Creative Blog Tour!!

Good morning!  I was invited to be part of the Creative Blog Tour by my friend Lyne!  Her very cool blog is http://lynnseverydayideas.blogspot.com !  I met Lyne through a Design Team that was part of a Facebook group that dissolved.  But something great came of it and that is knowing the great lady that is Lyne!  We are members of several other FB groups together and participate in swaps and blog hops together regularly.  We have also bounced ideas off each other, she is a great crafter!

Participants are to answer the following questions.  I hope this helps you get to know me a bit better.

What am I working on? 

Well, I am almost finished with a huge scanning project for my family.  So I have not been as "crafty" this month. So far I have scanned 580 pictures and documents!  I just went "home" for the weekend and returned those pieces to my mother and she gave me another bag!  My part of being the family historian.  My mother is on Ancestry.com and does her part in researching our history, she has found some pretty neat stories.

Creatively, I have done some "bigger" projects lately.  If you look back to last few post, you will see a couple of great projects I did for Kiwi Lane.  I am also doing several swaps this month and next.  Here is a peak at an upcoming blog post about an explosion box swap.

  

I am also working on an upcoming blog hop project and my next DT projects.  You will get to see more soon!

 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

 I think my style is pretty unique. I enjoy a little of everything:  Clean and simple, shabby chic, grungy, and elaborate.  Since I have worked in different mediums, I try really hard to bring all my knowledge together to create something different.  I don't know exactly what you would call it, but I can pick my work out of a crowd. Just recently (at the Stampaway Convention), I noticed a pair of earrings on a woman, I immediately knew they were some I had created.  The woman didn't remember where she had got them, but I KNEW they were mine, they just had my touch!  There are so many techniques to try, I try and sometimes I fail.  And sometimes I discover a new technique that I fall in love with!  So even though I am constantly evolving I seem to have a flair that is uniquely me!
Here are some of my favorite cards:

Why do I create what I do?

 I have always been creative.  I don't know what I would do without some creative outlet in my life.  I have worked in various mediums over the years.  Beaded jewelry has been primary for years and was a thriving business for me.  Many reasons have contributed to changing my focus which is now paper crafts.  I have always loved paper crafts but it was usually put on the back burner to my "business".  I have had a bit of success selling my cards and just this spring won 2nd place in Graphic Arts at an art show.  I also have been accepted to a couple of design teams in the past year.  As nice as it is to "support" my habit, however, I do it for the therapy more than money because I NEED to create.

How does your creating process work?

 I usually start with some spark of an idea, either pictures for scrapbooking or a need for a card.  I love challenges!  They really get my juices flowing.  I love blogging because I can pick and choose the challenges in which I would like to participate.  I like design teams because I am sometimes forced to think out of the box.  Sometimes, I begin with a new product, just one stamp, piece of paper or paper.  I will purchase something and the juices start flowing.  Unfortunately, I seem to never have enough time to produce all my good ideas.  Sometimes my "ideas" loom around for a year or more, sometimes one more purchase solidifies the project.  I find this with beads, too. 



This is one of the projects where I started with a stamp and I knew I wanted to make a card for my mother, it ended up being her Mother's Day card one year.  She loved it so much she framed it!  Coloring is not typically my style but I am working on it!

Now to my choices of talented crafters to which I pass on the torch!

My first pick was Connie! at http://www.conniecancrop.blogspot.com/.
Connie is awesome!  She comes up with the greatest ideas!  She is on many design teams and organizes the BEST blog hops!  She is a seasoned professional who gives me a lot of inspiration!  We have also become friends over the couple of years we have worked together.  I think it is just awesome to develop relationships so from so far away!  These would have never been possible just a few years ago.

 

Next up is Jessica! at http://www.craftinandstampin.blogspot.com/.
Jessica is also one awesome lady! Again, we only know each other from blog world and Facebook, but she is such an inspiration.  She is rockin' her CTMH business and recently won some great recognition at convention!  Congrats Jessica!  You really work hard and deserve it!

And finally my latest bloggy friend is Sue K! at http://suek86401.blogspot.com/.
Sue recently discovered my blog and I her's.  She is a design team member for Hiding in my craftroom  which is a great challenge blog!  No, I am not partial because I have won a few prizes...Sue has been the most loyal follower EVER!  and so creative in her own right.



Please check these ladies out and they will post the answers to their questions next Monday, Labor Day, September 1.  Thank you so much for spending your time reading my creative blog!