RAK winner and some pics...

Ok... So... thanks for the patience... it's been a crazy busy week. And Random.Org picked number 47: Shelly... I'll hop over to your blog and leave you a message or you can leave me an email address here (yourname at server.com) and I"ll email you for an address. And here's what you've won :
A few Christmas stamps from Inkadinkadoo, Martha Stewart's Give Thanks Edge punch, and a blush coloured beaded flower brad (i thought I has a few more made in my stash... but hopefully you'll find a good use for this one-- and, I guess I have to get back to beading again soon. Let me add that to the list : ) ). thanks all for stopping by and I hope to see a few more of you more often. I mentioned in an earlier post that my other craft endeavors have been keeping me busy... here's a few pics of what else I've been up to:





I love making the stepping stones, though finsing the time to do them is difficult. the children's wall art canvases are faster and also a ton of fun. I especially like making paper quilts on canvas. I'll post again over the weekend and then I think I"ll just start trying to get back to the routine of posting a few nights a week.

Gearing up for Crop Night

Wow, thanks for all the wonderful comments on that card for Operation Write Home. It is always great to have someone appreciate what you are doing, which of course, is why I make I cards for OWH.... I appreciate what the soldiers are doing for us. Michaels has brought Crop Night back and the first one is this Friday night. I am going to be there to encourage folks to make cards for OWH, and do a ten minute card so people can see how easy it is to make a card from their scraps. This weeks craft projects however have been far from paper related... I made a Duck Tape wedding dress and painted a Fleur de Lis footstool... I'll post pictures towards the end of the week. I have not yet chosen a winner for the RAK from the bloghop but a full list of the surprises and a picture will accompany the winner's name on Friday, 3/27. Thanks for your patience.

Welcome to the Operation Write Home BlogHop

If you've somehow made it here by accident, and would like to start from the beginning at Operation Write Home just click the coloured text
Hi y'all... It has been so long since I've been an active blogger that I'm really testing my skills here getting up and running on time (and I think I'm late: the curse of being a middle aged mommie with a full time job and a part time crafting business). I'm really glad you've made it this far and hope you've seen some things that have inspired you, awed you, and encouraged you to participate with operation Write home in whatever manner suits you. I have set up a donation bin for cards at my local Michaels Arts and Crafts store. I really can't tell you why this cause hits my heart, but it does. I was a little stuck as to what to do for a "spring" card... I tend to work in distressed media (or the total opposite and do very cutesy baby things) and a simple Spring idea was giving me fits... but I had this great striped paper from Pink Paisleee and thought it would make cheerful flowers. (click on the photo to see a larger version). The flower stems are ribbon and of course, tombow mono adhesive. The flower centers are Making Memories snaps, which I attached using my crop-o-dile. Once I figured out how to use that thing it sure has come in handy. You got here from Donna's site where I hope you enjoyed her cards as much as I did. I really love when a crafter can get specific with her theme and keep the project clean and simple but still eye catching. From here you'll go to Denise's site (just click the coloured text) and wow, she does some fantastic inking doesn't she? I love her designs and can't wait for a chance to get to check out her store. (I confess that I mostly use stamps to impress on polymer clay. I WILL have a little RAK though I haven't had time to choose the items yet... I'm thinking a Martha Stewart Holiday Punch, a few Christmas rubber Stamps and some assorted embellishments and I'll include the some of my the flower beaded brads that I make (see earlier posts for a picture of these). I'll post a picture during the day tomorrow. Please leave a little love... there's nothing so disenheartening as having no comments : ( . Remember to leave an email address or a link to your site so I can contact you if you've won. The craft projects have taken over much of my "free" time and you can see what I'm doing these days at Shophandmade Enjoy the rest of the hop!

I'm Back...

Wow... I didn't realize that my hiatus had been this long. I've been busy crafting for local shows and I am also sharing a space with a friend on mine at the Marketplace in West Monroe. Some months I do well, others, not so... but I enjoy making crafts and having them on display. I've been doing a lot of Fleur de Lis themed things, this being Louisiana. My favourite so far has been the concrete stepping stones. I've also been making wall canvases... some all painted some a mixture of paper and paint. Work and the toddler have been keeping me pretty busy, but I'll be back again here pretty regularly. I'll be posting pictures of some of my crafts as well as my scrapping stuff again soon.

Cards for Heroes, now OperationWriteHome.Org is having another blog hop on March 20th. I"ll be one of the stops again. I have set up a donation box at work for cards so that we can send a bunch in. thanks for sticking in there and I hope to see you all on the blog hop day.

A little light at the end of the tunnel, please

Oh my, I've been busy being a bad blogger again. I've gotten some projects done, gotten about halfway through my photoshop class, and have a creepy project that if I can get the pics right, I can't wait to work on. Way back there was a band called Marillion... I used to love them... I still do, and of late there has been a song that has been running through my mind, a song entitled Jigsaw particularly the line "Dream coins for the fountain, or to cover your eyes." and I have an idea in my head, but I'm having a little trouble with the photographs. I don't have a tripod, so finding a way to get my camera still and where I need it to take the shots is proving difficult... as is the lighting.

I am taking the time tonight, though, to upload this 12 x 12 of my little one for Hallowe'en 2008. I had a great time playing with a colour challenge and a weekly challenge over at www.scrapbook.com and I pushed some limits for myself. This is a lot more pattern than I usually use. I'm feeling a little too tired to give details on all this right now, but I'll edit soon and post the particulars. Hope y'all have been been making great things

Houston Holocaust Museum Butterfly Project

Still haven't gotten around to posting my recent projects here but I was reading my email of Angi's blogpost www.scrappinoutloud.blogspot.com and she had borrowed a post from someone that mentioned the Butterfly Project for the Houston Holocaust Museum. How cool is this:

The Butterfly Project "Children were neither just the mute and traumatized witnesses to this war, nor merely its innocent victims; the war invaded their imaginations and the war raged inside them." — Nicholas Stargardt in "Witnesses of War: Children's Lives Under the Nazis" In an effort to remember them, Holocaust Museum Houston is collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies. The butterflies will eventually comprise a breath-taking exhibition, currently scheduled for Spring 2012, for all to remember. As of Summer 2008, we have already collected an estimated 400,000 butterflies.

Please facilitate the
“I Never Saw Another Butterfly” activity and create as many handmade arts-and-crafts butterflies as possible. This project may be completed by all ages as individuals or groups.

• Butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches.
• Butterflies may be of any medium the artist chooses, but two-dimensional submissions are preferred.
• Glitter should not be used.
• Food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables) also should not be used.

If possible, e-mail a photograph of your butterflies, to butterflyproject@hmh.org.

Please send or bring your butterflies to the Museum by June 30, 2011, with the following information included:

• Your name,
• Your organization or school,
• Your address,
• Your e-mail address, and
• The total number of butterflies sent.
  

Mail or bring your butterflies to:

Holocaust Museum Houston
Butterfly Project
Education Department
5401 Caroline St.
Houston, TX 77004
USA

For questions or additional information, please e-mail butterflyproject@hmh.org.

this is such a wonderful idea... and surely, we all can make a few butterflies from the scraps in our stash... use your die cutter, paint some chipboard, make beaded ones, wire and ribbon... whatever it is you like to do... and drop them in the mail. (or if you happen to be in the Houston area, drop them off. ) So... here's what I'd like to know and see: how many of you will particpate in this project and what do your butterflies look like? Leave me a comment, and a link to your butterflies (they can be posted anywhere) and I'll post some here within the next week. I was so impressed with the bloggers and scrappers during the www.cardsforheroes.org bloghop ... so many people participating, and so many talented paper crafters giving and sharing, that I sure think we might be able to generate some real involvement . C'mon y'all... make a butterfly.

Angi is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and serves in the armed forces. I "met" her on the cardsforheroes bloghop and was instantly taken with her style, both as a blogger and a crafter. she is honest about her work and her life, and she really loves to share what she knows. if you've never seen her site, go give her a visit (and if you love Stampin' Up and need a rep, now you have one!) her blog address again is

www.scrappinoutloud.blogspot.com

practicing on the photoshop class

Oh this was such fun... this was from day two's course material and I found some neat brushes online. I wish it was a better photograph of me, but I have yet to learn my camera's timer feature... I've made a few more layouts but haven't been able to get the time to post here, so I'll hopefully get some stuff up soon. I am working on a few books as well as more pages. I particiapte in the monthly challenges over at www.scrapbook.com which helps keep me motivated to get pages done as well as giving me a little focus as to what style. I still think that I need to get around to doing a few disaster pages for the hurricane photos, but I fins myself shying away from that. I've been having a wonderful time with the photoshop class, learning a lot and struggling through as I've never used photoshop before. Those of you reading have gone quiet on me again and I sure do miss your comments.

Hope you are all busy making something wonderful.