Cork, Burlap and Canvas

Hello blogging world! It's been much too long and I have missed my blogging friends very much. I appreciate the well wishes and thoughts sent while I've been gone. I'm looking forward to getting back in touch with many of you and catching up on everything I've missed. There have also been some positive changes in my life which I will be sharing in the future. So many lessons learned, and I am not talking about crafting when I say that! The first positive change...my computer! It had been very sick with a nasty virus that made things impossible. Even with all the protection available it didn't matter. I sometimes wonder if these big computer companies are behind these viruses, but that's one for the conspiracy theory blogs.

My little project above is a pickle jar turned into a pen holder. There was a challenge at the Moxie Fab site to use cork, burlap and canvas on a project. I have never worked with any of those so it sounded like a true challenge to me. Of course I missed the deadline but I did finish it and now have this pretty pen holder. The funny thing is that while I was working on this I hated how it looked. It wasn't until I hot glued the small stones on top and added the liquid pearls between the stone that I thought it was actually coming together to my satisfaction.

Up close angle



The little letters and flowers were just cut out from an old sheet of cardstock I had. I edged the letters with black ink so they would pop out and put a little stickles on the flowers. Just a fun little project. I have a few other fun little projects I've finished that I'll be sharing soon also. For now I have to run, I'm meeting one of my dear friends for lunch, but you will be seeing more of me, either on my blog or yours!

Thanks for stopping in!
Susan

Tin Man

I'm dusting off all the cobwebs on my blog, yes it's been that long. Summer is way to short and I hate how it flies by so quick. I haven't been in my craftroom, a.k.a. No Boys Allowed room, since the end of April except to grab something off the printer. I think it's fair to say this...I am really mad at myself. Many of you know already about my arthritis issues in my neck and back. But I always push myself and try to keep positive. Then last year my shoulder started acting up. Again, stay positive and push through it. However, now I'm having issues with my hands. So much so that I have to get physical therapy. I mean really...the hands? I have had to give up so many of the things that I have always loved to do, so many things, but when I started crafting it was a godsend for me. Now I am trying to stay positive, and I do mean trying, but it is getting hard to stay upbeat when it seems like everything that makes life enjoyable is being taken from you. I am only 47 years old and am not one to watch life through a T.V. I feel like the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy came along to oil him. Just standing there, moving my eyes, and watching the world around me. I don't want to watch, I want to do. I just have to accept the fact that I can't "do" as much as I would like to. That's not going to be easy for me but it sure beats the other option of giving up. I will not give up my blog or crafting. I may be slow at it but I won't give up.

I do hope I haven't disappointed anyone that is kind enough to follow my blog. I also hope my friends know how much I value the friendships I have made on here. I may not be able to post as much as I would like or be able to visit your blogs as often but please know that this is in no way a reflection of me not caring or thinking of you. That is simply not true. I do read your blogs, even if you don't see a comment from me. It's just that every day I have to think about how I am going to use the little bit of time I get to do daily things before the pain sets in. Once that happens, that's it for me for the day. For an example, this post has taken me two hours to type and my hands are hurting. It stinks but that's just how it is for me. Next week I start the P.T. on the hands. I hope it helps. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for taking the time to read my rant here. I do hope you all understand as to why I have been so sporadic but please know that I do adore you all! :)

{{Big Hugs}}

Susan the Tin Man

I have winners!

Thanks to everyone that participated in Cely's 1st blogaversary blog hop. I hope you enjoyed yourself and became inspired to think pink!

Now I did promise to give some blog candy to not ONE but TWO hoppers and the winners are:

DeniseB who wrote:

Cute card... lots of fun details!

Congrats! Please email me your address and I will get the stamp set out to you!

AND

SHartl who wrote:

Really love your fun pop up card, especially the bright colors! So summery! I am a new follower!

Congrats! Please email me your address and I will get the 7 Gypsy's paper pack out to you!

Thanks again to Cely for having me in her hop!

Oh! Guess who planted her Heirloom tomatoes this past weekend? Yay! I also decided to plant some bush beans, green beans that is, not the kind with the cute talking dog in the commercial, and since I have no idea how to grow these any advice would be more than welcome! Anyone?

Take care!

Susan

Hawaii Paper Party Hop!

Aloha and welcome to Cely’s 1st blogaversary hop! Hawaii Paper Party just turned ONE! You should’ve gotten here from the wonderful Diana's blog at  http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/ .  If you are just tuning in and would like to start at the beginning, head on over to Cely’s blog to start hopping!

The theme of this hop is PINK, since it is Cely’s favorite color. We’ve all created some cute pink projects along the way. Don’t forget to visit, follow, and leave a comment on each post along the way and head on back over to Cely’s blog so you can win the GRAND PRIZE blog candy!

Now, on to my project:

I recently learned how to do a new way of making pop up cards so that is what I decided to make for today. I too love the color pink and when I think summer I think pink and yellow. So I thought I would make a pop up card and add a little silliness to it.




 Notice the little yellow arrow above the glass of lemonade? When you pull it up the card unfolds into this:



The "guide" is a reminder to chillax!

Now you might be thinking, "hmm, where would you sign this card? If you look at the top picture on the very bottom you will see a little tab that says pull and a little paper slides out to write whatever you would like. Also, the little glass of lemonade is actually attached to a paper clip that helps hold it closed. Here's another view:

I used the Savory cartridge to cut the pitcher and glass, Flower Shoppe for the daisy's and Lacy Labels for the sentiment, which was from two stamp sets actually. 


Guess what? I'm offering some candy! I will pick two winners on Monday and if you would like to play along just make sure to follow my blog and leave a comment. Make sure I can get a hold of you if you win! One person will win the fun stamp set and one person will win a mini book of Seven Gypsy's paper. (I also have a habit of throwing in extra stuff, what can I say, I like to be a giver!)

And a heads up, some of you may remember my post about being RAK'ed by Cely not long ago. Well, I will also be RAK'ing someone next week when I mail these out, so watch your mail if you've been a past winner of my blog candy! I'm hoping to make someones day!



Hope you enjoyed my project and thank you much for stopping in! Head on over to the very talented and fabulous Carri’s blog next!


Here is a list of all the stops, just in case you lose your way:


Cely – http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/

Lori – http://reflectionsfromgranny.blogspot.com/

Starla – http://youcouldbewishingonastar.blogspot.com/

Shirl – http://creationbyshirl.blogspot.com/

Dena – http://missdjones.blogspot.com/

Diana – http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

Susan – http://cricutandgrasshopper.blogspot.com/ <--- here! :)

Carri – http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/

Karen – http://haveascraphappyday.blogspot.com/

Cyndi – http://strwberizncream-cyndi.blogspot.com/

Happy blogaversary to our dear friend Cely!!! Happy hopping everyone, have a safe weekend!

Susan

Finally!

I finally get to play on my blog AND in my craftroom! Just in time too, the crazy train was on it's way to pick me up! (I'm a frequent rider so they know where I live). My son had four impacted wisdom teeth that needed to be removed last Friday so I've been very busy in the role of nurse. (Cindy, you would be proud). I've also become quite the expert in cooking potatoes as that is all he could, I mean would, really eat. And eat he did. I should have posted for you all to buy some stock in Or-Ida, I'm sure it skyrocketed in the last week! But he is doing really good now, the swelling is almost gone and all the stitches have fallen out but the biggest indicator that all is well is his consumption of Whoppers again.

Thanks for all the congrats on winning the blogaversary blog candy from Lisa at http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/ and a big thank you to Lisa for sending all the fun stuff to play with! Included with all the fun stuff was a Cricut cartridge called Four Legged Friends and OMG do I LOVE IT! I made this little card just for the fun of it and was it ever fun!

The stamp is from 7 Gypsy's



I am going to be having a LOT of fun with this cartridge. I think it was created just for me! Don't get me wrong, I like Create a Critter too but I like this one for all the fun looking dogs on it, and cats, and hamster, and frog..well you get the picture. Thank you again Lisa!

Now I have something really exciting to share...another blogaversary is coming up and there will be a fun blog hop involved! Cely at http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/ is celebrating her first year and I'm so honored to be a participant, so mark those calendars and join the fun!

Spread the word, add to your sidebar!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and I can't wait to see what you all have been working on! If you'll excuse me now, I just ate a bunch of these Reese's peanut butter eggs and I think I may be going into a sugar coma. ;)

{{Hugs}}

Susan

I've been RAK'ed! Will you be next?

What I am talking about is of course a Random Act of Kindness. However, this one was a RAK that was so ORIGINAL I had to shared it with all of you. PLEASE take a minute to read this post. When a blog friend goes above and beyond they deserve recognition!

To spare you all of my boring details I'm going to sum it up by saying this past week for me was one from H-E- double hockey sticks, if you know what I mean. (Which is why I haven't posted this week). By yesterday afternoon I was feeling spent, physically and emotionally. My son brings in the mail and there is a package for me, a package I had no idea was coming. I look at who sent it and I see it was from Cely, one of my blog friends. Not long ago Cely was a winner of my blog candy. Now Cely lives in Hawaii and as a joke I told her I needed to find a box big enough to hold a gift card and myself before I could send it out. Cely replied that maybe she could send Hawaii to me instead. Now fast forward about three or so weeks and I had completely forgotten about our exchange of emails. So I open the package Cely sent and would you believe, she did send Hawaii to me! Cely had sent me packages of a variety of Macadamia nuts, a package of an Hawaiian coconut pudding and the most beautiful card that she made. I can not even describe just how much that random act of kindness lifted my spirits! Not to mention my love of what she sent! Cely at http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/ , you my friend are one classy lady. Thank you so very much for your thoughtfulness. Please know that your random act of kindness meant so much to me. {{{{BIG HUGS}}}.

Cely at http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/ rocks!

Don't you love that picture of her? I crack up everytime I see it! I had to share this story with you all because I thought that this is such a wonderful thing we could all maybe start to do. Everytime I send out blog candy I hold on to the addresses in case I ever have to send them candy again. So in honor of Cely,  I am going to make it a point once a month to just send a blog buddy something out of the blue in hopes that it will do for that person what Cely did for me. It could be anything, a "thinking of you" card, anything really. The smallest gestures can have the biggest effect on others.

I hope you all have a great weekend and a wonderful Easter! Thanks for stopping in! And Cely, thank you again for turning my frown upside down!

Susan

We have a winner(s)

As promised I have a winner for the $10 gift card for Michael's and I also have a second place winner too! For those that stopped over at Lu's blog, thank you very much, from both of us. Many of you know that I have my pups, Kiki and Shadow, pick my winners but I'm thinking I may have to stop doing that. They have turned into the biggest diva's. I get them to pick a winner by jotting down on paper the names of those who participate. I then attach the paper to a dog treat, put them in a bowl and have each dog get a treat out. Easy right? Well, now they won't do it unless I give them a treat first. Then today I almost lost a finger when I tried to pull the paper out of Shadows mouth and my Kiki girl refused to let go! So I will have to come up with another way. Maybe I can train my parakeet Freddy Mercury.

On to the winners! I'm going to start with the runner up. Do you all remember this card I did last week?

I made this with that new Heidi Swapp Color Magic paper. (For more info look at my post titled Totally Fabulous). Well, I decided that for a runner up prize I would send someone some sample sizes of this fun paper.  Kiki picked the second name and the winner is.... Carrie ~abusybee!
(Ok, I do have to brag a little. This card won the first Element challenge over at http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/ . Thanks Chris! You all need to get in on this challenge, it's a lot of fun).

Now for the Grand prize winner of the $10 dollar gift card, (and some sample paper also)...

Congrats Colin! Shadow picked your name and proceeded to "play dead" in hopes of getting yet another treat.
Let's all give Colin and Carrie a nice round of applause...{{{clapping}}}! Email me at SNally1965(at)comcast(dot)net with your mailing addresses and I will have this out ASAP!

I do need to make a correction on something that was brought to my attention regarding my Pac-Man card. I posted that I thought Pac-Man was the Godfather of video games, but I was wrong. Bobby, I forgot all about Pong!! I stand corrected! ;)

Susan

Pac-man IS the man!

Well, I'm doing it again. I noticed two challenges this week, one that is looking for circles/squares ( at

http://kaboodledoodles.blogspot.com/ ) and one that is looking for circles/dots ( at http://shoppingourstash.blogspot.com ). So guess who is going to enter two challenges once again? I keep this up I might be able to enter three at once by summertime!

In creating this card I really wanted to think outside the box and make something to hopefully make you all laugh. Did it work? This card was so easy to make, as I'm sure you can tell. I used the cartridge George Basic Shapes for all of it.  Pac-man is a circle with a wedge cut in, Blinky the ghost is an oblong balloon image that I cut in half with zig zag scissors and I used the font on George to cut the letters L and I to form the lines. (It was the silhouette option). The sentiment is from the stamp set Playful Expressions from TCP Studio. Is that not the perfect sentiment? One little trick I did do was to add pop dots to only the right side of the ghost (and glued down the left side) so his little eyes would stay looking to the side. I did the same on Pac-Man in the upper left side so his eye would stay looking down. I just loved Pac-Man and if you ask me I would say he is the Godfather of video games!

SCORE!!

I want to also give a big shout out and thank you to my friend Sherrie at http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com/ for passing along the Versatile Blog award to me. I will post more on this on my next post but I did want Sheerie to know it's much appreciated!

I'm off to do a few home decor projects which I'm planning on sharing with you all, but only if they turn out good. We will see! lol!

{{Hugs}}

Susan

Fabulous card

Hello friends! If you are still interested in getting in on the $10 Michael's gift card drawing make sure to check out my last post, a winner will be picked next Friday!

Today I am going to brag about my "Fabulous" card. You may think I'm being a bit pretentious calling it fabulous but the reason I'm saying that is because of the fabulous paper I used to make it. Before I get into that, here is a card I am going to enter into two challenges:

 http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/  Challenge #1 Just Elements
http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com   Challenge #209 Anything Goes

(I'm branching out and entering two challenges at one time..unheard of for me!)

Now, see that stripped paper? That is from the new line from Heidi Swapp called Color Magic. What I find so fabulous about it is that you can make the paper any color you want. I sprayed the paper with Tattered Angels then simply wiped it off. The stripes grabbed the color and the rest just wiped off. You can use any color source, ink, glitter mist, paint, and this is the effect. The pack comes with four different designs so you have many options! The rest of the card consist of flowers from CTMH, that I colored to match, a MS punch, eyelets, stick pin, that is also CTMH, and some sticker butterflies that I have had laying around for ever. The challenge by Chris asked that no Cricut cuts be used, just elements. Being in the toddler stages of papercrafting I wasn't really sure what elements meant but I assume it's what I used. If it is wrong I do hope someone will tell me so I don't blog around looking like a big fool. (ha ha ha..I know, too late for that!) ;)

The next time I go to my favorite scrapbook store, Archivers, I am going to pick up another pack of this so I can do a blog candy giveaway. It is such a neat product I would love to have one of my blog buds try it! So stay tuned!

 I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Susan

Awards,project,chat and favor

And maybe a little something for the old sweet tooth, if ya know what I mean. More on that later. What a week it has been! My son passed his drivers test and is now a proud car owner. He already is learning the pain of auto repairs as something went clink on his way home from a friends house. That clink is going to be a very expensive repair it sounds like. Let's not talk about car repairs though, there is no fun in that subject. I was able to get a little project done! I like making gift card holders but this is the first one I made like this.

The ever talented Cely at http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/ was the winner of my last blog candy, which was a Michaels gift card, and I made this lovely holder/thank you card to send it in. The pink flower is actually a felt one that was sent in some blog candy I won last year. Now you know that strip of sticky stuff they put on the back of gift cards? I reused that to stick the gift card to the paper so when you pull the ribbon the card will pull out too. Then when she pulls off the gift card she will see the little note I wrote her. Cute huh?

Now I want to thank two very special friends who were so kind to think of me when passing along two very fun blog awards. Lisa, at http://lisa-scrappingspot.blogspot.com/ passed the Liebster award and Amy at http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com/ passed me the Versatile blog award. Ladies, thank you very much for thinking of me and my blog. I would like to pass these on to anyone reading this post that would like to beautify their own blogs by adding them. Just right click on the picture of the award and save to your pictures. When you are ready go into the design blog feature, click add a gadget and go to where it says add a picture. It's that easy! However, with the Versatile award you are to share 7 things about yourself. So that being said, here I go.

1. I'm usually late. Ask anyone. I can't help it, I was born missing the "on time" gene.
2. My favorite CD that I can't live without is Alice in Chains unplugged.
3. I get mad watching the show "What would you do" because I don't understand why more people don't help others.
4. My husband is one of those that wouldn't help. (He feels it's not his business. I say, WHATEVER!)
5. Judge Judy is my idol. (Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining!!) lol!!
6. I love Art Deco!
7. I must have the new Art Deco cricut cartridge!!!

Ok, now that I shared if you post this award to your blog please come back and tell me so I can read 7 things about you too.

Thank you Lisa!

Thank you Amy!

Now I have a really BIG favor to ask. As many of you know my dear friend Laurie, (or Lulu) is the person who introduced me to this wonderful world of paper crafting and blogging. Her creativity is non-stop. However, this past year has involved some big changes in her life, and her blog and crafting had to take a back seat. I am happy to report that she is back in the front seat and a rear'in to go. Can you all please stop over by her blog and send some encouragement her way? I know you all will love her as much as I do! Her blog is http://www.craftingwithlu.blogspot.com/.  Now if you do head over, leave a comment and tell her I sent you I will enter you into a blog candy contest for a $10 gift card from Michaels! I will run this contest for one week and announce a winner on Friday, March 30th. Let's show her how fabulous we all are!

Now I am off to start visiting with you all, finally! Yay! Thanks for stoppin in!

Susan

Irish I could dance!

My favorite thing about St. Paddy's day is watching the beautiful Irish dancers. As you can see that was my inspiration for this card. Full discloser here, I used four different Cricut cartridges to make this tiny dancer. I'll go into all that a bit later. Have you ever wondered why the arms are held firmly to the sides of Irish dancers? The answer to this question is as mysterious as a leprechaun, nobody really knows for sure. However, there are some interesting stories as to why. One common theory dates back to when England occupied Ireland. Word is that the English outlawed dancing in Ireland so to avoid being seen dancing from a window or behind a bar they kept their arms firmly down. Another theory is that Queen Elizabeth I visited Ireland and requested dancers to perform for her. In an attempt to make sure they wouldn't raise their arms to the queen they held them firmly to their sides. Of course we have to add a theory inspired by the Catholic faith, we are after all talking about Ireland. In an attempt to make sure males and females wouldn't hold hands while dancing they were required to hold stones in their hands. I'm sure there are many other explanations but these three are my favorites. Whatever the reason, we are all very fortunate to be able to watch these talented lads and lassies! A few years back I went to Ireland for a wedding and let me tell you, Irish dancing IS NOT EASY no matter how easy the dancers make it look!

So here's my card. I've decided to enter it in a challenge over at http://www.creativecutterroom.com/ which is having a St. Patrick's day theme. I have my little dancer doing her jig in front of the Irish flag, complete with shamrocks.

Erin Go Braugh!





Cartridges Used:

Legs/Hands - Joys of the Season (Ballerina)

Head/Jacket- Rock Princess

Dress - Forever Young

Crown/Dress designs- Storybook

Large Shamrock - Designers Calendar

I did her curls/ eyes and shoes with colored pencils and chalk. I also added some gems/ stickles and liquid pearls. This card took some imagination but I just love the way it turned out. I would love to see a cartridge with this image on it someday! So there you have it!

Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone for all the sweet blogaversary comments last week. You all are just such fabulous friends! Just a quick note, my friend Lisa at http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/ is celebrating her blogaversary also so if you haven't stopped over make sure you do! She is giving away an amazing blog candy package, check it out!

Happy blogaversary Lisa!

And I didn't forget about my blog candy winner! If you commented last week you were entered to win a $10 dollar gift card from Michaels. My hubby Patrick, or St. Patrick as he is known this week, picked number/comment 24.....Cely! Yay Cely, email your address to me and I'll get the gift card out, congrats girl! ;)

Thanks for stopping in!

Susan

SNally1965 (at)  Comcast (dot)  net

Blog year in review, MAJOR shout outs and candy

** Stop in, chances are high your blog is getting a shout out here!!

Today marks the one year blogaversary of Cricut and Grasshopper and to celebrate I'm going to give a lot of shout outs, and give one lucky friend some blog candy!

This fun package includes: Cricut "make you own" embossing kit, stamp, stickers, gems and much more!

One year ago today I decided to start a blog after months of encouragement from my friend Laurie, whom I often refer to as Teacher, which makes me Grasshopper. (For those young'uns here..this was a common phrase used in a old t.v. series called Kung Fu. It's star was David Carradine, better known to you young'uns as Bill from the movie Kill Bill- which may I add IS one of my favorite movies!) So... the first thing when I started my blog was to enter a card at a challenge over at http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/ . To my surprise I was chosen as a Top Five Designer! The thrill that gave me would only compare to if I won the Powerball, honestly, it was that good for me. But then it only got better, people actually visited my blog, and a few even started following! After that, I was hooked. Before long I won my first blog candy, did my first bloghop, participated in blog hops, was a featured guest designer, started doing my own giveaways, etc, etc.. But the thing that hooked me more than all of that was the wonderful people that are into the same interests that I am. I would like to dedicate my post today to all of you who take time out of your busy lives to stop in and leave me such encouragement and kindness. I have loved and appreciated ever single comment left and I hope I have been just as kind and encouraging to you in return. Now, how about some shout outs? The following lists contains all the people who have played a big part in the life of Cricut and Grasshopper, and myself.

Laurie (Teacher): Laurie left the very first comment. She is such a dear friend.

Barb at http://bugbites411.blogspot.com/. Barb was the first from the "outside" world to comment.

Jennie at http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com/. Jennie was my first "outside" follower.

The gals at http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/ . My first challenge win. 

Mari at http://madebymomo.blogspot.com/ . My first link up party.

Kim at http://www.justwordz.ca/ . The first blog candy I won!

Jo at http://joboogie.typepad.com/ . The first blog hop involving Cricut and Grasshopper.

Cindy at http://www.cindysantics.blogspot.com/ . The first winner of my blog candy.

Chris at Chris - http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/ . My custom blog designer, she rocks!

Next is a list of my blog candy winners in the last year:

Melissa -http://createdbysunshinehoneybee.blogspot.com/

Lisa - http://indymermaid.blogspot.com//
Cindy - http://cindysantics.blogspot.com/
Christine -http://pickulblog.blogspot.com//
Chris - http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Pam - http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com
Cathy - http://happyscrapin1.blogspot.com/
Kimberli - http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/

I hope you enjoyed your candy ladies! (I hope I didn't forget anyone).

This list is a shout out to all the people that made blogging so fun for me this last year. Thanks everyone!


Lisa - http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Pam - http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com/
Audrey- http://cuteandsome.blogspot.com/
Kim - http://crazyaboutscrapin.blogspot.com/
Amy - http://amyscraftingspace.blogspot.com/
Cindy - http://cindysantics.blogspot.com/
Melissa -http://CreatedbySunshineHoneyBee.blogspot.com  
Linda- http://cardsbylinda.blogspot.com/
Maria - http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/
Chris - http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Cathy - http://happyscrapin1.blogspot.com/
Kimberli - http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/
Bobby - http://bitsandpiecesdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lulu - http://lillulu13.blogspot.com/
Colin - http://crimsoncricut.blogspot.com/
Cely - http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/
Jackie - http://inspired-by-scrapping.blogspot.com/
Jessica - http://edoggsugarlipsandprincessbuttercup.blogspot.com/
Angie - http://crazyscraplady-angelpie.blogspot.com/
Tracy - http://owlbecraftin.blogspot.com/
Pendra - http://pendrasplace.blogspot.com/
Terri - http://twopinkpeas.blogspot.com/
Sandy - http://papertransformer.blogspot.com/
Amy - http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com/
Rinne - http://rinnesbliss.blogspot.com/
Judy - http://scrappinana.blogspot.com/
Sherrie - http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com/
Carri - http://doubleclickconnections.blogspot.com/
Ms. V. - http://melovebonoandscrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Karen - http://www.thebuzybug.com/
Becka - http://creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
Anna Bee- http://annabeedesigns.blogspot.com/
Beckie - http://justbcreativecrazy.blogspot.com/
Julie - http://jk-littlebitofbling.blogspot.com/

Mich - http://scrapbookingsos.blogspot.com/
Miranda - http://www.nanasscrapspot.com/ .
Kristen - http://sierrababy08.blogspot.com/
Faye - http://fayescrafticorner.blogspot.com/
Trish - http://trishandtreasure.blogspot.com/
Rexanne - http://ibecircled.blogspot.com/
Vicki - http://bountifulblessings2u.blogspot.com/
Rebecca - http://craftingmisfit.blogspot.com/
Katie - http://katieoscreations.blogspot.com/

You are all rockstars in my book and I'm very thankful to have you in my blogging family! Big family hugs now {{{{HUGS}}}}!

If your name is listed, or you have been a follower this last year, and you leave a comment you will be entered to win a $10 Michael's gift card one week from today, which so happens to be the Blogaversary of my dear friend Lisa at  http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/ !  If you're a new follower, let me know and I will add your name to the drawing then follow you right back!

Now for the blog candy pictured above. The winner of my RAK/Blogaversary candy as chosen by Ms. Kiki is......

Kim - http://crazyaboutscrapin.blogspot.com/

Congrats Kim! Email me your address at SNally1965"at"comcast"dot"net and I'll get this to you lickety split! OMG this is a long post! I hope I didn't forget anyone in my shout outs. If I did you have my full permission to shout AT me and there will be no hard feelings on my end. Many thanks to you all for the fun this past year and I'm looking forward to what this next year will bring!

Susan

CCC card and some news!

I have a card done for the Christmas card challenge and if blogger cooperates I might even meet the deadline to enter it. I told myself I would do my best to keep up with this challenge, which is one card a week, and by the time December rolls around I will have 52 Christmas cards ready to go. Now, I'm not perfect so I did slack off a few weeks and then a few times I did get a card done but missed the deadline. I'll put a picture up towards the end of my post to prove this statement! As it stands now I have 9 cards done and for me that is nothing short of a miracle. This week the gals at http://christmascardchallenges.blogspot.com/ inspired us to incorporate music into our cards. Here's mine:

My first time using eye-lets!

I have been wanting to use this paper for a while now. There is some paper that is just to pretty to cover up so I decided to add something to bring out the beauty of the paper.

 Here are the pictures of the two cards I made that didn't meet the deadline.

This was a sketch challenge

This was the flourish challenge

On a final note, this Tuesday marks my one year Blogaversary. A year already, wow, time went much too fast. My beautiful assistant, Ms. Kiki, will be picking a winner for my blogcandy. What is it you ask? Stop in Tuesday and find out! Have a great weekend everyone!

Susan

Cupcakes rock!

It's been awhile since I entered a challenge but I just loved this card I made. I saw the challenge at http://celebratetheoccasion.blogspot.com/ this week was to make a b-day card with bling. As it turns out I did make one for my friend Sarah, who is having a b-day on March 3rd. So I thought why not.



Sarah is the sweetest person, Happy B-Day to her!
The inside of the card has a little pouch that I put a gift card in for her

A simple but fun card, with a touch of bling. The stamp was from CTMH, the cupcake from Rock Princess. I have a very unhealthy love affair with cupcakes. I've never met one that I didn't fall madly in love with!

Thanks for stopping in!

Susan



Green Blend Award

Thank you Lisa and Pam!



My very dear friends Lisa at http://indymermaid.blogspot.com and Pam at http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com were thoughtful enough to send this very special Green Blend Award to me. Ladies, I thank you so very much! I absolutely adore these two ladies and to have them pass this to me is really such an honor. I began my blog almost a year ago, March 6th to be exact. In April of 2011 I was blessed to have Lisa stop in and I was blessed again in July, 2011 when Pam visited. Since then we have become such good friends and I hope they both know how much they mean to me. Ladies, thank you for the award but more important, thank you for your friendship. {{HUGS}}!!!

Here's a little info on this Green Blend Award:

This award was created by Beckie of Just B Creative Crazy.
"The “Green” portion represents how we should be kind to one another and help one another…such as being “Green” and helping our environment. Reissue the kindness that someone once gave to you as an infant blogger. Recycle the ideas you have learned or invented to pass along to up and coming crafters. Reduce the frustrations of wanting to a blogger with magnitude."

What a wonderful concept! When I started my blog I wasn't just green, I was every shade of green available, from forest green to baby puke green and all in between! It was pathetic and I really wanted to give it up. But I didn't. I kept pushing and once I started figuring it out I soon learned how many wonderful people there are in this world.

Here are the terms under which this “Green Blend Award” are to be given:

1. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has helped you develop your blog in any and all ways.

2. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has cheered you along in your blog building, craft advancing career.

3. This award is for any co-blogging friend who always stops by and is kind to you. You can count on them to always be one of the great comments at the end of your post.

4. This award is to be given to 3 to 5 Blends whom you feel meet the listed requirements.

5. Create a post with the terms of use and publish your Blends of choice.

6. Blend of choice may copy the award from your blog and proudly post it on theirs.

7. Blend of choice may continue the kindness by issuing this award to keep the circle forever growing.

I would like to pass this on to those that continue to inspire me and are there for me. It's my way of saying thank you.

Lisa at  http://indymermaid.blogspot.com .
I have to bounce this back to Lisa, she rocks! She has been a HUGE inspiration to me and a HUGE pain in the rear to my husbands wallet! LOL! I hope to be as creative as she is when I grow up! (Even though I'm probably older). Lisa makes me so proud. We started our blogs around the same time and to see how far she has come reminds me to believe I can do it too!

Pam at http://craftycards4u2.blogspot.com .
I'm a bouncing again. Pam is amazing! We have so much in common I sometimes wonder if we are somehow related. If so, then I could be related to that cute little grandbaby of hers with the cute smile and I could maybe be an honorary grandmom at last! ;) Pam also reminds me to keep my faith and not let any physical distractions get me down.

Audrey at http://cuteandsome.blogspot.com .
My fellow Chi town girl! I found Audrey during a blog hop back in April, 2011 and have been a huge fan ever since. She makes the most beautiful and unique projects and inspires me to think outside the box. (But can she make beautiful boxes, omg!) Audrey reminds me to keep my sense of humor when times are tough because laughter is the best medicine! And knee mails do help! ;)

Cindy at http://cindysantics.blogspot.com .
I stumbled on to Cindy's blog back in early April, 2011 and was so impressed with her copic marker skills. She has inspired me to set aside the Cricut and do more projects that involve coloring stamped images. She also has the same sense of humor as I do, perhaps inappropriate to some, but so damn funny to us!! (You know what I'm talking about Cindy...lol)! She also shares recipes from time to time and in doing so she reminds me to remember I don't always have to blog about crafts.

Kim at http://crazyaboutscrapin.blogspot.com .
I started to blog with Kim in March, 2011 and have just loved seeing how talented she is with layouts. I remember a post I put up way back and I was saying how hard it is for me to handle my tools sometimes because of my shaky hands. Kim gave me some advise on a tool to pick up that would help and I thought that was so nice of her to let me know about that. We had only blogged together once and she was willing to help someone she didn't even know. That's my kind of person! Kim inspires me to do more layouts and this year I plan on doing just that!



These next two people are new friends and they both inspire me.

Jessie at http://edoggsugarlipsandprincessbuttercup.blogspot.com .
Jess and I get together to chat and create. She has also encouraged me to work with eyelets, and I'm really liking it!

Colin at http://crimsoncricut.blogspot.com .
Colin is so talented and does some of the most cutest cards. He inspires me to use all those Cricut cartridges I have! He makes things that I never would have thought of, but it comes so easy to him. He is also such a nice person and a new blogger, same as I was a year ago. ;)

Alright, alright, I know this was super long. But I want you all to know just how much I appreciate you and I am so thankful to have such great friends that not only help me make my blog fun, but also my life. Thank you!

Susan

Happy Monday!

What a fantastic retreat last week! I mean really, what is better that hanging out with close friends and crafting together? There's just something about hanging out with good friends for a few days that nourishes the soul. If you don't go on any crafting retreats I would highly recommend you really give it thought. It's almost as if you are able to rediscover who "you" are. I think we are all guilty of forgetting who we are, with being a spouse, mother, employee, etc.., but being around friends you are able to reconnect. Well, that's just how I feel. Call me crazy, (it wouldn't be the first time). ;)

The place we went to is called The Sunflower Stuga, located in Stillwater, MN.

http://www.sunflowerstuga.com

The craftroom

Click on the link to see more pictures of the inside. 

I would recommend this place to anyone. It's very clean and has a well stocked craftroom. The picture above doesn't show it but there were around 20 cartridges available for the Cricut provided along with mats. There are also numerous punches and scissors, stamps (wooden), gel pens, even paper if needed. The best part was the amount of space. Of course there was only three of us this time but we have been there before with 5 people and there was plenty of room. The lighting is fantastic too. There are huge windows that face west so it is nice and bright, and warm! (Sometimes too warm, but that could have just been my hot flashes).

So this year the retreat was attended by myself and my good friends Laurie, a.k.a. Lulu, (a.k.a. Teacher) and Sarah, a.k.a. Lola. We have names for our scrapping alter egos. In case you were wondering, mine is Sisi. (I told you there is something about being with friends!) I thought I would share some of the projects we worked on. First off, Lulu did so many beautiful layouts of her children. Check out a few of them:

She does such good work!

Sorry, you may want to tilt your head to see it!





Isn't Lulu talented? She also did a gorgeous layout with photos from a trip to the zoo. My friend Sarah also got a ton of projects done. I didn't get the pictures yet but when I do I hope to show you this beautiful childrens book she put together using the Create a Critter cartridge. It was so cool! She is giving it to someone she knows that is having a baby. (Sarah, if you read this...please send me the pics!) I really want you all to see this. Now as for me, I did manage to get a few things done also. The first was a layout I made for our own scrapbook, to remember the retreat.

Three very happy scrappers!

(Left to right) Lulu, Sisi, Lola



I also made a card to enter in the Kaboodle Challenge but of course I didn't get it entered. I wasn't real thrilled with it any way but I thought it was a cute sentiment for a pregnancy announcement card. The challenge was to make something involving cooking/baking.

The little oven door opens to reveal a bun in the oven! ha ha



Now for anyone wondering what did I do with my faithful assistants, Kiki and Shadow, while I was gone, well, I left them in care of the daddy. Kiki was ok, Shadow, not so well. Listen to the demonic noise coming out of my sweet Shadow. I've never heard this before out of him. My son took this video a half hour after I left for the retreat. But beware, it will tug at those heartstrings!

Is that not pitiful? Well, he is ok now that I'm home. Of course he won't leave me alone but he is fine. I had a great time at the retreat and I can't wait until the next one. Thanks for stopping in everyone! I will be heading over to visit shortly to see how you are all doing. The weather people are calling for in excess of a foot of snow starting tomorrow so any prayers you can send my way to prevent this would be mucho appreciated! You all have a fab day! Oh, and I still plan on doing my RAK giveaway so thanks to those who left comments last week!

Susan

An Award and a Party invite

Before I get to the party I wanted to thank two very special ladies that passed on the Liebster Blog award to me. Tracy at http://owlbecraftin.blogspot.com/ and Cathy at http://happyscrapin1.blogspot.com/ were kind enough to think of my blog when passing this award on. Ladies, a BIG Thank You! Here's a little info on the award:

"Liebster" is German for "Dearest". The award is a "Share the love arrangement", given to inspirational bloggers with less that 200 followers.

Here's the to do list for any of the Liebster Blog Award recipients.

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who presented you the award .
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

Anyone that has followed my blog knows I have a special place in my heart for new bloggers. With that being said, I hope you all will stop over at these blogs and follow. A moment of encouragement could mean a lifetime of inspiration! (Hey, that would be a cool sentiment on a card, wouldn't it?)

Here are my five choices (in no particular order) with less that 200 followers.

Colin at http://crimsoncricut.blogspot.com/ .
Anna at http://annabeedesigns.blogspot.com/ .
Jessie at http://edoggsugarlipsandprincessbuttercup.blogspot.com/ .
Judy at http://scrappinana.blogspot.com/ .
Jackie at http://inspired-by-scrapping.blogspot.com/ .

Congrats winners! If you need help putting this award on your blog let me know, I'd be more than happy to help you!

Please take that moment to stop over and check out their blogs, they are all very talented and I promise you will be glad you did!

Now on to the party! I should clarify that, it's really a scrapbook retreat that I attend yearly with a few very dear friends of mine. Who am I kidding? It's a party, lol! Well, the party/retreat is from tomorrow through Thursday. I would like to invite you all to join the party via my blog! If all goes right, meaning the wireless connection works, I am planning on blogging while I am there.  If you see a new post from me stop on in and leave a comment, there will be candy to be won! Be warned though, three days away from home with just the girls things do seem to get a little bit crazy, in a good way though!

Again, thank you Tracy and Cathy for the award, it's much appreciated! Hope to see you all join the fun with me this week!

Hugs!

Susan