Inspired Me

Merry Christmas! This holiday season has been good so far. My hubby and I attended his job's annual Christmas party a few weeks ago. It was held at Disneyland's Grand Californian Hotel. When we walked in, it looked like a Swiss Alps chalet with lots of wooden beams. It was a sight to see. There were beautiful decorations and little twinkling white lights everywhere. It felt like Christmas all over the place. So beautiful! Here are some of the sights from that night! The lobby featured this HUGE Christmas tree. It was spectacular!   Love this dress!   Yes, we were all dolled up sitting in front of the tree. This was a fireplace room in the lobby. So cozy!   This was a real gingerbread house, Disney style.   Another area in the lobby.

Happy holidays everyone! This Christmas, I didn't make my own cards as usual but used my Anna Griffin shaker card kit instead.  This kit has everything and I just added my creative. Take a look at how some of them turned out.        Hope you enjoyed! Merry Christmas to you and yours!  

Happy Friday and November! Today, I am sharing my recent art. Since Summer, I was preparing to go to the hospital for surgery. I had so many mixed emotions, concerns and plans. So with all this going on, I decided to create some art that I could look at daily to encourage me. Finally, last month I had my surgery and it was a success.  I am so glad it is behind me now. God was so kind and really helped me get through this.  I am so thankful to Him! Now, I am on the recovery road and hope to be back creating and sharing soon. "You Got This" is the name of this art. I always start with a messy background and them add some structure to it. I love being messy in my art. Where else can you make a happy messy and it be ok? LOL! The ladies represent joy, love, alert/wisdom, confidence and kindness. In this stressful time, I needed to be reminded to be kind and more loving to myself, trust my wisdom and be confident. So, I encouraged myself with these qualities and it did help.

Happy September! Raise your hand  if you know that crafting is GOOD for your health? Ok, I see those hands out there! LOL! I discovered papercrafting some years ago out of the blue. I couldn't believe how fun, relaxing and soothing it was. It helped me release a lot of stress and tension as well as share my new craft with loved ones. Then, when I leaped into drawing and painting, it had a similar affect on me. I was so surprised these two creative expressions calmed my nerves and gave me a new outlook on life. After this, I was open to trying many creative interest like floral designs, guitar lessons, sewing, photography and interior design. So, I know from personal experience the healing power of arts and crafts and the joy they provide. There is something about working with your hands and concentrating on a fun project that works wonders for the soul. Earlier this year, I ran across this article called "How Craft Is Good For Our Health," by Susan Luckman, P

Today, I am thrilled to introduce my next "Inspired She" guest  Jen Gallacher. I first became acquainted with her years ago at Two Peas in a Bucket scrapbooking website. If I remember correctly, she was on the design team that created lots of fun classes and special events for us. I was new to the scrapbooking world back then, so it was all so exciting and energizing for me. Inspired She Guest: Jen Gallacher Recently, I started watching her YouTube videos again and felt so inspired and motivated. She is a "gem" in our papercrafting world and I am celebrating her today! Jen is currently the Marketing Coordinator for Jillibean Soup, and Creative Editor for Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine. Her past design team positions were with: E cho Park Paper Carta Bella Paper American Crafts Two Peas in a Bucket Karen Foster Design Lil Davis Designs Ok, let's get this Q&A party started. Also, I sprinkled pictures of some of her

Today I am sharing my photobook I got from Shutterfly . A few months ago, I received a free book coupon from Kohl's and decided to use it. I thought having a book with some of my more recent art, cards and crafts would be fun to have. The process of designing this book was exciting and when I finished, I was pleased. It is a 8x8, 20 pages, glossy, and hard backed book with full color. I ordered this one and ended up giving it to my in-laws. They loved it. But, I liked it so much I had to order another one to keep. Here is the cover and a few of the pages. Enjoy!

I love watching HSN during their 24 hour craft programing and seeing all the new and innovative items. During the last craft day, I thought I was free and clear of shopping but when these two products popped up, I jump on it! LOL! First, this is an Anna Griffin Birthday Topper Kit. It has lots of metallic and floral kissed sentiments to add to any card. They SOLD OUT! Glad I got mine before that happened. :) 50 cardstock die cuts   So Pretty! Next, I got the "Carpe Diem" paper collection by Craft Factory. I had not heard of this brand before and thought I would give it a try. Here is the link at HSN. Click HERE Paper pad, gold word thickers, rub-ons, & lots of stickers 6x6 paper pad These supplies should keep me busy for a while. Plus, it is nice the two brands work together. So, crafting here I come! Have a good day!

Today's "Inspired She" features my first guest,  Nylene Budge of Utah. I first met her years ago when I was an excited and new card maker and scrapbooker. She led an online group called the "Pokey Peas" at Two Peas in a Bucket papercrafting website.  She gladly welcomed me and the group cheered for me. Over the years, not only have we shared our various creative projects but we have shared our lives. What a sisterhood! Thanks Nylene!!!! Nylene is a wonderful crafter, wife, mother, grandmother and even great grandmother. Although I know she would blush when I say this, but she is a master at making scrapbook pages and greeting cards along with other crafts. One of her precious gifts is hosting an annual Summer craft camp for her grandkids at her home.  Even her husband offers his woodmaking arts to the event. This year's theme was Dinosaurs. I love that she is passing on her passion for crafting to the next generations. These are fun memo

Last month, I was excited to start the "Inspired She" series. Today I would like to share my own inspired journey into the world of papercrafting. I grew up in a creative family but never had any real passion for arts and crafts. I remember my mom whipping out her hot glue gun creating beautiful floral wreaths and decorating Summer straw hats. I helped and enjoyed spending time with mom but I was like, "Nah, not my thing." Years later, when I was dating my husband, he pointed out how creative I was. He saw it in the way I dressed and put myself together. I think he was seeing glimmers of my creativity before I saw it. Then in 2006, I was going through dark depression and anxiety and just shut down from everyone and everything. I was so tired and just needed to recharge my batteries and recover. As a way to stay connected to my friends and family, I thought to make my first ever Christmas cards. Overwhelming joy swept over me after I made this first set