Sharing ... Apologies for Being MIA and Another Swap ...

Hello!  I know it has been a long time, and I am so very sorry about that, but some times life just has a way of going off in another direction from where you thought you were going, and you either choose to follow, or say "HEY!  Wait a minute ... that's not where I wanted to go!".

And that's obviously not what I did!  I followed life right down the road and enjoyed the journey!

I won't go into all the details, but we here in Georgia have had some freaky weather this winter, and for the last winter blast, I found that, much as I wanted to do other things, all I could do was cook, eat, and sit at my kitchen table and watch the birds at the feeders on my back deck.  Seriously ...  I didn't have it in me to do anything else!

Then last week, I had to take Mama to a meeting on Tuesday, went to Ellijay, Georgia to 'meet' face to face a long time blog and Facebook friend, Val.  We have known each other around 7 years.  We have become such good friends, and have never been able to work it out to meet for real.  Until this time.  And I carried my friend Mary Ann, she brought her mother, granddaughter and best friend, and we had a BLAST!  We shopped, had lunch, shopped some more, then went thrifting, then went to an apple house.  Amazing day!

Thursday was my regular day at Altered Angel, and we had so much fun!

Saturday we (hubby, the dogs and I) drove up into Tennessee and Kentucky and spent the night in Lebanon, TN before heading home on Sunday morning.  It was a wonderful weekend getaway!

So, that brings me to now, the present, and a post about a gift I received yesterday.  Once again, I participated in the March swap over at A Swap For All Seasons.  Our 'assignment' this time was a handmade card, a handmade tag, and some yellow goodies from your stash.  My partner who was sending to me, was Debbie, and she has an amazing shop on Etsy full of beautiful things.  Here are the goodies she sent to me ...

All of the goodies ... so pretty!

Look at this sweet little card ... and the note inside was just as sweet!

Squares of pretty, heavy cotton fabric ... reminds me of chicken feed sacks!

The little card is so sweet, but that tag ... just beautiful and screams "SPRING".

Look at these scrumptious hand died ribbons and tags!  The ribbons are just amazing, and you can find some of your own in her Etsy shop!

A pretty hand made envelope filled with vintage images and some sweet little gold foil rabbits!

And I know this one is blurry, but look at that sweet butterfly trim and yellow marker!  And in the bottom right hand corner, there are some yellow clear plastic discs that I am thinking are tiddly winks or maybe bingo pieces.

Debbie had everything packed up so sweetly in glassine bags, with washi tapes and ribbons.  I love every single thing, and Debbie, I would be your swap partner any time!  Thank you so much for all the thought and time you put into putting together my package!

Okay, I promise I will be back again soon ... blessings,

Sharing ... Anything But A Card Design Team Project

Hi there!  It's time once again for a design team project for the Anything But A Card Challenge!  This month's theme is a 'Tic Tac Toe' challenge.  You have to pick three items in a straight line that goes up and down, across, or diagonally to make a tic tac toe!  Easy Peasy!  And here is the board for you to choose from ...
 

For my project this month I chose the center line horizontally, which is bling, hearts and mists or inks.  I had a heart shaped candy box laying around and decided it would work perfectly for my heart shape from the center of the board.  I also used up some old bling I had been holding onto for ages!  Here is my project ...

For the edge of the box shape, I guess you would call it the 'band' of the box, I added some yellow card stock and painted it with a glittery paint.  Then I added some tulle trim in a mauve color, and some brilliant blue seam binding ribbon.  For the top of the box I traced the top onto some matching blue card stock and adhered it to the top.

 Next I took a paper doily that I had misted with three different colors of mist and let it dry.  Then I cut the doily up into several pieces and decoupaged it onto the box top, leaving the center of the doily as the center of the box.  Next I painted the top of the box with a glittery paint, let it dry, and added the bling.  And I think I may have gone a little overboard with the bling, but it's okay!

Then I added a pretty bow of the blue seam binding and added a cute heart shaped button.  And that was it!  I think my box is pretty, and I think it would be a very cute treasure box for a young girl!

Oh, and does anything look familiar on this project???  Well, it should, because the doily I used on top of the box is the one that was on the board above!  When DT Leader Susan contacted me and asked me to help her with the images for the board, I just knew I wanted to use that doily in my project!  Here is a pic of the original image used on the board ...

And I used the piece of paper that I used to do the misting for the bottom of the box by simply tracing around the box, cutting it out, and adhering it to the bottom of the box.

Thanks so much for joining me today!  If you haven't already, why don't you go play tic tac toe with us, make a project and share it on the Anything But A Card blog!  Blessings,

Products:

• Card stock - Bazzill Basics
• Mists - Art Anthology Colorations - Heart, Glorious, and Waimea Bay
• Paint - Art Anthology Sorbet - Frost (clear with multicolor glitter)
• Ribbon - Schiff's Hug Snug Seam Binding
• Tulle Trim - Maya Road
• Bling - and assortment of Prima, Want 2 Scrap, and Recollections
• Heart Button - Buttons Galore and More
• Doily - Publix Supermarket

Sharing ... Swaps ... Sandy's 521 Lake Street Valentines Swap

It had been a long time since I had done a swap, so I participated in the one at Christmas and enjoyed it very much.  So, when the Valentines swaps started popping up, I signed up for one, then a second, and then a third before finally coming to my senses!  My partner for Sandy's 521 Lake Street swap was Trisha.  We enjoyed getting to know one another via  email, and then we got busy creating our goodies for the swap.  The guidelines for this swap was ... one handmade card (new, not signed), one handmade tag, and a Valentines candy box filled with goodies from your stash.  Here is what I sent to her ...

Looking clockwise from top right, there is a cellophane envelope with some tags I made using vintage images, and a card is there to the back.  In the glassine bag on bottom right are some ribbons and lace, buttons, and die cut hearts.  Bottom left is a candy box that I altered and filled with some goodies ... more on that in the next picture.  And top left is some ribbon, white paper flowers, another tag, and some prints of vintage valentines.

And here is the heart that I altered ... and inside are some Lindor Truffles and a sun catcher made from chandelier crystals.

Now, for what she sent me ... I was so happy and excited and somewhat blown away ... Trisha, you did a great job!  You listened to what I said I liked, and really put time and thought on your choices ... thank you!

This is everything together ... so many special things!

Look at this sweet tea towel!  Those red dots will look great in my kitchen!  I love it!

Some vintage post card images, and a little organza bag with felt hearts, kraft tags, and twine so I can make my own tags.  Oh, and the little 'LOVE' cupcake picks up above.

The candy box, decorated so prettily with red and turquoise ... a favorite color combination of mine!  I love the lace and red bead trim, as well as the paper roses!  In the box is a vintage heart pin (top center), some buttons, satin ribbon roses, a couple of double heart charms, and two cute 'diamond' rings.  And a vintage wooden thread spool.  So many little treasures!

Some great looking chocolate candy ... how did she know I love milk and white chocolate together?  And some vintage playing cards ... the ones on top have Norman Rockwell pictures on them ... very sweet!

Oh, and look at this vintage Bingo card, with the '14' surrounded with a red heart, and a bunch of pretty laces wrapped around it, and all tied up with red twine.  So sweet ... and I love lace ... a lot!

And a cute handmade card ... complete with hand cut and hand decorated pink hearts, and a sweet note on the inside.

Trisha, thank  you so very much!  I love everything!  I would love to be your swap partner any time! 

And to everyone else ... thanks for visiting today ... blessings,

Sharing ... Giveaway on my Facebook Page!

Hi there!  I am so sorry for being so quiet this week, but life has been busy, and much as I would like to say my blog and Facebook page come first, I'm afraid life must come first!  We all have to make choices and usually it's the fun things that come last on the list!

I am here today to tell you about another giveaway I am having on my Facebook page!  If I can get my 'Likes' up to 100 by midnight EST on February 10th, I will give away this ...

A hand crocheted, 100% cotton dish cloth in the Valentine colors of red, pink and white, plus a yarn pom-pom garland of the same colors. Also included ...

A super cute and sparkly sun catcher made from a vintage aluminum jello mold, 20 round chandelier crystals, and one long drop crystal.  This will definitely pick up the sun and scatter it all over any room you hang it in!

SO!  Please go to my Facebook page and 'Like' it so I can give away the whole package, because ... if we don't reach the goal of 100 likes, the garland and dish cloth will still be given away, but the chandelier sun catcher must stay in my stash for a while longer!  Thank you, and many blessings,