shiny star

so much to be said
so much to be thankful for
To live and love with all my heart
This year brought with it major ups and downs
But all in all, I'm here to say my heart is bursting with love
For you, for my family and friends

I started off my week on Monday at the Starbucks drive-thru...I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled out my Starbucks gift card to pay, I was told the person in the car before me had already paid my tab. Sweet. I was shocked... I remember last year, every Friday hitting up Starbucks to do the very same thing for the person in the car behind me. It all comes back. It's such a nice thing, I wanted to say thank you. So if that was you, sweet hugs... I needed a little love. ;P

This week I've seen family and friends come together thinking of others. Meeting their needs. Filling those they love with attention and sweet gifts. I think friendship has been my favorite gift this year. I'm pretty sure I never thought I'd meet you. Nor share a special love for art with you...but we did. This year has been fulfilling in such a memorable way. I hope to focus more on nurturing the beautiful friendships I've made this year in the coming new year. :)



Speaking of gifts, thank you for your sweet Christmas cards! Oh the joy they bring. I sadly didn't have time to finish mine but I did finish my little project inspired by the wonderful Sarah Bowen. (pictured above) But love and blessings to you :) I wanted to say thank you to Carrie for the beautiful head piece she made me, (the pictures do not do it justice!) Isn't this just poetic and beautiful. It made me want to dance and sway around in a pretty dress. I am making it a point to wear this beauty more AND hope to have better photos (I took this one late at night with almost zero light). But I just had to show you the lovely piece. Carrie you are sweet! luvs

My prayer and hope for you in this beautiful Christmas eve, stay close to your family. Love and love a little more. Sweet memories are worth the trouble. Don't let life pass you by without making the time to say thank you to those that have impacted you. (This is my last week of work and I am learning to SAY thank you and let go of the words I've been wanting to speak from my heart...even if I tear up a little) It's so worth it :) May you be filled with an overwhelming JOY and PEACE that can only come from ABOVE. Shine like a shiny glittery star...it's the prettiest thing to behold.

You are blessed sweets
Feliz Navidad

God's little drummer girl
<3
d

rested

sneaking in to say...



hello world. I've missed ya!

it's totally been one of those weeks....
i say i never get sick
bam!
i got sick

eh.
bleh.
boo.

and the more i get older the longer it takes to recover. how wonderful?!
but easy does it... back into the groove i go!
hello world!

And heck yes to getting some art done in the middle of sneezing my brains out ;P
Good news! I am the new designer at Kenner Road! woot woot!
KL and all her glittery goodness is rockin' the kits peeps. AND the team she put together is sa-weet!

This months kit is rockin here : Gallery

I have a feeling I'm not done with this months kit... totally love the butterflies!

The layout above was inspired by my Biology class in college. You know where they make you do a class insecta?! GROSS! I really didn't like the part where you had to stick the needle through the insects... by far the worst was the stink bug!!! yucko!

*insert girlie squeamish cries*
makes me wanna do the icky bug dance. ( ha!)

Anyway, when I saw the amount of butterflies that were in this kit it begged to be done. I don't mind sewing through paper butterflies. Real ones, that's another story. So here it is, a picture of my love bug and I. I think this picture has been the most scrapped pic ever by me. I printed about 5 pictures and didn't want to throw any of the prints away so I guess you'll be seeing this pic a few more times. ;P

So I wish you love
fluttery butterflies
and warm hugs
-happy monday sweets
d

belladrummer shop updated

Sorry for the delay in opening the shop! I had to wait for the sun :)
Oh Mr. Sun, seriously, you tease me.
I had absolutely no light this week, to take pictures of the shop items, but the sun came through for me yesterday!
woot woot.

a little bit of eye candy for you












<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

So head over to the shop and check out the new seasonal items
(tags galore) here
Chipboard Albums on sale here
and Inspirational journals on sale here
And the my favorite, the swatch journals are now in the shop here!
Nothing like speedy scrapping during this fast season approaching, ya just might wanna pick one up to do a mini scrap book for a friend with the quickness ;)
oh and pssst.......I listed one chipboard journal for only a buck! ;P
sa-weet.

have a lovely and happy friday dear friends,
d

turn that frown :( upside down :)

there's been a whole lot of change and random going on around here. I'm trying to pick my spirits up. Afterall it's December! ack! I usually am scrambling to get everything on my shopping list by now but that just gives me a headache. Afterall, it's not really what this season is about :) Having no job title has made me fully aware of my dependance on mine. I keep asking myself without the title, does that still make me a graphic artist? do i need to "work" at a studio to be one? I believe if you Think. be. live. love. create. and happily get up and do that all over again each day, then that's pretty much all there is to it. "Artist" is being, living, expressing your creative spirit. and if you do, then guess what? that's what you are. artistic. creative. beautiful. and i am realizing that i don't need the job title "artist" to be an artist. This goes for anyone. :) me. you.
coolness.
no more nonsense now! ;P
so go make something!

i think the decision to open up my etsy shop came at the most perfect time. No job title? no problem. keep designing. keep creating. believing and loving the creative process. i have felt it be more like therapy for me. i don't care what negative influences have come my way. there must be a reason for it. i believe it's given me full clarity concerning what i do for a living and why. but i am blessed. even though i had never before sold any art work, (i was too embarrassed!). i had to stand up to my self doubt. feeling confident and secure in what i love to do. and if it sells, awesome. i love it. AND you for supporting the work. so thank you for your support whether it be through your comments or purchases. i cannot thank you enough for letting me share a little bit of my heart with you all. speaking of making something, how about a little show & tell? first, a shop update with new christmas tags and swatch books. AND, speaking of turning a frown upside down...I am once again updating the shop this FRIDAY, December 5th at 12 AM with one of the items listed for only $1 ya never know what will be up for just a buck. ;) it's gonna be good though! and the art journals will be going on sale. I want to make room and get them out of the studio so merry christmas to you!

Getting creative: (finally! good to be back into the swing of things)

Creative Therapy Catalyst this week



That's me on the Disney carousel ride :) I was sporting pink l.a. gears and high water pants. sa-weet.

Journaling Reads:
d is for Dreamer
artist
graphic art
designer
creative
painter
sketcher
photographer
crazy sewing lines
grunge luver
spray painter
teacher
color perfectionist
drummer
dreamer
big happy messy dreamer
dream big little one.

This week belladrummer shop is sponsoring Creative Therapy's RAK (I'm giving away a couple of the swatchbooks!) so get your mojo and have fun!

and I grabbed one of the swatchbooks I made for belladrummer etsy and made this for TAIF:



my fav:



and



i heart sequins...(to view the rest of the book click here) play with TAIF girls!

tagged so here's 6 randoms about me:

- i fear giving birth. (have i revealed this before? still true!) don't laugh. I so do. and I know i will someday have to face the music...and that scares me.
- for christmas, i only want a giant wall to spay paint all over. no, i don't spray on public property, yet i secretly wish i could spray paint one of my own studio walls...i'll update you if i do ;P (or I'll just come over and spray paint yours ! ha
- i stink at video games. IMPOSSIBLE to win anything! i only rock the pacman game on the itouch...perfect*
- my goals for 2009: learn to knit, finish a quilt, learn how to screen printing, go back to school for some new crazy kewl skillz
- i cannot burp...hey, it's pretty random right? ;P Really really. My sister Norma and I can't burp to save our lives. It's not because we're trying to be polite, we just can't. We hiccup like maniacs though. hiccup*
- i wish i was in the amalfi coast in italy right now. or maybe even forever. yeah. forever.

thanks for the tag ali and sandra! :)

and i tag you. you're it! ha
see ya on friday for the etsy shop update!

rockin' the :)
peace,
d

staycation rocks

well, not as much as it would've if heather, angie, dina and erin were here. :)
But still, all this thinking... all the quiet...it was a breathe of fresh air to have read your encouraging comments. To hear from you sweet friends that you are praying and thinking of me. And I can tell you that I have felt lifted and better because of it. So grateful for each of you. I too keep you in my heart and prayers.

So my last week of vacation came this week. I would've loved to have invited you into my studio for some paper and glue fun...and yes, spray paint is not optional (and who cares if the stuff doesn't wash off your hands :) I would've invited you to the starbucks down the street for a coffee break, or two. And I would've loved to have heard how life is going for you. So how is it?

I've been so quiet lately. But I mean it in a good way. I've been thinking...and sometimes being a futurist thinker isn't good because that only causes me to worry. But the worrying was subsided when I had to move my studio out for a bit to add fresh paint. White. Ahhh.... a blank white canvas. love it. So in the mean time I ended up looking through boxes and boxes of stuff I forgot I had (why does that always seem to happen?). And I was determined to only allow things back into the studio that I really did need. And I kept thinking about this piece I made...



And then I thought...hmm... everyone needs a little inspiration so here you go!

I made these for my belladrummer etsy shop.
Happy holiday shopping :)

Chipboard Art Journals $20:













Inspiration Art Books $15:













"Dream" Chipboard grunge letters $5



Swatch Art books $3:











Belladrummer ETSY
All these goodies *****Edited: Are NOW available! :)

If you hurry, you'll see that I listed one of the swatch books for just $1!*****edited: taken!
Yep, hurray for Fridays and hurray for shopping... especially since I have more space to work in now that I've let go of some of my stash. (Happy girl) So here's something to look forward to...enjoy sweets. And someday, yes, you do have to come over!

love & hugs
d

a soft hush overcomes me...

The two winners are:
mandiegirl said...
Ummm....First of all, I *heart* houndstooth. I love your stuff, and I love u. :) So, I think I should win.

November 6, 2008 7:30 PM

christine said...
i'm a huge fan! =)

November 7, 2008 3:53 AM

Mandiegirl and Christine please e-mail me your mailing address so I can send you your lovely gifts :)
belladrummer@gmail.com


I am here sweet friends.
I've missed you.

Please accept my apology for not coming back sooner to announce the winners last friday. Friday was bittersweet for me. Of course an exciting day because I loved sharing my art with you with the opening of my new Etsy shop. (A huge warm hug to each of you whom purchased from my new shop and sent well wishes!) I am encouraged and filled with happiness. :)

And on the same day something both personal and professional fell apart. I received news due to the economic downturn my position as a graphic artist would no longer exist in 2009. I of course was devastated. I feel like I'm on an emotional roller coaster. And between telling myself to take deep breaths and believing this is a good change I really am trying to believe all of it. This news has made me well aware that not one thing in life is guaranteed. I am reminded to make a list of gratitude in an effort so fully see my life is full of blessings. I have health, I have found the love of my life, I have shelter, provision for my body and beautiful encouraging friends whom all believe in me. And I'm thankful. I am so grateful. I debated as to whether to share this here or not, but seeing as I'm sure I'm not the only one who is going through a tough time...well, I thought I'd share a word of encouragement and prayer for you and me both. Everyone needs a little bit of that :)

things worth remembering:
- good things are just up ahead
- live a life that is content and not defined by material things
- to be rich in kindness and love
- generous with an open heart
- learn to be full of grace and wisdom
- know your needs will be met by faith
- face your circumstance with grace and dignity
- step out, dream bigger, always look up
- do not dwell in the hurt, but learn to appreciate this valuable life lesson
- embrace encouragement and follow your heart

working on this every day is not easy. but this song helps calm me: Stay with me by Future Of Forestry
(I encourage you to make your own gratitude list to visually see your life filled with blessings and lessons you are learning.)

you my friend are lovely, beautiful and strong. i pray you live your life to the fullest. I hope you are in a place where you excel above your own expectations. Where you shine amongst darkness and love even through the most impossible times. I pray for your protection and for strength when you need it most.

In His Arms,
d

Pretty things for you

:)
Just stopping by to share some happy news with you!
My Etsy shop, belladrummer ***edited*** is NOW OPEN
Woot woot!

Ha...can you tell I'm excited?!
I have 5 art journals going up (3 are already reserved) and some journaling tags ready to add artsy touches to your layouts/art (or even use as gift tags). Complete with spray paint, crazy sewing and of course houndstooth. ;P

I will be giving away 2 things just to get us in a happy mood to shop :)
I'm giving away this:



and this:



so leave a comment for your chance to win (internationals welcome :) and I'll pick a winner soon!

coolio sweets
see ya tomorrow
d

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

i'm not mad :P
It's just my favorite letter right now.
and I love rolling my r's. It's a spanish thing :)

Plus, It's possibly because I just purchased this:



My First wedding decor purchase. Most of my purchases I'm keeping in mind have to be useful after the party. Meaning, in our sweet home after our wedding. There will be nothing spent on things used only once. It's tough crackin' down on myself (especially hard being a designer and wanting to buy/make everything stylish) but it's the only way I'll stay within budget :) And that makes for a happy chicka. So the R is the letter to my soon-to-be new last name. Oh my goodness, A shorter name. That's all I want. I secretly wished for and crossed my fingers for a guy with a short last name. I know. Ridiculous. But really, I have 4 names already. Oh don't EVEN get me started on that. It's a Mexican thing too. HA. Well, not so funny when you're 3 learning to spell your name. Alas, a shorter name is in my future AND to a hot Mr. Handsome, geez...I could not ask for anything more. AND the R came in the most perfect yellow. Also the main color for our sweet and simple wedding. Hello Perfection*.

Happy happy girl

I'm thinking the R will be amongst our delicious cupcake tower of sugar shock :) Pretty pretty. Nothing traditional for us here. We both agree on that. Enough wedding talk right? ha

onto some great art news...
I'm on Danielle Thompson's Kitschy Digitals new design team. LOVE her digi kits. I'm mostly a paper artist but really had fun printing the papers out onto fabric and transparency sheets. Man they are so fun to play with... see.. I used the Skyler & Olivia kits:





*bliss*

I had a great weekend celebrating this bubs first birthday...


Made this for Creative Therapy:



Really trying to remember techniques that I try out. Mostly it's hit and miss. But that's the fun part :) This little boy is my friend I was talking about in a previous post. I used the same picture that is in a layout soon to be appearing in Somerset Magazine. Just I created a different technique to go with this page. mmmmm yum... graffiti and confetti. totally rad.



know what else is rad? the fact that I've been busy making 5 art journal books. Yep. Only 5. It's my fav number :) So that means the shop will open soon with these pretty girls up for grabs for only $25 buckaroos. Inside there are about 25-30 sheets of spray painted paper + random found art & scrap paper. So excited! If you want one now, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll reserve one for ya : belladrummer@gmail.com

keep on Rrrrrrr-ockin'
d

i dare you

here: Dare 113

be bold
be beautiful
:)

i need to do more dares. lately I've been feeling like I don't step outside my shell enough. My comfort zone. Myself. It's been tough making changes and one thing I really really need to work harder on is daring myself more. To not get comfortable. To not stop changing. To believe more in myself. For me. I always put other people before me. It's just a natural thing. But anyway... so far change has been quite surprising and equally challenging but I have NO regrets. You learn so much along the way. I feel if I had just done this sooner I would've been at a better place now. Live and learn right?

So on the appearance side, I wish I believed exactly what this prompt/art says.
journaling:
I wish i didn't have to wear makeup
i wish i could just believe the inner beauty was all that mattered.
i hate being
so vain
My week of vacation is coming up in November and I hope with everything in me that I can be brave enough to not wear makeup. Not for a single day that week. HA! I can just see people freak out. ;P I totally admire people who look "natural". I hate worrying if my mascara smudged. :( It just seems ridiculous! The things we do as women. Crazy.

So to add to the change, the blog needed some personal attention. New banner. Yes a little less colorful but right now that's just how I feel about things. Not in a bad way. It just feels real to me right now. It's a season. It will pass.

And as promised, my little project I was working on. LOVE that stamp! And I'm not a huge lover of stamps. But this one, seriously. Love. I decided to play alittle. I don't have a lot of art hanging on my walls. Is that weird? And I very rarely make anything home decor. But I had this little frame I picked up for a quarter at a thrift store and thought it'd be perfect for a home project. Then add some Kenner Road lovin' and ta dah! I sewed through the ribbon because it's actually 3 small pieces and I refused to throw them away. Then added the red swatch for the heck of it. I heart this.



Speaking of home. I really am obsessing over simplifying around here. I went back into the studio to de-clutter some more. And I have a drawer full of paper I wish to no longer have sitting around. I was making some of my "Move forward" style books and thought I might sell those in a very artsy Etsy shop. Just wondering if anyone would be interested? I don't just want to give the paper away. I want to make something like art cards, journal books, etc with them. So that's the plan man. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. And with the holidays coming up real soon, I totally think they'd make for some fun presents. I love getting artsy stuff. Talk to me. Let me know what you think :)

Coming up...
-a happy week to you
-some more art to show "creative therapy" wise
-art journaling
-and yes, spray painting is a must

have a marvelous monday sweet friends
d

The Goods Revealed :)

Here

I seriously have tons of paper and embellishments left over...I'm not finished with this kit. There is the chair stamp that I am LOVING and will soon make an appearance on something :) The moment I opened up my box I was thrilled...my mojo came back with the quickness! LOL.

5 layouts in one day. That's killer for me. I take like 5 hours on a page. Yeah, 5. I know. I'm SO slow but whatevs. Perfection people. It takes time ;P I kid. I usually just have to wait for something to come, a vision of some sort. Then from there it's a piece of cake. ooh yum. cake. oh wait. it's like 8 AM here. Too early for cake but i see a trip to starbucks soon. yay!

You know what else is so obvious that's been consuming me?

My engagement with Mr. Handsome.



Getting Older and "Wiser" ha! (Angie sent me this quote and immediately it triggered this page in my head. Goodness I heart her :) QUOTE: The Future Belongs To Those Who Believe In The Beauty Of Their Own Dreams. -Eleanor Roosevelt



My love for Mr. Handsome



All things perfect and lovely and a sweet place to put them



Perfect Wedding dress shopping:



I drew the dress onto the book paper. Cut that sucker out and wanted to make it feel special and pretty. So I framed it :) Then added a tiny button behind it to give it depth. Sigh... if anyone sees a dress like this please let me know. So far, dress shopping is not so good. I want a short dress and none of the stores carry them. I don't feel like ordering a dress just to try it on and pay for it. But alas, I haven't given up hope! And is it bad that I am thinking about my accessories over the dress? hehee. I'll do anything to wear Anthro on my wedding. It's so not a a crime though :P

Alrighty, hopefully everyone is having a great day so far. Get inspired and make something. You'll be happier. Pinky promise.
Check the rest of the Kenner Road team gallery out here: They Rock

Today is gonna be a great day
make it happen
d

yum

i heart sneaks...
especially yummy ones :)
I'm guest designing this month over at Kenner Road.











Full reveal reveal October 15th!

mojo rut is loooooong gone!
ha :)

d