A Blog Award!!!

I enjoyed a nice three day weekend but finding this from my friend Tangii was one of the highlights.

I blog mostly for me but it is so much fun to hear that someone else is enjoying it too. The best part is that now I get to give this to seven other great bloggers out there. There are so many good blogs out there in the bloggosphere it is hard to choose. Here are my picks in no particular order

1. Becca ~ Reb and Jeb and our Little Men - for finding the daily humor in motherhood

2. Lauren ~ No Name Good Enough - for her randomness and fun insights into college life

3. Gretchen - Boulieblog - for creative wit and artistic inspiration from across the sea.

4. Debra ~ My Year in Hungary - for finding the courage to follow her dreams.

5. Ashleigh~ What to do with my hands For just being awesome in general.

6. Katie - Paper Makeup - for starting her own stamp company.

7. Mariel and Jessica ~ Or so she says for picking me!

If your name is on this list then it is your turn to give this award to 7 more great bloggers, go on spread the love and make someone's day! Thanks Tangii for making mine.

With my own two hands

This is some tagging with a twist. I did it on my daughter's blog here so now I have to post this on my blog too...fun huh!

The first five people to leave a comment on this post will receive something hand made by me, however there are some limitations
1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year (might take a while but I promise in 2009)
4. You have not clue what it is going to be, a photo, something I have craftily put together, or sewn. I may bake something and mail it you...the possibilities are endless
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!

Here is the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog and rave about it for all to see.

Ready, Set GO!

Another cool new blog...giving away an Anthropology prize!

I love the bloggosphere. Each day I explore new found blogs and meet new virtual friends. I linked to this blog from a comment she made on mine. Check out Crazy Lady on Road 80 (don't you just love that name). She is giving away the most awesome gifts from Anthropology. It goes through tomorrow 2-15 so maybe my luck will hold out...it's worth a try.

I am a winner!

My last post was a shout out to a new blog I found, Or so she says. Little did I know that my post would make me a winner of these

I enter all kinds of blog giveaways (blog candy) but this is the first time I have won anything. I love them and I have been looking for a good pair pf earrings to wear with browns so these are perfect. Thanks Mariel and Jessica for making my day.

Earring giveaway

Every day I find fun new blogs by clicking through from one blog to another. Today I stumbled across "Or so she says". It is written by a couple of fun ladies and has "a daily dose of good ideas". They have recipes, fun ideas and more. They are even giving away some really cute earrings to get the traffic up since they are new to the bloggosphere. Stop by and take a look.

You've Got Valentines

When Ashleigh was a freshmen in college I would send her care packages for every holiday that included something fun for her roommates too. In the beginning it was just to get her through the freshman year and help her make friends, now it has become somewhat of a tradition. The froomies (friends+roomies=froomies) have come to expect my holiday boxes.


Since December was so crazy for me and they headed home for winter break I didn't get a Christmas package to them, and was told they missed it (although I did bring them all back something from my cruise).


So for Valentines day I decided to kill two birds with one stone. When Shannon sent the challenge to alter the little metal mailboxes from Target's dollar spot I decided they would be perfect froomie Valentine presents. Here is a pic of all of the mailboxes together.

I used various valentine papers from my stash and at least one Stamping Bella image on each so they would qualify for the challenge.










I love how they came out. Each one is filled with Valentine candy. I hope they like them.

"Virtual" Friends

Do you have friends you have never even met? People who you may talk to daily but only know them by a thumbnail picture. I call them my "virtual" friends, and I have lots of them. We discuss our lives, our families and kids, our addictions to shopping for the newest in crafty supplies and rubber stamps. We send RAK's (random acts of kindness) and enable each other's obsessions. Most of my virtual friends are crafty women I must admit, but I bet there are groups of out there for nearly every hobby you can think of. The internet gives us all a way to share our passions with a click of the computer.

Since entering the bloggasphere about a year ago I have met people from around the world. I have friends all over the US, Canada, UK, France, Mexico, Sweden and even a new friend from Qatar (and yes, I had to do a Google search to find out where that is).

A real friend of mine (one I actually go out with in person from time to time) gave me the Who's that eGirl stamp set from My Favorite Things for Christmas. It was made especially for my virtual friends, how cool is that?

This is the card I made for my virtual BFF Tangii. She is my Sistah on the Bellaholics yahoo group and she is the bestest. Supplies--> DP Basic Grey , Stamp- Who's That eGirl- MFT, Copic markers, prima flowers. Technique---> paper piecing. Maybe a few more of my virtual friends will be getting these. The set comes with some great sentiments like, "Happy Bloggaversary", "You've Got Mail", "Sending {{{Hugs}}}", "I {Heart} You" and "For my Sweet Cyber Sister".

Bellaholics Friday Embellishment Clallenge...Clearly so much fun!

It's the first Friday of the month so that means it is my turn to challenge the sistahs over at Bellaholics Anonymous. This month is CLEARLY going to be lots of fun.

Here goes...

Use Acetate or a transparency as your card base and then embellish with something else clear. Use baubles, micro beads, rain dots, epoxy stickers, rhinestones, Tim Holtz's fragments, etc. There are lots of clear embellishments out there. Here are a couple of examples, although the photos are not great (taken with my phone because I can't find my camera). Acetate is hard to capture, they are always so much better IRL, but you get the idea. These cards are shown standing up and a little bit open. The oval image and the rain dots are on the card front. The white is on the inside with the frog stamped on it and the yellow is attached to the back of the card so that a border shows through.

Supplies:

Belinda Bumberboots - Stamping Bella

Clear acetate paper cut to 8.5" x 5.5" and scored in half.

Bazzill Swiss Dot Paper - Nestabilities Ovals - Rain Dots Stickers

Frog Stamp -Stampendous, Copic Markers

More of the same idea except this one is a Changito Stamp by Stampendous. The Monkeys are flocked...of course! If you are participating in this challenge I have created a folder on the photo site to share your creations Have Fun!