When cleaning out my crafty space and creating “blind boxes” to sell, I found these pattern papers from American Crafts that I purchased last winter in hopes of making some Valentines for some special people. It only took me a year to complete this task, no harm done. These were fun and fairly quick to make. I used my favorite Martha Stewart border punch, and added more detail to my scallop hearts by punching the teeny holes along the scallops. I also realized how many buttons i have when i was cleaning out, so pretty much everything I create lately is getting a button or three!

Now onto the winner from the {love} to my blog readers post, I really enjoyed reading and seeing all the things you guys {love} thank you for taking the time to post a comment!
I used the AppBox Pro app on my iphone, it has a random number generator, so I put in how many comments I go and let it do the hard work of picking a winner, this is what i got:

The 6th person to post a comment was:

I was immediately inspired by the bold wall paper, and happy to see a splash of teal (of course) and last but not least i loved the striking clean black and white pattern. Hope you enjoy the card I created!

First… here is a lil {love} from mister harley

And now, I have a lil {love} for you! I have some blog candy to give away… I found some super cute Valentine themed papers and embellishments when i was cleaning out. Leave me a comment about something you {love}- share a link with me: It could be a link to a pic of your {loved} one, or a link to a product you love, or a link to something on pinterest you fell in {love} with.. whatever you would like! I can’t wait to see!! I will choose one lucky winner sunday (8pmET) and they will get all the goodies below! Thanks again for being a blog reader I really appreciate it!

I needed to clean out my crafty space.. it was just getting out of control! These boxes have at LEAST 100 pattern papers and 15 embellishments- thats over an $85 value! I am selling them for only $20!

I also have some Basic Grey ornament kits for sale as well. Pop on over to my etsy shop and get these deals while there are some left

(the picture below is just an example of one of the boxes contents, they are all different, a grab bag of sorts!)

Since I have had Mister Harley, he has always chosen to drink out of the bathroom sink. NOT out of the super cute water bowl i made him at the paint-your-own-pottery place… If I’m not turning on the sink for him enough, I hear him in the tub trying to get drips out of that faucet. Anywyas, I have worried that when I am gone for an overnight.. or a long day he isn’t getting enough to drink. I know that if he were “dying of thirst” he probably WOULD drink out of that super cute bowl.. but still…
So I was talking with jimbo about it, and how when he was at the shelter, they had a guinea pig type water bottle off the cage and that was how he drank… similar to what he does in the sink. My dad is pretty clever in making things, so I picked his brain to see if he could come up with something…

My dad came through and built a water bottle holder, but the sad report is.. mister harley was WAAAY more excited to check out the BIG box that was delivered, the fun amt of newspaper that came out of it, and of course the empty box that was left behind… then any drinking water contraption. BUMMER….

I am still holding on a bit of hope, changing the water and showing him how cool it is… I’ll let you know if anything changes in the drinking dept!

 remembering january

* rang in the new year with fun friends at starlight
* started my “one line a day” journal… hoping to keep up with it longer, because reading what i wrote in 2010 has been fun
* we had a lil snow storm 10 inches or so… it really has been a mild winter, i LOVE that. During the storm i drove along the shore snapping pics to send to jill over on the west coast, who has never seen snow at the beach.
* i’ve really been enjoying the sky lately. The sunrise, sunset, clouds, moon. I think this is because I am commuting so much I actually have time to “sit” and enjoy it… the moon has been amazing this winter, but i don’t have the camera skills for that
* i added a bunch of canvases to my etsy shop, super excited about my ideas for this
* i launched shurkus.com – this is a BIG one.. something that has been on my 2-do list for 11 years!!! SO many plans for this lil place.. just have to teach myself how!
* had a girls weekend… 2 of my chosen family members couldn’t make it (boo) but it was still over all a good weekend. I realized after this weekend that even the best of friends can hit bumps once in awhile.. it reminded me of how REAL my friendships with these girls are…. not just some “fluffy filler”. I didn’t take many photos, but of course this girl captured some fun shots- even a handsome one of mister H even though he don’t like to cooperate with her
* was reminded it’s good to just be silly sometimes. throw on a silly hat, goto a silly spot, and just be goofy for no reason at all (and also i realized just how pretty plumes can be)
* jimbo made a water dispenser for mister harley, hoping he would use that instead of needed the sink turned on for him all the time. Instead I just realized he enjoyed getting a BIG box filled with newspaper more. But I also love that my dad took the time to try my crazy ideas
* had some serious crafty time getting projects for creative imaginations for CHA. It was weird to not need to know what everyone was releasing, what the deals were for the store etc. definitely odd.
* I was reminded how very grateful i am for my chosen family, and for them to realize when i needed help- even if i didn’t ask
* I watched the NH primary from the outside. Weird, when you grew up there.
* I officially became obsessed with instagram #wickedfun
* I actually spent some time in my studio creating just for me, not a class not a design team project… that was nice, and I hope to continue doing so!
* Had a fun friends brunch, something we should do more often!
* Taught a class to my Cape Cod peeps, so grateful they are still supporting me, opening up their homes to me… and just simply having a wicked fun time

Here is a sampling

I decided to start a new trend on my blog for a few reasons:

I get more comments/feedback from any posts about mister harley then anything else i do… i can take a hint.. you all love him more then me, i get it! I also know Mister harley is happy when it’s friday, because that means i’ll be home with him more. AND i post a lot of fun photos/stories about him on facebook, instagram, etc but I realize not all of you follow me on those (even though i don’t see why not) AND if you do.. you might have missed a post or 2.

So, from now on friday’s are dedicated to the very handsome mister harley. I will post pictures and/or stories for your entertainment. And, no he will not be getting a facebook page or a twitter handle… but I DID give him a # (hashtag) on instagram!  Hope you enjoy this new venture on my blog!

Here is a layout I created about his new instagram hashtag. I used a studio calico kit I got this fall .

The little stickers are printed by moo. I had gotten some business cards printed there and I think they let me get a sticker book for free- i think they are so flipping cute!

And here is a little photo collage of some of the cute pics I have taken of him over the last couple weeks. These are all taken with my iphone4s and the photo collage was created with the PhotoShake! app (thank you steph for the recommendation)

I do still follow some people and companies on fb and twitter, so I thought I would share with you some of the fun things I saw that are coming out, that get my creative juices flowing! (Hoping Ink About It has ordered some of these goodies!)

My Minds Eye: On the Bright Side - I love all the wood textures and the teal and orange combos!!

Basic Grey: PB&J – I am absolutely LOVING this color scheme… and the hint of nautical theme there is

Hero Arts & Studio Calico: Abroad stamps – looks like I better plan some more travels for 2012 because i NEED a reason to get these stamps!

Creative Imaginations – of course I got a good look at all the lines they were releasing before the show, lucky me… i do have a few faves!
Oceanside - Christine Adolph always creates the most beautiful lines!!
Nautical Collection – The name says it all… Samantha Walker created this wicked fun line!
Tea Party - Samantha Walker also designed this line. I just love the color scheme and the patterns

Tim Holtz: Ideology “chit chat stamps” – I love, love love these!! Those of you who take my class know I am always making up my own “word fetti” and I love that tim explains in the catalog that we can create our own “banter with them” when I teased him about it on fb he gave it right back to me haha (TIP: also i heard him explain in an interview that these are white and kraft AND matte finish so they will take to inks really well… any color you want!!)

Those are just a few of the new goodies I am loving. I also saw a lot of wash tape and trims that make me drool… now to just get my studio organized so i can get some new goods in my stash!

I did get to design some fun projects for Creative Imaginations… they have been doing a lot of fun sneak peeks over on their blog… but I thought now that CHA is over I would share my designs here.

 Samantha Walker, Nautical

IOD Preposterous

Songbird

I have a few more projects as well, but they haven’t been showcased on the Creative Imaginations blog.. so you will have to just wait to see!

I’m sure there are still some seats available, but BEWARE- it DID sell out last year!! So get your registrations in. Over 200 people cropping together, a variety of FUN classes, vendors to purchase unique products from (psst Ink About It will be the main store vendor on location!!)