Thanks a Bunch!

Happy Belated Independence Day!
I hope that everyone had as wonderful of a time as we did. Doug (my DH) and I were invited by a friend of his to come to the coast for the holiday.  Even though I require some unconventional accomodations we found that we were excited to accept the invitations.  The trip over was slow and easy, or rather as easy as an extended trip can be for me.
We stopped at the Moreno Valley Wally World to buy the Charlaine Harris Book Dead Until Dawn.  My Mom started me on the series, but left out the first book, so we scoured 3 WM's until we found it.  Then, we stopped at the Careml Mountain Chevy's and ate some of the BEST Mexican food that we have had in ages.  They made the guacamole at our table, and the tortillas on a machine just behind our table, within full view of the restaurant, so we knew that the tortillas were hot and freshly made.  YUMMY!!

Then, the real reason for our trip, hanging out with friends, and celebrating the Fourth of July.  We made it up onto the roof of the building, and watched fireworks from ALL over the San Diego area.   There had to have been at least 9 different fireworks displays that we were able to see.  I got pictures from three of them, but the best came from Sea World.

Our trip home was long and hard due to some construction, but I must say, it was worth it.  We went to hang out with a friend of Doug's and left having spent time with great friends to both of us!  What an added surprise.  Anyway, the trip was soo wonderful, I had to make a Thank You card.

I used two Popcorn the Bear stamp sets, the main image from the Smile set, and the sentiment from the Thanks A Bunch set.  The card was embellished with glitter, and Popcorn has Fun Fur added to his edged to make him fuzzy.  Finally, a ribbon was added beside the sentiment.
I hope that Mike and Mimi, or friends, enjoy their card as much as I enjoyed their company and appreciated their simple invitation.  Thanks a Bunch, guys!

Cinderella Shape Book - Picture Heavy!

I was perusing the Cricut.com message board recently and came across a beautiful shape book made by Pam at http://www.thebugbytes.com/.  Her book was so incredible that I had to try one out myself.  Again, I used my Cricut, white provo craft paper, my copics, and a few touches from a clear At You Spica pen.  The cartridge I used was Disney's Happily Ever After.  The book is bound using a Zutter Bind-It-All.  Pam's book showed Cinderella as a scullery maid, dressed for the ball, and dancing with Prince Charming.  I added one last page to my book, Cinderella in her wedding gown facing the prince. While this is still a work in progress, I wanted to share it with you all.  I have a few ideas about what I want to add to make the book feel more complete, but then I am also still questioning what the final touches will be.  I would love to hear what you think!

This is the front view of the Cinderella Book

I used complimenting patterned paper on the page faces, overlayed with the Cricut cut characters.The patterned paper comes from DCWV paper stacks.

In this picture you can see the clear At You Spica pen that I used on the wedding gown and veil. 

This is the final page of the book.  I am concerned about the precarious perch that the Prince has on this page.  I am looking for a way to stabilize him so that the does not get torn off.

Thank you for stopping by, I would love to hear what you have to say about my ART.

{{Hugs}}

Happy Father's Day

I pray that every dad everywhere had an incredible day.  Even though my kiddos are off touring the country, I wanted to make sure that my DH had a great day.  I also wanted to help my son's girlfriend make the day a little bit special for the dads in her life.  I am so excited that I got to be the one to initiate Britney into the world of ART!   The scuba divier card was made using my Cricut, my Life's a Beach cartridge and my copics - I cut everything out of white paper and colored each piece individually.  The card has some 3D elements to it.  Needless to say, my DH, a master scuba diver LOVED his card.

Britney's step-dad loves anything that goes fast...  Fast cars, fast boats, fast motorcycles...  you get the idea.  He also likes to hang out at the river, relaxing!  So, while I am the proud owner of the Cars cartridge for my Cricut, I felt that Paul needed a card that was a bit more mature.  So, once again I used my Life's a Beach cartridge and cut white paper and colored the individual pieces, once again using my copics.

Finally, Britney stamped Popcorn the Bear from Crafter's Companion and used Bic markers to color her ART.

From all reports, Britney's cards made a great impression on both of her dads.  Who can resist a hand-made expression of love?

Happy Father's Day!

Update on my Pageant Princess!

I realize that it has been a while since my last post.  I am sorry, but as I am certain that many of you can attest to, life can get in the way!  My youngest participated in the Miss Jr. Pre-Teen Palm Springs Pageant.  She is the 4th runner up to the "crown" in her age division.  I am just pleased that she saw the day through.  Before practice the morning of the pageant, she broke down in tears, quiet upset that she was too nervous to participate.  After a quick pep-talk and seeing a walk-through, she agreed to give it a try.  I agreed that if it was too much, then we she would have given it her best, and we would go home.
Her bravery paid off. While being named 4th runner up to the crown, she was named Miss Photogenic in the 7-9 year old range. The last picture is, well, Sheridan just being Sheridan!

Chance drawing!

Here's the deal; My youngest daughter, Sheridan, has been invited to compete in The Miss Palm Springs Pageant, the 7-9 age group.  To compete, Sheridan must raise $625 in sponsor donations.  Normally, this would be no problem, as I would have had Sheridan out talking to businesses and fundraising.  However, due to the injury I suffered in January of last year, I am unable to get around without assistance, let alone drive around town to multiple businessses.

So, since you can't keep a good woman down, I am getting creative - pun intended! lol!I am asking friends and family to please donate to help Sheridan reach her goal of $625, and compete in the Miss Palm Springs Pageant.  When donations reach $50, I will have Sheridan draw one name from those who have donated.  The winner will get to choose 1 prize from the 2 offered.  When donations reach $75, I will draw for the remaining prize. 

Now who wants to know what the prizes are?  Of course everyone does, right?  The two prizes are as follows: 1) Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge 2) Handmade beaded necklace, bracelet and earrings set.

Finally, use the link below to make your donation .  Remember, any size donation will qualify you to participate in the chance drawing!  Thank you all soo much!

What I've been doing

I know that once again I have been MIA, and I am so sorry for that.  I have not been MIA from my crafting though.  Over the past months I have done a number of creative projects, or parts thereof.  One of the things I am proudest of is that I have taught myself how to crochet.  I started out with a scarf, made with fringe and all, and progressed to a baby blanket. Of course I have NO babies coming into my life, nor do I have friends with new babies, so my daughter, Sheridan, got a new doll blanket.  Thankfully I did get pictures of it before it was whisked away to become a prop in Sheridan's fantasy world. LOL. I LOVE that my art makes my family happy!

Thankfully my art is also useful.  I have made cards to welcome the newest members of our business team.  Again, I snapped a shot of them before sending them off into the world.  The say Hope, because that is what we want to encourage.

Baubles, beads and hospital beds

Fourteen and a half months ago while my husband and I were walking across a parking lot, I fell.  Never in a million years would I have dreamed how drastically that moment in time would change my life.  One minute I was an indepenent woman who had life by the horns.  The next minute, I was on my knees, wondering what in the world had happened. 

Long story short, what had happened was I had traded in my independence for 24 hour pain that the doctors have not been able to get under control.  Most of the time now, I am on heavy pain medication, laying in a hospital bed that has been unceremonioulsy plunked in the center of my living room.  All of my crafting supplies are enticingly close.  My specialty tools sit mere breaths away.

The difficulty is, there is disgustingly little that one can do while hanging out in a hospital bed.  Hence my latest ARTistic passion.  You got it!  Baubles and Beads!

So far, I have mainly created with seed beads.  The earrings are taken from a pattern in Beadwork's 41 Favorite Jewelry Designs.  They are the Serengeti Earrings designed by Phyllis Dintenfass.  Needless to say, I probably need to practice a bit to get the same tension that Ms. Dintenfass has in her earrings, but I like the way that mine turned out anyways. 

Another experiment of mine was the square-stitched choker that I made.  It is in one of my DD's favorite colors - lavender.  I believe I used sizes 6 and 10 seed beads.

After a trip to San Diego for doctor's appointments, my DH and I stumbled upon a bead company's "yard sale".  All of the bead strands were 75% off.  But, The best buy of the day was the loose beads that were bagged off the bottom of the bins!  The entire bag of hand-picked beads cost $2.00.  What an incredibly patient DH I have to sit and pick through bin after bin, finding loose beads for me!

I had intended to post some pictures with this entry, however, Blogger is not allowing my to upload them into the system.  I promise you that I will keep an eye on this and get the pictures added as soon as possible.
I hope that your St. Patrick's Day was full o' fun! As promised, you should now see the pics of my ART as well as my amazing find!  I hope to be back and post more later.  Til then!
{{Hugs}}


Andrea

Welcome

Welcome to Andrea's Creative Quests.  It is my hope that this will be a place that I am able to share the treasures which are the results of my adventures in ART.  I desire to be able to showcase my creations, keep myself motivated to create, and inspire others to embark on their own ARTistic adventures.


I am passionate about ART.  Unfortunately, ART is rarely given the priority in my life that it deserves.  It is my hope that this will change for the better, and soon.


My ARTistic passions run across many mediums.  When I allow it, my ART can take on a life of its own.  There is nothing more amazing than when the fetters of inactivity fall off, and new buds of inspiration begin to blossom.  Not simply a lone idea, but many. 


Finally, I look foward to meeting new people and building friendships across the miles, and around the world.

{{Hugs}}

Andrea