Don’t know where the days have been going lately.  Anybody else have that problem?

Captain Hubby & I share a birthday and it was this week.  We got loads of fun cards and one of the more notable ones came from my licensing bud Carol Eldridge who put her unmistakable special hand to this card.  Made me laugh, gave me a big smile, and because it is usually me who does this sort of thing for other people, it made me feel special to have it done for me ~ thanks, C.

I had a lovely day that started with a giggle-filled 2-hour coffee break with a good friend, known as Island Girl.  Even though she wished me a happy year older than I am, I still loved the poem she gave me that her talented daughter CoCo wrote.

When I ran home for a minute I found this on my doorstep from my NH gal pal, Darlyne ~

How fun is this?  It is a giant gourmet fortune cookie!  I’ll admit, I swiped this photo off their website, and that the two boxes I received are even cuter.  I plan to break into them tonight!!

I then moved on to lunch with Captain Hubby & my mom, who surprised me with a pressie that she’d held back from Xmas (that I had been sure she was hiding till the last minute that never materialized ~ she’s sneaky that way!).

She also made me swoon with a bag full of Parisian-themed books straight from my Amazon wish list (told you she was sneaky!).  She knows anything Paris will make my heart sing.

The day’s surprises weren’t over yet ~ Captain Hubby and I do not exchange b-day gifts (mostly because it was hard enough coming up with a Xmas gift idea last month!), so imagine my  surprise when he presented me with this beauty….

Yup, that’s right, folks, here I am, finally getting “with it” in the 21st century with an iPhone in a snazzy lime green case, no less.  I would say: Feel free to squeal with delight & envy, but the rest of you probably already have one of these!  Excuse me while I go figure out if there is an App to build more time into my days…

I just adore these nifty little giftys (if I do say so myself :-) and can’t wait to get samples from Design Design.  What you can’t see here is the gorgeous gold foil stamping or the cute little jewels or the darling design-y papers & stickie notes inside… gush, gush, gush….

In early December, we went to Sarasota for our niece’s Sweet 16 birthday.  Some long-time friends of ours invited us to their house on the way out of town for breakfast and when we arrived, we were pleased to meet their granddaughters who had stayed the night with them.  The oldest girl was caught in a TV program, but the youngest, Devin, was very engaging, especially when her grandmother, Judy, told her I was an artist.

She made Judy get out all her art supplies so she could show them to me, then asked if I wanted to draw with her.  I’m not usually very good with children, but she was so cute, how could I resist?  I wrote her name in a funky script and drew some flowers.  She did a pretty good job of copying these, but what really blew me away was when I told her to look at what I had drawn, then to do something similar, but to put her own spin on it.  She did an amazing job of making up some cute flowers with motifs all her own.  I told her she would put me out of a job!

When I came home, I sent her one of these GeoBreeze scrapbooking kits I’d done for Tapestry by C.R. Gibson a while back.

And this is what was in my mail when I returned from the Atlanta Gift Show.  I have to tell you, it made my heart sing…  Thank YOU, Devin!  You rock, my artist friend!

Baby, was it cold outside!  And inside for that matter!  The floor of the AmericasMart that housed the License & Design Section (Bldg 2, floor 3) never did get warm.  Who knew it would be below freezing the entire show! Brrr!

After a 7 hour drive, Captain Hubby & I arrived in Atlanta around 2:30 pm on Wednesday.  We were able to set up my booth ~ (which he designed the displays for and everyone wanted to buy :-) ~ in record time leaving me all day Thursday to hit the showrooms, visit clients, see new product on the shelves and invite a few new contacts down to the L&D show.

Forgive me for the lack of photos, but my camera just didn’t want to operate properly.  Hmmm..an iPhone has a camera…maybe I need one of those…  Anyhoo, first stop was to see ThemeNaps, a recent addition to my licensing partners, where they were debuting several new designs of mine.  I heard these were selling like crazy…yay!

I was excited to see a large array of my designs on the shelves at Thirstystone, both on coasters and placemats….   Loads and loads of new flags, as well as some door mats, mailbox covers and address markers in the Evergreen Showroom….  Adorable new birthday card in Leanin’ Tree’s “Growing Expressions” line ~ there are seeds in the paper and if you plant it, it will grow wildflowers!  How fun! … A variety of new stationery products by M. Middleton, a division of Design Design Inc. ~ they couldn’t have made them cuter - gold foil, little jewels ~ I just can’t wait to get samples!… Four new rugs with Homefires…Flags, windsocks & thermometers with Toland…  You never get tired of seeing your hard work on display, ready to sell, sell, sell!  While at the show, I also received word that two lines of fabric I design for a private label has been ordered by Joann Fabrics - hooray!

Here I am, ready for the Thursday evening L&D Meet & Mingle to start.  I was pleasantly surprised at the good turnout.

Actually, the whole show was great.  I felt like I was jumping of a cliff, casting my fate to the wind, spinning the wheel of chance..whatever you want to call it, when I signed up for this show.  I am on board to do it again next year and feel it was worth it.  Of course, the proof will come down the road…  But I felt I had a good mix of companies I already do business with (always nice to have face time & discuss new things), companies I had tried (and failed) to get meetings with in the past who had now found me, and new companies that I’d never heard of.

Here’s my handsome Captain Hubby holding down the fort… (actually, I think he was checking on his boat)… I can’t even tell you how amazingly helpful he was from the minute I signed up for this show and all the way throughout.  What a guy :-)

Here’s me & Carol Eldridge goofing off between our booths…

My art buddy Martha Collins stopped by.  And it was great to see loads of other art buddies pop by to say hello as well.

Treating ourselves to dinner at the Ritz after a hard day… (L-R: Captain Hubby, me, Ellen Crimi-Trent, Captain Eldridge, Carol Eldridge)…

On Sunday afternoon, this crazy marching band came through the exhibit hall and were going all over all the buildings.  There had to have been at least 30-35 of these folks, all dressed crazy, playing instruments, dancing.  They were called “The Marching Abomination” and were hired by the Mart for entertainment.  It was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen.  Wish I’d thought to shoot some video because their routine was funny, but I was laughing too hard…and snapping pics with a broken camera…. One even ran through my booth.

OK, so I need to get on with my show follow up, of which I am wading through hip-deep!

And a BIG thank you to everyone ~ fellow artists & clients alike ~ who told me they enjoyed my blog.  I was seriously considering giving it up this year, but I am re-inspired to keep it going!

Let the decking of halls begin!  This is about all I’ve got done so far but I plan to remedy that this weekend.  Check out these darling iron reindeer my mom ordered for me ~ perfect for the dining room table.  Thanks, Mom!

OK, so is everybody as sick of the manatee mailbox on my blog as I am?  Ok, yeah, me too, let’s move on!  Sorry for the drought of posts, but the studio has been busy getting ready for the Atlanta Gift Show where I am exhibiting January 8-10 (Bldg 2, 3rd floor, Booth 3G20).  Whatever was I thinking taking on a show and the holidays at the same time???  It will all work out, it always does, so I will just keep breathing in and out….

So!  I love a good pressie like anyone else and look at the lovely one I won over at Cafe Cartolina (one of my very favorite eye-candy blogs)…

These lovelies arrived in such a nice little package, I hated to open them.  But I did because I just had to show them to you.

Here are just a few…

Even the backs of these cards are gorgeous…

And just as I was wrapping up this shoot, I noticed this little guy who seemed as if he were thinking, “My mates might fancy those!” I know I do and can’t wait to use them…that is if I can manage to part with them myself!

I love the creativity some people around town have when it comes to dressing their mailboxes…

It has been a very, very busy week, month, year here in the studio.  And for this, I give thanks.

As a matter of fact, I give thanks every single day for all the great things in my life ~ my health, my rock-solid Captain Hubby, my brain, my talent, my ability to make a living with said brain & talent without punching a real clock, my friends & family who love me, the roof over my head, the food in my pantry and just all the little blessing that come my way each and every day. Sometimes I am even grateful for the stumbling blocks because I know they make me stronger (this usually comes after I’ve griped a little bit :-).

I wish everyone a happy holiday and that you are able to recognize & appreciate all that is good in your life and give thanks for it.  Every day.

The other night, after a long day on the computer in the studio I was tired, but wanted to sew.  I didn’t want to spend too long, or fuss with a pattern.  I wanted instant gratification, I tell you.  Something useful I could hold up and say “Ta-Da!” in half an hour or less.

Then my eye landed on the cardboard wrapper that I had saved to make myself a coffee cozy someday.  That day (OK, night) had come!  And lucky me, I had a couple pieces of felt that fit the bill ready to go. A couple of quick cuts and a freeform run around the sewing machine and I was almost ready to say Ta-Da…

But it didn’t look finished…it needed something…hey, a ragged flower with a bright button in the center perks up just about anything, I say!  I took it to Starbuck’s for its very first outting yesterday. 

….ans the Road To Marrakesh Fat Quarter winners are….

Jenny and Jen Eskridge ~ email me your addresses girls and I’ll get these out to you!

I gotta tell ya’, people, this was ridiculously fun. Of course, anytime I can combine learning something new with creating art that isn’t my “normal” licensable art, I get a little giddy.  And collaging with beeswax was certainly a refreshing, new experience. I am eager to try it on some other ideas.

Even though it was too glorious outside to be in this past Saturday, I was happy playing among the wax, the papers & bits…  This could get messy….

Oooh..and fun! How did I miss the zebra print?

Claudine (left), who was a great teacher, gives us a demo (her eyes weren’t closed the whole time :-)

Here’s one side of the room, busy at work having FUN!

I usually like to take in-progress photos of work, but I was having such a ball I didn’t even think to snap a pic of my first piece until it was done.

Came to my senses on my second piece ~ here we are getting started with the base…

Moving on…she seemed so dreamy I felt like a watery-sea feel was somehow called for.

And yet, I was in a color-tastic mood that day…

A few finishing touches and voilà!

Hey!  It’s only 2:30 ~ I’ve got time to do one more!

Still in a brightly lit mood!

More color & some bits of lace and it’s time to clean up!

So, how much fun was that??  On my way out, Claudine was nice enough to pause for a photo-op. Thanks for the great day, Claudine!