A Late Contender

This just in. We have a late contender joining the field for the horse home goods race. I can't believe he was overlooked in the first place because I believe odds are he's going to be a favorite!


This fantastic guy can be found at Brown Button Trading, which as of this week is shipping across the globe! If you haven't already, you should take a look at Brown Button Trading, which, as many of you know, is the latest venture of the always sweet and funny blogger Kimberlee of Brown Button. The website is beautiful and stocked with wonderful wares, and I am hoping Kimberlee finds the greatest success in this endeavor.

Christmas in May?

I must say, today was like Christmas in May for me. I arrived home from work and found two packages waiting for me. The first, a box, I suspected was my Provo Craft special two cartridge purchase, but I had NO idea what that big padded bag contained. The label said "Cricut Replacement Parts." I took both the box and the padded package back to my scrap room... and THAT'S when it hit me: LYRICAL LETTERS from the Chirp!! So... today I received Lyrical Letters, Home Decor, Jubilee, a Juke Box, and the basic set of cricut pens!! If not Christmas, then at least a second birthday... without that whole aging thing!!!!

So yes, I did have to play with the cartridges. I cut some elements for a layout I am scrapping, but it is not ready for public viewing yet. I can share a birthday card I cut and assembled. It is for one of my chocolate loving co-workers.



Next, I finished some cards for stamp club. We have a card swap at our stamp club meetings. I guess I will have to wait to post the stamp club cards until Sunday. Sorry.

Finally, while using my nesties I spied my cute little bird shapebilities. I just had to make a card using the birds. I really like the simplicity of the bird shapes; they seem to "pop" off of the printed background.



I am not sure what is up with my color choices. I seem to be very attracted to aqua this week. I especially liked the softness of the aqua with the intensity of the deep browns.


I should have more to share tomorrow...

A little Martha for Mother's Day...(a giveaway)

{Update: Congratulations, Stephanie at The Happy Homemaker! She's our Martha giveaway winner!!!}

Mother's Day is one week plus one day away. Are you ready? Is your family? ;) Have you dropped any Mother's-Day-is-around-the-corner hints?

Here's my Mother's Day gift to you...or your mom...or your aunt...or your sister... It's just a little thank you for reading the blog. I really DO get a little thrill with every comment!

Have you seen Martha Stewart's line of goodies at Macy's? {My sister bought the cake doilies for me...they are adorable!} I thought you might like a few goodies of your own to play with! :) You'll receive: 100 Martha mini cupcake liners, 1 set of cupcake/cookie stencils and a box of 6 dotty cupcake and cookie boxes.


Here's the deal....leave a comment (by Monday at 5pm central, US only) and tell me:

What would you like for Mother's Day?

I want you to be selfish here...I won't tell. We all want world peace and happy, loving children, blah, blah. What do you REALLY want? A trip to Paris? a Kitchen Aid mixer? a $5,000 Pottery Barn gift card? a solid day of quiet? an afternoon cooking with the Take Home Chef? ;)

Here's my short list...

How cute is this shirt from King Arthur?!?!?

How about one of these aprons from Heavenly Hostess? These make me want to bake in pearls and heels!

But, here's my biggie...a trip to The Spa at The Hotel Hershey. Yes, I want to be rubbed, scrubbed and buffed in chocolate. I want to drift back to my room scented with cocoa and order a hot fudge sundae and a chocolate martini from room service. {Hershey's...hubby...are you listening? My bags are packed!}

Alright, now it's your turn...

Across the Miles - May sketch challenge for Magnolia-licious

Just click on the picture of the sketch to see it better. Sorry - it's just my inexperience!

It's the first of May, and that means it's time for a new card sketch from Magnolia-licious! And this month, it was actually MY turn to draw the sketch! YIKES! I've never drawn a sketch before! I wasn't even sure where to begin. Needless to say I felt just a "smidge" intimidated. LOL! I hope you like it, and that you grab your paper and glue along with your Magnolia stamps, and play along with us. If you do, be sure and email a pic of your card to Diana at ladydian@shaw.ca so she can upload it into the May sketch card gallery!


I made this card for our 5 year old grandson, JJ. He and our daughter just moved away from us to Kentucky this past September, and we miss them both very much. As I'm sure any Grandparent would understand. I just could NOT resist using this adorable Shabby Chic Edwin! I also used the stone wall, and the sign post from the Easter collection. I got all of these stamps at Magnolia-licious.

I masked off the stone wall to stamp the sign post, and then masked off both of them to air brush the sky. (I'm so proud of myself for using my airbrush system!! LOL!). Edwin is stamped, colored, cut out, and then placed on foam tape for dimension. Have I ever told you how much I love dimension on my cards?? *smile* I colored everything with my Copic markers. (the colors are shown below)

The DP is by Basic Grey and I MUST, yes MUST go get me more of it. I LOVE it!!! It's sooo bright, colorful, and cheery. The corner arrows were cut out with my Cricut Expression machine and popped up on foam tape as well. I tipped the edges with just a smidge of white acrylic paint for visual interest, and then popped on a few Kaiser pearls for fun.

Oh, forgot to tell you that the arrows were cut from my Graphically Speaking cartridge. That one has a BUNCH of arrows on it. Too cool! For the center strip, I wanted a touch of blue, but it was way too blah looking, so I added some edging by using my Martha Stewart border punch. Ahhh...that was better!

Popped on a button with a little bit of yellow embroidery thread, and this card was done! So tell me....how did I do with my own very first sketch challenge? I'd really love it if you'd play along with us! Thanks for dropping by to see me today, and I sure hope to see you again soon! Have a wonderful Friday evening! HUGS!! Don't forget - you can click on any of my photo's for a very up close look at my work. Just don't complain about all the little mistakes you see when you look that close! LOL! HUGS!

No Horsing Around

I can't believe it is already Friday, and Horse Week will soon be drawing to a close! Theme weeks always feel like "so much to say, so little time." So without any horsing around, let's get to it!

Yesterday, we looked at horse items for your home, and today, we are looking at horse items you could add to your closet.

Juicy Couture

I have never really been a charm bracelet girl, but I am a bit smitten with the one above. I adore each charm and would surely revel in the clanking and jingling it would make (as I rather love the sound of bangles doing the same thing.)

L: Lauren Moshi. R: Delia's

Each of these t-shirts would make for perfect, easy weekend style.

Stevester

This sweet face could join you on runs to the grocery or library and would be happy to serve as your pack horse.

Gucci

And, if I had all the money in the world, I would delight in placing the Gucci horse bit bracelet on my wrist. Pure classic equestrian style.

Kentucky Derby cookies

If you live in or near Amarillo, boy do I have a party for you!

My dad ordered these Kentucky Derby cookies for the local Ambucs' Derby Days party. Derby Days is a charity event with food, music, drinks and entertainment. The event raises money to buy AmTrykes for children with disabilities.

Physical therapists use the AmTrykes to help kids with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, spina bifida, hemi paresis or motor, sensory, general developmental delay, and autism. Ambucs also provides scholarships for therapists.

Click on over for more information on the Derby Days event or for information on the AmTrykes and how to make a donation. Derby Days supports a great cause, and I can tell you, these Ambucs members know how to have a good time. It will be a blast!


Now...to the cookies....

I like this picture because you can kind of see the horses some to life. The cookie on the left has just been outlined and filled. The cookie in the middle has been piped with details in brown, and then the one on the right has the added color detail.

I'm not sure what you have to do to get a cookie. My dad ordered 120 and I know there are A LOT more than 120 people who attend. Here's my advice....ask for John who brought the cookies. Tell him you're a blog reader and...here's what will really help...refill his beer glass. I can't promise anything, but, hey...it never hurts to ask! :)


Don't forget to enter the See's Candies giveaway...drawing to be held Saturday night!

Come back tomorrow for ONE MORE quick Mother's Day giveaway!!! YAY!

New Awards

I have been quite negligent about posting and sharing two awards I received last week. They were from Donna at Popsicle Toes and Deanne at Just Wasting Time. I am honored to receive anything from either of these two women... They are AMAZING crafters!


I think I am supposed to pass this award along, but I feel like I cannot narrow my list down to just five - ten deserving blogs. So... If you are one of my subscribers, pick your favorite of the two awards and add it to your blog! You deserve it!!!

Happy crafting!