Tin Can Dolly

Card Notes:
Empty soda cans don't have to go straight to the bin. I cut this Pepsi can with my Spellbinders' Wizard and their art doll die. The doll was cut somewhere around 2004 and the card was finally assembled summer 2010. Somethings never go stale for me...
Posting Notes:




 November and December are rich with holiday joy. This year I'm relishing the season with fewer gifts, more meaningful gifts, and more time with my spirit and my loved ones. My blog posts through the end of the year will be a series of cards I've been working on called "Recycled Flash Cards." I've done a video but the editing isn't done and I'm not worried about that right now.


The cards in this series were made June 2011-November 2011 and feature designs created by recycling other greeting cards. Some are done from "store bought" cards, some from handmade cards sent to me by others, and some from cards I made and sent to people who didn't want to throw them away but didn't have space to keep them either. (Thanks Mom)

Recycled Flash Cards--a closer look 1

Birthday for my GRAND-niece

Card Notes:
My friend Laurie sent me the original card with the dog in glasses for my birthday 2010. The papers are from a pack of double sided designs I got on sale at a local craft store. The card was sized to fit into an envelope that came from a yard sale. Ta-Da!

Posting Notes:
November and December are rich with holiday joy. This year I'm relishing the season with fewer gifts, more meaningful gifts, and more time with my spirit and my loved ones. My blog posts through the end of the year will be a series of cards I've been working on called "Recycled Flash Cards." I've done a video but the editing isn't done and I'm not worried about that right now.

The cards in this series were made June 2011-November 2011 and feature designs created by recycling other greeting cards. Some are done from "store bought" cards, some from handmade cards sent to me by others, and some from cards I made and sent to people who didn't want to throw them away but didn't have space to keep them either. (Thanks Mom)

Mamograms Matter

Art as an expression of hope and a reminder to my loved ones:

Just because breast cancer awareness month is over doesn't mean we can forget about taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.
Please do your self exams and get your mammograms. Here's a web site that will help you find free mammograms in the United States. http://www.liv.com/free_mammograms.php

 We all know someone touched by breast cancer--if you didn't before--now you do. I've had over 10 mammograms in the last 4 years, 3 aspiration biopsies and 1 very recent stereoscopic biopsy. It's all good so far, but these small steps make a huge difference in my health and my peace of mind.

Being kind to yourself makes you strong.

21 days with a ciggarette

Bon Voyage to a tee shirt (and cigs) from my art journal.

I said a not-so fond farewell to my cigarettes 21 days ago today. This rocks.


I made my commitment to quit by using a nicotine delivery device known as the E-cigarette. 


Here are the things I love about my new life without "analog" cigarettes and my ongoing adventures with electronic cigarettes. (In no particular order)

• I love saying "I don't smoke."
• The smell--the tell-tale, nasty, smell---is gone.
• I don't waste cigarettes putting them out before they are finished.
• No more ash tray maintenance and butt disposal issues.
• I have already lost my smokers cough and throat clearing.
• The electronics come in cool colors including pink with light up crystals.
• They are half the price of my former smoking habit.
• I can whiten my teeth and they'll stay white.
• No loss of the eye-hand habits I enjoy.
• I can do it in the car with the windows up.
• I don't annoy people around me.
• No special accommodations required.
• No waiting until "I finish this one" before moving on with my time.

Here's a video of Katherine Heigl on Letterman that shows how they work and what they look like:

Once I decided to try the electronic cigarettes, I found an incredible amount of online resources, products, and companies. There are some unbiased comparison sites and some very biased comparison sites set up to look like unbiased ones.


The company that works for me is called Vapor for Life. They don't pay any referral bonuses and I receive no personal gain by promoting their company. http://v4l.com/

Have a Witchin' Good Halloween

I tried my hand at coloring a black and white digital image. It's not a digital stamp, it's one of the ones I use from kits. She's a good witch with a good wish for a Happy Halloween to you.

Gift Enclosures

Artist's Note: During the first week of September when my two newest baby grands were born I was a quite preoccupied. I created a post for the Paper Temptress Design blog that never seemed to get published. I have finished my design team term with this wonderful company and left the post on their blog to be put in as a "filler." In the meantime--I really loved this post so I'm publishing it here too.

Bold & Bashful Gift Enclosures

Set yourself up for easy gift solutions by creating sets of these cheery and fun gift card holders and explosion boxes. As a demonstration of Paper Temptress card stock versatility, I created the exact same project using two different color schemes.






There are so many gifted and talented paper artists sharing their creations online these days that it’s not hard to find clever templates. Let yourself be delighted and amazed to see how selecting Paper Temptress products can move your projects to the next level of artful presentation.






Gift Card Holders

One of my favorite designers, Eli Harlon, demonstrated the template for this gift card holder on her blog “Firllions.” I’ve been a friend and fan of Eli for about five years now and I’m tickled pink that she now lives near me in the Palm Beach area.

Explosion Gift Boxes

Split Coast Stampers offers a wonderful online community that includes new templates and instructional videos every week of the year. This explosion box from Beate Johns is a fabulous way to package jewelry, candy treats, tea bags, and other tiny treasures.

Paper Tempress Supplies for the Bashful projects:

Graystone Classic Linen Text and Cardstock

Azeala Stardreams Text

Pink Basis

Nero Black Cardstock

Rose Quartz Text



Paper Temptress Supplies for the Bold projects

Kiwi Text

Azeala Stardream text

Sparkle Mangue Text and Cover Weight

Sparkle Orange Cover Weight

Poison Ivory is anything but wrong

I am developing a whole new appreciation for markers, markers, markers....All my work with the Paper Temptress products has renewed my coloring on card stock time. My latest adventure was coloring onto the card stock called Poison Ivory. It's a pale ivory (almost white) sturdy card stock with a smooth surface and luscious gold shimmer.

Of course, like a raccoon, I am a drawn to all things sparkling. I experimented with a couple different styles and coloring techniques. Here's a card with the castle image done on poison ivory. The stamped image from Stamp Affair was stamped in black ink, base colored with Bic Mark-it(TM) pens, blended with Dove Blender pen, shaded and colored more with the Bic-Mark-It pens (including outlining the original stamp lines with the ultra fine tip) and then topped off with Glaze gel pens from Sakura. Finally, yes there's more, I squirted on some instant crackle medium from Ranger.

Can you believe how far I strayed from my normal--"flash" techniques? This process worked for my creative style because I worked in short sessions with multiple images at a time. I'd apply a layer of color, switch to something else, and then return to the project. It must have laid on my desk for over a week before assembling into the card you see above. Click to enlarge all the images--the close-up shots of the castle really show the layers.

All the card stock on this card came from the Paper Temptress. The other stamps are from Dream Impressions, the punch used for ribbon threading was from Martha Stewart.

See More Poison Ivory Designs

Two new designs, a card and a commonplace book went up on the Paper Temptress design team site today. Here's a sneak peak close up to entice you to head over there: