Merry Christmas, and pass the glue gun!

Julie Andrew's Christmas album is on full blast . . .

Coffee...I've downed at least a pot or two today . . .

I am nursing several blistered fingertips thanks to my "fabulous" glue gun & new craft addiction . . .

I am not only a doodling addict, I am a MAJOR craft addict. Once hooked into a new craft, it will be an obsession for as long as it takes me to get hooked on something else. My best friend & crafty partner in crime, showed me how to construct these beautiful flower hair clips.
The problem I had, was during construction. I had to add the flower petals in layers, with hot glue, pressing down on each till flat, so a rhinestone would fit in the center. I was too anxious to wait for the glue to cool, result . . . burned fingers. I added my own twists and ended up making them as gifts for every darling, little dress wearing imp, within 50 sq miles. (Love you girls!)
A new craft addiction is the last thing I need this time of year. ") Oh well . . . it's been a blast!

At present both girls are down for naps and I am savoring the last minutes of holiday peace we will have for a while. (With a cup of coffee of course!) Nice to have a bit of time to reflect on the year and our darling girls. We have been so blessed.

I am thrilled to finally have the blog going & catalogue. It will be fun to see where the doodles adventure to in 2008. I am planning on putting in some serious time writing and illustrating a children's book I've had on the back burner. There is a painting series, based on the poem - All Creatures Great and Small that I hope to continue. Other than that I am open to where inspiration leads.

I pray you and your family will have a fun, safe and restful holiday!

May the Lord direct your heart into God's love
& Christ's perseverance. 2 Thes 3:5

All Things Bright and Beautiful . . .

My husband gave me a easel as an early Christmas present.

It has been such a lifesaver! I had forgotten how much I loved to paint!

I will not forsake my Prismacolor pens, but wow...splashing paint on a canvas is great "mommy therapy" for me. The best part is that my oldest is completely into it...we fight for easel time. ")

I am currently working on a series that goes with the poem.. "All things bright and beautiful...all creatures great and small..."

There are some fantastic verses to it that I had never heard...great for illustrating.

Here is a photo of my first brainstorm...not quite finished yet.

I need to get a bigger canvas to fit all the words in . . . working on an 16x16 right now.

Greeting Card Catalogue . . . Now online!

After much technical wrangling,

I am thrilled to announce

that you can now view

my greeting card catalogue online!

Ordering information is on the site.

www.dldcatalogue.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

Extra...Extra...Snowman Cards at Maggie Elizabeth!

Maggie Elizabeth, a fun monogram boutique in Lake Oswego,
is now selling a select assortment of my snowman cards.
Stop by and check them out! The rest of the shops in the area are definately worth a look.
It's a cute area. Happy shopping!

Maggie Elizabeth
436 First Street Lake Oswego, OR 97034
503.636.6767

http://www.maggieelizabeth.com/

My First Bazaar Experience!

Well . . . I survived my first bazaar experience! Yee-HAw! The massive downpour that day was an interesting touch. ")
It was fantastic getting to meet all the vendors and other families at West Hills.
The most important thing I learned, was to keep everything simple...and invest in a rolly cart!
I was not prepared for how long it would take to set up, and how many trips back and forth to the car I would have to make. A good first run though...nice feed back. It was a very relaxing evening after all the scurring to set up.
A personal "thank you" to the folks selling hot cider! With all the rain, it totally hit the spot!

Bazaar Adventures . . .

While drawing, painting, glittering, and printing my fingers to the bone these last few weeks, I've learned some valuable lessons.
1. Drill pilot holes before trying to screw the hinges on your card display. . . or else you burn your fingers on the drill and you end up wanting to chuck the whole project out the window.
2. Drinking coffee while painting, is a health hazard.
On more than one occasion, I dumped my paint brush in my coffee ... then, while not paying attention..I accidentally took a swig of the brush water...brilliant eh?
note to self...stop using coffee cups for paint water...
3. Don't hammer on card display while your husband is watching "Heroes" - He gets grumpy.
4. Rhinestones and glitter have the power to convert tomboys to the pink side of bling.
5. Friends who like show and tell are a major blessing.
6. Selling something...enlist MOM! I have had to restock my card inventory quite a few times due to her superb sales ability.
7. Spelling "anointed" is cause for much dissagreement...Spell check your paintings... there are not 2 n's in anointed! OK so for the first time in history, Mom...you were wrong...only one n.
8. Hooded sweatshirts are my friend...they hide the uncombed hair and acrylic paint spatters while maneuvering through the carpool line.
9. Don't try to give up coffee right before a bazaar...especially while little people are teething, thus not sleeping thru the nite. It makes for a very unproductive day.
10. Whoever thought of putting the Bible, and concordances online has a HUGE thank you from me. THANK YOU!!! Major time saved.
11. Thank your husband and kids daily, for putting up with the creative monster that has taken over the house.
12. When sewing on canvas, use a big needle.
13. Chicken wire may seem like a cool thing to hang cards on, but for sanity's sake, avoid it at all costs.

No Coffee . . . Day 1

Ok..well hubby had pity and did make decaf this am. (But it was like drinking water..uggg..)
It would be the morning my first grader had to take her VIP paper and pictures in. I really should have gotten it together yesterday, but had a massive headache. Our little ankle biter discovered she can scream...all day. Quite the set of pipes on that one. Charming....
6:30am - woke up panicked, feeling like the worst mom in the universe ... madly trying to print off pictures, clean the house-a friend was coming at 9, fix sack lunch and breakfast, get the VIP form filled out, dishes...then I realized, horrified, that I hadn't showered. Uggg...went through the school drop off line really fast and with head down. ") PAthetic...
I was good last night and only doodled till 11ish. Actually got sleep. BAby woke up, but fussed and went back down. Now if we can just get through the screaming bit. I wonder if eBay sells earmuffs. (thus the inspiration for the earmuffs on my snowmen) Ha!
Off to color, shower and cause trouble! Ta-ta! ")

Color Matching Wars & Glitter

The dreaded color matching war between computer and printer is driving me nutz! The ol' HP C6180, up till now, has been brilliant. Ugggg....I recently scanned new snow people designs and the blue highlights vanished. Either I am quite the magician, or my computer is on a very creative "strike." Bummer.... Luckily the doodling is going well.
Due to the run of ideas, I've been up pulling all nighters a few times this week. I'll work till 1 or 2am, then baby wakes up and can't get back to sleep. I think she's teething. On top of that good ol' Hubby wants me to dump the coffee habbit cause we are trying for baby #3. HA! I'm doomed.
I have gone to the glitter side. It is amazing what a touch of glitter can do to your average greeting card. WOW! The only problem is the glitter/glue combo runs the ink on the card. Acrylic with sparkles, glue and dry glitter separately, pray hard and cross my fingers . . . I'm attempting to remedy the problem.
On the paper search . . . thought I'd be "cool" and find a more glossy, glitzy paper to print my cards on. Tried glossy and matte coated papers that were more slick than the card stock I've used. Unfortunately lots of ink bleeding EVERYWHERE! I hate to waste paper. I think I got the wrong type for the printer or it just doesn't like me. Well fine then...I resorted back to the good old reliable card stock (80lb). Not fancy but prints great. Guess I'm just not a glossy girl.

Attack of the Snowpeople

cake

Slug ATCs . . .

Mom on a Mission!

The latest batch of doodles.

Completely obsessed with snowmen again.. . nice to be through the slug phase. Got through doodler's block, FINALLY... The only problem now is, I can't stop. There are only so many all night doodle sessions one can submit to, with small children to chase during the day.

Thank you God for coffee!

I rEAlly mean that.

My second attempt at selling work at a bazaar will be in a few weeks. The last did not go so well....learned the hard way, that one MUST study your intended market. Duhhh...The snowmen did ok, but not terrific with the shabby chic, French antique crowd. Drats...

What can I say...it was good practice and I learned a ton.

This venue will be much more appropriate. Wish me luck!

Favorite ARTIST TRADING CARD Doodles . . .