One World-One Heart

Greetings!

I am joining the One World-One Heart project with bloggers all over the world. We are giving away art by random drawing to someone who posts on our blogs. I am giving away this set of 12 handmade cards to the winner. All you have to do is post a comment on this blog by Feb. 11 and make sure you include your email address so I can let you know if you win. I will draw the name of the winner on Feb. 12. The purpose of this project is to encourage people, visit other blogs, and enjoy the art of others.

If you would like more information you can click on the logo. Have a great day everyone!

Stamp Creations

These are the Artist Trading Cards (2 1/2" by 3 1/2") that we made in the class that I taught last Saturday at the Stampin' Happy store. The class ended up being three hours long, but we had lots of fun! I really enjoy teaching these classes.

Amazingly, yesterday I finished my cards for Stamp Club that is this Saturday. Ususally I'm still working on them the day before--actually, I'm just starting them the day before! The theme for this month is to use a "virgin stamp"--one that we haven't used before. I didn't have any problem finding stamps that I haven't used yet since I have so many of them! I made 10 of these cards to exchange.

The Wizard of Oz

One of the highlights of my growing up years was watching the annual broadcast of the Wizard of Oz on television. Back then, of coarse, there were no videos or DVD's to watch anytime we wanted, so we didn't want to miss it. My sisters and I would watch it every year and sing along with the songs. We had those songs and much of the dialogue memorized after many years of watching. It's always been one of my favorite movies. In fact, as an adult, I started collecting all things Wizard of Oz- bells, figurines, globes, books, door stops, magnets, greeting cards, dolls, rubber stamps, and I even have a door mat on my front porch that has the legs of the Wicked Witch sticking out and says "Ding Dong". Many of these items have been given to me by my family and friends who know of my obsession with the movie.

I've thought a lot over the years about why I like the Wizard of Oz so much. I think it is because of all the symbolism that is so prominent to me. "There's no place like home", the need of friends along the way, good overcoming evil, and never giving up even though the going gets rough are all themes in the movie. The characters are all very memorable (I love the Scarecrow!), and the songs are all wonderful with tunes and words you can't forget. The main song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, was an Academy Award winner and Judy Garland, with her beautiful voice, made the song and herself famous. What a great movie! When was the last time you saw it?!

My Sister Carolyn

This week we celebrated my sister Carolyn's birthday. I made her a collage on a wood plaque. This is the first time I have attempted such a thing. There is a photo of her when she was about two years old and then things she likes around her. I painted the wood with acrylic paints, then stamped, colored with chalks, and glued pictures on. I worked on the collage for two weeks, alternately liking and disliking it in the process. But I do like how it turned out. You can click on the photo to see the details better.

I have 5 younger sisters and Carolyn is the 3rd oldest. She and I have a lot in common and I love her dearly. She is a wonderful, caring person and a great friend as well as sister. I am very blessed to have all the terrific sisters that I have.

New Career

I started my new "career" this week- tending my cute little grandson, Cason, who is now two months old. It is so fun to be home. This is where I really like to be. Cason is such a good baby and it has been fun to take care of him. When he is sleeping, which is quite a bit still, I can get all kinds of things done. I've been crocheting, reading, writing, drawing, and working on art projects. I really do miss the wonderful ladies that I worked with at the school and MOST of the kids! I'll just have to go visit them every once in a while.

Life is good!

Stampscapes

I have been making rubber stamped cards for almost 20 years. When I have shown them to Robert he has always made nice comments about them. But about a year and a half ago I bought some scenic stamps from a company called Stampscapes and started using them. When I showed Robert the results he was REALLY impressed. In fact, he would keep telling me to show them to family and friends! They are very detailed stamps so it is very fast and easy to make impressive scenes. The artist and company owner, Kevin Nakagawa, is very good. It's so fun to make these. My six year old grandson, Mason, loves to stamp and amazingly these are the stamps he usually goes for! Rubber stamping is very addicting!