Long time no see..

My children have been out of school for a little over 10 weeks, and it certainly shows on my blog. I hope to get back to crafting and blogging very soon, right after all the school supplies are purchased, clothing is bought, athletic try-outs, practices and the actual first day of school. Summer will be coming to a close and for me this brings mixed emotions. On one hand I've got them all here everyday, fighting, screaming, making plans and dirtying up the house. On the other hand they're somewhat helpful - and I use this term lightly - in keeping up with the younger of the bunch and slightly helpful when it comes to the housework. Some days are fun, with laughter, hanging out together and working together - others.... I could just scream!

So, if you've visited my blog looking for some artsy tidbit or words of wisdom, I'm very sorry to disappoint, but please don't give up on me yet!

Blog Candy Alert!

I know I know, I've not posted ANYTHING for quite some time but I had to pass this along..

Kristen over at Kristen's Kards and Klay is giving away some great blog candy - pictured here - swing on over to her blog and check it out!

A bit of Blog Love

One of my wonderful Genealogy Blog friends, Gini over at Ginisology has awarded Cindy's Place with the One Lovely Blog Award. I am touched that she thought of me.


This award has made its rounds for sometime and I am at a loss for 7 other bloggers to award it to, so I will proudly post it here.

Here's the other

This is the other card I made for the Military History swap. I wanted to do something about WWII and since my Grandfather was a gunner in one of these planes I wanted to highlight the flying fortress and the day of his first mission (background news).

Thanks for stopping by!

Where has the time gone?

It's unbelievable that it's almost May already! I see that I've had a bit of traffic lately, and I'm not sure why folks are stopping by, but seeing that I've not posted in more than a month they probably won't be back :-)

My art is still a suffering casualty of my other obsession and it shows because my "other" blog is getting many more updates - although I've been in a bit of a slump with that lately as well but getting some leads!

I wanted to share today this card that I made I made some time ago for a Military History swap in my Yahoo ATC group (ATC_Connection). Hopefully with summer right around the corner, and coming faster all the time, the running can stop and I will again be able to enjoy making some cards with my wonderful friends.

Susan is giving it away - You GOTTA get this book!!!

My artistic side has suffered lately because I've been so wrapped up in the genealogy work that I'm doing. But, I need to let you know about this book.... AND SUSAN IS GIVING ONE AWAY!!!!

This book is for me one of those creative escapes that I can return to again and again. When my creativity is suffering, I can visit it's pages and I feel like I could stay up all night making such offerings that she's got here. It's a great collection from some fantastic mixed media artists and she's done a wonderful job taking you on a personal tour of their work. You just gotta check this book out!

If you'd like to enter Susan's giveaway, visit her post here and follow her instructions. If you don't win, all is not lost! You can get your own copy at Amazon here. Visit the Amazon link and take a look at a few of the beautiful pages in this book - you don't want to miss it!

Ahhhhh... Fat Tuesday!

And a couple more....

I'm still using up those peeled paper backgrounds that I made last month. Only two left! The backgrounds were fun to make, easy and had endless possibilities!

Time for a cuppa tea?

Having a cuppa tea with my friends June & Tabby.... have a great day ladies!

The glue was just calling me!

Took a break from reading up on all the ancestors out there and made a few cards in the last couple days. It was pretty slow going (yes, again) but once I pulled the images out and printed some of them, the cards came together fairly quickly.. as always, some are better than others, but here they are anyway!

Thanks to June for the image on the left (post of Jan 14). Get some freebie images for your art at her blog, June's Art Freebies. She posts so many great images.

More ATCs coming tomorrow.

A little more creativity peeking through

Feeling just a bit better about these two cards than the previous two. Little Miss Creativity is peeking through a bit more. One of the backgrounds is the peeled paper technique, the other is one that a friend sent me with a trade.

Ahhh, 2 cre8 something.... ANYTHING!

Most of my friends know that my creative side left me a while back. Although I don't think it left altogether - just took a leave of absense for a bit. I'm not one of those 'artsy' people who can just whip something up anytime anywhere out of nothing. But rather a dabbler who needs clear instructions and then, once I get going can actually make somthing.

A long time ago I realized that this isn't something that comes easy to me - I love looking at other's work, especially the mixed media artists who are out there, and I buy books and scour the web for items of interest to use in my art. I've even got a room full of 'stuff' to use. But, I think that I'm a bit too left brained (is that the right side? :-) detail oriented, tend to want organization, cannot visualize something without actually seeing it... those things that us less creative types suffer with! Along with that, I've been working a lot on the genealogy lately and with that comes long hours scouring records, looking up stuff, entering data, re-reading information and documents.. all stuff that probably sounds pretty boring to you "born creative" types.

At any rate, my dear friend Tabby turned me on to a blog recently, called 2cre8art. This isn't just another challenge site, but more like a "do this... and oh by the way, here's how". What a wonderful idea! For those of us who struggle when we get away from our glue sticks for any period of time, this is just the site for me. So, their first monthly "do this" was a peeled paper technique. From the moment I sat down and started ripping the paper pages, I felt better. After I glued all those bits down I felt recharged then I cut out my ATCs and caput... nothing!!!! Usually a cool background will trigger something in me that gets me rolling through all the "bits and bobs" as June calls them. Nope, not this time.

But, I think I know the problem.. I cleaned up the place! Nothing is out, in front of me inspiring me to make something. Screaming "glue me to something!". So, while I've been busily cleaning up the place, thinking that a clear area will help me - not so! So to all you messy ladies out there who confessed to having the sloppiest room in the house - YOU GO GIRL!!! I know you're making beautiful things and you know you love your mess! How can one use what they have when it's all put away in those tidy little boxes? From now on, I'll pick up what I have to, try not to add to the piles and leave some things out on my table to scream at me!

Back to my 2cre8art cards.. they're not lovely, but they're a start. I don't think I made the deadline for the blog but that's okay, at least I made something... ANYTHING!!!