Cards and More Cards!

Here are some of the latest cards I made. Some were created using digital stamps (some of which I've had for years and can't remember where I purchased) and others I purchased on Etsy. Most of these have been colored using Copic Markers.

Enjoy!

Joy digi stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil

 

Angie Girl Stamp, Journeem from Unity Stamp Co.

Cuttlebug Embossing file 

Stampin' Up Beautiful You collection stamp

A New Chapter

April 30th saw the ending of a chapter in my life. For the past seven years I had a part-time job as Administrative Assistant at one of our local United Methodist churches, but due to lack of funding, I was laid off. May 1st brought about many changes, one of which was becoming accostumed to working at home. Though I had a part-time job, I also have my own business as a Virtual Assistant. I may not be bursting at the seams with clients, but I do have a few partnerships that I have developed over the years and clients who reach out to me for project work or administrative duties. I have also just taken on another endeavor: taking my administrative skills to the next level by becoming a Super VA (a super Virtual Assistant). I'm currently learning new technical skills that will allow me to offer more to my current clients and the new clients I hope to engage in the future.

But truth be told, the one blessing I cherish the most in this transition is having time to spend in prayer, and being creative. The former is very important to me for my creative juices flow from my time of prayer and reflection. It is my hope that I will be blogging and sharing more as I become comfortable with my new status, but more than that, I am looking forward to sharing what the Lord is placing on my heart to share with you. My prayer has been for the Lord to use me to do His will and I'm looking forward to His word flowing through me to you.

As I usually do, here are a few photos of some of my cards and art work I've made since my last posting.

 

 

Inspired

Good morning, blog friends!

I hope you are enjoying this Monday morning. In my neck of the woods (Los Angeles) it promises to be a hot sunny day. This is typical for this time of year. Twenty-eight years ago today, I gave birth to my oldest daughter and it was HOT!

After my little vacay  (see previous post) I came back to chaos. I had to get rid of my mattress because I had a bed bug! Don't ask me how it came into my room (according to a pest control friend it could have come through the window - I live on the lower floor of my apartment unit) but it wreaked havoc with my body.  Prior to me leaving on vacation, I had been seeing these bites on different parts of my body (mostly arms and legs). What was different about these bites was, in addition to the extreme itching, my skin would inflame as if I'd been bitten by a bee (I'm allergic).  I brushed it all off thinking that it was some type of gnat bite.  While away, my youngest daughter came home for a spell (she's been living in China, where she works). She texted me to say she thought she was allergic to the food (after a year of eating vegetables and noodles she thought she couldn't eat regular food, lol) because she woke up with bites on her body. I replied back that there must be something in my room. So, she switched rooms and slept in my mother's bed.

When I got back home on July 9th, I immediately called my friend because he said that I might have bed bugs. He came over armed with a flashlight and proceeded to go over my bed frame. I have a queen size Queen Anne bed and it took a bit of looking for him to find the bug. Yep, there was only one (can you believe it) and that one insect caused me a pretty penny.  I had to get rid of my mattress and purchase a new one.

The one good thing that came from this was that I was inspired to change the look of my bedroom.  I decided to DIY my whole room by not only painting it (with the help of my youngest), but I also picked up the carpet and I'm working on putting down flooring.  Here's what the room looks like now without the bed and prior to putting down the floor.

As you can see, I painted the room Purple and Lavender (Lavender is my favorite scent, so it didn't take me long to figure out the colors I would use).  As of today, I'm still working on my flooring.  I should have it done in the next two weeks and will post photos of the finished space for you to see.

Because of the havoc that little insect caused, I was uninspired to make any cards for a while, but in August I had this burst of inspiration and started making, not only cards, but these framed pieces.  I will showcase just a few here for now.

Card
I purchased the image for this shoe from 123rf.com I printed and cut the shoe in MTC and used glue dots to make it 3D. I printed the Scripture in MS Word and cut it out and attached with glue dots. The background Damask paper is from mygrafico.com and the brown paper I printed from MS Word and embossed with Cuttlebug Anna Griffin  5x7 Pirouette embossing folder.

Framed Art

Card
Digi file purchased from Robert Jackson. He made this image file exclusive for me. I used Gimp to add a pattern to the dress and color in the skin, hair and purse. I then print and cut the image and attached it with glue dots. As with the previous card, I printed the sentiment in MS Word and cut and pasted it to the card. The background paper I used from a Kente file I had in my stash and which I created a background for in Word and printed in color to use for this card.

Framed Art