I am thankful each and every day for…

…my husband of 20 years who loves me, supports me in everything I do, treats me good (better than good, actually) and makes me laugh. He’s probably better than I deserve.

…the great family & friends ~ near and far ~ that I am fortunate enough to have in my life.

…my health.  Other than a few minor age-related, normal wear-n-tear things, I am in excellent health.

…my creative ability.  And for “the eye” that allows me to make inspired connections between things whether it be an odd flea market find and knowing just where to put it in my home or a shape and a color that becomes a full-blown licensable collection.

…the ability to actually make a living from my artistic ability.  I truly love what I do.

…my comfortable home.  It is a restful, calm, cozy place.

…this great area in which I live.  I am constantly saying how much I love Florida, this area in particular.  The ocean, the river, loads of parks, an inlet ~ can’t ask for much more.

…all the opportunities I have had in my life to travel.  It feeds my creative spirit and grows my awareness.

These are things I reflect on each and every day upon waking and before going to sleep.  Remembering and being grateful for these things often gives me the feeling that any troubles are small and manageable.  Life really is good.

What are you most thankful for in your daily life?

…Murphy Girl!  MG writes:

My most creative time of the day is absolutely in the early morning….if i’m not working by 9 am (must have worked-out, showered and eaten breakfast by then, too), then I feel the day is lost and i can’t possibly get anything done!

Oh my, MG ~ you make me feel like a bit of a slug!  Perhaps that will be my New Year’s resolution…worked-out, showered, breakfast and butt in chair working by 9 a.m….  I can manage some of that in the summer when I take my bike ride before it gets too hot out.  Now I wait for it to warm up a little….

For me, I am most creative later in the day and even later into the night.  And no, this does not fit my schedule.  Like Cammie, I tend to get the menial, boring have-to’s out of the way first thing or I can’t concentrate.  Sometimes by the time I get those things out of the way and settle down to work, it is mid-afternoon.  But, somehow, my mind is so open in the evenings, I get loads of ideas and seem to find inspiration in everything.

Anyhoo ~ congrats & enjoy!

The other day Captain Hubby opened the front door and said, “Oh my Gawd…” in such a way that had me thinking the cat had left a more clever gift than usual on the doorstep.  But no, it was just three very large and heavy boxes that I am sure my UPS man did not enjoy hauling to my door.

Yay!  Samples of my GeoBreeze scrapbooking product from Tapestry by C.R. Gibson. There is a cute box for storing all your pieces ~ a 12×12 album with a die cut window, an 8×8 album, two pads of double-sided papers (embellished with glitter & embossing, no less), alphabets, felt flowers, 3-D die cut pieces, frames and ribbon.  And today - yet another large box came (after this photo was taken) with greeting cards and more embellishments.

They’ll be in Archiver’s and Zellers in January or February!  CRG sent me so many of these I’m going to have to give a whole set away one of these days (keep your eyes peeled here :-).  Maybe for my birthday in January…

So there I was, finally getting around to flipping through the Sunday sale papers and I come across one of my cards on sale at Beall’s.  No matter how long I do this, it will always be a thrill to see my work in catalogs, sale papers and in stores.

Anyhoo, it put me of a mind that I should give away a box of those cute cards!

Just comment with the answer to this question and you’re entered!

Is there a certain time of day you feel more creative? Does it work with your schedule?

I’ll draw at random a winner and announce it end of day Tuesday, November 25.

It’s been a little hectic around the studio this week ~ some work, some personal.  My mother and I realized that we had enough frequent flyer miles to go to Paris and the Euro is down, so we’re off in a few weeks!  I am very excited as it is my favorite city in the world.

Since my mother & I were there around this time last year, I had planned to share this photo travel journal some time this week, so the timing is perfect.

I used photos taken by both myself and my mother and combined them with some Dover clip art frames & borders and a watercolor background then added a little text here and there.  I uploaded my finished files to Shuttterfly.com and had them printed out on glossy paper and bound in a leather hardcover book with a die-cut window on the front.  It was a lot of work, but the end result was well worth it.  I presented it to my mother as a Christmas gift.

I hope this inspires you to what is possible when you combine a variety elements ~ your photos, some clip art and the internet!

*Please note that the only photograph that was not taken by my mother or myself is the one of the Yomens and the raven.  I would credit the photographer if I knew who it was!

I think the thing I am looking forward to most (besides those wonderful cafe crémes in the morning) is taking loads of photographs!

….Jenni Price!  I’ll be emailing you shortly to get your address to mail the flag to you!  Congrats & enjoy!

This past weekend felt a little fall-ish here in sunny Florida, but today is on the warm side (I just got back from my walk wearing just short & a tank).  Maybe this card design I did for Great Arrow will give me a little fall feeling today…

The colors were changed somewhat for the actual design, but I still liked it.  You can see it (and all my current Great Arrow cards) here.

The breath of fresh, hopeful air that blew across our country last night has put me in a good mood - a mood to give away something!

I thought this month would be a good one to give away this garden flag (measures 11″ x 15″).  You might recall seeing it on my blog a while back when I received the samples ~ it is currently available in Lowe’s.  I’ve got an extra and thought somebody out there might enjoy hanging it the week of Turkey Day.

Simply comment with the answer to the question below and you’ll be entered!  I’ll draw & announce a winner on Wednesday, November 12 and get it in the mail to you in plenty of time for Thanksgiving!

So here’s the question:

When you are stuck creatively, what do you do to get the ideas flowing again?

I was tagged by the talented folks at Little Star Soup who were just down the aisle from me at Surtex the year I exhibited.  I love their work.

Now I have to come up with 7 things about myself that supposedly all of you out there don’t know about me, and then tag 7 other people.  Some of you might know some, but not all, I am guessing, so here goes….  I’ll start with a doosey…

* ::sigh:: Let’s just get this one out in the open right now:  My real name is Bambi.  I started going by BJ (maiden name starts with J) Lantz about 16 years ago because no one seems to take “Bambi” seriously.  Longtime friends & family still call me Bambi.  Captain Hubby calls me Toad and I answer to it.  Long story for another day.

* I love to peep in windows at night.  No - it’s not what you think!  When someone else is driving, at night I love to look into windows when people have left the blinds open & lights on. - I don’t want to see the people - I want to see their homes.  This is something I’ve done since I was a child.  The holidays area especially good for this activity as people leave their curtains open to show off their tree.

* I don’t think tasting ONE grape from the bag before purchasing is shoplifting and I do it regularly.

* I am extraordinarily clumsy.  I usually have a mysterious bruise or two.  My husband does not allow me on ladders, my mother still says I am the only person she knows who can trip over air and I am convinced my demise will be a Darwin Award Winner.

* When I am alone in an airport or a restaurant, etc., I entertain myself by people watching and make up stories about the people I am observing.

* Captain Hubby & I have the same birthday (same day, different years).  We spend all day saying “Happy Birthday” to each other.

* Captain Hubby & I lived on a sailboat for a year.  He would still be living on it if I hadn’t needed a real bathroom & more closet space.  Hey, I gave it a shot.

And here are my pass-along-the-tag artists, in no particular order:

1. Gina Rivas

2. Joyce Shelton

3. Brenda Pinnick

4. Phyllis Dobbs

5. Carol Eldridge

6. Diana Evans

7. Kathy Weller

Here’s hoping that everyone gets out there a VOTES today!  Let’s hope that things CHANGE!!!

We even got a tad of cool in the air here in Florida this past weekend.  Halloween night was nippy and fun with little goblins running amok in our neighborhood until we gave away the last piece of chocolate (we only give the good stuff :-), turned out the lights and retreated to our local Italian place to escape the complaining of our cats who were not happy about being kept inside.

What a gorgeous chamber-of-commerce day it was on Saturday  ~ perfect for visiting the annual Halifax Art Show on Beach Street along the river.  Captain Hubby & I saw this fish at the same time and decide on the spot we had to have him - he fits so well in our house it looks like he was made just for us.

Let’s say his price was reasonable.  Besides being too perfect to pass up, we considered him our anniversary gift to each other.  Yup ~ Sunday marked 17 years married (and over 20 together). Jeez~ What youngsters we were!

He’s still my best pal and treats me like a princess without taking any guff from me, ha ha.  We’re usually on the same page ~ we even got each other the same anniversary card this year!  We celebrated Saturday night by going to Raku, one of our favorite sushi spots.

Sunday was rainy off and on, but we went down to the boat anyway so Captain Hubby could test out his dinghy repairs and we had a nice lunch at one of those fish places on the inlet.  Our friend, Martha, cook extraordinaire, treated us to a home cooked meal in our own home Sunday night ~ what a treat that was!

All in all, it was one of the nicest weekends in memory.