Happy Valentine's Day!

Lately I've been creating some mixed media Valentine's Day cards to send off to Cards For Kindness. Here are a few of my latest designs... I think they came out pretty cute!

All my cards are A2 size (4.25"x5.50") because that's what Cards For Kindness prefers. I usually start out with a white cardstock base and add another cardstock layer (3.75"x5.0") on top of that one using double-sided tape to prevent my cards from warping. This gives me a nice white border around my design. From there, anything goes! 

I like to use my own original illustrations on my cards. I draw the designs on heavy white cardstock and ink them with Micron pens. Then I paint them with acrylic paints and add details to my illustrations with colored pencils (I like Prismacolor pencils the best!). Next I "fussy cut" each design and adhere them to the card base using a UHU glue stick. Sometimes I add Modge Podge Sparkle to my lettering or other small parts of the design, which gives the card a nice glittery finish. I've even been experimenting with sewing on my cards with my sewing machine!

 

Cards For Kindness prefers that all the cards they receive are left blank on the inside... but sometimes I just can't help myself, so I like to add a cute border and a tiny handpainted embellishment on the inside of the card, just for fun! I also add a tiny colorful punched paper heart of the back of the card. So far I haven't been signing my cards... but I think it's OK to initial them on the back if you'd like.

My hope is that my silly designs will bring a smile to someone's day! Cards For Kindness sends cards to all kinds of different organizations... from hospitals to Ronald McDonald House charities to nursing homes, and everything in between! If you'd like to see a list of Cards For Kindness' partner organizations, you can find it HERE.

Wishing you a very Happy Valentine's Day wherever you are! 

XOXO

 

Snowbound in North Carolina

 

I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina where the winters are usually very mild. Rarely do we get any measurable snow... and when it does snow, it doesn't hang around very long. To be honest, I'm really OK with that! I prefer to enjoy our occasional brief snowfalls from inside my warm house while sipping a cup of hot tea!

But this past week we had a winter storm that brought two inches of sleet and ice, along with several days of  arctic air which made it impossible for the ice to melt. To make it even more challenging, a second snowstorm added between 6 and 8 inches of fresh snow on top of the ice. Here in the South, we're just not equipped to handle the winter weather... so in the end, most of North Carolina came to an abrupt standstill.

 So, what did I do during our unexpected snow days?...

• I listened to music that was brand new to me and so uplifting! (Praise by Genevieve Linkowski)
• I tried a new casserole recipe (Kidney-Friendly Dump Meal - it was a winner!)
• I made silly Valentines for Cards For Kindness
• I read the fourth book in a mystery series (Mailbox Mysteries by Melanie Lageschulte - Who done it?!)
• I enjoyed watching the birds at our bird feeders (mostly blue birds, gold finches, snowbirds, cardinals and a huge flock of robins)
• I spent time drawing just for the fun of it!
• And I gave thanks to God for my loving husband who worked so hard shoveling snow, for power in the snowstorm, for plenty of food to eat, and for the warm, safe home we share together.

Hello From Ocacroke Island!

 

How is it August already? The summer has both slowly crept along and quickly flown by!... slow because it's been a super HOT summer (global warming anyone?) and fast because I've only just blinked and May has turned into August. But maybe that's the way most summers feel to me!

Memorial Day week we headed as a family to Ocacroke Island, which is just off the North Carolina coast. To get to Ocacroke, you have to take a ferry... and our ferry ride lasted 2 1/2 hours, just enough time to detach from "normal life" and shift into "island mode." I love Ocacroke! The town itself is very walkable... or if you'd prefer, you can rent a golf cart of bike. It has long stretches of unspoiled sandy beach where you can walk without seeing many other beach goers... just you, the vast ocean, the wind and salt air, lots of seashells, driftwood, seagulls and sandpipers. Perfect!

Unlike last year's Ocacroke vacation, this time we had LOTS of rainy days too. And so we explored some of my favorite little shops... Village Craftsmen (a great destination for pottery!), Over The Moon (my favorite shop for quirky, colorful gifts), and Books To Be Red (because you can't go to the beach without a fun book to read!).

I also brought a personal project along with me in case of rain. I'd been wanting to learn how to crochet granny squares, so before I left home, I found a YouTube video with simple instructions on how to crochet granny squares (without them coming out wonky!) I happily filled a few rainy afternoons by surrounding myself with colorful yarns and crocheting to my heart's content!

I hope you've had a chance to do a little adventuring this summer!... and that you've also had the opportunity for some fun creativity too!

** Just a little note about the artwork in this post. It came from a mixed media card that I created this summer for Cards For Kindness. I used white cardstock, my own illustrations, colored textured cardstock, Micron pens and acrylic paint. The lighthouse was the design on the outside of the card and the green sailboat below was the design on the inside of the card. I think it came out super cute!

 

Happy Birthday To Me!

 

My birthday was in February... and yes, I'm 39 again! *wink!* My sweet husband surprised me with a trip to the mountains for a weekend with our family! He couldn't have given me a gift that I would have enjoyed more! We rented a cute little cabin near my son's house so we could be with family during the day and retreat in the evening. LOTS of eating out and catching up with each other and playing with my granddaughter!... What could be better?!!

So, I thought I'd do a "Five Different Things You Probably Don't Know About Me" for my birthday post. Starting with...

1. I am definitely NOT a morning person! My husband has an "internal alarm clock" that gets him up early each morning... but that feature must have been overlooked when God put me together! It takes me a while to mellow into the day. I'm good to go about 10 AM.

2. My husband and I were high school sweethearts. I was 15 and he was 17 when we first met. After my Dad was transferred to a different state while I was still in high school, we had a very lengthy long distance relationship (I do not recommend this!). We finally got married after we'd both finished college.

3. I didn't grow up making art. When I was young, I always had an attraction to art and crafty things, but I never seriously pursued arty things until my late 20's and early 30's. In fact, it was only when my son was unhappy at preschool that I started to draw little pictures for him. I drew simple pictures on 3x5 cards to put in my son's lunch box for Lunch Bunch... and I was hooked! I've been doodling ever since!

4. For those of you who know Myers-Briggs, I'm an ISFJ... I'm introverted, so I'm quiet and a little shy. I take in information as a sensor through what I see and hear (I don't just KNOW something by intuition like my husband does). I'm a feeler, so I make decisions based on my feelings instead of by logic alone. And I'm a judger, so I like routine, organization and "everything in its' place." 

And finally... 

5. I'm a vegetarian... and I'm really not a very good (or enthusiastic) cook. Give me all the fresh fruit, salads and veggies. Throw in some yogurt, cheese and whole grain bagels and I'm a happy girl! And my favorite ice cream of all time is Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip... YUM!! 

Just a few words about the silly chicken card above... This is one of the cards I recently made for the Creative Kindness Foundation's "Cards For Kindness" program. This organization accepts handmade cards of all kinds and distributes them to people in hospitals, nursing homes, and people in crisis in order to spread encouragement and kindness. I like that a lot. 

I'm fairly new to card making, so I'm figuring it out as I go along. I enjoy mixed media, so most of the cards I've made so far are a combination of drawing, painting, collage, lettering and a little bit of sewing too. I'm having fun with this!... and I hope that the cards I create bring encouragement and hope to those who receive them!

If you'd be interested in Cards for Kindness, check out their website. They are always looking for more handmade cards!
 

2024... A Year Of Transitions

 

"An After Christmas Treat!"

Merry Week After Christmas!

Incredibly, it has been almost an entire YEAR since I last wrote in my blog! But I'm dusting it off at the beginning of 2025 in an effort to get back to what I truly enjoy... telling life stories and illustrating them with my silly art!

A very BIG change for me midway through 2024 was that I closed my Etsy shop. Much as I enjoyed feeling like I was part of a bigger handmade community as an Etsy seller, my art sales were low and the amount of work involved in running my shop was high. Designing, painting, photographing, scanning, listing... it all added up to a lot of mostly non-art time. I'm sure I could have been more successful sales-wise if I had been willing to post regularly on social media and if I'd pursued online community more diligently... but I honestly just didn't want to do that. I wanted to be spending my time making hands-on arts and crafts in real time rather than promoting what I made online. In some ways, closing my Etsy shop was a hard decision... I'd been an Etsy seller since Etsy's early days. But in other ways it was an easy decision to make. Being an Etsy seller just didn't feel life-giving to me anymore... and so it was time to move on.

2024 was also the year I turned 68 years old. This was a harder birthday for me than most. I started realizing anew that my time here is a lot shorter than it used to be... and I want to be making that time count for something meaningful and good. I want to be using my art skills to bless other people and bring them joy!

So, after taking some time to explore my options, I decided to pivot... and I'm happy to say that I'm now creating one of a kind mixed media cards that I donate to Creative Kindness' program called Cards For Kindness. This is one of several programs that Creative Kindness offers to"help people find happiness and healing through the creation and donation of handmade gifts." ...and it's just what I was looking for!

Over the next few months, I'm going to do a bit of housekeeping on my blog. There are things here that just don't apply anymore, and more things I'd like to include. So please bear with me as I do some dusting and reorganizing and tweeking (I just love that word!). 

Wishing you a cozy week after Christmas! I hope your days are filled with creativity and happiness!