This is an article I wrote that appeared on Craft Critique two weeks ago. Which reminds me, I need to go and buy some more pens! I recently had houseguest who generously gave me a gift certificate to my favorite art supply shop! Yay! THE SAKURA PIGMA MICRON MAKES ME LOOK GOOD I can’t draw. I’m not much of a painter, either. But, I have discovered a black pen that makes me look like I can do both! I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the Sakura Pigma Micron is the greatest black pen on earth. I have a... Read more →

...and I for one, am grateful. Here's a quick layout I did to commemorate the moment: The coating on the chipboard flowers and triangle on the left was created by coating the item with pigment ink, covering the item with embossing powder, and heating. I repeated the last two steps several times on the chipboard flowers. Love this technique! The journaling strip on the photo block was created in Photoshop. I created the photo block and then de-saturated a strip in the middle. I printed out the entire thing and then wrote on the de-saturated part. JOURNALING: It’s an annual... Read more →

I am extraordinarily pleased to announce that I have been invited to join The All American Scrapbook Company (AASC) Design Team. I've never been a part of a design team attached to a message board. It makes me nervous, but excited. The ladies over at AASC are really nice. Everyone is super friendly. I'm still learning how the site works and getting to know everyone. I'm looking forward to contributing to making the site really fantastic! I hope you'll check it out! Read more →

So, as you may know, I'm on the design team for a great scrapbooking store: Just Let Me Scrapbook. The owner, MaryBeth, always has fantastic stuff in the store (totally my taste) and the prices are really good. Even better, she's offering 20% off your entire order!!! WOW! Here's the discount code: HAPPY20 (good through April 23). Use it in good health! In the meantime, here are my design team projects for April: Read more →

This is an article I wrote for Craft Critique which appeared last week. I received a completely wonderful birthday gift this year: the brand new Klic-N-Kut. “Hmmmm…never heard of it,” you say? Well, you will. It’s fantastic! The Klic-N-Kut is the big brother of the better known Wishblade, and its European counterpart, the CraftRobo. All three of these machines are computerized, electronic die cutters. Some things that set the Klic-N-Kut (KNK) apart are: • KNK easily cuts through thicker materials including chipboard and fun foam. I’ve even heard of people cutting through thin polymer clay sheets! (Already baked, of course.)... Read more →

I read a lot of stuff from people who are indignant that scrabookers (in particular) call themselves artists. Scrapbooking celebrity Ali Edwards introduced the term Life Artist and as many people embraced it as were chafed by it. I found this recent comment on a message board very interesting: The whole, "I am an artist because I slap some oddly matched paper, a few office supplies, embellishments and a photograph of half of my face together on a slab" thing makes me howl. How many of these women have true artistic ability, to draw, sketch, paint? Seriously, who has any... Read more →

You can see all the quilts that claimed prizes at The Urban Inspirations Quilt Show right here. It's quite a wonderful range of work -- different styles, color choices, techniques, and even shapes! My only sadness is that you can't click on the quilts to make them any bigger. Also, some of the quilts really show up better in person (especially the really detailed ones). Alas. But, please take a peek and then come back and let me know which ones you love! My favorites are: Koi, Hexagons or Diamonds, Captiva, #13, and My New York Buddies. (And, of course,... Read more →