Forgoten Finds Challenge

Hi ladies, I hope this blog finds you enjoying the holidays and feeling festive. I took a break and made some cards for a monthly swap that I'm in and decided to take on a bit of a challenge. Have you ever purchased a tool or ink and tried it only to find it frustrating and wish you hadn't bought it? Or maybe you thought you just had to have it and tried it once and on the shelf it went. I have been guilty of this so I wanted to start using those long forgotten tools, stamps, inks and "have to haves". My cards are created using the roller technique and the BIG Juicy rainbow ink pad. I love how it turned out and am glad I gave it another go. I used an old forgotten tree stamp that I always thought was so peaceful and represented winter. I also embossed it in black ep. I love how the snowflakes make it pop. So,try my challenge and you may too fall in love with some old items in YOUR stash all over again. I would love to have you share what you come up with. Thanks for checking in and Merry Merry.

MIA.....BUT BACK

What a long neglected blog is my little A Blend of Life. It was a whirlwind November with a big birthday,a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family which was then topped off with a great gettaway to San Diego.I hope you are enjoying the holidays and thanks for taking a peek at my little basket I put together for my besties from high school. I purchased the basket in Old Town, San Diego and couldn't wait to return home and fill it with napkins, dish towels, a wisk filled with chocolates (it reads I WISK you a Merry Christmas)that I got off Pinterest. I topped it off with a festive Christmas pick,made some vintage post cards and used some pretty ones made by others. Have a wonderful season of giving.

Stampers Sampler

Hi everyone. I wanted to share that the Stampers Sampler Fall edition which I was featured in is currently out on the new stands. I was so blown away by this honor so had wanted to share it on my blog. Hope you will take a peek at the two Goddess Challenge tags that I created. I really had to go out of box on this one. LOL . I just love this magazine so chose them as my target for getting published. It was a personal goal for me and I was shocked to have been chosen. Thanks for checking in and have a great day.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Cards

Hi my friends. I hope you are enjoying the change in weather and looking forward to November which will arrive next week. We had our first fire in the fire place last night and it was my idea of bliss and everything simple on a busy day. I hope those of you on the East coast will be safe from the storm and are hunkering down. I had some fun in my cave yesterday and wanted to share my Oatmeal cookie recipe that was my mother in-laws. We lost her in May and coming home after a huge Sunday dinner with these in a cool whip container is a very fond memory. I know that they aren't your typical Christmas cookie but I just love them. Not sure what I will do with these yet but maybe I can incorporate them in a gift or project for Christmas. Well that's all for me today. I have a big birthday coming up so wish me luck on getting through that one LOL. I hope to spend it with my friends and family just celebrating life and all that it means. Wouldn't you know it lands on election day. I'm an Eisenhower baby if that gives you any hint as to how old I will be. Oh, my goodness. Take care and have a great week.

Tag 5 Funkie Junkie 12 Tag Challenge ~~~NOEL

Hi my friends. It's been a while since I posted on my blog but we have been super busy and we had a scare with my father in law a few weeks ago which added to the frenzy. Thankfully he is better and is in a rehab home and seems to be getting stronger. Thanks for all the kind wishes that have come my way. I thought I would start again in joining the tag challenge from Linda' thefunkiejunkie.blogspot.com</a> so today I have completed tag 5. I took the inspiration from the music and snow flakes that she used and found a wonderful Silent Night image on Pinterest. I distressed it with Tim's tea and walnut stain and adhered with a multi medium.I then embossed the gold snow flakes with Egyption gold EP and stamped the music notes at the bottom both being from a TH stamp set. The brass filigree is from Linda's store as is the natural woven jute that is tied at the top with the little Noel tag. This is a fun challenge and I only hope I can keep up with all 12 tags LOL so go hop on over for a visit. It really puts you in the mood for Christmas which will be here before we know it.

Twelve Days Till Christmas Challenge ~~Week Two

Hi Everybody. It's week TWO on Linda's http://thefunkiejunkie.blogspot.com/tag challenge and have to say I had a blast. I tried using a aluminum tag by running it through a TH embossing plate and then using alcohol inks but messed it up big time. I need practice with this technique LOL.I was inspired by Linda's tag by using the aluminum however so I saved it by then running it through Tim's doily die and went from there. The snow flakes were painted with metallic white paint and then covered in fine glitter dust.I can't stop using the platinum embossing powder with this color theme. I used a Crafty Secrets Santa image and framed the sentiment using Linda's red burlap from her store.She has an amazing selection so check her out. I also highlighted the top left corner with a awesome metal snow flake. Red tule and a sweet bell is used for hanging. I'm loving this challenge so come check it out. Just think how ahead of the game you will be with all those ready made tags. Thanks for checking in and love your comments.

Tea for Two and Friendship with You

I just can't get get enough of these fun little pockets. I don't know if it's the tags I love to create or just the idea of making a cute little parcel for a friend. So today I wanted to share my Tea for Two pocket that will be used as a thank you or just a sweet friendship gift. I started with the 7X 5 inch manila folder to make the pocket sturdy and covered it with shabby chic pink floral paper. The tea pot stamp was a gift and I have had sitting on my desk just waiting for the right project.The sweet venis lace heart is from my favorite FunkieJunkie.com store and the sweet rose came from Michaels. I adorned it with a heavy rhine stone trim and bobbles. The stick pin is from a stash and has a charm that says made with love along with a tiny key.

"Hold a friend with both your hands"

is a favorite qoute that I wanted to use. Inside it has a sweet pocket full of tea bags (Thank you Maryanne from a pocketfullofvintage on YT), some honey sticks for dipping and tags that are stamped with more friendship quotes. I hope you enjoy your week and can take some time to think about your friends or maybe just take some time and have a cup of tea.

12 Tags of Christmas Challenge with Funkie Junkie

I have to tell you that when I saw Linda's 12 tags of Christmas challenge on her thefunkiejunkie.blogspot.com I was filled with excitement. I don't know if it's that I love making tags and I haven't in a while or just the thought of Christmas which is a favorite time year for me. So I jumped aboard and today want to share my first tag. I don't know if I will make all 12 but we'll see. I took her inspiration and painted the 8 inch large tag with my new acrylic Metallic toupe paint after sending it through the TH embossing folder. I then got out my platinum embossing powder from my friend Joan (thank you Joan) and embossed the top, bottom and the TH Wings and Heart die cut which I cut it out of corrugated chipboard.Next it was all about the glitter dust on the wings which I just love. I then added Linda's Venise lace heart from her store along with a sweet rose. The chipboard sentiment is a K&Company. Linda's mesh ribbon and lace from my stash are tied at the top. I was so inspired by Linda's colors she used and the heart and wings although I reversed it a bit. Hope you enjoy my tag and jump on over to the Funkie Junkie bog and store for a visit.http://thefunkiejunkie.blogspot.com/

Vintage Gift Pouches

Hi my blogger friends. Hope you are enjoying cool fall days and you are getting in some happy, scrappy time. Yesterday I got to spend time with my 95 year old father in law while my husband took off to Lawrence KS. for the KU/Rice football game. I packed up some scrappy happiness, headed to his house and laid it all out on his dining room table. While the Western channel was blasting in the back ground I got deep into making these little vintage pouches. I needed a small gift bag earlier this week but didn't have anything on hand so had to resort to the dollar store. Never again! OHHH, I love how they turned out. The small brown paper bags I got at a little store behind us. They are always happy to give me extras and the paper I used are mostly scraps. Thanks for visiting and email with questions or better yet...leave a comment .

FARM FRESH POCKET

It's been a while since my last post so wanted to get back to my blogger friends and show off a new little pocket I created from the Paper Studio Farm Fresh collection and some Crafty Secrets. I love this paper line because it so bright and cheery. I not only loved creating with this paper but the tags and recipes that go inside were a blast to put together. This is for a pocket swap I host over at YPP and the girls just come up with the best ideas.We were to include a comfort food recipe in the pocket this time which is always fun to think about. It won't be long until we have cooler days and comfort food on the table.Zoom in for a better look and enjoy.Email with questions or just leave a comment .

Beautiful Pinon Paper "FRIEND"

It's been a while since I've created just a hello card for a friend so after a busy day I relaxed a bit in my scrap cave and did just that.Using the beautiful Pinon paper, an adorable digital and a favorite black gate fold... Woosh...done. I also used a white doily and one of Linda's Zibbet stores sweet crochet hearts along with some mulberry flowers from I am Roses to pull it all together for some major sweetness. The paper was purchased on Linda's Funckie Junckie Zibbet store. If you haven't checked her out you may want to. She has some wonderful new inventory with reasonable prices. That's all for today. We are finally enjoying nice weather in KS.and I'm loving the outdoors again.Thanks for visiting.

Jenni Bowlins Ancestry Upcycle Paper Bag

I find these little brown paper bags amazing to create with and keep going back to them. This weekend I put together a pocket made out of just an old brown lunch bag for a mini I plan to put together UMMM...some day hopefully. The photo is one of my grand mothers taken in the 20's when those fox wraps were so in. They always gave me the creeps but they were big back then. I love the glammer and the paper is so vibrant.The flower I created by combining the tattered flower die, sizzix flower die and a I am Roses flower for the middle. The charm which you can't see and the button I have been hording in my stash. The back is a stamp I have had for a while but never have used and the library pocket and insert is from Linda's Funky Junky Zibbet store. Love her things. Well have a wonderful week and I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at my project.Thank you for the nice comments.I really appreciate it.

Vintage Halloween Pocket

I've had a good week staying out of the heat and getting ahead on some projects that I wanted to share. Today is a vintage Halloween pocket which puts me in the mood for cooler weather, pumpkins and mums Thanks for the visit and stay cool.

Another Fun Pocket ~~~ Farm Fresh

I love making these cute pockets with all the charm of making tags to go inside. These make the sweetest little gifts or pockets for gifts. Next months swap which is to be based on October Afternoons Farm Fresh paper line or similar colors and patterns contains pockets and a recipe card focused on farm cooking or comfort food. The paper I used is Hobby Lobby's Paper Studio Farm Fresh. I got it on sale half price. The base is made from a manila folder and measures 5 x 7 inches. Hope you will check out YPP and join in on the fun. It's been a very popular swap.

Try New Things ~~~~MAIL ART

If one were to ask my kids and husband as to what I was about they would probably say the one thing I do the best is try new things. I even have a chunky charm on my ball chain necklace that says exactly that. Try New Things. So my post today is about my new project and another fun addiction called Mail Art. It was started during World War 11 when soldiers would draw and decorate the mail envelopes to be sent back home. There are some wonderfull gallery's of mail art on the internet if interest you may want to check out. So joining yet another fun swap on YPP, I created my first Mail Art. I felt like I was back in Kindergarten just having fun. So try something new for yourself sometime. You may find a new addiction too and just enjoy the moment.Zoom in for better viewing

Manly Man Card

Hi blogger buddies. Today I created a much needed manly man card for my hubs who is having a birthday the end of the month. I used one of Linda's library folders from her Funckie Junckie Zibethttp://thefunkiejunkie.blogspot.com/ store which I tea stained and then I added a digital image. I used Lindy's on the flower and added another dry floral that gives a natural appeal. I also added Linda's wonderful trim ribbon and a die cut that I found in my stash. The flower is used to pull the happy birthday greeting out which is also a library ledger. I need to make more as I have very few masculine cards on hand. Thanks for checking in.

We're Cookin On the 4th Of July

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July. We had friends and family over for a cookout but I think we were the one's cooking in the 103 degree heat. It was a lot fun so thought I would share. We live up the street from the fire works display so our house is always a favorite on the 4th of July. Easy walk and no traffic to deal with afterwards. We enjoyed desert afterwards on the deck.Thanks as always for visiting. Still using the blue bottles from the rehearsal dinner.

Love the Pockets

Can you tell I'm am having fun in my craft cave? Third post in two days. Gees Louise. Hope you don't get sick of me.Here is a little promo I did to kick off July's Pocket for Your Thoughts swap on Your Paper Pantry.I'm addicted. I used Pinon paper from http://www.zibbet.com/TheFunkieJunkie store store for a tag and some of her burlap ribbon as well.I love her unique items that she carries.Thanks for checking in and stay cool. o

Upcycle Paper Bags ~~Sew Special

I had such a good time creating these little paper bags into little sturdy pockets. They will work great for a mini or a gift. Just by adding one more fold at the bottom you have two pockets instead of one. The bag opening at the top will allow many more tags, goodies or just leave empty. I used Recollections paper that I had picked out for an album for my sweet new daughter in-law but couldn't resist tearing into it. The main stamp image I found on Ebay and the tags are from the internet.Other stamps used were Crafty Secrets. Hope you like.

It Was a Wonderful Day

I can't begin to explain the emotions that go on in your heart when you see the expression on your sons face as his one and only love walk down the aisle.It was a wonderful weekend. Thanks for checking in. I will be posting some creations this week as I enjoy some much needed therapy in my craft cave.Have a great week.

One Week and Counting.....

Just a short post to share this layout I did for the rehearsal diiner. I used Jo's sunflower idea that I found on YT. I forget her channel name but if interested just email me and I'll find out.It was an awesome tutorial. I also was inspired by my friend Deann Mcnulty on craftingwithdee for the frame lay out. Thank you Deann. I love how this turned out.Thanks for checking in and please pray that it doesn't rain on our party in the Prairie.

Our Big Wedding ~~ Only Three Weeks Away

Today I wanted to share a sweet start to my boys journey with Kristen. It was of course included in the welcome basket. As the story goes…Kristen had her tonsils out a week after their first date. Curtis called her to say he had made carrot soup for her and was bringing some over. He ended up delivering the soup in blizzard conditions that night but didn’t stay as he had to drive his brother to work who was waiting in the car. The funny part is that she hates carrots but she ended up liking the soup and apparently him too. We’re glad she gave both a chance and so now you too have a carrot soup recipe. Enjoy! Tatsu’s Carrot Soup …revised by Curtis 1lb. carrots ( I use 1 ¼ lb) I medium yellow onion 4 cups chicken stock 4 TLBS sugar ¼ white rice to thicken ( I don’t use) ½ stick of butter Place carrots, stock, sugar, and rice in soup pot and bring to medium heat but do not boil. Cook until carrots are tender Fill blender half full and blend and then return to soup pot and bring to boil adding butter and whisking well. Recipe says garnish with cream but I just add it to the soup pot. So as the wedding nears and I am working away being busy making guest baskets, I wanted to share the sweet story of one of the firsts in Curt and Kristen's relationship. I hope you will forgive the poor grammar and format in this post. I struggle with this blogger layout. It's very much it's own animal in placing and never goes into the correct paragraph line up.URRG! Have a great week my friends and thanks for checking in. Iley

Another Creative Avenue

I have recently been back into a long time hobby of mine which I started about twenty five years ago. This would be the old art of rug hooking. This is not latch hooking but the kind of hooking that was done by our grandmothers. Well, maybe some of our our grandmothers anyway.They are hooked with primitive died wool of many colors and yummy textures. I took a break from hooking on Mondays where I was enrolled in an on going class about three years ago (when I started my scrapping addiction)but missed it.It was when I recently found a sampler pattern in my closet one day when I was cleaning it out that I felt that familiar tug at my heart .

She was sitting there feeling rejected so I decided it was time to get going and start back to rug hooking. She was designed and titled Floral Sampler by an amazing artist who has a wonderful website so if you want more information send me an email. I have taken a picture of this floral wonder in it's beginning stages as well as some completed rugs that I have scattered in my home.I hope you enjoy the share. Have a wonderful week.

Sunday Share Challenge

Hello my blogger friends... what a week. We have been busy in the yard planting flowers and doing yard clean up as I'm sure many of your are as well. We are putting up with unseasonable heat but did get a much need rain which cooled things down a bit. I did manage to get some crafting done in my cave however so wanted to share. I haven't made a tag in some time and wanted to use some of my fabulous trims I recently purchased from Linda's Funckie Junckie boutique.I'm in love with the vintage Pion paperline as you can see.

I embossed an 8 inch tag and used a few glimmer mist to make a yummy blue green background.I love that look. I then tore some of the Pion paper and weathered the edges with Tim's tea dye. After adhering the paper and photo which was layered on chipboard, the fun embellishing began.I twisted the gold mesh trim and glued on the left,adding the crochet flower and Linda's heart which was misted with Lindy's.A metal flourish on left corner was added with Recollections bling and a floral crochet heart.

heart

Garden Pocket Card

Hi Everyone,
Today I wanted to share a Garden themed pocket that I created for another swap I am going be hosting on Your Paper Pantry. I had so much fun putting it together. I started with a manila file folder that I cut down to 4 3/4 size and then folded it up and over. After adhering the paper I then sewed the edges and from then it was all about the embellishing and making cute tags to go in it. I am still in love with the K&Company Brenda Walton paper line that came out last year. Joanne's still carries the product so they must like it too. Of course I had to go back and get more at 40% off this week.I also went back to my burlap and crochet trim that I got from Linda on her Funkie Junkie Boutique Zibet Store.I added a seed packet of Cosmos just to make it even a little more special.
Enjoy the pictures and leave a comment.

I love hearing what you think.