Whiny Wednesday, Award, Features, and BLOG HOP

Whiney Wednesday BW Crop

I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and sad for myself the past few days…. Finley has had a sinus/double ear infection (which meant constant SCREAMING for about 4 days),

Whiney Wed Scarmy neck apparently isn’t fused all the way like it should be at this point, I’m still having some pain in the back of my neck and down my arm, and I think all of the closets in my house threw up in their respective bedrooms.  (This is my whiny sad face, btw.)

 

HOWEVER….

when I checked my lovely blog to see what was going on with my favorite bloggy friends, I was reminded how blessed and loved I am! 

Maggy at Fireworks.Sparkle.Rainbow gave my the Stylish Blogger Award!!  Thank you, Maggy!  Please read this post for all the fabulous info.  Maggy inspires me…. her blog is about her journey living with a brain tumor.  She even has a recipe with fried cauliflower on her blog…. mmmmm.

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Then I popped on over to

UndertheTableandDreamingfor a little crafty inspiration and found that Stephanie had featured my Cherish Love Forever frame!!

 

I continued to hop and found myself at

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where I found that Misty had featured my Tulle Cupcake shirt. :)
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I’m not feeling whiny anymore. :) 
 
I’m also co-hosting the
with Blue Eyed Blessings and Crocheted Little Things.   So, if you are looking for some free advertising, feel free to link up your blog here:

Link up your handmade store here:

Cherish Love Forever

Despite the fact that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, this picture frame was actually a gift for hubs’ bday.  He ALWAYS buys whatever he wants, when he wants it.  This little habit of his proves to be very difficult when I actually need to get him a present.  I’ve resorted to making him things instead.  I don’t know if he really likes my presents or not, but at least it’s something he can’t buy for himself. :)

It was actually SUPER easy to make!  I went bin diving in my craft stash and only used what I had around the house!

 Supplies I used:

Plain wooden frame from Michael’s, wood scraps

Mod Podge, craft paint, stamps, twine

Scrapbook paper, scrapbook embellishments, pearls

Glue gun

I cut the scrapbook paper to fit the frame and mod podged it in place.  Then, painted the remaining exposed wood white.  I took a small wood scrap, painted it white, stamped “love” on it with black paint, mod podged over it, and hot glued it on the upper right corner.  Next, I stamped “forever” on a scrapbook embellishment paper I found and mod podged it at the bottom of the frame. 

Glue gun time:

I hot glued letter tiles to spell “cherish” down the side of the frame and accented them with pearls.  I think the little scrapbook flowers are super pretty… so I glued a couple of those on the lower right corner.  In the upper left corner, I made a birds nest out of twine, hot glued it in place, and glued the bird safely in his nest.  I thought he might like a rose to keep him company and slapped that bad boy up there as well.

Here is a pic of the completed frame without a picture in it.  I used a pic from when we renewed our vows this summer in Jamaica.  That way, when he looks at it in his office, he can remember to…

“cherish (our) love forever.”

Linking Up Here:

UndertheTableandDreamingJoin  us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap 
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The DIY Show Off Sumo Sweet Stuff
 

AND HERE

Note To Self

Do not eat another skittle or piece of laffy taffy.  I do not care if the kids will get upset when you throw it away… JUST DO IT!  Your arse will thank me for this advice later.  Trust me on this one.

Also, fold the clothes and put them away… not later, tomorrow, or when you get around to it, but NOW.   You will be happier when your couch is laundry free (so will the kids).  Bills are due, pay them. 

Last thing… the clutter, it’s killing me!  Let’s get back on the Flylady bandwagon and do this thing.

FlyLady's FlyToon

Can I start all this tomorrow? 

PLEASE… with sugar and sprinkles on top?

Handmade with Love Winter Giveaway

Handmade with Love Winter Giveaway

Have you noticed this lovely button on my sidebar??  It has taken up residence there as I am one of the sponsors for this fabulous event!!!  If you have been dying for a Liberty Original coffee cozy (and what coffee/tea drinker hasn’t?), now is your chance to win one (along with some other fabulous prizes)!!

You can win a tan suede and sherpa cozy with a “coffee" design embroidered on it or a pink suede and sherpa cozy with the name of your choice embroidered on it.  Each cozy comes professionally packaged and ready to give as a gift (but you know you want one for yourself :)).

So, hop on over to Belly Charms and enter away!  While you are there, you can see the linky with the 147 other blogs who are also participating in this event.  Hop, hop, hop to your content and try to win as much as you can!

Sweet Baby Girls

 

Ryan baby shower

There are so many sweet baby girls being born lately it seems.  I really love designing and creating girly things.  I still lean towards simplicity with my girl things as well…

For the burp cloths, I repurposed a vintage bedspread (just like I did with Sage’s Goodies) on the first and utilized a traditional cloth diaper with the baby’s monogram for the second.  The reversible bag is large enough for a couple of diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes.  It has Ryan’s name on one side and her monogram on the other.

My FAVORITE part of this gift is the onesie! 

It has a reverse appliqué pink heart with a green “R” to represent.  It actually turned out exactly how I had it planned in my head (which doesn’t always happen, btw).  Now, I want something for myself with a reverse appliqué heart… seriously!

Snips & Spice Subway Art

I’ve been blog hopping quite a bit the past 2 weeks… I am completely AMAZED at the serious talent out there.  I fell in love with this Mark Twain quote years ago and my heart did a little flutter when I saw what Malory over at Snips & Spice did with it:

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As soon as I saw Malory’s subway art, I knew it HAD to go in my house somewhere.  I printed it out to an 8x10 size, bought a 15 dollar frame at Michaels, and voila:

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I think it’s EXACTLY what my hutch needed.  There are three different color schemes that you can download for free!

Thanks Malory… you rock!

My Heart, My Love

 Heart Hand Mantel 2

I think Cupid has FINALLY visited this crafty mommy! 

 

My mom always made Valentine’s Day a very special holiday when I was growing up.  It was almost as exciting as my birthday!  I was perusing the aisles of Michaels this weekend, ALONE, (I know, right? I NEVER get to do that) when a package of  little wooden hearts landed into my cart (literally, fell from the shelf and landed in my cart).  I started to put them back, but then visions of my little stink bug’s hand popped into my head.

I have a thing with my kids’ handprints and footprints.  Can’t help it… I have them in all forms of media randomly strewn throughout my house.  It genuinely amazes me at how quickly these tiny little body parts grow.  I haven’t captured Finley’s hand mug in a while and pounced on this opportunity.  He was such a sweet little boy and surprised me with his cooperation.

 

UNTIL I was stenciling and painting… he decided to unroll a 100 yd roll of tulle throughout my dining room and kitchen.  I knew the sheer pleasure in those giggles could only be that of mischief!

Tulle Tulle 2

I had to laugh after I fussed at him.  Any who, when he’s a grumpy hormonal teenager, and I want to lock him in his room until he’s 25, I can look back and remember when he held my love in the palm of his hand…


Linking up HERE

Star Wars Birthday

 
We had Jack’s family birthday party yesterday while he celebrated at school with classmates on his actual birthday.  He is a complete Star Wars fanatic and just had to have a Star Wars kind of day!  I used Felt So Cute’s tutorial as a guideline to make his party hat and then stitched out the same design on another piece of felt for his shirt.  I used Steam a Seam to attach the felt to the shirt and then stitched around the border with a simple straight stitch using red thread.  He was so proud of his shirt!!  Poor guy has been asking me to make him a shirt for quite some time now.
Then we HAD to have Star Wars cupcake toppers, juice box stickers, and stickers for everyone to wear.  I found some fabulous Star Wars clip art and party ideas online.  Here’s my very FIRST tutorial on how I made this happen:
Supplies needed:
Avery Label of your choice (I used round label 5294 and shipping label 5163)
Party store confetti or clip art of your choice
Craft sticks
Glue
Card Stock
Paper cutter
Print ship program (if possible) or Microsoft Word
I used a print shop program to design my labels, but you can also use Word.  Print out the round labels (mine say “Happy 5th Birthday Jack”)  and grab your confetti (A). 
Glue one piece of confetti on each label (B and C).
Grab your paper cutter and card stock.  I used the label sheet as a guideline on how small to cut my cardstock squares.  Each square should be large enough for one sticker (D and E).
Time for the craft sticks…  the ones I had were too long for my liking, so I cut them in half.  Take a sticker and place the craft stick on the sticky part approximately 1/3 of the way up from the bottom (F).
Stick the sticker on your cardstock square (G).
Voila!  Super easy and personalized cupcake toppers (H and I).  You can doll these up with layers of cardstock or with the use of craft scissors to decorate the edges.  I opted for a very simple boy look, however.
Here are the juice box labels and the stickers for friends’ to help celebrate!  Jack’s sticker said, “It’s my 5th birthday.” 
I had fun making these for my little guy.  I can’t wait to make some for Valentine’s Day. :)
Linky Party Love:




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Get Your Coffee ON!

I’ve been buying embroidery designs again….  I just can’t help it!!  One of my favorite sites is Urban ThreadsI Love My Coffee … definitely not your grandmother’s designs.  I LURVE their uniqueness.  When this design came out, I KNEW it would be perfect for a cozy!!  (It is backwards in the pic as I’ve been ahem… taking self portraits in the mirror again ahem…)

Here are my latest two cozies!!  You can check them out in my etsy store.  I’m offering my first ever coupon in my Liberty Original Etsy Shop exclusively for my blog readers.  Enter NEW25 at checkout and you will receive 25% off your ENTIRE purchase!!  I will even honor this coupon for custom orders. 

What are you still doing here?

PS  These cozies are linked up at the following parties:

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Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!