Rock Cross

Last summer my Brother, Sister-in-law and Nephew came to visit us in North Carolina. Before they came to our house though, they spent some time at Gem Mountain. My brother is a Geologist so he couldn't pass up the chance to visit a place like Gem Mountain. They arrived at our house bearing gifts of bags full of colorful gems. I haven't done much with mine except ooh and aah over them occasionally. Well, my SIL's birthday is next week and she collects crosses for her living room wall and I thought this would be a nice way to showcase some of those colorful rocks. I think she will love it!

Corner Bookmark #2 (For a Friend)

This is another corner bookmark for my friend in Lubbock. She is a big
"Twilight" fan and even though she said the bookmarks didn't have to be "Twilight" related since she will be using these for any book she reads, I couldn't resist this idea. I photo copied the page out of the book and glued it to the sealed envelope corner that I used as the body of the bookmark, then I lightly inked it with brown ink. Then I masked off the quote (one of my favorites from the movie) and inked using more brown ink. Then I used the Flourish mask by Tim Holz and inked around with even more brown ink. I inked the edges with black ink and then decided to use my gold gelly rollz pen to drawn a line right down the edges. I think she will love it! :)

Corner Bookmark (for a Friend)

I have a wonderful friend in Lubbock who asked me to make her some corner bookmarks. This one is in a Red/Black theme. She asked for scroll work and I had some stamps that I thought would really work nicely. I've shown it here, on and off a book. I think she will love it.

Photography!

Doorknob by Chrystal

One of my first loves was Photography. I wanted to major in Photography in college but the college that I got a scholarship from didn't offer it as a Major. However, they did have classes so I took 2 semesters of black and white photography. Got to learn composition as well as developing in the darkroom (that part was FUN!!!). I kind of got away from photography after getting married and moving away and all that stuff that happens when you are young and trying to start a family. Zoom ahead 20 years.... I met a wonderful lady at work who is artsy like me and found out that not only does she make cards but she bakes some fantastic cakes and is an amazing photographer! Heather and I have become great friends and we joined a local photography group that meets monthly for photo shoots. Heather didn't get to go to the last one but Kristina and I did and here are a few of our photos.... Kristina's are edited using an online photo editing site (Picnik). She's gotten a lot of great comments...

Barn wall in Sepia by Chrystal

Barn by Kristina

by Kristina

Barn Askew by Kristina

We found out that this group of buildings was built in June 1915. The date is etched on one of the walls and one of the other photographers found it. This place was very interesting and we had a great time walking around taking pictures.

A little play time

I got to play in my ART Studio last night. It is always so wonderful to be able to sit down and get messy! I have two swaps that I needed to get made so I can get them in the mail. One is for a corner bookmark. They are made using sealed envelopes. You seal your envelope and then measure 4 inches down each side and then cut across. I used decorative scissors for my cut. Then I used some "Peeled Paint" Distress ink for the background and "Forest Moss" Distress ink for the stamp. The stamp I used is just a foam stamp. Then I painted the leaves with gold glitter acrylic paint. The word "READ" is made using Martha Stewart Alphabet stamps. These bookmarks are so easy to make and really work so well. Just slip them over your pages to hold your place, no matter what size the book!
The second swap was to make an ATC based on certain events and holidays in May. I chose May 20 which in 1990 Hubble sent it's first photo from space. This ATC is in honor of that day. I went to the Hubble website (here) and found an image from their print gallery. This photo is of Spiral Galaxy M101. I added little dots of glitter to the stars and added my own text. The glitter really makes the stars shine!

Honeysuckle

One of the things I love about being in North Carolina is everything that blooms here. It all looks so great against the green. Don't get me wrong. I am very fond of the Texas plants and flowers that I enjoyed growing up, especially bluebonnets. But since we've moved here I've really enjoyed the Springtime. Last year I noticed all of the Honeysuckle that grows wild here and wanted to find a way to get some growing in my back yard. Well, as I was walking around the yard last night I discovered a Honeysuckle vine growing along the fence. Needless to say I was so happy so see it there. Honeysuckle is my very favorite scent. I took some time to enjoy it last night and again this evening. It's a small vine but I am hoping it will spread out a lot this season. It is too bad they only bloom for a few short weeks.

"Hello" cards

I finally got to stop and take some time to make a couple of cards last night. Just playing around with paper, stamps, ink, paint and glitter. These will be fun to send to a friend just to say "Hello"!