Challenging challenge card

I came home from work totally exhausted AGAIN yesterday and made this card for the Latte Lounge Beach Party challenge. Even though it's certainly not my best work it was a fun challenge.  You should hop over there just to see the amazing cards and tags made by the other talented artists! Oh btw... that is supposed to be embossed clouds, not blue dust flying through the sky. The basket, ice cream cone and castle are all brand new, not-yet-released digis from Fresh Brewed Designs.  I'm determined to try this again after running errands this morning with DH and DD. The riding mower broke AGAIN, so we're replacing it with a new one, then WATCH OUT GRASS cuz this old gal is ON A MISSION!!! lol! Hmm, wonder if there's a stamp for that one? I've seen the fluffy gal on a bicycle, but haven't seen her on a riding mower yet (hint, hint to all you designers out there!). If anyone has seen a stamp or digi like that please send me the link. Thanks!

Mother's Day Card

I recently became aquainted with a talented stamp designer, Heather Dennis, at Fresh Brewed Designs and have just begun using some of her digis. The card below was made for a challenge in The Latte Lounge that ends tomorrow night, April 28th. The hot latte and cupcakes were fun to color with my Staedtler colored pencils. I love the ergosoft material and the triangular shape that makes it so much more comfy for these arthritic hands of mine (sigh). The challenge is to use one of her stamps (digi or rubber) and flowers. I forgot the red stickles on the cupcakes until after I had submitted the picture. That really jazzed them up a bit. The two cupcakes in the diamonds are cut from a DCWV stack. I made another card for my MIL but can't show that because she might see it online.

Happy Easter from Our House to Yours!

Happy Easter from Matt, Emily, Mike and Sharon!

and now for the outtake (we didn't realize the camera was set to video!)

Pot decorations for fundraiser at work

On Friday we're putting on a fundraiser at work called Spring Fling and will be selling, among other things, gift baskets. One of the themed baskets is gardening, so I immediately thought of that Cricut cartridge that came with my machine called Walk in my Garden. Here are some of the picks I made to stick in the basket and some of the plants we'll be selling. I think they're the cutest things and might just have to make some for around my house! I love how the faux stitching looks, especially the blanket stitch on that purple butterfly! I used bamboo skewers for the sticks and glued them with Diamond Glaze. What fun!

Upcycled seed sacks become waterproof tote bags!

This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, even had saved bird seed bags in my garage. It wasn't until I saw someone selling them on Etsy that were made out of horse and chicken feed sacks that I decided it was time to get to work. Only thing was I didn't have any horses or chickens! Well call in the reinforcements.... tada!!! My daughter asked around at work and found someone who had these nylon bags that she couldn't burn and VOILA! I absolutely LOVE them!!! These three were donated back to my daughter, the lady who knew the lady with the bags and of course, the lady with the bags. They've promised to be my guinea pigs of sort to test them out before I try selling them. As I was struggling with my standard sewing machine my husband walked in the sewing room to ask how things were going and I mentioned that the long-arm sewing machine I'd been talking about would come in very handy for this new project. We'll look around, probably check out the special sales at the State Fair in September. Any suggestions for types or brands would be helpful. In addition to using it for tote bags I also have plans to do t-shirt quilts and other "normal" quilts that need the extra space.

New Upcycled Ties Brooches I made

These are made out of upcycled ties and some beads from my stash. They are posted in my Etsy shop now.

Eco Chique Boutique at Farmer's Market

Here's a bigger and better picture as promised!

Here we are (or were ) at Farmers Market!

I'll have a better picture later, but this is what Emily posted on her Facebook page right after we got set up at Farmers Market. It was a great day, a little windy and hot towards the end, but the crowd was awesome!

Last minute brooches for market

I think I might have already mentioned that I'm a last minute sort of gal, right? Well in less than 24 hours, uh 20 to be exact, my daughter and I will be standing or sitting under our brand new vendor tent at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Market and what am I doing? Yup, STILL making stuff!!! Anyway, here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on today. Oh by the way, if you check the vendor directory online we're still not in there, but the manager has promised me that we will be soon. Eco Chique Boutique really has a nice ring to it, don't you agree? In case you're wondering what that black stuff is on those two brooches it's leftover screening we used on our sliding back door. The stuff really IS dog-proof!

Banner for our vendor booth

One of my projects for today was to cut out the vinyl letters for the banner on our vendor tent for Farmers Market. I had just enough black vinyl in the size needed (phew!). I used my Sure Cuts A Lot program to lay out the letters to cut out on my Cricut. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Can't wait to show you the booth all set up next Saturday!

Upclycled washer necklaces my daughter made for Farmers Market

Please stop by Emily's Facebook page and give her some luvin for these awesome 2 inch upcycled washer necklaces she made for Farmers Market. She might also start selling them in our Etsy shop soon if there's enough interest. These are made in several different ways, decorative paper, upcycled book pages and hand painted. The girl's got talent, what else can I say? Yup, very proud momma here!!!