Creative Charms Farewell Blog Hop

Welcome to the Creative Charms Blog Hop!!!  If you just happen to be stopping by, please visit Creative Charms to start the hop.  If you are already taking part in the hop, you should have arrived from Kristal's fabulous blog.

It has been so much fun to be a part of the Creative Charms Team.  I have been so inspired by the beautiful products.  But all good things must come to an end and it's time for CC to pick another DT and give someone the fabulous chance that I have had!

For my parting project, I was inspired by the April Kit - Spring Has Sprung - to make another Easter creation:

I can't begin to tell you how fun this was to make!  I started with a plain glass and poured green acrylic paint inside the glass.  I then swirled it around the edges, JUST to make a messy pattern.  I then added another color and did the same thing.  I added a total of 4 colors.  If you give the color before a little bit of time to set (minutes) the colors don't mix, they just swirl together in a rainbow!  Love it! 

I then put a foam ball inside my glass and added Easter Egg sprays.  I wrapped my glass with Fancy Yellow Polka Dot Ribbon and added a butterfly from the Sparkle Butterfly Medley to the outer glass. 

For the Easter Egg Sprays, I glued goodies from the Spring Has Sprung Kit direclty on to my eggs.  I a little shredded paper topped off this pretty Easter decor. 

Here is the Blog Hop List:

· Creative Charms
· Kristal
· Amber - You are here!!!
· Sandra
· Jan
· Laura
· Diane
· Jennifer H
· Michelle
· Lisa
· Chris
· Jamie
· Amy
· Jennifer Y
· Trudy
· Ellen
· Joscie
· Ilene
· Midori

I hope you've enjoyed your stop at my blog.  Now for my part of the secret phrase - JUST.  Creative Charms also has a BIG grand prize availabe for those of you who email the correct phrase to CC - the May Deal & Kit of the Month!  And for a little something extra, leave me a comment and become a follower here at The Country Scrapper and I'll pick a winner for a box of Creative Charms goodies! The grand prize giveaway plus the giveaway here will be closed at midnight on Sunday, May 1st at Creative Charms and giveaways will be announced on Monday, May 2nd.

JUST hop on over to  Sandra's Blog to continue the fun!!!

If The Shoe Fits

Happy Friday!  Time for a new challenge at If The Shoe Fits...Scrap It.  Fashionista Friday #77 is a winged challenge:

Show anything with wings in your project. Birds, bees, butterfies, fairies, etc....

I really didn't want to do a butterfly card because I've been so addicted to them lately (ok maybe years???) and use them on everything.  But I just couldn't help myself:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock and stamps.  I stamped my row of little butterflies at the bottom of my cardstock.  I then added a piece of October Afternoon patterned paper that I punched with a Fiskars scalloped punch.  I added a piece of Creative Charms Polka Dot Ribbon and Butterfly.  I stamped my sentiment on an Elle's Studio tag. 

Visit "The Shoe" to see the Design Teams fabulous takes on the sketch and to play along!

Giveaways and Reminders

Who likes to win free things???  I think we all do!  Visit Holly's blog "Experience Life Wisely" for the chance to win some Prima goodies that will be featured in The Sampler's May Kit!  All you have to do is leave a comment for Holly to be entered to win.  Here's a sneak peak:

The May kit is darling, very feminne and fun!  Can't wait to start sharing creations with you!  For now you'll have to settle on a LO from The Sampler's April Kit:

I love this LO.  My nephew got a new Go-Cart and Hubby had to try it out.  So he decided to take the dogs for a ride.  Jake barked the entire time, but Gracie set back and let the wind blow her beard, hehe!  Don't forget to enter The Sampler Sketch Challenge for a chance to win The Sampler's April Kit. 

Enjoy!!!

Fresh From The Garden

Hi all!  Hope you had a wonderful Easter.  My weekend was wonderful.  Had a terrific time with family, friends, and at Church.  I also found a little time for crafting this evening.  Have you seen the Front Porch Kits?  They are a new monthly kit club.  I love the country feel of the kits.  This month's kit is called Fresh From The Garden and includes items that aren't regularly seen in kits, like chicken wire.  I flipped when I saw the wire, you know my love of chickens and all!  So I knew I had to have a kit:

I decided to play along with this week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge:

And I had the perfect pictures for this LO:

My LO focuses on Mr. Kitty.  He is the guardian of the barnyard and my chickens.  If there's a butterfly to be seen, he's ready to attack!  The only problem with Mister is he's not that worried about mice!  He's strictly a butterfly hunter!  So I added butterflies to my LO, perfect touch!

I  have another LO to share:

This is our older Great Pyrenees Boots.  She was just a puppy when Matt and I were dating.  Now she's an old gal who loves her job tending the goats.  She also has the new GP puppy Brisco to raise!  Hopefully that will keep her young at heart! 

Check out the Front Porch Kits, they are fabulous.  Both LO's were made using the Fresh From The Garden Kits.  And I have a Blog Post up at Creative Charms!  Don't forget the upcoming CC Blog Hop this Friday where you will have the chance to win all kinds of goodies!

Happy Earth Day!!!

We live here, we depend on it, so why not have a day dedicated to it....HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!  Earth Day is all about celebrating and taking care of this beautiful planet that God has given us.  At If The Shoe Fits...Scrap It  we are dedicating this week's challenge to the Earth.  For the Fashionista Friday #75 we are recycling.

Put all your scrap materials to use! Scrap paper just lying around and anything else that could be reused. Examples - used cereal boxes, scrap ribbon pieces, etc... Think recycle! 

All of my family and friends know that I LOVEEEE Coca Cola!  Even though it gives me kidney stones, I love the stuff.  Cans aren't exactly environmentally friendly, so I decided to recyce my pop tabs and use them on a card:

I simply threaded my ribbon thru the tabs and used them as buckles:

Now it's your turn!  I know you can find something to recycle and use on a project...scraps of paper or ribbon, things from the environment!  Visit If The Shoe Fits and see the Design Teams darling creations and upload your projects today : )

The Sampler's April Sketch Challenge

Hi all!  Time for a new challenge at Scrapbooking Supplies R Us.  This month's Sampler sketch is fabulous:

So adorable!  This month the challenge is being played from Holly's Blog at Experience Life Wisely.  And up for grabs, the April Sampler Kit!  Here's my LO:

All of these goodies can be found in this month's Sampler Kit.  I used my Fuji Instax Camera to take a few polaroids of the farm. 

To enter this challenge, just leave a comment at Experience Life Wisely with a link directly to your blog or gallery where you posted your take on this challenge! You have until 10pm(central) on May 20th, 2011 to leave your comment to be eligible to win an April Kit from The Sampler!

I also want to let you know about an upcoming blog hop from Creative Charms:

There will be plenty of chances to win goodies during the hop!  There will also be a Grand Prize Giveaway! 

Sketches & Color

Hi all!  I have a new card and a new sketch to share with you tonite.  I just love the challenges at The Play Date Cafe.  This week's PDCC Challenge 77 is:

Isn't this a lovely picture?  The colors are so calming.  Here's my card:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock and ink.  My patterned paper is Glitz and American Crafts.  I used Kaiser and Teresa Collings bling.  And my stamps are from Unity Stamps.  I love the sentiment "While I breathe, I hope".  It's so true, as long as there is the breath of life in our body, God has given us hope.  This sentiment really hits home since my Papaw has been sick, I know as long as I breathe, I hope and Pray he improves and has comfort.  Hope is a powerful thing! 

Next up is a a challenge from Sketchy Thursdays:

Instead of making it a 2 page LO, I shrunk mine into a 1 pager:

This is my sweet, psychotic duck, Fredda Quackers (brown).  Her "man", Frank Quackers is in white.  She definitely thinks she is the Queen of the Barnyard.  She drags Frank everywhere, it's all the obese duck can do to keep up with his woman.  Sometimes I think she just keeps him on the go purely for meaness.  She wears the pants in the relationship! 

For this LO I used goodies from the April Sampler Kit at Scrapbooking Supplies R Us. 
And "thanks" to all my new followers! 

Cardabiltities #29

Hi all!  Today is my first sketch challenge as a member of the Cardabilties Design Team!  So excited to work with such crafty people!  The sketches are just amazing, different, and creative.  Cardabilties is also launching it's own Gallery beginning with today's reveal.  Upload your completed work to the Gallery so everyone can check out our talented followers and see the Design Teams work there also. 

Are you ready to check out Sketch 29???

And now for my card:

Think Spring!  I used My Mind's Eye and Crate Paper to create this card.  I also added a Papertrey Ink Stamp and a touch of lace.

Visit Cardabilities to see the Design Teams amazing creations and be sure to upload your take on Sketch 29 to the Cardabilties Gallery.  Cardabilties also has a Forum where you can chat with the Design Team and make new crafty friends!

Enjoy!!!

If The Shoe Fits #75

Hi all.  The bad news is today is the end of tax season.  The good news is it's time for a new Fashionista Friday challenge from If The Shoe Fits...Scrap It.  This week we are having a recipe challenge, here's the ingredients:

2 Die Cuts

Embossing

Clear Bling

Easy, right?  Easter is right around the corner, so I decided to make my own little Easter egg.  I also entered this card in the Off The Wall Craftiness Challenge 51.  Look at the inspirational photo:

Oh don't you just love Easter Themes, here's my card:

I used my Spellbinder Nestabilties to cut out 2 oval die cuts, my biggest is cork board.  I then embossed the yellow of my egg using my Cuttlebug.  I added clear bling to the embossed circles.  My stamps and ribbon is Papertrey Ink and my bling and flower is Creative Charms. 

Visit If The Shoe Fits to see the Design Teams darling creations and to play along!

Inspiration Is Every Where!

I am so blessed to be a crafter.  I can't tell you how many dear friends I've met along the way.  I want to share a few of them with you tonite! 

First up Kristal Andrew's Love Link Up Party!  Kristal is a super talented crafter and a member of the Creative Charms Design Team, that's how we met.  She's not only a gifted paper crafter, she's a wonderful person.  Her Love Link Up Party is a way to make new friends and check out very talented bloggers you may not know.  Here are the links from her party so far:



Is that not the neatest?  Now you have all this inspiration, plus visit Getting Cricky with K Andrew - Kristal is having an amazing giveaway. 

Up next on the blog tour is Annette from Annette's Paper Bistro.  Annette has been my dear friend since the beginning of this scrappy blog journey and she amazes me with her beautiful creations!  When I visit Annette's blog I want to run into my craft room and get to work!  She also has a fabulous ETSY Store - Paper Bistro, where you can buy some of her goodies! 

One of my new friends is Nati from Nati's Little Scrap Blog.  She won a recent giveaway I was having and we became friends quickly.  I love her blog, her doggies, and her creations!  She also makes cakes and is so creative. 

And to top off the list of talent is Sandee.  I met Sandee at a scrapbook store on my last visit to Tennessee.  I'm not even sure what got us to talking, but I quickly learned that she new about Design Teams and being published and all the things I love!  We exchanged blog addresses and have been friends ever since.  Sandee is the Moxie Fabber of the Week at Moxie Fab World!  So happy for her.  Check out her darling blog Inspired to Create to see her beautiful creations and read about her upcoming publications!

Did I also mention a giveaway???  Creative Charms is having a giveaway.  Visit Creative Charms on Facebook for the details! 

~Spring Is In The Air~

It's time for a new crafty challenge from If The Shoe Fits...Scrap It!  This week's Fashionista Friday Challenge 74 is focusing on Spring.  Create a card, layout, or altered item that involves a Spring theme.  This is my favorite time of the year and it's so easy to create with Spring and Easter in mind!  Here's my card:

Don't you just love this little bunny?  So cute!  My image is from Crafty Secrets and my flower is Prima.  I added some shabby laces and a leaf.  I inked the edges of my cardstock with green ink.  Very simple card to put together and I love the vintage Easter look!

Visit "The Shoe" to see the Design Teams beautiful Spring creations and play along with this week's challenge...

Amy Mattes Designs

Hi all!  Have some fun Design Team news to share tonite.  I'm now part of the Amy Mattes Designs DT.  Amy has fabulous Etsy shops with custom or premade goodies, invitations, digis, and more! 

I want to share a card I made using some of Amy's adorable digital embellishments.  The printable digis I used can be found at Chocolate Sundae Designs.

Such a fun and easy way to make cards!  My sentiment, flower, and flower pot are all from Chocolate Sundae Designs.  My pink pearls and butterfly are from Creative Charms.

Does this card have you thinking of Spring?  Spring is in full bloom in Kentucky.  Some days are chilly, but all the trees are budding and there are even flowers out!   All of you know how much I love my chickens.  Well I bought Hubby an incubator for Christmas so we could hatch any eggs we like.  My neighbor has Bantam Silkies and gave us a setting of eggs.  Here is a picture of what an adult Silkie looks like:

Photo from Back Yard Chickens

Isn't it gorgeous?  We hatched 5 Silkies and 2 standard big chickens and 1 mystery chicken.  Here's a picture:

The chicks with the black feet and beaks are the Silkies.  They're soft chick feathers already reach their feet!  I'm in love!!!  They have a wonderful little chicken hutch at the barn with all the necessities a chick might need.  But today has been chilly and tonite it may get to freezing.  So guess where this picture was taken?  I have the little guys in a bath tub in one of my extra bathrooms.  They are nice and toasty!  Tomorrow is suppose to be warm, so hopefully they'll return outdoors in the morning. 

Enjoy!!!

Happy April

Hi sweet friends.  April already???  I'm happy to report my Papaw is doing a little better, he's still in ICU and in need of your Prayers, but his pneumonia is resolving and his vitals are now stable.  I am so thankful to everyone who has said a Prayer for him! 

Now on to some scrapping and a giveaway from Creative Charms.  I finally made it back to my craft room tonite after a busy week.  Don't you just love inspiring pictures of craft rooms that look like this:

Well take a look at mine, ok just my desk: 

Ummm, not exactly going to make it in Good Housekeeping!  I'm a messy crafter and there's no way to fix it, been trying for years!  Kinda looks like a tornado swept thru!  Oh well, as long as there is a method to the madness I'll be ok!

I've been having fun using the darling Sparkled Butterfly Medley embellishments from Creative Charms:

Here's another Springy card I created  using these darling little butterflies:

And a new month means a new Deal of the Month and Kit of the Month from Creative Charms.

Deal of the Month – Hopping into Spring – 6.99

Purple Gradient Gem Stickers - 72 Pieces
Yellow Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
Yellow Sparkled Butterflies - 2 Pieces
Yellow Flower Bows - 3 Pieces
Yellow Large Sparkled Flower - 1 Pieces
Pink & Yellow Flower Brads - 6 Pieces
White Flower Brads - 3 Pieces
Amber Pure Blossoms - 12 Pieces
Yellow Gem Butterflies - 12 Pieces
Bunnies with Flower Gem - 2 Pieces
Purple Organza Flowers - 4 Pieces
Purple 3D Sparkly Garden Brads - 12 Pieces
Pink Gingham Butterflies - 3 Pieces
18" Purple Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon
18" Yellow Fancy Polka Dot Ribbon


Kit of the Month – Spring has Sprung – 14.99

Orange Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
Yellow Sparkled Flowers - 6 Pieces
Orange Flared Flowers - 4 Pieces
Pink Flared Flowers - 3 Pieces
Pink Sparkled Butterflies - 3 Pieces
Orange Gem Butterflies with Bag - 5 Pieces
Pink Vintage Pearl Brads - 9 Pieces
Pink Gradient Pearl Stickers - 72 Pieces

This weekend at Creative Charms you have a chance to win a free Deal of the Month.  All you have to do is be a follower of the Creative Charms Blog and leave a comment on the post Happy April.  It's that simple!  Good luck!