I haven't posted much since before Christmas, but the holidays tend to demand our time and energy.  I hope everyone had a nice holiday!  This time tomorrow we will be making preparations to celebrate the New Year.  I am hoping by then the cold I've been nursing will be nearly gone since I'm on day four now.  I'm not one to publicly whine so enough said about that, the world has enough tragedy in it and there are people going through things so much worse.  2013 started out rough at least in job land, but in the end it was a decent year. I made some new friends during my tumultuous time at said job as well as learned some valuable life lessons.  Even in the worst of circumstances we can take away priceless pearls of wisdom to carry with us throughout life.  Thanks to a good friend I was hired at my current job in May working as a Microbiologist for a hospital laboratory and I love my job!  I learned to use Copic markers and I'm thankful for an angel named Becky Machniewski for being my instructor from afar.  I have had the pleasure of discovering digital stamp art and getting to know some of the artists.  Some of my favorites include, but aren't limited to: Stamps by Aurorawings (http://www.etsy.com/shop/AuroraWings), 2 Cute Ink (http://www.shop.2cuteink.com/main.sc), Kenny K (http://www.kennykdownloads.com/), Hannah Lynn (http://www.hannahlynnart.com/digi-stamps.html) and there are so many more!  I am waffling on whether I should begin a Master's degree program which will take time away from my art, but may help me professionally at some stage.  I had my BRCA story published in  a book called "Pink Moon Lovelies" by Nicki Durlester as well as some of my quotes published in another book called "Letters to Doctors" by Jonathan Herman and Teri Smeija.  For those who are unfamiliar, I am BRCA 1 positive meaning I have a mutation on the genes in my body that suppress breast and/or ovarian cancer tumors.  I had risk reducing surgeries approximately four years ago, but have since had some developments in my BRCA journey, but that would be topic for a different blog on a different day and I'm not sure if I'm even ready for that commitment.  I'm more about supporting others who are going through their journey or just beginning.  This is mainly my blog for my crafting, but I'm sure it's nice to get to know a little bit about the person doing the blogging.  If you want to know more about BRCA just message me, I'm happy to share.  I love paper crafting probably more than any other craft I've tried.  Believe me when I say I've just about tried them all (save knitting).  I do still make jewelry from time to time and my family likes to receive the handmade gifts not to mention they don't have to display it in their home somewhere like some of my other crafting endeavors.  I hope that each and every one of you who read this have a very happy and safe New Year!  A new year always holds the promise of being better than the one before.  I will leave you with this wintery card I made using a Simply Gorjuss snowman stamp, colored with copics B000, R20, Y000, RV66, RV69, and BG49.  The wording is a Kaleidacolor stamp pad called Blue Breeze along with some snowflake stickers. Happy New Year and happy crafting!!

Christmas is on our heels!

I really had every intention of making all of my Christmas cards this year, but my best laid plans fell short.   Maybe this year's bounty can be a start on next year.  My card list is in excess of 70 people so you can see how one might get sidetracked in the card making realm.  I figured today would be a good day to post another of my Christmas cards to keep in the holiday spirit.  So here is yet another of my latest creations. I believe this reindeer was a freebie from one of Whimsy stamps Friday freebies.  I love this guy..so much fun! I used Copic for him in E25 and E 29,  R20 and R13 for his tongue and B000 for the snow shadows and of course stickles for the glitter.  I used a paper towel and a stamp pad for the sky.  The background paper came from Paper Temptress in a sampler as well as some random snowflake sticker jewels.  This was a pretty easy card to make.  You will probably notice I like deckle edges quite a bit.  My favorite Stamping Up scissors from way back when.  I also like to take a stamp pad and frame my images for contrast.  If you ever have any questions on my techniques please just ask. :)  Thanks for taking the time to stop by today!

Christmas time

I probably could have launched my blog with an image of one of my Christmas cards, but that would be too easy so I will go ahead and add another post to keep my blog holiday savvy.   This card was also made with a Stamps by AuroraWings image (here's a link to her shop) https://www.etsy.com/shop/AuroraWings.  This one is called Mistletoe Fairy colored with copics R46, R39, YG67, G94, E11, E21, E40, E41,G24, YG09, B000, R20 & C2 with stickles glitter, glossy accents and  jewel embellishments.

Joining the blogosphere

I want to thank Tammy at http://handmadebytlc.blogspot.com for helping me join the blogging world.  
I am a paper crafter at heart. My love of papers go way back, I worked in the commercial printing world for many years, but now I spend my working time as a Microbiologist.  My playtime however, is devoted to coloring with Copic markers as well as Prismacolor colored pencils, Tombows and the occasional gel pen for added zing. I like to make paper novelty purses and have a Facebook page as well as an Etsy site called You've Got Purseonality. I also enjoy making greeting cards. This year I discovered the wonderful world of digital stamps and have had a wonderful time adding color to many various artists images including but not limited to: Whimsy, Kenny K, Hannah Lynn Designs, 2 Cute Ink,, Saturated Canary, Mo's Digital Pencil, and most recently Stamps by Aurora Wings. I hope you enjoy my creations as much as I enjoy sharing them! To start my blog off properly here is one of my may creations using Las Calaveras from Stamps by Aurora Wings. I used Copics: R02, R05, R08, BG18,RV66,B06, E40, E41, E42, E01, E11,YG63 and G94. The words are in spanish basically saying "I'm not able to forget you" Welcome to my blog!