Black and White and Red All over--You've Come a long way Baby

Often we wonder what will be remembered about us.  Will our family wonder what was important to us? So I decided to give a little help to those who might be curious.  As I love to make mini books,  I made one with the highlights of what shaped me--what influenced me, my experiences, homes, schools, and family, and what inspired me, my church and friends. Most of my work is in color, but to stretch my artistic boundaries, I decided to make this book in black and white, with just a few red highlights.  I hope you enjoy this vignette of me.

The papers were from Jo-Ann's, and the border embellishments were from KC Company  








Behind the shutters is a picture of four generations of hands from those of my littlest great-granddaughter to mine.  





So from a log ranch house in the mountains of Wyoming to the suburbs of Phoenix, by way of Denver, and France; from a shy country girl to a successful business woman with a circle of family and friends I have come a long way.

Where are the Ideas?

Another Sunday afternoon,  it is 101 and muggy, just too hot to do any art work.  So I have retreated to my office and have been surfing the web, paying bills, and catching up on correspondence.  I also am trying to plan some good layouts for several birthday cards for men, and get the basic idea for a collage that I have to have done by the end of the month so I can present it to our local firefighters.  But I am having a mental block.  I needed inspiration!

When the weather is so unfavorable, it is easy to forget that beauty still exists.  To remind me, I took my camera and went out to my front yard. The colors, shades, and shapes spoke to me, now I am inspired.

Not so Lazy Sunday Afternoon

This coming week is loaded with birthdays.  I checked out my stash of cards, but none of them spoke to me, so off to my studio, to see what inspiration might hit me.  First of all, I finished the "Wish" card.  The upper background is a paper sack that some purchase, now long forgotten came in.  But, I love the bag. For the leaves, I used the pouncing technique that we learned in Jennifer McGuire's Online Card Class.  A heavy spritz with pearl water, and after it dried, using Marvy's embossed leaf punches, I had a bunch of great looking leaves. Just a touch of ultra-fine glitter finished them.



  The inside is digital French Market paper, and a computer generated greeting.

Celebrating September's flower, the aster, I made the "Birthday Wishes" card.  The stamps are by Stampin Up, and the papers are digital French Market designs.

The "Happy Birthday" card again, used a digital French Market design, a Stampin Up greeting, and a silk flower that I rescued from a garage sale.  After washing, drying, and applying some gold and tangerine Stickles it found its new home.  Another one of the punched leaves added the finishing touch.


My fall birthday's for next week are taken care of, so now I can watch "American Handyman" without regret.

Autumn Air

Falling Leaves

Little leaves fall softly down
Red and yellow, orange and brown
Whirling, twirling round and round
Falling softly to the ground

Little leaves fall softly down
To make a carpet on the ground.
Then, swish, the wind comes whistling by
And sends them dancing to the sky.

                                 Anonymous 

The calendar says that it's fall, but today it was 107, so its hard to get in the spirit of falling leaves, chilly nights, and harvest pumpkins.  So I made this card to remind me that it won't be too much longer.

Two years ago in October I was in Corvallis, Oregon and was able to experience the true beauty of fall.

I miss the changing seasons, when Nature's calendar turns the page.  There are the snowy winter scenes, then as the page turns, we see a carpet of flowers sprinkling the hillside.  The page turns again, and we see the lazy days of summer with soft breezes and buzz of honeybees as they flit from flower to flower. Then the final page shows a burst of color--gold, red, orange and brown, an anthem singing the years accomplishments and the joy of the past year.

School Days

I have been taking on online art class taught by Jennifer McGuire.  It focuses on techniques using inks, papers, embellishments, and accessories to get a variety of looks to add dimension to cards, art books, or scrapbooks.


This is the sampler that I made showing the techniques.  Using these, there will be no boring cards or art books.  


It has been a fun two weeks!