Blogaversary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well this is very exciting! Not only will I be celebrating my 300 follower mark shortly (I'm on 299 as I write) but it's my One year blogaversary!! Yay!! (or will be when this candy closes. )I'm always one step ahead of myself. lol

You all have been so good to me in the last year that I decided to give a bit of sugar back.

 You all are the best!  

As I hate having only one winner, I'm not going to do that to you. 

We're going to have 12 winners!!

Can I get a "You ROCK, girlfriend?" LOL

The Grand Winner will receive:

Cuttlebug borders embossing folders

Set of  5  Wooden Stampin Up "Made By" stamps

abc embellies

30 hand crocheted flowers

 (It may not look like much but  let me tell you something. Those flowers were not made in a day!!)

  

There will be three more winners who will recieve 15 hand crocheted flowers each. 

And three more winners will receive one of the following three prizes:

In no particular order:

 a $20 Gift Certificate for Mo's Digital Pencil!!!

Can I get a Yay!!!

(this card was generously donated by Mo herself. Make sure you're registered at Mo's new shop. .If you win it will make it all the easier!)

 a $15 Certificate for Phindy's Place! 

Can I get an oink!!

(I did buy this one and the next one. See, I'm not a total Scrooge)

And ( 1) $15 Gift Certificate for A Day For Daisies!

Can I get a quack!!

(You'll understand soon enough..)

 And if  all this wasn't fun enough, as an added fun prize, Tammy (ADFD owner and artist) has offered the freebie below for the first five correct riddle answers on the comments of this post,  and I know you won't believe this but I picked it out myself... lol

AWWWWWWW

OK, so what do you have to do?

Nothing! Good grief, haven't you done enough already? 

OK, well one or two things in the form of 

FAQ:

Do I need to become a follower? No! My policy is "take no prisoners". However, I hope you like my work enough to become one of your own free will. I am proud to have the most wonderful group of followers anyone could ask for !

Do I need to post this candy on my sidebar? No! I ,too, am anal about my blog design and don't expect you to litter your blog with pics of my beautiful blog candy. But if you do decide to decorate your walls by hanging up a picture you're very sweet indeed!.:-)

Do I need to leave a comment?  Boy you are stingy aren't you? Hello? How else am I supposed to contact you if you win?! Yes! You need to leave a comment and enter your name in Inlinkz ! Why both? Because INlinkz is numbered which is very helpful for me, but it has been known to go walking at times so as a safety net , do both!  

*Now, the riddle you need to answer to win  one of the five freebie duck digis from ADFD:

What looks like a duck, walks like a duck , smells like a duck and quacks like a duck?

*CLUE: It's not a goose, so don't even go there!!

~A note about the gift certificates: I decided to promote my three favorite stamp companies. If you're not regular customers already, you need to be. These artists ROCK!

I get nothing for saying this. Its just the truth, plain and simple.

*Please be sure to link to your blog so I can find you!

Have Fun everyone and once again:

Thank You!!!!!!!!!

* This post will stay at the top of my blog for one week, after which it will be moved to the top of my sidebar. On the official date of my blogaversary, May 13th, I will close the blog candy and the winners will be announced that weekend (the 14th or 15th).

Tornado

This picture says it all, doesn't it?

A few pics from the local newspaper.....

It missed us by less than 1 mile.

Sub-development where some of  our friends lived :

And our other friend's house. her and her two grandkids were inside but survived without a scratch:

Lowes Home Improvement below 2 pics:

And a couple of short videos...

We're all ok though......

Sentimental Sundays~ Spring

Hi Everyone!

Today's challenge at Sentimental Sundays is Spring!

I have chosen this lovely digi from Arielle's Wax Fruit Company and paired it with a sentiment from TLC. Perfect combo!

Ive used prismacolors to color the image, nesties to frame it and K&Co and DCWV papers.

A close up:

So that's it!

Thanks for coming by! 

* this post was written earlier and I'm so sorry it was late guys. I'm at my friend Stacey's house right now getting a shower and checking my emails.

We had a tornado rip through our town yesterday afternoon, touching down about a mile from our house, destroying everything in its path. Several of our friends have lost their homes and their neighborhoods are irrecognizable.. THankfully they're ok as are we.

I won't have power for at least another day possibly more, but please feel free to comment as you're able as i will enjoy reading them later.

On a sad note, my 20 eggs that were due to hatch have all died without their being power in the incubator. I was worried about them anyway as I wasn't hearing much action from them but after yesterday all was silent and by today they had begun to stink.

I had the difficult decision to make of waiting a bit longer or giving then a decent burial. I chose to "bury " them as they were overdue and would likely have been crippled if any had survived, which was highly unlikely. I did tap on the eggs that I had heard peeping from just in case, I didn't know what I would have done if they were still there but I was debating taking them out of the shell and keeping them warm in my bra. Not very promising but desperate times call for desperate measures. In the end there was no response so...

anyway, I know people around me have lost everything and so it doesn't feel right bellyaching about my duck eggs but if I said I wasn't devastated I would be lying.

That's where it stands.

I hope to be around your blogs in a few days when all is back to "normal"..

My love to you all.

Phindy's Place ~ Purple and Teal

OK, well this is one of those cards that I just want to bury under several posts (which means it will probably win lots of prizes cos I hate it so much.) If it wasn't for the fact that I made it for our challenge today at Phindy's Place which, by the way is:

Purple and Teal

I wouldn't even have blogged it.

Arrggh I don't even want to look at it, everything about it is all wrong , but nevermind, all will be well when I bury it. lol

So the least said about this the better, but here's my supplies:

The papers are K&Co and the image is Phindy. Punch is Martha Stewart and the flower is my own. Colors are prismacolors, ok you're dismissed! lol

Dresser Card

Hi Guys!

I'm pulling double duty today, combining two DT projects.

The challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil is:

The Start Of Something New

And the challenge at Dutch Dare is:

Fancy Folds.

I thought they worked well together!

I've seen a few people make these cute dresser cards, one of the cutest being Doreen's. You can find her cute card and tutorial here.

My card today is based on her design but changed in measurement to make a 6x6 card. (my fave size)

You can see my clumsy template at the bottom of this post if you'd like the option to make a larger card yourself. Otherwise, follow Doreen's!

My image is Mo Manning  colored with prismacolors and the papers are DCWV.

Sentiment: TLC

My lighting is rather bad, it looks greenish here, but its not in real life. 

You'll have to trust me on that one!

A little close up detail:

And the template I whipped up.

(I will put this in my tutorial section for later)

OK, I think that's it!

Thanks for coming by for a visit!

Challenges:

Bearly Mine - - Inside Out - decorate inside of card/project

Karen's Doodles Netherlands - - Anything Goes

Ladybug Crafts Ink TLT Challenge - - Celebration (new baby)

Paper Take Weekly -  Dimension somewhere On Your Card

Make it Monday with Kraft Outlet - must include Kraft cardstock - bunnies, baskets, or babies

Stamp-N-Doodle - - Girly

Catered Crop - lots of options, see main challenge blog (Kraft, PP, scallops)

One Stitch At A Time - New Baby.

Paper Sundaes - -  Childhood Memories.

Stamping Scrapping Central - - Rain/Water (bath)

Oh, and mark your calendars!

Ewe Are My Sunshine

Hi Guys!

Todays card was a "just for fun " card, something I haven't done in  a really long time and it felt so good!

I've been "collecting" images for ages from several digi companies, A Day For Daisies being one of them and it seems that I never get around to coloring them and making them up. I want to change that!

This image above is a freebie on the ADFD site right now so there's no excuse not to join in their challenge this week which is stitches. So how easy peasy is that!

Oh hey, check out that flower! Its a new cuttlebug die/quilling kit available now and I really need some quiet time to sit down and figure it all out ,but theres a few kits available with a variety of flowers you can make using a combination of dies. Pretty cool!

The Recipe:

Image: A Day For Daisies

Colors: Prismacolors

Paper: DCWV

Flower: handmade using Cuttlebug die

Sentiment: TLC

Thanks for looking, and I hope you all have a great week!

Some challenges this fits:

A Day For Daisies : In Stitches

Make It colorful: Coloring Sky

2 Sisters - Spring

Shannon's Sentiments  - - Include an Animal

Fairy Fun Fridays -  nursery rhyme.(mary had a little lamb)

C.R.A.F.T. - Animals/pets.

Paper Play -  Critters galore.

Color Throwdown - color*

Sweet Sketch -Sketch* (turned upside down)

Paper Sundaes - -  Childhood Memories.

Catered Crop - - lots of options,( I chose distressing/ buttons and sewing)

Simon Says: Distressing (spring colors?)

Pile It On ~ (GD) Say It In Style (Sentiments with Bling)

Hi Guys!

This month I am Guest designing for Pile It On and the theme this week is:

Say It In Style!

They would like us to bling up our sentiments. So I decided to make this gift box card which I saw on Randi's awesome blog and she was good enough to make a tutorial for us too which is how I came to make one myself.

And a look inside...

I distressed the whole thing and embossed and blinged it.

I really think this creation needs to be filled with choccies!!

So that's it!

I hope you like it. :-)

A note about Challenges:
As you know I don't usually enter so many challenges. I hate to appear "desperate". lol But part of being a GD member of Pile It On is to enter your project in as many challenges as possible. Thus, the list!

To save time/energy I copy and pasted from feline playful so the links would already be there. Ingenious! Why didn't I think of it before?

Pixie Dust Studio -  - Lace it up.
Shelly's Images - flowers (especially daisies), bling and/or stitching.
Cooking It Up With Katie -- die cut, scallops, monochromatic

Crafts and Me - glitter

Creative Cottage - - white/blank space
Anything Goes Challenge -- Pearls
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations -  Pick 3: Ribbons, Flowers, Pearls, Glitter, Button, Charm.

The Stamping Boutique -  - 2nd W - Hand Made Flowers

CCEE Stampers -  -  Add a doily die and/or lace.

• Charisma Cardz - –   Weddings/anniversaries.

• Crafty Sentiments -  SIO -  Glitter.
• Crafty Catz - - Embossing.
• Card Makin' Mamas - - embellish it.
• Stamp Man - craft type – Embossings.
• Tellen's Place - - Sparkle & lace.
• Wags 'n Whiskers -  - Ribbons & Pearls.
• Mami Doodles -  – Use a punch or die cut.
• Alphabet Challenge -  "W" is for white with only one other colour.
• Catch The Bug - -  Four + Layers
• Crafty Emma - Monochromatic

Phindy's Place ~ Spring

So how cute is this image, right? Phindy's done it again.

This is just the sweetest thing evah! I colored the image with Prismacolors and snagged a perfect sentiment from Phindy's buddy Paulette over at TLC

The papers are all DCWV

And a close up!

Oh! And I didn't even tell you what the theme is this week at Phindy's did I?

 It's SPRING 

(on looking at the challenge site I see most have done Easter, in fact, I may have totally got this theme wrong, as its listed as Easter on the site; but as I don't celebrate Easter, Spring works. I think!I'm sure someone will tell me , anyway!)

and as you know, you can use any image in your project but if you use a Phindy image you can enter twice for double the chance of winning!

So go for it!
I hope to see you around!
Thanks so much for all your words of encouragement, you guys just make my day over and over again!!
Some challenges to play with:
Craft Us Crazy: Spring
Do you stack Up: Follow the yellow brick road
Eat Sleep Stamp: Sketch
Pennys Paper Crafty: 1 Image 2 embellies ( buttons and ribbon) 3 DP (I actually have 4 . :-/)

DP2 Challenge ~ How Does Your Garden Grow

So! Today's card was a conglomeration of kinds. I saw a really cool card on Doreen's blog where she utilized a fence as the front of her card and just thought it was the most awesomist thing. She has a pattern on there too. I adjusted her pattern  somewhat  to fit my card and image requirements, but the inspiration is hers. . And as it turned out,  this project is perfect for this week's theme at Mo's Digital Pencil:

How Does Your Garden Grow

I grabbed my scraps and made a stitched landscape for the view beyond the fence which was quite fun!

The fence I used for a board to write a message on later.

And the lovely Mo Manning image below, colored with Prismacolors:

OOps! OMGoodness! I forgot to color the hinges! How did that happen?

You don't see that, ok? lol

So I hope you can play along with us!

I would like to play with:

Amber's Crafts and Things: Use a new technique (fence card)

Creative Cottage: white space (the fence)

Freshly Brewed: Flowers

Your next stamp Challenge: Stitching

A Spoonful Of Sugar: Tons Of Texture

Going Grey with Scrap Creations: Pick three flowers/buttons/ribbons

The Stamping Boutique: Handmade flowers

Tuesday Throwdown: Spring

Happily Scrappin: Shaped card (does this count??)

Heart to Heart: Spring has Sprung

There's magic in the air: Lets use flowers

Crazy Challenge: Just add flowers

Skipping Stones Design: Sketch:

New Phindy Babbie Born~ Messy Babbie

Hi Guys!

Well! Another "wee babbie" has arrived in Phindyville! Meet "Messy Babbie".

This baby was really a lot of fun to work with, I borrowed some DCWV paper from my daughter's "Kitchen Stack" and sewed around the image one or two images to make an applique.

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. Kind of a nice touch.

The bowl reminded me of the old stoneware ones that have started to be reproduced in nicer colors.

Here's a close up of the babbie herself in all her messy glory!

And the inside! (See, I am completing the insides of my cards now and for once I am showing you! Proof! I kind of have to show you since the sentiment is on the inside. :-)

And by the way, if you'd like the sentiment, just click, right click and save to your computer. Nothing fancy.

So I hope you get a chance to hop over to Phindy's shop and see what else she has going on, there's always something you're bound to love!

I would like to play with:

CES: Children

Wee memories: fave color scheme (pastels)

If the shoe fits : sewing

Res Q Challenge: use your corner rounder

Off the wall: color scheme:

Corrosive challenge: Pastels

 Cupcake Craft Challenge:Comedy Rocks (see sentiment)

Digi Design House: Stitches

Kabodle DOodle:Girly

My partner IN Crafting Crime: 3 or more layres

Sentimental Sundays ~ Water

Hi Guys!

I am much happier with today's card than Friday's card so you all can look at this one as much as you like. lol

This week's challenge at Sentimental Sundays is:

Water

So I have chosen a real cute Teddy Bo digi . I love the imagination of it.

The brads I think are Recollection but I can't rightly recollect for sure. :-)

The papers are assorted but mostly S.E.I

And the coloring is done with Prismacolors.

A close up. I do love how his fur came out. For this image I used very little blending solution (actually I think I only used it in the sky), which allows you to keep the texture and grain, perfect for images like this one.

Ok!

 So I will see you around the streets of Blogville!

 And in the meantime I would like to play with:

OCL Challenge: Color inspiration

One Stop Craft: Dots and spots ( in paper)

Card Ideas: Spots

Crazy for challenges: sketch (turned upside down)

Card Makin Mamas: Embellish it

Digis with attitude: Anything goes

Stamping Vacation: Pick 3 Circle, star brad, thread

Phindy's Place~ Humor / Cafe Chat

Well when I colored this picture in I was thinking of all sorts of things these ladies might be saying....

"Can you believe what we used to wear? I wouldn't be caught DEAD in that now!" lol

Isn't that how it goes?

The styles of today become the fashion disasters of tomorrow?

Anyway, the theme this week at Phindy's is

Humor

And I wish I could laugh at the hassle this card threw me while I was making it! First, I picked out my paper (always a mistake in my book!) and then when I was all finished coloring in my image to fit my paper, it just wouldn't meld. The paper was too busy. So back to square one, looking for paper to match my image. Finally I decided on just a strip of this striped paper. It ties it in without being too busy.

In saying that, I find the card a tad boring....

Whatever!

I hope you can play along with us this week!

Hugs all!

A few challenges below:

Cute Card Thursday: Couples

Scrapbook Sisters: Special lady (friend)

The Paper Variety: Create own 1-2-3- recipe/ 1 image, 2 ribbons, 3 mats

Bearly Mine: Sketch (turned sideways)

OOh La La: Special Friend