MORE BLOOMS- THIS TIME IN SATIN!

My "Flower Frenzy" continues, as I am engrossed in hand making my flowers now!

Don't get me wrong- I am not out of love with my Primas and other gorgeous purchased floral beauties, it's just that I am having so much fun discovering how to and making my own flowers now as well.

Here's what I made that I want to share with you tonight:

I have seen these on the internet a lot: on blogs, on YouTube, for sale on ETSY. And I can see why! They are loads of fun to make, and so, so pretty! I will tell you, I have no shame. I have totally copied them. But hopefully I will be able to start making them more "my own". I have a few ideas swirling around in my head now as I am getting the hang of these.

I don't really feel as if I have "perfected" them enough to my liking yet, though. But I couldn't wait to share them with you anyway! I do think I am headed in the right direction, at least. The more I make them, the better they are coming out. But isn't that pretty much true of anything? ;-)

I wanted to take some really close up shots for you in hopes that you could get a feel for the softness and texture of these. I love the lace layers and the little hints of netting.

When I heated the fabric, it caused it to burn a little. I kind of like that look. But I am going to make some without the singed edges as well.

And making the stick pins to add to them was super fun. I just bought some great vintage beads at an estate sale that I plan to use on my next "bouquet".

I also love using feathers and sequins in them. Reminds me of the "flapper era"!

So there you have my latest floral creations. I'd love to hear what you think of them and if you have made any yourself.

Thanks for stopping by!

FLOWER FRENZY!

Well, anyone who knows me knows I totally have an obsession with flowers. Seriously, it's bad. And when I discovered Primas, well let me just say, there should be a 12- step program for this. I remember when my friend Debbi came to visit me from the East Coast a few years ago. She saw the beginnings of my Prima collection and thought it was a bit extreme. Heck, if she only knew. The flowers I had then were probably only about a fifth (if that!) of what I have now. One thing that I can say in my defense however is that I do at least use- and often share them (see this week's blog candy). Unlike lots of other things I (or shall I say we?) tend to gather and hoard- I mean keep on hand. ;-)

Okay- to my point.

I LOVE paper flowers! And although I have loved being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I am now at a point where I absolutely love being a regular "customer"! I have a wonderful friend named Maureen who happens to be in my downline. She has also been part of one of my clubs for years. And, since I received back injuries from a car accident I was in, I have really pulled back on my SU! business and do very few workshops or stamp camps anymore. My first group, however remains faithful and we all continue to meet regularly. And now Maureen and I have started to "share" it. I will demo one month, then she will demo the next. It's great! It keeps both of us meeting our sales requirements, and it's not a big commitment for either of us.

But what I really enjoy, is having someone else come up with projects and learning new things from her. And Maureen is super talented. I don't know anyone who can scrap like she can! She can whip up an awesome page in no time flat! She feels cards are more of a "challenge" for her but you'd never know to look at any of them! Take a look at one of the cards we made at our last meeting with her:

Is that great? I just love the elegance of it and, of course, that FLOWER!!

Check it out up close...

And to think that we actually made these! Well, if that wasn't enough, wait until you see the card my sweet friend Pam sent me!

OMW- I squealed when I opened this baby up! Pam is so awesome. I had seen the flowers she made on her blog here and of course just had to ask her about them. The one I was particularly interested in was made using old pages from a book. So, the dear friend that she is not only sent me this amazing card- using the first flower she did and the one I so love- but even a couple of books to get me going (along with some other goodies, too!). I have to say, I can't imagine anyone having better or more generous friends than I have. My friends are the bestest and Pam is no exception!

So take a look at her amazing flower up close:

Is that great, or what?! She used lots and lots of layers. It's really fabulous!

Well, between those handmade beauties, and of course Primas like these that I have in my stash.....

(Aren't they yummy?!)

I felt it was high time I started making some flowers myself! And here is what I ended up with over the weekend:

I had SO much fun coming up with the various combinations of colors and designs!

Like this one where I just used white card stock and a little lavender ink on the edges and then sprayed it with Tattered Angels Frost...

And this one using a page from one of the books Pam sent me....

And to make this next one, I used Very Vanilla card stock and stamped it with my French Script BG stamp. Cool, huh? Oh, I wish the photo could show the shimmer of the Glimmer Mist better. It's sooo pretty!

On this one I used a retired lace patterned BG stamp. It came out much different than I thought it would, but I still like it. The color is not ink, rather from gold Glimmer Mist.

And here are some of my favorites. You can't really see too well but in person they are really, really pretty. I used chunky iridescent glitter on the edges of the petals. I also sprayed them with Frost Glimmer Mist.

Here's a shot of several made with the books,

And here are some solid ones with lots of glitter, shimmer and shine!

So... just what I need, huh? MORE FLOWERS!!! :-)

What do you think?

BLOG CANDY #4 WINNER AND NEW CANDY!!

WE HAVE A WINNER!! Tonight the name picked was "SUZ"! Congrats, Suz; I will be in touch shortly!

NOW IT'S TIME FOR MORE BLOG CANDY!

Tonight I have a group of lots of different things for you. No real "theme" this week ;-) But, I do have a surprise for you, so be sure to read this entire post so you don't miss out!

Here's a pick of what you have a chance to win next Sunday

It was kinda hard to fit everything in the picture, so here's a shot of the things towards the bottom...

They include:

Stampin' Up! Haunting Halloween stamp set

Sizzix Hearts, Stars & Tag Sizzlit

Sizzix Clearlits Flower

Spool of polka dot ribbon

2 packs of assorted ribbons

Caffeine wood mounted rubber stamp

2 Bella stamps: Scrapabella (I think that's the name) and "sole sisters"

2 clear acrylic blocks

A punch of a rubber stamp

And here's a shot of the things towards the top

Included here are:

Package of Sandylion stickers

Martha Stewart pen set

Making Memories Funky Flowers & brads set

Wood mounted rubber stamp "Pray Until Something Happens" stamp

Foam scrapbooking stickers

2 bottles of Prima flowers, Multi colored polka dots and Pink & red solids

2 packages of Prima Sprites flowers, Brown and Yellow

So, the rules again are as follows:

1) Leave a comment on THIS post! Even if you have commented in the past, you must leave a new comment here to this post for your name to be in the drawing!

2) Become a follower of my blog, if you are not already.

3) Post about this drawing to your blog, if you have one. If not, just tell someone any way you like (in person, on FaceBook, by email, phone, etc.)

BONUS ENTRY: If someone new leaves a comment here and mentions that they found me through you (they'll have to mention your name), then you will get a second entry. So, be sure to tell your friends to include your name in their posts!

Then, next Sunday, my youngest daughter will once again draw a winner out of the basket of names of every eligible person.

GOOD LUCK!

NOW, for my surprise:

The blog candy shown above was originally going to be my last one. One group of candy for every Sunday of August. However.... I have had sooo much fun doing this that I would like to continue for (at least) another week!

Just the other day I read something that surprised me. It said that August is, in some areas the most popular month for weddings. Wow! I thought June was by far! Well, apparently June is still the most popular overall, but August is a very big wedding month as well. Who knew? I would not have guessed. I'd think it would be too hot. But, maybe people figure it's when a lot of people go on vacations and can get the time off? I don't know.

At any rate, even though next week will no longer be August (can you believe it?!), weddings will be my blog candy theme. I have a lot of goodies I have gathered already, and during this week I will likely add more to my stash of goodies I will be offering you. You don;t have to be getting married to like this stuff, lol, there will be lots that is not "just" wedding related!

I am sure you'll agree when you see it that it's a nice group of candy! (Hint: lots of stamps, ribbons, Primas...)

OKay, so there's my blog candy post for this week. Coming up I will be sharing with you what I have been doing in my studio with my healed (YAY! Thank you God!) hand! I also have some pics to show you of a couple of very special friends of mine and some of the gorgeous flowers and plants they have growing in their yard.

As always, Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!

BLOG CANDY #3 WINNER & MORE CANDY!

So sorry this is going up a day late. I am afraid internet issues were to blame, but thankfully all seems fine now :-)

Okay- lots to catch you all up on!

First of all, the winner of last week's blog candy is "Goldyfish"! I have your email from your post, so I will contact you shortly in case you do not see this. Congrats on winning; I hope you enjoy your stuff!

And, here is a pic of the blog candy I have to offer this week:

I decided to do a bit of a theme here: Babies & Birthdays!

Today is my dear friend Claudia's birthday. Plus, she is anxiously awaiting the birth of her 2nd grandchild. She did not think her daughter in law would carry this far, so today just might end up being the baby's arrival date! I so hope it will be, since that would be so special for Claudia!

Also, my son's birthday was just last week, and my other son's Godfather's birthday was yesterday, and his Godmother's birthday was a few days ago as well. And many more friends have birthday's this month. Here's a funny one: not only was it my son's birthday, but on the same day it was his best friend's birthday, too. They were born on the same day, same year and have the same first name. They have been best friends ever since we moved here- almost 12 years ago. Anyway, with so many August birthdays I thought this was a good theme for the blog candy!

You probably know the rules by now:

#1: If you are not already a follower of my blog, please become one.

#2: Leave a comment here.

#3: Pass this on through your blog if you have one: either post about it or put it in your sidebar. If you do not have a blog, just tell someone about this giveaway any way you want: email, in person, by phone, FB, text..... you get the idea ;-)

That's it.

Then, next Sunday my daughter will once again reach into the basket of names and pick one. Good luck!

Here's what you have a chance to win:

Two Stampin' Up! stamp sets: Big Blossom and Something To Celebrate

Ellison Design (Sizzix) Thick Cuts die: Buckles

Sizzix embossing folder: Bird

Marcella Metal Accents

Set of return labels

Cuttlebug set of 4 embossing folders: Birthday

2 sets of stringed "pearls"- peach and green

Green flower embellishment

3 Hero Arts wood stamps: Background Stripes; Row Of 5 Backgrounds; and Block of 12 Small Solids

Inkadinkado wood Baby stamp

Corner slot punch

Fiskars Sunflower scissors

2 rolls of fibers

7 rolls of ribbon

And I will end this post with a picture of my son opening one of his birthday gifts. I meant to take a lot more pictures, but as so often happens, I got sidetracked, lol! You know how it goes: people over, getting dinner ready, the cake, other kids, the dogs, the phone, haha.... oh well- at least I got this one ;-)

Okay- that does it for now. My hand is healing nicely and I plan to try stamping again tomorrow!!! Yay!!!

I hope you have a great week, and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance at winning the blog candy. I will likely be posting again in the next few days to share what I have made. How's that for positive stamping thoughts? :-)

Summer Has FINALLY Arrived!

The weather this Summer has really been weird. Beautiful, to be sure, but weird!

We have had record lows and slept with the down comforter on at night. I think maybe only one night all Summer we took it off the bed.

In the morning I wear sweatshirts (and sometimes in the afternoon, too!), and have not worn a pair of shorts all Summer long!

It has been glorious and sunny and blue skied.

Still, it just did not really seem like Summer.

But finally, in the past week, it has truly felt like Summer at last! Yay! I love hot weather!

So, since my hand is still healing and I have been able to do NO stamping (uuuggghhh!), I thought I would show you where I can go spend my time when I'm not able to play in my studio.

It's only a short drive from my house, and I have yet to see it crowded. I guess that's probably because most people in our area have their own pools or just go to the ocean. So, that's good for us ;-)

This is the little courtyard. It's a really pretty place to sit if you want some shade.

And the flowers are always so pretty and colorful all year round.

Here is one end of the pool. They renovated it about a year ago. It's really nice.

And the other end. It's so pretty to see the mountains, too. This day we had a little marine layer and it was not so clear. (Although, if you click on the picture, you can see the view better.) Some days it really looks amazing. And in the Winter it's awesome to be swimming and look up and see the snow on them.

And there is my husband, "doing his 50". He swims 50 laps every time he goes swimming, which is about 2-3 times a week, sometimes more.

Forget the laps. This is what I do best, lol. Sit in the Jacuzzi! :-)

So, now that Summer is really here and I still have at least a few more days before I think I will be able to stamp, I guess I'll just take advantage of this place and enjoy the weather. Our weather report says we are going to have sunny skies with highs between 84-87 degrees for the next 7 days. Still not super hot, but certainly good "sit by the pool and imagine what I will be stamping next" weather.

Thanks for stopping by! Remember to leave your comments, as the blog candy drawing will be on Sunday!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

TIME FOR A NEW WINNER & ANOTER GIVEAWAY!!

Okay- first of all, I need you to bear with me. I have been sick for the past several days and was not up to doing anything other than what was absolutely necessary. So... no card making. But I really did not want to go this long without posting something I made, so in an attempt to have something to offer you, I got busy today.

What a disaster.

Without going into details, I will just tell you that I cut AND burned my right thumb. It's nasty. And boy, does it hurt!

So... my project is not finished, my studio is a mess, and I am having trouble even typing this, lol. Well, maybe it's not really funny, but I may as well laugh, kwim?

Okay- so I will just hope for quick healing and get something up as soon as I can.

Now for the good stuff:

Tonight my sweet youngest daughter happily closed her eyes, reached into my little basket of names and picked out tonight's winner. It's

JENNIPHER!!

And I have a new bunch of stuff to give away next Sunday night. It's pictured above, and as you can see, with my messed up hand, and still feeling sick, I didn't do such a great job of the photographing it! (I even noticed the little package of ribbon is upside down! Ha!) Well, It will just have to do. Until I get myself feeling a little better, this is the best I can offer you.

Well, you probably know the rules by now. To enter for a chance at these goodies, just:

1: Become a follower of my blog (if you are not already)

2: Leave a comment on this post

3: Pass this info on- a mention/ link back here on your blog (if you have a blog),

or just by word of mouth (or email!) if you don't have one. :-)

That's it.

Next Sunday night I will be back with a new winner AND more blog candy!

Hopefully I will be back much before next Sunday, though, with a healed thumb and no more sickness! And my goal is to have made something pretty to share with you, too!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Enjoy this week ahead!

Blog Candy Items:

Coluzzle Library Pocket set

Sizzix BIGZ Flower die

Sizzix Sizzlits set: Dogs

Set of 3 large wooden clips from Oriental Trading Co. for altering

Cuttlebug set of 4 embossing folders: To/ From

2 packages of pearl strands: Peach and Seafoam Green

Fiskars Ripple Cut scissors

Hero Arts BG stamp: Holiday Stripes

JoAnn Scrap Essentials Inspirational Quotes plaques

Pebbles Shaker Bubbles

Making Memories Metal Signs

Making Memories Whimsy embellishment stickers

Making Memories Just Chillin' Stickers

Set of 20 decorated brads

Autumn printed ribbons

Spool of green polka dotted ribbon

Fringe yarn

MORE SUMMER ANTIQUES HUNTING!

My husband and I have so much fun antiquing and it's always so great when we find new places to poke around in. Remember the really cool store I posted about last month? Well, just around the corner from there we found another. Here's a pic of one of the first areas you see when you enter:

Even though it is a bit "rustic" for my taste, I have to say I think it's really cool. And you have to figure, if you want to drag your man out shopping with you, chances are, he won't mind going to a place like this!

There were lots of different "rooms" to view things, and most everything had a real "Country" feel to it.

They have lots and lots of gorgeous antique quilts. And a lot of "Americana". Great old signs all over, too. Everything is displayed really nicely. It's just a lot of fun walking around and looking at everything.

But I have to say, of all the really cool things in there this has to be my very favorite. It is an old, authentic light from a Hollywood movie set. Someone got his hands on some of these and refurbished them for home use. Is that awesome, or what?! This is really cool in real life; the picture does not do it justice. The wood is beautiful; it's in great shape. I just think it is the coolest thing I have see in a long time. They had 3 different ones; this one being the biggest. There was another one about the same height but smaller overall, and then there was another that was a lot smaller, and could fit on a table. Anyway, I could not stop looking at it, and going back to it. I am actually thinking of going back and seeing if it is still there. I have lots of New England antiques in my house, but nothing from California. This would be awesome, don't you think?

This area did not look so great at first, but let me tell you, there were some very neat things here. Many really unusual kitchen items and all in fabulous condition for their ages.

Oh- and I can't forget to show you this! I actually found this beauty across the street in yet another fun (and very large) antiques store. I thought this would be so pretty in my dining room, especially since I collect flow blue and historical blue plates. But then I looked at the price tag. Ummm.... on second thought.... maybe not! (If you can't make it out, click on the picture to enlarge.)

So there you go. Another report from one of our antiques excursions. I only bought a couple of little things there. But I think I will save them for a future post. I'll probably show you all of my "Summer finds" all together when the Summer comes to an end.

Until then, my plan is to go back and poke around some other stores in the area we did not have time to hit :-)

Thanks for visiting. Hopefully I'll have some time to get into the studio in the next couple of days and do some creating!

BLOG CANDY WINNER, NEW CANDY & THANK YOU ODBD!!

It's Sunday night, and that means I have a new bunch of Blog Candy to give away!!!

But first, I want to say

CONGRATULATIONS TO WANDA!!!

Wanda, please email me with your mailing address, and I will get your package in the mail to you!

Wanda's name was picked for last week's prize. She left a nice comment for me, became a blog follower here, and spread the word. That's all you need to do! Just leave me a comment on this post, become a follower of my blog (if you have not already done so), and put a link to this post on your blog. If you do not have a blog please just tell someone about my giveaway. Next Sunday I will have a winner drawn for this week's candy and I will put up another prize for the following week!

I will show you some more pics of the candy for this week, but first I want to tell you about my fun news!

Yesterday I got a blog comment congratulating me for being a winner of the ODBD (Our Daily Bread Design) "Shining The Light" award- and I didn't even know I had won, lol!

I was sooo excited! This was the first time I have ever submitted a card to anything! I have been toying with the idea of submitting some cards to magazines, but just have not taken that first step. I have been receiving a lot of encouragement, however, from many of my card-making friends, and finally decided to put something out there. I absolutely love OBDB's stamps and have purchased many of their sets, as well as lots of other wonderful goodies from their website (click the Shining The Light badge on the right and it will take you to their site). The cards that are on their blog and in their gallery are just gorgeous, so I will admit, I was a little nervous sending one of mine in. So, imagine my surprise when I found out they chose mine as a winner! I can not tell you how happy that made me feel! So, although I am tooting my own horn a bit here, lol, I just want to give a big thank you to the judges who chose my card! I will say that by getting this award, I am now finally feeling ready to start submitting my cards to magazines in the hope of having something published. I guess this was the push I needed ;-)

Okay- so... I guess you want to see this week's blog candy, huh? Here you go:

Well, it's August(!) already. Although Summer is flying by all too quickly, it is still Summer, right? I think our temps last night hit a record low, and the highs today were only in the low to mid 70's here in Southern California. So, in an effort to remind myself that it really is still Summer, I have tried to put together a "Summery" group of things for you.

There are lots of summery flowers...

And a set of 4 little flower Cuttlebug embossing folders; a Stampin Up! stamp set called "Very Punny" which includes some cute little summery images; large pretty brads...

a set of six adorable acrylic stamps- all Summer images; a package of glittery Summer chipboard shapes, a package of white chipboard flowers...

And check out this t-shirt! I got it this weekend from the opening of the brand new Bloomingdale's Department Store in Santa Monica, CA!

So even if you couldn't make it to Sunny Southern California this Summer, at least you can look as if you did, lol! Isn't that fun?

Well, I know the week will pass quickly, so please just take a moment now and leave me a comment, become a follower, spread the news of my blog candy, and GOOD LUCK!

Thanks for visiting today! Hope you have a wonderful week! :-)

OBDBSLC23 CHALLENGE CARD

I just love this Spellbinders Fleur De Lis pendant die! Ever since I made the card for my DD's friend Cara's shower, I can't seem to stop using it. This time, I decided to try and see what I could make to submit for Our Daily Bread Design's Challenge: A card that uses a charm, ribbon and one other embellishment- but NO flowers (unless your charm is a flower)!

Well, those who know me know I adore flowers, and that would be a challenge for me for sure!

So I figured that if I can't use flowers, then bling is the next best thing!

I chose these rather large rhinestones. But when I had the card all finished, it suddenly dawned on me that maybe the glitter is considered an "embellishment"? I hope not. I can't imagine that embossing powder would be either, and I tend to think of them as both more like kind of "basic" elements- along with things like ink, etc. Hopefully the judges will agree ;-)

My little silver love charm was simply added on using a piece of thread tied around the ribbon. I was not sure how that would work, but you can't even see it at all. I think I may be adding charms to my cards more often. I usually just use findings and attach with large pop dot glue dots. But I am liking the dangling effect that charms give.

Anyway, there you have it: the first time I have ever made a card to submit to a challenge! I love ODBD stamps (which you probably have figured out by now, lol!) and am excited at having a chance to win a gift certificate to their store.

Why don't you try this challenge, too? But hurry- cards have to be entered by August 5th!

http://ourdailybreaddesignsblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Latest%20%20Challenge

Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love to hear what you think.

Have a wonderful day!

Items I used to make this card:

Stamps: ODBD Get Well

Paper: SU! Brushed Silver card stock; Designer paper by Daisy D's

Ink: Versamark

Other: Spellbinder's Fleur De Lis die; SU! Whisper White taffeta ribbon; Charm from Michael's; SU! silver embossing powder; silver glitter; SU! distressing tool.

BLOG CANDY and A NEW "OLD" CARD

How would you like to win all the things shown above?

Well, I have decided to start giving away some blog candy- every week this month! That means there will be 5 winners of different packages of goodies. Read on and later in the post, I'll tell you how you can have a chance at winning the group of blog candy pictured here!

(You can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

But first, I'd like to share with you a card that I made this weekend:

I had so much fun making this!

I used many of the things that are among my favorites in my studio:

I started with Scripture for the words,

And used two pretty strips of lace

I punched out the butterfly image using some awesome antique sheet music

And adorned it with some pearls

And if you know me at all, you know the way I feel about flowers:

What would a card be without them?

And a lovely antique button to finish it off!

There you have it. My kind of card. I love cards with a Victorian or shabby/ vintage look. Always have. And they are sooo fun to make now that I have so many fun embellishments that

I have been collecting over the years. I am all about the details, and embellishments are my favorite way to get the look I am after. I love the fun of choosing the right thing to add, and things to pair with one another. Then when the colors and patterns come into play- along with the right image or the perfect sentiment or scripture, I feel that then I have really brought some creativity into the process and added a bit of myself to my project.

NOW, Did someone mention BLOG CANDY???

Oh yeah, I did! :-)

I can hardly believe it's August already! And August is a special month around here, as it is the month in which my eldest son was born. So, in honor of his upcoming birthday, I have decided to give presents not only to him, but to some of my blog followers as well!

I wish I could give gifts to everyone, so I will try to offer as many as possible. I considered doing a couple of rather large giveaways, but instead think it will be more fun to send a little happy mail out to as many people as possible.

So, every week this month, I will have a different box of blog candy to send to someone.

I won't make this difficult, but I will ask you to do a couple of things to be entered into the drawings:

#1 If you have not already done so, please become a follower of my blog, and leave a comment letting me know that you would like to be in the drawing. If you are already a follower, Thank you! Please just leave me a comment! :-)

#2 If you have a blog yourself, please mention my blog candy giveaway on your blog. If you do not have a blog, then please just tell someone about this. By phone, by email, whatever. I would just like a mention ;-)

That's all there is to it!

Next Sunday, a name will be picked. No fancy stuff here- I will just have my youngest child close her eyes and reach into a basket with everyone's names in it and pull one out!

I will post the name of the winner next Sunday, and I will also put a picture up of the following week's blog candy.

Thanks so much to all of you who stop by and leave me comments. I appreciate them more than I can say!

Items used on my "Old" card:

Stamps: ODBD Sing To The Lord; Ironworks Borders

Paper: SU! Bravo Burgundy, Kraft and Vellum c/s; background designer paper by Daisy D's; Vintage music book

Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black; Tattered Rose Distress ink (for sponging)

Accessories/ Embellishments: Lace trims; Antique button; paper flowers; flat backed pearls; SU! Sizzix Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die; SU! distressing tool.