Tree Ent.

This is a finger puppet that I made for a finger puppet swap. :) He's a tree ent.

I took this picture with my new Elph from two of my favorite Christmas elphs: my brother and sister! So so very sweet. :)

Hope you all had a great Christmas! :)

Merry Christmas!!!

“…and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” Matthew 2:9-10


May His light and love shine in your life this season and throughout the New Year.

By the way, here's a picture of all the Lemon Drops together for the last time before they get packaged and given away. :)

The Christmas Giveaway #1 Winner is...

Karrie!!!



Yay!

Thank you all for playing! :)

Christmas Giveaway #1!!!

Christmas Giveaway #1 is now closed. :) Thanks for participating!!!



Decorate your gifts like this:



or like this:



Leave a comment to be entered into my Christmas giveaway! Drawing will be this Friday, December 13th at 12 noon (PST). :) Christmas giveaway will consist of some Mushroom Meadows Christmas tags and stickers (as seen below) and some surprises, too! :)





Christmas Giveaway #1 is now closed. :) Thanks for participating!!!

I would not lose my way.

Today is going to be a challenging day. I just have to forge ahead. :)



"...I would not lose my way." -the Fray

just doodling.

School is finishing up in a terrible stink. Deadlines are stinky. And, procrastination just makes them even stinkier.

Anyway, here's a quick doodle I did:

Happy Thanksgiving!

There is an abundance to be thankful for this year, despite all the hardships that we face day to day. For me, I am grateful for my loving family and friends, for my home, for my job and school, and so much more! But I am also very thankful for this continual opportunity to share my artwork and life with all of you.

Thank you, bloggy friends! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! :)

Analytical Machine.

What is it? It's the Analytical Machine! Whatever it is, these kids are pretty fascinated by it. ;)

carving stamps again.

These are stamps I carved for a swap:




And these are stamps I made for myself. (The itty bitty one IS really small. It's smaller than a dime!)

Patchwork Craft Fair

The Patchwork Craft Fair was today! :) I was lucky enough to go, and if you weren't, don't despair. I have some pictures to share!













I didn't get to stay for very long, but it was pretty amazing! One of my favorite booths was Mahar Drygoods.com (pictures 2-4).

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Daisy

I love daisies (they were one of my wedding flowers), so naturally, I was drawn to Marc Jacob's Daisy perfume. Anyway, I have been contemplating getting it, but it's pretty pricey. However, the fact that Sephora is having a sale this weekend convinced me that I should definitely give it a try. There's a 20% coupon code. It's FF2008, and you can get free shipping if you spend 50 dollars or more.

I have been hunting for a new fragrance, and I couldn't resist trying this (it contains a sample of the daisy perfume):

Scent Sampler

It ends up costing a little over 40 dollar, so it seems like a fairly decent deal because not only do you get ten samples (I LOVE perfume samples. The bottles are adorable.) but you get a certificate for a full-sized bottle at a sephora store!

Anyway, have a great weekend! :)

mushroom doodle.

I made Velvet Cake Balls because cakies made some for a wedding and they looked tasty! :) Wow. They're potent little suckers. I can't even finish a whole one, but they are yummy.

Anyway, here's a little doodle.



I hope you all have a great weekend, even though I will be suffering through a class and a midterm. :(

i feel...PINK

As for tags and such, Erika tagged me. So here are seven random things about me:

1. I just bought snapware from Costco, and love it. :)

2. My dad bought me a scooter a long time ago when the RAZOR first came out, and I still ride mine all the time because parking is terrible at school. :)

3. I work for Dunder Mufflin Infinity. :)

4. My favorite smoothie is PASSION PUNCH at Juice it Up!

5. I've given up caffeine once again. It's been three weeks. woo-hoo!

6. I have to sleep with a blanket.

7. I just discovered the show "Jon and Kate plus 8" (we don't have cable at home but my work does & that's where I watch it...if I can!).

And, Green Bean Baby nominated me for the "I Love Your Blog" tag. :) Thanks!!! There are so many great blogs out there, which makes it difficult me to nominate just a handful. Instead, look at my side bar and you'll find some of my favorites (although I need to update it.) :)

felt and thread.

I've been trying to practice my embroidery skills. It's hard and very time consuming! My impatience has led me to incorporate felt into my work instead of filling certain areas (like hair) in with thread. :)



The mushroom baby took longer because I wanted to try to fill it in all with thread.



By the way, I am currently in love with Hagen Dazs ice cream bars! YUM!!! Plus, I'll probably be back this week because I have a couple of TAGS to do! :)

monthly makings.

The theme for my sister's Monthly Makings is FALL!

Here's my contribution. It's an autumn leaf guy patch that I adhered to my backpack. :)





Hope you all have a great week! :)

bad day. ;)

I bought my first every mp3 song. 89 cents seems kind of pricey for one song, but I really, really like it. It's an older one, but it's still so good. Plus, it's so appropriate for Monday, don't you think? :)

And the video is cute, too! :)

Winter Tag-Giveaway Winner!

and the winner is...

#6 (not to be confused with the scary, blonde cylon), Tizzalicious!!!

Thanks for all playing! ;)

Have a great week, and before I leave, I wanted to show you my recent purchase:



Aren't they beautiful?? :) (my husband was actually jealous! ha ha!)

Winter Tag- Giveaway

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and sweet comments. I'm feeling much better, thank you! :)

I made some tags today, and I'm giving away a set of them. You get 5 Winter Boy Tags and 5 Snowman Tags. They're stamped using my newly carved winter stamps onto lovely scalloped kraft paper! They each come adorned with red string! :)





Just leave a comment, and I'll announce the winner this Sunday.

Speaking of giveaways, I received this lovely embroidered tea towel from Oliver Rain! Thank you again! :)

This is how I feel... (sorry, it's a little graphic)

and the winner is...

Greeting Arts!!!

Thank you for all playing along. :)

The weekend is almost over, but I finished my homework for the week, so I think I'm going to indulge myself in some embroidering and other crafts tomorrow!!! :D

rad weekend giveaway!

Inspired by this radish, I created these tags:



I decided to do a little giveaway of these tags (ten of them). Leave a comment, and I'll select a winner Sunday Night! :)

have a rad(ish) weekend!

bunny garden :)

My sister made an elaborate card of bunnies for me. Here is one of the cutest scenes:



I digitally colored it and based on my interpretation of it, titled it "Bunny Garden"! Now that's a place I would love to visit. :)

shopping spree!

So, my birthday was yesterday. It was so fun! My husband basically took me to every craft store that I wanted to go to. :) I got some paper punches, wood dolls to paint, paper/cardstock, and other little knick-knack kind of stuff. :)

Plus, we went to this new yogurt place. There were so many toppings. I had apple jelly, mochi, mango, and kiwi on mine. YUM! YUM! Then, we drove down a street until it ended. :) Lastly, we stopped at the beach. It was a lovely day.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! You make my week super special. :)

And for those who were curious about the birthday surprise...here it is:



They're cellphone/zipper charms!

more birthdays!

Here is something I did for someone's special birthday:



And here is a quick design for a card I'm making for my nephew's birthday at the end of this month:



On a side note, I just sent out the first batch of birthday surprises yesterday! Once everyone receives it, I'll post a picture of a couple of them. :)

Birthday Surprise!!!

I've always loved the way hobbits celebrate birthdays. Instead of the receiving gifts on one's birthday, one gives gifts on his/her birthday!!! So, I wanted my upcoming birthday to be celebrated such a way...Hobbit style!!!

I decided to utilize my ETSY, bitsy Shop, to give away a little handmade present to anyone who wants to celebrate my birthday with me!!! All you have to do is pay for the shipping/handling fee (which is just $1.00) and your little present will be mailed to you this week! :)



I've only listed a handful of presents, but if there's anyone else who wants one, just send me an email, convo me, or just leave a comment on this post and I'll reserve a birthday surprise for you on etsy!

Birthday Month!

August is my birthday month! Here are some pins I have been designing for the celebration! :)

the battle rages...

This is a diversion from the normal crafts...just some pondering that I've done...

The battle never ceases, despite the fact that there are long periods in our lives without fighting, without bloodshed, without even fear or weeping. However, do not be fooled. Those times are merely rest stops; the battle still rages. Do not put down your weapons. Do not give up your defenses. Do not think that you're safe and secure.

The enemy is lurking, and he is waiting for you to give in to the belief that everything is fine; he wants you to embrace the status quo. The truth is everything is not as quiet and calm as you may think. The battle rages on, and the rest is only there to help you prepare for battle!

Friends, know God. He is your defense. The battle will continue, and when it does, will you be ready?

the pits

This is an illustration I did yesterday for a school project.



Life may seem very peachy, but it's really just the pits.

I know there are a lot of people out there with pain and fear, disappointments and sorrows, regrets and despair... and I just hope and pray that you guys will make it. Just know that you're not alone. (Forgive me for my randomness.)

Stamp Carving Tutorial: PART II

In case you missed the first part of my Stamp Carving Tutorial, here it is: Stamp Carving Tutorial: Part I.


Step 1: Either trace or draw your image with pencil. Make the pencil markings as dark as possible because this will determine how bold your transfer will be. The bolder the transfer, the better!



Step 2: Cut a block of carving material to the size of your image. Press the image to the material and rub. Try not to move the image because you want one solid transfer. If the image shifts while you're rubbing, you may end up with multiple copies of your image on the carving material, which is bad. :)



Step 3: Trace the pencil image with permanent marker. This is important because the pencil image tends to fade during the carving, so it's nice to have a permanent outline of the image on your carving material.



Step 4: Carve out everything that's not in permanent ink. I use a small carving tip, I think it's size 1, for the details and I'm currently using size 3 to remove the bigger chunks.



Step 5: During my carving process, every time I carve something out of my stamp, I ink it and make an impression. This helps me see the progress of my carving. The hardest part about stamp carving, however, is knowing when to stop. Your stamp can potentially lose an eye or mouth if you keep trying to perfect it.



Step 6: We're almost done (Part III is next, so stay tuned).

Here's my coffee cup...for now (ha ha):

Holly House!

I'll be posting the stamp tutorial: PART II today, but first, I just had to post this picture right now.

Holly from Charmed Life sent me this beautiful Christmas house. Look at my little doll, she's so excited to visit! :)



Isn't it BEAUTIFUL??? I can't believe how lucky I am!

Hand Carved Stamping Tutorial: Part 1

Hand carving stamps is no biggy, but I'm going to have to divide this tutorial up into sections because uploading pictures is a pain. :)

Firstly, behold, my collection:

My collection

In today's tutorial, I'm going to talk about materials. The tools you use is perhaps one of the most important factors in the success of your stamps. :)



1. speedball linoleum carving set
Finding this carving set may be difficult, but it's worth the search! It gives you control and accuracy! :)

2. x-acto knife
I use my x-acto knife to cut the stamp carving material to the size that I want. Pretty nifty, versatile tool.

3. versaFine, versaMagic, and brilliance inkpads
I LOVE different inks, but my favorites are the above. *sigh* These guys are super expensive, but they last a while, and they give your stamped image more than you could ever imagine! I like the versaFine because you can use watercolor with it. I like versaMagic because it gives a nice shadow to your projects. And brilliance? Well, it's REALLY bold and well, brilliant.

4. speedball carving material
It's true, this stuff is soft, but it does a fantastic job getting the fine details of your image! I love it!!! Also, it's a bit pricey. Take that back, it's very pricey. However, it makes carving less about physical strength and more about the carving.

Here are some of the pieces that I've recently done (which are now in the shop!):



Tiger Stamp



OC Orange Stamp

By the way, thanks for all the kind words about the GRAND OPENING of our ETSY shop! It makes us so happy, you don't even know. ;)