Thoughts of Spring in the Dead of Winter

My daughter received a charcoal kit and a pastels kit for Christmas and immediately went to work. This is what she drew and she gave it to me as a gift. I am hoping to get a frame for it this week and display it in our living room.

EtsyPaper Paper Pal Promotion

This December I am promoting my EtsyPaper Street Team Paper Pal: PaperPeddler (http://www.paperpeddler.etsy.com/)

I have been very impressed with PaperPeddler as a Seller and as a person. She is fantastic to work with and wonderful to talk to. :)

Here are some of my favorite items from her shop...


Each month she donates part of card and card set purchases to a charity. She has an awesome newsletter and she is going "green" with her invoicing. :)


Check out her shop. If you like paper, you'll love Paperpeddler!

Christmas Tag Swap

I have an online group of wonderfully talented friends and this year we did a Christmas tag swap. I took mine to Louisiana and worked on them while my husband was duck hunting. :)


These tags were made with some of my crayon paper which was glued onto cardstock before cutting. Then I just punched a star at the top and made a ribbon loop and wrote "To:" and "From" on the back in red ink.

November is a Busy Month!

Well, the first week of December is over and I finally have a chance to sit down and update my blog!

November is usually a very busy month for us. We have two traditions that take up a lot of our time. One tradition has been around a little longer than the other.

On Novemember 10, 1775, the Marine Corps was born. Every year the men and women of the Marine Corps gather together to celebrate this special date with a ceremony, dinner and dancing. We had a wonderful time! The food was fabulous, the guest speaker was motivating and the dancing was, well, a fun time for everyone! We even had birthday cake. :)

For the last three years we have gone to Southern Louisiana to visit my Mother-in-Law during the week of Thanksgiving. That time of year is duck hunting season so Jason gets to go out with my MIL and her husband and their friends and duck hunt. He has a blast. Kristina and I usualy hang out at the cabin but we did get to go out on the boat with them on the last day. It was fun!

Here are some other pics I took:

Message in a Bottle

I am participating in a Message in a Bottle swap that is just too much fun!

Recently, I received my first bottle:











With tons of goodies:

For every bottle I receive, I send out 2 and I get 4 in return! Talk about some great mail days!

You can see the fun here: http://www.GoMakeSomething.com/mib

I can't wait to play... :)

Black Paper

A co-worker asked me to make her some of my handmade paper notecards and when I asked her if she had a color preference she said she likes black and white. I decided I would try to make black paper for some of her cards. I've never made black paper. The darkest paper I've ever made is brown. Here are the results:

TAG!!! I'M IT! (TWICE)

I got tagged! Twice! Wowzers!

Once by my EtsyPaper Pal Katy http://kisforcalligraphy.blogspot.com/

and once by my good Friend Angie http://angiehallhaviland.typepad.com/angiesartfulllife/



I am supposed to tell 6 things about myself and then tag 5 blogging friends.

Here we go:

1. I have 2 tattoos. One on my ankle and one on my wrist. The one on my wrist has my hubby's name in it.



2. I was a dancer when I was little girl. Ballet, tap and jazz! However, I cried all through a ballet solo at a recital because I have a big stage-fright problem.



3. My favorite cars are Mustangs. I had one in High School. An '81 Mustang - lots of fun! And I had one a couple of years ago. A 2002 beautiful Yellow Mustang. I sold it because 1) My daughter was getting too tall to sit in the back seat and 2) when it rains here in Lubbock the intersections flood pretty bad and I didn't want to get stuck! I shall have another one someday!



4. I love Action Flicks!!!



5. Favorite Food: Fajitas! YUM!

6. I would love to retire in the Texas Hill Country. Beautfiul place. :)



OK, Now to tag:



http://ragqueensblog.blogspot.com/



http://clearpink.blogspot.com/



http://jenygwen.blogspot.com/



Well, I am only going to do 3 friends... LOL!



On the subject of tags, here is a card I made a little while back for a swap:

Colorful Gems

It is a rainy day today so I decided to work on some things I have been needing to make. A friend of mine at work placed an order for some of my flat-back glass marble push pins. I've got everything finished except to glue the tack to the back. I just love how they turned out. So colorful. These are made using my crayon paper. The leftover sheets (at the right of the photo) will be used to make more (for me!). I usually take any flat-back glass marbles that are not suitable for selling (little flaw or chip in the glass) and make push pins for my home office. And any itsy-bitsy leftover pieces of the paper will be used in my handmade papers. I won't be throwing anything away during this project. :)

PaperMaker Treasury on Etsy!

I am part of a newly created team on Etsy called the Etsy PaperMakers Guild. We are all papermakers and it is so interesting to see how other artists create with handmade paper and what they use during the papermaking process. One of our team members created this Treasury. Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=14216

And here are some photos of my paper. :)

New Cards

I am really trying to enjoy the Fall. :) Usually I am happiest in the Summer. I love the warmth. I like Fall but when it arrives, Winter is not far behind and that means cold and ice. Not my favorite things (unless you are describing a nice tall glass of cold iced tea!)

Anyway, I made up a batch of Fall color paper this week and decided to make some cards. I think they look great! :)

I think I need to go shopping for more chunky stamps because they just stamp wonderfully on handmade paper!

Fall Colors!

Did I mention that I also enjoy making greeting cards? I guess it is part of that paper passion I have. :)

I think I am a little behind the times. Everyone is making things that incorporate Fall Colors. So, I grabbed some paper and couple of stamps and my Paper Flower Medallion from PaperPeddler.etsy.com and crafted away!

Welcome to CS Craft Studio!

Hi!!

For those of you who saw my blog on Typepad, welcome to my new blog! :)

For those of you who don't know me, welcome to CS Craft Studio!

I am a Papermaker. That's right, a Papermaker. For the longest time I wanted to call myself a Papermaker but was nervous about it. Maybe people wouldn't understand, I mean a Papermaker? Why not Artist? I do feel I am an Artist at heart. I love to create things with my hands. I enjoy the thrill of taking little things and making something beautiful. But my passion is paper. I feel such a letdown when I don't get to make paper. It is something that just lifts my spirit! I saw the quote at the top of my blog hanging up in my daughter's dance studio and it just inspired me. Almost made me cry, sure, but really inspired me. Why shouldn't I be successful? Why shouldn't I be amazing? Why do I hold back when I know what I want to do? I want to make paper! I want to make paper that people will enjoy using in their own creations, whether it is a collage or a letter to a friend. So, I am on a journey to be amazing and successful! And, if for some reason I am not an amazing and successful Papermaker, then maybe I'll be known as an amazing Mom and Wife and Friend. My Heart would be Happy! :)

Thank you all for stopping by. My journey continues...