Beginnings and Endings: a story of discoveries and explorations

Well.. the new bloggy stuff is almost all up. Phew. The upgrade took a lot longer than I thought it would, mostly due to Flikr going down today. :(

So... do you like it?

I was waffling back and forth on the idea of moving over to typepad, but I decided blogger was worth sticking to, especially as it's conveniently connected to my beloved gmail account.

Blogger is awesome because it's free. And free blog = more money to spend on art supplies. So I decided to hack the blogger template and make it my own. Thank goodness I know my way around HTML...

There has been so much creative stuff going on since the new year began. To be honest, I've been a little overwhelmed by all the stuff that's out there right now. So much good stuff and not enough time, really, to play with it all.

So, I took a little break. From the blogging, and other stuff. Now I'm ready for it. On my terms, of course. :D

So.. this year, my word is going to be DISCOVER.

dis·cov·er v.
1. to see, get knowledge of, learn of, find, or find out; gain sight or knowledge of (something previously unseen or unknown): 2. to notice or realize: 3. Archaic. to make known; reveal; disclose.

Sounds about right.

The quote on my banner, according to the quote place I found it on, is something that Buddha said. It has meaning for me, because this last year has been all about exploration and creativity. I've found something that I'm passionate about. Now that I've really identified that, I can move on to what is next and put my whole heart into that.

For me, that includes the following:

- Enjoying my design assigments for Sweet Spuds (love them soo much)

- Enjoying playing and creating with the girls at Scrap Mojo

- Using up all the goodies in my stash that I've been hoarding (delightful!)

- Participating in more ATC swaps. (Have you seen Stacy's new blog?)

- Continuing to explore and document my life through methods and projects that inspire and intrigue me.

- Sharing my creativity with others through more tutorials and other projects.

This year I have plans to do some online classes and I have some other things in the works right now...

I also think that I might dabble in some of the other fabulous activities that are going on right now such as Elise's Paper Adventure '08 and Ashley's Overlooked site.

I am intrigued by Sarah Bowen's The Best Me stuff, as well as Courtney DeLaura's Project 52 but don't have the moolah to participate right now.

My beloved Effer Dares are taking a little break. Not suprising, considering all the drama and trauma those fine ladies have been through. I wish them well, and can't wait to see what they come up with when they come back (really hoping they DO come back...)

Speaking of endings... you may have noticed that I've not been as... prompt.. in posting my daily cards lately. Well, I think the fabulous Elise says it best:

"You may have noticed that the Daily Cards have fallen off just a little bit. It would be an understatement to say I have lost momentum with the project. Over the past few months they have still come together - and normally on the right day, but ugh. I have started to dread making them...too many other projects and ideas.
...They helped me to create everyday. They expanded how I think about making stuff. I no longer need full size layouts to tell a story. Just some paper and a date stamp. And I love that. I will consider the project a success because of it."

Inspired by Elise, I started making Daily Cards on July 2, 2007.

Very soon, I will be posting the rest of my cards, up through January 2, 2008....And then there won't be any more daily cards (at least for now.)

I'm really proud of myself for accomplishing a full six months of daily cards. I loved making them, and I really learned a lot from the experience. And I also have a lovely fat binder of them to look at and cherish.

Now, this is not to say that I won't be making any more Art Cards or ATCs, but I just can't do a daily commitment right now.

So, thanks also, to everyone that looked at my cards and said sweet things, or were inspired to make their own dailies as well. And thanks for reading this HUMONGOUS post, if you stuck all the way through.

Time to go out and do some more discovering.