Missing Muse

What do you all do when your muse deserts you? When she gets p-o'd at you for wallowing in self-doubt about your creative abilities and ups and takes a hike.

I am finding myself in this position at the moment. I really, really don't like it at all. Seemingly offhand comments from a person I greatly admire have caused me to have doubts about everything I have been doing for the last 4 years. I know that I should put on my big girl panties and move on - just do what I've been doing, but do it better and with more originality. Easier said than done unfortunately. I now wonder about allowing myself to be inspired by all the wonderful talent around me - am I inspired or am I just imitating instead of being truly creative?

I don't usually piss and moan on here, but I feel some explanation for the lack of much creative fruit lately might be in order. I won't have my card making supplies with me - there is absolutely no room for anything but my laptop and maybe a little knitting on the boat. But I will have my laptop so hopefully my digis will reappear - most of them anyway but not all and hopefully some new ones that I will dream up on my month on Belmira. I want to explore creating things that will work with Nestabilities dies - that seems to be a safe place to start.

I really enjoyed creating the new watermark and signature - it helped me feel like I was keeping my fingers in the pie. They are just temporary though as I know that they still look way too much like the old ones and I need to find my own path. It's just kinda foggy around me at the moment and the path is not very clear.

Thanks for hanging in there and being patient and supportive - I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Things might get sparse on here over the next month. There's wifi in the marina but it's not extremely reliable. I will be keeping up with my dt duties (look for some wonderful new creative energy on Kaboodle very soon) but that may be it until August when I come home. I'm going to do a lot of soul searching while gazing out to sea and enjoying all the marvelous beauty that the New England coast has to offer as well as the emotional security that spending time with my better half always brings me. Hopefully I will find some peace of mind and a new well of creativity!!!

Thanks for visiting and for letting me vent a bit!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Keeping with the spirit of rejuvination ....

What do you think of the blog redesign? I don't have any projects to share today, but I have been messing about with the old blog design and incorporating the styles of my new watermark and signature block into the blog. Feedback? Please?

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about the techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Playing with New Toys

Well the new SU catalog goes live on Friday and I had some gals over to play with some of the new toys on Sunday and these were the two projects we made:



How do you like the new watermark and signature (below)? Decided it was time for a bit of a rejuvenation.

I'm suffering a bit of creative block along with the usual pre-trip jitters. I will be heading east on July 9 and I can't seem to concentrate very well at the moment. Hopefully, I will have a chance to get some goodies together to share with you over the month that I am at sea, but we'll see.

Thanks for being patient and tolerant and Anne-Marie you have a surprise coming your way!!!!! Finally! Hope you won't be disappointed in your goody box.

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Downline Swaps & Make and Takes

I was so sorry to miss the meeting of my immediate downline group last Saturday, but I really couldn't miss this. I was going to do a slideshow, but I thought these projects were so wonderful that I'd give them a bit more space on the old blog. Take a gander at these gorgeous projects:







And take a look at this plant spike - I put it in my hibiscus on the front deck - how fun is this!!!!


Here's one of the blossoms on the aforementioned hibiscus plant:


It doesn't have a lot of greenery right now, but it sure is loaded with flowers and buds!

I'm looking for a few new team mates on the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge Blog. If you want more information about how to apply, see THIS POST! It's a fun team and we'd love to have you join us!

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Monday Night Stamping!

Well, Sabrina and I had a blast creating and chatting on Monday night. She's a genius when it comes to using up all my old bits and pieces and here's one of her cards from Monday night:


Our trip to Colorado Springs over Memorial Day weekend was initially planned so that we could pick up some new nesties that would be available at the scrapbooking store down there. One of those sets was - what else - butterflies! I finally had a chance to play with it a bit and here's a card using the largest of the three butterflies in the set. This card also uses another two butterfly nestie and some butterflies cut with the SU Beautiful Wings embosslit die.


I have some wonderful creations to show you from this month's downline meeting that I had to miss because I was HERE. Look for those tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Happy Birthday Kael!!!!

On June 5 my firstborn grandson turned 7 years old! I cannot believe he is that old - just impossible! Here's he is at just a few hours old:


And here he is a few years later enjoying a sail on Belmira!


And here he is this year playing with the electric scooter that grandpa and I gave him for his birthday.


Here's a little slideshow from this year's birthday bash which was held this past Saturday, June 18:

Happy Birthday darling Kael!!!! We love you!


Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #72

This week on Kaboodle Doodles we are hungry and thirsty and we'd like to see some projects featuring food and/or drinks!! Our sponsor this week is the talented Melissa Jenkins and the winner will receive 4 images from her marvelous company Meljen's Designs!



Here's my project featuring two of Meljen's images combined with an added computer generated sentiment:



This week is the final week for our DT member Jill. Jill has been my team mate for the last 18 months on Kaboodle Doodles and I consider her one of my best bloggy buddies. She's a talented and hard working gal and I wish her all the best as she moves on to bigger and better things! We'll all miss you Jill but look forward to seeing all your fantastic creations in the future.

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Heart Song Inspirations Challenge #3

Well it's my third week as guest designer at the Heart Song Inspirations blog and I am truly enjoying myself. Leah's images are a complete delight to work with. This week the challenge is to use flowers or handmade flowers on your project. I chose to work with the lovely poppies image from Heart Song Designs.


I am making a whole set of cards using this image and will share those with you later in the week. Please stop by the Heart Song Inspirations blog and enjoy the wonderful creations by the design team and join in and play for a chance to win some digis from Heart Song Designs.

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Time for a Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Sentimental Sundays “Celebrate Summer” blog hop. Tuesday, June 21st, is the official first day of summer in the northern hemisphere and we are all ready for the summer fun to begin. For our friends down under who are moving into their winter months and may not feel like creating a summery project, they may be making “Sparkly or Shimmery” projects. What girl doesn’t like her bling?

You should have arrived here from Lou at Lou's Love of Paper. If you didn't arrive from her blog and would like to join in the hop, please start at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog.

When I think of summer, I think of bright colors and flowers. Here's my project for this week's challenge and I think it fits the bill just fine:


We hope you will join in our “Summery or Sparkly” (plus a sentiment) challenge this week. Our sponsor is the marvelous Ann Vento of Raindrop Echo Designs. This prize will be four INDIVIDUAL sentiment sets from the Raindrop Echo Designs Whimsy Stamps Digital Collection.

Your next stop on the hop is Antoinette of nettiegillie-crafts. If you should happen to get lost along the way, you can find the blog hop list over at the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog. Don't forget to leave comments along the way because there are 3 mystery DT members who will each choose a winner from the comments left on their blog hop posts. The winners will each win a $10 gift certificate to Whimsy Stamps! The hop ends on Friday, June 24th at midnight EST. The winners will be announced on the Sentimental Sundays challenge blog on Sunday, June 26th. So, hop on over to the next stop and good luck!

Thanks for visiting!

~chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #71

Well the Kaboodlers are playing with flowers this week - my absolute favorite kind of images to play with!!!! Here's my card:




Our sponsor this week is Tiffany Doodles and they have so very many wonderful floral images! These dahlias fit perfectly in a nestie and were just a joy to color. Tiffany Doodles is also having a sale! Buy 3 and get 1 free!




Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Heart Song Designs Challenge #2

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that you are all ready for another fun challenge on the Heart Song Inspiration Blog! This week we are challenging you to use one of or any combo of Buttons, Bows and Bling AND/OR play along with the sketch! Here's the sketch:

Here's my card:

I used the Bloom Trimmers One set from Heart Song Designs for this card - what a fun and versatile set! Card base is Lavender Lace (retired SU) and I added some fun ribbon, some dew drops and some designer paper from the scrap bin.

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

North Area Stamp Camp

Tomorrow is the last stamp camp of the season and it's going to be a BIG one! Lots of door prizes and gifts for the attendees and lots of great food and there's always the wonderful projects that the demonstrators have put together. Here's mine:


I also wanted to share a card that Sabrina made when she came over to stamp a couple of weeks ago:


This is a stamp we picked up on our little road trip to Colorado Springs and I think she hit one out of the park with this card!!!

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #70

Well it's time for a new challenge on the Kaboodle Doodles challenge blog. This week we are challenging you to create something using mystical characters - fairies, angels, unicorns, gnomes - use your imagination! Here's my card:



I am totally out of my comfort zone on this one, but it was really fun. I colored the image with Copics and then painted some shimmer paint on her hair and dress. You can't see it very well in the picture, but it's very sparkly and fun! I have a terrible time using 7 Gypsies designer paper - it is sooooooo hard to cover up the great paper with an image!

Our sponsor this week is WhoopsiDaisy Designs and the winner will receive their choice of 2 sheets (8 images) from WhoopsiDaisy Designs.

Lots of fun goings on this week - new stuff from SU to play with - look for some projects coming up next week! Fun, fun, fun stamp camp coming up on Saturday, June 11 with the North Area Stampers - it's summer vacation time and this will be our last camp until fall. We are going all out and having a luau!!!! If you are interested in details, shoot me an email and I will get a flyer out to you. This promises to be one of the premiere events of the season and you won't want to miss it!

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Heart Song Inspirations Challenge #1

The talented gals at Heart Song Inspirations are so excited to be having weekly challenges again and hope you will join in and spread the word. Each Monday there will be a new challenge with a fun twist called And/Or. You will be offered 2 challenges and you are free to choose one of them or do both! This promises to be both challenging and exciting and we hope that you will join in and play along. This week's challenge is Anything Goes and there is an adorable freebie being offered that you can use if you choose! Here's my card:



Please stop by the Heart Song Inspirations blog and check out the creations of the talented design team. I was honored to be invited to join the team as a Guest Designer for the month of June and I am really looking forward to playing along in these fun challenges.


Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.

Sentimental Sundays - Inspired by Song!

Well it's Sunday and I am actually posting my Sentimental Sundays card! This week the design team is being "Inspired by Song" and WOW have they been inspired. Be sure to stop by the blog and check out all the marvelous creations made by the design team. We have a lot of new team members and they are showing off their talents - and believe me, they are VERY talented. Here's my card:


As you all know, dh is off "sailing" - well not quite yet but he will be soon! I keep hearing the Christopher Cross song in my head and on my car radio and it always makes me think of him! Repairs are progressing and you can follow his progress on the Sailing Belmira blog. She should hit the water sometime around the 15th!!!

Lots of fun stuff coming up tomorrow - Kaboodle Doodles and Heart Song Designs both have new challenges that I am certain you will find fun, fun, fun!

Thanks for visiting!

chris

Design Team Coordinator:
Sentimental Sundays
Kaboodle Doodles

If you have any questions about techniques or materials used in the work displayed on this blog, feel free to use the email link on the left and I will gladly answer your questions.