Picking a Winner Tomorrow!! =-p

Can't wait to give away my first Blog Candy!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you had better check out my post "Flea Market Finds". You only have until midnight(CST) tonight to get your name in the drawing.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:

A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference. ~ Eeyore ~ Winnie the Pooh

Remember that Deer Tin.....

.....the one from the "Flea Market Finds" post?

TA-DAH!!!.........How do you like it now?



I used a piece of 12 x 12 vellum scrapbooking paper that I have had for almost two years. It is gorgeous paper! It was a little difficult to cut it up, but it was a shame to just have it stored away.

I like it!! =) It has my smiley face of approval. =)

Here is the inside of the lid and the inside bottom of the tin.




(Just a little side note. It has taken me nearly an hour to get this post right. The photos and the descriptions would NOT match up!!! And you wonder why I don't post something everyday!! grrrr.....*@!)

Inchies

Looks like, at best, I am going to be an every other day blogger. It just takes so much time. And the time I spend doing this is time I can't spend crafting, or reading, or eating chocolate, or reading MY favorite blogs, or...well, you get the picture.

I love making inchies. It is such a challenge to see what I can fit in a 1" square. I've always created them for swaps, so there's usually a theme. I recently joined a Western (surprise!) Inchie theme and here is what I came up with.


I apologize for the inferior quality of this photo. I'm not the best photographer. I should have taken individual photos of each inchie. But they have been mailed off to my swap partner.

The first Inchie is a photo of a Native Indian family. It was a photos from an old (probably 60's) "Real West" magazine. The second photo is a "pin up" cowboy hunk. I used a stamp from Close to My Heart to make the "Yee Haw" embellishment. I stamped it on shrink plastic, shot it with the ol' six gun...er, I mean heat gun and attached it to the inchie. The stagecoach is clip art, with jute trim. The Wanted poster is also cut from the old vintage "Real West" magazine. I believe it was on a add for one of the magazines..sort of a miniature magazine cover. I have 3 or 4 of those old western magazines and I've gleaned a lot of "goodies" from them. It's amazing what your imagination can do with an old magazine. =) The cactus are cut from some western themed scrapbook paper. For the backgrounds on each Inchie I used an embossing pad and some terra cotta embossing powder. That gives each Inchie a rough, rugged and rustic touch. On the Indian family I also added just a touch of turquoise embossing powder in the upper left corner. I am very happy with the way these Inchies came out. I really need to do some Southwest/Western ATCs and Inchies to keep for myself. I keep giving away all the good stuff. ={.

The following two Inchies were created for the "ATCs and Inchies" swap at Swap Bot. It was a sender's choice, so really no theme. My swap partner liked bright colors and oranges and greens. I cut a square (about 3")from some white heavy cardboard packaging as the base. For some reason a "radiating from a circle" picture kept going through my mind. So, I cut lots of strips of my bright, colorful paper and glued them down in a radius around the base. Then I added a punched circle to the middle and cut my square down the middle and trimmed it down to 2 Inchies. I like how this project came out also.

I look around at all the paper crafting and artistic blogs and know that my own creations don't compare in quality and artistry but I do know that my creations come from the heart and soul and that I derive great pleasure from it.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY -
"The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

OOPS!! Sorry - almost forgot today's quote. Don't want to disappoint anyone. Those who know me well, won't be surprised that I chose this one.

"There's a little bit of cowboy in all of us." Louis L'Amour

Flea Market Finds

Stopped by one of my favorite flea markets the other day. It's about 40 minutes from my house. I pass by it whenever I go to Tennessee to pick up our grandson - or take him back home. I don't take the time to stop real often, but when I do I usually come home with some treasures. Let me know what you think about these goodies.

What appears to be a photo of a deer is actually a tin. It's a great size for altering. In fact it is in a "mid-alter" state right now on my craft room table. When I finish, I'll post a photo. The recipe box is a bit smaller than most I've found. I'm thinking it is the perfect size for storing some of my favorite ATCs. But it's gotta be altered first, of course. =) There's also a spiral journal...kind of a square shape, which is a little different and it has the stretchy band thingy to keep it closed. Another great future altering project. I couldn't resist the 3 pieces of silver. There is a pickle fork, a sugar spoon and what looks to be a child size fork. They are gorgeous. I will use them all on my Christmas buffet for the various dips, treats, etc. The sugar spoon will be perfect for fruit dip, don't you think?

Guess how much I paid for the 6 pieces? 1. Deer tin - 2. Recipe box - 3. Journal - 4. Silver sugar spoon - 5. Silver pickle fork - 6. Silver child size fork. Leave a comment with how much you think I paid. You have until midnight (CST), Friday, July 31st to leave your comment. On Saturday morning, August 1st, I will draw a name from all those who left a comment and send you a small bit of blog candy. Sounds like fun to me!!

WHEW!! It's been too busy!!

I think I'm getting too old for Vacation Bible School. I helped in the craft station for four nights in a row. I wimped out on them on the fifth night. =) (And then she rested.)

While VBS was going on there was also an online Crop going on at www.cardmakermagazine.com. I was too busy and too exhausted to take part in it as much as I wanted, but I managed to get a few challenges done. Here they are -
















As you might guess, the Crop had a Christmas in July theme. This challenge was for card cand. I used my wonderful, lovable Nestabilities with these. (If you don't have any "Nesties", then you definitely need to get some!)

Another challenge was for Tags. I love this stamp set. It's from The Angel Company (TAC). It's in a "card" format with the 'TO:' and 'FROM:' on the inside.
Naturally, there was a "Trim the Tree" category. Here are my efforts for that challenge.
This was created from a kit that Stampin Up' had out last Christmas in conjunction with Country Living magazine. I added some "snow" around the edges (the name and brand escape me at the moment) and some Diamond Dust.









The next ornament was created from a recycled Christmas card. It can also be used for a small gift or candy.



















I have a couple of more challenges that I completed but I think I'll add those at another time. Maybe this is enough to satisfy my "followers" for now. =)

QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it.
Peanuts ~Sally Brown

VBS & Blogging Don't Mix

When I recover from VBS I'll be back. (3 nights down - 2 to go) Of course, I'm not real sure how long the recovery is going to take.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

VBS makes old, redheaded women "tard". ~ by Me, Myself and I

My First Award

Thanks goes to Lisa @ http://rubberstampinzone.wordpress.com/ for giving me my first award. I need to locate a #1 Cheerleader Award for my friend Lisa. She's a sweet and talented lady. Oh, and she's a fantastic SU Rep also. =)

According to Lisa's instructions, I am to pass this award on to 5 other bloggers. That's going to be very difficult to do. Not because I don't know 5 other deserving bloggers, but because I know a LOT more than that. Decisions, decisions!

My #1 choice is my very gorgeous, talented, vivacious and goofy red-headed niece @ http://peaches-and-posh.blogspot.com/.

My other choices are:
http://hollyridgecreations.blogspot.com/

http://prairiewildflowerpapercrafts.blogspot.com/

http://tracyhensondrozd.blogspot.com/ (Tracy has been another one of my cheerleaders in my new blogger adventure.)

And last, but far from least, is Lori @
http://lorispurplegiraffes.blogspot.com/

You call this blogging?!?!

Guess I'd better put something on here, before I lose my followers from boredom. hmmm....I know! How about something from the dusty olde archives...again.

Here's another ATC featuring a bird (another one I didn't give my "nbtweensis") By the way, the birds for this ATC and the one I posted earlier were cut from an old Audubon encyclopedia that I picked up at a flea market.


And here's another ATC with a Western flair. I really like this one. It was made for a swap, of course. I'm thinking I may have to create me some more of these Western
ATCs for my own collection.









This is a "skinny". I really enjoyed creating this one. It was for a "Tea Shop" theme and one requirement was that it have a house shape. This was for a swap at Swap Bot. My partner likes the Provencal colors and roosters, so I did my best to "fit her profile". I'm happy with this one too. =) Well...except I think I may have overloaded it with the little sweets sticker. I did apply the stickers to some heavy cardstock to make them a little more dimensional. But I'm thinking it's "sweets overload" (been there/done that!).




And finally - TODAY'S QUOTE: Try not. Do or do not, there is no try. -- Yoda

MOJO

mo·jo
Pronunciation: \ˈmō-(ˌ)jō\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural mojoes or mojos

Etymology: probably of African origin; akin to Fulani moco'o medicine man
Date: 1926

: a magic spell, hex, or charm ; broadly : magical power
Or in a crafter/artist perspective, "This project just won't come together. My mojo's not working."

Do you ever have a problem with your "mojo"? I attempted a challenge yesterday and there was absolutely no mojo anywhere in that craft room. Very frustrating!

Today has been one of those running from pillar to post type of days with no time or energy left for seeing if my mojo is back. That's frustrating too! There is always hope for tomorrow. =)


QUOTE FOR THE DAY:
"I've got my mojo working but it just don't work on you
I've got my mojo working but it just
don't work on you
I done tried it in New York city, now I'm gonna try it out on you..."
~ as sung by the late, great blues singer, Muddy Waters

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Exercise is a dirty word - Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
Peanuts

Bleary-eyed frustration

What ever possessed me?!?!? Why am I doing this?? Why can't I make it pretty?!?!? Wonder if Wordpress would be easier than this eblogger? I stayed up until almost 2AM last night trying to make this a pretty, enticing, inviting little spot on the wwww. "Be patient", you say. Well, then "you" don't me. Patience was never my middle name.

There will be probably a few of you who will stop by to check out this new place (since I stupidly -I know that's not a word - yelled out to several last night via email that "I have a blog!") So, for your entertainment benefit here are a few "creations" from the olde archives.


I love this Blue Bird ATC. I traded it a long time ago when I was in my "ATC trading mode".

I feel that I did an outstanding job on interpreting the ruggedness of the Old West and this fellow, Geronimo.

An "Inchie" featuring my mom and dad. I love this also. It's not a particularly artful composition, but it makes me smile when I see the two of them looking back at me from the center of the flower. =)

Off to a slo-o-o-o-w start........

hmmmm....maybe this is going to be one of those "once a month posts" blogs. To be honest, I've busy debating on whether to continue with this or not. While I continue to debate with myself I will go ahead and post a photo or two of my most recent projects.

The first photo is a magnet that I made for a swap at http://swap-bot.com/. We were to create a vintage themed magnet. The floral background is actually a from a wallpaper sample from a sample book that I found at a Flea Market. I believe it is a 60ish vintage.

The next photo is of a "skinny" page. In order to be a "skinny", the size must be 5" x 3". This was for another swap at . We were required to make an arch shaped skinny, but we were free to do any theme.

The last photos is a "Christmas Tree Box" that I created for the Card Maker magazine forum, This was "pre-crop" challenge. You've gotta be an online paper crafter to understand what "pre-crop" means.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Dr. Seuss