Giveaway's as a way to Pay it Forward

Twice in one day- again. The new tutorial is below but I thought I'd share something exciting. One of my BFF's (Blog Friends Forever) Christi over at 2 if by Sea is offering one of my all time favorite necklaces of hers, "go", in a Giveaway this week.

Fabulous- but I love the conditions of entering. You have to PAY IT FORWARD and in order to enter, have to host a giveaway yourself. I'd been toying with the idea already, as a way to introduce you all to my new Facebook Fan Page. So I took this for a sign from above and am planning to do my own giveaway later this week. So stay tuned!!!!!

And hop on over to Christi's blog and maybe give it a go yourself. :)

PS I have a couple of Christi's necklaces and they are AMAZING!!!!!!!

The Cherry On Top

Sometimes in life we hope and pray for what we need and really don't expect anything more. Then it comes, not just what we'd asked for- but above and beyond. It's as if God is showing us how much more he could give. It's the cherry on top. Last week I had one of those experiences. Not only did the photo shoot go incredibly well but all week long I was excited for Friday night. Yes, that was the end of the week and I knew I'd be so glad to have it over, but I was also looking forward to celebrating with a friend. That was the Cherry on top.

So Friday night after the shoot was over, I was able to "meet" my friend Shelley for the first time. We've been e-mail friends for over a year now. We met on Etsy way back when I'd first started. She was one of my first customers and when I looked up her shop I had to convo her and tell her how WONDERFUL and truly AMAZING I thought her work was. I've convo'd many of my customers but somehow Shelley and I really hit it off. We're both artists and we're both Christians and I think that gave us a base to start from that really helped the relationship along. I now count her as one of my very best friends and so, when I found out that my publisher was in Cincinnati- as is Shelley- I suggested we get together at the end of the week. It was so fun to anticipate and all week long I told people about it. It was funny to see the caution that came to people's eyes when I told them I was going to meet a friend from the internet. It does sound like the beginning to some horror flick, but I was confident we'd have a blast. And it was so fun!!! Definitely the cherry on top for the whole wonderful experience.

And really, finding friends and kindred spirits has been the best thing about all of my adventures of the last year. Any of you who are artists know how special it is to find those kindred spirits. You know, the people who just get you and you don't have to explain yourself to, I count so many of you in that group. Strangers who leave comments and become friends. Some of you I know well, and some I've yet to get to know. I appreciate each and every one of you though- and want each of you to know that in this adventure, you're all the cherry on top for me. Thank you!

Local Craftiness: Crazy Fun Weekend!

Sometimes you only have time for one load of laundry, do you yours or your kid's? I chose to do Jasper's and ran around town wearing whatever seemed cleanest all weekend. But it was an awesome few days. I started it early by throwing caution to the wind and taking my son to Junk Bonanza on Thursday for the Blogging Party. I sound dramatic but it's a big risk taking a 4 year old with to an event like that. Fortunately God smiled on me and I thought to call and invite my cousin to join us. We played tag team with Jasper and I got to meet some fabulous craft personalities.

What I liked best however was meeting some local gals who I'll introduce you to in my next post. Fellow moms like Jill Hinson (who created the Thrify Mom's Challenge Table- which rocked), and artsymama (blogger extraordinaire!). I was completely blown away by the creativity of the vendors as well. I saw a bit on Thursday and then returned on Saturday morning with a friend to see the rest. When I got home I filled 4 sketchbook pages with ideas I had and sketches of what I'd seen.

Two hours at home and then it was off to Scrapfest 2009 at the Mall of America. I'd registered for the Stylish Standing Desk Calendar workshop sponsored by Me and My Big Ideas. It was a good little project and I liked that they gave us a lot of extra materials. We got the majority of it done right there in class and I'll finish the rest up sometime this week. I took the class because I eventually would like to teach classes like this and wanted to experience one first. So between the blogging party I attended on Thursday and the Scrap class on Saturday I feel like I really did some positive things for my future art career. Yay!

Aaah...Paree!

It's officially Spring now but today it's sleeting outside. Luckily I have my new and beautiful stamp set, Paris in Love, to focus me on much lovelier things and buoy my spirits! This is the third set Shelley of Singlestone Studios designed for her April 1st release. I LOVE this set. More than any of the other sets this one seems to speak to me. Yes I love the images but I love the way you can look at the images and see a story. As if they are illustrations to some great romance that has yet to be written. There is great music out that will paint a picture in your head while you listen to it. That is the best way I can describe how I feel about this collection of text and images. The rose tossed to the ground, the looming Eiffel Tower in silhouette, the swirl seems like a breeze, the postmark, they all point to a place and a story. Maybe there was a love letter? Maybe some secret assignation between two lovers who's hearts pound as they meet. They don't need to speak, they've written all their thoughts in letters. Now they only whisper little phrases that say nothing but that speak to each heart of a great love.

I don't know how Shelley chose the images and text she did for this set but I really do LOVE how it all comes together in my imagination and tells me this story. The first piece of artwork I did with this set is kind of a memory board of this love story that didn't actually happen. I chose postcard papers and pages from a French-English Dictionary to create the background. Then I added some ink, some paint, and the stamped imagery. I loved the scratched up, mixed media feel of the piece. So I really accentuated that. I added some paper patterned with script that made me think of the love letters I was envisioning. The red acrylic was to add a sense of passion and romance. I think the addition of the wire flower, because of the way it's attached, gave me the sense that this was a sign of sorts. In another form it would have been hanging over the entrance to a cafe but here, it merely points the way to my story of lovers. I really loved how this piece came together and I had a ton of fun creating it.

After this piece I thought it would be fun to make an invitation with the stamps. I created some ink blots, and used a credit card in black acrylic to frame the Tower. Then, because I was having waaayy too much fun with this set, I threw together this little clay pendant. Again it has the roughed up aged quality that just screams romance to me. The final project I have in mind I haven't done yet. But can't you just imagine a pair of white undies embellished with red lace and some of these stamped images? I have to try it! When I do I'll post so you can see what I mean. Trust me, it will be sooo cute you're gonna want your own!

The Paris set, the Tweet set, and the Butterfly Garden set all go on sale TOMORROW- April 1st! To purchase go to www. singlestonestudios.com! Then when you've done you're own projects I would LOVE to see pics!!

Make Friends

Last August I took the leap and started an Etsy site. I was a wreck for weeks before we launched. It was just so intimidating to actually put my work out there. I was far more concerned that no one would like it than I was that anyone would buy it. That came later :). It was so worth it! I found validation on Etsy. People did like my work and I even do pretty well selling it. YEAH! But FAR more importantly I found a community of people that are incredibly supportive of each other. One of my favorite Etsy finds was Shelley from Singlestone Studios. She is an amazing artist who's vinyl wall graphics are truly unique and extremely well crafted. She has been extremely supportive and has even gone so far as to surprise me with matching graphics for this blog and my etsy site. I LOVE them!!! Many artists try to operate in a vacuum. They are missing so much by not "making friends". We don't create in a vacuum. We absorb everything around us, including the work of other artists, I truly believe that it is part of who we are. I have been so blessed by the Etsy community, the sellers and the buyers, that I truly consider them to be the best thing about my time there.

So anyways, please check out Shelley's etsy site and her blog- they are both full of eye candy for the color and design enthusiasts! Here is one of my all time favorite wall graphics from her site. Wouldn't it look lovely in your home?