Something a Little Different

Hi everyone,

I hope you have all been well.  I have caught the cold that never ends, coupled with a generous dose of seasonal allergies and it all started while recovering from a little surgery :(  I've been better, but enough complaining.  I hope you can all forgive my absence from the land of blog and my tardiness with this post.  I have been trying to get around and leave comments, but I am still behind.

A new challenge just started at Creatalicious and the theme for the next month is 'For the Girls.'  So we want to see a craft you have created for a gal in your life.  Remember, it can be any type of craft as long as it fits the theme.  I thought I would show you something a little different this month - a necklace I made using cherry quartz beads and sterling silver components (chain, half-hard wire, jump rings and clasp).  I was very pleased with how the asymmetrical design turned out.

This challenge is sponsored by The Trinket Track and one lucky winner will receive a $20 coupon to their store!  I hope you will join in :)

Thanks for popping in and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I really appreciate each one, and will do my best to visit you too within the next few days.

Hugs, 

Dawn

New Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is well!  This week has been ridiculously busy, so I am just popping in really quickly to tell you about our new monthly Playing in Paradise Sketch Challenge!   Everyone is invited to play and you have until May 31 to enter.  I hope you will join in.

This month we are using Pam's sketch:

Pam went the extra mile and also provided some alternative ways to use the sketch for a card or double page layout:

I really liked the original sketch, so I challenged myself to make a card from it.  Here is what I came up with:

Supplies:

Paper - Graphic 45 Secret Garden

Lace - KaiserCraft

Die cuts - Spellbinders Fancy Tags 2 & Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish

Sentiment - Hot Off the Press (Stamp and Punch set)

Other - champaign pearls, crinkle ribbon died with bundled sage DI, Doily, green ribbon from my stash

Please stop on over at the Playing in Paradise challenge to check out the beautiful creations the team has made.

Thanks so much for popping by and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I really appreciate them.  I am afraid I am horribly behind with visiting your blogs at the moment - I do apologize :(  I will start catching up as soon as I get a chance this evening and will try to get around to visiting everyone over the weekend.  

Hugs,

Dawn

Winter Sports for Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

Hello everyone!

I am so pleased that our weather has finally turned to Spring and I think Mother Nature must have been feeling a bit sheepish as she gave us a couple of abnormally hot days to enjoy being outdoors again.  Of course, we spent them cleaning up the yard, but it really needed to be done anyway.

A new challenge starts today at Christmas at Sweet Stampin' and our theme is winter sports.  So if it can be done in the snow or on ice and someone could potentially loose an eye, then it should count :)  I decided to go with hockey - even though I think I must be one of the few Canadians who doesn't care for the sport.  There are some fans in my family, so I am sure one of them will enjoy this card... and the mice are really cute!

Supplies:

Stamps - House Mouse stamped with black stazon on 300g hot pressed watercolour paper and coloured with distress ink, Amy R Snowman Sayings sentiments (I'm not sure if it is legible from the photo, but the top one says 'cold twigs, warm hearts')
Paper - BoBunny Snowfall and MME Miss Caroline
Other - twigs fallen from the willow tree in my front yard (so it was relatively easy to bend one into a frame), glitter for the snow in the image and on the branches, baker's twine, TH mini ticket die.

We have a fantastic sponsor - Quixotic Paperie is providing one lucky winner with a £10 voucher to their store!

I hope you will join in the fun!  I'm looking forward to seeing your winter sport themed Christmas creations :)

I would also like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Allsorts - Add some sparkle

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Let's get sentimental

Papertake Weekly - Anything goes

The ABC Challenge - M for Make it sparkle
Winter Wonderland - Dashing through the snow

Thanks so much for popping in and for taking the time to leave a comment.  I really appreciate them!  I'm afraid I have fallen a bit behind with visiting and comments at the moment, so if I have not been around to see you, I am sorry.  Life should get less hectic this weekend, so I will catch up with everyone then.

Hugs,

Dawn

An Easy Mother's Day gift & Tutorial

Hello everyone,

And a big welcome to my new followers :)  I hope everyone is well!  Today I have an easy Mother's Day gift idea to share.  Of course, you could just keep it for yourself too!

To find out how I turned an ordinary clay pot into a pretty gift for mom, visit my quick and easy tutorial here.  No special skills required!  Promise.

Thanks for popping in!  I hope you enjoy the tutorial.

Hugs & happy crafting,

Dawn

Winner of My Favourite Stamp Giveaway!

Hello everyone,

Just dropping in to announce the winner of my first 'My Favourite Stamp Giveaway.'  A huge thank you to everyone who entered!  A new giveaway will be coming soon :).

So, on to the winner of this adorable Dreamy Dragon by Whimsy.  As I am not technologically savy & I didn't use a linky, I asked my hubby to draw a name from a bag and he drew:

Sue - bearhouse  

Congratulations Sue!!!  Please e-mail me at dlb5555 at hotmail dot com with your complete mailing address (including country) as it should appear on the envelope and I will get your new stamp in the post.

Hugs & happy crafting,

Dawn