spring!

As far as weather is concerned you can't beat March—at least in Texas. If it stayed like this forever I'd be in heaven. We had several days with clear skies and just perfect temperatures. Gorgeous! I'll be wistfully thinking of these days once we're in the middle of summer.

I guess all of this is what makes flowers the predominant thing going on around here. Here's a new one for today and for the next 24 hours it's a freebie for you. They are SVG and DXF files for cuting machines only. I believe it's too complicated to cut by hand-sorry! Go get it!

If you see this post at a later date the file will be on sale in my shop here.

Have a great day!

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PS - My blogging will be a bit sporadic from now until Surtex. I'm simply too busy with all that plus other projects. Hopefully it will all pay off in the end!  For those of you that pray, I could certainly use some prayers so that everything goes well and that I stay sane. Thank you so much!

have you smiled today?

I'll admit it. While part of me will always love simple geometric designs on white paper sometimes a splash of cute and lots of color just brightens my day (like the Easter paperclips above!).  They make me smile!

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“A sense of humor... is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.”

Hugh Sidey (1927-2005) - Journalist

simple monday turns into a simple week

Spring brings a break (this week with the kids since their off from school), flowers and just some serious cleaning around the house (I'm in a dangerous "want to get rid of everything" kind of mood!). We're not going anywhere this week because we are planning for some serious fun during the summer (can't wait!).

Like some of you that follow me on Facebook have seen I've kept the freebies going (one SVG/DXF daily until Easter) and although I've been very quiet here on the blog the behind the scenes is all about Surtex (visit me at booth 664!) and putting together my portfolio for that. It's been fun and it's so hard not to show everything I have in store for the show. That's why it's been so hard to keep with the blog.

Speaking of flowers...
This new one, that is now in the shop (and in the queue at Silhouette), is based off of the freebie design that was posted yesterday. For those of you that got the freebie:
- Ignore the back image
- Cut out 6 flowers—2 each of 3 different sizes and deleting the circles towards the center of the flower (you may want to leave the circle in the very center to use with a brad).
- Overlap all the flowers from smallest to largest, making sure the petals don't overlap one another. This will give you the purple part of the flower.
- The center is simply made with 3 even smaller flowers, of the same design, but that have no cutouts.
That's it!

That's all for today because some seriously gorgeous spring weather beckons!
Happy Monday!

day off

Some days are meant for just meant for playing and getting the mental cobwebs out. That's what today is for me. I'm working on sketches and ideas and as you can see I simply couldn't squeeze in a new project for the shop this week—but I'm ok with that. Quality vs quantity is my motto!

The photo is a simple prototype that I worked on in the last few days—playing with a new tool (it reminds me of a hydrangea). It's simple to make because it's just 12 cones cut out using the Martha Stewart Crafts Circle Edge Paper Punch—easy, easy! It would work really well as a gift topper for a larger gift because is bigger than you'd think (6" x 6" x 3"). Working with this tool has inspired me to make something really great next week. If it comes out like I'm imaging it, it will be SO pretty! We shall see.

Friday tibit

I only have one but it's worth it! If you are an artist interested in entering the licensing field you must run out and get Lilla Rogers new book: I Just Like to Make Things: Learn the Secrets to Making Money while Staying Passionate about your Art and Craft. I got it yesterday and finished it today. What a great read! It fueled me at a moment when I've been having some burn out with a bit of self-doubt (ugh!!) creeping in there too. I was so impressed with it that I felt compelled to email Lilla to thank her for the book—a la girl fan... lol! I probably won't hear from her but that's perfectly ok. I just really believe in spreading your 'thank yous' whenever you're inspired to do so.

Well that's all I have for this week! Off to enjoy some lunch with friends.
Be well and enjoy your weekend!