Flowers make me happy

Since March, I've been making these. They make me happy because they are pretty and are a form of Art Therapy for me. They are portable - so when I need to de-stress and relax my mind, they are the perfect thing to make.

Another bonus - they make great gifts. This particular one was for a very special Physician's Assistant. I've actually given away most of what I made, but my hope is to get my Etsy store chocked full of them :) Not giving up on my plan yet!

Make things that make you smile!

Gratitude

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.  

~John E. Southard

 For some very special people working 11 North at UMH.

You don't always have to make a card or gift to say "Thank You", but I believe taking a minute to find a way to acknowledge someone's kindness is always the right thing to do - its impact can mean more than you know.  A note is often enough, and more than most people end up doing.  Make someone smile.  :)

Halloween and ATC's

As promised, I'm posting pictures of my finished ATCs. (It's a miracle!) I love how they turned out, but am still struggling a little with feeling like they look too plain, but since I ended up making them in the wrong order, there's not much I can do. I started them at the store, but probably should have waited and started at home where I could have done my stamping and sewing first. But, if you've ever taken a class of mine and know my cheesy saying: "there's no such thing as mistakes in art, only happy accidents", I guess it wasn't really "wrong". :) The biggest happy accident was doing my embossing *after* adhering my sequin strip. It definitely needed an embossed image close the the ribbons on the bottom, but the heat gun melted the sequins a bit. It actually gave it even more texture, as the sequins curled up a bit.

I'm really excited about doing ATCs. I've been doing so much with fabric lately, and I've neglected my paper stash. Doing the ATCs will allow me to use the things in my stash I have lots of - you know, how you buy a whole box of chipboard embellishments just for one card? Finally all my repetitive supplies will be put to good use. AND, it's a good reason to break out my stamps and embossing supplies. I get a little lazy about stamping (even though I love it) because I make one card at a time - I don't want to break out the stamp binders, inks, blocks and embossing goodies just to stamp one "Happy Birthday" sentiment and image. Now, ATCs are the perfect reason to bust out the stamps.

Also, just in time for Halloween, Gine found my Halloween cards I made last year for a class I didn't end up teaching. Perfect! Halloween cards = Done! Still love these cute images. (They're a little "cutsy" for me, but I like "cutsy" for Halloween)



I've got lots to catch up on for the blog - more posts to come.

Happy Halloween Y'all!

Finally Joining the ATC Club!

I know, I know - an actual post! Thanks to Mindy for pointing out that I could actually download the Blogger app for my iTouch and blog live from the Niche!

So, the girls talked me into it & I'm going to join the ATC Club! I confess, I've never actually made an ATC before! But I am going for it tonight & am happy with my "base". I'll post a picture of the completed ones.

Hope everyone is doing well! :)

Finally Croppin'!

I'm blogging LIVE from the Paper Niche tonight! Haha - seriously, I'm so happy to be working on some cards and hanging with girls. What it always funny to me is seeing how little I actually get done at a crop - I spend much more time talking then scrapping (some things never change). My goal tonight is small - two cards. I'll let you know if I actually get them done!

Life has been pretty crazy and my blog is very neglected, but I'm hoping this little blog post will jump start me. Lately, I've been making fabric flowers - pins and hairclips. Making them has been very healing - i'll post some pics as soon as I can figure out how to do so from my new iTouch (seriously love that thing!)

I have big plans to do a lot more with these, so stay tuned!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Sometimes, It Takes a Little Nudge...

October 13th?!?!? That was my last blog post?!?! Man, I'm horrible about keeping up with my blog posts, but I'm still determined to do better. I had been thinking about it, but putting it off and putting it off. Then, I got a little "nudge" from Jean to provide an update. Just when I thought nobody read this thing, out of nowhere, I'm reminded someone does. Thanks, Jean, for the little nudge. :)

Since my last post, my two big events were the Honeymoon Cruise we finally took and the Seaside Soiree event I went to in San Diego.

Our cruise was great! Scott and I had such a great time! The western Caribbean was still quite hot in the end of October - that would be the only thing I would have changed. It may have been 2.5 years after our wedding, but at least we got to take our Honeymoon at some time! I'm telling you - cruising is the way to go. We didn't have to think about anything!

Roaton, Honduras

A rainbow in Roatan leaving port.

A very cool door on a side of a building in Grand Cayman

Me holding a turtle in Grand Cayman

The beautiful waters of Grand Cayman

Us :)

We played chess onboard - nice and peaceful!

In early December, I was fortunate enough to be able to fly to San Diego for the Charity Wings Seaside Soiree event. It was such a blast! It was actually held in gorgeous Oceanside, CA, just north of San Diego. I met so many wonderful women, made new friends and got quite inky and painty. It doesn't get any better than that. Here are just a few pictures - there are more to come.

Michelle and her clutch/turned iPad bag during Alisa Burke's class.

The canvas that will soon be my clutch.

Elena, my Roomie Rachel and Me at dinner

Two of my Roomies - Carmen and Rachel

Me and my mermaid scarf and necklaces!

The view from the event room - gorgeous the entire weekend!

The beginning of an mixed media piece - wait till it's done!

This cutie pa-tootie is Lauren - it was so great to meet her. She works so hard for Charity Wings.

Remind me to tell you what this Modge Podge Magic is!

Me and Bev with inky hands - so glad I she got stuck with me for the weekend!

This is the only art I was doing for weeks leading up to the event - I made 36 of these tote bags for the attendees.

There will be more to come, but wanted to get a post done sooner rather than later. :)

I hope everyone is having the most wonderful holiday season - may you all be blessed with love and laughter!

Talk to you SOON!

~Amy

A New Chapter, A New Look

Anyone who knows me well knows that I refer to the changes in my life as "another chapter" in my book of life. I try to be positive about change, although I have moments when it scares me. Right now, I'm going through another BIG period of change and I feel so good about the next chapter. Instead of being apprehensive, I want to focus on what I'm loving about life right now:

• 2 1/2 years after our wedding, we're finally going on our honeymoon! In less then two weeks, I'll be MIA for 7 days and we'll be cruising, baby!
• Lots of Babies are being brought into this world by my friends and family right now and I'm beyond honored to be a new Godmother and soon-to-be Aunt.
• I'm spending more time than ever with my wonderful husband and am loving where we are at.
  
• I am the new Volunteer Coordinator for a fabulous charitable organization - Charity Wings (formerly known as Scrapbook Royalty). Look for information about them all over the new blog. I'm so honored to be part of this great cause. I'm also thrilled to get to know the amazing founder of Charity Wings, Elena. (This Princess Rocks!)
  
• I've been spending time with my friends and am loving their company - time with friends is by far one of the most powerful healing tools!
• I'm going to start selling one of the most awesome lines of stamps out there - {Ippity} by Unity. If you love Unity Stamps (who doesn't!?!?), you'll love {Ippity} Stamps. I'll be posting all kinds of projects using the stamps and can't wait to dig in and start creating with them.
  
• Tis the season for all things pumpkin and a pumpkin cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory made it's way to my house. (Pumpkin....mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!)
• For the first time in many, many years I'll be making holiday presents and cards.
• I get to go to this fabulous retreat in December - the Seaside Soiree being held in Cali.
• I was offered a creative side job (more like a one-time assignment) and have the time to say "YES!"
• I actually made necklaces this weekend - jewelry - I thought I forgot how!
• I'm taking the time to PLAY with my doggies - not just let them out, feed them, say hi and move along with whatever I have to be doing - time to pet them and show them love.
• The weather in SoFL is a smidgey cooler - not a ton, but enough to take the edge off. My sunroof was open this weekend!

Just a few things to be grateful for, but there's more on the horizon. :)

So......with a New Chapter comes a new look! I hired the fabulous Leah to create a custom blog banner for me and she nailed it! She's knows I love all things Jenni Bowlin and my fav color combination is red & turquoise. Plus - this design is just a *tad* on the vintage side - not *too* much - just the right amount. Check out her digi work here - the girl has mad skillz!

I also added lots of information about Charity Wings and {Ippity} and each has a dedicated page on top of the blog. I still have to load all the {Ippity} stamps I have for sale, but I'm working on it.

I still have to update my reading list, but that's probably enough excitement for one night, right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some serious blogging to catch up on!

Thanks for all the love. :)
~Amy