Keep Calm and Write On

Oh no, I think I may have disappeared into that Fantasy Land that I was wishing for!  Actually, that cold my wee girl had came and visited me when it was nearly done with her.  And, of course, it took up residence in my face, nose & throat the week I was getting ready for my inlaws' visit to celebrate my kidlet's birthday.  (Yes, Murphy and I are grande friends! ;>)

So, now it's time to play catch up!  And I can't think of a better way to get started than to show you a little something I won from the uber fabulous, Mandy of In Mandyland, during her bloggiversary celebration week (yes, it was awhile ago...told you I was playing catch up!).

I picked up an inexpensive frame at Michael's and currently, it stares at me from across my living room, reminding me to click clack across the keyboard.  And though I haven't blogged since that cold started squatting in my head, I have been writing.  So this Etsy print is doing its job!

When you have a moment and your favorite cuppa, click your way over to Fictional Mandyland to read some of her juicy Hidden Hollow series or read how she corrupts the blueberry or read a piece that's on my rather long list of favorite Mandy posts.

While you're getting your proper does o' Mandy, follow her on Twitter too...she's witty, funny, and the Queen of the Hashtag.  She is so Worth the Click and I'm sure you'll love your time there.  Tell her I said hello! :>

My gift to her, her gift to me.

~ Looking for my TRDC RemebeRED post? Click here for Action! ~

My girl was born with something that didn't come from me...the shopping gene. She loves it. Thankfully, shopping can be Target for trash bags or Costco for toilet paper and coffee or Whole Foods for her brother's gluten & casein free needs.

But, sometimes, it is nice to treat your shopping buddy, the one who keeps you motivated through all those shopping trips to make sure your other kidlet doesn't feel like he's missing out when his foods are often different from the kids he goes to school with.  She asks, is it organic? Is it gluten free?  Does that have casein?  Can my brother have it?  Sometimes it's her turn.

When we left that morning, the marine layer was in and it was chilly out...hence the jeans & long sleeves in June.

We started at Michael's craft store with no purpose in mind other than a look-see.  And would you believe it?  We left with nothing.  Not a thing!

Next, we headed to Border's for a new, brightly colored book.  She left with two.

As we left Border's, my feet turned right and marched over to Aaron Brother's.

Once inside, I headed for the Liquitex paint and as we approached the aisle, my girl tugged on my arm, "Mama, look!"  She promptly asked me for what she had gasped at.  I promptly said, "No."

I took a second look.  She was gasping over a butterfly, just waiting to be painted.  Oh how she loves to paint!  She'll do almost anything to be able to spend a morning painting.  I looked at her face and then looked again and saw the 50% off Clearance sign and though her treat was to simply be her new books, I couldn't deny her the joy of a new butterfly to paint when we got home.

As we made the drive home, she very quickly passed out in the obscenely hot car, with her all too warm clothes on.  She was practically falling out of her seat, but she never let go of her new paintable treasure.

I took her out for a treat, for a little gift to give to her.  But, in the end, she was the one to give me a gift.  She says, "We're the Mother-Daughter Team."  I reply, "You. And. Me."  Yes, she's definitely a gift.

Teacher's Gifts with Etsy Love {Sunbasilgarden}

Took my boy to school this morning, for his last day there in 2010 and in hand we had his GF/CF Coconut Bliss chocolate 'ice cream' bar for him to eat at the class party and his teachers' gifts.

Often, I hand make their gifts, but I knew that time would run short this year. Thankfully, when I saw Sunbasilgarden's uber cute hand crafted soaps, I knew I had a great solution!

He has two great teachers, one received the Pink Sugar Cupcake Soap and the other the Fresh Pear Cupcake Soap.  Lauren, the woman behind Sunbasilgarden, also sells the four cupcakes as a cute set, packaged in a bakery tray.

His aide received an adorable, don't ya wish it was summer, Lime Water Ice Soap.  And again, Lauren sells an adorable gift set with all four flavors, er..um...I mean scents.

The cupcakes & ice water soaps all came with cute tags on them for me to write on, but since its for Christmas, I replaced them with these adorable retro tags I found online.  Print them on cardstock and simply cut them out or add glitter, Stickles, or use a spica glitter pen to add a little festive flair!

This Pomegranate Paradise Salt Soap is in my shower right now.

And while Lauren is closing up Sunbasilgarden for Christmas in a couple of days, doesn't this Winter Wonderland Soap with scents of peppermint and vanilla sound perfect for January?

Or how about some Hot Chocolate Whipped Soap?

And the bar version of Hot Chocolate Soap....aren't those marshmallows cute?!

Under the Christmas tree are a couple more cute Sunbasilgarden soaps all wrapped up.  Did you do any Etsy shopping this holiday season?

And I'm Tickled Pink, bringing all this cuteness to school today and because Holly has featured my art journal cover on her Tickled Pink post today!  I'm quite happy to link up again today...come play, so I can visit you too! :>

{Sew} Small, {Sew} Strong

Do you remember the first fabby bag my best friend, Jenn, who works her magic with fabric & thread gave me?  I still use it for shopping, crafty playtime with friends, and even as an overnight bag when I turn in my Grown Up Card for a night.

Wee girl, my Princess, who loves all things creative & crafty (not to mention, anything that even resembles a purse!) mentioned that she would love a bag like Mama's to put her goldfish in when we head out for errands. 

And Auntie Jenn totally came through!  Princess' bags are significantly smaller, measuring (approx.) 9"x9"x4"...the perfect size for her to carry on her arm or shoulder.  And they are just as sturdy as Mama's bag, a la Jenn, with the straps wrapping all the way under the bags.

These bags aren't just for shopping!  Every week when Princess heads out to Grammie's for dance class, she packs her leotard & tights in there.  She's so proud to have her own bags, for her own 'stuff'.

I tried a few times, different locations, different lighting, but it was a challenge to pick up the subtly colored patterns...pale pink & white.  The first bag is a floral pattern, which shows up pretty well.  But, the second one is stars and moons, which I'm sorry that I was not able to capture the best.  (All pictures are clickable to enlarge.)

I must admit, I do love Saturdays!  Its my morning to sleep in....a pattern left over from the days of kidlets being babes and waking all hours of the night (a pattern that I have no intention of breaking anytime soon!).  I feel like Saturday mornings recharge me.  Its not just the bit of extra sleep, its waking to quiet, to no hungry tummies, no school lunch waiting to be made, no clock ticking, urging us out the door.  Its like a deep, fresh breath.

What recharges you?

We interupt the regularly scheduled program.....for {Teacher Gifts}!

We made it!! YAAAAYYYY!!!! My boy's last day of school was yesterday and it was SO nice to not only complete the school year, but also to turn OFF my 5:40 AM alarm clock!!!! I cannot express how happy that makes me! :>

Yes, I know I promised to return with {Part Two}of the doll house with pictures of its completion and I'm sorry I haven't gotten that up yet. I was trapped in the kaleidoscope of the zany & zippy, Crazyland that is the last week of school! So, please pardon the interruption to the regularly scheduled program as I have some teachers, aides, and principal gifts to share! :>

We had two teachers, two aides, and one principal that we brought end of the year thanks and goodies too.  While these were the people who we wrote, created and packaged bits for, we do know that it takes many more people to make a successful school year for our children and we are grateful to all that contributed!!

Initially, we were thinking Gerber Daisies, as I had the tag's wording in mind.  But, when I went looking, I found these fabulous and fun plants!  They are Celosias and the flower is spiky, feathery, vibrant, and look like little colorful Christmas trees, up close.  They could not be more perfect!  You can read more about Celosias here and here.  I have uploaded two close-up shots of the flowers themselves on Flickr here and here.

I had fun playing around with my fonts when coming up with these simple, but very appropriate tags for each plant.  I made them in MS Word, matted them on brightly colored cardstock, used different colored eyelets, and layered on another bright color with a spiral paper clip.  (Click on the pics to enlarge them and make them easier to read!)

The Celosias were four inch plants in the standard green plastic pot....perfect for planting, not so great for gift giving.  So, wee girl and I made a quick trip to Jo-Ann's and bought some dark green burlap.  We cut it into squares and Princess helped hold the burlap folded up around the pot, while I tied on some twine from the hardware store that I had.  Tie on the tag and they are a sweet little gift!

Teachers definitely put in so much time and effort and these two teachers, in particular, we all appreciate so much.  We wanted to give them a little something extra to show that.  So, I wrapped up four cards (1, 2, 3, 4) and envelopes and tied them up in wide pink grosgrain ribbon for simple, yet sweet gift giving. 

As we were giving out our end of the year gifts, a teacher surprised me with an extremely thoughtful gift.  She took pictures of our son through his school day, with his friends, classmates, different aides & teachers, in the classroom, at lunch, and recess.  She said that she knew that I scrapbook and wanted to give me pictures to scrap.  How thoughtful is that?!?!?!!

We have worked with this teacher closely for the last two years and I do not have words to express how wonderful she has been.  I am sure that when any of us look back, twenty years from now, we will remember her very well and still be grateful for her.

This small set (1, 2, 3, 4) of cards were wrapped up in a beautiful bright green wide sheer ribbon and tied off in a bow.  These were going to his classroom teacher who is full of smiles, enthusiasm, and a passion for teaching!  Our boy says that she was funny, great at teaching math, super nice, and that he enjoyed listening to her read stories to the class.  We so enjoyed her being our son's teacher this year and she will be missed!

One aide in particular, had a special connection with our son.  He enjoyed her so much, thought she was funny, and absolutely idolized her thirteen year old son....so much so, that her son was kind enough to come spend time after and before school a couple times a week with my boy this spring to talk about Star Wars, guitars, and Lego's.  How cool is that?! 

Princess and this aide shared something in common......they both enjoy their accessories!  In the last weeks of school, Princess often noticed my boy's very stylish aide wearing statement rings.  So, when we were thinking about end of the year gifts, Princess was the one to come up with the idea of giving this aide a statement ring.......and so we did!  I don't think the picture does it justice.  Its really fun and funky!

They have worked together for the last two years and in that time they talked, laughed, learned and taught, ran together (she runs half marathons....good thing 'cause my kidlet is fast and doesn't stop moving!! :>), played, and shared stories every day at school.  We will miss her next year!

Sending a BIG shout out to ALL the teachers out there (including the ones in my family!).......THANK YOU!

Thanks for visiting, I love it when you do! Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!!

Come! Meet Primrose!!

Our sweet Princess was treated to Primrose, made by Grammie (my Mom), this Christmas. Look at that sweet face! Her pretty petite flower makes me smile......and you know how much I love that!

Primrose, a most adorable bunny makes my daughter smile too! Now, I'm not a knitter, but as someone who appreciates handmade and creating in general, of course I wanted to know more and I thought some of you might too. :>

Mom bought the pattern to knit Primrose from Mary Jane's Tearoom over at etsy. I asked Mom what she thought about the quality of the pattern and she said that, "Her directions are meticulous! Excellent!" I thought that was high commendation since I often hear her grumbling about errors in knitting patterns. Apparently, Primrose was a delight to knit!

Can you believe how cute this bunny is??!! And even cuter, her sweet little sweater, shorts, tights, and shoes??!! I can't stand it......too too CUTE!!!

And even a fluffy bunny tail for sweet Primrose. There is even a hole in her shorts, just for that sweet fluff!

Susan, the creator of these knitted treasures at Mary Jane's Tearoom, also has a BLOG, where her most recent post lets us know that Susan is donating 80% of her proceeds from her Primrose sales to Help for Haiti through the campaign at the popular knitting and crocheting site, Ravelry, through the month of January.

And soon enough....when Mom finishes it for my boy, we'll have Oscar (another one of Susan's patterns that Mom bought) to meet! His clothes are finished, but he is still in need of his bunny body. Thought you just might like a peek! :>

Do you have a crafty family? Or are you their creative spark?

Tim Holtz Tag & Christmas Teacher Gifts

Rocky Candy, how I love you....let me count the ways..... Well, if I truly did count.....this post would go on and on and on and on and on and on and ON! {And since I'm already a chatty gal, I'd rather just leave room on the post for that chatter!} But, needless to say, I LOVE the stuff, both the Stickles and Distress Crackle Paint alike...thank you Tim Holtz!

Here are some of my tags that I made based on his first inspirational tag from Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas:

I made five total. These three went on top of the blank Stampin' Up! tags I made for my son's teachers' Christmas presents this year.

In addition to the uber fabulous Rock Candy Stickles and Distress Crackle Paint, I loved how I made my snowmen! I do not have Tim's fun snowman stamp, so I punched out three circles, taped them together, layed them on top of Grunge Paper (I didn't even realize it was Grunge Paper and not Grunge Board, until he did a tag later down the line with it.......then I went back and looked and what do ya know!!! :>), traced and cut out my snowmen.

Next, I inked them up with black ink and embossed them twice with clear embossing powder. I inked up the snowflake stamp with Versamark and then pressed it down into the embossed snowman while the embossing powder was still warm. When it cooled down, I removed the stamp and it left a snowflake depression in my snowman (Thank you Claire for showing me that technique! :>). And then I added the white paint, followed the rest of Tim's instructions, and I had SO MUCH FANTASTIC FUN!!!! I felt like an inky, sticky kidlet making these and I think I had a permenant Chesire smile etched into my face! :>

Using assorted Stampin' Up! tag stamps, I made fifty-four tags, eighteen for each teacher. I used my Spica glitter pens to add some sparkle, some crystal Stickles for snow, and threaded each one with coordinating embroidery thread.

To present them, I threaded through each set of tags with a double strand of silver cord, put a signed large Tim snowman tag on top, and tied them off. School let out a week before Christmas this year, so these were practical for the teachers to use on their gifts. Practical, crafty, and fun makes for a great gift in my book and hopefully, in their books as well. These three women have been wonderful assets in our son's life and we are thankful for all of them!

Supplies:
Cardstock: White - Georgia Pacific; Certainly Celery - Stampin' Up!; Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; turquoise & blue - Stash
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue - Stampin' Up!; black - India Ink; Faded Jeans, Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Weathered Wood - Tim Holtz Distress Inks for Ranger
Stamps - Stampin' Up! (all except snowflake....$ stamp from stash)
Other: silver ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Grunge Paper & Board, Stickles, Distress Crackle Paint, Spica glitter pens - Copic; Paint Dabber - Adirondack; Versamark ink; clear embossing powder, embroidery floss & fibers - Stash

Another Teacher Thank You

We had another teacher to thank, Ms.Vicky, who was just simply wonderful to work with this year! She is kind, thoughtful, and really had our son's best interest at heart. I do not think I could say enough nice things about her. Just like with Ms. Connors, we really lucked out!

For Ms. Vicky, I decided to make her Lauren's Captured Card Case and fill it with.....cards! This was the first time I used this template and I was delighted to find that it is Beyond Easy!! I made this in the wee hours of the morning, one night before school was out and even with lacking sleep, it was still super easy. I filled it with this, this, this, and this card. Initially, I was going to make a cute matching set, but as a lot of you know how fast the last couple weeks of school can fly by, I ran out of time. I didn't want to short change this fabulous teacher though and still wanted to give her handmade cards, so I just pulled from some that I already made.

K&Company's Brenda Walton Mira Specialty Paper Pad has the most fabulous papers I think I've seen in a paper pad! I had sworn off paper pads/stacks/slabs since I so often forget to use them and while they can bring the price of patterned paper Way down, if I'm not using them, then its not only a waste of money, but of storage space as well. However, this pad has tickled me so much that I'm running out of the first one I bought several months ago and actually went out and bought a second one recently!! The patterned paper with the bird came from a piece in that pack. I cut it down and then to add just a little bit of interest, I used the burnished glitter technique from Spike, which I learned from my friend Dana at Paperdaydream (you should see the Gorgeous butterfly with dry embossing she put on her blog yesterday!). I burnished glitter on the birdy's eye and her branch, both with Martha Stewart glitter.


I hope everyone is having a fantastic day so far! The sun has amazingly decided to come out and play today.......it didn't shine through the overcast sky until after 5pm yesterday. Would you believe that?! On June 1st?! It was a surprise, but the kidlets and I had a really fun day yesterday and as I listen to them play with a tub full of cars and airplanes, making every sound effect possible, I'm hoping for another great one! Just wanted to wish you one as well and thank all who craft some time to for a little blog surfing, a little creativity, and a little play! I know I will! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate, New Leaf - PTI
Patterned Paper: Brena Walton Mira Specialty Paper Pad - K&Co.
Glitter: Aquamarine Crystal, Brownstone - Martha Stewart
Template: Captured Card Case - PTI

Thank You Teachers!!

School finished up the '08-'09 year on Friday. We were crazy fortunate that our son had the most Fabulous teacher this last year. Not only is she an outstanding teacher, but she was also the perfect fit for our boy! He grew and thrived in her classroom and we will certainly miss seeing her daily next school year!


Confession time! Like many of us, I am addicted to dollar departments. Every time I enter Target or Michael's, the gravitational pull toward the Dollar Spot or that lovely dollar aisle seems to be unbreakable. My daughter will ask, "Mama, where you driving?" (aka where am I pushing her in the shopping cart to?!).......um...to-the-land-of-cute-craftable-good-deals...can't stop now!!! And even worse, those fabulous one dollar craftables go into the ever growing collection at home and just wait and wait and wait and wait.....and wait to be used!!

But, this time, when I bought this adorable mini watering can, I knew exactly what I would be using it for.......a perfect little pencil holder for our perfect teacher! I wrapped a piece of Pure Poppy stitched grosgrain ribbon around the neck, adhering the whole piece with my ATG. I then made a bow, threaded two buttons with SU's hemp twine, and tied the whole thing together, knotting it in front of the top button. I adhered the bow embellishment to the Pure Poppy ribbon at the neck of the watering can with Fabri-Tac. This is a fabulous adhesive, especially for bulky tied ribbons and is a perfect item to coupon at Michael's!

When it came time to adhere the mini chalkboard, I used a new glue...well, new to me, that is...Zip Dry Paper Glue. Laying down a line of the glue onto the watering can, using the button as a centering line, I placed the chalkboard on top of the glue. It wiggled quite a bit, so I just held it tight for about five minutes and then it held and didn't budge! The most difficult part of this little project was writing with chalk on the mini chalkboard. Thankfully, I was able to erase and start over....many, many times! I finally realized that my handwriting did not need to be perfect, but rather, it was most important that it was legible and that I got all of the letters into that space!

When I made Mom's Mother's Day gift, I did not realize that I would become hooked on Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates. Yes, I should have known better!! Again diving into my tubs of delightful craftables, I came up with two little pails that I got at Target Dollar spot, two for $1. I checked out all of Lauren's templates and their measurements and discovered that the one that would fit more than one of the pails is one of the templates that I already have...yay! After trying to print "From the Desk of" and arguing with my printer that was not taking the cardstock (it took it the last time, so I think it has multiple personalities!), I printed the templates out on regular printer paper and just layered it on top of the cardstock to cut and score. And do you know what?! I like making the template better that way!! I didn't think I would, but I do and have the added bonus that the score lines are not printed on my project, distracting the eye!


What was even more delightful than these cute little craftables was that this became a major use my stash project! The patterned paper came out of an old Die Cuts With A View Fall stack and was inked with some Distress Ink. I made a ribbon flower by twisting and folding one piece of ribbon at each petal (kind of like how a cause ribbon is folded - pink for Breast Cancer, red for Aids or Heart Disease, etc.) and adhering each layer of ribbon with Fabri-Tac. The layered buttons were tied off with more hemp twine and then instead of tying them on to the flower, which would have changed its shape, I used more Fabri-Tac to adhere the buttons to the top of the flower.

I filled the mini pails with colorful paper clips & binder clips that were in my office supplies. And into the mini watering can went our perfect teacher's favorite brand of pencils, Ticonderoga. It took forty-eight pencils, I think. I wanted a little extra something that she could use at home as I suspected she would keep the other items in the classroom, so I included seed packets for zucchini, french leeks, and carrots for her garden. I thought they still tied in with the gift because of the cute watering can!


Lastly, I would really like to thank all the wonderful teachers that teach our children, guide them through their learning adventures, and help them thrive! I would like to thank all the parents who get involved in their kidlets' education. And I also want to thank everyone who supports the schools in their communities, whether or not you have kidlets attending. Without such strong community support in our town, my son and his classmates would not have experienced music class, art class, square dancing, spirit days, movie nights, star gazing night, and all the other wonderfully enriching activities that are paid for and put on by the PTO. Our community support is also what provides lots of our technical equipment, field trips, and other educational materials that would not be possible for our little school to have. So, thank you again to all who support their community schools and help provide the education and enrichment that is necessary for all of our kidlets to thrive and hopefully return that generosity for the next generation!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Pure Poppy - PTI
Ink: Weathered Wood - Distress Ink by Ranger
Patterned Paper: Fall Stack - DCWV
Ribbon: Pure Poppy Stitched 5/8" Grosgrain - PTI; Natural Hemp Twine - SU!
Buttons: Stash....if I had to guess, I would guess either SEI and/or Autumn Leaves
Other: Mini Chalkboard - Darice

From the Desk of.....

Whoops!! It would seem time has gotten away from me, but I have a good excuse....really! It was hubby and my daughter's birthdays over the weekend and first, I had to run all those fun errands to pick up everything needed and then take the time to Celebrate (good times, come on!...sorry just a little Kool and The Gang singin' in my head)!

So, to travel back in time (don't worry we won't go far, just back a week), I've got the 'packaging' for Mom's Mother's Day present to share. Admiring Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates since they came out, I'm embarrassed to admit that I did not try one until now (I mean then, last week.....well, if we've time traveled, I mean now...'cause its last week, right? Yes, the men in white coats have me on their checklist!).

Using her From the Desk of template, I made a super duper easy little piece that will go perfectly in Mom's kitchen. Lauren provides a template to cut out a decorative layer, but I also wanted to mat that. To go about doing that, I cut the Berry Sorbet cardstock just outside the lines and the patterned paper just inside the lines and it worked out quite well, not perfect, but I'm still happy. I did however, have issues with the half circle in the front. For some reason, I seem to remember Lauren saying she used a coluzzle to cut it out evenly, but mine did not line up....at all. Consequently, I cut it by hand.

Do you remember me saying I CANNOT cut out circles freehand?! (Remember, I'm not cutting on the line, I'm cutting inside and outside the line to make an extra mat.) So, that's a skill I'll have to work on (or find another tool to cut it for me!!).

And speaking of improvement......when I printed the templates out, I did not see how to lighten the lines up, so the score line would not show so much. But, Lauren, ever So Great at answering any questions in her comments, shot me an email that reminded me of the option of printing on printer paper and lining it up with the cardstock as a guide or clicking 'grayscale' in my printing options. I will deifnitely be trying that next time.

I added some pretty pre-patterned & glittered K&Company chipboard letters to the front (I wanted to spell 'Mom', but the font I had was too chunky for the patterened paper, so Linda, it was!). Some of the letters in the assortment have pearls on them and some do not. Of the letters I pulled, only the 'A' had a pearl and it was looking rather lonely, so I added one to the 'L' and another to the 'N' to complete my little project.

Are you wondering what I put inside of this? The goodies that went inside of it (no, I do not have a photo of it....sorry) do not really go with the box itself. Mom's working on her house, so I knew I wanted to get a Home Depot gift card. Except, I am Really not a fan of Giving gift cards (receiving them though....well, that's a whole other Delightful story!! :>). I prefer to pick out a gift that I think someone will Love. But, I knew a Home Depot card she would be able to use and if she just did not want to use it for any of her home improvement projects, she could use it to buy a pretty plant (she loves gardening). With the gift card, were a pack of vinyl (latex free) gloves, two cord clips (to tie up all those computer cords), blue painter's tape (she just bought about a dozen gallons of paint), a scraper with extra blades, and a six pack of mini Crazy glue tubes. Again, yes, I know its an odd gift to put into the desk set, but it worked.

And the first thing she thought to use her new container for (and no, it was not one of my dozen or so suggestions) were her post-its! She has a serious addiciton to Post-It notes, ball point pens, and knitting needles....any twelve step program I can sign her up for? No? Well, then I guess a desk set to hold two of the three will have to do!

POOF!! We are now back in present time. Back to the party cleanup that is waiting for me, the Star Wars legos that were left out on the living room floor last night, and back to playing referree between my cats and the Blue Jays who keep stealing their food!! Hope the trip was good for you...I had fun! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Berry Sorbet - PTI
Patterned Paper: K&Company
Template: From the Desk of - PTI
Embellishments: Chipboard Letters - K&Company, K-Ology Hannah Alphabet; White Pearls - KAISERcraft

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, its a few hours early, but in any event, Happy Mother's Day to all those Mamas out there! I finally crafted that time to try out one of Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates today and it was so much fun! I used From the Desk Of to put Mom's present in. So, where's the picture? They are not yet taken. I lost the light as I was finishing it up this evening. I decided to wait until the morning to take its picture.

So, instead, I thought I would post one of my favorite cards I've ever made and it just so happens that it was Mom's Mother's Day card two years ago.....thought that made it kind of appropriate!
Masking tape, chalk inks, some Modge Podge, and a great stamp make for fabulous fun! I learned this technique from Ethel, while on 2Peas, two years ago. All you do is tear masking tape (I chose strips, but you can tear it into any shape), arrange it on your piece of cardstock to your liking, burnish it Really well with a bone folder (otherwise you will not get a good impression when you stamp if its too bumpy), randomly ink the masking taped cardstock with your choice of chalk ink pads (direct to paper), and then seal with a light coat of Modge Podge. When it is completely dry, stamp on top with StazOn ink. This technique looks really great with collage stamping. Since I am not the most adept at that, I chose one beautiful PSX tulip botanical. I made four of these cards at the same time as I applied my masking tape to an entire sheet (8 1/2 x 11") cardstock and even though they were made at the same time using the same process and stamp, they all look so different because of the random inking. This one has a lot more of the purples, but two of the others were quite a bit more pink. I really loved them all and want to do the same (or similar) thing again and frame it. Wouldn't that make a great gift?!

Knitted Sweets & A Hippity Hop!

Time is a concept that always seems to amaze me! When I was a teenager, I remember thinking that ninety years old would probably approach faster than the next couple of years. When you are waiting for a certain time to come (like a sixteenth birthday or graduation back then) time passes so slowly. And then when you are either really busy or even simply trying to slow down time to cherrish treasured moments with a loved one, time just speeds on by! I know its a cliche, but that's what is on my mind this morning as I'm realizing May arrives on Friday!

Two sweet delights were waiting in my daughter's Easter basket from my Mom, her Grammie. Mom was excited to find a great way to use the smaller left over amounts of yarn from other various projects. And I am just tickled that the pink beads and two blingy buttons on the cupcakes are from my grandmother's collection. So now, I am watching my daughter have tea parties with her princesses using cupcakes made by her Grammie with treasures from her Great Grandma on them. It just warms my heart. The bears were not from my Grandma's collection, but are vintage. Aren't these just so sweet?!

Mom wanted to make sure that her grandson had something fun too. Knowing that he loves bunnies right now, she knitted one for him! She said the knitting was simply a square that is folded and tucked a bunch of different ways. Since I don't knit, it looked pretty amazing to me! :> Thank you for your hand crafted goodness! :>