Fall Splendor Blog Party Starts NOW!!!!

Here's your ticket for the train ride!!! Click it & go through some of the most amazing blogs on the Internet! Don't be discouraged if someone hasn't got their freebie up right away...these will be available for you to download all of October. Just do me a BIG FAVOR - whenever you grab something from one of these talented artists, please, Please, PLEASE leave them some love - a simple TYVM can really go a long way to making them feel like this was worth it & they're appreciated.

Happy Fall to All!!!

ATC swap

ATC stands for "artist trading card" ~ these are small ~ 2.5" x 3.5" and can be just about anything you can imagine. I recently hosted an ATC swap on one of the message boards that I belong to, giving them no rules ~ anything goes. The results were amazing!!

From Dixie


From Kathe


From Sharron

From Mary

From Charlene

From Maw

And finally, from me.

As you can see, each card is as lovely and unique as the lady that created it. I had a LOT of fun hosting my first swap & I've already got plans for the next one!

Thanks for looking & have a great rest of your day!

Made this last night

This is a sympathy card going to Sapulpa, Oklahoma to my Uncle Gary. My Aunt Paula passed away from complications caused by cancer on Saturday afternoon. My sister & I took her death very hard, because 1/3 to 1/2 of our happiest memories included this very special lady. She's not tied to us by blood, but by heartstrings (she was family by CHOICE, which made her more special) ~ there were times that she was more of a mother to us than our own ever was. She had 3 boys (just like I do) and was my first exposure to professional crafting. I remember helping her get ready for Christmas shows by sewing lace on quilted photo albums and baskets. She also made dolls. Every time I made a skirt, blouse, or dress she was the one that I went to for praise & critiques. We'd been separated by time, distance, and some dumb stunts by my mother, but over the last year, we'd been reconnecting & catching up. I'm really going to miss her...

Last sympathy cards from swap

I had 2 cards the last time I shared these that just did NOT want to come out properly. I finally got them to where you can see them. These are from a swap that I did at PC Crafter. Pretty, aren't they?

2 more days!

Till the Fall Splendor Blog Party! I thought I'd give ya one more peek at some samples that the artists have been working on for you throughout September.

On Wednesday, I'll provide you with a link to the "train" so you can get your ticket & start partaking of the digital yummies. PLEASE don't panic if some of the artists don't have their parts available right ON the 1st ~~ with everyone in different time zones around the world, that's practically impossible to coordinate to any degree of success ~~ I've been told that this will be open for downloads the entire month of October.

See you soon!

Another card to share

I made this one tonight before dinner. I just HAD to...my next door neighbor is in currently in labor with baby #3 - a little girl. I'm so excited! I have 3 boys, so I NEVER get to do frilly, frou-frou, & GIRLY things! This is gonna be fun!!

I took a pink pre-made card base, ran some vellum through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder, put it down on the card with vellum glue dots. I then used my 1 7/8" scalloped circle punch, my 1 1/2" Fiskars circle punch, my Martha Stewart butterfly punch & some pop dots to make the circle in the upper left, had some K&Co "Dollhouse" stickers that I used inside & across the front, along with a 2 piece vellum butterfly that was cut & embossed on the Cuttlebug. Inside the top portion of the card, I put a piece of white cardstock with pink Annie's Script font from Annie Lang that reads "Sent down from Heaven on the wings of butterflies, your precious baby girl has finally arrived! Congratulations!" I saved the bottom inside portion of the card for a personal handwritten message from my family. I think it turned out very sweet.

Thanks for looking!

As Promised...

Here are the first of the sympathy cards that I received in the swap we held at PC Crafter. I've got a couple more that I'll show tomorrow. As you can see, the ladies that I've been priveleged to know over the last year are extremely talented.

Thanks for looking & have a great rest of your day! Remember, more sympathy cards to share tomorrow!

Feeling stronger every day...

One of my favorite Chicago songs and it totally fits! I don't feel like someone took a ball bat to my face, which is the way I've felt since Friday, so I must be getting better! WooHoo!

Didn't get any crafting done this weekend, but I do have something to share with you. Another peek at the Fall Splendor Mega Collaboration Blog Party that's coming up in just 10 more days...I cannot begin to tell you how exciting this is. Probably the biggest blog train in the history of digiscrap blog-hopping EVER!!! (Okay, well the biggest that I've ever heard of!) Clear the junk outta your C drive or your external hard drive, cuz you're gonna need the storage space!

I was given a beautiful logo to post on the 1st that will be your ticket to some of the prettiest papers & elements that you can imagine! Here, don't take my word for it, see for yourself...

Be sure to stop back on the 1st of October for the Blog Party kickoff...you won't want to miss any of these beauties! Thank for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!

Well, CRUD!

That bug of my youngest one's? The one that HE got from my middle boy? I've worked like crazy all week to avoid it & still take care of him...well, the sucker caught me anyway! {grr} LAST thing I needed was this bug!! I'm trying to get 50 pix of items that I have for sale priced to upload tomorrow morning into Aimee Asher for the 2wk Craft Fair & I can't stop SNEEZING! I woke myself UP at 3am sneezing (who does that?!?). My head is so packed now that it feels like it's gonna fall off my shoulders, I have a scratchy throat that has slowly come on as the day progressed, and my eyes feel like someone jabbed a hot poker in them. If I didn't know what it was, I'd say that my allergy to mold was back, in spite of the dry weather...{sigh} but I DO know what it is. DOGGONE IT, THIS SUCKS!

I spent 4 hours sitting in this chair this afternoon & I totally blame a Craft Critique that I was reading in my daily downloads about PSE and the benefits of brushes/actions in your photography. I used one of the links that the gal provided & found myself right back in Oklahoma living rural life through the eyes and wicked sense of humor that belongs to a lady still living it! If I'm lyin, I'm dyin ~~ FOUR HOURS of alternating between sneezing my friggin head off & laughing my arse off (tho you can't tell by LOOKING at it!).

Take some time for yourself...close your office door, close the bedroom door, put some duct tape across the entrance to your cubicle like Less Nessman used to do on "WKRP in Cincinnati" (remember that?), tape off a "no tattling zone" around your LayZBoy...I don't care HOW you do it, just DO IT. Then get something to drink & log onto www.thepioneerwoman.com for a spell. Look through her pictures, read her blog posts or "confessions" (which are a RIOT), shuffle through the cooking with Pastor Ryan and her other recipes.

After THAT, you MUST read her story that she started in honor of her wedding anniversary to the Marlboro Man, called "Black Heels,"
(http://thepioneerwoman.com/2007/09/black_heels_to_tractor_wheels_a_love_storythe_complete_saga_to_date.html). It's so TOTALLY worth your time & if you're like me, you'll be begging her for the next installment.

Now, for me, it's off to a hot soak & beddie bye. I've GOT to get some rest so I can get these pix posted. On Saturday, I'll give ya another taste of the "Fall Splendor Blog Party," so be sure to come back!

Have a great rest of your day!!

MIBAD!

I didn't get to post yesterday like I wanted. My youngest was up all night with a raging fever - finally got it to break around 4am yesterday morning. He slept between me & Daddy all night -- head in Dad's back, running in his sleep up and down MY back. I was too exhausted to do much of anything. It's a miracle that I knocked out 4 loads of laundry! He's home again today, resting quietly on the sofa with some juice & his GameBoy, watching the PBS Sprout channel. I'm gonna try to take a short nap just as soon as I'm done here (key word being TRY).

I have cards that I still want to share with you from the sympathy card swap over at PC Crafter, but that will have to wait till later this week when my energy returns. I would like to share a sneak peek of "what's to come" on October 1st, when I post the link to an all-day Fall Splendor Mega Collaboration BLOG PARTY.

Aren't they GORGEOUS?!? I can't wait to see what the other artists have pulled together for this event. If these are anything to go by, we should have some really stunning pieces in our collection to play with for October. And they're all FREE! When you have artists that are this talented willing to give you their hard work, you know that you have to consider yourself blessed!

I also wanted to share that I'm going to be selling a lot of the goodies that I've been showing off here since July between this Friday (19th) and October 2nd. You can find them at Aimee Asher's Online Craft Fair. Just go to www.aimeeasher.com and go into "Forums." You'll need to register as a member (it's free), but once you do, you can go to "Groups" find the "Crafting" link & be directed to the Fair. There will be some talented ladies there - I've seen Christmas decorations and some really pretty jewelry already, so there should be plenty to choose from. AND...it's a terrific way to make some new friends, find some old ones that you might have lost touch with, while doing your Christmas shopping for some lovely handmade goodies!

Thanks for letting me share with you today...I'm gonna go pass out now! (LOL)

Takin the weekend off...

I'm a single parent this weekend, while DH is on one of his last big motorcycle rides of the season. Just been kicking back, working on some ATCs (artist trading cards) for a swap that I'm hosting, and playing with some new Cuttlebug folders that I managed to score today (happy late birthday to ME! ROFL).

Anyway, when I come back on Monday, I've got some cards from a sympathy card swap I entered to show off. Remember the one that I made and showed here a couple of weeks ago? I'll share those with ya, first thing! I'm amazed at all of the talent that I'm fortunate enough to be exposed to on a daily basis!

Thanks Jenn for the kind words over on your "blog highlight" (http://justjenndesignz.blogspot.com) ~ very cool! Love ya, GF!

Just 2 more weeks till the blog party of the year...can ya feel the excitement? It's electric & it's coming this way! I may try to get some "sneak peeks" for ya, if you promise to stop by often...
Have a great weekend!

My birthday

September 9th ~ I'm 39. Would like to say "where has the time gone?" but I know EXACTLY where it went. I'm gonna try to do some crafting today. DH has a business meeting after work, so probably won't see him till close to bed time. It'll just be me & the boys.

(tag courtesy of www.redcherrytags.com)

Has it really...

Been 6 days since I posted last? MIBAD! I'm tellin ya, this Monday holiday thing just messes up my world. Woke up this morning, had it all straight, dropped the boys off & said I'd see them early this afternoon. By luchtime, I was so involved in what I was doing, I started thinking that today was Thursday & I had till 3p to pick up my boys from school, but NOOOOO, it's FRIDAY and they're EARLY OUT at 1p! YIKES! Busted out of the house at 1245...almost didn't make it in time. Luckily, a friend of mine picked up my youngest & met me at the Jr High, so I didn't have to kill myself running between the schools! (LOL)

Not much crafting accomplished this past week, but I'm hoping to rectify that in the next 24-48 hours. With my birthday coming up very soon, I've decided that I'm treating myself to some things from Design Queenie's (www.designqueenie.com) site and I'm stopping by DAISIE Co (www.daisiecompany.com) to take advantage of her site-wide 30% off clearance sale. Gina Jane has decided to close her doors & by the end of this month, everything except her work will be gone from the site, so if you love clip art or want some cute digital printables and scrapbooking kits, this would be the time to get them. She carries work by the late Sandi Gore Evans, if anyone is familiar with her work, and frankly I'm not sure if we'll ever see her things again. Haven't heard if her estate will license anyone else to sell for them.

Well, I'm off to shop & see what kind of trouble I can get into (I'm sure there'll be PLENTY for me to find!). Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!