Easter = New Life!

It's almost Easter!

I have family coming for Easter dinner this weekend, so I wanted to make something to put at each place setting. I'm not one to spend a lot of money on stuff like that, and I'm not really into the bunny thing. I love bunnies, but I wanted to focus more on the meaning of Easter being new life. So I went to my trusty Pinterest and found a cute idea. 

I went to the Dollar store and found some little peat pots, some chocolate eggs and some Easter grass. It cost me about $5.00. I had the bakers twine and glue at home. 

I trimmed the top of the pots then turned the pots upside down and put a bead of glue around the rim of the pot. I just tied the bakers twine around it, making sure it sat in the glue and let it dry. Then made a bow. 

Turn them right side up, add the grass and the eggs and walla! 

I could have put another egg in them, but I ran out. I may just pick up some little chicks and add one to each pot. 

I would say that's representative of new life! 

Well, have a great week,

Blessings,

Carmen

Spread a Little More Love!

Hello! 

Just a thought ~ ~ ~

Years ago I headed up a program called Secret Prayer Pals in a church I attended. It was quite a success. We started by picking names out of a basket. This would be our secret pal for a 10 month period. The commitment was to write an encouraging card to that person a minimum of once a month. You were allowed to give gifts, but it was not required or expected. Then at the end of the program we would have a revealing function where everyone would find out who their secret pals were for the year and where people gave a small revealing gift. It was interesting to see who got whom, and also the encouragement and small gifts people received throughout the time. Since then I handed it over to others, but it eventually died. I still love the concept though, but I wanted to change it a bit or broaden it, but didn't know how.

So when I saw this idea I thought it was pretty neat. This particular site was called "More love letters." 

The premise of this letter writing campaign is to write a letter to a stranger, or someone whose name has been submitted. Basically someone that needs to know they are loved, or that things are going to be ok. Just something encouraging letting them know that someone cares. 

I love the idea, but I don't want to join this particular program because it's in the US. I do want to write letters though, and address them to "Hello! If you find this letter, it's for you!" or "Read me!" or "Open me!"

Then leave them everywhere. 

That's really just what I want to try first. 

So I began looking around pinterest and found a few letter writing ideas for this. I love Pinterest --- it has everything on it. 

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/528117493803475539/

Here are some little notes from Coffee & Honeycomb. Adorable!! 

You don't even have to have an envelope. You can take a 12 X 12 piece of paper (or smaller) that has a design on one side, white on the other. Cut it in half and then fold it in half. You will have two 6"X 6" folded letters you can write something inside of. Then I'd stick a label on the outside. You could close it with a sticker or a glue dot or whatever. 

If you do use an envelope, you could decorate it --- just for fun. I tend to doodle a little on mine, but I've seen people use washi tape, stickers, etc. 

I love the idea of submitting a name of someone who is sick, someone struggling with depression, someone dealing with a loss, etc. You could make the world a happier place, and that's what we truly need these days! Maybe I should start something locally? 

Anyway, this sounds like fun to me. What do you think? 

Carmen

Catching Up on Crafts

Hello,

Seems like I've been missing in action again.  Life, you know! 

I'm still puttering away. I often post things on Instagram because it's quick and easy, but then I forget to post here. There are always things in progress on my desk as well. I'll make a card, decide to make a few more and wait to post. Then I don't make anymore and don't post. 

Why? I don't know -- it's what I do.

Nevertheless, I'm happy and buzzing along and now I'm here to show you a few things, the good, the bad and the unfinished. But they're mine. Lol

First I'm going to show you my painting. This is a 5X7 small painting made as a trial. I wanted to try some acrylic painting and found a style that I thought might be fun and less laborious than my oil painting. I'm not overly happy with it, but for a first attempt it isn't bad. There are a lot of things to think about in mixing the paint properly and how you combine them, what you use with it, etc. All of it affects the outcome of your painting. I have a long way to go, but I'm going to try some other ones to see if I can get the results I want. 

I also made a few cards recently. I actually love this tulip stamp. I thought it would make a cute thank you card to have on hand.

This one is made with some puzzle pieces. The picture doesn't do it justice, which doesn't help, but it is what it is. I wanted to make more, but look at it -- back to the drawing board.

These are ones I am working on. I do have to get cracking because I have a birthday coming up. After cutting the strips off the others, I decided to weave them together. It might make a good background for another card or a mixed media piece.

The lady with the hair is an IndigoBlu stamp that I love. 

I was texting one of my DIL's because I wanted to send a little parcel to the grands. She said the girls are really into scrunchies for hair. So I made a bunch of scrunchies. There's cotton blend, velvet, sheer with pom poms and shiny ones. These were fairly quick and easy to make. I have granddaughters in three different places, so I made quite a few. They're all ready to go now.

I also made another Critter Bag -- there's no name on this one yet, but I'm sure I'll find someone. The photo is kind of dark and shaded, but you've seen these before.

Last but not least. This is my Attack Chicken. I made him and then threw him at my son and yelled "Attack Chicken," and somehow it stuck. Now he gets thrown around at unsuspecting people.

I never said I was normal. 

There's a free pattern for this guy from Stip en Haak, a dutch blog. There's an option to translate it to english before the download. I used a bigger hook, so mine isn't as small. The original ones are just adorable.

Chicken Kitty

Well, that's it for today,

Have a great weekend!

Carmen

Puzzle Piece Sentiments

Good Morning,

The other day I showed you some of my Craft Sale Haul which included a puzzle piece punch. Today I thought I'd offer a few Puzzle Piece Sentiments for use on your cards or scrapbook pages. 

I intend on using these myself for a few cards which I'll post soon.

If you use these, please send me a photo of your project and I'll add it at the end of my puzzle card post as inspiration for others. I'll include links to your blog page if you provide it. You can also post it yourself under the comment section if you prefer.

For helpful information on how to download a digital stamp and store it, that information is posted under my Blog Header under  'Digital Stamps'. Please have a look. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Blessings, 

Carmen

Craft Sales, Naps and Laundry

Living in Kamloops has its fine points. Although it's semi-arid there are plenty of lakes that are truly beautiful! You can go swimming, fishing, hiking and camping in the summer; then in the winter there's skiing, snowshoeing, and ice fishing close by. That all sounds so wonderful, but one thing about Kamloops that is a bit frustrating for a city of almost 100,000 people, is the fact that most businesses don't seem to thrive or last here.

I'm not sure why that is. There are major centers within 3-4 hours from here and that may have some bearing on it. In any case, all that to say that our last little scrapbook store has closed and all that's left is a little scrapbook spot in a Glass store. It's dismal ladies, it really is. 

But there is good news because...

That's why our Craft Garage Sales are so well attended! Everyone knows that buying crafts and making crafts are two completely different hobbies. Truthfully, many of us are more committed to the former than the latter. 

Ain't that the truth? 

Which is great for all of us. It's just a win-win really!

Today I went to one of those sales in town and was not disappointed. I found a few things I'm pretty excited about. I've had my eye on Stampscapes for a while. Who doesn't love a good Youtube video on craft techniques? I picked these up for a buck each. 

A buck! 

I'm pretty happy about them and I can't wait to play. That night sky one is spectacular all done up. Sigh......

I really don't need any more stamps (she whispers), but I've been wanting a motorcycle stamp and couldn't leave these there. Masculine cards, here I come! 

I've also been looking for white staz-on refill ink for ever -- I never thought I'd find it locally. I'm serious! Apparently our Michael's (which has been downsizing their scrapbooking section to oblivion) didn't see the need to carry it. 

Lucky me, lol. Because......

An ink pad AND the refill for 2 Bucks??? SCORE!! Oh, and I got some envelopes and blank cards as well. I want to make some smaller cards but all mine are bigger. So a good buy for me.

There's more. 

I'm excited about this too because I love the puzzle piece cards and I like punches.

Hearts always come in handy, and I usually end up drawing them and cutting them. This will be so much quicker. 

Last but not least I found some little flowers. They will come in handy at some point, I'm sure. 

I wore myself out today. It was hot in there and that was exacerbated by the fact that it's cold outside (you know, for all that skiing) and I had on my warmest jacket. 

Now I need a nap..... but first the laundry.

Happy weekend everyone! 

Blessings,

Carmen