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Hi There (whoever is here visiting) !!

Last year I missed entering the 2011 World Card Making Contest because of the date.  I did not realize that the date stamp that was required landed on a holiday and the U.S. Post Office was closed.
It took me awhile to gather all the information that was required, like the paper companies of the designer paper's I was using, the stamps "name", the inks, etc.  Being a new stamper and a new contest submitter, I wasn't aware of all the little details and then trying to get that information and the instructions to fit on the back of the card.....WOW !!  That itself has to be a work of art !!  I was so distraught....I could not wait to find out when the next contest was going to be.  (Not soon enough !!) 
So onward I go, doing sketches and trying to catch up to that 1 card a day goal that I had set for myself, just waiting for the day when I could send in my cards.  Then when I looked at the rules, I saw that you could not submit any cards that were shown on any website, any gallery, any blog; well, as we live and learn.  Those rules already cancelled out one of my cards. 
Two weeks ago,  a magazine called "Card Maker" was sent to me because I had signed up for a newsletter somewhere.  I'll tell you what -- I love that magazine.  It had really interesting articles in it, tutorials, and techniques & tips.  It's really a great magazine for Card Makers. 
Then, THERE IT WAS !!!  A new contest -- Yay !!  I was ready now !!  The deadline date is March 20, 2012 !!  I already sent one card in.  On my desk, right now, is a card that I am going to mail in tomorrow.  (Can't even show it to you, darn !!)  It's like you are so proud of what you did and created, but you have to keep it under wraps until the contest is over.  I'm like jumping out of my skin -- because I want to show it....but I'll just have to control myself a little longer!!  Maybe it's the Polish side of me -- creative and over anxious with pride and just want someone else's opinion.  Oh well, I will learn.
I did a few things this month, I joined "Operation Write Home"  that'll keep me busy and designing in a simpler fashion.  I had a death in the family, so I made about 10 sympathy cards in three days, took the pictures, and then mailed them.  Now all I have to do is re-make a few of them, so I can enter them in the contest - my goal is to send in at least 10 cards - hopefully.  I need 8 more.  The one I really wanted to send I can't because it was for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers to use only scraps  ---  I am soooo proud of that one -- that one I could post here and I think I will right now!!

This was really a cool challenge on Splitcoast Stampers !!  I hear a lot of card designers keep all their scraps.  I laughed when someone said to me, " If it'll be big enough to punch something out of it, I'm keepin' it !! "  Well, that made me laugh because that is just what I do.  Notice those flowers that were punched and that flourish type punched things on the right hand side; when I have left-over paper, sometimes, I'll just punch flower shapes or that flourish shape, circles, and whatever punch I could use I'll punch out some shapes.  See that circle for the "i" ?  That, I punched but it had a flat side -- see how well that fit perfectly to the flat side of that square it's leaning on.  And  see that little heart???  That was leftover from a Spellbinder's Label.  The only thing I had to really make from my scraps was that heart and the "u" !!  Everything else is just as it was in my scrap pile.  I am very proud of this card!!
Now I am going to post a couple of pictures from the pile of sketches.  Enjoy!!

This card went to a special friend of mine for his birthday in November.  We were bus drivers together and we always had coffee on our breaks between runs.  This was also for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast Stampers; it was fun!!

This also was for a Splitcoast Challenge and it went to a friend in Massachusetts for her birthday!!  The large white flower and the strip band across the card is white glitter paper and the center of the flower is with navy blue tiny beads.  They're raccacolie beads ( I know the spelling is wrong, but I'm not taking the time right now.  I want to get this blog done.)  The 4 strips downward are of canvas textured paper.  It really looked nice together.

Now for the other big news.  I did the Blog Hop from Paper Crafts Magazine from the winners of the contest that I missed entering, the 2011 World Card making Day Contest.  Whoever wanted to had to go to all 20 blogs of the winners and leave a comment and you might get chosen to win "part" of their prize and another person would get a copy of the March/April 2012

PaperCrafts magazine.  Well, it took me two nights but I did all 20 blogs.

Winners would be announced today.  Shock of all Shocks, I SAW MY NAME!!!  A winner of a prize package.....WOW-WOW-WOW !!!  I sent

my name and address to her, so she could send me the package !!  It's almost

as good as winning the contest !!!!!  (Well, to get published, yes, it would

have been better, but this is a "STEP" in the right direction !!  I share in her

JOY !!!  (And I get to "follow" the "20 BEST" !!!)

I also do Pinterest  and FaceBook under my name -- Veronica Pozarvitz

SplitCoast Stamper i.d. is  Zbear1

Well, I hope you had a good read tonight and I am starting to get "mouse-hand"....so I will say Good Night, Sleep Tight and don't let the bedbugs

BITE !!

I'm new at this, so please forgive that I couldn't even fix this left alignment.  It just wouldn't go!!  I'll figure it out sometime or other.

Love to all and HAPPY CRAFTING !!!!!



2 New Projects Finished !!

Hi There !!  It's the start of a brand new weekend in Connecticut!!  The other night the weatherman said....we could expect "snow-showers"....and woke up to see absolutely  nothing !!  Well, the way I feel now, the beautiful temps we have been having............it's too late to have snow now....I'm ready for spring.  My son's peach tree has buds and I've been taking the grand-kids on the swings and playing basketball with them.  Now all I have to do is attach the wagon to my bicycle and I can take them for a ride !!  I love getting them outside!!

So now, Wednesday night I finished the "Cascading Card" for the This or That challenge on SCS.  Just took awhile to get the pictures and editing them to see which one I was going to post.  OK...here it is for TLC362.

I hate to even send it now, I like it so much !!  It's for a cousin in NY for her birthday.  I also finished a "Smash Book" for her for a present.  I don't have a picture of that, but if you look up Smash Books on You Tube, you can see what I am talking about.  It's a really cool thing to do and make to get rid of odd designer papers and papers in general.  It was a fun project !!   

I would like to set a goal for my card-making, but I am sooooo afraid to look foolish if I couldn't complete my goal.  But I would like to see how far I could get.  Ok so for the year my goal is (let's be reasonable now) to be         at        least   150  cards.                                                                  (Now I have to count just how many I did make  -- Oh more work!! )                                                                                                     



I really want to enter some contests, since I missed the last one because of a holiday; the cards wouldn't have gotten postmarked by the date indicated in the guidelines--so I missed out on that contest.  So now the date is March 20 and i am getting ready for this contest now!!  (But the writing on the back of the card kills me !!)   That's OK...I will choose to suffer a little for the sake of designing with a possibility of getting known  and published !!  That would be sooooo coooooool to see my name in print as a card designer !!

Ok, off to bed  --  Thank you Lord for giving me a desire and the talent to design cards and any other talent that I have that I have used to gift and earn money to feed my family at a time when it was needed.

Good-Night All and Thanks for Looking !!



How Time Flies !!

I am in shock!!  Has it been that long since I posted?? \
I still have to learn how to upload my pictures of my cards.  I have been doing pretty good by making cards this month; not exactly 1 a day....but trying out new techniques and more challenges from Splitcoast Stampers and I joined their Fan Club!!  The new technique was inspired by Belleek Pottery from Ireland,...it was called Negative Effect !!  It came out nice the 2nd time...the first time -- disaster. 
Well, this is how it came out !!  I was so happy to learn this new technique !!  It will come in handy -- Wedding cards will be nice for this technique.
Next little challenge is a "Six-Fold Card" and the "Cascading Card".  I already played with the Cascading Card, now all I have to do is pick out some paper and do it for real; I just practiced on some scrappy paper and it came out OK.  Now for the real thing.  I just went on You tube for the directions for the Six-Fold Card, so now I can try this out tomorrow also.
that picture bothers me.  I want to be able to have text around it...more to learn!

Time for bed ----
Good Night, Lord God
Thank you for today's adventures !!

Ronnie-Bear

Learning something new !!

I am in awe of fancy writing...not just calligraphy, but fancy brush strokes also.  I watched a few YouTube Tutorials on it last night.  I wanted to write something special on two bookmarkers that I was working on last night and this morning.  I practiced the words til I got it right and then wrote on the bookmarkers with an embossing pen and embossed it to the markers.  Awesome try!!  It will get better -- I'll just keep practicing. 

And I love coloring with colored pencils....and am practicing every chance I get with the copics I have.  What a nice medium that is!!  The blending is awesome.  Glad I ran into it!!  Now I just need the blending book!! 

It seems like it's the best way I can learn by reading or viewing pictures.  I know there are a lot of people who say they can't learn by a book....I don't seem to have a problem with that --  thank God that, even being Polish, that I can do what other people can't.....  what a statement that is !!

OK....today finished two bookmarkers!!  I did want to accomplish 1 card a day for 2012.  I guess I'll just have to catch up -- in between all my practicing new techniques !!

OK -- Goin' to bed !!
I'll just have to post my creations when I learn how --  : )

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

I thought I would start off the new year by attempting a Blog, since a lot of people I admire and am inspired by are "Bloggers".  This Blog will actually prove that you CAN teach an "old   (I am not a dog!!)   crafter"  a new "trick"??? Nah..."new and cooler things to do" !!  There, I like that MUCH better !!

I have many interests and I have done many crafts, for gift-giving and for just wanting to learn something new.  I started my crafting life at the age of 8 when I wanted to make my dad a new scarf by (I should have done it by sewing!!) knitting - of all things !!!1  I shudder when I think of that-- a red scarf knitted in the basket stitch -- it took me 2 months to do it!!  I don't think I ever wanted to knit again!!
After that, I watched my mother crochet.  You saw results immediately; that's just what I should have done in the first place!!  My mom tried to teach me to crochet, but I just couldn't hold the hook the way she did.  I didn't think I was ever going to be able to do it. 
The next day she handed me one of her books -- it was a book devoted to needlework.  It taught you how to knit (ugh!), crochet, embroider, tat and needlepoint.  I must've really wanted to learn to crochet or I probably wouldn't have tortured myself the way I did by doing one stitch a week.  I really did get good at it; I think because I did do it that way, I learned the part of gauging and tension better also.
I still find myself, at times, a little impatient when it comes to results of my crafts.  I have done lots of sewing, making wedding favors, candy cakes, candy sundaes, diaper cakes and now I have favored Card Making and Scrapbooking and Paper Crafting.  When I learn to post the pictures, I'll upload what I have done so you can see for yourselves.
I am going to read a little more about this Blogging Stuff and see if I can do extra pages for a background history of my crafting life.  Little by little I guess I will learn it (hopefully) .  I guess I should sound a little more confident, " I WILL LEARN IT !!"
I'll get there............
Until next time.......

Wishing you all the best for 2012 !!
Ronnie-Bear