Snoopy is no April Fool...

…but he does have a surprise for you! Can you guess what gift is hidden in this card? 

Stamps used: Stampabilities "Snoopy Flying High" & Inkadinkado (sun)

Pull on snoopy in his plane and watch him zoom away from the clouds, streaming a banner of the places he’s visited. Voila!  It’s a bookmark! 

Inkadinkado (postmarks), Stampabilities (stamp)

 Snoopy landed me as a published artist. I submitted him along with two other cards in the Stampler’s Sampler ‘bookmark card challenge.’ It was the first time I ever submitted anything for publication. About 5 months later, two of my cards were returned rejected. And, as snoopy hadn’t been published in the slated issue, I assumed he was lost in the mail. Then, about a year after I submitted him, I received notice we’d be published in the Catch Up issue. What a thrill!! (My husband can testify to the prolonged happy dance.)

Thinking about my nephews inspired me to create this card, which is why I think it turned out so cute. (Thank you, boys!) I like when my heart is connected to an inspiration--the work takes on an added dimension.

It still makes me smile to think I was published on my first try. Lessons learned: be playful, take chances, don't buy into labels. I’m not a trained artist, I haven’t taken any stamping classes, and I really didn’t know what I was doing--but I knew I was having fun. Moral of this April 1st story: don’t be fooled into limiting yourself and your creative expression—if you like what you’re doing, put it out there!

I'm curious about a time when you put your creative expression 'out there.' What did you learn through the process?