Ohhh! Ahhh! A swap!

So I was honored to be included in the Vintage Vacation Swap with it's incredibly talented hostess Jenny from Everyday is a Holiday (I really hope that link works. There are limits to my technical ability.). My partner was Becky Garrison of her blog Hearth and Home (again crossing toes for the link). She took me on "A trip to Paris". Somewhere I've never been but would love to go someday. Feast your eyes on the crafty Parisian goodness:


Almost too pretty to open.

Of course Sylvester was positive I was mistaken and this was a package for him. No dice kitty.

Beautiful Fabric yo-yo's with a French Fleur di lis pattern.
French lavender smells soo good. I have two bunches in my bedroom already. I'm a huge fan!

Did I ever mention how much I love chocolate? Unfortunately the chocolate bar was a bit melty. Not messy melty but melty enough that it looks dusty when you try to eat it. It's not stopping me. I don't discriminate against dusty chocolate. I eat a square each night before I fall asleep so I can have sweet dreams.

A lot of Something for the stash! Vintage Postcard. Luscious satin ribbon in my favorite colors. A book about French Artists and a beautiful vintage scarf. Ohh lala!


But my absolute favorite. The thing that everyone runs to drool over is the CREATE banner. Made by my swap partner. It is Beautiful! I hung it right over my computer. Love Love it!

Thank you so much Becky! I hope you like your package from me. I tried to mix the seaside charm with the French Parisian theme that I know you love. You should have gotten it yesterday or possibly today if the mailman lies. I was so sick last week I couldn't drag myself to the post office. Thank goodness the swap deadline was extended or I may have been late.

I'm a baaad blogger

Okay it's true. I haven't blogged in a very long time. I should be flogged, cursed by the bloggers that be. Shunned...blah, blah, blah. So with that out of the way it isn't like I haven't still been crafty and creative. So I'll show you some exciting things that I've been working on lately. This is inspired by Julie Collings piece on the front of Somerset Apprentice.

I call it Secret of the Heart

I also did another the same day while the juices were still flowing.

 Dance then, wherever you may be. It's inspired by a song we sing in church. Both were deeply personal but I think Secret of the Heart was more so because instead of using a vintage love letter I actually wrote the letter myself to someone who I have strong feelings for. Of course the letter is encased in wax. Never to be read. This drives some people to distraction. They feel like they need to know what the letter says. But isn't that what art is? Stirs up different emotions for different people. Makes you think. Makes you talk?

It's Wrong To Be In Love With a Die Cutter.

 

Isn't it tho? I recently fell in love with this little lovely and how I did it was in a roundabout way. Two summers ago I started a neighborhood scrapbooking group. I had a huge tub of pictures of my kidlets and desperately needed to get them scrapped. We got quite a bit of work done that summer and enjoyed each other's company and a few too many cocktails(but that's a story for another post). We started up again this summer a few weeks ago and I found out that during the year one of the other scrappers had acquired the Cricut(I've had mine for about two years now). So she had all these cool cartridges we could share on scrap night. Since scrap night is always at a different house I offered to pack up the bug and bring it along to the next house. Dude that thing is heavy! We didn't even take it out that night. The scrapper with the cool cartridges didn't show up. I was less than thrilled with the bug. Frankly I've always been less than thrilled with the bug (don't tell). The cartridges are super expensive and they just don't move me. I was also kinda torqued when they came out with the new machine and mine was hofficially a dinosaur.

So when I happened across this little cutter I was apprehensive. I had seen a presentation before when it was brand, brand new. It was portable. It cut the same size as the cricut. It didn't have many cartridges out with it at the time. Meh. Ok it wasn't love at first sight. But then after the cricut debacle I happened across a sale. I saw some of the cartridges....Love, the fonts, the dies, hmmm. I bought the tag maker and these glitter rims thinking that I could cut the same size circles for the tags with my Cricut. Nope no go. I could blame it on the glitter since I've been a glitter w***e for years but lets be honest. The bug just isn't doin it for me anymore. I needed a little something  more portable. The cartridges are more affordable and most come with fonts. Hmmmm. Before I knew it I had purchased it. What's that sleeping pill that some people take and do that night shopping, Ambien? Ok we'll officially blame it on that. D'oh I just bid on two cartridges on e-bay. That's a lot of Ambien. Ok no more buying until the Slice gets here. True love. Now what to do with the Cricut?

Life is Amazing

It really is. How in the blink of an eye you can know some truth that you weren't sure about before but now with new information...you know. But this blog isn't about that. Nope this blog will be my happy place. My worry free /whine free zone. I need more of those.

So what am I excited about? Silver Bella swaps started last week. So far I've signed up for Bees Knees; which is a one on one swap and a Paper Doll swap in which I will create 5 paper dolls and receive 5 paper dolls in return at Silver Bella. How exciting. We newbies have been cautioned not to take on too much this first year. How can I not?

It's all so exciting!! I'm not worried about the paper doll. I could do her in my sleep. I have a fabulous ballerina paper doll that is going to be wonderfully foofed and glittered to within an inch of her life. She will be loved. Now the Bees Knees. I'm a little worried about. I've bought something kinda out of the box. Something I would love but I'm hoping my partner will be able to think out of the box with me. It will be wonderfully foofed and glittered also. There is one more swap that I have to be a part of. The vintage supply swap?!?!

I'm there. It always seems that I use about half of my supplies, get tired of them or have seen them enough in my art and then they sit unused and have to be stored. I would much rather share these and have something new in return. So my moo cards are ready. I have creative ideas. I have drive and time. What am I doing on my blog? I have work to do!!!!