiting to be used on a card. Other days mixed media projects, or silk paper will fill the blog.

I hope you will enjoy the new look and the new focus (or lack there of) as much as I am! It's fun to wake up and try something new each day. So as the title says, "things they are a changin' "- hope you'll stick with me and enjoy the ride.

See you again soon.

Gracie Mae Cat - Memorial Stone

Well, I'm back! We have had a very peaceful day beginning with church this morning and working in the garden and yard this afternoon. I decided that I would get back to creating, but I chose to work on the stone for my cat Gracie Mae. Gracie died in March and I buried her out near the garage and placed one of my painted stepping stones to mark her grave. I knew I wanted to paint a special stone for her but have just kept putting it off, but today I knew it was the day to paint.

Its' funny a lot of people seem to think that painting is really easy for me and in ways it is, but I start and stop and redo all the time. So I sketched what I thought I wanted to paint on the stone. I use chalk and it is my best friend as it wipes off after everything is completed or when I need to make changes. I drew flowers around the top and wrote in her name, etc. and began to paint. This would be picture #1 and I didn't like the flowers and so I painted over it and began again with just three flowers to the side, not planned out, I just like the way the three left looked and so I completed painting them and began on Gracie's name. After I finished her name I realized I did the a and e completely different in Mae than in Gracie, so out came the green paint. Now I have it correct and so I called it complete.

However, now that I'm looking at the pictures (still a little chalk to remove tomorrow) I think I would like to have it say Gracie Mae Cat and have the dates smaller, so you know the drill! Out comes the green paint and I begin again. So now the secret is out - I use more green paint than any other color! :-)

I'm showing pictures from start to finish (almost finish) tonight. If I make other changes I'll post them later, but I thought it would be fun to see a work in progress.

So, I'm back to creating and now Day 97 is complete and soon I'll have all 100 done. Then, I will post, but I will also feel free to skip a day or two - but not yet, it's back to completing the challenge.

I just started to say see you tomorrow and add the pictures and I accidentally hit post! So for those of you who get email updates, you will have two and this one will be the complete one with pictures. Sorry for the inconvenience.  Hope you enjoy - see you tomorrow.

Work in Progress

Wow, what a day!  We filled our day taking care of the details of planning Virginia's funeral service and making phone calls.  That is such a hard thing to do and it certainly reminds you of how much time can pass between visits with family and friends.

I'm beginning to work on a photo display and a digital scrapbook page for the visitation on Tuesday.  So my regular posts here will begin again following Virginia's service Tuesday.

I want to thank thosee who have left comments offering prayer and condolances. 

See everyone again in a few days.

Saying Goodbye to Virginia



Virginia and Bill, Sr. (1940's)



Ladies, forgive me for leaving my creating and posting 100 day challenge behind tonight.  It's day 97, but I will have to go a few days beyond to complete my 100 days, as my mother-in-law died tonight around 6:30 and to honor her and my husband I'm not spending time in my craft room.  Bill needs me with him and so I'm posting, but not creating.

We will be busy for the next few days preparing to say goodbye to a very special lady.  The feelings are very raw right now and the shock is still very much a part of our being and so I will be back as soon as it fits with our schedule and complete my 100 days.  Until then, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  Virginia is in a much better place, but we are left here without her and so healing for us must take place.

Rest in Peace, Virginia, you will be missed.


The Countdown to Day 100!

I had someone do a very nice thing for me this week and so I made a special card (gift card holder) and am filling it with a Starbucks card to say thanks.  This is the first time I've made this holder and I'm really pleased. It's easy peasy to make the wallet style holder; however, I would do a different front next time.  Adding the little pearls and punching out all of these tiny tags took way more time than I  had to give, but it got done and it's a special gift, so I'm OK with the added work.  I saw a card on page 130 and have wanted to copy it for a long time.  Finally I've done it, but as I said it was more work than I expected.  I still and will probably make it again sometime.  I definitely will make the holder.  If you would like the dimensions and directions for the card holder, please just leave a comment or email me.

For now, I'm headed to bed. Hope you enjoy!  See you tomorrow for Day 97! 

Life is a Matter of Moments - Day 95!

I can hardly believe it -  Day 95 of my blog challenge! I can't believe I set myself up for this unbelievable challenge and I can't believe I'm this close to completing it.  Tonight was a real struggle, after three really easy days.  It has surprised me at how this has happened throughout this challenge.  The easy days make me feel like I can keep on going, but with a night like tonight I don't even want to finish the challenge.  But I will, God willing, I will make something and post for the next 5 days and then celebrate and put my stamps and paper away for a few days.

Actually I have a new venture ahead of me and so my posts will be much more sporadic following April 11.

But on to tonight's card.  I found something to case on page 194 of our current IBC.  I changed it up in several ways and then used the sentiment "Life is a Matter of Moments."  I love this set "Under the Stars" it has the cutest stamps, but for tonight I chose five, the bear and the smore to feature, along with the skeeter, skeeter spray and bedroll. The colors are Pear Pizzaz, Always Artichoke and Confetti White.  I cut out the skeeter and the smore to add interest. I used a blender pen and markers to do the coloring.

I love smores and so now I'll be heading to bed thinking of chocolate, grahams and marshmallows - I just bet I'll have very pleasant dreams.  Enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow! 

Spring Flowers

Last night I made a flower card and I've done it again tonight!.  I think because it's spring I want to celebrate all of the flowers that are popping up every where I look.  I live out in the country and my yard is filled with a wide variety of wildflowers (aka weeds).  To me they're all pretty.  A long time ago I ask my landscaper if something was a weed and he responded with the question, "Do you like it?"  When I replied that I did in fact like it, he said then it's not a weed!  I laughed, but now I know he was telling me the truth.

But on to tonight's card.  At this late time in my 100 day challenge I'm looking for inspiration and have discovered that the best way to come up with a card is to look through the IBC (Idea Book and Catalog), find a card I like and CASE (Copy and Selectively Edit) it.  And so once again tonight that's just what I did and the card I used as my inspiration can be found on page 155. 

I used Crumb Cake for the base card and the two layers are Confetti White and Baja Breeze.  The flower is cut with the Big Shot using the Island Floral Die in poppy Parade, DSP Pack Hostess set in Poppy Parade, Old Olive and Whisper White with a Baja Breeze center.  The brad is retired, but we currently have others that would fill the bill.  I stamped the sentiment from Upsy Daisy and used the scallop oval punch and sponged the edges to make it jump off the front.  This was another really quick and easy card.  Our catalog really is an Idea Book - I would be in real trouble on Day 94 without it's inspiration. Pull yours out, whether it's a current one or five years old.  You can always change up the colors and stamp sets to make it current.  On this card I changed the sentiment set, colors and brad.  I made it my card and used what I had on hand, now it's you're turn.

Hope you enjoy!  See you tomorrow for Day 95....



Flower Folds

Tonight's card is a each to make card with some real impact.  I used my Big Shot and the Flower Folds Bigz die to cut out the flower. I used the two smallest flowers and punched a 3/4" and 1" circle for the flower center. The button is from the SAB catalog, Ice Cream Parlor - a great little package of bright colored flower shaped buttons.  The stem is simply a thin strip of paper and the leaves were punched using the two-step bird punch.  I think these are intended to be wings, but I think they make great leaves. 
I used some embroidery thread to tie the button.

The sentiment is from Word Play - I love how they tuned sick into "ick."   Card stock is Pear Pizzaz, Always Artichoke and Melon Mambo.  Ink is Always Artichoke.  Inspiration from page 208 in the IBC.

Hope you enjoy!  See you tomorrow.

Look Who's Turning...

I just love this Look Who's Turning set, but tonight I just used the numbers and the sentiment, not the adorable little animals.  This card was just calling out for a cupcake.  Ok, the card wasn't but I sure wanted one and this was my only option!  :-) 

I actually saw this idea in the back of the catalog using the Big Bold Cupcakes sizzlit.  I have the sizzlit set, but chose to use the Big Bold Cupcake stamp set.  I know it's retired, but I still love it and use it quite often.  After stamping it, I cut the two cupcake pieces out with scissors.

I love how you can stamp all of the numbers and then highlight the one that applies, but if you need an age that's more than 9, you can do that too.  So for tonight, I made a little boy card using bashful blue as my card color.  Hope you enjoy.

Happy I Do Day

Tonight's card was fun, fast and easy.  I found a card on page 214 of the current Idea Book and Catalog and decided to case (copy and selectively edit) it.  I had a busy day and so fast and easy sounded so good and so I grabbed some Blushing Bride card stock, cut it and embossed one half.  Stamped the sentiment from Word Play with Early Expresso ink on Very Vanilla card stock and punched it out with the 1 3/4 circle punch. I used the Victoria crochet trim to tie around the top and attached the sentiment with linen thread.  As I said this was fun, fast and soooo easy and I think it's a very elegant card.  You could change the sentiment and use the design for many different cards.  Hope you enjoy and  are inspired to pull out your catalog and case a card.

And so, I'm off to bed - got to get up early for church. 

Lavender (Devotion)

Tonight's card is made using the Herb Expression stamp set.  Each of the four herb stamps has the herb name and it's meaning i.e. lavender (devotion) and a corresponding sentiment.  I love herbs, but I have not used this set all that much.  Tonight I used markers to color the stamps and left off the name adding flower pots to add interest.  I used my brayer to color the back ground. Card stock colors are Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant and  Pear Pizzaz.

I was inspired to use the lavender stamp as I have my first bud on my lavender plant in the garden.  I just found it this morning, so this seemed to be the right way to celebrate this new flower.  I, also, have three tomatoes on a plant, but no stamp, so my excitement for that is expressed in this little note.

I can't believe this is Day 90 of my 100 day challenge!  I have to admit this really has been a challenge and I look forward to taking a wee break soon from this daily creating.  There are some things I need to make in multiple and just haven't had the time, so that will be first on my free time schedule.  But for now, I have nine more days before the big celebration.

Enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow.

Easter Wishes - Stepped Up

Yesterday I made an Easter Card and I liked it and it would be great for mailing, but I told you I would step it up into a little fancier card and so tonight all of the ingredients are the same except for a flower and pearl on the cross, a small butterfly and a ribbon. 

As a reminder here's the one from last night.


And now for tonight's version!  Both are great cards, this just shows you that you can keep going on a card and change it's look to a fancier card.

Give it a try sometime - when you think your card's completed - see what else you could add to step it up a level.

See you tomorrow!

Easter Wishes

Easter is really late this year, or I would be way behind schedule on my Easter cards!  This is one of my ideas, but I have several others up my sleve, so I won't stop here.  Another demonstrator shows how you can make a really prety card and then add to it and make it better,a nd then even add more and make it really great.  I was really happy with this card until I saw it on the computer screen and then it looked very plain, so I think I may follow the step it up plan and work on this card or one like it for the next several nights and see what we end up with - it may even make the cut to be my Easter card..

I used Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and the same DSP as last night, Cottage Wall.  It is retired, but there's a paper out there that would be just as pretty.  I made the cross with the lattice die and the Big Shot and Easter Wishes comes from the All Holidays set, raised from the card with dimensionals after punching with the Curly Label.

Enjoy and come back tomorrow to see what I do to take this card a step up.

God's Blessings

Tonight's card goes back to one of my favorite designs - the Joy Fold card.  Card stock is Whisper White, Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry and the DSP (designer series paper) is Cottage Wall from the 2009-2010 catalog and retired, but it was one of my favorites.  I love pulling out some of these old papers and falling in love with them all over again.  The stamp sets are God's Blessings and On Your Birthday.  I used the Decorative label punch and the three circle punches 1/2", 3/4" and 1". 

Now I just need someone with a birthday!  While I'm checking my calendar, why don't you pull out some paper and make a card!  Have fun and I'll see you tomorrow.

Fun Flowers

I just love the new Designer Big Buttons in the Mini Occasions Catalog.  These are in the set called Sweet Stitches.  I used Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight, but the set also includes Chocolate Chip.  I used taffeta ribbon to make the flower centers.  The holes are large enough to allow the ribbon to easily pass through.  Buttons come four each of three designs for a total of 48 buttons.  At 8.95, these are just great buttons!

I drew the stems and leaves with a marker and used the brayer to add the grass at the bottom.  Card stock colors are Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzaz and Daffodil Delight.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up!, but I think it may be retired.  I simply don't have the energy tonight to run back upstairs to find the set name.  I will add it tomorrow after I make my next card.  I will post it at the end of tomorrow's post, so if you need to know be sure to read to the bottom tomorrow.

This was really fun and something different.

See you tomorrow!

Embrace Life

I can't believe it!  It really is Day 85 of my 100 day challenge - believe me I am as shocked as you are that I've really created and posted something for 85 consecutive days!  It's really a great feeling, for a couple of reasons, #1 I've stuck to something, even on days I didn't think I could do it, but I did and #2 I only have 15 more days!!!!!!!  I will certainly continue to post, but I won't guarantee it will be every day.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  I know I've got some other things that I really need to concentrate on, but this has been a challenging and fun ride.

I used Greenhouse Garden and cased a card from last year's catalog, but I think my real inspiration came from Bill and I working in the garden all weekend.  We filled in two more beds with dirt, I got my potatoes planted and just general spring garden stuff.  We have bluebonnets this year for the first time at our new house, so it's nice to be outside and today was especially beautiful with a cool breeze and light clouds!

Today's card base is Rich Razzleberry, with Pear Pizzaz and Whisper White layers.  The ribbon is Rich Razzleberry 3/8" taffeta, the sentiment is from the set Embrace Life (seems obvious) and DSP is from this year's catalog.  Hope you enjoy and that this card encourages you to stamp and garden!

See you tomorrow!  Happy Crafting -

Beary Best Friends

Some time ago Stampin' Up! began a joint venture

with Build A Bear and the first stamp set was Beary Best Friends.  Not many of the ladies in my stamp club were of the age for Build A Bear to be of interest and so I held off getting the set and then those cute little bears stole my heart when I began to see samples out on the net, so I ordered it and then like way too many others once it arrived I didn't have a use for it and so it joined my other sets on the shelf and was soon forgotten.  I saw it tonight and thought it's past time  these two little bears jump out of their box and appear on a card and so here they are.  A cute little boy bear giving a gift to a  sweet little girl bear - maybe his sister, maybe his little girlfriend, that part of the story we will just have to guess about!  And so I close with this card "just for you."

See you tomorrow for Day 85 of my 100 day blog challenge!

Wish Big

No body says Happy Birthday like Sock Monkey!  In this case he's surrounded by an extra party hat and multiple packages plus a cupcake in his hand.  I love the sentiment "Wish Big" from Word Play.  I think that's what he's doing here - Wishing Big and telling you to do the same!  This will be a fun card to send that someone for their for their special day.

One of the best things about Sock Monkey is he comes with so many accessories, with even new ones in our current catalog.  He's a very versatile monkey, ready to help you celebrate almost every occasion!

Enjoy - See you tomorrow!

Merci

I have a very special friend who loves Paris!  Actually I have several friends who love Paris, but one in particular made me laugh so much this week on a day I felt so lousy!  We did it all by text and laughed like crazy women.  I have had a much tougher time with this last surgery and as my mom always said (many others too) "laughter is the best medicine and so after an hour with her I was much improved.  And so I made a special thank you to her using my Chic Boutique set - particularly the Merci and the Eiffel Tower. 

And so to her I say Merci and to all a good night!