found some juice finally!

I have finally got back into the creative mode. For awhile I lost all my creative juice and had nothing to post. Here are a few thing I have been working on in the last week.

Mt.Rushmore

Finally back to posting. I have had a long journey since my last post. On our way back home from Memphis my hubby decided we needed to explore new places in the US. His persuasive argument was we may never be this far north again and it is only 5 or so hours out of the way. Being that our journey already was going to have us on the road for about 20 hours what was another 5. So we decided to veer west. From Tennessee into Nebraska was pretty familiar territory. But as we entered into northern Nebraska and Southern South Dakota I was pretty sure the trees had been taken over by the corn. I have never in my life seen so much corn. Well, I guess I should have never complained about all that corn. Because once the corn was gone there was nothing to look at for hours and hours. Those 5 hours seemed like 10. Oh, I almost forgot that we were able to view the 500 or so signs that suggested had to visit Walls Drug store in SD. I must admit the trip was worth the long boring drive. Mount Rushmore was beautiful. It was amazing to me that man could create a masterpiece out of this gigantic rock.

On my time away I kept thinking of the artwork I had to get done when I returned home. Well, weeks later I’m finally about finished with one. This is an illustration of how traveling should be, relaxing and carefree. It is not totally completed. I have not adhered it the background yet because I am not real sure I like the background color. Then I have to take it to a photographer to have it photographed. I am not able to get high quality pictures with my camera. Someday I will have a good camera. 

humpty dumpty

I finally had a chance to play with some of my QuicKutz last week. Here is a page I did of Morgan when he was 3. I know I am a little behind on my scrapbooking. Humpty was created using many different dies. (egg, pirate legs, the body feet and hands, balloon for hat, space shuttle for bow and a few other small pieces)

 

I am in the Memphis area this week. I have been having to much fun. I have been hitting all my favorite scrapbook places. It has been hard not buying all the new goodies out. Maybe I will be rich someday. 

cards

Here are a few card I did for the LLSS. Getting  ready for a long road trip back to Oklahoma and Tennessee. I post more later.....T 

quickutz 3d poster

A lot of my Memphis friend have seen my poster at my favorite scrapbook store, Eclectica Scrapbook and Stamp Store. But not all of us are lucky enough to visit frequently, so I thought I would share the poster I created when I went back to Memphis to visit. Most of the pieces are created using quickutz dies. I couldn't get a good picture from the window so I've included a close up view. 

match box swap

Just thought I would share a swap I did a while back made out of match boxes. Stamps are Stampin' Up and paper is Cosmo Cricket.

Oh good news the temperature finally hit the mid to high 60's today. Spring might be here after all. Last week I wasn't to sure about spring coming when I saw snow falling from the sky. ugh!

 

Hi

Hi yal,

I have been a busy girl. I was able to go back to Tennessee last week to see my mom and few friends. My trip was not long enough. I didn’t get a chance to see all the people I wanted and my shopping had to be scaled back. I enjoyed every bit of my time in the wonderful spring weather. Hopeful I can come back this summer and stay a little longer.

I found the cord to down load some pictures from my camera. Here are some cards I have worked on lately. Hope you enjoy.

Did you think I got lost in the snow?

Welp, you are right.

Sorry, I haven’t posted lately. I haven’t done much art and have been in one of those funks. I hope to get out it soon. I think I just need to get a coloring book and start to color maybe it will inspire me.

We have had so much snow and cold weather I had to finally break down and get some winter gear.  I feel like a big marshmallow man dressed like a penguin. But by golly I am warmer now.  Here are some pictures of our winter.

Some ice fishermen drilling a whole to get to the water. There are ice houses all over the river.
This is in front of our apartment. a lot of the snow is from snow drifts.
Mercedes alway beats us back to the house when we take her out for potty breaks. She sits patiently with tail tucked until we get the door opened. She loves running in the snow for a few minutes but cold weather drives her back to the house quickly. 
Trey and Morgan on snowmobile.
Me on snowmobile.

I never knew how cold it could get outside until we moved here. I am having a hard time trying to figure out how life has existed so long up here. The cold weather freezes my fingers off in just minutes. Yes, I do have gloves but sometime I just run to the car for a second I feel like my fingers are going to fall off they hurt so bad. Everyone tells me the summers are great here. I'm not sure it is worth it.

I am off to drink my hot chocolate.

ttfn,

tricia

packing again

Just wanted to let everyone know I have not dropped of the earth. The house we were renting was sold this month. So I have been busy packing and moving again. Life should be back to normal soon. Or as normal as it can be, living in a little apartment.  Since most of our stuff is going to storage I shouldn't have to unpack a lot. 

tricia

summer time wishes

I was looking at some of my photos and found this summer time suit case I finished a while back. Since it is below 32 degrees around here. I felt like I needed to post a warm summer time photo.

tricia 

Here is a thank you gift I made using Graphic 45 paper. I added the zipper for a little added bling. I think this paper is one of my favorite paper lines.

deer hunter

Totally off the subject of any art talk. I was driving home the other day and saw something orange in the sky. So I had to go around the block to get a second look. I found this deer hunter so funny I had to share. I am not a hunter, but everyone here thinks hunting season is a holiday. They all think work should be canceled on opening day. To me it is to cold around here to sit in a tree and wait to see a deer. Or in this deer's case a man.

We got our first flurry of snow this weekend. It didn’t stick or stay long so I couldn’t get a good picture to show yal. I am sure I will have more chances. 

tricia

Morgan got his helmet to ride ATV’s now he just need the ATV too.  Slowly but surely he is getting hooked up. He gets a few perks with daddy working at Arctic Cat.  Arctic lets some employees ride the ATV’s and Snowmobiles. We just have to take some classes. I had never seen a snowmobile until we moved here. So I can’t wait to check out how different they are from riding ATV’s. The only problem I foresee is that the snowmobile requires snow and that means cold weather. I am already cold all the time and the cold weather hasn’t even got here yet. The high this week is around 47 to 50 degrees. I am going to have to get me some thermal underwear soon or start packing my pants with all my scrapbook papers.

ttfn,

tricia

i am still here

I am about to get everything unpacked here in northeast Minnesota.  I just unpacked my last craft room box. Now I have to figure out where to put it.  I need to get rid of some of my craft supplies but I just love them all. Someday I might need them. I guess it’s a compulsion just like women who have all those shoes and never will wear all of them before they die.

I have been playing around a bit with some new supplies. Here is a Halloween project I have been working on. Hope you enjoy.

Hi to all my TN friend I miss being inspired by all your talent. Miss you too Cindy. :)

Tricia

the move begins

I got my hubby headed off to his new job yesterday. Yeah!  He starts work monday.  Now I am on my own to get everything ready for the move. I am glad we have movers coming, however just getting ready for them and getting my house ready to sell is overwhelming. 

Yesterday I also celebrated my birthday with mom. Doing the dinner and movie thing. Thought I would top it off with a little frozen custard. Well I always get the same thing but being my birthday and all I decided to get something new. Not sure what the problem was but by the time I got home I was so sick. Hugging the toilet and I didn't even drink alcohol. When I was young and celebrated I knew why I was sick. (to much fun!!). The good news is I believe in celebrating your birthday all week. And the rest of my week is going to be greeeat! 

tricia

graceland

I finally visited Graceland last week. I have been here 3 years and never got the chance to go. We are getting ready to move to MN so figured if I wanted to see it I better go now. I'm not a big Elvis fan but I was really impressed. As an artist I loved looking at all the costumes he had. I was amazed by the talent and time it took to create them. The house was cool too. It was a total "Brady Bunch" experience.

tricia

packed and ready to go

This is  how we start our wild adventures to CHA. Can you believe we even got more stuff in here on the way home? We a had a low rider on the way home. We just needed to add some cool paint to the van but we were to tired.   tricia

my first CHA show

I just returned from CHA. I had so much fun. I saw so much stuff, I haven’t even processed it all. I am still so tired. I learned a lot about being a designer with CHA. Thank God I had my wonderful mentors with me helping every step of the way. I would have been as lost a goose with out them.  I met some wonderful woman, that also design as CHA members. How amazing and inspiring they all were.

 

Here are a couple of project I created for a children’s display at CHA. The first is a kids party hat the second is a desk set for a girls room.

tricia

Where's Waldo?

Did you think I was never going to post again? I was beginning to wonder myself. I have been so busy with new project. I am going to CHA this year for the first time. I am going as a designer and I have been trying to get as many project as I can created. I also have taken on a new adventure at my LSS. Our store has a card kit they create and sell every month. Our designer for these kits has moved. So I am in progress of designing my first card kit for the store. I am so excided to be designing these kits. However, I have big shoes to fill and I hope I am able to make my LSS proud. Also I am creating some project for A-MUSEA-PALOOZA stamp extravaganza. This is an exciting week long of event on July 7th-13th.. These stamps are so fun. I will post some sneak peeks soon. They are definitely going to get you in the holiday mood.

Here is a peek at one of the project I am creating for CHA. The stamps are from Artistic Outpost. I painted the pencil box lightly. Stamped with black then colored with colored pencils. The truck was stamped on pattern paper and attached with pop dots. The token is from Tim Holtz
--tricia

(Hi Joanne and Ellen)

Here is a little book I have been working. It is 5 star book by Pine Cone Press. I still need to add pictures to finish. It took a little work but I think it was worth the time.

I got on line this morning and looked at my OSU transcript. I was excited to see: Degree awarded- Bachelor of Fine Arts. I guess it just goes to show persistence pays off.

--tricia

I also though I better share one of the projects I have been working on for the LSS. This house is created by using the Maya Road chipboard house. The paper is by Fancy Pants designs. The flowers are many different brands. Hope you enjoy.

Hello, once again it has been forever since I have blogged. I just seem to loose track of time living life. This is a simple card I created for the LSS. We have a make-n-take Monday every week teaching new ways to use our products. This week we used Jolee’s embellishments and cloud 9 paper.

Hi all,
Just wanted to share with everyone my mini book and our LSS hit dream street papers blog. So cool. If you want to cheek it out here is the link. http://dreamstreetpapers.blogspot.com/.
I am working on a new project for the store and should be posting it soon.
tricia

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?
Not blogging as you can see. I have been a busy girl. I have been finishing the last bit of Spanish class. (Thank the Lord).. I did well on my test and finished my oral report yesterday. Now all I have to do is turn in homework for the semester. Then I will be a free woman with a BFA in graphic/illustration!!!

Also I designed the mini book kit this month for the LSS. I have included the pictures for your viewing. The paper is by Dream Street Papers. I had so much fun with the bright color and creative images.

And then on top of all of that my family thought I should take care of them and the house and cook. Go figure.

Now that school is finishing up I hope to be creating more and posting more.

tricia

the crow and grandma

I need be studying for a Spanish test but of course I am finding anything I can to avoid it. I have not had time to create anything new, so I am adding an illustration I did for Texas coop magazine publication a while back. Hope you enjoy. It is created with punches, quickutz, card stock and craft knife.
tricia

Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Card Challenge

I joined in on a vintage card challenge this week. It was so much fun. We were sent similar products to make a card and then we sent pictures back. So they could be displayed together. It is amazing how different the cards look. Shows you how different creative minds can be. To view the other cards pop on over to Art that makes me happy.

I hope every one has a Happy Easter.

tricia

I was tagged by Roxi a few days ago, so thought I better get with it and play along...I was asked to write seven random things about myself, then tag seven other bloggers to do the same. I am not sure I know 7 people that haven’t been tagged. So if you reading this “tag your it”.

Let’s see if I can think of 7 things. Hum!!

1.I was a FHA president and FHA queen in High school. Big hair and all.
2.I was a hair stylist for 20yrs before moving to Memphis. My mom and grandma are both hair stylist also.
3.I love being around people but I must have my down time. I guess I am a home body at heart.
4.One of my first jobs was working at Mazzio’s pizza.
5.Everything in my brain revolves around art, everything in my husband’s brain revolves around engines- makes for strange conversations. Don’t tell him but most of the time I have no idea what he is talking about.
6.I love to use swirls in my art not because they are in style but because they represent the curls of hair I used to play with.
7.When I grow up I want to be the Carol Duvall of paper. I love teaching people all the things you can do with paper and a punch.

I am sure as soon as I post this, much better moments of my life will come to my mind. Isn’t that how it always goes.
tricia

Oh my, I can’t believe how long it has been since I posted. I have been so busy. I am taking a Spanish class to finally finish up my graphic design degree. I have been totally consumed with trying to learn all these new words. I think the older I get the harder it is for me to learn. Or maybe the fact is my brain is just as stubborn as I am... I did however take a little break to work on some projects for my scrapbook store. The first is an acrylic book using a paper line from SEI. The second is a page using the scraps I had left from the book.
The happy baby is meee. The whole time I was making the book the colors made me thinking of my childhood. So I had to go dig out some pictures and match them up. You know how you get when your on a role.

valentine O.D.

Hi yal,
I am a woman who is ready for Valentines Day to be over. I have seen enough hearts to last me for a while. Here are some valentine day projects I did for my scrapbook store. The first project is a mini book kit, titled- 10 reasons why I love you. The paper is by Memory Makers. The designing of the kit was fun. However, after cutting out every piece for 23 kits and packing these kits. I can now say I have a new appreciation for people who create 100’s of kits a month to sell. The second project was for the store also. I created these make n take for a special sweet heart sale we had last Saturday. Two days and I won’t have to think about hearts again.
Oh just so there is no confusion. This doesn’t get my hubby off from getting me something for valentines.

Sorry, I have yet to figure out how to edit these pictures when posting. The first two are the end of the book.

Hey look 2 post in a row.
Wow!
I have been want to make a mask with a peacock theme for a friend of mine for a while. So yesterday I got busy and made a mini version with some of my favorite quickutz product. I used some of the florishes, bottle caps and juke box. I am thinking for the final mask I will make the feathers larger and add more detail. I hope to get it done soon. You know the saying. "So many ideas so little time."

eye candy for the day

Ok, so I am not the best at updating this blog. I'm gona work on that. Here is a project I did for my scrapbook store a while back. just a little eye candy for the day. Hope you enjoy.

tricia

I got it.

This is a project I just finished for a trucking company's Christmas card. I felt like it took me forever. But it was less than a week. I think it felt like it took so long, because I had to have my gallbladder removed during the time I was working on the piece. I had little to no time to work on my recovery. if i can work this photo to work.