My Modern Family Thanksgiving Treat!

I was watching one of my favorite shows, Modern Family, last night with my daughter when she started screaming with excitement. There on the screen was Cameron holding a tray for tea and the teapot and mugs were my design, Modern Garden! Wahooooo! I am so thrilled to have my dishware from Certified International included in the so very stylish home of Cam and Mitchell. Thanks so much Modern Family!!

Who stole my blog name???

Having robinpickensblog.blogspot seems a little redundant, doesn't it? I couldn't register for robinpickens.blogspot because it was already taken. Finally one day I thought I'd go to the address and see who had beat me to registering my name...

and do you know what I found?

it was me.

oh. 

A whole year earlier, I had registered the name and not done anything with it. There sat a simple white page with my name and short description (so I knew it was me). I'm the one who scooped up the address. Now I had to figure out through which email, what password, etc (because really, don't you just think you'll remember- don't write it down- and then DON'T remember...)

So now I am all moved over to my shorter, less redundant blog address of robinpickens.blogspot.com.  From now on, I'll only be posting to that location. So come visit me there and sorry for the confusion!

Best,

Robin

Big Bear Camping

Summer vacation. Camping. Kids singing, running, riding bikes and making s'mores. We went camping with a mixture of friends, some of whom we know well, others we met for the first time as friends of friends. Late discussions around the fire. Seeing night sky so dark and deep that the stars come alive in symphony. Birds squawking and tweating and mocking. Squirrels who scope out the scene then zig zag up to steal food. Sunshine making lace patterns on the ground. The pace of life just slows down.

One of the families brought up art supplies and the kids drew and painted in their "ladybug club." They hung their masterpieces along clothesline strung through the trees. They had an Open House to show us the art one night when it was dark, the pictures illuminated by lanterns and flashlights. It was magical and beautiful.

How nice to be a couple hours drive to the mountains. A lovely break. I must admit it feels good to now be back home, clean and showered, well rested in my own bed. Laundry buzzing, clothes to put away, activities to get back to...

Deco Park Quilt Challenge Sighting!

Wow! Exciting moment for me to see my Deco Park fabrics used for the pattern pdf and video example for the Quarterly Quilt Challenge by Quilts and More! My heart started beating a mile a minute when I saw this. I love the fall colors in bands on the journal cover and I am so inspired to try one of my own. You can download the pdf of the free pattern and enter your own great journal covers at www.allpeoplequilt.com. Watch the video for more great ideas on how to embellish your covers with decorative stitching, etc. 

If you make something with Deco Park, send me pictures and I'll be happy to post them for others to see!

Birthday wishes

Michelle Giraud created these cards using one of my birthday cake stamps from American Art Stamp. The pink card uses paper from K&Company with smooth metallic paint. I love the pink scalloped edge and ribbon with buckle. On the yellow card Michelle popped up the cake portion for more dimension. Check out more great ideas at the American Art Stamp blog.

Namaste

I think the yoga girls are my favorite stamps. I did the poses showing flowers and vines flowing out with the direction of movement. I love taking yoga classes. When I leave I am truly peaceful and I have such great energy. I think of breathing beauty in and out when stretching and I wanted to capture that radiant feeling through the flowers. I look forward to adding more poses to this group of illustrations. Gives me motivation to do more yoga!

Amy Rohl and Michelle Giraud did these cards with the yoga girl stamps. Amy's card uses a blender pen for coloring in the girl. Michelle paper pieced the outfit together out of a cute polka dot paper for hers. Wouldn't it be clever to use theses stamps to make identification tags for your yoga mat carrying bag? Or to encourage your exercise partner in an inspirational way?

Namaste!

Halloween Stamping Fun

Thanks to Amy Rohl and Janine Orchard at the American Art Stamp blog for coming up with these cute halloween treats using my stamps!!! Janine's card is stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copics. She embellished with glitter and sparklers for a really cute halloween card. Amy's treat bag uses the cat trick-or-treater on green cardstock, matted and button-secured to this bag and decorated with ribbon and ric rac. Halloween trick-or-treaters are available through American Art Stamp.

Thanks Amy and Janine!