How Was Your Weekend?

I hope it was a good weekend for you. Mine was nice. Paul had the weekend off, which is always a good thing. We spent Saturday running incidental errands. Then while he watched his beloved English 'football', I played with stamps and such. Today, we went to church then pretty much repeated the same routine as yesterday, only Paul watched a movie instead.

No.....no new babies in my life. Just felt like going 'vintage' and this card 'cried out BABY' to me (no pun intended). I love vintage...retro...shabby chic. Love, love, LOVE it. So may focus a bit more on that in the coming weeks. If you know someone who needs a unique card for a new baby, you can get this one in my Etsy store.

I am on a huge Halloween kick right now, though. So hopefully some of the things I have to share over the next few days will inspire you to get thinking about the fall.


I received another Blog Award over the weekend, which is always such a lovely surprise. I already am behind in sharing my awards with my friends out there, so I am going to spend the next day or so getting my list together of those who I want to pass those awards on to. If you don't know how they typically work....you kindly accept the award and then pass it on to others who are deserving of some recognition. Many times, you are also asked to list some things about yourself or your blog, which is always what puts my behind. But I will do my best to get those things caught up this week.

Many thanks to all of you for logging on as a follower to be in with a chance to win my blog candy giveaway. I appreciate your willingness to promote it on your blogs and it is my hope that once the giveaway ends, you will continue to visit daily and participate in the activities coming up beginning in September.

It has been really fun reading the comments from my last post...you guys really do save some unique things to use in your artwork! If you haven't read the responses from that post, go back and take a look. So far the most interesting item that is being recycled for the sake of art is a dead dragonfly! Yep...it's true! There is still plenty of room for you to share your most unusual object, so click here and leave a comment!

Time to go for now....but I will be back. My oldest grandson starts 1st grade on Monday, so I am prepared to be on the phone with my daughter at least once or twelve times tomorrow.

Favorite Places to 'Hop' and Other Creative Ponderings...

This could prove to be a bit of a long post and my 2nd one of the day...how 'bout that?! It's nearly midnight here in the unseasonably cool state of Illinois, but I am looking forward to some great sleeping weather.

I managed to get a couple more cards done tonight using my new toy that I talked about earlier. I now affectionately refer to it as 'The Bug', so you do not have to worry about catching anything when I share project ideas with the aforementioned 'Bug'.

Also wanted to plug these great background cardstocks from Fancy Pants Designs. The 12 x 12 sheets of Design Cards are terrific for building your focal points on. Both of the cards featured here and last night's card use the design cards which are slightly collage-oriented, so those of you who are a bit 'collage phobic' will really like what you can do with these.
What I have decided to do is post a few new favorite blog sites each Wednesday. Blog hopping is a fun way to spend an hour or two, if you have the time, but if you only have 15-20 minutes and have NO IDEA where to go, this will be a great way to get you on your way.

If you read my blog roll (favorites list) you will find what I call my 'must visits'. These are blogs that I visit at least once a day, but usually several times a day. So check those out because they are consistently fabulous!

Here are my picks for this week's My New Favorite Blogs:

Vintage Papers is a great blog by Nancy Maxwell-James. The creativity from this blog has been seen in a variety of Somerset Studio publications and the unique perspective Nancy brings when sharing her life will keep you looking through all of her archives. I am anxiously awaiting a set of ATC's based on Marie Antoinette that I ordered from Nancy's collection. I believe there is something for everyone on this blog, so check it out.

While I was there, I found My Desert Cottage, an outstanding blog by Karen Valentine of Scottsdale, Arizona. I am a real lover of shabby chic and it's non-stop exploration when I visit here. She has a couple of other blogs that she manages as well which include handcrafted cards and gifts. She is sponsoring the 'Where Bloggers Create' Party on Friday, July 24th inspired by the publication 'Where Women Create', so mark your calendar and make sure you stop by to see over 100 other blog sites who have signed on to participate, including yours truly.

Last but not least, I was over at Mona Pendleton's blog Cupcake's Creations (which I visit many times a day) and hopped from her blog to one of her favorites which eventually led me to Ross. It appears to me that Ross started out possibly as a scrapbooker, but then I'm not sure...Ross is from Italy and the majority of her blog is in Italian. She definitely loves color, whimsy and mixed media. This is one of the most eye-catching blogs I have come across in awhile and I think it's such a fun place to visit.

I mentioned the other night that when you go 'blog hopping' you will find yourself traveling all
over the world. I have followers from England, Australia, The Dominican Republic, Asia, Canada and of course here in the U.S. Art is one of the universal languages in which we can all say "I speak a little...". Inspiration is found everywhere you look, so I hope each Wednesday you will plan to stop by to see where we'll travel to next!