It's Time to Bloom! This card seems quite fitting for the beginning of 2009. The background was made by stamping the Posy background stamp with VersaMark and then using Heat & Stick powder to attach Dazzling Diamonds glitter - LOTS of it!!!! Today, although it is January and Winter, remember, it's time to bloom!!!!

Happy New Year!!!!!! Hope your celebrations were wonderful! I am looking forward to spending 2009 with you and sharing in your creativity!

This is a monogram set that I created for my mom for her birthday. I put together 4 cards and placed them in a folder - also monogrammed. I used the cuttlebug embossing folders in my Big Shot to make the textured background (I'm in love with those embossing folders!). And sneaky me, I printed the monograms out on the computer since I didn't have a sophisticated alphabet stamp set. Enjoy!

Hi! It's been a long time since I wrote in this blog and now, after figuring out how to post again, I'm back just in time to wish everyone a happy new year!!!!!

The figments in my imagination have continued to blossom into reality! I am currently into...okay, "obsessed" might be a better word, creating with paper. I joined Stampin' Up! over a year ago and the paper crafting has been in full swing ever since. Lately I've been enjoying helping others explore their own creativity with card making and paper crafting and my hope is that this site will now be an inspiration for that exploration to continue.

May 2009 be a year of exploring your creativity and recognizing the unique creations living inside of you and making them a reality!

I had forgotten what wisteria looked like or the leap of a squirrel from the fence to a tree
– all faith
His white belly floating through the air
– exposed

I wonder if distances seem longer to postmen
because they make so many stops along the way…

Yes I still exist,
Some days more than others.

No apology necessary re: falling off the earth
After all, if we don't fall off the earth every once in awhile
how do we figure out where we are?

I really enjoy being an entrepreneur.
It has it's ups and downs,
but it sure is a fun ride!

Forgiveness is a wonderful thing
Especially when it only costs two dollars
And comes in the form of a chocolate chip cookie.

You've gotta love it when a librarian says to you,
"There is such a thing as too much information."

But I still walked away with my pile of books
and a smile on my face.

"Aren't you afraid we're going to run out of gas?," she asked.
"No," he replied,
"I got afraid of that once
And it didn't do me any good."

The void of the white space on a piece of paper which calls out for paint or ink
Is like the silence in a conversation which cries out
And asks that somebody give it voice.

What started out as a drawing of an amethyst crystal
turned into a painting of a girl
dancing over purple mountains.
I always did enjoy how that amethyst made me feel. . .

I'm on a plane
And I was just thinking how nice it would be to paint a big sign on my suitcase that says,
"Thanks for holding my baggage for me for a little while -
you've lightened my load and I really appreciate it."

She wrote, "The mountains are so majestic -
I imagine that if you were here, you wouldn't be able to take your brush off of them!"

He was a painter and he inspired her with his work.

The woman was walking up and down the line asking "Is this anyone's bag? I took the wrong bag off of the bus!"

"How do you take the wrong bag off of a bus?" he asked...as he bent down to check the name tag on his suitcase...

At the airport she announced "Make sure you have a name on your bag."

"Fred and Ethel," I thought, "those would make great names."

I got to the front of the line with a book in one hand and my parking ticket in the other. The sign read "We validate."

"Can you validate me?" I asked as I handed the guy behind the counter the book.

"Sure," he said as he reached for my parking ticket.

"No, not the parking ticket, me," I said

"You are a very wonderful person!" he replied

And I thanked him as I took my book and walked away with a smile.

If you only had twenty dollars, but the cheese cost twenty one dollars, what would you say to the cheese clerk? she asked.
Can I use my credit card? she replied.