A Sketchy Debut

Oh My! The brainwaves seem to be darting all over the place within my mind, sometimes running one another over as they race toward the 'starting line' for the GRAND DEBUT of my blog; GOT PMS? Grab Papers, Markers, and Sketches and No One Gets Hurt!

In an effort to 'ease the tension' (headaches included), I've decided it is time to get things moving. I'm sure mistakes will be made but hopefully, given enough time and experience, better ideas will begin to formulate and take place . And so, this blog will be a 'work in progress'. This reminds me of a little chorus from Sunday School... one my girls used to sing and I enjoyed hearing. There are a couple of verses but the chorus goes like this:

'He's still workin' on me
To make me what I ought to be,
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and earth and Jupitar and Mars,
How loving and patient He must be,
He's still workin' on me!'

It is such a fun song reminding me of this important truth: Each day God is working on the canvas of my life, directing me toward His will and His purpose for my life. And as I often 'muddle the colors of paint' into one big mess, He remains patient, kind, and loving toward me. He is an awesome God!

OK....so what's in store for the Grand Debut?

A SKETCH CHALLENGE~~ courtesy of my fabulous friend, Micki Harper

see more of Micki's work by visiting her blog 'Artful Xpressions Captured in Paint, Paper, and Photos' at http://artfulxpressions.net

And a PRIZE for one lucky and randomly selected participant in the challenge!

If I am doing this correctly, you should see the sketch at the beginning of this post (clicking on the picture should enlarge the image). I will be back later with samples from Micki and myself using this fun and creative sketch.

For those participating: da D-Tails:

• You may use any stamp or digi image of your choice
• You may use any product and/or embellishments of your choice
• You may use any color combination of your choice

Go ahead....enter as often as you would like.....by posting to the comment section of this post.... a picture of your card OR post a link that will take us DIRECTLY to your card (this is done in an effort to help prevent spam... well, as much as I am able to do so....and... having learned from the experiences of other artisitic bloggers, I reserve the right to delete any and all links that do not link directly to a picture of your card, if you have any questions please email me using: barbgwv@gmail.com).

For prize consideration, your valid contribution for this challenge must be posted not later than noon (eastern time zone...think New York time) Saturday, September 19, 2009.

Ohhhhhh, but what is the Prize, you ask....Well....you'll have to wait on that little tidbit of information....Why, you ask....Well, because I forgot -- to take a picture ..... and since I don't have one of those fancy-shamancy 'lighting hoods', I rely on natural daylight for my picture taking and since it is now dark outside, I have NO light....But, I will get it done tomorrow and post the picture with the sketch samples....see, I told you this was all a 'work in progress'...Thanks for being patient!

And soooooooooo....You have the sketch and you have the D-Tails (well, most of them anyway)....the rest is up to YOU!

Until then,

Make time to create but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barb g (WV)

Caleb's Creations

In the last 2-3 years my grandson's have enjoyed 'playing' with my crafting supplies whenever they were over for a visit. Because I didn't want them using my 'more expensive' products, I went to Walmart and purchased a plastic 3 drawer storage unit. In the unit, I placed stamp images I no longer cared for, inks, crayons, markers, color pencils, bits of ribbon, a various assortment of stickers and other embellies I didn't care for, along with scraps of colored cardstock and patterned paper scraps. I also included, glues, glitter glues, glue sticks, scissors, various rulers, along with other various items they might enjoy while creating. When the boys are over, they know they can play and create with anything from that storage unit. Well, recently Caleb was over for a little 'one-on-one' time with Nana and Papa (that would be my me and my dh) and we 'played' together in my craft area. He had a wonderful time creating and I decided the next day to take him out to the 'dollar' stores and purchase a bin to fill with all kinds of inexpensive items he could keep at home for his own crafting enjoyment. Needless-to-say, he was thrilled! I don't have a picture of him with his very own craft box (sure did miss an opportunity there) but I know he is putting it to great use. The pictures above are from our night of crafting together. I have a zip-lock bag filled with a variety of pre-stamped images given me by two friends from Sweet N' Sassy Stamp Designs: Sandy Domelle and Deedee Anderson....thank you soooooo much, ladies. I shared a few of these images with Caleb and this little 'duck' image is the first one he wanted to use and make a card for his 'soon-to-be adopted' sister--now isn't that just precious! I've decided to share a few of Calebs Creations here on my blog and I hope you will enjoy watching as he begins splashing into his own creative gene pool.

And by-the-way, I'll be posting my very first Sketch Challenge around midnight....hope you will check in tomorrow and participate in the challenge!

Until next time:

Make time to create but always have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barb g (WV)

PS: I tend to take a conservative approach when posting pictures of my grandchildren, therefore I have and always will 'blot out' a portion of the facial area prior to publishing their pictures on my blog...thank you for understanding.