I don't like the word process. It sounds too sterile and like there isn't any fun involved – process the paperwork, scientific process, processed cheese. See my point? Ideas come to me, I play with shapes, I make a mock-up or two, and glue! Presto! Cuteness in card form!

Often I will look at photographs for reference. Even though I know what a giraffe looks like, it's hard for me to just draw things like that from memory. Having a reference helps me break down the shapes of the image and figure out how to make it look the way I want.

Yes, I really do. There are a few designs that use hole-punched pieces, but aside from that I use X-acto knives to cut everything. All of the shapes are traced using stencils I made.

It varies – some card designs are more time consuming than others. Also, I rarely sit down to make just one card. With the animal cards, for instance, I typically set out to make 8 or 16 each of four designs at a time. That requires tracing all of the shapes, then I do all of the cutting for all of the animals, then all of the gluing. When I'm plugging along with some great music on, I lose track of time.

There are a variety of factors at work, here. It could be because of the availability of paper. Sometimes when I go back to the paper store to buy more of something, I find that something is no longer being made or isn't in stock so I have to buy a different kind. I like this, though – it keeps me from being stuck in thinking my design has to look a certain way.

Another possibility is that my mood dictated the gluing. The Love and Valentine design is a good example of this. Sometimes I glue the hearts in an orderly fashion, sometimes I don't. Depends on what I feel like doing. I like to change it up to keep it interesting for myself during long or late-night gluing sessions.

And of course, these are handmade. Try as I might to get all of them to look exactly the same, that is just not possible.

The papers I use for the images come from a local scrapbooking store here in Eugene, OR.

I know people who celebrate Hanukkah and I know people who celebrate Christmas. I was tired of never finding a package of cards that included both holidays so I solved the problem myself. I figure I can't be the only person out there who knows both kinds of people.

For this holiday season, I have a limited run of cards with wrapped packages on them (one red & green, one silver & blue). Next year there will be more like this.

I am not currently offering single-card orders on this Web site. However, if you really want to pay about as much for shipping as you do for the card itself, send me an e-mail.

Send me an e-mail and we can discuss.

Nope. The packages come as they are.

I can but I won't. Greg doesn't want to change his name (nor do any of his friends).

I may have. I am not a precision gluing machine, I am human. Also, my inner child sometimes goes a little crazy with the sticky stuff.

To you I say have at it! That's what I found myself saying about a lot of handmade cards I saw. I let that inspire me to try my hand at it and I encourage you to do the same.