Almost There

It's almost been 100 posts for me on this blog. I originally started on another blog but had issues with explorer every time I signed in. I'm such a computer idiot that I thought I infected my computer with some sort of virus.

I started blogging because I was in such a funk. The summer of 2006, my husband was deployeed for the first time & away from the family. I was attempting to sell 2 houses in MD while we temporarily moved to FL. Probably the most difficult thing personally was that I was suffering from postpartum depression & had the 2 boys. I turned to art & found some comfort. I saw an old episode of Crafter's Coast to Coast on HGTV that featured Gina Armfield. I printed out her project & looked up her website. I found her blog & thought "What are these blog things?" I started stalking her & other bloggers. I found friends. I found a warm inviting community. I found people that love creating as much as I did. I found people who found junk & made treasure. It's amazing, these bloggers, I've found wonderful friends from all around the world.

I'm going to do a little giveaway when I reach my 100th post. Stay tuned!! The artwork in this post is all new work I've done; another collaged frame, a bracelet in the works & some Valentines Day clips made from clothes pins.

Bead Shopping & Some New Collaged Items

I found so many fun things at the bead show. There is a particular vendor I love. She has the best selection of Czech glass beads & the prices aren't bad. I spent a pretty penny with her last time & was looking forward to spending some more. My sister went to another vendor, came back, saw my basket & was astounded. I told her I was loading up. I don't see this lady all the time.

Last time I went to the show in Tampa, I also spent some money with another supplier that had the coolest sliders. I promised myself I wouldn't buy from her as I've found a vendor that I can buy in bulk from. Well, she had some of the cutest sliders that I just couldn't pass up. They were also 20% off, all sliders. I had way too much fun. Even though I bought tons of cool stuff, I still managed to come home with a little bit of cash. (Yes, all $9)

I've been on such a jewelry high lately that I haven't really done any collage work. Two nights ago, I finished this cutie. I love it because it's so pink. I bought DCWV All Dressed Up mat stack at Michael's for a mere $2. It has lots of cute prints & glitter. I'm inspired to do more of these. Need to run out & get more frames! It's funny how I get into a groove & want to make a million of something.

Cards for Bonnie. We're doing a magazine swap & I made a few things for her. She loves birds & flowers. I did my first swap with her & I was so touched by the amount of artwork she gave me.

New Work...Open House...Family Fun

NEW Valentine's Day bracelet.

New Aqua Flora necklace.

Me & my pretties at my sister's house.

Brandon getting ready for the party & hamming it up a bit. Josh looking way too cute.

My sister & I at my dad's party.

Wow, I've been busy here in Florida. Yes, I'm on vacation, but enjoying it. My family originally traveled to Florida for my dad's surprise retirement party. It soon became our first family trip to Disney's Magic Kingdom, the jewelry open house, bead shopping at the bead show. My husband & Brandon even went to Busch Gardens for a day. I passed, only 1 theme park per trip for me.

I have a ton more pictures to post, but I thought I'd get some of my posting started. I've been MIA for too long. Thanks to everyone for your kind words & encouragement for my jewelry open house.

Jewelry Open House

How exciting! My dad has always been encouraging me to sell my jewelry when I go to Florida to visit. He has even offered to bring them to work with him & try to sell it. I have to giggle when I imagine my dad, a physician, selling my wares at the hospital. Anyways, we're driving to FL & we have all this room in the car & I thought what the heck. My sister is going to let me use her beautiful home & she's already invited friends. I can't wait :)

Above is the design I came up for the invitations. I'm way into red & turquoise right now so I did 2 different invites. I couldn't make up my mind. I can't believe I'm getting so much better on the computer. I actually did them in Word. I even figured out how to distort her address & phone number on the scan so I didn't announce her info to the world. Who knew you could do such a thing? Ha ha!

Me?

What a nice way to ring in the new year. My Red Berries necklace on my Flickr account was a finalist for the color challenge for December. Lisa is a multi-talented artist. She is a polymer clay artist & enjoys sewing. Take a peek over at her blog. She started the color challenge group over on flickr & it's so much fun. Every month she selects a color & artists enter pictures of their artwork in that color. I just found the group in November & I think I'm addicted. I'm gonna have to work on something blue/violet for January.