Can we BEE Friends?

I'm being featured by Bruna at Bees With Honey today!  She's interviewed me as part of her Let's BEE Friends Friday link up series.  She's such a sweet gal, who will keep you chatting on Twitter and thinking on her blog, all with a smile.

Come on over, see why I have cartoons on the brain now, and please say hello.  And while you're there, link up a favorite post to share with her friendly bloggy peeps & twitter tweeps.  See you there!

Thanks to Bees with Honey!

Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that Bruna of Bees with Honey was sharing a Versatile Blogger award with me.  Thank you! :>

And, of course, there are a few rules to go along with it:

1)  You have to Thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post.

2)  Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself.

3)  Pass the award on to 10 new bloggers.

4)  Contact each blogger and let them know you’ve passed the award on to them, & let the “giver” know you accept the award.

Since I've recently posted several bits o' me I'm going to spare you from another round ('cause goodness knows, I wouldn't wanna bore ya, right?! :>), but if you're interested in what makes those wheels spin in my head or my heart go pitter pat, you can read Saturday Seven or She caught me...I've been tagged!.

And with sooo many fabulous bloggers to discover in cyberspace, the only hard thing about sharing some is only listing ten!

Polish Mama on the Prairie

Sweet Stitch

Rachel's Rantings in Rio de Janeiro

Mommy Monologues

MandyLand

Sunbasilgarden

504 Main

Sparkling Scrapbooks

Adventures from the Monkey Hut

Just Add Glitter and Stir

And to be sure there's fun blog hopping for everyone, this list has bloggers who share their Mama tales, funny stories, recipes, DIY, writing, and creations made with fabric, soap, paper & pictures, stamps & ink, and yarn.  Seriously, there's a little something for whatever tickles your fancy!  Click away! :>

Hope everyone has a fantastic week! I seem to have caught Hubs & wee girl's bug, but it will be the perfect, stay at home opportunity to get some pictures into Project Life! What does this week hold for you?

Blizzard Bloghop 2011

Hello there!  I'm Karen and Time Crafted is my little online home.  I'm participating in the Blizzard Bloghop, are you?

While 'Blizzard' is quite appropriate for many places around the northern hemisphere, the weather is a bit different here.  Its not quite as warm as it was when I took you with us on our country drive last week, but its still sunny here, in California.  And since the warmest jacket I have is the hoodie I stole from Hubs, that's a good thing. :>

Speaking of Hubs, I'm married and have two sweet & energetic kidlets.  One rocks video games, Harry Potter & Lego bricks and the other makes sweet music with anything creative. 

My princess of a wee girl and I love to get our creative on whenever we can.  When I began blogging, I was primarily sharing cards here (think this one is my favorite) and while I still love papercrafts, I've been enjoying spreading my creative wings to photography (I'm on Flickr, come say hi!), writing, altered journals, and painting.  I'm taking Ali Edward's One Little Word class this year and participating in The Sketchbook Challenge (both links are in my sidebar).  I'll be sharing what I create with both, here on the blog.

Some other bits & pieces you'll find on Time Crafted are posts on others' creative talents here and great places to be found in cyberspace that are oh so Worth the Click, friends (come meet the Four Musketeers :>), a little on autism and GF/CF (gluten & casein free) cooking.  Oh!  And of course, the Little Things that Make Me Smile....'cause the little great stuff can add up to being waaaay bigger than the harder to deal with big stuff!

If you want to chat, you can of course, find me here, or zip me an email or on Twitter! :>

I'm looking forward to hopping today and all through the weekend!  Its always great to meet new peeps, have a laugh or get inspired from around the globe.  Hope you'll hop along, so I can find YOU and say hello!

She caught me...I've been tagged!

Through a connection made on Twitter, I've been tagged by Laurie (@mylivingpower) of Living Power and now I'm 'It'!  So, I'm going to channel my kidlet-hood and play tag!

And as 'It', I'm to share seven things you may not know about me...so, here we go!

1)  I love color!  Okay, so that might not have been so much of a surprise, but I love the whole spectrum.  And while the colors that I lean more strongly towards change as the beat of time marches on, I do adore the entire box of Crayolas!

2)  Another love?  Writing.  I have since I was a kidlet.  And after so many years of writing term papers in my college days, I had gotten away from it.  I've missed my old friend and have been having fun, bringing her out, dusting her off and playing.  Blogging, microfiction Mondays, Writer's Workshop, and You have all helped me dive back into that word filled pool!

3)  Animals make me smile....in between sneezes!

4)  The Northern California coastline is a beauty to be breathed in.  When I'm there, the environment literally melts away any stress.  I'm just a puddle of happy goo when I leave....always already looking forward to the next chance to hop on over.

5)  My family are Post-it Note junkies!  Yes, we are beyond addicted to them.  They are everywhere.  You know you are a family with a Post-it problem when your littlest, who is just learning to read now, has been writing notes on them and hanging them in her room for over a year.  Is there a twelve step program for Post-it addiction???  Though, if we went to that, then we'd also need to go to a Learn to Jog your Memory Without Little Colorful Squares of Paper bootcamp!

6)  I was a Girl Scout from 2nd grade (Daisies didn't exist back then) all the way up through high school and registered as an adult Scout for a bit after that.  I was a Girl Scout on both coasts.  I made so many fantastic friends through Girl Scouts and quite a few I'm still friends with today, including my Four Musketeers!

7)  My feet are too big for my height.  Seriously.  No, really.  I wear a size ten shoe and yet, I'm only 5'5".  Everyone I know with feet above a shoe size 9 are all 5'7" and up.  Stay with me here!  There's merit in my theory...really.  I am convinced that the reason I trip over my own feet is because they are simply too big for my height.  A perfectly valid theory....I'm not uncoordinated, just have incorrectly sized feet! ;>:>

And since my seventh bit o' me has digressed to my feet I think its a great time to start tagging some other fantastic people so we can learn more about them!  And since I got tagged via Twitter, I think its only appropriate that I continue to play there.

So, I'm reaching out to tag:

@MinkyMoo who blogs at Dial M for Minky (Moo)
@thienkim who blogs at I'm Not the Nanny and Cup of Creativi-Tea
@libismorgan who blogs at Am I a Funny Girl? and Not Just Thursdays

(Lizz is another one of those old Girl Scout friends!)

@beeswithhoney who blogs at Bees With Honey
@CarriBrown who blogs at Adventures in Mommyhood
@30daysblog who blogs at Thirty Handmade Days
@adventuresgfmom who blogs at Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom

Whether you visit them via Twitter or their blogs, there is a little something for everyone as I've linked up some Mama bloggers, some funny gals, some creative & crafty, a camera loving photo gal, and a gluten free, allergy blogger.  And guess what?!  They are all Oh So Worth the Click! :>

10 in 2010

2010 has been an eventful & busy year for us. And since with the close of 2010 (in seven hours here), we will also have said goodbye to the first decade of this century, I thought I'd look back a bit and celebrate 10 in 2010!

* After a few attempts, I created a new blog header this year and finally created a matching blog button.  Come & grab it, if you'd like!

<center><a href="http://timecrafted.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Time Crafted" src="http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n547/TimeCrafted/TmeCraftedBlogButton.jpg"/></a></center>

*  Time Crafted celebrated its first blog birthday in 2010 and I'm looking forward to celebrating number two quite soon!

*  We, as a family, fulfilled one of my main goals behind choosing the One Little Word {Life} for 2010 with our veggie and herb garden.  We all enjoyed planting, tending, watering, and harvesting summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes and many other tasty delights.  Looking forward to continuing this family activity in 2011 as well!

*  Created a page dedicated to Autism & GF/CF Links and have recently updated with three fab mama bloggers who share their stories (they are most definitely Worth the Click).  I'll be adding some fantastic gluten free, GF/CF, and other food allergy/sensitivity bloggers on that page in the coming weeks!

*  2010 had me spreading my wings creatively through photos & fun Flickr play, altering journals (I didn't do a lot of altering in the past & now I'm loving it, with more altered projects in the works!), writing & bringing story back into  my words, and while I've stalled a bit in my journey with paint, I'm looking forward to pushing through in 2011.

*  Signed up for a social media hot spot that I never thought I would get into:  Twitter.  And can I tell you a little secret?  Lean in and I'll tell ya.......I really like it!  Come find me @timecrafted!

*  Found some uber fun weekly hops to participate in, including Tickled Pink at 504 Main, Writer's Workshop at Mama's Losin' It, and SITS Back 2 Blogging event in September.

*  Speaking of 504 Main, Holly has put together "THE BEST of Tickled Pink 2010" this week, with five different categories and I was incredibly honored that my story Meet Grandma meets Jerry Rice has been included in Part 3A Cool Ideas!

Thanks so much, Holly!

*  Holly is also doing a Tickled Pink link up today for this Best of 2010 party and I very quickly knew which post o' mine is my favorite this year.  I've linked up with a story of my Four Musketeers and our adventures through over twenty years of friendship:  A Special Day...Five years in the Making.

*  And I've saved the best for last.  What's that you ask??  YOU!!  You are the part of the blogging equation.  And I'm grateful for all the connections I've made in the beginning, the new people I've connected with in 2010, and I can't wait to continue in 2011!

Thank you for each of your visits and every comment, tweet, and email!  I can be a chatterbox in real life and I love chatting with you! :> 

Here's to a wonderful 2011 for all of us!  What plans do you have for the coming year?

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas

Creative inspiration wise, this is my favorite time of year!  And if you are a papercrafter, you probably know why.......that fabulously creative guy, Tim Holtz is back with his 12 Tags of Christmas, starting today!!!!  Ahhh...happy sighs.

But, wait!  Even if you do not paper craft, I would bet that you could & can find inspiration from Tim and highly recommend running clicking on over and checking his posts out.  He is one of my regular stops all year round.

And while I never need convincing to go check out what Tim is up to in his studio, I did absolutely love the little video he made for us in anticipation of this year's 12 Tags of Christmas.  Check it out...I've watched it..ahem...a few times now!  More happy sighs.

I really must run now, there is grunge paper, ink pads, paint, and a wee girl (who adores that man and his technique videos!) calling my name!  What creative calls do you hear this time of year?

Inspiration Everywhere at Jessica Sprague!

Jessica Sprague is back at it, offering a free online course on her site that looks like a whole lot o' fun!  What's even better (besides the free thing...which is always fun, right?! :>), its geared towards the crafty & creative as a whole.  Its not just for photographers or scrapbookers or card makers etc., but for all with creative spirit looking to get inspired & put that inspiration to use!  Sounds pretty cool. :>

Time Crafted Featured on 504 Main!

A quick post & hello to share that Holly at 504 Main says that I'm Tickled Pink!! :>

She has featured Time Crafted and my post on Grandma & her boyfriend, Jerry Rice today on her blog and a couple weeks ago (in her Tickled Pink No. 20, August 26th post) she put this blog & my post on my brother's trek up to the Mt. Everest Base Camp in her Tickled Pink Spotlight.

Too cool, right?!  I'm excited!  I found Holly's blog towards the end of  August and I have so enjoyed her enthusiasm, creativity & DIY projects, and love of blogland.

Holly's blog at 504 Main is an exciting place to be & you don't want to miss it!  Please go visit, she's Oh So Worth the Click, and tell her I said hey there! :>

And because this equates Friday Fabulousness to me, I'm linking up with Dial M for Minky Moo & you should too!

SITS Back 2 Blogging: Day One

Its Back 2 Blogging week with the SITS gals this week and just look what kind of incentive they have come up with!!

Just look at that beautiful Turquoise Sky Electrolux Washer & Dryer, aka Thelma & Louise!  OOooooo...soo pretty.  What?  What's that you say?  They're uber functional too?!  Happy sighs.  Thanks to Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances for sponsoring this blogging event! 

Today, we are uploading our first blog posts ever.  For me, that was February 6th, 2009.  Have to admit, I was a little daunted by that....probably why its taken me so long to post today!  But, I am here and I am posting.  So, here ya go, my very first blog post evah!

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WOW!!!

A little over a year ago, I didn't even understand the point of a blog! It simply did not make a whole lot of sense to me. Then, I discovered the wonderful world of craft blogs......and boy was I hooked! I'm sure I spend way too much time blurfing, but I just love seeing what all the talented crafty people are up to and creating. I have been amazed at not only the talent that is blogging, but also the community that develops between bloggers. All of it began to seem a whole lot less impersonal. So, here I am, dipping my toes into this ocean and attempting to gain my own first hand blogging experience. Wish me luck!

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Okay, so my toes did more than just a playful splash in this blogging ocean and while I have so much more to explore & learn, I must say, I have loved this blogging adventure.  I am so glad I have embarked on it. 

Come back tomorrow to see what we're working on next.  And if you are participating in SITS Back 2 Blogging event, let me know so that I can come by & see your take on it!! :>

What does Blog Frog and Apple have in common?

Good afternoon!  Have you figured it out?  What Apple (as in the company, not the fruit!) and the Frugal Living Community at Blog Frog have in common?

Cards with both their logos arrived in an envelope in my mailbox.  See??

The hand written note from Lori at Blog Frog made me smile.  And what was inside the Apple card also made me smile.  Wanna know why?!  Look!

A $25 gift card to the Apple Store!!  I was a lucky duck and won one of the giveaways in the Frugal Living Community that launched last month!

Tappin' my toes and doing a major Happy Dance here....even my wee girl is getting in on the groove!

Hope your day is grooving too!!  Tell me what you are up to...I'd love to hear! :>

Business in the Front, Party in the Back

Okay, so first some bloggy business to attend to, but hang in there, okay?  There's a fun share at the end of the post (couldn't bore you with all business, right?!)! :>

In the interest of honesty, disclosure, and complying with the FTC's rules for disclosure for bloggers, I am posting a disclosure policy for this blog, Time Crafted.  It will become a permanent fixture, setting up home just under the blog's header, for reference.

"This policy is valid from 03 September 2010

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Karen at (timecrafted at gmail dot com).

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog, but never the opinion of its author. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest."

I went in search for some help putting this policy together and found a non-profit site (to which I have no connection to....see? honesty!).  To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org/.

Hope you've hung around for the fun share! 

A couple of weeks ago, I played along with 504 Main's Tickled Pink blog hop.  The next Friday, Holly included my post, Mt. Everest {Hello} in her Spotlight.  It had been a crazy busy week and I missed seeing it.  But, I definitely wanted to share with you and give a shout out to Holly herself.  I recommend clicking your way over to 504 Main and saying 'hello'!

                                       

Her Tickled Pink Fridays are a heapload of fun and the creative variety of the posts being linked up is uber fantastic!  In fact, that's where I'm heading now....off for some blog hopping, some inspiration, and a chance to see new to me blogs & meet the peeps who write them!

What are your weekend plans?  If you're from the States, are you road tripping, camping, bbq'ing or any other Labor Day weekend fun in store for you?  You know, I'd love to hear all about it! :>

PTI Card + Amy Tsuruta = Flashback!

Amy, Tsuruta Designs, posted a Flashback Friday challenge and asked us to join her in posting our first cards posted on our blogs.  Yikes!  So, I'm being a Brave Girl and digging mine up from February 6, 2009, when I began blogging. 

Isn't that scary photography?!  Actually, I took a cue from Amy and lightened the pics up as they were even dreadfully darker than they are here! 

Thankfully, not only has blogging been a fantastic adventure, I've learned so much along the way....from fellow bloggers, friends, and all of my favorite search engines.  Many thank yous to all sources of information & learning (and old & new friendship & connections!)!!  Hopefully, it has led to picture taking that doesn't require me to be a Brave Girl. :>

What's in your mailbox?

Hi Friends!  What usually greets you when you open your mailbox?  When I open ours, there is the usual assortment of bills, junk mail, and maybe a magazine or two. 

But, the other day, I was greeted by some Happy Mail.  There was a manila envelope with my name handwritten on it and I had no idea what it could possibly be.

Then I opened it and found...

...a pretty little package containing these sweet felted ball earrings from Draya.  She had sent them to me for a giveaway I had won on her blog, Say Anything! 

Happy Mail is most definitely {smile} worthy! 

Today is my son's first day of school and minus the 5:40am alarm clock & the shock that he's gotten so big, it kind of felt good to get back into the routine again. :>

Hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday.  What's put a smile on your face today?

New Friend Fridays

I've had a lot of fun hopping around blogland this week.  Coming across some great new blogs & sites, connecting with new peeps on Twitter (I'm a newbie on Twitter and am surprisingly, enjoying it...come say 'hi'!), gaining inspiration and enjoying a lot of laughter (there are some really funny & witty women out there!).  While doing the blogland dance, I came across a new hop:


 
The Girl Creative and Trendy Treehouse have teamed up for this hop, so click on the button, find some new blogs to enjoy, and meet some new peeps.  I plan to! :>

Celebrate with Marie!!

Have you met Marie yet?  She's a Mama, quite thoughtful, fun and witty.  I've been visiting her at Emma Calls Me Mama for many months now and am always greeted with the most pleasant posts.  She shares many wonderful diy home dec projects, kidlet tales, her witty & wise thoughts, and she is celebrating her one year blogging anniversary!  Bloggiversaries are a great excuse for a fun giveaway, right?  I think so.  And apparently, so does Marie!  Head over to Marie's Anniversary Giveaway to enter and say "Hello!"

The Unwanted Houseguest

There has been a most unwanted houseguest here for almost two weeks now.  It arrived and knocked my poor boy out, straight to the couch.  And then just to make Its presence better known, It turned the thermostat up on my poor boy.....way up......for almost a week.  My thermometer has never had such a work out! 

I quickly wrote and posted an eviction notice, pounded it into the front door and made quite a bit of noise about it.  It just looked up and smiled at me.  When It got tired of my poor boy's body, I realized why It was smiling at me.  "Don't worry, you and your sweet girl are next."  And we were. 

It has refused to take notice of said eviction notice.  If I weren't so tired, I would get out my markers, colored pencils, paint...........I would even raid my kidlets' crayons and blaze color on the eviction notice in hopes of getting Its attention. 

If I had more energy and maybe a pilots license and a plane, I would sky write my message, "Go Away!!!"  I would tell It to go far far away, maybe Venus where the poisonous gasses could gobble It up.  I would offer It a first class ticket, if I thought It would listen. 

But, no, It seems mighty comfy turning the dial up on my wee girl's thermostat and in my scorching throat.  So, we will ride It out with our zinc, vitamin C, and a little help from a Wall-E movie today.  Hope to come visit you soon, when It takes leave and hopefully, before It finds quarters in Hubby!!

I do want to leave you with something a wee bit fun though.  If you don't already read Pioneer Woman, head over there asap!  It is her four year anniversary blogging and she has giveaways going all week! :>  (Her site keeps crashing this morning.......so you may want to wait a bit....even though I just said 'asap'.....It has made a mess of my brain and severely shaken up my marble jar!  Thankfully, our movie is waiting and my wee girl & I are going to let Disney take us away for a bit! :>)

Thank {You} from me & a Win for one of You!

Oh

SO

Very

Much!!!

Blogging this last year has taken me on such a FUN adventure and I'm so glad to have gone on it. I look forward to oodles and oodles of creating, playing, chatting, visiting, and playing some more this year as well! THANK {YOU} for making it such a fun ride! :>

Okay, let's get to why you are here, right?? I promised a $25 Papertrey Ink gift certificate to one randomly selected February commenter!

And the winner is.................................

#119 Deb from sPaRkLiNg sCrApBoOkS

Congratulations! Deb, send me an email and I'll get you your gift certificate! :>

Sending out BIG thanks again to everyone who visits and comments!! Comments always put a smile on my face and make me so happy to have jumped into this fabulous & fun blogging adventure!

Source:
Spell with flickr

Just a note...

Its a crazy busy week here............nothing exciting, but lots to do nonetheless! Hopefully, I'll still find some time to play this week, preferably with ink or paint (or fabric or stitches or stamps or paper or something messy & fun!), but either way, just wanted to let you know, I'll announce the winner of my First Birthday Blog Giveaway for a Papertrey Ink gift certificate towards the end of the week!

First Blog Birthday for Me, Giveaway for You!

Toes are a tappin'. A smile is on my face. And I'm getting on my Happy Dance! Its not pretty, let me tell you....coordination is most definitely not my strong suit. But, I sure can tap those toes and smile, bright and big and like that Chesire cat!

One year ago, I finally left the mere ideas and thoughts of maybe someday possibly blogging and actually started one. I wasn't sure that I would have enough time. And then Papertrey Ink was celebrating their second anniversary and I wanted to play along. It gave me the final push to stop thinking about it and actually do it. And I needed a name for this adventure. I quickly realized that what I would be doing is crafting my time, and Time Crafted was born.

While I thought blogging could be fun, I never realized just how rewarding of an experience it would be! I love reading each comment made and I treasure the connections that I make with such wonderfully creative, witty, and fun people all over the world! Thank YOU for visiting and being such a joy in my life!!

February is quite a fun and celebratory month for me. I was engaged in February eleven years ago, my birthday is in a handful of days, there are several family and friends' birthdays this month, Valentine's Day, and now a blog birthday too! Since blogging has been a present all wrapped up in paint, paper, ribbons, bows, bling, and creativity for me, I thought it's time for a present from me to you! And since it was Papertrey Ink's anniversary celebrations last year that gave me the final push to jump into this blogging adventure a year ago, I thought it would be appropriate to include them in my own anniversary celebration this year.

Who wants to help me celebrate my First Blog Birthday and win a $25 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink??

So, here are the deets........ Since the whole month of February is a celebratory month for me, I am leaving the giveaway open for the whole month for you. Every comment made on my posts in February, starting with this one, will give you an entry in the drawing for the PTI $25 gift certificate. If you like my blog, I would love for you to follow me, but it is not a requirement. And if you blog about the giveaway, you will get an additional three entries (either leave me the link in your comment or you can email me).

I'm looking forward to another fun year of blogging, creative play, meeting new people, and continued visits with so many of you! Thank you again for visiting me and sharing in this fun adventure!!

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Spell with flickr