Late with a challenge, my busy week and Celebrity News!

Ugh!  I just realized I am late posting this challenge to CASE the DT (design team) at StampTV!  The challenge is over…but you can still participate in any challenge, any given time! I made this card last weekend, but I have had hardly any time on the computer all week  - it’s been a rough one!**More on that later in the post.**  I made this card to CASE Cat Tidwell, and I had so much fun!  When you CASE (copy& share everything), the idea is to change 2 or more elements such as the stamps, embellishments or colors you use but you keep the layout the same.  I chose this cute card of Cat’s to case, changing 1/2 the stamps (still used Inspiration Mosaic), orientation of the card (horizontal to vertical), cardstock and embellishments.  I made this card to send to my friend Stephanie who sewed with me last Friday for Friday Night Sew In!  I hope she likes it and is surprised.  I also used the Sew Pretty stamps, white & fresh asparagus cardstock, Sweet Threads Basic Grey paper and ribbon & brads from my stash.

Crazy Busy Week – it all started last Sunday evening when we got a call from a prospective buyer for John’s car just as I was starting to put dinner together (pinto beans & yummy chicken tacos courtesy of The Pioneer Woman’s brother).  So we met him & his friend and he agreed to buy the car (after we had it for sale for a week and had reduced the price) the next day after work.  John needs a truck and his Camry has been driven by me for almost a year since he hurt his knee and it was harder on him to get in and out of.  I have a Honda CR-V and because it’s higher up, is way more comfortable but I missed Black Beauty (that’s my car’s name).  John gave her back to me after she went to the beauty parlor and got all cleaned up (car wash, oil change, detail) and it was SO nice driving her again!  But…then we were down to being a one-car family and that’s rough when we have 2 different work schedules.  Each night this week we went out looking for a truck too!  I think we may have found it *praying it all works out now* all this to say why I missed posting this card on time!  It’s been an exhausting week at work – I ended up working 10 1/2 hours yesterday just so I didn’t have to work a full day today (totally worth it!) My 1/2 day Fridays are coming to an end *sniff sniff* I love my job! 

I am looking forward to tomorrow – hopefully get the truck and spend the afternoon/evening with Stephanie & James bottling our wine for Christmas!  I will be back to share pictures of that adventure!   

CELEBRITY NEWS: Did you know the Pioneer Woman is going to have her own show on The Food Network?  It will air tomorrow for the first time 10:30 am central time - make sure you check it out!  Will definitely record it because I would forget otherwise!  We got to meet her almost 2 years ago, she came to Austin for her book signing and I wanted her signed book for Christmas! I have enjoyed many delicious recipes from her website, her gorgeous photographs, sharing life on the ranch and her humor and really wanted a taste of history too (I commented back then that it would be great if she got her own show on Food Network, that’s foreshadowing).  John stood in line for 5+ hours to get it and she is so beautiful & genuine (I ended up meeting him at the bookstore after I got out of school).  Here is a picture of us together – I know a celebrity!  Can’t wait to see her show!  John had the great idea for all her family members to sign my book, all 4 of her kids and her handsome husband she calls ‘The Marlboro Man’ were there, so while we waited in line, we grabbed their signatures – this is my favorite to the right…how awesome is that?  She has a thing for chaps and this says it all…and that, my friends is food for thought and the end of my post…

Thanks for stopping by!

HunnyB’s Soy Candles!!

I’m so excited to share a great soy candle company local to the Central Texas area - HunnyB’s Soy Candles!    This company is founded and run by Lorri Mercado who is such a sweet genuine lady,  making her dream of owning her own candle company a reality! 
“HunnyB's Soy Candles are made of 100% non toxic, clean burning soy. Our soy wax is a 100% natural soybean product, and collected from farmers right here in the US. Unlike other products, our candles are biodegradable and contain no carcinogens. The result is a cleaner burning candle leaving no black jars, walls or ceilings. Additionally, HunnyB's Soy Candles burn longer and provide a larger and superior scent throw”

It’s incredible to find out HunnyB’s soy candles come in 300 scents, 25 colors and 9 varieties of containers!  You can even customize your candles!

Courtesy of HunnyB’s, I am enjoying the wonderful aroma of Autumn Lodge (pictured here) “a duplicate of the popular Yankee Candle fragrance, this fragrance has top notes of winter green and pine needle with middle and bottom notes of fir balsam, cinnamon, and spice.”  It just smells divine and makes me long for those days when we can open the windows of the house and let it air out and I get the baking bug!

HunnyB’s has a great Classic Candle Club you can join with 3, 6 and 12 month memberships so you can try the featured scents of the month in a 10 oz jar (Jan Mulled Cider, Mar Bluebonnet, May Tulips to name a few)! 

Fundraising opportunity with HunnyB’s!  Wouldn’t that be so much more practical than wrapping paper, candy or items you may not use/need!?   Your organization gets to keep 40% of the sales, what a deal!

Place your orders directly online at Hunny B’s Soy Candles. The possible candle creations are endless. I already have more scents on my wish list to try!!

Connect with Hunny B’s Soy Candles on Facebook

Have fun shopping and be sure to tell HunnyB’s I sent ya! 

Friday Night Sew In Results–Girl’s Night!!

Well last night was Friday Night Sew In (their 2nd anniversary) sponsored by Heidi and Bobbi and this time I had a girlfriend sew with me – that is way more fun than sewing alone!  I took plenty of photos to share with you so you can see my beautiful friend Stephanie!  I was going to start working on my next quilt, but decided to knock out a Christmas gift instead!  This is some adorable fabric I picked up on our quilt shop bus trip last month, to make a purse for my niece Gabby because she loves pink, flowers, butterflies & polka dots!
The name of this fabric is called Love U by Deb Strain for Moda which I thought was PERFECT (I actually got chocked up about it because I really do love & miss this girl something fierce!). I’m sure she will ADORE this because she loves purses too!  Here is a picture taken last month with her and her brother Joey on their vacation to Disneyland.  Aren’t they adorable??


I used a pattern for a messenger bag by Falafel and the Bee and it was super easy to follow!   I love this little purse and I’m sure she will too…


John was out of town geocaching with a friend, so I emailed Stephanie earlier in the week to see if she wanted to sew with me and spend the night and she said yes, I was so excited!  I picked her up right after work (I work much closer to her house than mine) and we stopped at Central Market to pick up some dinner & dessert and got right to work on our projects (well I took a little longer to decide exactly what I was going to make. 
Stephanie was very ambitious and wanted to make a gathered clutch for herself, and 2 aprons and maybe fix a shirt for her niece. We started about 5:00 and headed to bed about 12:40 but I stopped sewing about 10:40.




For appetizers we had some Messina Hof wine, creamy brie, dill havarti, crackers, cucumber dill lentil chips, spinach artichoke hummus, kalamata olives, pickled okra and spicy pickles.


 


For dinner (which happened around 9 pm, we had chicken eggplant, spinach pesto and bison brie quesadillas and hatch green chili mac ‘n cheese.





and for dessert we had cupcakes: Stephanie’s was Nutella and mine was Turtle.  yum! 





Here is Stephanie with her finished gathered clutch.  I am so proud of her, first time sewing a zipper on!  We had so much fun…and now we are planning to get together next month for FNSI but at her house!

sharing @ the following link parties:
Sew Darn Crafty; Sew Much Ado; Passionately Artistic; Six Sisters Stuff; Skip To My Lou; Somewhat Simple;  Just a girl ; 504Main; I{heart}naptime;  SundayShowcase; 30 handmade days; Funky Junk Interiors; Tatertots and Jello; A Vision to Remember; Flamingotoes

Gina K Double Take Blog Hop

I’m so glad you’ve joined us in a Double Take hop! Members of Gina K.'s Design Team have come together to host a hop where we will show you how to make cards using the same products and stamp images to create two different cards.  In my case, they are still similar but more on that below.

If you came from Giovana’s blog, you're at the right place. If not make sure to head over to StampTV where you will find a list of all those participating in today's hop.

What I love about challenges, is that they encourage you to think outside the box and because different people participate, you end up having different styles and interpretations!  Now, with my cards, I did use the same supplies as you will see in this photo, and although my layout is very much the same, you’ll see I did change up how I did the focal image. 

I used white, red hot and black onyx pure luxury cardstock; Various Verses stamp set with just one greeting; a classic oval nestability die; black gingham ribbon; memento tuxedo black ink; a red, green & sand colored (not pictured) by SU!; an old marker air tool (SU!); micron black pen; silver brads; fiskars open scallop border punch.

On the card on the right, I ran the die through my cuttlebug machine, making the outline of the die, then I traced the outlines with 2 of my markers.  Then, I cut an oval from a scrap piece of cardstock so I could airbrush the inside of the focal image without getting any on the outside. 

On the other card, I just traced the die with markers for definition, and used the die and inside of what I just cut out, to cover the focal image to airbrush the outside!  On my card on the left, I added some black pen highlights to under the flowers, I love the depth that creates.  I really like these cards – they were super easy & fun to make!  Hope you will try this trick too and share with me what you make! 

Head on over to Cat’s blog to see what she's sharing with you today!

Mix It Up Monday Challenge: Striped Background

Hi there and Happy Monday!  I say that because not everyone thinks or believes Mondays can be happy but personally, they are not all that bad to me.  Sure it means ‘work’ is here and the fun of the weekend is over but the week holds so much promise to be a great one and I just believe in being and thinking positively!  So HAPPY MONDAY!  Another reason Mondays are happy is because at StampTV, we bring you the Mix It Up Monday challenge (click to go directly to the challenge) and YOU can win free stamps!  What is better than that?!?

I am hosting today's challenge, so I wanted to share with you the card I made where I made a striped background, drawing inspiration from the little romper outfit I bought to give to my co-worker whose wife gave birth to their first little boy.  I knew my Wee Tees set would be perfect to mimic the little dinosaur on there too.  My co-worker was impressed I made the card, especially with the matching striped background!  I got a really nice thank you card from his wife the next morning, it was sweet. 
It is really easy to make a striped background.  All you have to do is choose your marker colors (I used Copics because they have different size tips), then line up your cardstock square to be sure your lines come out straight.  I placed mine on my scor-mat's grid to get my ruler lined up perfectly.  Then, I varied the widths between marker colors and had fun creating my own background.  This is great when you want to branch out from using pattern paper on your cards as background interest.  I created a simple frame for my focal image by tracing a rectangle nestability die. Then, I covered up the center to do my marker lines.

I hope you will find some time to play along this week; remember, you don’t have to use Gina K stamps to play along, but if you do, you will get your name in the drawing twice and increase your chances of winning a free stamp set valued at $24.95 or less!  So have fun creating your striped background!!

Refreshing Drink to share with you

Last week I found a gem of a blog, artist Susan Branch.  It’s been fun lately finding recipes in blog land and trying them for myself.  Over the past few months, we’ve tried quite a few but I haven’t shared them yet (not sure what I was waiting for).  Last Friday Susan shared a recipe for Basil Lemonade and before I came home from work, I stopped at the store to get some fresh basil and limes (had the other ingredients already).  So Friday night John and I made it as a team.  It was DELICIOUS!  wow.  I immediately posted on Susan’s blog how great it was and posted on FB about it.  So I wanted to share it with you too. 

In other news, I was excited to be watching the Food Network today (Cupcake Wars) while I was crocheting and found out that Ree Drummond, the famous Pioneer Woman is going to have her own show on Food Network!  I totally predicted that when I first discovered her blog more than 3 years ago.  I am so glad I met her when her book came out, she is a genuine beauty!  I’ve tried several of her recipes as well…they are so good!  I can’t wait to see her show!  It will air Saturdays starting Aug 27 and 10:30 central time. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great day!!

My End of Summer Purse & Winner***

I am so looking forward to the END of Summer and the start of cooler weather since Fall is right around the corner.  We have had 45+ days of 100 degrees and over in the Austin area and 25+ in a row so that’s why I’m ready!  It is just pretty miserable at times especially since we’ve had little to no rain when we usually do in the Summer.  So…before Summer ended, I wanted to make another Summery purse.  When I went on my quilt shop bus tour a month ago, at one of the shops (which happens to be just a 45 min drive from our house so I look forward to visiting again).  All Around the Block quilt shop was one of the top favorites on the tour because they had a wonderful selection of fabrics and the ladies who worked there were very nice!  I fell in love with their batik fabrics and since pink is my favorite color, I just HAD to make a pink purse!!

I used this reversible bag pattern, which is so easy to follow!  I made a modification though, since this was the 2nd one I made.  I actually put some ties for the top which was real easy!  I wasn’t sure it would turn out exactly like I hoped since it was my first time modifying, but it did!  All I did was take a 2 1/2 inch strip of my fabric and iron it in half then fold over 1/8” on both sides and iron again.  then I top stitched on one side and before I sewed the two fabrics together, I slipped it in on the inside.  I love that I can protect the contents of my bag better (although with the style of this bag and the weight of the contents of your bag, they slouch pretty well inside anyway).  I just LOVE this bag!!  

P.S. I’m so glad I figured out a way to display a purse (I used our toilet paper holder in the window seat area!) how do you like that for ingenuity? I like it better than the distraction of a door. But, here’s a picture John snapped of me when we got back from dinner at a local restaurant last weekend.  Needless to say, it will match with a LOT of my clothes.  Don’t know why I was looking up so far.  This was taken outside our house, for those of you who don’t know, we live out in the country on 2 1/2 acres and we built our house *we were the general contractors* so that’s why I have a big smile on my face.  I LOVE our house and where we live and I am always happy to return back home.  What a blessing…
***The winner of her choice of one of my handsewn projects is Karen from Six Wacky Women!  Congrats Karen!  I sent you an email for your info and which creation you would like. 
Sharing with the following link parties:
Six Sisters Stuff, Creation Corner, Little Lucy Lu,  It’s a Hodgepodge Life, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Thirty handmade days, Sassysites, Simplydesigning, Tatertots and Jello, A Vision to Remember, To Sew With Love

Serenity Creations FB page and giveaway!!

Well, I decided to take the leap and offer up some of my handsewn creations for sale directly on my blog (pay via paypal) and my handmade cards will follow.   Actually, let’s just say all my cards are available for sale unless I made them specifically for someone, then all you would have to do is email me and let me know you’d like the same card to buy.  It’s that easy! 

Click on the above banner picture I created to go directly to my Facebook page (which is something John has been telling me to create for a LONG time, I just wasn’t ready!)

You can find what I have to sell in the way of Handsewn Creations for Sale on the tab marked as such on my website.  Or just click the link here. 

Now for the giveaway…I would like to offer one of my handsewn creations for FREE to one lucky person who does the following:

1.“LIKE" Serenity Creations on Facebook

2. Leave a comment ON THIS POST telling me what you think of my handsewn creations that I have for sale.

It’s that easy!  Be sure that your email is linked to your profile; if not (you are a no reply blogger, be sure to leave me your email so I have a way to contact you if you should win!) Feel free to share this giveaway with your friends if you’d like too. 

This giveaway will be open through Friday August 12 and Saturday I will post the winner.  Thanks for looking and visiting my blog!! 

A New Purse for me…

Hi there!  I thought it was about time I shared a sewing project I completed a while ago but have not shared yet.  I LOVE purses and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that now I can find a purse style I LOVE and fabric I LOVE and make a purse I LOVE!  I found this purse on Skip To My Lou and it’s called the One Hour Bag but if I recall correctly, it took me a bout two but that’s o.k.!   It was fun to make and these are fabrics I found at my local Hancock fabrics pretty reasonably!  I wish I could remember how much they cost but I don’t since it’s been a while, all I know is I did find them in the clearance section! 

Here is the strap and button detailing on the sides.  I covered my own button, it’s so easy and fun to coordinate your creations that way.  I didn’t end up using that yellow fabric anywhere on the bag other than the button though since this just called for 2 fabrics.  Oh well.  Still think it’s cute.

Lastly, here is a view of the inside pocket where I keep my keys so they are easy to grab!  Maybe next time I will try my hand at am inside pocket where I found this awesome tutorial and pinned it for future reference.
I am currently working on a lot of projects and at the top of my to do list is to get some of my hand sewn creations on here for sale!  I just have to have several hours to devote to putting up TABS on my blog, get registered for a paypal button and list the creations I have ready to sell.  Be looking for it soon! 
Thanks for stopping by and hope you’re having a great weekend!!
Linking here: Sew Darn Crafty; Sew Much Ado; Passionately Artistic; Sewplicity; Six Sisters Stuff; Skip To My Lou; Somewhat Simple; Trendy Trees; Just a girl ; 504Main; I{heart}naptime; To Sew With Love; SundayShowcase; 30 handmade days;

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 3: Gnome One Like You and Various Verses

Welcome to our final day of inspiration hops!  Hope you have been enjoying them!  Today I am sharing a fun scene card I created using Tami’s Gnome One Like You, isn’t this gnome so cute?  Gina said he can easily be santa with a pom pom at the top of his hat and Tami said he can be an elf too (sounds like fun!)

Next up is the One Free with Three set called Various Verses.  That means if you buy any 3 stamp sets, you can add this to your cart absolutely FREE!  After the next release, it will be offered as a set to buy but why not get it for FREE while you can?  I chose to make a set of notecards to give my best friend for her birthday, which she LOVED!!  It was easy to make 8 cards this simple pretty quickly if you organize and stamp efficiently! 

Pick out all your markers, color the images and stamp them in the center of the card bases.  Then, stamp your envelopes to match.  Then make your score lines at the bottom, and stamp your sentiments.  Then, I took a marker tool by Stampin’ Up! to mist the markers on the top portions while covering up the bottoms with a post it note.  I then used colored pencils to highlight over the flowers to give tem more depth.  Then, make a quick tag and stuff them all in a clear box and wrap a pretty ribbon around it. 

Don’t forget to leave comments on all the designer’s blogs for your chance to win a free stamp set of your choice valued up to $24.95! We will randomly choose two winners so the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win.

Also, mark your calendars to check out StampTV each week Monday and Friday for the weekly challenges posted so you can win MORE free stamps!!

• Gina K
• Tami Mayberry - Illustrator Gnome One Like You
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Sharon Harnist
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (you’re here!)
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jennie Harper

Card #1 Details
Stamps: Gnome One Like You
Cardstock: Blue Raspberry, White, Black Onyx pure luxury
Ink: tuxedo black memento
Accessories: copic markers, foam tape

Notecards Details:
Stamps: Various Verses (one free with 3!)
Cardstock: White pure luxury
Ink: tuxedo black memento
Accessories: yellow & white gingham ribbon

Thanks for stopping by – hope you’ve enjoyed these 3 days of inspiration hops!

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 2: Basket Buddies and Heartfelt

So glad you’ve joined us for Day 2 of our Inspiration Hops!  Today we are sharing another one of Melanie’s fun additions to her previous sets, Spring Basket and Basket Blessings so the versatility soars!  These are the cutest animals so you can have basket buddies hanging out in her fun basket!  On my card, I used the cats who are hanging out on the ‘banner’ or ‘cushion’, however you want to use it!  I put the best friends sentiment inside because we all know, if you’ve had more than one cat, sometimes they can hate each other at first, but then become the best of friends! 

This makes me miss our Chica (gone since Dec’09 on the bottom), who was best friends with Elsie.  Here is an old picture I found of them when they used to sleep next to each other – so sweet.  They didn’t like one another for a few days but really did become the best of friends! 

 

 

Here is what you get in the set – cute huh?  What is really great is that now you have something you can make sympathy cards for your friends who lose their pets.  I know it’s always hard to some up with ideas for those difficult cards. But they really do mean a lot to the animals owners. 

 

 

Next up is Theresa’s new set Heartfelt, a beautiful collection of images and sentiments to share your heart during the upcoming fall season (which we all will be welcoming with open arms, right!?) 

I drew inspiration for this card from the very talented and sweet Debbie Olson, I just love how this card turned out (especially the uncolored stems and popped up blooms). Here is a close up of the crystal lacquer on the cone flowers. 

Here is a picture of Theresa’s set, isn’t it just lovely?? 

As you hop through the designer’s blogs, make sure you leave comments on each one for a chance to win a free stamp set of your choice valued up to $24.95! We will randomly choose two winners so the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win. Gina K will announce the winners on her blog.

Be sure to check out StampTV each week Monday and Friday we have challenges posted where you can win MORE free stamps!!

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger - Illustrator Basket Buddies
• Theresa Momber - Illustrator Heartfelt
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Lee Murphy
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (you’re here!)
• Emily Giovanni

Card #1 details
Stamps: Basket Buddies
Cardstock: White, In the Navy pure luxury; Basic Grey Lauderdale
Ink: rich cocoa memento
Accessories: white button, blue prima flower; copic markers

Card #2 details
Stamps: Heartfelt
Cardstock: Ivory, Sweet Mango, Pumpkin Spice pure luxury
Ink: rich cocoa, potter’s clay memento
Accessories: Orange buttons; crystal lacquer; copic markers, orange buttons; cotton thread

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again tomorrow for our final day of inspiration hops!

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 1: Falling For You StampTV kit

Welcome to Day 1 (of 3!) inspiration hops with the Gina K Design Team!  Hope you made it to the party last night, if not…maybe next month.  But, you can always check out what you missed by clicking on the party link!

The first card I’m sharing uses the sweet whimsical bird from the set, which you can color so elaborately and coordinate with bright cardstock like I did here.  I love that I had all the matching buttons too! 

Here is a close up of the bird, so you can see all the glittery shine from the Sakura Glitter pens I used. I love it!  I popped the little bird on the branch with some foam tape.  You’re going to love all the fun images in this new kit!  You will be able to make so many wonderful cards & projects with it.  It costs $49.95 but its value is priceless like all the STV kits!

Next up is a card I shared at the party last night which is one of my favorites, the happy frog and trio of bold trees.  The sentiment in the set is my favorite, such a great play on words!  I made this card very clean & simple by tracing the inside of one of my rectangle nestability shapes with a black pen and paper-pieced my trees on the inside with the sentiment stamped in the center.  Then, I paper-pieced the frog (and his belly) with coordinating papers and popped him on the outer corner with foam tape.  Simple but packs a little punch! 

To the right is all the stamps you get in this kit – fun huh??

As you hop through the designer’s blogs, make sure you leave comments on each one for a chance to win a free stamp set of your choice valued up to $24.95! We will randomly choose two winners so the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win.  Gina K will announce the winners on her blog. 

Be sure to check out StampTV each week Monday and Friday we have challenges posted where you can win MORE free stamps!!

• Gina K
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (you’re here!)
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Janice Whiting
• Jennie Harper
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean
• Tami Mayberry
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher
  

Card #1 details:
Stamps: Falling For You StampTV Kit
Cardstock: White, Lemon Drop, Sweet Mango, Turquoise Sea pure luxury
Ink: Rich cocoa memento
Accessories: orange, yellow & turquoise button jars; glitter pens; copic markers

Card #2 details:
Stamps: Falling For You StampTV Kit
Cardstock: Kraft pure luxury; For the Record paper
Ink: tuxedo black memento

Thanks for stopping by and see you back tomorrow for Day 2!