For as long as I can remember, I have loved anything to do with art, drawing, painting and pretty much anything crafty.  Every once in a while I stumble onto something that grabs a hold of me with such a force and I become completely addicted.  Once I’m hooked, I’m ALL IN and much to my husband’s chagrin, there is no turning back.  Before I became obsessed with stamping and card making I was deeply entrenched in the art of lampwork bead making.  I invested in all of the equipment to make my own glass beads which included getting a torch and oxygen generator and then had a natural gas line plumbed into my studio (which by the way was a small corner of the garage) which fed my torch for hours upon hours.  Once I had a set of beads I was happy with I would spend even more hours and hours building those beads into wearable art in the form of bracelets, earrings and pendants.  Sadly, the ole day job (at the time was Microsoft) became more and more of a time-suck and priority that I just didn’t have time for beadmaking anymore.  After several months (oh gosh, now years) of not doing a thing with my lampwork station I quietly boxed everything up, leaving the kiln and oxygen generator sitting sadly unplugged under the desk waiting for the day that I would once again make time to create.

Fast forward 5 years to fall 2015.  Chatting with my mother on the phone one day and she mentions to me something about these calming coloring books that she was messing around with.  Mandelas was the word she used.  Well…let me tell you – that was all it took.  I jumped into world of adult coloring with both feet.  I spent hours on Amazon looking for the best markers and pens and coloring books.  Then I discovered Copic markers…how in the world had I ever lived without these?  After copics came all of the paper craft supplies and die cutter and lets not forget about the stamps.  Oh the endless possibilities of what you can do with a nice set of markers, some paper and a cool set of stamps…

I am absolutely in love with card making and there are a couple of reasons why.  One, I love that I can start and finish a project very quickly.  (My husband calls me the queen of unfinished projects) Some projects take longer, but typically I can create a simple card from start to finish in an hour or so.  I really love the sense of accomplishment that gives me.  Second, I love giving cards and I think people really love receiving them.  I really get a lot of joy in creating one of a kind cards…a custom wedding card, or birthday card for someone special.  It’s a creative outlet that I absolutely need in my life and I can’t imagine life without my copics or my papers.