French Lily Studio

It's Just Time

2011-10-07T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I just wanted to come by and say it's just time for me to quit using French Lily Studio's blog for now. No one seems to be reading it. Sooo... I have made up a new blog that's still on blogspot, just a different name. The new blog's name is www.sassafrasme.blogspot.com . If you are a follower of French Lily, I do hope you'll visit me at SASSAFRAS me. Hopefully I will be able to set up a page on facebook for S.M. and maybe a twitter account. I do have a Pinterest interest button so you can follow me there too. I really hope to see you at SASSAFRAS me soon with LOTS of comments!

Hot Spice Tea Cup Sleeves Are Done!!!

2011-09-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to have these done! Now I'm just one step closer to completing this project! Woo Hoo! Now I've just got to start on the matching recipe tags for the hot spice tea mix and buy the "to go" coffee cups. Can't wait to post pics of that to!

Thanks for letting me share with you!

Autumn Days Are Getting Close

2011-09-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

I've been soaking up these past two days since they have been filled with nothing but rain (which we needed badly!), winds and chilliness. It's got me thinking of the joys of autumn! I know that where we live, we will probably still see some pretty warm days again before it's officially fall, but I just couldn't wait to pull out and drag down from the attic all my beloved autumn (and some halloween decor! Lol) decorations. There's paper mache' pumpkins and gourds, pumpkins with folk art faces, grapevine wreaths with fall leaves and the banner I made last year that says "give thanks". Yes, I love fall!
So, what is your favorite part of this cool, colorful season? Any favorite decorations? Traditions? Recipes or drink (mine would have to be hot spice tea)? I would love to read about your thoughts and comments on the wonderful subject of autumn!

So Thankful For You Coffee Cup Sleeve

2011-09-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

It's almost that time of year again...autumn! The time that I absolutely LOVE!!! And of course, along with the thoughts of cooler weather, big sweaters and shorter days, comes fall decorating and crafting. I had actually found some really cute clear acrylic stamps (with the fall theme), some polk a dot ribbon and glitter at Wal Mart. While I was working on some other fall ideas in my studio, I noticed a Starbucks cup sleeve laying on my counter. I thought how cute would it be to use what I had just bought and make my own to give away as a small gift to friends and family?! So I pulled the sleeve apart in the back, traced it, cut it out and then decorated it. I'm really thrilled with the outcome! When it actually does start to get a little cooler, I'll buy the paper "to go" cups (with the lids), slide the sleeves on and add a little baggie in each cup filled with hot spice tea mix. Since everyone that I know loves hot spice tea, I will also be including a matching decorated tag with the ingredients and instructions. I REALLY love the fall season and I also love my family and friends. I can't wait to show everyone just how much! Oh BTW, be watching for the hot spice tea recipe in the next post or one soon to follow!

Autumn Crafting and Decorating Binder

2011-08-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

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The kiddo is back in school, fall items are being displayed on the shelves at different department stores and the decorating magazines are showing the latest ways to decorate for the season which makes me think of nothing but autumn. For the past few years though, I would buy the fall decorating magazines (still do!), pour over them for the best decorating and crafting ideas (still do that too!) and then once the season was over the mags would go in a huge plastic tub to be saved for the next year. However,this year I didn't really feel like looking through a whole tub of magazines so I decided to start ripping through them to collect what was most important to me. At first, yeah, I was kinda sad to be tearing apart perfectly good magazines, but once I started to assemble my Autumn binder, I was perfectly fine with it! What a difference it makes to be able to see and read just what you want to know about right then! To make life that much easier, I also included dividers which are: ideas for school halloween parties, ideas for our fall gatherings, crafts to make and fall decorating ideas. It's sooo much easier to be able to pick up one large binder to find what I need than to drag a huge plastic tub out! I love this idea and urge you to give it a try yourself. I'm sure you'll love it too!

Scrapbook Layouts

2011-07-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a while that I've posted any layouts, I thought would share these with you.

I'll have to admit, the one below is probably my most favorite. I'm lovin' those scalloped and curvy edges!

The pictures for this layout were taken right outside the door of Creek House Studio which was mentioned in my last post and will share future photos with you at a later time. I truely LOVE this place! It's so cozy and homey feeling! Lol.

Of course,I had to scrapbook about trading in my Nissan X-terra for my Toyota Camry. Don't get me wrong, I love my Camry (it drives beautifully!), but my X-terra I miss so much. I miss having a nice spacious SUV. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll have another one.

Change is good

2011-05-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! I just wanted to stop by to say hello and sorry that it's been over a month since the last post, a lot has been going on lately. My studio has been moved to another room of the house and has been split in two. In other words, I now am the proud owner of two studios!!! The one that's still in the house is scrapbooking and card making, which is still French Lily Studio. Painting and mixed media are across the street in the creek house; which is now known as Creek House Studio. Of course there's a lot of packing, rearranging and organizing to do, but also I have some paintings that a couple of friends have ordered that I'm trying to get done as well so life at the moment is very busy. Once everything in both studios are ready, I will be taking some photos to post. It's kind of funny, they're pretty much the complete opposite. French Lily is colorful, flowery and well...scrapbooky. Lol. While the Creek House is more vintage, old world and full of paints, brushes and cavases. I love both of my places so much and can't wait to share them with you as soon as I can. I'll stop rambling now and wish you a wonderful night!

A collection of "country living" paintings

2011-04-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

I was looking around my studio this morning and noticed all the paintings, big and small, that I've painted over the years. I noticed that I've kind of got a theme going on.

I am LOVING the country life, meaning that most of my paintings involve.....

big red geraniums in old rustic pots,

little girls in sweet sun dresses,

rolling hills with huge trees that look like you could sit under and daydream all day....

and you can't forget about the cows! It doesn't get any more country than that. lol.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my small collection of "country living" paintings! There are more in the process of being finished and then posted so make sure to stop by and check them out anytime! Hope you have a GREAT and BLESSED day!

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PEACE, LOVE.....CANDY??

2011-04-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

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My baby girl definitely has her priorities straight! Lol. I loved finding this paper while working in my planner. Just thought I would share something so sweet and cute. Have a great day!

uummm....yum

2011-03-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

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Tonight I was at Barnes and Noble looking at the art and home decorating magazines and of course, all the newest novels when I realized I wanted, no NEEDED a chai tea latte. Oh my goodness, these are sooo good!! I just couldn't resist! Chai tea lattes taste a lot like pumpkin pie! Yum!! If you are ever at Barnes and Noble or Star Bucks I encourage you to try one, you'll LOVE it!

Another new page...

2011-03-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love to read, but since I got my Nook Color right after Christmas, I just can't seem to put it down! I LOVE it! Lol! On my NC, I have a wish list of the books I would like to eventually read {there's sooo many!} and thought it would be fun to share this list for some last minute inspiration in case you have that urge to pick up something, but don't really know what you want. As I read through these books, I will post about how the book made me feel, did I like it? Did I not? Why or why not? I'm really excited to add this little edition to my blog along with the crafts, painting and scrapbooking I do as well. I hope you enjoy reading all about it! Thanks for stopping by!

NEW PAGE ADDED TO TOP

2011-03-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I just wanted to let you know that I've added a page at the top of my blog that lists all the blogs and websites I like to go to. Each and every one of thes places offer a world of inspiration for painting, scrapbooking, decorating and organizing. I invite you to click on the page at anytime and discover a world of inspiration!
As always, God bless and thanks for visiting!

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT MY BLOG AGAIN

2011-03-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

I'm getting so excited about my blog again and I'm loving it!!! I have stayed up until well after 11:30 {can't believe I'm up this late!} tonight just messing around with some of blogger's functions and have totally changed the looks around! I still have to find time to organize and clean out some of my sidebar lists and I would also like to add more photos to the sides too, but I know it will happen all in good time. As for now, I think I'll be ending here and will be going to bed! Lol! Good night my blogging buddies!

SWEET

2011-03-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

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Sweet...that's how it is down here in the creek house. Even though it's still very chilly today, I'm still enjoying sitting at the little old kitchen table looking through back issues of Where Women Create (this magazine is such a weakness for me! Lol) and listening to the birds chirp happily and the hearing the little creek babble by. If I'm loving it so much now while it's still so cold outside, then I can almost imagine what it will be like when summer gets here! You probably won't be able to drag me away! Lol. Seriously, it's so peaceful in the little old creek house. I could sit here for hours which is why that makes it so...sweet.

PAINTED GERANIUMS

2011-02-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

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I realized the other day that I haven't painted in a while or created anything using mixed media methods sooo...I decided to paint these bright red geraniums on old papers from an old financial journal I found a while back in an antique store. After the painting was completed, I dripped bee's wax in different areas around the edges. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! Bright red geraniums, painted or real, make me feelso happy! They remind me of the spring that I'm trying so patiently to wait for. (I really can't wait for winter to be officially over! Lol) Ya know, I think I might have to paint more sometime very soon!
Thanks for stopping by!

FUN AND RANDOM PHOTOS

2011-01-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos I randomly took right before Christmas. Once I'm over this nasty flu, I hope to return back to blogging. I've got a couple of ideas that I'm going to try to share at a later date.....once my head clears from this nasty "flu" fog! Lol! It shouldn't be too much longer I hope. In the meantime, enjoy these random pics below. See you soon!

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PHOTO FRIDAY

2010-11-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

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Long day + Sleep over with three giggly little girls equals Wal mart pizza! Lol

covered in Christmas

2010-11-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I had to laugh at myself and my surroundings. As I looked to my left, I saw gift and idea lists of things I wanted to do and accomplish before Christmas and to the right were some of my most favorite Christmas idea books and planners. The tv in front of me was showing a commercial advertising the Hallmark channel and that they were going to start showing Christmas movies and programs all day everyday starting from the middle of November until Christmas day! Can you tell that I'm already in the Christmas spirit? I thought all of this put together was such a hoot that I just had to share! Lol!

Something new that I want to try with my blog is to start "Photo Friday". On every Friday, I will be taking a photo of whatever inspires me at that moment. It can be anything. A pretty landscape, my daughter doing something funny or anything in my studio. It may even be the breakfast I had that morning! Lol! At any rate, this is something fun I would like to try. The second photo is the first for my photo Friday series. It's of all the Halloween candy Lindsey got this past weekend while trick or treating. She got an obscene amount of candy! I sorted it out into FIVE separate containers! That's crazy!! Lol!
Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

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BLUE JEAN BAG

2010-10-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

This bag is made out of just that...an old pair of blue jeans! I was looking through some of my old fabrics for another project and discovered an old pair of jeans Wes used to wear and recalled an idea I had recently read about. The article talked about making a bag from the leg part of the jeans. I absolutely LOVE how this project turned out! Instead of using ribbon for a handle, I added grommets to each side and inserted wire. I then curled up the ends so they wouldn't slide back through.

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After the bag was made, I embellished the front with a square of muslin that I stamped with my "script" stamp and then painted the letter "J" on top. The whole square was then hand stitched to the front. This bag was so simple to make that I might just have to make more for Christmas gift bags! Lol! Some gift ideas that I have in mind are for Lindsey's teachers, or put a bottle of sparkling cider inside for a friend. They would also be great for fudge or other Christmas candies as well. The sky's the limit for all you can do with these little bags!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

WITCH'S BROOM TREAT BAGS

2010-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:00

I am sooo excited about the upcoming holidays! How excited am I you ask? So excited that I've already got my Christmas cards made, I have my blank pages for my December Daily book done (check out Ali Edwards blog for more info on Dec Daily) and I've got my Christmas shopping list started for black Friday! I can't wait for black Friday!!! I'll be posting more on all our Christmas crafts and happenings later on.

These pictures below are of the treat bags that I made for Lindsey's class party on Friday. They were sooo easy to make! You just need two lunch sacks. The first, you cut vertical slits in, but leave about half an inch at the top. Slide the second bag inside the cut bag and fill with goodies! Once it's full, gather and tie at the top with raffia. Now you have a witch's broom treat bag!

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Thank you so much for looking and I hope everyone has a "spooktacular" Halloween!

MY 2010 CHRISTMAS PLANNER

2010-09-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Starting around September or October, I usually like to get some ideas and lists down on paper for Christmas. I tend to be kind of picky when it comes to my planners so I've been trying for weeks to figure out what I wanted to do for a planner that I could use solely for Christmas and found an idea that uses one plain file folder, an assortment of Christmas scrapbook paper(for decorating), white cardstock (for extra pages and list making), and a bind it all for putting it all together. You can also use binder rings or whatever idea you have to make it a book. Here's how mine turned out...

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How you fold the file folder is easy. You first lay the file open and measure 8" from the top. Then you bring the bottom up to where you made the measurement mark (this will be the pockets in your planner). Next you will bring in both sides of the file to meet the center crease. Your planner will resemble an accordion file. Here's where the fun comes in with the decorating and adding extra pages with the white cardstock. I even added small squares of printed paper between the cardstock to add Christmas photos and journaling. Once you have combined all this together, all that's left to do is bind it all to make the planner! I've not only made myself one, but my mom one as well and I think I'll make one for my best friend too! I've also done a similar version for my December Daily book for Christmas 2010...but that's a whole other post! Lol! Until then...have a great night and thanks for stopping by!

MY NEWEST SOLDERED PIECE

2010-09-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

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Yesterday I guess you can say I got a "wild hair" and pulled out my wood mounted stamps that I rarely use and just started playing. I was feeling kind of Frenchie/doodlie/ collagie. (Can you tell I like to make up words? Lol!) So when I put these elements together, I got this cute little soldered piece I like to call bottle jewelry that's decorated on both sides. I think my favorite side is the bee. I don't know, I really like the "dream" side too! Lol

I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day!!

MY NEW FOUND LOVE

2010-09-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

I've found a new love...clay sculpting. Some of the things I see in the Fall magazines are cute clay figurines that I would LOVE to order, but they're so expensive and shipping is awful! So, I thought I would try my hand at making a three tier stack of white, polk a dot pumpkins and I LOVE how they turned out! These first couple of pics are the beginnings of this pumpkin sculpture.

I thought I would "bling" it up a little with some soldered pieces I already had on hand and tie some raffia around the stem.
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Thanks for looking! Hope everyone has a great night!

switching it up n' changing it around

2010-09-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

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Since I finally figured out how to work on my blog with the blackberry, I want to add to my favorites list that's on the right side of the screen. If I don't already have your blog listed, I would be so happy if you would leave a comment so I'll have a link back. I'm really excited about changing things around! I hope to do this in a couple of weeks. Oh! Also, if there's another blog that you know about that you think would be cool to share, just let me know. Thanks everybody!!!

Check Out My Lil' Pumpkin Man

2010-09-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

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I fell in love with this little guy a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby, but didn't feel like paying the $20 they were wanting for it. Today I went back to get some supplies I needed and found him 1/2 off! I was thrilled! He was the very last one on the shelves, so of course he had to come home with me! LOL!!

Another photo!

2010-09-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

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I love Autumn!!

ONE MORE TIME

2010-09-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

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I just had to try one more picture! Lol!
By the way, this picture is of that old shed (from a prior post) before we started working on it. The outside is pretty much done except for replacing some of the old windows and adding some landscape which we'll probably do this Spring.

That's all for now...at least for the moment. LOL!
It feels so good to return back to the blogging world

Stunned.....just stunned!

2010-09-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

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After two weeks of stressing, working and trying to figure out how on earth to add photos to my blog, I FINALLY get it!!! I honestly didn't think it would EVER happen! I can't express just how happy and stunned I really am! It's going to be VERY hard to get me off this Blackberry for sure now! LOL!

OH MY GOODNESS!

2010-09-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Remember a couple of posts ago when I posted about our creek house and how we were going to fix it up? Oh my gracious! It's unbelievable how a little paint and some brand new siding can make such a difference!! I've taken pictures of it, but unfortunately, I still can't figure out how to add photos to my posts with my blackberry. I'm still working on that small problem and if anyone has any suggestions on what to do, I will gladly take them! LOL!

That's all I've got for now. Hope everyone has a great night!

i'm so happy I could just pass out! LOL!

2010-09-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

My best friend Stacey figured out how I can post on my blog!!! Oh, I'm sooo happy! I'm going to be on this little Blackberry a whole lot! Hubby ought to LOVE that! LOL! Thank you Stacey for helping me out!

HI EVERYBODY!!!!

2010-08-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!!! Oh how I miss you all! Here lately...well, for the last few months, I've had computer problems. My laptop has a virus and I'm still waiting on the hubby to clean it up! I recently got a Blackberry phone and thought maybe just maybe I could log on to my blog and update it that way. Nope, can't do that either. I can log on, just not update it unless I email my post to my blog. I'm still trying to figure that one out.(if anyone has any suggestions on what I can do, I'll gladly take them!) So in the meantime, I'm on Wes' little laptop sitting in Barnes and Noble updating my blog for the first time in months!!! I'll be honest, I don't know when I'll be able to post again. It could be in a few days, a few weeks or maybe a few months like it was this last time. I just want you all to know that I am still here and I do still lurk around to other blogs on the trusty little Blackberry. And know this too, I MISS YOU ALL!!! I will now leave you with some photos of an upcoming project that (hopefully) we'll be starting tomorrow. These photos are of the little wash house that is across the street from us on our property. As you can see, this little shed needs a lot of TLC. I'm hoping that once it's fixed up, it can be a gathering place for us and for our friends to just hang out. Tomorrow we're supposed to be painting the inside.

This old table was found inside the shed covered with junk. When I first saw it I knew I had to keep it!

I thought maybe I could set some of my artwork on the ledge that's toward the top of the photo below.

The outside, Wes and a friend of ours are supposed to be adding the siding I hope next weekend.

The best part of this "creek" house is the actual creek that runs behind it. Great place to sit and read, paint or just daydream. I'm also hoping to paint a sign to hang on the outside that says "CREEK HOUSE"

And finally, a photo of the back of the creek house looking up the hill towards our house.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be back soon! Have a great evening! (I'll try to post about our progress on this project!)

SCRAPBOOK PAGES OF LAS VEGAS BABY!

2010-05-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks I finally got a pretty good start on the pictures that I took in Las Vegas. I still have a looong way to go though since I took over 400 pics! wow.

The airplane ride there wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. As you can see from Wes' photo below he wasn't too concerned! I also saved everything from that flight including the peanut packages and the Sky Mall catalog! LOL! Oh, and I made a special little pocket to contain the brochures from the day.

You can get a better view of the pocket here...

The Aria hotel was AMAZING! I've never seen a hotel to be so contempory and modern and huge! I made a DPL {double page layout} with an 8x10 insert of the Cupcakery. The cupcakes there were so cute I couldn't resist taking a shot! Pretty tasty too!!! LOL!

The View from the plane on the way there.............

Another AMAZING hotel.......The New York, New York

The Aria was gorgeous with all it's modern-ness, but the Bellagio was more my style. More traditional.

Okay, now I know that I've been drooling over all these hotels that I've mentioned above, but nothing compares to The Venetian. Oh my goodness!!! When you walk in, it looks like you're still outside! The stores look like the store fronts that you would actually see in Venice and there were actual gondola rides that went through the hotel on the inside and out. There really is no good way to discribe how magnificent the Venetian really was! Oh, also, below I thought one of the shopping bags that I brought home would make an awesome pocket for some of the "Venetian" memorbilia that I picked up. You can see the front of it on the right side.

Below are more pics of the inside of the Venetian and you can also see the painted "sky" better. I also left a journaling block that slides into one of the 4x6 photo slots on the right side. I hope to add the journaling very soon......I hope!

Well, that's all I've gotten done with the Las Vegas scrapbook so far. I hope to post more pics hopefully in the not so distant future!! LOL!

Thanks for looking and have a great night!!!!!!!

SNEAK PEAK

2010-04-17T14:03:00.001-07:00

Well, I've FINALLY got it done! I finally posted some photos of my studio. The one at the top is a "sneak peak" of what it looks like. You can find the rest of the pictures on the "my studio" page. You will find the link right below my banner. Hope you enjoy what you see and as always, thank's for looking!

THE COUNTRY LIFE

2010-04-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

Weeell.....we finally decided to plant a garden {a huge one! LOL!} this year. Every year we say we're going to, but never do. So this time we had our bestest friend, Steve {thanks Steve!}, to get on his tractor and plow up the ground for us. As you can tell, Wes was lovin' his time on his tractor too, to smooth out the dirt. He loves working and just being outside.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of some Indian corn seeds before planting them. Some of the other veggies we planted were sweet corn, beets, cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and okra. I told you it's going to be a huge garden!!!

This little girl here loves to be outside too. Notice the cute shirt, blue jean shorts with what we call her "creek boots". A true sign that we're into the country life.....and loving it.

I thought our homemade swing made a cool pic.

And now I will leave you with some of my favorite photos of some of the flowers that I've got growing. I'll post updates of our veggie garden as it grows. I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxed evening!

The one below is my favorite!

Wow! It's been a long time!

2010-04-08T18:58:00.001-07:00

Hello all! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! So sorry to keep you hangin'! The past few months have been a whirl wind of events. Some good and some not so much. My grandmother past away in February. This is my third grandparent to pass away in the past two years. Then a few weeks later, I went on a business trip with my husband to Las Vegas. Let me tell ya, that is such a different world than what I'm used to here in Kentucky! LOL! We had a great time together when he wasn't in his classes. The day before we left to go back home we purchased tickets to ride on a tour bus that took us to the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. The only way I know how to describe these two places is to simply say AMAZING!

Now, I've got to go for now, but I PROMISE I'll be back soon. In between everything I've had going on, I've had to work on several art projects for different people at the same time {let me just say, not an easy thing to do!} and now that I've gotten them done, I've had a little time to work on some things for myself and I'm anxious to show you all {hopefully the next time I post!}so you have to come back and see!

Thank you all for still being here for me and reading my blog! I hope you have a wonderful evening!!!!

My first "portrait"

2010-01-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

I finally tried my hand at painting a portrait. I keep seeing in different places {books at B&N, other blogs, websites, etc}these collaged canvases with painted portraits with these long, swan-like necks and below is the one I've done. This is the first one I've tried. I think I might have to try another one soon. It's not wonderful or my best work and not even sure if I'm totally done with it, but to make a collage on canvas and then to paint on it was a lot of fun!

Here's a closer look at Blondie. I think I might need to make her features a little darker.
I can't wait to try another one!

Thanks for looking! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!

There's just something about paint brushes in an old jar of dirty water

2010-01-03T17:22:00.000-08:00

Paint brushes in an old jar of dirty water. What a lovely sight to see sitting on my work counter just ready and waiting for me to pick up and go to work. I know it's silly, but I feel like a real artist when I see this. There's just something about seeing drips of paint clinging to the sides, seeing the clear water turn to a mud-color from all the pinks, greens, blues, browns, yellows, purples etc coming together to be washed out of each brush. There's just something "real" in seeing this sight. It stands out to me as a sweet memory of the day that I had in my studio doing what I love, creating, doing, making.....

I love my paint brushes in the old jar of dirty water.

Finally....

2009-12-31T22:15:00.001-08:00

I got to do something for myself without baking, cleaning or shopping for presents! LOL! Tonight I got a wild hair and decided to mix painting and scrapbooking together. Below is the finished product.

Here it is almost complete.

The script in the background is a stamp that I've had for several years......

and of course the paper is scrapbook paper. The letters were cut with my Cricut E, Plantin Schoolbook cartridge I believe. And the scallops were hand drawn and painted in, then traced with a pencil and smudged for an old feel.

All in all, I like how this turned out. Now I just have to decide where to hang it! Scrapbook room, livingroom, maybe Lindsey's room.....................?

Thanks for looking! I hope you all have a GREAT and SAFE New Year's!!!

I'm sooo in love.........

2009-12-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

MEET LITTLE BUCKIE
The first thing I'm in love with is the super sweeet little puppy we adopted today! Isn't he adorable??! He's a mix between a miniature doberman and a chiwawa {I'm so sorry! I don't have a clue on how to spell that type of dog breed! LOL!} and he's only 6 weeks old! Earlier today, he fell asleep in my hand. He was absolutely ADORABLE!!! We're all sooo totally in love.

The second thing that I'm totally crazy about is the new photo editing software I just bought today. It's Adobe Photoshop Elements 8. I LOOOVE this software!!! The photo above of Buckie, I edited and altered. I made the edges of the photo fade into a black and did the journaling in white right onto the photo. I never thought I would be able to do this, but I have! Yipee!

I just had to share these quick little tidbits with you. I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!!!

The first few pages of my December Daily book

2009-12-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER DAILY
Below are the photos of the first few pages that I've gotten done. Even though I was so excited, I still felt a little scared to try this idea, but I think the results so far are pretty good. It really IS easy to do and I'm having a ball putting it together!

The first day of December was Wes' birthday, so of course, I had to get a pic of him wearing a santa hat.

The 2nd day, we really didn't do anything Christmasy, so a few days before, I walked around the house and took pictures of different Christmas decorations to use as what I like to call "filler pictures". That's what the pic of the snowmen are, filler photos.

Even though we decorated the day after Thanksgiving, I still added the "decorating" photos to the Dec. 3 page. The journaling on the left side of the picture was a quote from the December Creating Keepsakes magazine.

I LOVE little inserts between pages! They're so much fun!

These pages go along with the Dec. 3rd page above. These pics are in a three up page protector that's been cut down and sewn across the bottom to hold the two pics you see here below.

The photo and journaling below are still with Dec. 3rd {The backside of the altered page protector}. Day 4 is still in the works. Lindsey's school had a Christmas Carnival and I still have to get the pictures developed. I hope to get them done today or tomorrow.

Day 5 is my favorite! On the left is the candid shots that were taken during our little make shift photo shoot. These pictures ended up being hilarious!! On the right side is the shot that we think turned out perfect and was added to my handmade Christmas cards.

Day 6 was about our Christmas tree. The journaling talks about how I love how our family comes together to listen to Christmas music, decorate the tree (and the rest of the house), and just enjoy spending time together. {Once again, just gotta love those cute little inserts!}

Day 7 is a photo of my dad reading Christmas stories to Lindsey while sitting in our big comfy chair by the Christmas tree.

Day 8 was another filler photo. The journaling at the right is another Christmas quote from CK magazine.

For day 9, I took some pictures of the stack of Christmas videos that we own to document how we LOVE Christmas movies. The page isn't done yet, because I still have to get the photos for this day developed. I've got a blue post it note to remind me what goes there.

Day 10, nothing Christmasy going on today either so I used another 'filler photo".

Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!!

Evidence of Christmas around our home

2009-11-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this time of year! The whole weekend after Thanksgiving we go shopping and decorate the house from top to bottom. I'm thrilled to say that I only have about two or three people left to shop for. Yay! Below, you will find photos from around our home that shows evidence that Christmas is here!

This Christmas tree is in our kitchen. It's decorated with bird nests that Lindsey and I have found in the yard at different times, turkey feathers, old and new white coffee cups, and White House ornaments that my parents have ordered for Lindsey since her very first Christmas.

Here's another shot of my "kitchen tree".

I love everything from my little snowpeople.........

to the random ornaments that can be found on the tree.

Can you tell that Christmas has arrived at our house this year?

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting me. I hope that everyone has a wonderful and blessed evening!

TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT I'M DOING TONIGHT!

2009-11-26T20:08:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again!!! Black Friday and LOTS of sale bills in my paper!!!! Yes, I've been told that I'm sooo crazy for getting out with all those people fighting over the best sales, but I just can't help myself!!!!! I just LOVE the thrill of the hunt!!!!! Bring it on! LOL!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! I know I did! (and I ate way too much!!!)

My "December Daily" book

2009-11-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is! {at least the first 12 days. I still have a couple of days at the end to finish.} Here's my December Daily book! This has been one of the greatest projects I've worked on in a long time. It's been so much fun to be able to mix and match {literally!} all the different Christmas papers, cardstock, stickers, embellishments, cut outs and stamps and to make them work all in one place!

The very first page is not only day 1, but also doubles as my cover.

Day 2.

Day 3 is two pieces of cardstock sewn together. I LOVE to sew on my pages! That little piece of cream paper that's right before day three is a scrap piece from an old file folder. I thought that it would be good for a journaling block or maybe a small photo. The beauty of this book is that the sky's the limit on what you can put where.

Day 4. There's a two-up photo protector right before it that's been embellished with little silver stars

Day 5. This day is just an empty page protector. I think the size of this protector is 9x9?

Day 6.

Day 7. There's more sewing on day seven with the red strip going horizontally. To the left is another part of the same file folder as above. This part shows more of the "tab".

Day 8. Right before day 8 there is a thin strip of white paper. I thought it would be kinda cool to add random scraps such as this for journaling blocks or even attach small photos to it, making "photo" tabs.

Day 9.

Day 10.

Day 11. If you'll notice, on the left side, the chipboard divider is totally blank. I thought this would be a great place to adhere a random Christmas card that we'll get in the mail. Hopefully we'll have some by then! LOL!

Day 12. For this day, I used another two-up photo protector.

And that's my little Christmas book {well, the first 12 days!}. Like I said before, the wonderful thing about this project, is that things can be moved around, taken out or added in. There are some pages that don't exactly thrill me, but I'm trying to keep in mind that once pictures and journaling are added hopefully it'll look better. Another idea that I'm really excited about trying is that when the Christmas cards do start rolling in, I'll be adding them to my book as pages. I'll just use a regular hole punch and add them to what ever day they were recieved on. I'm also going to punch holes in the envelopes the cards come in and add them randomly as pockets. This way I don't have to throw out any cards and wonder what to do with them like I do every other year! LOL! One more thing, if I still have blank spaces in diffent places, I think I'll probably add fun Christmas quotes that are handwritten. I noticed in the 2009 Christmas issue of Creating Keepsakes they offer a whole page of nothing but quotes that can be added to any scrapbook page, card or Christmas book.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the first 12 days of my book! {I hope to be showing 13 through 25 in the next few days so keep watching!} I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!!!!

"So Cool"

2009-11-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Soldered pendants

I don't know if anyone remembers, but a couple of months ago I posted on here that I was asked to participate in the "so cool" winter gallery hop. I FINALLY got my pieces finished!!!! YAY!!! As you can see, I have made soldered pendants. For you Cricut fans, you've probably noticed that I cut the reindeer from the Christmas cart. I think they turned out alright. I'm just SO HAPPY to have them done!!! In the second photo, you can see on the backsides, I used scraps of printed scrapbook paper with big snowflakes. Depending on what mood you were in, you could wear either side. I love versatility!

What's to come

The next post will {hopefully!} be about my December Daily Christmas book, I've got a pretty busy weekend ahead of me, but I'm really going to try to get it posted. Also, in the near future, I'll be posting more photos of my studio {these will be on my other blog "my little studio"}. I've rearranged again {yes, again!}, moved around and cleaned up and I'm sooo excited to share what I've done, so keep watching!

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back soon! Have a wonderful and blessed day!

December Daily

2009-11-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

I absolutely LOVE this idea!!! I found it on Alie Edward's blog. The idea is to create a book {it can be any size or style} that holds 25 pages {I used chipboard dividers and metal rings to hold it all together}. Between the pages {or dividers} you can add anything you like in order for preparation for Christmas photos, cards recieved, and lots of journaling. In mine, I've used page protectors {which are the same size as the dividers} , "two up" protectors, handmade paper pockets, cut down file folders, etc....
I'm almost done with mine, I've just got 5 more days to work with and my little Christmas book will be ready to be filled as the holidays get started!
I couldn't help myself to go on ahead and show the front of my book. When I get totally finished with it, I will post lots of pics of the insides.
Thanks for stopping by and looking!!! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2009-10-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween everyone!!! I hope everyone has a fun, candy filled and safe Halloween!!!

For all you Cricut and Cricut E fans, I just had to share the little ghost and spider cupcake toppers that I cut from the paper dolls cart. I can't wait to take them to Lindsey's school! I think the kids will like them. I know I do!!! LOL!

Once again, I hope you have a happy and safe Halloween!!!

AUTUMN LEAVES

2009-10-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Autumn around here! Lindsey and I just got back in from leaf hunting and I thought I would share with you the photos I took. This first one is of the tree at the edge of our drive way.

Couldn't resist some close ups of the leaves.

I love it when there's a hint of red on them.

These are the ones that we added to our basket to bring inside. I've gotta find some kind of project that I can work these in to!

Thanks for looking! I hope you have an awesome day!!!

Welcome {chair} banner

2009-09-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

Got another banner done! These things are rapidly becoming addictive to make! LOL!

'EAT CAKE' PAINTED BANNER AND A CUTE TURTLE

2009-09-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

"Eat Cake" painted banner

I have a friend that's going to be having a birthday this week. Earlier this summer, I had painted a wood block with this cake on it. She loved it so much I thought I would paint her a banner for her birthday so she could hang it anywhere she wanted. I hope she likes it!

Cute turtle

While walking around in the woods this morning, Wes had found this turtle. He brought it home for our daughter, Lindsey to see.

Isn't he cute?! He's got a face only a mother can love! LOL!

Have a great day!

I DID IT! I'm on twitter!!!!

2009-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! I signed up with twitter! I never really thought I would care anything about it, but it does seem really neat! So now all of you that are following me here can now follow me over at twitter. I have a place to the right in the side bar to click on in case you do. I'm so excited!

I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun and safe Labor Day!!!

PAINTED BANNERS, MORE ART JOURNALING, A $5 GOODIE AND A LITTLE BIT OF BLOG LOVE!

2009-09-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

Painted Banners

I guess you can say that I'm on a roll this week! Along with the art journaling, I've been making painted banners. Last Friday my mom and I saw a beautiful painted banner at Hobby Lobby. I considered purchasing it until I saw the price! Yikes! I thought I could make something similar to it myself and that's exactly what I did! It may not look as nice as the one in the store, but that's ok. I think it turned out pretty good and I love it!

This is another painted piece. Instead of a banner, I made a floor cloth. I LOVE polka dots!!

More art journaling

Remember in my last post the pumpkin I drew in my art journal? Here it is finished! Well, sort of finished. I worked for so long on the pumpkin itself that I never finished the stem at the top! LOL! I guess I better work on that next!

Five Dollar Goodie

And here's the $5 dollar goodie of the day! I picked up a set of four fun pink plates at a yard sale yesterday that was right down the road from my house. They were so cute I just couldn't resist! {Patti, I thought about you when I got them! I love pink too! LOL!}

Of course, I fell in love with the dots around the rim!

A Little Bit Of Blog Love

To all my followers, my commenters, my blog buddies, I am so proud to have you all visit me. Everyone has said so many wonderful things! I'm so honored! I'm so amazed at how many friends I've made just through blogging! It's wonderful! I just wanted to let you know that I'm feelin' the blog love and just wanted to pass a little bit your way!

Ok, ok, enough sappiness! I'll get off here now and I hope that each one of you have a wonderful and God filled day!

ART JOURNALING

2009-08-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

Among all the chaos and craziness of this household over the past few weeks, I have still managed to squeeze in a little artwork! Instead of making cards this time, I've been making art journal entries. My mom found and bought this day book for me at an antique store. The pages in it are "ledger" type papers. This book has turned out to be so much fun!

In the spirit of Halloween and Autumn, I painted this picture straight on to the pages. I LOVE how the old writing still shines through the paint and doodling! I think it just adds a little something extra to picture.

These two pages below I thought I would go in a different direction. I found the Paris pic hanging on my inspiration board and the photo of the woman with some other old pictures that I've collected over time. I thought it would be fun to "make up" a story about how this woman was planning a trip to Paris in the Spring.

The pumpkin below is in the process of being finished. I've got it all drawn out, just need to color it in with acrylics and water color pencils. I'll post pics of it after the finished product is complete. This book is so much fun to doodle and paint in! If you've never started an art journal, I strongly recommend getting some sort of book, even if it's just a plain notebook, to play with all the ideas and color schemes that you have. It's really neat to look back and see the work you've put into it! If you try it, you'll be hooked! LOL!

I hope you enjoyed this little artsy tidbit! I hope you all stay safe and have a wonderful day!

I GOT ANOTHER AWARD!!!

2009-08-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Lorrie, from Scrappin' Stuff, has given me this award from Chatterbox. Isn't it adorable?!

Below are the bloggers that I'm sharing this award with:

1. Patti's

2. Candids by Candace

3.Sweet Design inc.

4. Scrapbooking Farmwife

5.Stamping Scrapbooker

Here are the rules for picking up this award.

1. Insert blog award logo. 2. Thank and post a link to the blogger who sent you the award. 3. Assign at least 7 blogger awards. 4. Add links to those blogs.

Congrats to all! Enjoy!

CARDS, CARDS AND MORE CARDS! AND SMOKY MOUNTAIN PICS

2009-08-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Cards and Card Kits

Whew! Finally I can sit down and show you what cards and card kits I've made! This first one is a Happy Halloween card with an oh so cute skeleton! This was a fun card to make. I've actually made two more just like it. This one I'm keeping for myself and the other two are going to be given away. One to Lindsey's teacher at school and the other to a good friend of mine.

skeleton : paper dolls cartridge
letters : Plantin schoolbook cartridge

These cards are actually not stuck together yet. They're my kits that I've made. I've just laid the embellishments on top so you could get an idea of what they really look like.

This one was a lot of fun! I cut out several circles in a row with my E {Cricut Expression} and used the negitive space to put in letters to spell "friend". You'll see what I've done with the circles in another card.

Letters: Plantin schoolbook

The flowers in the card below I actually stamped with a "script" stamp. I love the added texture it gives.

Remember the circles from the "friend" card? Here they are! I just matted them in chocolate brown. I love circles! You can do so many things with them. In this card I think they resemble berries on a branch.

In this format, I placed them to look like little round flowers or yummy pink lollipops!

Or, they can be laid out to look very modern going across the front of the card. Of course, any of these ideas you can add a message to, whether it be inside the circle itself or down the side of the sticks. As you can see, I really had a good time testing out ideas for these cute little pink circles!!! LOL!

Now these kits are all bagged up and waiting to be put together!

The Great Smoky Mountains

Finally, as promised, my Smoky Mountain photos. We had such a wonderful time here. As you can see, our cabin was absolutely beautiful and the landscape was gorgeous!

The inside was so nice that none of us really wanted to leave. Lindsey asked me if we could live there. I wish! LOL!

The same day that we got to the mountains, Wes, Lindsey and myself went horseback riding. That was truely an experience! It was a lot of fun, but I was sore for days in places I didn't even know existed! LOL! Wes' horse's name was Lil' Brother, Lindsey's horse's name was Apple and mine was Coupon. The people at the stables jokingly said they got mine on sale at the nearby grocery store and decided to name it Coupon! LOL!

Here's a silly pic of me and my hubby waiting for a bus from the car lot to the entrance of Dollywood.

At Dollywood they had an exhibit with live animals, here's one of them. Needless to say I zoomed up on this pic. There's NO WAY I'm going to get too close to one of these!!!!! LOL!!! Yuck!

This below is one of my favorite shots of all the photos I've taken at the mountains. Trust me, I took tons of landscape pics, but this one I just love.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed looking at the kits I've made and my Smoky Mountain pictures and reading about some of the things that happened on trip. I hope you all have an awesome and God filled day!

Geez, Louise!!!

2009-08-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

I promise that I'm still here! I'm so sorry that I haven't been here for a couple of weeks! As soon as we got back from the mountains {I promise I will still post pics of our trip}, I found out that my card reader that goes into my computer was going bad. Well, as soon as I got that problem fixed, my daughter gets sick with a head cold which I end up getting. Needless to say, the past couple of weeks for me have not been much fun at all! LOL! Fortunately, here are some items that you can look forward to seeing on my blog over the weekend:

- More card kits
-Smoky Mountain photos
- Photos of the new local scrapbook club that some scrapbooking buddies started

I'll also be going to the gallery in the morning where I have some mixed media artwork at to donate some time along with other people to make cards which will be donated to the local hospital to be given to some of the children there. I'm taking my big E {Cricut Expression} with me! I can't wait! I really do think it'll be a lot of fun! I'm hoping to take lots of pics there that I can post later.

Once again, I am sooo sorry that it's taken me two weeks to get back into the groove of things. I can't wait to post my pics and read your comments! I LOVE comments!!!! LOL!

I hope everyone has an awesome and safe weekend! God bless!!!

I'm baaaack!!!

2009-08-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hello all! We just got in a few minutes ago from the Smoky Mountains. Of course, I had to make a mad dash to the computer!!! LOL! The mountains were beautiful as always and we had a really good time at Dollywood. We went to Cades Cove and the scenery there was beautiful too.
I mainly wanted to check in and let you all know that I'm back and ready to start blogging away again! I'll probably come back later on tonight or tomorrow to share my traveling stories and share pictures of the trip plus the goodies that I bought. Right now I've got a lot of unpacking to do! Yuck! LOL! I'll see you then!

GOIN' ON A TRIP

2009-07-31T15:35:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning we're {my mom and dad, hubby Wes, daughter Lindsey and myself} leaving for a short vacation to the Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN. Dad actually wants to leave the house by 4:00am!!! REALLY?!?! Yikes! I do well for 6:30 or 7:00am! I'm pretty much looking forward to going, just want to get 4:00am out of the way! LOL! I believe we will be going horse back riding, going to Dolly Wood, do a little hiking and hopefully we'll get in some shopping. I'm REALLY hoping we can make it to the huge scrapbook store in Sevierville! Like a said earlier, we'll be leaving at 4:00am tomorrow {sigh....} and should be back Monday night. I'm not for sure if I'll be bringing the laptop, but if I do, I'll try to post some vacation pics while I'm there. I'll miss you all if I don't get back to the computer before Monday!!!

Hope you have a great weekend! Stay safe and God bless!

Handmade Card Kits

2009-07-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

I had read somewhere in one of my recent scrapbook magazines {I can't remember which one it was!} that October 3rd is National Card Making Day. I definitely want to make cards that day whether it be with friends or by myself. To make sure that I can make as many cards that I can, I'm going to put together card kits starting now. My actual goal for this is to have 25 kits ready to put together by Oct. 3rd. I'm hoping to have more, but we'll see.
Below is the first kit that I've made. I had so many ideas running through my head all at once that I didn't know for sure exactly what I wanted to do. I finally decided on a Halloween themed card. I think I'm going to add a section to my layout sketchbook just for card ideas so it doesn't take so long to figure out what I want to make next time! LOL!

Here's the kit bagged up. Once I get a lot going, I'll probably put the collection in a basket or box of some sort.

Items used:

Cricut Expression

Plantin Schoolbook cart

Paper Dolls cart

Thanks for looking and God bless!

I guess you could say that I'm playing "award" catch up!

2009-07-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

I've actually been given this award, the Primios Dardo award, a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, time just got away from me as usual! I feel so very honored to be given this by Patti from her blog Patti's. If you ever have time, you should go visit her and see all the things she's made. She's very talented at mixed media and scrapbooking. Later on today or tonight I will choose at least 15 bloggers to pass this award to so come back by later to see who they are. Thank you so much Patti for this wonderful award!

Drum roll please!!!

2009-07-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

I'm sooo excited! I have finally decided which five bloggers I'm going to give the Circle of Friends blog award to, but first of all here are the rules on how to pick up this award. To pick up the Circle of Friends Blog award cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog. Nominate five other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends. Link to your nominees with in your blog post. Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in the blog post. Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've recieved the award.
Now, without anymore waiting, here are my five awarded bloggers!

1. Scrapbooking Farmwife
2. Sweet Design's Blog
3. Candids by Candace
4. Patti's
5. Paperbird

Congrats guys!!!

The Circle of Friends Award

2009-07-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! I just found out that I got the Circle of Friends Award! Lorrie, from her blog Scrappin Stuff was the one kind enough to give this to me. It is truely an honor. Lorrie has definitely made my day! Now I'm supposed to give this award to five other bloggers, but I think I'll wait until the morning seeing how it's 11:00 at night and I'm getting very sleepy! Thanks again Lorrie!!!! You're the best!

Lindsey's "first day of school" card

2009-07-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

I meant to put this card in the last post, but silly me, I forgot it! This card is for Lindsey when she has her first day of third grade.

As you can see, the paper doll is held on with an eyelet. You just twist the doll up and it reveals the message on the actual card. I think she'll like this pretty well I hope!

Thanks for looking!

Handmade cards and studio pics

2009-07-27T06:16:00.000-07:00

HANDMADE CARDS
I'm a baaad blogger! I know it's been weeks since my last post. I'm very sorry. I can tell school will be starting soon, things are picking up with PTO events. Last week we had to help parents register their kids. Tonight I have to help out with the 1st grade open house. Yep, it's definitely picking up! Over the past few days, I've also squeezed in a little time here and there to make some more cards. These first two below are "thank you" cards. I love them both, but I think my personal favorite is the flowery one on the right.

These are some birthday cards that I've made. Once again, my fav is on the right. I think that design looks like to toile!

I LOVE this little bag that I've made for Lindsey's teacher gift this year! It was sooo much fun to make! I think I'll fill it with candy so this can be Mrs. Dixon's "first day of school survival kit". LOL! And of course, the bag had to have a matching card to go with it!

This is the inside of the card.

Cartridges used: Home Accents, Plantin SchoolBook, Graphically Speaking

Cutting machine used: Cricut Expression

STUDIO PICS

These two pictures are of my studio. I've been meaning to post some photos of my space for I don't know how long! Once again life got in the way! LOL! Actually, I guess you can say that this section of the post is a "teaser". I've got another blog that you can visit and see all the other photos. There's a link to the right in my sidebar that will take you right to it.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day and God bless!!!

Got a couple more cranked out!

2009-06-29T09:07:00.001-07:00

I made two more cards this morning, I'm really on a roll! I can't believe how much I'm liking my Cricut now!

This one below I'm going to give to Lindsey. She's always wanting me to make her something. I thought this would be a good way to tell her how special she is and how much she's loved while giving something that I 've made.

This card I'm going to surprise Lindsey with on the first day of school. I'm really not expecting her to like this one as much seeing that it's got to do with school! LOL!

Thanks for looking!

The Cricut cards I made today

2009-06-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today I did nothing but play with my Cricut cutter! It's been so long since I've used it! These cards below are what I made today.

This card I made for a friend of mine. I LOVE the way it turned out! So fun and bright!

This one is for my dad. His birthday is next month. I LOVE how the frame turned out!

This card is mainly just for fun. I thought that a July 4th card would be pretty cool to have on hand.

All of the pieces cut from the Cricut, I used the Graphically Speaking cartridge {LOVE it!} except for the phrase "birthday blessings". That was from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge.

I really have missed making cards! I think I'm going to try to do better at this along with scrapbooking. These two hobbies are my first loves!

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

2009-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I'm so sorry it's been a while since my last post. I've really been trying to catch up on my scrapbook pages. My pics were really backing up! I've gotten sooo much done over the past few weeks! I have forgotten just how much fun scrapbooking can be! I know that July will just be starting next week, but I would like to get started on some ideas for my Christmas {yes, I said Christmas!} cards for this year. I got a Christmas Cricut cartridge last year, so I'm hoping to use that in some way. I really would like to start making more cards in general for the fun of it.

Well, this is what I've been up to lately and I promise that I'll do better in the future about posting! I hope no one has given up on me yet ! LOL!

There's signs of actual work going on in the studio!

2009-06-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've done a lot of work over the last two days and my studio shows it! It's a mess!!!

I've been working on wood blocks that I've painted on and of course, more soldered pendents and.......................

bottle jewelry. I don't have a bottle at the moment to hang this one on so it hangs from a nail. I took a different route with this one. I found and old rose petal that I've pressed sometime or another. I thought it would be neat to solder just that, that way you can still see through the glass around the edges. I thought it turned out pretty neat.

After all that work, I think I'll ................................

actually, it was lemon pie!! heh! heh! heh!

This is how I'm feeling right now..........

2009-06-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

2009-05-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hello all! If you've read one of my earlier posts on soldering pendents and charms, you'll remember that I mentioned making a bracelet for Lindsey's 2nd grade teacher for her "end of the school year" gift. Below is a photo of how it turned out.

I'm really happy with it. I'm considering making myself one! I've already recieved an order from Lindsey too. She wasn't very happy with me when she found out this one wasn't for her! LOL!

In a "country living" mood

2009-05-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

I was in a "country living" kind of mood while watering my flowers. I thought that I would take some pictures to share. Below are Lindsey's creek boots.

This is a hanging pot of geraniums that I got for Mother's Day.

My brand new american flag I picked up this weekend. I love to see American flags hanging on old country porches!!

A hanging basket of petunias.

A full view of my deck with the flowers and my flag.

I hope you enjoyed this little tidbit!! Have a wonderful evening!

2009-05-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some more necklace pendents that are in the works. I got a little time last night to cut out some more scrapbook paper and I cut the glass this morning. Now I just have to wrap the edges and solder them.

I really do love them all, but I think my favorites are the vintage rose in the upper left hand corner and the middle one in the bottom row. That one is actually a square of vellum that looks like ledger paper.
I'm hoping to make some bracelets out of some of these too. I'm planning on making one for Lindsey's second grade teacher for her "end of the school year" gift.

My little pendents are slowly but surely getting there!! Thank you for looking! Have a great day!!!

Finally got some studio time!

2009-05-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

I got some studio time today and I decided to do a little soldering. I've been trying to get some pieces together for the upcoming antique car show that's this September. Below are some pendents I put together this afternoon. All three have a tan and blue side and the other side is pink with flowers. {The paper I used was random pieces of scrapbook paper.} I thought that it would be neat if they were reverseable. That way people would be able to get more for their money.

These little pendents were fun and easy to make. Along with trying to sell them at the car show, I might attempt to sell some on my blog. When I get more time, I might try to set something up. Well, see.
Thanks for looking! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day! Be careful on this memorial day weekend!!!

Thanks!!!

2009-05-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for all the kind comments about my sprained ankle. You guys are so sweet! I'm thrilled that you all visit my little blog! {I hope you stay!} Fortunately, my ankle is doing much better. It's still pretty swollen and it's trying to turn black, but I can almost walk without any kind of limp. In a few more days I'm hoping to be totally back to normal {whatever that is!! LOL!}. Well, I'm going to end this post so I can visit some of your blogs!!!
Thanks again for all the support! You guys are great!

Not cool. Not cool at all.

2009-05-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today was my daughter's field trip. We went to Kentucky Down Under to check out the dingos {kangaroos}, different types of birds and the cave. The day started out so nice! Until....

I had to fight the camera bag I had hanging on my shoulder along with my camera and try to answer a ringing cell phone all at the same time. If you guessed me dropping the camera is what happened next, then you guessed correctly! It slipped away from me and down it went onto the gross bathroom floor. I cried. Dollar signs started flashing before my eyes. I was so scared that it would never work again. Fortunately, my friend was there with me helping me with my camera and calming me down. I carefully hit the "on" button and low and behold! It worked!!! I was thrilled!!!
You would think that was all that went wrong, but no. Towards the end when we were walking back to the buses, I tripped on a rock that was jutting out of the ground and I fell. I fell hard. I sprang my left ankle. I was so embarrassed and worried that I had scared the other kids. The workers at this place had to get a golf cart to take me back to our vehicles. Fortunately, I had rode with someone else, so I didn't have to drive. During the time of me falling, I banged my camera again!!! It actually fell before I did with me landing on top of it. Once again, it still worked!
So, needless to say, I'm lying here on the couch with my swollen foot propped up on three pillows with lots of advil running through me!
Hopefully, I'll have some field trip pics posted sometime this week. I took some really neat photos of the finches that we got to feed and the kangaroos we saw hopping around. That part was really fun! Me falling, not so much. LOL!

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT!!!

2009-05-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've gotta say "Happy Birthday" to two very special people..........

The first is my darling mom. Her birthday is actually tomorrow, but we took her out to eat at the Olive Garden and went shopping at Home Goods {LOVE that store!!!!} and Joann's. We really had a good time!!!

Lordy! Lordy! Stevie's 40!!!!!!

The second birthday was Steve's, one of our best friends. Since Steve turned 40 today, my husband Wes, decided to get him a bouquet of black balloons! It was pretty funnyto see the look on Steve's face when he saw them! LOL!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah!

2009-05-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

My blog is fully "clothed" again! Yay! Woo Hoo! It took half of the afternoon and into the evening to down load the program I needed, but I did it! It FINALLY came through!!!! Yeah!!!

My blog is naked!!! EEEK!!!!

2009-05-11T20:28:00.001-07:00

OK, here's the story. I had this beautiful vintage green and black background on my blog. Well, I deleted it because I had found another beautiful one that I wanted to try out for a time. Now this site I was going to won't let me copy the code because I'v got to upgrade to some new program! So, I'm hoping that tomorrow night {when I have more time on my hands!} I can install what it needs so I can get the background that I really wanted. I hope for a short time, you all don't mind to look at a "naked" blog! LOL!

2009-05-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Since my studio has a door that leads outside, I thought it would be neat to make a sign with the name of my blog to hang on the outside of the door. This is how it turned out.......

I really like it myself. You really can't see the background color of it though. It's a very light (too light!) shade of powder blue. I might have to do some adjustments to the color of it when I have time.

Thanks for looking! I hope all you moms out there had a great Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

How lovely to be barefoot in the Spring

2009-05-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

A sign of a cute little girl running around the house barefoot! Cute.

My studio is now complete......

2009-05-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

.....thanks to my wonderful best friends, Steve & Stacey. I needed a table, and they had a table to give away. It's very old. Isn't it just beautiful?! I thought that I might paint it white, but now that I've got it cleaned up, I'm really liking it just the way it is.

This will be the place that Lindsey and I {and hopefully my friends!} will do crafts, paint, scrapbook and all kinds of other things together. I'm so happy and excited!!!

Look at that carved detail on the sides. Isn't it gorgeous?! Thanks again Steve and Stacey for this wonderful gift!!!!!!!!

Did you notice anything else that's different in my studio? The wall color changed along with the placement of the furniture. I'm planning to do a post on what it looks like now when I have time, so keep visiting to see detailed pics! Thanks for looking!! Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!

Check this out

2009-04-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

Did a little antiquing this morning. Didn't find a whole lot, but below are some old flour sacks that I found for five bucks each. The one on the left I stuffed with pillow stuffing and tied with a black grosgrain ribbon to close it up. It really makes a cute pillow. I'm going to get some more stuffing to make a pillow with the sack on the right.

I also found thes earrings and pin too. I thought that maybe I could use them some how in some jewelry pieces.

Have a great day!!!

My old {looking} necklace

2009-04-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Today I kind of took advantage of being home. You see, Lindsey stayed home from school today because she wasn't feeling well at all. So, that kept me from going to work as well so I could stay home with her. Miracle of miracles, the house was actually in good shape so I thought I would put this little beauty together. I pretty much had all the pieces made and ready to go {I just had to make the big soldered piece in the middle} so I added them to the chain and got this...........

I'm so thrilled with the outcome! Yes, I think I'll be adding the wonderful world of jewelry making to my already long list of other hobbies to do! The good part to doing this is that I can combine art mediums together such as collage and soldering.

The music in the soldered piece in the middle came from an old hymnal that I found at a yard sale a year ago. I feel this is the element that makes this piece feel old, like you just found it in your grandma's attic.

The photo below, you can see more of the soldering up close. As you can see, it's not perfect, but I feel that that's another charming and "old" element.

Have a wonderful and God filled day!

"Save Money" soldered piece

2009-04-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

Yay! I did find time this weekend to do a little art! This below is what I came up with. I got in the mood to do a little soldering. I saw this page in an old book that I had gotten at a yardsale sometime and the plan was to actually take this paper and cut it up into smaller pieces to make charms for a charm bracelet. Well, I got to reading what someone had wrote and thought it was too cool to cut up so I just made the piece to fit around this handwritten note. This is what the note said; "Save money, not for to hide it in a hedge, nor for a train attendence, but for the glorious privilage of being independent." How neat is that?! The charms that are hanging at the bottom say "wish". I thought that was fitting for us. wish to just save money.

These next three photos are close ups of this piece.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!!!

Please bare with me

2009-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been a little while since my last post. Please just bare with me. I've been having a really hard time lately. You see, my hubby, Wes, lost his job two weeks ago and I've fallen into a mild depression. I'm doing a lot better now and I've actually landed a small job at city hall. I'm not doing a whole lot, just envelope stuffing, filing, data entry, just fun stuff like that. With this new job there is good news and bad news. The bad first. I'm afraid that there won't be a lot of time for art making. I come home, help Lindsey with homework, make dinner, pick up around the house and go to bed. The good news however is that this job will only last for around nine weeks! Yay! There will be a high school girl that will take over in June and will be there for the whole summer. I'm pretty much just a fill in which is fine with me!!! I'm going to try very hard to get some "art time" in on the weekends. This weekend is our cherry blossom festival. This is where artists gather at various stores around the square and sell their art. I'm really hoping to get to it. If I do, I promise to take lots of pics and post them.

Well, I'm getting verrry sleepy so, until next time....

So I got this idea to paint today...

2009-03-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

and this is what I came up with... I haven't painted an actual canvas like this in months! I don't think it looks too bad. I think you can actually tell what the picture is!! Ha! Ha! The canvas that I used is from Wal-Mart {I try not to buy the expensive kind if I can help it.} and it's 8x8. The perfect size for simple paintings.

Thanks for looking!

PPM = Project Paper Mache

2009-03-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

This paper mache project is for the Spring Fling this Friday night at Lindsey's elementary school. The theme is "beachy". This lump of newspaper and paste is supposed to resemble a pig ready for a Luau {don't have a clue on how to really spell that!} or I hope that it does in the long run. Over the next few posts I would like to keep this project as a series on my blog. That way you watch it grow into a Luau pig {hopefully!} from beginning to end. Gosh, I hope this turns out the way I want to!!! I guess we'll see!

A touch of spring

2009-03-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

This morning I promised after school to take Lindsey to the small patch of daffodils that grow wild across the street from our church. They were the most beautiful flowers I've seen in a long time. I've been kind of down lately and they're beautiful, bright "yellowness" made me feel some better.

This picture below is of the bunches that we both had picked. We always like to pick them for other people besides ourselves, so Lindsey thought it would be a good idea to label them with the names of the people we picked them for. I thought that it was a pretty good idea too. The one on the far left was Grandma's, the one in the middle is Mrs. Chaney's and the one on the far right is the one that I picked for myself. We'll go back in the next day or so to pick some more for her nana. I LOVE daffodils in the spring!

Thanks for taking a moment and looking!

Mixed Media Monday: Spring colors

2009-03-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hello! The pieces below are for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge. The theme of the challenge is "Spring colors". I had so much fun working with the blues, pinks, greens and yellows for this challenge. These days I have been nothing but all about spring!!! I do guess I got a little carried away with this theme, because instead of making just one piece, I've made three! This first pic is of all three together.

This one below was the first that I worked on. I took a piece of vintage pink scrapbooking paper and turned it over on the back to sketch out the design of the dress, then cut it out. I used my pencil to draw in the details, the high cut waist line, the gathers and the scallops. I did the same for the bird at the bottom the dress. After everything was glued to the page, I used my pencil around the dress and the scallops at the top and bottom and smeared it all to give it an aged shadowy appearence. And, of course, I used the bee's wax to coat and seal it all. Love that bee's wax!!!

This was my second piece that I made using the exact same techniques. I guess my daughter's past birthday kind of inspired me for this.

This was my third piece. I love cute little birdies!

And this was my take on this week's challenge, spring colors. Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!

My first piece {for quite some time} for Mixed Media Monday

2009-03-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Finally! I can actually post a mixed media piece! My 7 year old's birthday party is behind me! Yeah! This piece is actually for Mixed Media Monday. I haven't posted for this blog probably since last summer! I really can't believe just how busy I've been! But, at any rate, these four pics below are of a piece that I had made about 2 years ago. I noticed on the MMM blog that the next theme was called "the written word". I thought this piece tied in nicely because the paper in the background was hand written years ago in an old notebook I had found.

When I first saw these papers, the first thing that I noticed and fell in love with was the rusty round spots that you can see randomly in the piece.

I know it's kind of hard to tell, but I covered the whole entire background with beeswax. I love beeswax!!!

Below, you can see the whole piece hanging on my wall in my livingroom.

Thanks for looking!!! Come back and visit anytime!

Just checkin' in

2009-03-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I was actually able to steal away a few minutes to check in tonight before I went to bed and it's not even 9:00pm yet! I'm so tired and wore out from cleaning our home from top to bottom for Lindsey's big birthday slumber party tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to having a good time tomorrow night, painting finger nails, doing hair, putting on makeup for the girlies, but geez, I can't wait until next week when Wes goes to work and I take Lindsey to school and I can come back home and do nothing!LOL! Well, I guess I'll go for now. I just wanted to check in to let you know that I am still indeed alive! Hopefully, maybe I'll have some artsy pics to share with all of ya'll next week. We'll see.....................

Good morning all!

2009-03-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

Just to let you all know, I probably won't be posting a whole lot this week because my 7 year old is turning 8 next week and we are trying to prepare our home {and ourselves!} for a birthday slumber party for this weekend! Yikes! We've only invited two other little girls so maybe it won't be too bad. To the right, is a photo of the invites that I made for our two little guests. They are not as good as what I would like, but I'm in a major time crunch! So, I will go for now, but I'm hoping to be able to steal away a little time sometime this week to come back and post again. If not then I'll post early next week. I promise!!! Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!

It's 10:30 at night, do you know where your Littlest Pet Shop animals are?!

2009-02-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

This one is in its little bed that Lindsey made made for it! Wes, my hubby, walked upstairs to check on Lindsey and this is what he found.......

This little toy "grasshopper" was put in one of my metal votive candle holders. The top of the holder is a dragonfly and the part that the toy is in is supposed to be a flower. Isn't this so sweet?! I just had to share!

My handmade cards

2009-02-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking alot about this year's antique car show that always been in the late summer to early fall in our town. I've always wanted to participate with something that I could make and produce alot of to sell at the arts and crafts part of it. Well, every year I end up chickening out. Hopefully that will not happen this year. I just started to make these cards this morning and I think they {and myself!} might have a chance! All together I've got 10 made so far. This first pic is of my favorites.
Here is all ten of them together. I'm going to try to have matching envelopes to go with them. I've got to get that project started too! Thankfully, when I bought the pack of plain white cards, they already had the envelopes with them. All I have to do is decorate!

Here's my fave five again. I'm trying to keep the colors on some of them darker and more suitable for Autumn or for Christmas since the car show I think is in September.

I hope to make at least around 10 a day. I should, I hope to have completed around 100 to 200 before the big day comes. We'll see.......

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my next artful adventure!!!

Beautiful Organization!

2009-02-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

Today I spent some much needed time on organizing a little bit in my studio. I'm afraid it has been trashed and my work island has been a catch all for all sorts of things. My papers and clippings that I sometimes pull out of magazines is what I mostly worked on this afternoon before picking up Lindsey from school. Believe it or not, but I actually have a filing system for these papers. Some of the file folders are: decorating, scrapbooking, inspiration for painting, photos of studios, landscape photos, pictures of houses and things to make. There's more, but I can't remember them all off the top of my head. Here below is a photo of all my files laid out so I could easily see which ones was what. It was really fun to go through all these papers and clippings seeing how I haven't been through these in quite some time. It was very inspirational. I almost forgot to mention that these papers will eventually get put in binders that I have already set up for a few years ago. That way I can flip through whenever I like. The files are just a way to keep them organized until I get time to do the binder thing. Here below you can see that all is pretty and organized! How lovely!!!

Thanks for letting me share this little tidbit of my day!

Wow.....

2009-02-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

A couple of posts ago I mentioned the fact that I was feeling overwhelmed by all the mediums that interested me. I finally broke down and asked Wes {my hubby} what his true and honest opinion was. I didn't think that he would actually say much. Maybe an "anything you want to do honey." But, no, he actually said mixed media!!! Let me back up a moment and refresh you on what exactly all that I'm interested in. There's scrapbooking {this is one hobby that will never go away. I'll always want Lindsey's pics in albums}, soldering, painting, paper mache, mixed media and rug hooking {my newest one}. I was shocked that he said anything at all! Needless to say I'll probably start working and posting more on mixed media pieces and maybe throw a little bit of soldering in as well. I'm also hoping to start selling some of these future pieces too. Maybe on etsy? I'll have to apply for a credit card I suppose. Hopefully, maybe I've given you some insight on what's to come in the near future!!!

My Valentine Surprise

2009-02-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

Friday night Wes was working on our laptop and I asked him not to turn it off so I could check my blog. When he handed it to me, it was turned off so I had to start it up again. The first thing that I saw was picture of the open heart necklace on my background! That was his way of surprising me with the necklace!!! I was so happy and excited!!!!!!
Here is a pic of me holding my necklace. I actually didn't get it until Saturday night. Isn't it beautiful?!

A valentine from my bestest friend.

Below is a photo of my little mailbox that my friend Stacey decorated for me. Isn't adorable?! She always does such a good job at making things.

She also knows me very well from what I found inside! She put my two most favorite candies in there! Woo Hoo!

I can't believe I actually found this website!

2009-02-12T20:34:00.001-08:00

I was just on the "Where Women Create" website and they had a list of the artists featured in their recent magazine. One of them was Curly Girl Design. The first thing I see on there website was a picture of the card I just bought and posted a pic of {when I was posting pics of my studio}. You know, the one that says, "If given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world!" I've been wanting to go to this website sometime anyway, but luckily, I just came across it when I least expected to! How cool is that! This site is for sure going in my favorites list to the right!!!! Yay!

Gotta new hobby!

2009-02-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I got another hobby to my growing list of things that I've taught myself how to do. This new hobby is needle punch and I'm hoping to go to Hobby Lobby in the very near future to pick up the supplies to start rug hooking. There are so many things out there that I just have to try and honestly, it's exhausting! Some of these hobbies are {besides the rug hooking and needle punch} scrapbooking, painting, paper mache, mixed media and soldering {which includes glass cutting and that's not easy!} I know I'm complaining a lot, but it's actually a lot of fun to try something new. I do hope to add more to my list as time goes by. I just really want to be able to concentrate on maybe one or two different concepts and make them sellable. Once I get it into my mind to do one type of item, here something new comes along that I HAVE to try and I end up starting all over again {LOL!}!!!
About the rug hooking, I did find this one textile artist by the name of Liz Alpert Fay. You can see some of her work and find out more about her here. Her work really is beautiful. I LOVE the color combinations that uses which is a lot of reds and other bright colors. She even uses her kids drawings for inspiration for her work! That's pretty cool! Another reason why I would like to give this medium thought, is that I could take this with me anywhere I go; in the pick up line when picking up Lindsey from school, I could take it from room to room while at home or while on a car ride. I sure can't say that about anything else I've ever done! Oh, by the way, I did finish a small pillow door knob hanger. I needle punched a small bird and embroidered the word "chirp" below it. I still need to take a pic of it and put it in the computer so I can post it. I'll try to do that tomorrow.
Well, that's my "artistic" ramblings for today. Thanks for stopping by!

So ready for Spring

2009-02-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

Today since the weather was so beautiful, I decided to take some pics around our house that reminded me of Spring. This first one is of my ceramic rabbit. It's actually a planter, but it works great for holding my silverware! I thought it looked nice and "springy"!

This second pic is of my little beaded lamp that holds a small votive candle inside. I love the greens and pinks!

This last "Spring" photo is of my door that leads to outside from my studio. Since it was so warm today, I opened every door and window in the house. I LOVE to feel the cool breezes blow inside {I love to smell the fresh air too!} This photo is also a sample of where you can go to see the rest of my studio pics as well. You can go here to see them. There is also a place on the right side in the column that says visit my studio. Just click on that too and it will take you right to it anytime you want.

MY LITTLE VALENTINES

I love to see "before" and "after" photos of just about anything so I thought I would try it with the little valentines I made for my daughter, Lindsey. Here you see a bottle that held sweet tea and a chocolate bar beside it. Very plain. Nothing special.

Ta - Da! Here they are all dressed up for Valentine's day. Pretty cute huh?! I just used some scraps from my scrapbook paper stash, stickers and small pieces of ribbon and this is what I ended up with. I did something simular to this for some of my girlfriends for Christmas and they seemed to like them pretty well. I think I'll make these little bottles of happiness for other occations, events and holidays.

And that's what I've been working on over the weekend . Thanks for taking time to look and visit. Have a wonderful and blessed day!!!