Be Thankful and Ease Up on Yourself

I want to do so many things and I want to be good at all of them. Some days it helps just to do as much as you can do. Here are two Thanksgiving cards that I made this weekend. I'll mail one to my brother's house (where my parents will be) and I'll hand deliver the other to the house where we're having Thanksgiving.

Sure I would have liked to do more. But you know what? I've got a sinus infection and I'm run down and it's okay to do this much and just be at peace. Stress is major contributor to illness and stress is generated by our own choices and our own perceptions.

Today I will rest and take care of myself. Tomorrow I will work from home. Thursday I will feel stronger and I will go out for Thanksgiving with friends. But if I don't do any of that--I'm still grateful and happy that this is the life I lead and for all those who have chosen to share it with me. Blessings to one and all.

Early Thanksgiving in Florida

There's so much to be grateful for in my world...Ryan (almost son-in-law) and Molly (almost step daughter) have returned from Germany where Ryan was deployed to Iraq. They came to visit last week and we had a glorious early Thanksgiving in Florida.

Now to the food--desserts are my favorite and I had three great ones this year. I did my apple cake from Recipes.com--a classic. Then I adapted a pecan pie recipe to include my homemade kahlua--awesome. And finally, made as an afterthought for Henry's son and debuting as the hit of the meal---PUMPKIN PARFAIT. So light and refreshing and easy--make up a box of butterscotch pudding, add half a can of pumpkin, 1.5 teaspoon of pumpkin spice, half a tub of cool whip. Layer pumpkin mixture with cool whip and crushed ginger snaps in dessert glasses and voila.

So even though we're eating leftovers (lovely turkey vegetable soup) we'll be celebrating again with Friends on Thursday. Life is good and I'm so grateful.

Happy Fall--Decor on the fly

Here's a few ideas to use your supply stash to make your home or gifts look festive for the season:

Arrangement tags and beaded candle (Top Photo)--I "arranged" purchased silk flower bushes from the craft store. If you buy the flowers already clustered it's really a matter of putting foam in vase and sticking them in. Next I filled in the base of the arrangement with orange ribbon to cover gaps. Then tied brown and orange ribbon around the neck of the base before hanging two Crafty Secrets tags on tiny ribbons to dangle there. Tags shown better in next close up photo. TIP: Use a great vase like this handmade pottery one. Naturally, my vase was $2.00 at the thrift store. -grin-

The candle is one I want to burn while having dinner guests so it is unscented (read cheaper to buy). I placed in a simple brass holder made for a wider candle and surrounded the base with beads. I strung more beads on a wire and wrapped the candle with it. Attach the wire with fall colored or gold mini-brads. They look pretty and work great.

Flamingo for Fall (third photo down)--Naturally I love my Florida Flamingos so I had to decorate one for fall that will go on our screen porch table. Use Crafty Secrets cut out or other paper art and wire to make a sign hanging with wire from the neck of your animal. I added a Spellbinder's pumpkin die cut and gem stone to the cut out. Tie an orange bow around the neck of the animal to finish it off. This technique works great with lawn ornaments and any animal figure you have around the house. Try it and you'll be chuckling all day.

Wine gift box with tag (bottom photo)--Unlike the first three projects that I made today, this one was made last year so some of you may have seen it. I purchased a great wine gift box and filled it with a nice bottle. Then I used ribbon bow and a silk flower on the handle. The gift tag was made with a plain Avery tag decorated with a Stampington stamp and the rose die cut from Spellbinders. This is the perfect hostess gift for fall and I used mine for a fall anniversary present.

All of these projects involve taking store-bought items and adding handmade touches. Think of it as "altered crafting." You may not have time to create everything from scratch--but you can add festive touches in just a few moments.

These projects are dedicated to my incredible mother who always changed the decor for every season and added special touches for guests. My version of things may not be as exquisite as hers--but I honor and appreciate her all the same. Thanks Mom!

Update

So much for my weekly post binge...sigh. I'm still dealing with sinus issues and I picked up a great new contract Oct. 8th that has had me spinning. My apologies. Haven't spent much time in the studio, so it's easy to list what I have worked on:

-Sept Pine Cone Press--fun purple and green layout with book on the page

-Holiday Gifts-I'm decorating some paper bags for holiday gifts plus I've bought some great jewelry from this cool site and I want to create clever packaging for that for the holidays.

-I got a ton of new dies from Spellbinders and I've barely passed them through the machine, but new and exciting prospects are awaiting me

-Did a fun Spellbinders demo in a local store last week. I sure hope they start to carry the Wizard around here.

-Photos are posted "pre-scrap" this time and include a fun day trip to Miami's South Beach plus Daisy hiding from a bath and Drexel ready to fetch.

--Live long and prosper. I'll try and keep up better.

underwater missives

I have been battling a sinus infection since Tuesday afternoon. I really don't want to take antibiotics again since I've had them three times in past few months. So, I am armed with tissues, steam, over-the counter meds, supplements, and my big comfortable bed. This WILL pass. I am still angry that I watched Sir Henry bring it home and did little or nothing to protect myself. -growl-

Today is better, mornings usually are too. So, here I go. I don't have recent art to show for this week. I went to my Pine Cone Press Book Club, but I didn't get to finish. Our topic was flap books--we stay one month behind to insure good shipping. It's a fun topic.

Holiday gifts are on my mind. I want to make lots of cards and ornamanets plus I've got a list of individual gifts. Getting started seems to be the hard part. I did some holiday projects for Spellbinders this spring and they are now available for viewing here. There's an article on my web site featuring the buckle cards in more detail.

I'm busy working on my classes and free classes for My Creative Classroom. I can't wait to get that rolling--please let me know if you have ideas or requests.

Digital Fun

Am I behind the times or ahead of the times? It feels like both from my perspective. I used to do digital scrapping in the late 90's and even taught a class or two on the topic. When it came back into fashion, I didn't think I wanted one more thing to tie me to the computer. My carpal tunnel is bad enough now (in both wrists).





Spellbinders got me started on it again when the introduced digital packages that coordinated with their dies. It's a brilliant move on their part to combine die cuts and digital for hybrid scrapping--but they've been unable to publish new kits frequently and I'm no longer infatuated with their digital line. The concept however, has stuck and made me very happy. I published my Bruce layout here using their dies and some free digital downloads in August.





I'm considering doing my October gallery with hybrid projects so I don't want to spoil it with more photos too soon--but I've got some cute stuff to show you. Today's photos are projects using digital elements from Designer Digital Art Deco Collection. I have absolutely no affiliation with this company other than liking their products. They offer kits or individual parts and pieces which works well for me. The other great thing about this company is that they have free downloads every week and they have discounts every Thursday. Brilliant marketing --in my judgement.





I still consider myself a photo shop novice, so if it I'm using the wrong terminology here, please correct me. I will say if you are intimidated by digital scrapping, I certainly understand. To me it is like re-learning everything. However, once you get it going, it's really fast and so easy to change. I'm not ready to stop anytime soon.





AWESOME: 2 page layout using Art Deco Elements from Designer Digital and my photos from our trip to Wonder Works in Orlando before the shuttle launch. As of now this is a pure digital layout, but I haven't printed it yet--once I print I usually want to add flourishes from my studio. I'll post again if I do.





THANKS for reading and for all the great emails I've gotten. Please visit my newly revised web site--I'm still making updates regularly and I'd love to have your input.

The New Website is here--the new website is here....

The new web site has launched and I'm so excited!

I've paired down many items and made room to make frequent updates easy and fun. Whew!

From the main index (home page) to the articles and bio--everything has a fresh new look. I disabled a lot of links that may reappear at other times, but I have the time now to add and subtract. My articles and the gallery get the most attention so that's where I'm focusing first.

The September gallery is all about circles. I've mentioned these recently and shown some of the pieces in the blog, but you'll see new ones as well. The journal pictured here is a "blog bonus" not in the gallery. I made it to be my wedding planner and log. I like the colors of turquoise, pink, and brown too, but since we are leaning toward marrying in a vineyard, I may change those.

The October gallery will be up in two weeks. I still haven't decided on a theme, but I think it will include some topics that I will be teaching soon on My Creative Classroom.com. That's right I'm teaching again and you can come to my classes no matter where you live! I've had so many kind requests to come teach in areas that are just tricky for me with traveling and I'm so excited that I can get back in saddle again with an online classroom. Be sure and use the link above to get started with the mailing list at MCC and stay in touch with requests for topics.

Left my comfort zone

For me, leaving my comfort zone often means following the directions...sheepish grin. I love and cherish my local Pine Cone Press club--but usually I make a point of doing something very different with the sample projects and materials. This time I missed the meeting because I was still exhausted from my trip to Virginia.

After picking up my materials from Lynn's house, I went home and thought I'd have some good scrap therapy to aid in regaining my strength. I sat down and went through the fun papers and embellishments and turned to page 8 in the book to check out the sample by Debra Jennis. It was simple and brilliant.

Now I usually admire all the sample pages, I just like to give them a little twist. This time, I pushed myself to just make the sample and I'm so pleased with the results. I have a few tiny variations because I cut wrong and my photos fit flowers better on different sides, but for the most part--I stuck to the plan.

And now the rest of the confession....When I sat down with the fabulous (as always) Pine Cone Press book--I was drawn to the layout on page 9 first. I just love how designer Alcia Ackerman Grimm used one photo and white pen doodling lines on this one. Plus those great chipboard flowers similar to the ones we got in the kit from Scrapworks. So, before making my strictly "by the book" spread, I created this one as a warm up:

So the moral of the story for me was: If you want to move outside your comfort zone, do a warm-up first. Remember you can click on the layouts to see larger images and be on the lookout soon for lots of news about my new and revised web site, online classes, and new articles coming to Suite 101. THANKS!

Party Decor

One of the best things about being creative is sharing that creativity with family. I know, if you've been a student of mine, you are fully aware that EVERYONE is creative, but some just don't believe it and sometimes there's not enough time to do it all yourself.

My "almost" sister-in-law's step son got married last week in historic Williamsburg, VA. She has a total of four children and this was her only boy. Good practice for her before all the girls start tying the knot. She emailed me a couple months before the wedding to ask about decor for the rehearsal dinner. I was so honored and excited. She offered to pay the bill if I would come up with something which was extremely helpful considering my limited budget--grin.

I immediately went to Oriental Trading Company's site because I knew they would have great stuff for her luau theme. I book marked the suggested items and sent them to her. She ordered them and arranged for delivery to Virginia so all I worked on here was the "favor signs" little pokes that went in baskets at each place setting.

Details:

Centerpiece: We used a wooden wreath of flip flops with a tropical color burst candle in the center. The wreath was accented by small tropical votive candles and tiny eraser flip flops scattered lie confetti. (Thanks to my friend Jill for showing me those!)

Individual favors: We used 3" plastic flip flop baskets that were on sale (can't resist a bargain) filled with Starburst Tropical Fruit Chews and Skittles. Perched in each basket was one of my photo on a stick designs with a picture of the bride and groom.

There's a shot of a full table too for effect. Our decor added a lot of color and theme to a typical hotel banquet service and Rosemary spent less than $75.00 dollars on all of it. There were four tables of eight in the room, so if she'd bought arrangements from a florist the decor cost could have been doubled or tripled....I love doing things with family!

Elvis in the studio

John Lennon said, "Before Elvis there was nothing." I adore Elvis. His music and his movies have long been an inspiration for me. I made the pilgrimage to Graceland on his birthday in 1994 (I think that was the year, I'll have to check the scrapbook for sure). It was when Lisa Marie was married to Micheal Jackson. They had this HUGE tribute concert --we saw tons of famous performers all in one place.

Music does influence my art and my life. I made a series of cards with Elvis playing cards and Dream Impressions stamps around 2003. We were heading to Vegas for the convention where I was speaking and it just seemed like the fun thing to do.

I'm fascinated by when Elvis is celebrated. This week there were several shows on about him and his movies were running because it is the anniversary of his death. My trip to Graceland for the concert was the anniversary of his birth. I like that better myself, celebrating his birthday--but since he was everywhere this week, I thought I'd deal out these cards and talk about art with playing cards.

Here's a few tips and ideas (in random order) for working with playing cards:

1. Walmart has the best selection I've seen of decorated playing cards. I've used Elvis, Coca Cola, Marilyn, and others from there.

2. Playing cards are the EXACT size of Artist's Trading Cards and can be decorated just as they are to make ATCs.

3. The surface is very slick so use a solvent ink, sand them, glue stamped images to them, or use gesso to cover areas you want to decorate.

4. Use both sides of the cards--the ones you see above use the front and back of a playing card set.

5. There's a great freedom from working with playing cards because you get 54 of them in a pack and can play and experiment. Enjoy!

Hybrid Fun

Before we get to Hybrid Fun--just a quick update on the Website. I'll be launching a new and improved version of http://www.nachattin.com/ on September 15th. Sneak peaks will be available in the coming weeks.

Here's one of my latest hybrid scrapbook creations. I put the 12" print paper (Rouge Le Grange) right into my printer to make that title with a free download online. I used the Wizard to make a circle booklet that opens at the pull of a ribbon for journaling. The same technique is featured in a totally different layout for Spellbinder's October Education Newsletter. I love the versatility of my Wizard which was also used for the vellum letters (Indulgence font) and the white shaped accents (Paisley). The white stars are from an EK Success punch.

The journaling inside tells about this photo of my favorite musician, Bruce Springsteen. He played 5 nights in Washington DC on his "Born in the USA" tour. I was there the night before this picture was taken by a friend of mine.

The "sound advice" within the circle is that if you see no other live rock concert in this lifetime, see Bruce. He is astounding.

I just love combining digital and traditional scrapping. As I mentioned in July, the whole process is easier now with my Epson R1800 printer. (no affiliation, but I love this printer) I also have a new giant scanner for 12" pages, but alas, the surplus sale scanner needs a few repairs that we are gradually getting the parts to do....

This layout came together in under 20 minutes. I'd been meaning to do something with this photo for years--ever since I took it out of my living room in a frame when I got married in 1986.... My first husband didn't like Bruce, that should have been a sign. What was I thinking?

-grin-

Just Enjoy it...

This layout inspires two songs to circle through my mind. Totally unrelated songs in my opinion. The first song is "Buffalo Gals Won't You Come Out Tonight." That comes from the saloon girl get- up I was wearing in June of 1979...yes, that's me.

The second song is "Wild Winged Dove" by Stevie Nicks because of the line "on the edge of 17." She hadn't recorded that song in 1979, but hey, I can't control the timeline of head music.

One of my big pushes in teaching scrapbooking is "scrap the meaning and the moment." Although this layout is by no means the kind of work I think I should submit for publication or sell or teach....it is the epitome of why I scrap--the meaning and the moment. The visual impact is fun and fanciful to match the photo. The pull-out journal card (on the back in time circle top right) talks about this photo being taken as a Father's Day Gift for my Daddy, the minister. He got a kick out of it, as I knew he would. It also talks about what my 45-year-old self would say to that 17 year old self who was at Virginia Beach with eight friends celebrating graduation from high school. I teared up writing the note that very few people will ever even read, but those tears were cleansing and I'm better for them.It's about the meaning and the moment.

Once I completed this layout and my little tear session, I stuck true to my self on another issue as well: Why store scraps when you can use them? so this little cowboy card was born. I've been noticing that Bruce Willis uses cowboy references in his movies. I wonder if that is the writer or him? Anyway, I love these two:

"Yippee Ki Yay"

"It's time to Cowboy Up"

Either one would be a great message line inside this card.

update

CHA has wound down and the new supplies should be shipping into stores soon. My patron company, Spellbinders, introduced some way cool new stuff. I had some layouts, cards, and altered objects on display in the booth in Chicago including this holiday layout featuring the Elf posability die and wreath shapability die called "Elves in Cognito." It was one of those layouts you chuckle all the way through....

I've been really really tired and sore for days. I'm in physical therapy for my bulging neck disk and general fibromyalgia stuff plus getting lots of periodontal work done and seeing the 'regular line-up" of doctors. July has been tough, but I do feel improvements too. I am grateful.

Speaking of grateful, guess what Sir Henry did? He went to the local government surplus sale Saturday and got me a 12" scanner and a 12" printer! How cool is that? Technically the equipment is bigger than 12" but that's what I'll be using it for so that's how I think of it.

The $10.00 printer is the Epson Stylus Photo R1800. It's already hooked up and working. I had the Epson R800 previously, which was a mother's day present from my dog. I just love printing photos on this printer with pigment ink. It's the best one for me.

Sunday I downloaded some digital freebies and did two layouts. I just love the flexibility. I hope Spellbinders will come out with some new digital stuff soon, if not, I'm going to have to purchase some of the great kits out there. I still like the hybrid style best, but I love what digital adds to a layout. Post here if you know some good freebies or sites you like. I'm already crazy about my friend Jodi's Pink Tomato stuff sold on Polka Dot Potato.

I'll have that new scanner up and going before my next post. Blessings to you.

Circle up the Wagons

And grab your Wizards for an great new adventure in die cutting. Spellbinders has introduced a sneak peak of some new dies and artwork through Ellen Hutson. There's a whole new line called "Nestabilities" that I haven't even seen yet. They will be released July 20th.

They work similarly to the geometric dies currently available from Spellbinders. I love these dies. I have the tags, squares, triangles, and rectangles. The new dies will include ovals plus scalloped images--you can also see the designs and pre-order on Frantic Stamper's great site.

The possibilities for these dies are incredible. Just using the ones I have I've done all kinds of cool paper art. I'm posting a card here that I finished this week with some inspiration from Split Coast Stampers tutorials. It's so easy to cut a window from the circles and use cellophane to make the window glitter.

New on the web site this week:

I'm so transparent-layout using Spellbinder's Die Cut Fusion and not published anywhere else. (Third layout down on the page click to enlarge)

Simple Easy Layouts-I had been doing quite a bit of art for hire and I just wanted something easy and fun for me. The first layout pictured used the circles. The second spread has a geometric tag in pink that has been framed in white to match the white frame around the layout. Works out so easy.

Sorry I've been out of touch, as mentioned, I was working on artwork for hire, especially Spellbinder's CHA art plus I traveled to visit my parents in Virginia and I've been feeling a bit "peaked" for a while. I'm feeling stronger now, but still working on healing. Prayers and art are my greatest tools. Joy to you.

Legacy Art Gallery Updates

I thought I'd better upload my Mother's Day Art before Father's Day arrived. Of course, the great thing about mini albums is that they work for all kinds of reasons.

I made my Mom a mini album with photos of her recent visit to our Florida home. This album had all the right ingredients for me--quick, fun, inexpensive, and colorful. The 7-gypsies paper pad was on sale and using those pre-sorted booklets of 6" square paper is really helpful for mini-books.

I detest blue and Mom doesn't really like it either, but a beach visit book needed some heavy blue and I liked how it was balanced with coral and turquoise.

I made a mini album for my sister-in-law too. This one was more time consuming, but not hard. I collected chocolate papers from my stash (club scrap card stock and EK Success kisses) and used inks for background coloring. This book was assembled from the Pine Cone Press library card pocket book set. It was really fun to work with and while I thought the directions were brief--they worked.

While I was out...

Hi. Sorry for the lapse in posting. I had a stomach flare-up and then tried to come back too soon...What have you missed? Well, in between gripping my abdomen and eating saltines I tried to distract my self with some art and I went on two road trips with the family (two dogs and fiance make family...in some cultures anyway).

I'm actually very devious in my planning. We scheduled two outings with the dogs before Mother's Day. I figured that would line me up for a great gift. -wicked chuckle-

Here's me with the kids at Jupiter Beach Park. They allow dogs anywhere there is no life guard. Henry took the pups in the water and we had a lovely picnic lunch overlooking the ocean. I made friend chicken sandwiches....I love picnics.

Then we took a road trip to Miami to see Cesar Milan. Cesar is the Dog Whisperer. He has an amazing gift with canines and a show on National Geographic channel. We don't even get that channel, but Henry's brother Jeff does and he taped some shows for us and got us very interested. Jeff and his wife even bought a dog after watching--a too cute Chihuahua named Sundance. If you read this Jeff, call and let us know what Cesar told us about your dog....

We drove over an hour to Miami with the dogs in the back and me sitting up front sipping Ginger Ale and Gatorade. When we arrived, the line was around the building and growing rapidly. They numbered people by cluster and we were cluster 156. Henry dropped me off to save a place and went to park with the dogs. I'm standing in line, looking at all the other dogs and chatting with folks near me when I hear keening howls and barks and general dog mayhem. When I look back, sure enough, there's my dogs howling and growling their way to our place in the line....A guy about 5 people back yells, "Hey buddy, take those dogs to the front of the line--they need Cesar far more than we do!" Embarrassing.

We coaxed and scolded until they finally adjusted to being around all these animals and all the kids in line were soon petting them and giving them water. Finally, after two hours, we were led into the store for our 2 minutes with Cesar. He was kind and congenial and really worth the wait. He didn't ask my dogs to be on the show, which I take as a good sign....

The next photos are from our adventure with Cesar in Miami. Upcoming posts will feature art I made for Mother's day (two mini albums), prep for Christmas creations, and some training opportunities. Thanks for checking in!

Gifts from the Studio

I just added three new items to the Every Day Art Gallery on my web site. I just love using up my supplies to make clever and thoughtful gifts. Pictured here and larger on the web site is a half-pound chocolate bar wrapped and tagged as a card. All the embellishments here were already in my stash except the letters for her name. The tag on the right slips out to reveal a handwritten message.

Other new additions are "Positive Energy in a Bottle" and "Soap Box." I'd love to hear your feedback or teach these projects for you.

Latest creations

I've finished several projects lately, some of them were started months ago and so started last week. It's such a great feeling when the art is flowing.

I've got to get this stuff on the web site. Today you can have a sneak peak of a layout I recently finished. Check the web site later for the companion page. I did this with my April Pinecone Press kit. Love the bright colors that I probably wouldn't have picked otherwise.....

Strikes are good in Bowling

Proof positive that I will post unflattering photos....Sir Henry and I got a coupon in the mail for free bowling so we went and checked out Greenacres Bowling alley. It was fun. We learned that we are still terrible bowlers, but we also learned that there is still a place in our world for a sport that allows you to eat greasy food and drink beer while playing.

A glimpse of my world

I am so blessed. In our three bedroom home I have one bedroom with a king size bed to sleep in. One bedroom as a study to write and work in . Plus one brightly accented room as my studio.

Pictured here is my "youngest" Drexel. He is such a delightful exuberant boy. If he's not getting enough attention he just makes a flying leap for your lap with all 20 pounds of himself. In the photo here, he is "helping" me work on my blog by sitting in my lap and resting his head between the keyboard and the mouse.

Drexel likes working in the study best while his sister Daisy like working the studio better because she has a soft little bed in there. Of course they'd both rather be tossing a tennis ball around, but since they think I throw like a girl, they wait until Dad gets home for that.

For the final entry into today's glimpse I'm finally going to start posting about meals. I really love to cook these days and I'm fascinated with recipes and food preparation. As I mentioned in a previous post--I'm even creating a Legacy Art book called "Food is Love, Love is Food."

Last night's dinner was full of familiar flavors in new combinations. Thanks to prepackaged items it was ready in 25 minutes and we have enough leftovers for another meal.

Menu: Thai egg rolls, Stir Fry Chicken and Dumplings with Veggies and Noodles and almond cookies for dessert

Thai egg rolls--From the frozen appetizers at Target, this are the TGI Friday's brand which I prepared according to box in the toaster oven.

Stir Fry Chicken and Dumplings

--fry 4-5 frozen chicken strips until almost done in a touch of olive oil

-- microwave 5 frozen Asian dumplings (Ling, Ling brand from BJ's) for 3 minutes

--cook a package of Asian buckwheat noodles in boiling water for 6 minutes

--Pour a bag of Archer Farms stir fry veggies into skillet with chicken and add dumplings and noodles

--Add a package of mixed Asian Zen sauce from Tastefully Simple (use my friend, Jill Gardner, consultant ID 0008167 if you don't have a consultant)

--Stir fry for 3-5 more minutes until veggies are hot and flavors combine.

--Serve with dipping sauces from grocery store

For dessert we had the cookies I made from a mix on Sunday. They come in a pouch from Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines as sugar cookies. I added some almond flavoring and candy sprinkles to liven them up and made them twice the recommended size so they looked like bakery cookies. I learned all those little tips from Semi-Homemade on Food Network.

Rachael Ray's shows also have a huge influence on me with skillet dinners in general. I'm so grateful for Food Network.

Food is Love, Love is Food.

Prayers and Hugs to my Hokies

I was born and raised in Virginia and have always felt connected to Tech. I was inches away from attending there myself. It's such a large school within a small community that touches so many hearts and minds. I've visited the campus many times, I know and love alumni, employees, and students.

I am reminded of the prayer service we had in my church after Columbine. I couldn't fathom how children could experience such horror and I still can't. My niece is a college sophomore, my brother is a college Provost and his wife a professor. We naturally think of all the personal connections during such tragedies. It doesn't take long to realize we are all connected.

Cherish each and every soul you know and love--they are our strength and they are a gift. I pray for peace, for understanding, for forgiveness, and strength during this tragedy that effects all of us.

Gallery revisions at NAChattin.com

Between the natural urge for spring cleaning and perhaps a few too many HGTV shows, I'm on a mission to clean and clear my web site. It's progressing slowly but surely. Top priorities are to consolidate links to older artwork and making room for new posts.

In the Legacy Art Gallery there are four new links:

Food Is Love Album

Pine Cone Press

Early Wizard

Fusion

I've still got a long list of items to post and items to consolidate. I love the accomplished feeling from getting the project underway. There should be a new Suite 101 Article publishing this week too. To stay connected there check the link at the bottom of my blog or from my homepage

Happy Easter Rub-ons

I've had a big dose of Pine Cone Press lately. I joined a monthly "Not Your Ordinary Book Club" and had our first meeting in March with fabulous instructor Lynn Barwald. The topic was RUB-ONS and I've gone a bit nuts with the concept. I've had to stay in for a week because of a sinus infection and I'd never really used rub-ons very often.

Pictured here are four cards made in less than one hour using the Wizard to apply the rub-ons. These were made after I started going a bit overboard....Before the cards I made the layout from the kit, a second layout, and two cards with kit leftovers. So I hope you enjoy my novice attempts at rub-ons and check out Pine Cone Press for great layout inspiration and kits.

Greetings from sniffle and cough land...growl. I am now, without a doubt, getting better every day, however, I've had a dose of the crud lately. Everything seems harder, like working underwater or something....

Now, about the web site. First, there are new card samples inspired by a tutorial on Split Coast Stampers. If you have time, check out the Split Coast gallery on samples too, they are all magnificent.

I'm so thankful this business is full of people who want to share. I get inspired every day.

Other items on the web site: I have been a bit sloppy with my photo sizes and now I've used up all my space. I've spent the last week trying to consolidate and shrink photos, especially of older art. It's more tedious than I expected, but I am getting the anticipated results. Soon the galleries will be linked to photos that enlarge with a click and I'll have room for more "new stuff" like these fun buckle cards.

I've been home bound a bit, so there's lots of stuff to add in when I can--enough for another list:

recipes: blond brownies and pesto meat balls

2 more layouts

Easter rub on cards inspired by my Pine Cone Press Club

new projects to load to the web site

the second article in the suite 101 series

party decor-easy and fun decorations

Birthday Season

March seems like open season on birthdays around here. Three family members and three good friends all celebrate this month. On Monday I made these darling little mini-bundt cakes for my step-son. He really wanted a German Chocolate cake and I had a few barriers in the way -- but these little cakes worked beautifully. They have coconut icing in the center and on top of most of them. I decorated with gum drops and slender candles. The stone pan came from Pampered Chef and my wonderful consultant Barb. The recipe came from the back of the box (Devil's Food) and the can (two frostings coconut/pecan and chocolate). --grin

Card Design Series

I'm so excited to be writing for a fun web site called Suite 101. They're like the ultimate internet magazine and cover all kinds of topics. I'll be writing articles about greeting cards and journaling--my near and dear topics.

I've just started a new "quick card" series for Suite 101 and I invite you to join me as we explore this fun and fruitful topic. At the bottom of the article I list some of my most viewed gallery sites for card inspiration.

In addition to the recently published video for Spellbinders, I'm also working on a pod cast deal so I can broadcast more visuals in creative arts. So fun and exciting. I cherish your coments so please continue to email and post right here too--let me know topics that interest you.

Card created spring 2006, Paper Artsy stamp--NAChattin designer