vanilla dreams

vanilla ice cream, marshmallows, freshly fallen snow,

fluffy clouds, crushed snowcone ice, angel wings,

cotton balls, uniball signo pens.....

whatever your fancy, sweet addiedesigns has curated a gorgeous treasury over at etsy featuring a collection of white items......and she's included my graphite birdie journal!!!

i'm absolutely over-the-moon to have my artwork appear with such beautiful items! congrats to all of the etsians included here......and thanks SO much addiedesigns!!!

party on.....

the dancing shoes have been danced in, we've shown off our party dresses, used our noisemakers, bobbed colorful balloons around the room.....and eaten cake......yes, we've eaten lots of chocolate cake!!!! the only thing left to do is hand out the door prize!!

mr. random.org chose number 49.....

.....and pat over at lost and found, that's you!!! woo hoo!!!

thank you everyone.....SO much(!)......for helping me to

celebrate my 500th blogpost! xox

i love a good party, and you made this one so special!!!

here's looking forward to the next one.....

party on, bloggy sweeties!!!

p.s. pat.....i'll be contacting you shortly for your address!!

doodle candy

what is it about crossing the threshold of your favorite office supply store? those automatic doors swing open, you walk in , breathe deep, and you can almost hear the angels sing. to me, the smell of vinyl notebook covers, paper pulp and printer's ink is almost as intoxicating as walking into a candy store (emphasis on the word almost......). i could spend an entire afternoon there, and sometimes i do......but i wonder if it's getting excessive when the cashier at register number three knows you by your first name.....or when people start asking you if you work there....

so during my last office supply adventure i found myself once again lingering in the pen and pencil aisle, but this time over on the side where all of the highlighters are.....and i brought a pack of these bic bright-liner highlighter pens home with me (i'm calling them "high-liner" pens for short)! they have a chunky chisel edge, so you can make fat marks, or use the tip to make skinny marks with them. the colors are pure happiness.....and i think that playing with them in my journal will be too!

i found my pack at staples, you can view them here

p.s. if you haven't already, there's still time to put your name in the hat for my blogpost celebration giveaway......you can do that here!

comments close at midnight (eastern standard time) tonight and i'll announce the winner tomorrow!!

five hundred hugs and a giveaway!!!

i'm celebrating today......in a five-hundred-blog-posts kind of way!!

five hundred posts!! woo hoo!!!

i've got my party shoes on, along with a fun hat and a cute noisemaker....

but wait, a party just isn't a party without a door prize, right?!

so i wanted to create something a little "five hundred" special .

it all started with this fun teal and black doodle paper

by elsie flannigan.....

and i couldn't resist adding a few of my own doodles using my white uniball signo pen!

then i covered a couple of davey boards with it......

after that, i found myself pawing through my party-paper-stash, and started folding all kinds of fun things to write on.....graph paper, plain paper, ledger paper, lined paper, colorful decorative paper.....and i even found some kraft envelopes.....for tucking in all of those other important papers that are top, top secret!

once it was all folded, i poked some holes in the boards and the papers, took six needles and some waxed linen thread and did some coptic-stitching.....just to bring all of those delicious papers together in proper party fashion.....

and just to make sure that everything is tucked neatly inside and won't wander off,

i added an elastic band to the side to keep it closed!

and presto.......a five-hundred-blogpost-doodle-journal-door-prize!!

so let's get this party started!!!

grab a balloon and a piece of chocolate cake (before i eat it all)!

and to make sure your name gets in the party hat for the door prize,

just leave a comment on this post by midnight thursday

(one comment per person, and please make sure i can contact you!).

i'll use the random integer to choose a name and announce it on friday!!

{important note: even with hats, noisemakers, and door prizes,

YOU are what makes this celebration so special!!!

my heart is filled with thankfulness that i have met so many

fabulous artists and sweet, sweet people over

these past five hundred posts.......

it truly is one of the most unexpected,

and greatest gifts that i've received!!

thank you for hanging in there with me, encouraging me,

and inspiring me.....

i give you five-hundred-times-ten bloggy hugs!!! }

edited midnight thursday: comments are now closed......

thank you SO much for joining my party!

winner to be announced friday!

inspiration monday

for times when you're inspired to do "something" but don't really know what that "something" is, inspiration can be as easy as peeking into your old journals and idea files.......you're bound to find something in that treasure trove that's sure to inspire you again!

or, if you're like me, you might just have some unfinished projects lurking in your creative archives. i created this autumn doodle about eight months ago with the intention of doing a "season series"......and as usual i got distracted by other things......and as a result, i seem to have completely skipped over winter and spring! yikes!

so i'm hoping that i'll have this colored in by the time autumn rolls around this year, and then i'll be back on track for a winter doodle......provided that i don't get distracted again (and there's always a very good chance of that....)

and now to get this painted in.....

sandy toes

i'm wishing you the kind of weekend

that has you feeling like a kid on the beach again.....

when your sweet little piggies were covered in

glorious white sand......

and you didn't have a care in the world.....

xox

celebrate life

it's always interesting to me when you sit down with a "plan" in your creative brain, and the result is completely different. i always struggle with collage.....still trying to train my eye with what "looks right" to me!

i carved a cupcake stamp to use, but i'm wondering if it would have been a better idea to stamp it just once, instead of all over the place like wallpaper......

or maybe it's just that once you get an idea in your head, nothing else looks right to you!

journal page finished using decorative papers, hand-carve stamp, micron pen, 2B pencil

thank you SO much for all of your sweet birthday wishes......

it certainly took the sting out of turning another year older!!!! xox

and thank you martha for such a beautiful birthday post!!!

tuesday card tutorial

here's a step-by-step idea for creating a fun card that holds a little gift inside (kind of a new twist on the gift card holder....)

#1: cut paper and fold to create a simple card, any size you like (you can even use an existing greeting card or note card). i wanted the back of mine to be a different paper than the front, so i sewed two pieces together on my sewing machine.

#2: take two coordinating pieces of paper and cut 3" x the width of your card (mine turned out to be 3" x 4.25")

#3: score along the 3" side at these measurements: 3/4", 1.5", and 2.25"

(the space between each score should be about 3/4")

#4: accordion fold your pieces with the middle score being a mountain fold

#5: open your card and run a piece of double stick tape along the inside at the top and bottom edges (you can also use red-line tape or glue if you like)

#6: place your folded pieces on top of your tape, matching up the edges with the card edge

#7: fold down the top of the card onto your folded pieces, matching edges. press to make sure your tape is sticking firmly!

#8: i wanted to place a ribbon for closure, so i used a square hole punch to make an opening (punch several in a row, overlapping your holes to make a rectangle....it's not exact, but that's okay!)

#9: tuck something special from your secret stash inside your card holder....don't forget the pretty confetti and tissue paper!

#10: run a ribbon through your punched opening and tie a ribbon to close!

#11: now give it to someone special!!

i'm sorry for the small photos....too many to post!

please click on images for a better view.

inspiration monday

are you smiling yet?!

normally this little guy would move straight up my inspiration-meter

based on nothing more than an extremely high-cuteness-factor.....

but on closer inspection, he seems to be hiding something.....

something spectacular.....

this little tickle-your-ribs critter is actually a gift card holder in disguise!

i just love it when cute meets function!!

and it's brought to you by the creative genius

of the folks in this place.....

the home of inspiration!!

big love

sending you

big hugs,

big love,

and big fun

this weekend!!

journal: decorative paper, fabriano artistico,

hand-carved stamps, micron, g-tec pen, decorative tape

more on chalk

several days ago i was playing in my journal with chalk pastels (see here). this is a layout using the same stencils, same chalks, along with some micron pen detailing......but this time on a page from a discarded library book.. it's always amazing to me how the same subject matter can look so completely different when it's on a new background! of course, i'm so hooked on my cherished little heart-in-hand image, i think i'd love it on just about any background.....

patience, faith, and gifts

the sea does not reward those who are too anxious,

too greedy, or too impatient.

to dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed,

but lack of faith.

patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches.

patience and faith.

one should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach -

waiting for a gift from the sea.

anne morrow lindbergh

from "Gift from the Sea"

pretty in pink

there was a time when the first color i reached for in the crayon box was blue-violet. everything in my world was blue-violet. and then one day my eyes were opened to orange....any shade of orange. i love orange......especially with this color infusion of hot pink!

this dynamic duo looks great in little diamonds.....

or as dots on steroids....

or all folded up neatly, with just a peek to lure you inside for more.

it's orange, it's pink.

it's a dreamsicle, with a cotton candy chaser.

(the only thing missing are the chocolate chips.)

this journal is available in my shop here.

inspiration monday

inspiration usually strikes when i'm in the bookstore.....and my last trip was no exception, because when i saw this sweet little beach hut in this book, inspiration struck hard!

i could make my very own elvie house!

and add some beads, buttons and hand stitching......

along with its very own elvie flag to sit at the top!

and i even have the perfect place for it.....

right in the middle of all of my other inspiration stuff!

woo hoo!

to read more about my inspiration tree, click here.

elvie house created using fabrics, stuffing, thread, beads, button, fabric glue, paper, toothpick.

project inspired from sew pretty homestyle

stencil play

it's been a while since i became a student of mary ann moss' stencilry class, and i must admit that i really haven't done too much with it yet. my list of excuses includes not owning a collection of spray paints, not having a place to use non-collection of paints, it being too sweltering hot outside to use non-existant paints, and, well, being a tiny bit distracted with doodling cute little thumbprint people (which has nothing to do with paint).

so, to solve the spray paint dilemma, i decided to get out my chalk pastels and use them instead. i really love the softness of the stenciled images.....and the big bonus is that i don't have to go outside.....

chocolate tends to melt at the speed of light in this heat (which also has nothing to do with paint)!

have a cool-stay-inside-and-be-creative weekend!!

journal page finished using stencils, chalk pastel, micron pen

tiny dancer

i received a comment the other day from elise over at ballet news......

she was wondering if i would create a little dancer, thumb-style.

what a fabulous idea....and a great challenge!

so here's my tiny dancer, striking a pose that might not be an actual ballet movement,

but in my doodle brain, this is what i imagined!

thank you for inspiring me, elise!!

batfun

there's nothing like a little wisdom from our favorite

1960's caped crusader to get the day going right.

heeheehee

doodle finished with micron pen, watercolor pencil, pebbles chalk pastel, 6B pencil

be creative

being a happy person doesn't mean that you're void of problems.

believe me, i have them. actually, i have lots of them.

but i also have a choice. i have a choice of how i react to them.

i try to handle them the best i can, in the most positive way i can.

this approach doesn't always work, but that's what i aim for.

do i get bummed sometimes? yep.

frustrated, irritated? yep, yep.

do i want to be bummed, frustrated & irritated? nope, nope & nope.

therefore, i create.

because being creative makes me happy.

be creative=be happy.

doodle finished on graph paper using micron pen, thumbprint, watercolor pencils, 4B pencil

p.s. thank you so much for the sweet birthday wishes you sent my dad!! xox

inspiration monday

happy birthday to the man who

taught me the importance of laughter,

showed me how to use power tools,

reminds me to always do my best,

has a permanent spot on his broad shoulders reserved for me to cry on,

is a friend when i need a friend....and a dad when i need a dad,

put "wise" in the word "wisdom",

still tells me that he's proud of me,

and has inspired me every day of my life.....

happy birthday, dad

i love you!!! xox

celebrate!

happy birthday, america!!

thank you to all those before us,

and all those today,

who have fought so very bravely

to secure the glory and freedoms

of this awesome country!!

enjoy your celebration!!!

happy jacket

sometimes when i'm standing in the paper aisle over at one of my favorite paper haunts (and i'm trying to ignore the increased rapid beating of my heart and sudden clamminess on the palms of my hands due to the excitement of being in said paper aisle), i ask myself,

"if i were a blank journal, what would i want to be covered with?"

because paper on a blank journal is really kind of like wearing your favorite jacket. you know....that feeling that you look really good in that jacket.....

and it makes you happy.

so, i hope this little doodle journal feels really good in this new jacket.....

and i hope it feels happy.....

because it sure makes me happy!

more info and photos here in my shop