~an unexpected opportunity..

Yesterday a gentleman visiting the beach for a week's break from the cold Indianapolis winter stopped by our local activity center on a whim and offered to do a one day Stone and Silver Jewelry Workshop. Not since my college days had I an opportunity to work in this medium so of course I said, "Indeed, we would be interested!" Unfortunately for those who were unable to attend today's workshop due to the short notice, they missed out on a fun day and an entertaining, creative, and educational experience. Fortunately for myself and the other gentleman in attendance the nearly private one-on-one instruction was an experience well worth the effort.
Our teacher spilled out a container of unusual polished stones in a variety of shapes. I chose an irregular oval piece of lavender jade for my project. Within only a four hour block of time I had cut and shaped, soldered and filed, sanded and polished pieces of silver and stone into a finished piece of jewelry. When we were finished with our pendants, we were reminded that we had created a one-of-a kind piece and that it was the little imperfections that made it so. I chuckled to myself as this is something I am constantly reminding myself each time I sit down to create a card. Creativity, regardless of the medium, is a personal and unique expression.

~Picture This..

My little helper..




A picture is worth a thousand words! What more can i say?

Samp set: Stampin' Up retired Ruff Day. Paper and ribbon: from my personal stash. Altered frame: from Target Dollar Bin. Dog Bones: Purina One.

~Sweet Sixteen..

for my sweet niece..

Happy Sweet Sixteen

Sweet sixteen! Sweet sixteen!
I can't believe it's true;
The person sitting before is
Is really, really you.

May the days that lie ahead
Bring happiness untold;
Choices that are good and wise
For your life as it unfolds.

Sweet sixteen! Sweet sixteen!
Colored candles on a cake!
I send you a Happy Birthday
With a wish for you to make!

from your very proud Aunt..

~one of My Favorite Things..

As I's said before Kim van der Sanden 's My Favorite Things is one of my favorite things. And of all of her My Favorite Things Let's Go for a Walk tops the list. As a dog lover and a collector of dog stamps its no surprise. For over thirty years at least one loving Gentle Giant, more commonly known as the Great Dane, shared my home. My first was Tweed, a beautiful brindle who came into my life when she was only eight weeks old. Seven, a merle rescue came to live with us in Tweed's older years and after Tweed crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge Abby, another rescue, fine and elegant and blue as cold steel graced my couch. Abby and Seven have joined Tweed at the Rainbow Bridge as has Isis, my first regal and well bred Harlequin. Isis was also a rescue of sorts and lived to the ripe old age of twelve, nearly unheard of at that time in a Dane. I fell in love with bold black and white spots of the Harlequin and after Isis I sought out a perfect puppy of Isis' same breeding. Catherine Von Meistersinger came from Kentucky and shared my days and nights, my ups and downs, and my many moves and a very special place in my heart. Today Zoë, my wild and wooly wonderful Whippet graces my couch or any other place she chooses to lie. She is my constant companion.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Fun Fall Water Bottles..

Each year our local senior center hosts a craft faire to help welcome our northern winter visitors. One of my good friends asked me if I would help fill her table with some of my work so i got busy trying to come up with something colourful, unique, and fun. After I made a couple of these recycled from my hurricane disaster preparedness stash of water bottles I decided to forward the idea on to my niece who is always looking for cute and unusual handouts to her Senate friends. I AM expecting a photo of her handy work any day... *HINT HINT* The stamp sets and ink are from Stampin' Up!, the ribbon is from my ribbon stash, and the paper from my scrap drawer.

~Nature's Touch Guided by an Artistic Hand..

One touch of nature
Makes the whole world kin
~W. Shakespeare

Words that come to mind when I think of a talented lady with a warm smile and a big heart.

For months a simple choker made of jade and silver, strung on leather latigo, a necklace of no real value but that of a favorite piece of jewelry, lay on my dresser in pieces unable to be worn gathering dust. Not too long ago it was my good fortune to "meet" a multi-talented artist restorationist and poet from southern California. Not only does she create some of the most beautiful southwestern style jewelry but she also, much to my happy surprise, is a creator of cards as well. This is the card I made for Cynthia in thanks for the the restoration work she did for me on my little necklace.

Another Birthday Card .. that actually came first.. Happy Birthday Mom!

I'd run across some really nice cards while blog surfing that were made using the criss-cross fold technique and really liked the overall effect. I wanted something different and special for Mom's Birthday card and decided this would be the ideal opportunity to try one out. The colours in Stampin' Up's Designer Paper Outlaw had caught my eye from the first time I saw them so I decided to combine the Outlaw papers with the Season's of Joy flourish stamp and the True Friend floral stamps. A special thank you to Beate for the inspiration.

Baby Brother's Birthday Bash..

My little brother just turned sixty!! and what better stamp set to help him celebrate than MFT's Let's Hear It for the Boys! . I'd recently finished a criss-cross Birthday card for my Mom and had such fun making it I wanted to try my hand at a file folder card.

I love making cards when they come together so easily. Unfortunately, I was so excited that I neglected to put the romote in his hand and the bowl of popcorn in his lap. This card IS my brother.

Time Flies.. ammended..

Sometimes I wish I could just click my fingers or wiggle my nose and ~*~POOF~*~ it would all just happen. First, you have to come up with an idea, then you have to gather up all your materials and supplies, then you have to think.. create.. rethink.. create some more.. think again and hopefully finally finish your project. Ah.. but its not over! Then you have to locate the camera, make sure the battery is charged, set up for the photo shoot.. shoot.. reshoot.. download.. crop and resize.. enhance, adjust and readjust. Once that is all done then you have to upload the photo and come up with some half way creative jibber jabber to accompany the photo, not to mention documenting the recipe. UGH! and get it all typed in and proofed. It has become quite apparent that I am a textbook example of one who suffers from ADD! But, my blog from the onset was not an exercise in seeing if I could out produce all the other card making bloggers out there, but merely a way to share with my family and a few friends a little of my creativity when i felt inspired.

My most recent inspiration, aside from the card I just finished for my brother's birthday is noted at the top of my blog. I've successfully convinced two ladies I am acquainted with to accompany me on a Caribbean Cruise designed specifically for stampers! For more information click on the link above.

Time Flies..

No excuses.

~how does your garden grow..

..or where do you draw the line between photography and digital art? I recently snapped the photo to the left shortly after I'd finished misting my little porch vegetable garden. It was only one in a series of images, but the one I felt was the best in composition and colour. I submitted the photo to a professional photographer friend for critique. Other than a single class in Photography Basics while in college prior to the invention of the digital camera or Photoshop my professional photographic training is limited to life experience. The comments I received along with the edited photo below were as follows:" Did you use glycerine? Nice effect of water on the fruit." "The smaller green tomato distracts. You might have plucked it along with some of the less than perfect leaves or merely edited out the distracting portions with Photoshop." The tighter cropping was not justified other then the mention that it had been done.
I wonder if I struggle with the fact that now my original photograph is no longer a true representation of my little tomato hanging on my tenderly cared for tomato plant or the fact that I may be just a little defensive that I have never learned how to use Photoshop to enhance my work, or for that matter received professional instruction on how to effectively use my Nikon D50. Maybe its time I took a couple continuing education classes. I would invite and enjoy any comments from my professional and not so professional photographer viewers. *:)