This is a birthday card for a friend! With the mail system the way it is, I want to get this going to her, as her birthday is Jan. 2, and I have a feeling things are still running slow with the Holidays! The background is bleach on stamps, then some over stamping and collage and the B is a rubon (those are ggggreat)! :0)
Hope you all had a terrific Christmas!!!!!

Jeff and Dad and Robin, Amanda and Elizabeth in a pose! What fun!!!!!!

Christmas '06 as my folks today with my Brother Jeff, his Wife Robin and his four kids and then Earl and Amber and I! Top is Amanda, Joe, Amber, Ben and Little Elizabeth! Then all four of my Brother Jeff's kids.....then my Dad and Amber and then goofy Amber and then my Mom who turns 70 tomorrow and my Dad! It was a fun day! Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

Here I am with my new haircolor and cut! The color.....I love! The cut, they did not get just right, but it is goooood! I LOVE the color......makes me not miss the gray ONE BIT!! :0)

I just wanted to share a picture of our work cookie exchange! I run it each year and we take sign ups and then each of us makes our cookie for everyone else and we trade them off and include recipes! Doesn't the tray look pretty! I got TWO trays from the total number of cookies and now feel set for Christmas! Cookie Exchanges are awesome! :0)

Earl and I went to Subway for supper! Amber works there! :0) Anyways, they had finally set up a little tree and it had NO skirt! You could see the bottom, all the wires etc. So I came home with a napkin and made them a tree skirt! I used felt and it worked out great! I scanned the letters and made those of felt too! Lots of stitching around the letters, but it was tiny, as you can see in the picture with the girls! My Amber is on the right....her friend Angie on the left! SUBWAY fun .....eat fresh!!!! Hehehe!

These are 3 atcs for a Winter Frolic Swap on a yahoo group! The image and background paper are added to some cotton batting and sew on. The "W" for winter is mounted with foam tape so it stands up some and the sweet irridescent snowflake by her head is stitched on with a pretty clear center bead! Happy Winter! Our snow is melting here! Temperatures have been above normal, and although the kids want a white Christmas, I don't mind the temperatures! 40 in December is uuuunusual! :0)

I am supposing you will find this interesting! I see beauty everywhere I look! This morning, we have a small crack in a double pain window and this golf ball sized crystal formation formed in between the window as some moisture got in there! Is this not bbbbeautiful?? I just could not believe the detail and feather like wonderful appearance! I took this digital photo of it and am so glad it turned out, because when I got home from work, it was gone!It reminds me of the snowflakes with their unique patterns and no two alike! I just could not believe it! There is beauty to be found if we just look! :0)

Ok, I was tagged by Audrey, so that means that I have list 6 weird things about myself and ask 6 others to do the same! Ohhhhhh I enjoyed reading Audrey's weird things....and I thought that Christine's were charming and cute...so I am afraid mine are going to be scary!
1. I hate feet for the most part! I think they are ugly and I have not seen a nice set of feet in all my life! :0) And as we get older......I think they NEED and SHOULD remain covered! Heheheh!
2. I am somewhat a stickler on certain things(especially at work) and any variation or devience from "my idea" of what is the right way is frowned upon!
3. I definitely laugh when I shouldn't at times.....when someone falls down...very much like Christine----but I have to add, that if I fall down and YOU laugh, a beating is coming! :0)
4. I miss the sweet hugs that used to come when Amber was very little.....so now I tend to hug everyone....included all of Amber's teenage friends....which by the way is NOT considered too cool!!!
5. I do not consider myself a picky eater.....but everyone else does! Just because I hate raisens, prunes, peas, coconut, etc.etc.etc.etc.etc........there are still pppppplenty of foods in the world for me to find to eat!
6. I really LOVE a clean house, but for some reason......cannot keep it that way as much as I want....most especially my art area! It makes me CRAZY that it is not neat and clean!
Ok, there are soooo many more weird things about me...but that is all you are getting today! Hehehehe! I tag......Laura K, Kathy W, Ruth R, Lin F, Lyn A, Marcy H (in an email if you don't blog) to tell me 6 weird things about yourself!!! :0) Thanks Audrey!

I went over to my dear friend Laura's yesterday to play some art with her and her sister Cheryl! We made Christmas ornaments out of can tops....cut with a Pampered Chef can opener so the edges were smooth! They are painted with lumiere's and then collaged on! Holes were drilled into the top and bottom for some hangers and beading! This was great fun! Glitter was added as we needed a bit of Christmas sparkle! These are two I am keeping for my tree...the others are little gifties and I can share them yet! :0)

This is an altered vintage Cabinet Card for a swap on a yahoo group! We alter one card and get one in return, with a Christmas feel/theme. I went with FAMILY as the main thought on mine as Christmas is a time for family! And of course...."Believe", I made the snow with brilliance white and that came out neat! :0) The background is painted and stamped and the leaves are velvet ......I hope you can read the quotations!

This is a Christmas ATC that is made into an ornament for a swap. It would be pretty to have a tree filled with atc's from fellow artists! Very unique and beautiful to be sure. I will receive some from the swap and will look forward to hanging them in my tree! :0)

We set up our Christmas tree last night! We are going with our Disney and mishmosh ornaments this year, trying to bring a bit of cheer to the house! I made that tree skirt years ago for Amber as we all do love Disney! Minnie is behind the tree with her candle and she moves.....very pretty! The tree is BLACK and is a Pencil tree.....very thin ......fun and different.....we like it! We also have a regular artificial pine tree green, but that was last year so we change them up some! Time to get my act together with all the rest of the Holiday stuff to be done now! Time sure flies, and I am always more and amazed at how FAST Christmas approaches each year! Happy Holidays Early! No fighting at the stores.......that is not nice! And you know what Santa says about naughty and nice!

Our sweet Buddy... has left us and we are terribly sad without him! He was going to be 11 next week, and his presents in our lives will be very missed! There is no other doggie cuter than Buddy to us, and there never will be! <3

Here is the artwork for today! The three little oval atcs are for a Christmas swap and will be tree ornaments! I did some stitching on them and added them to a felt background and they are still within the 2 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch standards for an atc! Some chalks were added to the photo and stamping and collaging too! :0)
The copper 4x4 pages are also for a swap! These are done on copper embossed paper with some cheesecloth and copper tape and a punch used on the paper too! The corners of the image are pressed with copper tape and the quote says....."What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. Those are but trifles, to be sure;but, scattered along life's pathways, the good they do is inconceivable." Although this Waterhouse image is beautiful, she is not smiling.....I wish she was! Enjoy!

One more card of this window dimensional type with a different style! The two girls rubber stamps are from Paper Bag Studios!! They are adorable stamps aren't they? I love them! The link that shows the construction for this card is in the post right below this one!

This was a fun little card that Barb encouraged me to try! She sent a helpful link and you can sort of adapt it any way you wish to create something fun! I made them not eeeexactly according to the instructions, but it came out anyways! It is a bit time consuming, but really more impressive to see in real life! :0) Here is the link of you wish to see some further explanation of the card!
http://www.houseofstirfry.com/chia/tutorials/folded.html

This is a 5 inch by 5 inch fabric page for a swap!
The theme is whatever reminds you of Summertime
and for me that is blowing soap bubbles! :0)
There is fabric, lace, and fibers.......flower with metallic
brads and some blanket stitching around the edge!
(I need a bit of work practice with that!) The images are
printed on cotton fabric sheets from Dick Blick in black and
white and I hand highlighted them with prisma pencils! FUN!

Halloween Madness!
Ok, this is a shot of our family looking NORMAL...
and here is a shot of me today, as all the girls at work dressed up as LUNCH LADIES! Scary I know! Fun for the day though! Lots makeup to wash off! Was worth a good giggle anyways!
Happy Halloween!!!! BOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

These are a set of atc's I made for a swap! The theme is that a Party Hat and Beads were to be included! There are microbeads on the party hat and beads stitched at the base! I sewed the paper portion of the card onto some uphostery fabric! :0)

A little atcs for a weekly challenge and the alphabet is moving along! Here is my "N" for Nature and Nuture! :0) Stamp is by Magenta and I am having fun using rub ons for the letters in the corner! :0)

BOO! For everyone who knows me and knows my love for fairies, this is our pumpkin for home! Wheee! She doesn't have wings, but this little sprite would have been sort of lost with them(too solid of a mass to tell what she was), so her siloutte will have to do! I cannot believe I did not break her arm!!! This pumpkin has very thick meat and that was a lifesaver! I drew this design out and I think she is quiet the Halloween fun!

These are two pages for a friend of mine's deco( a deco is a small handmade booklet passed from artist to artist to add a page or two of the owners desired theme---usually smaller than 4x6). It was very fun to art in her booklet filled with sweet children, and the first page is mainly paper with stamping, oil pastels and silk flowers and the second is fabric with background stamping, ribbons, charm and flower applique.

Hi again! We are off to a Halloween party tonight and we were required on the invite to bring a carved pumpkin for admittance! ohhhhhh the scary fun! So here is our pumpkin! Earl and I did this one...I am sure Amber will want to carve the one for home! BOO!

This is another vintage cabinet card that I am working on for a one for one swap on a yahoo group! I have painted and highlighted the background with acrylic paints, after sanding lightly everything but the image. Then I overstamped with lumieres green the vines and leaves, and black versifine all the letters and words and swirls for the background until I was happy with it! I added in the other images of flowers and butterfly and words. This cabinet card was done in Neenah WI......here in my home state! She lived here at one time....I find that a wonderful thing!! I still plan to add a few embellishments and a wire hanger maybe!!!!! I will see! :0)

By the way.......here she is all grown up! :0) I still see that mischievous little girl in there! Ohhhhhh yes I do!

Earl and I are taking out an ad in the senior year book of Amber's high school! Graduating senior's parents are allowed to do this! I took one of our all time favorite pictures of Amber....she is 2 1/2 years old here and I
turned her into the little fairy princess that she is and I put the world in her hands! Our hope is for her to follow the quote we included! Ohhhhh my baby is grown!

Here is one ATC for an Autumn challenge! Just had some fun with the little kids.....their hats and then the Autumn leaf and colors!


Also, my "L"ATC for the continuing alphabet challenge! These little cards are such fun!

Here are my ABC atcs! One for each letter of the alphabet and we are on J=joke for me!
And K=Kids! We can assign whatever word we want to the letters and we are making our own set of alphabet atcs! This is a challenge on a yahoo group!! Hope your Friday was a great one! :0)

In the line of AUTUMN COLORS, this is an atc swap(2 1/2"x3 1/2" card) for a group! There is a silk autumn leaf stitched boarder and brown felt edging.

Beautiful FALL COLORS are beginning! And the fishermen are out catching trout too! Enjoy!

Ok, this is not ART per say, but a what a fun day I had! After work, I went and got some fall color pictures! It is just starting to be pretty here! See the picture? :0)
AND, I live near Lake Michigan, and during certain times, the brown trout head upstream and the fishermen have a ball! The trout come into an inlet here and the guys and kids go there and fish/catch and release and some keep them for eating! They are amazing to see! It is fun just watching them! That is the WI girl in me I guess! Earl and I watched for a while! I took a couple of pictures! It was neat! That was my fun excitement for the day! Just had to share!