Hello to my fellow blog lovers!!! Thank you so much for continuing to visit even though I haven't rewarded you with much inspiration in awhile. Some of this is for very good reasons: I've been scrapbooking and creating more! I've finally found some balance in my life where I've been able to carve out some time on a more regular basis to find (make) time to do this for myself and my family. I'm a much happier person when this part of my soul is fed. ♥ I'm betting you're the same way. ;) In a future blog post I'll tell you my new found secrets, and maybe they'll help you, too.
My latest venture in my quest to find time and to get a handle on over 70,000 (!) photos on two computers is to dive into Stacy Julian's biggest project yet over at Big Picture Classes. Here's a great blog post she did explaining what this year long venture is about.
http://stacyjulian.com/blog/?p=8429
There's a wealth of information here and lots of inspiration to join up, too. I am excited about making a potential of 164 layouts in the coming year just in this class alone! And shopping my stash. ;) And having some 'me time' to rejuvenate. I hope you'll look it over. If you decide to join me please leave me a comment and we can find each other over on the BPC forum. Happy Scrapping! :)

Photo credit: Stacy's blog. Custom Journals by Paper Coterie ♥

So, you want to make a smash book....

I love the new books and love the idea of them, so once I found a need for one I decided to make my own. I used only things in my stash, primarily some vintage Crate Paper called Baby Bee that I'd been hoarding ;) and some Chloe's Closet by Making Memories. I tucked in some smaller super fun papers by Glitz Design and some Kraft envelopes by Maya Road. I also threw in some Cosmo Cricket The Boyfriend and Earth Love for good measure. I love mixing brands and product lines that just seem like they were meant for each other. :) Chris (chrispea) did some great paper designs and is generously sharing them with us on her YouTube video on how to make your own smash book. I added in several pockets, envelopes of various sizes as well as some border strips left open in the center so I could attach paper clips to them to add things to them later on. I made six tabbed sections for my particular use for this book, but you can certainly customize it to your needs. Hope you enjoy looking at this as much as I did making it! Thanks for stopping by!

Yee Haw!

I know, I know, been a long time coming, right? :) I can't believe how busy life can keep you, but well, yeah it does sometimes. My two little buckaroos keep me pretty busy, and pretty entertained as well. Ron and I were able to take them to see their buds, The Riders in the Sky a week or so ago. In case you're not familiar with them (where have you been hiding!) they are a cowboy group that keeps the love alive for classic western and cowboy tunes. Think Cool Water. Think Roy Rogers. Think Dale Evans. lol, well, not really. ;) One thing you can also think is Woody from Toy Story. Ah there, now I've got your attention.






They play a ton of Toy Story music, and yep, that's them singing, too. Yes, we really WERE that close to them! Well a big night was had by my two little cowboys. Too Slim, in who's honor I made these little wooley chaps, gave a shout out to my little boys and had them stand up, right there on the front row, so everyone could see them, right smack dab in the middle of the concert! I kinda had to choke back tears. (sap) I mean, look at them, they are so darn cute.




I love this funny little photo of Wyatt. He's bending over to pick a little flower for me. ♥ Awww.

After the concert the Riders all came out and visited for a long time, and were so kind to talk with Tucker and Wyatt, sign their Woody and Jessie hats for them and then take photos with the boys. Isn't that sweet?



Some scrapbooking/card making coming up soon...promise!

Hugs and Kisses,

Everyday moments...

...that make my heart sing. ♥ I love this smile. These cheeks. :) Those eyes! I love that Wyatt has now wiggled his little way into his daddy's and my coffee time, right down to his own special little cup. I love that Tucker loves to read, without being prompted to. Yes, that's his Bible he's reading. Priceless. I love that these little boys love each other so much. They're laying here watching a movie and yes, they're holding hands. This happens a lot. No matter what life throws at us, when we have this we are truly rich. I'm still plugging away at P365, too far behind on journaling to post without blushing visably, lol, but taking lots of photos. It's the everyday moments that I love looking back on the most. These are what make up a life.









Thanks for looking! Hope you have many magical moments in your life today. ♥ Hugs,

Made a card for a very dear friend the other day and wanted to share. I love these sweet images and also how easy it is to add some dimension to them with a couple of little secrets. ;) Lightly inked edges add just a pop of depth, too, This is the first card I've used some wrinkled vintage seam binding on and I really like the look of it, like it's something straight out of grandma's attic. If you're grandma was like mine, she didn't like anything old. Bummer, right? Thankfully..there's Etsy! Instant heirlooms. lol Thanks for stopping by. Hugs,

New items up in the Etsy Shoppe!

I've put up some new items in Nest Feathers Paperie. If you're like me, in times past when I needed a card for a special occasion, I am usually scrambling at the last minute and running out to the store, standing there looking forever for just the perfect one I think my friend or loved one will adore. Well, I've come up with a solution for that. Card sets. Handmade cards with attention paid to every detail all neatly packaged and just waiting for you. No more last minute scrambles. :) Plus, if you'll let me know your favorite colors, images and even the occasions you'd like in the mix, I can make a custom reserved listing just for you. ♥ You will not be disappointed. Neither will your friends. Yeah, you'll get to be the cool friend who always sends the pretty cards. lol

Meet Rian

Have you ever been completely captivated by a piece of art you happened to see? I haven’t had that experience often in life, but I suddenly found myself like this last week when I came across the incredible works of Rian. She lives in the southern part of the Netherlands (in the province of Noord-Brabant to be more specific). Thanks to the amazing land of cyberspace, we have the privilege of meeting amazing talent like this from far flung corners of the globe. It’s really quite amazing, isn’t it? She calls her blog Freubel’s Art Page because freubel means something like fiddle in English. She took on that name because she likes to ‘fiddle’ with graphics on her computer until they result in something rather nice to look at. In time, she say 'her fiddlings’ have become more of a craft in photoshopping and creating Digital Artworks in various styles such as vintage-retro, mixed-media, stamping and old postcards. She has a wide range of style preferences, as you may well see on her site. From her well endowed ladies to the vintage images of children that I fell in love with, you’re sure to find something to inspire you. I especially love her scenery pieces. Some of them make me laugh out loud. Some of them you have to study for awhile to catch every special detail she's put into them. She has an incredible amount of free art she so generously allows others to download. She also has a store front full of yumminess that you’ll find thru the link on her blog, and on my sidebar as well. She has clip art, banners and headers for blogs, and really too much to mention. Make yourself a cup of tea, pull up a comfy chair and go browsing. :) I’m so honored she allowed me to showcase her art in the lovely blog header you see on my blog. Thank you Rian. You have an amazing eye and amazing talent, and a delightful sense of humor.

And we have a winner! Rana, from The Crafting English Professor was number 32 and that was the number chosen by Random.org for the art journal. Email me your addy and I'll get it right out to you. :) Thanks so much to everyone for stopping by, leaving comments and showing your incredible support. Hugs to all!

Brave Girls and a little Soul Restoring

Feeling a little bumped around from some less than pleasant life experiences? Love art, scrapbooking, paints and paper? The amazing Melody Ross, who's life and how she's handled it is an inspiration in itself, has once again created something beautiful out of thin air. I've been a fan of Melody's for quite awhile and am absolutely in love with her Artsy Urban collection over at GCD Studios. By a series of unexpected circumtances that shall forever remain a secret ;) and some people with some incredibly large hearts, I came to the place to be able to take Melody's Soul Restoration class online. Her Brave Girl Camps sell out months in advance, and being that I can't travel to Idaho and hike up into the hills with two broken ankles and a broken leg right now, lol, I was pretty excited to see that she offered this art therapy course online. We all have our own troubles in life, travel our own paths and have different things thrown at us. Last year was a real doosey for me, as some of you know. Ron was laid off for 8 months, my dad was diagnosed with a serious, incurable health problem, then throw in a major accident and health problems for me and a glitch where Ron works that left us without health insurance, etc. etc. You get the picture. And believe me when I saw I've only scratched the surface here. We were reeling, and still are. I was looking for a place to put some of this stuff and needed some kind of immediate tools to use in daily life in trying to deal with all of it. Honestly, I needed to be able to sleep again. Soul Restoration has helped. I think it teaches you some skills to navigate your way thru things that you'd rather not have to navigate thru. We'll all have those things to work thru. We all need these skills. We all need to be able to find that little girl again, the one that was so full of joy and hope and had the whole world in front of her. Remember her? ♥ Art journaling is incredibly powerful. Melody uses it beautifully. Here's my journal that I'm still working on, and will continue to for months and years to come. It started out as a plain black artist's sketch book. I love how crinkly and thick the and deliciously texturized all the pages are becoming with all the amazing art techniques we've learned. There's so much more to it all than what we can possible get at in a blog post. Promise.




Here is a photo of one of my mini albums I made during the course. There are detailed photos a couple of posts down on my blog if you'd like to see what's inside. I love this album, so much.


There are many more projects, too. But honestly, it's not really about the art. That seems funny to say, because it kind of is. You'll see what I mean when you take this journey. And...you'll meet some amazing friends along the way, too. And come away with a new way to do art, and probably a few projects that will turn out to be lifelong favorites of all the things you've ever created. The first online course called Soul Restoration One (6 weeks) starts again April 5, 2011 and is $99. After that you'll be all ready to sign up for Soul Restoration Two (also 6 weeks). This is for graduates of Soul Restoration One only, starting June 7, 2011 also $99.


If you're participating in the blog hop, which I hope you are!...you arrived here from Kai over at Enjoy the Ride and the next blog in your Soul Restoration Blog Hop journey is Lacey over at Winter Window. If you're hopping on midstream, here's a complete list of the Brave Girls participating in this amazing little blog hop.

Judy at www.bepresentbereal.blogspot.com
Pippa over at http://pjbear-determinedscrapper.blogspot.com
Sandi over at http://sandi-mybravesoul.blogspot.com
Leslie at http://wordsofmeproject.blogspot.com
Juel at http://colorfulmoments.blogspot.com/
Kai at http://www.enjoytheridetoday.blogspot.com
Angie here at http://thefeathersinmynest-mommiextwo.blogspot.com/
Lacey at www.winterwidow.blogspot.com
Kathy at the http://shockingpinkthread.blogspot.com
Lynn at the www.rubyrabbitstudios.com
Sandra at www.skippingwithobie.blogspot.com
Stephanie at http://mycreativewish.blogspot.com
ZuZu at http://www.zuzu.typepad.com/about.html
Sami Jo over at www.herhousehold.blogspot.com
Rebecca at the www.flyoverpilgrim.blogspot.com
Dawn at http://www.seekingsense.typepad.com/
Donna over at the http://orangalicious1.blogspot.com
Rana at the http://definitivedesignsbyrwilson.blogspot.com/
Judy at http://mycraftingroom.blogspot.com/
Trisha at http://adgb.blogspot.com/
Kas at http://www.whispersandwishes.blogspot.com
Shelley at renaissancewyoming.blogspot.com
Deb at www.aswewalkalongtheway.blogspot.com
Jennifer over at www.studiojenn.blogspot.com
Dawn at http://dawnhueser.blogspot.com
and Stephanie at http://earthmothr.typepad.com/out_of_my_head/

I'm going to give a prize in a drawing for those of you who will sign up to follow this blog and also leave me a comment. ♥ I'll hold the drawing on Monday and notify you by your contact info from following. I'm going to send one of you blog hop participants and/or visitors this beautiful vintage inspired journal, so you can start journaling right along with us! You can alter it inside and out with fun art techniques if you like! (Drawing for US residents only.)




We'd all love for you to stop by, leave us some love. You know the routine of paying it forward when visiting blogs, right girlfriend? ♥ This little hop is just one way we can show Melody how much she means to each and every one of us. Don't you want to come on and be a Brave Girl, too? ;)

I love the vintage look, I admit it

Yes, yes I do. It seems no matter what I make that old obsession just has a way of sneaking back in. Here's the latest card I made. Seems lately I also have a thing for birds. ♥ The wonderful little surprise about this card is the background paper. It is gloriously sparkly when the light hits it just right. And the paper is embossed with a shadow of beautiful little hummingbirds hovering around. Love it. The scalloped border is studded with the prettiest little sage green rhinestones. Very feminine. Beautiful satin double sided ribbon and lightly inked edges complete the look. A card like this is just perfect to send to someone special, just to let them know you're thinking of them.
p.s. I finally found the perfect vintage frog to hold my little creations with. And that color green, complete with a little rust....be still my heart. ;) Hugs!