Craft Barn is giving away a TON of goodies!

Every once in a while I get to actually go ready other crafters' blogs and this morning while doing that I came across some awesome blog candy over at The Craft Barn. It's only open until Sept 9th, so hop over there right away!

Birthday Blog Candy Winner Announced!

Scroll down to find the winner announced today, August 4, 2012

Guess what I bought myself for my Birthday? While you're at it try to guess who can't find the place where Blogger wants to find pictures to upload? Ok, first answer is an iPad!!! second answer is me! I can't for the life of me figure out why Blogger won't let me upload pictures from this thing, so ended up emailing the blog candy pic to blogger for this post. Now let's see if it worked. Oh, the deets: 1. Be a follower 2. Leave a comment on this post 3. Please spread the word about my giveaway! 4. Post the candy on your sidebar or send me a link to your other method of sharing. 5. Oh and please make sure you leave your email address if it is not on your blog. 6. Due to the high cost of postage this is open to U.S. residents only. I will leave this open until August 3rd and will use a random number generator to choose the winner. In case the picture doesn't come through and I have to try another method, there are several packages of stickers, journalling tablet, loads of seam binding ribbon, Stampin Up ribbon, micro beads, Sizzlets, Spellbinders impressibilities and much more!



The winner is....... Nana from My Crafting Channel Congratulations!

Sharing the love - more candy!

Well this time it's about a fellow blogger who has an awesome giveaway on her blog. Go check it out:

$150.00 Joann Fabrics Gift Card "250 Follower Giveaway"

 Give Nana a shoutout for me and good luck to you all!

Speaking of Birthdays.... Blog Candy Coming Soon!

Now that I have my step-father-in-law and dad's birthdays out of the way it's time to move on to my own on July 6th. I was trying to come up with some fabulous and significant numbers thing, like hmmm, I was born in 1954, had 184 blog posts, my first blog post was 40 months ago and I have 114 followers (adding the Google Friend Connect and Networked Blogs together), OH and I can retire in 2014. So what's the common number in all of those? Yup #4! Oh hey, I just thought of another 4... the year I graduated from college after a long haul of over ten years on and off .... 1984. What's this got to do with blog candy you say? Well I want to put together something really special to celebrate. Should I do 4 different packages of blog candy? Or maybe a 4 pound package of goodies, or four of each item? Any ideas? Stay tuned because I'll be announcing my decision on my birthday and will post pictures and rules then. Mark your calendars for Friday, July 6th and if you're not already a follower you might as well sign up now!

Goals for first half of 2012

I decided that my crafting goals needed to be posted at the top of my blog until they have all been completed. Now to figure out how folks make posts stay at the top... I just read that putting a publication date in the future would create a sticky post and keep it on top. Tried that and it didn't work, so will just make a text widget with just the list and locate it above the posts.

Here's the list that was posted in January:

1. Create card kits to sell on Etsy.
2. Create scrapbook page kits to sell on Etsy.
3. Put stuff together for a swap with friends.
4. Donate a bunch of stuff to groups that make cards for charities.
5. Make cards to donate to Operation Write Home. DONE
6. Make cards to donate to a local church that in turn donates to homeless shelters (currently doing this one.)   DONE
7. Make card assortments along with boxes to put them in to have on hand for gifts.
8. Offer some blog candy (coming soon, so stay tuned!)
9. Make upcycled embellishments and other products for Zeleny Art Fair coming up in April. DONE

Below are some things I've made. The sample is flower die cuts made out of upcycled wallpaper samples. Next is a really cute ruffled purse made out of t-shirts, then a fabric rosette using leftover fabric and the last picture is a package of paper rosettes.

I wore red and I won!!!

This is just toooo cool! I forgot to post on here February 3rd, well actually February 2nd, to remind everyone to wear read on the 3rd to raise awareness for heart disease. Well I did post it on Facebook and WordPress (my healthy life/diet blog). Anyway...... I WON A PRIZE for posting a picture of me wearing my red sweater which, btw is being retired due to the fact that it fit 30 pounds ago, but hangs on me now.... WOOHOO!!!!! What an irony, huh? I am getting healthier and the clothes are going bye-bye! Actually the Snoopy cardigan I was wearing today is going to be transformed in to a pillow for my husband's Snoopy den. Not sure what I'll do with the rest of it, but am thinking about making a shrug? We'll see... guess I'll post a tutorial when the time comes. So here's a pic of the prize I won. It's a Color Mist package from Studio Calico.



and if you want to sneak a peek at the entries, go hang out at Ella Publishing's blog here.

Challenge for the New Year

I can't believe it's been an entire MONTH since my last post! Where has the time gone??? Unlike some of you who have very busy lives with children and/or grandchildren running around the house during the holidays, it's just me and my dear husband and menagerie of dogs and cats. Sure we have an occasional visit with our daughter and son-in-law, sometimes along with one or two of their dogs; but for the most part it's just the two of us. I think that my mojo got sucked up in the thick atmosphere and blew away for a visit somewhere else!

What have I been doing? I dare not show any pictures because of the perpetual mess my craft room is always in, but I will tell you that things are moving along. Like some of you I am trying to use up what I have on hand in my stash. This MIGHT be the time for me to finally make the switch from paper to digital design, BUT not until I've gotten my stash down to a reasonable amount. Here are some thoughts I've had lately:

1. Create card kits to sell on Etsy.
2. Create scrapbook page kits to sell on Etsy.
3. Put stuff together for a swap with friends.
4. Donate a bunch of stuff to groups that make cards for charities.
5. Make cards to donate to Operation Write Home. DONE
6. Make cards to donate to a local church that in turn donates to homeless shelters (currently doing this one.)   DONE
7. Make card assortments along with boxes to put them in to have on hand for gifts.
8. Offer some blog candy (coming soon, so stay tuned!)
9. Make upcycled embellishments and other products for Zeleny Art Fair coming up in April.

So there you have it! The past few days I've been digging through my stash and pulling out all those assorted paper embellishments that I cut or punched out in bulk for who knows what reason (just because!) and am attempting to use them to make card assortments. Isn't it funny when you look at something that you've hung on to for several years and you can't for the life of you figure out what you were thinking when you made it??? The paper-hoarder in me finds it extremely difficult to throw anything away that might possibly be used on a card, scrapbook page, collage, jewelry or whatever. Don't you love seeing and reading about all the cool things people make out of what would normally go in the trash? Sorry folks, but I've actually begun throwing away those little bits of paper that are left behind when cutting borders with the scalloped border punch! Yes they make squares look like postage stamps, BUT if they haven't gotten used in over two years they're GOING BYE-BYE!

One last thing I'll kind of share with you is that I have a huge reason for needing to downsize, but am not quite ready to post in for the public yet. I guess I don't want the plans to get jinxed somehow, so will wait until time gets closer, but trust me, this will be a big life-changing and very exciting thing! No folks, I'm NOT pregnant (way too old and the plumbing's been removed since 1994!); but it DOES have something to do with family. Like one of my favorite movie characters once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

I think God is trying to tell me something...

If you're new to my blog and haven't seen last year's slide show about my father, a 21 year veteran of the U.S. Army, please take some time after reading this to view it on this post. Something I just now noticed while watching it for the umpteenth time is that in the picture of him peeking his head up over the top of the dining room table if you look directly over the top of his head you'll see a picture of me from my Army days. Yes, I also served in the Army as a WAC and was honored to serve on the same base with him in Germany in the early 70's!

Ok, so what's all this got to do with God and craft rooms and scrapbooking? Well, on Veteran's Day in 1991 the condo that I lived in with my young daughter blew up from a gas explosion, killing the neighbor boy and severely burning his older brother. My daughter and I escaped the burning building from the 3rd floor apartment and lost almost all of our belongings. My scrapbook from those Army days was tucked in the back of a huge walk-in closet situated right next to my waterbed and against an outside wall not exposed to the heat. Let me show you what my albums look like today. Now friends, when I say scrapbook please keep in mind that we're not talking about the elaborate one-picture-per-page full of embellishments that we do these days. We're talking plain cover, black pages full of pictures with some writing (who ever heard of journaling back then? Wasn't that for teenagers with diaries locked up and tucked under the mattress?) The first picture shows where the albums landed during recovery efforts and where they have remained to this day. Yes I've had them out a couple of times, but I guess the memories of that day have been too painful to want to actually DO anything with these albums. One I didn't photograph is from my year in California when I went out to attend LIFE Bible College, so it needs a whole album to itself.

The next two show the front my two albums from right before and during my 3 years in the army.

Miraculously none of the pictures appear to be damaged even after 20 years in that bag! *knocking on wood here at my desk!* The page edges are singed like the covers, but the pictures are fine as you'll see in the next picture. You'll be able to see a pic of me and my dad (I'm the one with the dark shorts on) with my Drill Sergeant. Yes I even got my hair cut and frosted just like her! Oh and pay no attention to those girls fooling around in the bottom picture. Things got a little wild and crazy around the barracks every now and then.

OK, moving on.... why do I bring up the past like this??? Well today I found out that I won a prize from a great gal over at Above Rubies Studio. It was graciously donated by a new company called Uniformed Scrapbooks of America and I get my choice of albums. Well for me it's a no-brainer and that link takes you to my choice.... ARMY!!! They'll even custom embroider the name and insignia rank. Since my dad and I had the same last name during that time period it will be just perfect. I've asked if they can do two insignias, one for each of our ranks, but even if they can just to one I'll be happy. What an awesome gentle reminder from God that it's high time I got busy re-doing these precious memories!!! My niece has recently uncovered a few boxes of Dad's military memorabilia that I've already laid claim to for a memory album. Hmmm, looks like I might need more than one, huh? lol! I also have every intention to do an oral history with him and now that they have all these recordable books it seems the time is right for that too. Oh so much to do with sooooo little time!

While you're over at Megan's studio you MUST watch her videos and find out about her new exciting product that I can't wait to try out! She does some awesome tutorials that you'll want to subscribe to on YouTube so you won't miss any of them.

Winner Winner Come for Dinner!

Well it might be kind of far to drive for dinner, but it'd be fun anyway! The lucky winner of my blog candy for gratitude is........ *drum roll please...*.......................................

Lisa T said...

Wow, lucky you! How nice of you to share. :) I added your blog candy to my side bar. (I'm on the SCAL list with you.)

October 2, 2011 8:17 PM 


Lisa I will send you email. Please send me your full name and mailing address so I can get your package sent out. Congratulations!!!

Time to get organized!

What do YOU do when you take time off from work? Well if you're like me you work even harder at other things. Whether that means gardening, cooking, sewing, taking kids to doctor appointments, cleaning house, caring for elderly parents, or like me, organizing your craft space; it usually requires a lot of work. I've taken the next two days off to clean up my two rooms dedicated to my crafts. Yes you heard me right, TWO ROOMS!!! AAACK!!! For those of you who are now wallowing in jealousy over the fact that I have two full rooms for my crafts (one for paper, the other for sewing) let me tell you that I'd have more room on my dining room table than in both rooms put together! More space means more STUFF!

On Saturday my daughter and I had a very successful sales event in Lawrence, Kansas. There were a dozen Etsy vendors set up in a room at a downtown restaurant, Pachamamas (with absolutely FAB food that we've promised our husbands we'd taken them to later!) The crowd was awesome and steady throughout the entire day and the other vendors were all so friendly and talented that just meeting them would have been well worth the time.

Anyway.... I've finished doing inventory and now it's time to make a dent in the mess called my craft room. Hopefully I'll be able to spend tomorrow cleaning up my sewing room. I have every intention to finally get both rooms to the point where I can actually walk in, sit down and do some creating, then eventually start creating tutorials. What would you like to learn how to do? Is there a paper craft that you've seen here that you'd like to learn all the steps? Maybe you've seen a finished product somewhere else and just can't figure it out? I used to do training as part of my job and I guess you could say that it's in my blood. There are already soooooo many awesome tutorials out there and I don't want to repeat things that are readily available, so pray tell, what can't you find? Not that I can guarantee I'll be able to figure it out, but it'll give me something to shoot for when this old antique computer gets replaced by a graphics capable one. Oh, please also tell me if you're more of a visual, auditory, textual or hands-on learner. I'm one of those people who needs to do all four: see it, hear it, read it and do it. If you're anything like me you do best when there are written instructions to go along with the video tutorial so you can concentrate on soaking in all the visuals and listening rather than scrambling to write everything down.

Ok, NOW I'd better get out of this room and get to work in that craft room! Hopefully I'll have some success stories and pictures to share later. Oh, OH OH! Don't forget to sign up for my October Blog Candy Gratitude Giveaway that closes at midnight on October 29th!

Luscious Heavenly Fabric Goodies!

Look what came in today's mail. Oh before I show you let me encourage you to head right over to SuziQu's Threadworks after you're done drooling over the contents of my package. The pictures she takes are much better than mine, plus you can see all her other beauties!

I knew the package was from her because, well, I currently don't have any relatives or friends living in Australia. New Zealand, yes, but the aunt who used to be a missionary for Wycliffe Bible Translators in Australia has long since retired and returned to her roots in Wisconsin. Ok, I digress and I know you're chompin at the bit to see my surprises, so here they are:

So what will I do with this lovely fabric journal? Well for now I'm just going to admire it, pet it and soak up it's yumminess. Then I think I'll let IT tell ME what it wants to become! Maybe something to house some of my favorite fabric swatches. Or how about swatches from clothing my daughter wore growing up? Or pictures printed on fabric and sewn to the pages? Oh there are so many possibilities! I'd love to hear what YOU would do with one of these!

Blog Candy for Gratitude! -- CLOSED

If you've been reading my blog you know that in one week's time I was the recipient of four blog prizes. This past week has been an all time high for me, making me feel almost guilty, but mostly grateful and appreciative of the generosity of others. The best way for me to show my gratitude is by paying it forward, so ..... drum roll please.... I've got blog candy!!! Yup, I put together a package of ephemera, vintage ribbon, buttons, vintage wallpaper, handmade embellishments, twine, silk flowers and other fun things that would be great for making mini albums, embellishing scrapbook pages and cards or anything else your imagination desires. This blog candy will run until October 29 with the winner announced on October 30. To be eligible all you need to do is the following:

1. Become a follower if you aren't already
2. Leave a comment
3. Tell someone else about the candy. If you want to post this on your sidebar that would be awesome, but is not a requirement. You can just mention how you are spreading the word (twitter, facebook, blog post, etc.) in your comments.

Oh and please leave me a way to get in touch with you. Here's a picture of what I've gathered so far. I will be adding more as the month progresses and if I get over 50 comments I'll start another box. Woohoo, let the fun begin!!!

I have been truly blessed!

This past week I was notified by not one, not two, but THREE very generous bloggers that I had won something!!! Can you believe it??? No, I couldn't either, in fact I told my husband that this would be a good week to buy a lottery ticket!

So what did I win? Well how about some pictures?
First I was notified by the lovely and extremely talented Suzy over at Suziqu's Threadworks that I had won a gorgeous embellished lace and linen doiley needlebook:

 

and some luscious yummy trim:

  

This uber talented artist has all kinds of beautiful fiber art on her blog and also can be found on Etsy as suziqu.
Oh and did I mention that she's from New South Wales, Australia? I happen to have an aunt still living in New  Zealand and had one serving as a missionary in Australia for many, many years. Coincidence? I don't know, maybe just good karma! Actually the karma will come when I put together some blog candy and have the pleasure of giving it away, so stay tuned!

Okay, so still guiddy from Suzy's notification and tired from spending the whole day on Saturday at a scrapbook crop (where I was without a cell phone signal) I get home and find a message from my favorite Stampin Up consultant, Shelly May, that I've won these awesome Christmas cards!



OMG I told her that I would decorate my mantle with them because they're so gorgeous! I can't wait to see all the detail that went in to making these because everything Shelly makes is beautiful!

Now last, but not in any way least, is a digital scrapbooking software program from my friend Linda over at LadybugLair. The program is called My Memories and looks like loads of fun! I just downloaded it and hope to play with it as soon as I finish this post. You should hop over to her blog and see some of the things she's already done with it. Oh and you've got to see the funny card she just made for a friend turning 60. So funny!

I am genuinely touched and feel blessed to have received all these gifts. Now, the question is.... what can I give away that even comes close to these things? I've got some ideas bouncing around in my head and will let you know when I decide. Until later.....

Hugs and kisses...