Cuttlebug Folder Swap

Hey there! Thanks for stoppin' by!

Today, I'd like to share my submission for my friend Roxane's (2cutecats) Cuttlebug Folder Swap. This was a great swap because it got me to use a folder AND a Nesties set that I hadn't used yet. And it lead me to re-discover some super yummy DP that I forgot I had. I decided to use it sparingly, in the hopes of letting the CB'd CS stand out. The sentiment came at the last, and I chose "miss you" because I am totally missing Kelly while she is on a month long European vacay with her wonderful DH and 4 fantastic kiddos! (Happy for her, but missing her tons!)

TFL and hope you have a great holiday weekend! God Bless America!

Hugs,

Happy Father's Day

This was my card for my dear dad this year. IRL his recliner is brown, but I just loved the look of olive green with this DP, which I honestly just happened to stumble upon going through my stash. Love when that happens! All of the buttons were in my button bag - filled with all those extra buttons you get with new clothes. The epoxy sticker set that I used to spell out "DAD" was a $1.00 find a few years ago on a day trip to Michigan. The real "meant to be" moment was when I recalled that I had this ribbon. To me (and my sis) its reminiscent of a man's necktie. Both the image and sentiment are Amuse from an image swap last year. This may very well be one of the least expensive cards I've ever made - but it was rich in love.

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day.

TFL & Hugs,

Blog Candy Winner!!!!

Drumroll please......The winner of the "Alter-Ego Blog Candy" is:

Christine/Chrissy's Creations!
Visit her blog at http://abbeysmommy.blogspot.com/

Christine, please email me with your full name and mailing address. I'll get going on the personalized altered item, and get it in the mail along with all the other blog candy goodies! Congrats!

Thanks soooooo much to everyone who stopped by for a visit! I hope to see more of you, and will be visiting your blogs as soon as possible.

Hugs,

"Alter Ego" Blog Candy Give-Away!

Sorry this is going up so late today! I wanted to snag a few more goodies and get a nice photo (sorry about the glare) for you to hopefully drool over! LOL!

Maybe I'm having a "mid-life" thing, but lately I'm taking stock. There is so much in life that I want to do and want to change about myself. I think I've really grown in the past year, but why stop there? I'm at a point in life where it's time to take the bull by the horns. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I'm trying to take that and mix it with some good old "Think globally. Act locally." This mix of concepts applies to all aspects of life- from hair styles to recycling, accessorizing to activism. And in my crafting, it's giving me the urge to alter! Change is all about altering right? Whether it's an object or a person, a look or a purpose.

And that brings us to our blog candy theme! The candy, not all of which is pictured, is all about alteration: chipboard, canvas, wood, metal, distressing tools, paint, paper and ink. Throw in a good dose of embellies, and there you have it! In addition, the winner will receive a customized altered piece made by me!

To enter, all you have to do is:

1. Leave a comment to this post before midnight on Friday, June 26, telling me what change you want to make in your life, OR about your "alter ego".

2. Then invite all of your friends to play along by posting a link on your blog!

I'll randomly select and announce a winner that weekend.

Thanks,

An Award and A Candy Update

The amazingly wonderful, sweet, supportive Kelly bestowed this honor upon me, and I am truly touched.
It's been a crazy year, and there have definitely been times when I wasn't able to visit or post as much as I wanted to. I'm so grateful for all of you who have stayed with me, and I so dearly appreciate all of your comments and encouragement.
So, I want to share this with all of you! If this is your first, fiftieth or five hundreth visit, then please grab this badge for your blog! {{{{{HUGS}}}}}}

To further show my appreciation, I'll have some BLOG CANDY up for grabs starting tomorrow night!

Thanks for visiting, and love to you all!

When it rains, it pours...blog candy!

Mary is giving away some super fab blog candy. Visit her HERE to enter. Good luck!

Who wants Nesties???

Yep, I thought that would get your attention! ;)

The kind, wonderful, immensely talented and generous Kadie is giving away a set of Nesties that are totally TDF! So visit her HERE and enter for your chance to win! Good luck!

PS- I'm *trying* to focus on studying for a professional exam, so the card creations will be few and far between this month. HOWEVER, stay tuned because I will have some blog candy for you next week, just to keep you interested and visiting!

Hugs,

Getting Ahead

Alright, go ahead and laugh! The concept of me "getting ahead" or even being on time with anything lately is hilarious to me, too! Secretly, I think Miss Mary had me in mind when she created this swap. *wink* I'm seriously thinking of having "I had a great idea, and the best intentions, but just not the time" tattooed on me. *sigh* And even these cards arrived a couple days late. Oy vey! (And as you can tell, I was running so late and in such a rush that these sad pics were snapped in a hurry. Sorry for the very poor quality.)

I took spots in the 2 categories where I thought that 1. timeliness was most important, and 2. their need was most unpredictable. So my submissions are for Get Well and Sympathy ("With Deepest Sympathy" is stamped on the inside of the green butterfly card). I hope it is a very long time before I need either, but at least now I'll be prepared.

TFL & Hugs & Wishes Long Life and Good Health to all,

Oh Baby, Baby

A while back, my pal Michelle became a G-ma for the first time to twin cuties Chase and Evan. But long before that miraculous event, sweetie-pie Karen had the idea for our little group of stamping friends to each make a page or two for a g-ma scrapbook to commemorate this amazing blessing. I was both thrilled and honored to participate.

It was a first for me on many levels: 1. my first baby layouts, 2. the first time working without the photos, 3. the first time contributing to a multi-contributor scrap project, 4. my first experience working with an 8x8 format.

We knew we were scrapping for twin boys, so I tried to stay with a color scheme that was boyish without losing the sweet innocence of newborns. The green matting is sized to accomodate 4x6 photos, with the photo corners attached to (hopefully) allow a photo to be tucked underneath. I combined 2 shades of chalk pigment ink on the Tim Holtz Grungeboard alphabet letters & numbers for the titling. The journaling squares were made using a dotted stripe SU! wheel, and I mixed in some dimensional die-cut accents for added interest. It's a very simple element, but my favorite part is the yellow strip made with the Fiskars Threading Water border punch and placed at an angle on each page. I tried to balance the elements on each page without being too "matchy-matchy", mirroring some things while mixing up others.

I had a lot of fun working on this project, and hope the the proud G-ma likes it as well.

Hugs & TFL,

Dew Drops

I admit, I jumped on the dew drop bandwagon a little late. And I'm sure I missed some chatter somewhere regarding sizing. But I just recently figured it out, and just in case there are others, like me, who are a little confused, I thought I'd share what I learned.

Apparently, a regular dew drop (and in all cases, I'm referring to Robin's Nest Dew Drops) can come in one of two sizes. According to the Robin's Nest website, the "new for 2009" drops are "slightly bigger" than the old ones. These new drops are not to be confused with the Large Dew Drops (or as some sites list them, Extra Large (XL) Dew Drops). The pic above is a side-by-side-by-side comparison. The first is an "old" regular dew drop, the second is a "new" regular dew drop, and the third one is the Large or XL dew drop. HTH!

Hugs,