come on...this is you!

the same

i pled for death

i fled my life

i bled my heart

i shed my pride

i'm red in shame

i dread the words, the tears, the same

smiles that make it to your eyes

     Going into the new year and day dreaming about what it will hold. 

Already having an introspective type personality, give me a monday or a first of the month and I wonder about what's coming. 

But give me a January first and whoa nellie, hours of praying and hoping and planning 

(and fretting, to be honest). 

Seems to come down to this for me, for the most part. 

I want my smiles to reach my eyes. Smiles that light up my heart, make my eyes all crinkly and wrinkly. Smiles that draw others in and push out the darkness. Smiles that seep all the way into all those weepy cracks and black crevices in my heart.

Smiles like this. 

Hoping and praying for my smiles and yours in this coming new year.

we all need a little pretty

One of my very most favorite things to do is create something pretty or cute or sweet or funny or unusual. Usually that involves paper and ink and coloring. Lately that involves alcohol ink markers and various curious stamps. HA!!

Today, it includes pretty.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!
Merry Christmas!!

something to make us smile!

There are some people in this world who can always make me smile. Always make me feel better about humans. This lady is one of them. She is an artist and from everything I've ever read about her, read by her or seen by her she is a kind, beautiful human. 

http://www.susanbranch.com/

Here is something she has on her blog. I love it! 

And here is another. 

I hope you find people who make you smile today and believe in the kindness of humans.

searching for merry

     There is a new Christmas movie out called Love, the Coopers. Not knowing what to expect, my husband and I went to  local,  small theater thinking we would see the usual Christmas comedy, seasonal humor and light hearted nonsense. Suprise! This was a really creative look at family relationships during the holidays. The characters were well developed and the laughs were out loud! Warning, tears streamed at times also, but that's just me. So... I highly recommend it!

And here is a little chuckle for you! 

Have a great weekend!

fake it til you make it

     So, you know as well as I know, some years it's just hard to "feel" the Christmas spirit. All that Ho Ho Ho stuff and singing loud for all to hear (to quote Elf, my favorite Christmas fella). But, what do you do? Think of getting up on a Monday morning and putting your happy face on for work... you pull out the musty tubs of garland and glitter and glorious ornaments, turn up the carols and fake it til you make it. Here we go, gang, it's Christmas once again.

Ho ho ho. I saw similar on pinterest and just had to laugh. So on the inside it says Bah Humbug. Yeah, this card is for my big brother. He's the king of bah humbug but he's really a toasted marshmallow, all crunchy and scorched on the outside and has the hidden sweet, soft and mushy inside. Plus he likes odd humor.  And this is pretty darn odd, right?!

Well, onward we go into the season of giving. World Vision scored with me today, how about you?

thought for the day

                                           just a little true crooked thought for your day

from the blog of Susan Branch, one of my favorite artists.

So weird to feel so embarrassed...

     So, I did this craft show. Haven't done one in a long time and never put this much effort or thought into one. STRESSFUL!! I wanted to have plenty of product for sale. I wanted my presentation of the cards to be professional. I wanted my booth to look well done, creative and nice.

So, what was embarrassing? Looks pretty nice to me. Got a banner and everything. Business cards. Tall card display. Nice tablecloths I borrowed from a good friend along with other great little display boosts. So, again, what was embarrassing?

Major lack of interest. Oh, I'm sure I wasn't the only disappointed vendor. Poor, poor promotion and not enough shoppers plagued most of us. Even so, I just felt like I was using this day, this event as a gauge for further endeavors. Well. Sometimes we just have to step out there and give things a try. I did. Now it's time to turn a corner and head in a different direction.

However....I LOVE PLAYING WITH PAPER!! So. I won't quit my day job ;)   AND I won't quit doing what I love.

they say I'm not really an artist,,,

              OK, so. They say I'm not an artist. What am I? Ooooohhh... a crafter...a hobbyist.

every so once in a while (well maybe more than once in a while) I want to cuss big. This is one.

So...beware. Caution. I'm about to cuss.

Who the HELL do you think you are defining me or what I do or what I create or any other aspect of my creativity??

On the other hand. Why the HELL do I allow myself to be so affected by other people's opinions and judgements? Sheesh. Or, for the love of God, (SHIT!)

OK. confession. just having a really hard time post craft show exhibit.

That's an example of my non "art" card. ......And here's another.

Oh well. Stupid me for letting others' opinions phase me. 

Because, you know what? I really, really like them. And, I really really like stamping, drawing, coloring, inking, punching, die-cutting, embossing, gluing, pasting, cutting and crimping. 

Now. I'll go calm down with a nice glass of wine.