share the love

sweet cristi of 2ifbysea nominated me for this wonderful "Spreader of Love" award!  and to make sure that i keep the love goin' around, here's what i need to do:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

so, in keeping with all of this, here's who i'm passing this award on to:

 lisa lectura of llcreations

flor larios art

jenn over at noodle and lou

kate, a.k.a. shibori girl

laura of prairie peasant

thanks, cristi, for this very sweet award!

bluey green scene

chloe of LittleGreenShoot has put together the most beautiful etsy treasury...and, i'm so honored to have my blue and green batik journal included amongst such gorgeous items!   click here for a better view and to find out more about these stunning items (but hurry, because it expires on saturday!).  thanks so much, chloe!!

dragonfly, dragonfly

i stumbled upon this paper and went crazy...and you know that i bought extra,  just to keep my paper stash happy!  finds like this really make my day, and when i noticed that little faux postage stamp, well, that was the cherry on top!  don't you absolutely love it when a plan comes together?! 

handmade, coptic bound book with decorative paper wrapped around italian velata signatures. 

you can find this journal on flickr and etsy.

 

five minutes from home

i am so blessed to live five minutes from the beach.  and typically, i get side-tracked with life and don't visit as often as i would like to.  so, this morning before running errands, i decided to take a quick stroll on the sand...and i'm so glad that i did.  the ocean breeze will carry away any burdens that you arrive with...and those little birds, well, they make life seem so much less complicated!

inspiration monday

i can't think of a better way to become instantly inspired than to be in a room filled with other artists.  and thanks to my sweet little dutch boy giving me a workshop for valentine's day,  i was able to spend the afternoon with some of my favorite people, in my favorite rubber stamp store, doing what i love most...making this fabulous book, taught to us by our friend christy hawkins.   as most of  you know, i don't usually add paint to my work...and, our first activity was to paint the canvas cover.  so, with heart beating rapidly and palms somewhat sweaty, i started to move some paint around and was pleasantly surprised with the results!  of course, this would be a great time to mention that my best buddy martha (who is a fabulous painter!) was sitting next to me and coaching me along the way!  we laughed (i made so many dumb mistakes and had to start over so many times it was crazy!), shared ideas, and had a wonderful time just being creative!  and, martha and i are getting together again this week to start on some art journals!  i'll keep you posted on that...and in the meantime, you can see martha's beautiful journal here!

p.s.  inside this book are 96 tab-like pages, all different sizes.  this was really fun to put together, and i'll be making more of these!  click on the photos for a larger view!