Snow at the New House

It's so pretty!

A Winter Snowstorm

 We got another load of snow, which is lovely. I'm really enjoying my time off work and diving into some things I haven't had time for in ages. 

I put together this cute puzzle after Christmas. The pieces were a bit bigger than normal, which I liked, and there were still 1000 so it was pretty big. 

I also bought some Christmas fabric at Joann's when we visited my mom over the holidays. I used it to make some pillowcases and a quilt-top for the bed. 

Here is a 16" pillowcase cover. 

Here is another pillowcase cover. 

And another, though I think this is for a 12" pillow. 

And then I made a king-size quilt for the bed. I didn't have enough fabric for the backing, however, so I'll have to wait until the next time we visit (or I find another Joann's with seasonal fabric all year) to get some more. I love how each quilt block looks like a little present! I also used my Cricut to make vinyl name tags on the shams I sewed as well that look like Christmas gifts. They are so cute! Hopefully I'll get the quilt finished by next Christmas and can put it on the bed! 

Snow Day Cards

I used paper from Our Daily Bread Designs and an embossing folder cross from Darice, colored with my Copic markers. The stamp on the inside is from Our Daily Bread Designs also.

Here is a sympathy card I made using Just Rite Vintage Labels Seven and colored with my Copic markers.

I've been playing around with embossing powder and used stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs to make this sweet card for my husband's cousin who is getting married this weekend. 

This is a card I made with a cuttlebug plate and embossing folder. I colored the pieces with my Cricut. My husband's niece is having a baby shower this weekend so we needed a totally adorable card- it's cuter in person.

And... Happy Spring! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is the card I made my sweetheart for Valentine's Day. It says "Of all the places in the world to be... with you is my favorite!" I used the globe from Going Places cut onto brown paper. I sprayed it with "Goosebumps" to give it a leathery feel. It's super cool! 

Another card- the first in a series I'm working on- is this cute little card that could be used for pretty much any purpose.

And here is a cool picture of the foot and a half snowstorm we got Wednesday-Thursday last week. Luckily we have a 4WD truck, otherwise I'd still be stuck in my driveway! This picture was taken on Friday (Valentines) as it was starting to melt.

Copic Classes

This weekend I had the opportunity to take two classes in Richmond on how to use my Copic markers. I got my first 72 for Christmas, and have been adding to my collection for the last couple of months. There are 358 total (sigh) and maybe one day I will have them all! Anyway, they were fabulous classes (especially the Intermediate, as the Beginner was truly a beginner [think "What are the different types of copics?"] and the whole class is like "duh!") and I learned a LOT. The main goal was for me to become a more confident artist, and to learn that I don't need someone else to validate my work- I can be happy with it and like it for no other reason than I like it. We did learn some shading and blending techniques, as well as 9 hours worth of other stuff. 

I drew a tree.

I practiced "feathering" pink and yellow after the beginner class. 

Saturday we learned about shading skin tones. 

I have absolutely NO human stamps/images to practice with.

I did not draw this tree. I colored it, though.

This was my first experience shading with red. And the dog needed spots. 

More skin practice, along with hair. Oddly enough, after I finished I looked over at the lady to my left, and she had colored her girl's hair grey, too. 

Our "final project" we completed from 6-8 Saturday night. 

I didn't like the brightness of the leaves, but she told us what colors to use, so YG03 became my friend.

This evening, after getting home, I colored these violet tulips.

Here is a close-up. I think I'm getting better.

It started snowing on the drive home today, and we're finally getting our first snowstorm of the season. We're supposed to get 5-8 inches tonight... looks like we've already got around 6. 

And lastly, here is my cutie pie Alex wondering why there is no food in his bowl after running around outside tonight.