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Showing posts from May, 2019

March 2025 Procreate Designs

Looking back on the art I’ve been making for the past few months I’ve done quite a bit of digital work.  I started really delving into Procreate when we went on Vacation earlier this year, and I haven’t stopped exploring the possibilities since.   While planning for our vacation in late February and early March of his year I opted to take only my camera and iPad.  No knitting, no sketch book, no art supplies.  This was the first time I’d ever taken only my iPad, with the intent of creating art while on a vacation.  I had a plan to limit my supplies and challenge myself to only using procreate.  My plan worked, I learned a lot about procreate and I enjoyed to process.   The biggest thing I learned was how very freeing being able to sit on the couch or the porch at night with just an iPad and a pencil was.  There was no figuring out where to put supplies, or how to juggle a sketchbook on my lap, or being confined to the table.  The other bonus ...

Do People Still Send Cards?

"Your cards are beautiful, do people still send cards?" "I'd buy your cards, but I don't know who I'd send them too."   These statements do two things, they validate some sort of guilt for the person saying them and they sting the recipient.  The sayer is very often the same person who would be delighted to get something other than junk and bills in their mailbox.  The recipient is often saddened by the lack of value placed on what they've created.  Our lives have become so overwhelmingly saturated with activity we've lost sight of being kind just for the sake of being kind.  Sending letters used to be the only form of communication and now it's referred to as a "lost art" and treated as an inconvinence.  We talk about not know what to say if we were to write the note and not having anyone to send happy mail to anyway.  We don't seem to have that trouble with email, texts, and IM, but sending a note with a stamp is too mu...

Orange is a Theme

I've noticed a little theme in my card making as of late, orange.  I've not always been a lover of orange, but as of late it sure is popping up in several of the cards I've made. Get Well Butterflies (SENT) Happy Mother's Day - Orange (SOLD) Thanks (SENT) Happiest of Birthdays to You ( AVAILABLE HERE ) What do you think?  Do you love the orange? Interested in the products used?  Here are a few affiliate links: Affiliate links are used at no additional charge to you Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long tape, Refill cartridge 5 Pack, Shop at: SSS | AZ Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long-Blue Shop at: SSS | AZ Lil' Inkers - STITCHED SENTIMENT FLAG DIE Shop at: Other Shops Simon Says Stamp STITCHED RECTANGLES Wafer Dies Shop at: SSS Simon Says Stamp WONKY RECTANGLES Wafer Dies Shop at: SSS WOW Embossing Powder PRIMARY EBONY SUPER FINE Shop at: SSS Gina K Designs JET BLACK AMALGAM Cube Ink Mini Pad...

MFT Cross Stitched Tag Die - Hello Owl

Did I mention I love this owl?  This is the second one of these little guys I've stitched and they're just too cute!  I'm sharing yet another card using the MFT Cross Stitched Tag Die and a pattern from their free resource page.  I completed this card with a green cardstock tag topper, a little hello cut from matching green, a bit of yellow vintage seam binding tape with some green thread, some yellow zig-zag pattern paper from my stash and mounted it all on a kraft card based. Techniques Used: Die Cutting & Stitching Links to Products Used: Affiliate links are used at no additional charge to you Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long tape, Refill cartridge 5 Pack, Shop at: SSS | AZ Kokuyo Tape Glue Dot Liner Long-Blue Shop at: SSS | AZ Die-namics Cross-Stitch Tag Shop at: SSS | MFT Simon Says Stamp SMALL HELLO Craft Die Shop at: SSS Fiskars - Razor Edge Easy Action Shears Shop at: SSS | SB Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE ...

Updates for May 2019

Sometimes I feel like I'm stumbling in the dark, but I can honestly say it's all worth it.  This year I've done a lot of things outside my comfort zone and I keep moving forward. I invested a lot of time in making Graduation cards.  I used a folding template I found on Pinterest and customized them to local school colors.  I also adapted them to have a pocket for a gift card of money.  They turned out so cute and have been a popular seller at the gift shop I have my cards in. April was my first full month of sales at Smiling Moose Gifts, here in our small Alaskan hometown.  I sold enough to cover my first two months of booth rent, and while this seems like that wasn't much it was a huge milestone to me.  I went way out of my comfort zone to sign a contract and put my handmade cards somewhere other than on my own website.  My goal for my first month was to sell enough to cover one month's rent.  I doubled that.  There's more to come...