Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

i'm sending each one of you a huge choco-thank-you for taking the time to stop by my little blog this year

(and attached is a big hug for being so supportive!)!

wishing you a most blessed Christmas,

and a fabulously creative New Year!!

xox

i'll be spending some time with my family next week.....

see you in 2011!!

inspiration monday

i was at the craft store the other day (or maybe i'll just start calling it my "vacation home".....) and as i was making a bee-line towards the back of the store, a bag of these fun little marshmallow-shaped pieces of foam caught my eye.......

and then i started thinking about this little doodle i created last year......and realized that those yummy little foam pieces reminded me of my sweet friend and provider-of-non-stop-inspiration elf-in-chief, lenny!

so i couldn't resist the challenge of bringing that doodle from paper to reality!   i took one of those foamies and added a few embellishments to it.........some red polka-dot felt plus a little gold jingle bell for a hat, some wire for the arms and legs, green felt and gold beads to make a pair of cute little elfie shoes, a poinsettia and leaves cut from some decorative paper, and a micron pen to draw a sweet little face! but no elf-in-chief is complete without a little sign to carry.....a fun reminder of that ever so famous elf-motto to always add some "play, play, play" to your day!!!

lenny was created using the materials listed above.....and his sign was created using this stamp, decorative paper, and a toothpick.

the best intentions

this year i was all set to wrap my presents in brown craft paper that had been stamped with fun hand-carved Christmas images (if i only had the time to carve the stamp and stamp the paper!).....and then finish them off with some of that adorable twisted kitchen twine. but i've noticed that the calendar days keep ticking off, and i don't seem to be crossing things off my "to do list" very quickly.  and now i'm realizing that my brown-craft-paper idea will have to wait until next year......when i'm hopefully more organized......and maybe decide to start in august (since i had this brown-craft-paper idea last year, too!).

but for now, it's back to my store-bought-wrapping party.....

hope you have a fabulous weekend!!!

xox

inspiration monday

every once in a while i come up with what i think is a really great idea......and i've decided that instead of trying to keep it stored in the archives of my memory banks, i'm going to start writing it down!  (seems like the perfect excuse to sit down and create a fun journal page......what could be more inspiring than to get out the microns, watercolor pencils.....and chocolate?!)

 here's a better look at a cute little tag i made using 

of my new rubber stamps!

hope your day is filled with great and inspiring ideas!!

journal page finished using micron pens, watercolor pencil, 4B graphite pencil, pan pastel, decorative paper, ribbon, great idea stamp

red rubber results!

a huge thank you to everyone who joined in my red rubber giveaway!!  i SO appreciate all of your  heartfelt comments and sweet interest in my new rubber stamps......consider yourself bear-hugged!!!

and here are the giveaway results:

shortly after midnight, the random integer chose the number 9......

and that means that milkcan a.k.a. julie over at balzer designs has a package filled with three new art stamps coming her way!  woo hoo!!

(p.s.  if you don't know julie yet, check out her blog......it's busting at the seams with fabulous ideas and tutorials!)

thanks again for playing along.......i hope you have a fantastic sunday!!

red rubber giveaway!

it's thursday.......it's december.......(and baby, it's cold outside!)......

what better reason to celebrate than with a giveaway of my new rubber stamps! woo hoo!  

so let's start with a reminder to always "be you".....nobody does it better!

and how about a little incentive to keep those colored pencils, paint brushes, and crayons moving to color every delicious part of your world!

and because you inspire me so, i'm adding this one to the mix, too!

these stamps are made of deep-etched red rubber and can be used with almost any ink or paint......and i'm  giving away all three of them!  all you need to do is leave a comment (one per person, please!) on this post by midnight saturday the 11th of december, and i'll randomly choose a name and announce it on sunday!  

edited:  comments for the giveaway are now closed.....thanks to everyone who participated!!

you can read more about my new stamps in my etsy shop here!

inspiration monday

if given enough time, little seeds of inspiration can grow into dreams......and if those dreams are nurtured and taken seriously enough, they can grow into beautiful realities.....red-rubber-stamp kind of realities.....

actually, i have blogland's mondo beyondo cheerleader carmen torbus to thank for helping me to rediscover a little seed of inspiration that's been hiding in one of those dark corners of the creative side of my brain.....way back where all the cobwebs are thick and having wild parties. carmen asked me in a recent interview what my big dream was.....and after breaking up some serious cobweb parties and clearing out several dark corners of the creative side of my brain, i discovered a seed that's been waiting......for a long time......to grow. for whatever reason, i have long dreamed of seeing my lettering in rubber.....deep-etched red rubber stamps......and thanks to little seeds growing up into beautiful reality gardens, it has happened! i am thrilled to introduce you to my first deep-etched-red-rubber-stamp!!!

but what i find most interesting is how easy this whole process has been.....what i thought was so mysterious in having rubber stamps made was really nothing!  if i hadn't put so many hurdles up in front of myself, maybe that little seed wouldn't have gotten buried......and i could've been using my rubber stamps for all these years!

so the moral of this (long) story is: grab a flashlight and a broom and go hunting in those dark corners of your brain. sweep those cobwebs away and find those sweet little seeds of inspiration.....plant them....and watch them grow into gorgeous gardens of reality!!

i had some extra stamps made.......look for a giveaway soon! 

 i'll keep you posted!!

:))

sweet nativity

i just love looking at all of the decorations at Christmas time......especially nativity scenes.  and this adorable little nativity comes courtesy of ale balanzario over at with blueberry heart.  ale paints the cutest little illustrations, with just the right touch of sweetness and whimsy!  

and the really wonderful thing about this nativity set is that you can have one too!  ale has lovingly offered the artwork to all of us to print, cut and enjoy......just click here for the details!  

thank you for sharing this with us, ale......i absolutely LOVE it!!!  xox

opportunity

"In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity"

Einstein

these are the last two pages in my orange journal......and my first journal to have artwork on every page (i have several that are all "half-finished"....)......woo hoo!!!  

what a great opportunity to take a celebratory nose-dive into my chocolate stash!!

click on image for better view.

journal page finished using acrylic paint, micron pens, uniball signo white gel pen, 6B graphite pencil, white chalk pencil, pan pastel