A Blast From The Past - UGH!

When I logged on to MSN and saw the headline for an article about worthless collectibles the other day I knew TFM had to be in there somewhere! What I didn't expect was for one of my programs to be highlighted. I figured it would be some other cutesy program NOT one of my own. LOL!!!

If you only knew how much work, by so many folks, went into the development of this item...it is unbelievable. On the up side, during my tenure I learned so much about Princess Diana through studying her fashions and recreating them in miniature and am constantly amazed at how fashion forward she became and how her clothing stands the test of time. Many of the later gowns, such as this blue gown, are still fashionable today. There was a day when I could tell you what event each dress was for and who designed it but I'm afraid my knowledge of those minute details about this beautiful blue silk sheath have disappeared with the mist of time.

Princess Diana was an amazing style icon! I'm very honored and privileged to be part of a creative team who made this and many other wonderful dolls.

Orchard Fun and OWH Blog Hop

Have you ever seen such unusual pumpkins? My granddaughter wanted to take home the wartful jack-o-lantern for her own. The little gal has an eye for the unusual. After I told her we couldn't take the already carved one covered in warts she ran straight to a oblong yellow pumpkin. We finally settled on some rather cute pie pumpkins and a big one for carving. Oh, and we had to take home just one cider donut!

Sorry, there was no time to blog yesterday so I only uploaded these great photos of my oldest granddaughter having fun with me at Milburn Orchard. Who'd imagine a little girl running around an apple orchard in a dress on a 75 degree day just before Halloween? The dress part her choice but 75 degrees here on the East Coast, who'd guess?

I just signed up to participate in the OWH blog hop for Veteran's Weekend on 11/13. Please keep eyes peeled for more information and snag yourself a badge and link it to OWH with this... http://operationwritehome.org/bloghop. Stop back soon to read about the coming fun. I'll be offering some fun blog candy!!

OWH and a Pop-Up Card Tutorial

Hey there blogging fans! Today, OWH posted on FB a terrific little tutorial on making a fun, easy pop-up card. Check out the tutorial on the OWH website for deets. I've been wanting to make one of these and seeing how darn easy it is inspires me to get going...maybe tomorrow. My weary Vaio laptop is coming home and needs a little TLC tonight. It will be so nice to put the old Toshiba away!

UPDATE...my Vaio came home last night and old Toshiba is resting comfortably after helping out for the last week. Oh my...poor old T is about ready for the Halloween graveyard! I WILL make a pop-up card and post it today...PROMISE so pleeeezzz come back.

Ranger Giveaway and Kellie Winnell Blog Candy

Check out the photo of Ranger Products' Halloween bags I snagged from their blog. Ranger is offering a giveaway for your comments on what to put inside their Halloween bags. Click the title above to head over and leave your comments but hurry...winners will be announced Wednesday!


Blog candy doesn't get better than this 2010 Magnolia Christmas Collection. Be sure to head over to Kellie Winnell's blog for your chance to win!

This one ends November 11th...winner announced Nov. 12th. Good luck!!

Magnolia Lovers SPARKLE Challenge

This challenge was a lot of fun and added to my growing stack of Christmas cards for my faraway family this year. For as much as I LOVE making cards...I am the world's worst at sending cards but this year I am promising myself I MUST make it a holiday priority!
This card was inspired by a sheet of wonderful snowflake DP by Anna Griffin which I sewed to layers of coordinating Bling by Bazzill. Leftover scraps of assorted sparkly and coordinating paper were punch with a MS punch and Stickles added with a sparkly irredescent bow to top things off. The faux crystal & pearls finished the look I was going for on this one-of-a-kind creation.
My vintage Tilda sprite image was stamped on Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored with Copic markers in a subdued pallette to coordinate with the card and glazed the leafy skirt with touches of Stickles for a little more bling. I hope it fills the bill for "SPARKLE" at the Magnolia Lovers Challenge blog!

Halloween Witchy (& Crafty) Tilda Decoration

Hello blog visitors! I'm excited because I'm running short on time for an outing with my gal pal, Bonnie, so will try to hurry this up so I can meet her on time!

I am entering my crafty Tilda in three challenges, Totally Tilda's Special Halloween Challenge, Copic Creations Clear Blender Techniques, & Magnalicious' Brown Paper Bag Challenge. I had great fun making the base for Tilda from a vintage wood thread spool on a rosette base made from 2 @ 16"x1 1/2" lengths of accordian pleated strips from my recycled brown paper bag. I glued the sections together and scored/folded at 1/2" intervals then antiqued, folded and formed into the rosette. This was glued with a mighty glob of E6000 to a 2" cardstock circle covered in some vintage 7 Gypsies paper. To the assembled rosette I glued(E6000) one vintage wood spool & went to town decorating. Again...no shopping trips were made in the construction of this piece...LOL!!

This is the first time using a vintage Tilda I purchased used on eBay a couple years back so the shades of black are fairly new to me. The new Copics worked well and I was able to get a decent outcome for a first try using C3, C5, C1, and N7...with an itsy bit of black and some mixing things around with the Copic Colorless Blender (CCB). Since I am using shades of the same color my CCB was invaluable. The apron highlights were added with the CCB...I ususally soften the folds with CCB here too but this design worked better without that this time. I had a bit of panic when the hat and hair melded into one image and I could not distinguish one from the other. A little work with lightning pigtails with my CCB and shading the interior of the hat worked! To further distinguish the hair from the hat I covered Tilda's hair in clear gloss gel. I wanted the Tilda to be as dark as possible to go along with the base so I also antiqued it all over with a sponge and walnut ink. I created a new string leash and legs for the spider from floral wire I colored with black Copic. Usually, I don't like things as cute as Tilda on items with an altered-art feel but I think this worked fine!

For my Copic Creations friends...I also use the CCB solution straight out of the bottle to clean the blades of my scissors after cutting gooey things like the EZ Mount backing for unmounted stamps!

The links in the Copic Creations challenge are worth a visit even if you don't want to enter!

Fun Halloween Altered-Art Craft

I've had this heart-shaped wooden bag around for a few years just waiting for this altered-art craft. My daughter is coming home from a Mediterrean cruise on Saturday and I was thinking about her upcoming Halloween lollipop-making and thought this would look cute on her desk at work full of pumpkin lollipops!
I hope she likes it...all made from things I didn't have to buy. If I live long enough to use up my stash, I'll be a very old lady!! This was so easy to make. I painted and distressed a $1 box from the unpainted wood deptartment in my ACMoore. Traced it and cut down 2 layers of papers I distressed and went to town with my box of Halloween embellies. I may yet go back and add some orange boa around the top for a little fun...we'll see. The distressed flowers were made with scalloped circles I cut, quarter folded, antiqued and glued to a kraft cardstock circle with a nifty epoxy button added. I just love the vintage Making Memories epoxy buttons and wish I had bought more way back when. I'll have to make myself something when I get to the last one. Remember those typewriter key alpha stickers? They make a perfect "BOO".

Our backdoor neighbors had a bad fire at their house yesterday. DH and I were moseying around the house with a birds eye view and didn't realize anything was going on until the first firetruck arrived, 4 came in total. The poor kids ended up running out of the house in their pjs, not warmly for the chilly weather. We heard today that the dryer shorted and melted the pvc waterpipe which caused further shorting and an electrical fire. They'll be out of the house for a couple months while the house is worked on but it could have been so much worse. The young woman came by to return the fleece I took to her and told DH if they hadn't been home to call it in, the result would have been catastrophic. We're so happy they are all safe.

Cindy Lyles' Pump for Habitat for Humanity

This is a little peek at the awesome work of altered art created by Cindy which will be auctioned off to benefit Habitat for Humanity. Please be sure to visit Cindy's amazing blog, Starlit Studio, for a generous dose of inspiration and entertainment. I happened across it yesterday by way of Ellen Hutson's which I probably found by visiting Cindy's blog...it is amazing how we are all so interconnected.

Cindy and I go way back to our days working for the same collectible manufacturer so it was a real treat to stop by her blog and see the wonderful projects she is working on and to see we once again have a little more in common. She created an amazing altered-art piece for which Habitat for Humanity will benefit. I couldn't help myself and had to tell her about my daughter and how she worked with the Habitat for Humanity efforts in New Orleans after Katrina so I absolutely LOVE, LOVE what she created. I hope it brings in TONS of $$$ for this worthy charity!!

I left a little love note on her blog and was tickled to get a nice little email first thing this morning. What a nice treat!! Thanks Cindy...I hope you don't mind I snagged a photo as a teaser to send my visitors back to your blog.

Mojo Monday #160 Challenge

For this challenge, I rotated the sketch 90 degrees to suit the shape of my 5.5" square card and design. The rubber stamp is a sweet one by Whiff of Joy. The image was colored with Copics with a smear of Stickles to add some bling. The snowflakes across the top are punched, layered over chipboard, with Stickles, a faux crystal, and added with a pop dot. The pink sheer ribbon is by May Arts. I had lots of fun using my new Cottage Christmas which was a prize from Imaginisce!

Here's the cool sketch I followed:

Tiddly Inks Blog Candy

What can you say besides Y-UM!! This is some special blog candy. If you've wondered where to find a sweet goth girl...this is the spot to shop for digis!

Be sure to visit Tiddly Inks to enter by Nov. 4th.

Here's a peek back at a card I recently created. I can't wait to send it this Christmas.

A Fun Blog Hop...

I just finished hopping around...its very therapeutic when one has the bug and can't get motivated to do their own card making! Hopefully, will be back at it later today, if not and will post a challenge card very soon.

Hurry over to La La Land...this ends on Monday, 10/18.

And if you're interested in joining a brand new design team check out this blog...Paper-crafting Journey is seeking members for this brand new challenge blog. Hurry over...the call ends Oct. 31st.