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! 

You’re Invited to the GKD release party–tonight!

Hi there!  Gina K and the design team would like to welcome you to the new release party which will be tonight, instead of Thursdays like usual.  Hope you will make it! 

If you came from Deb’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.

Here's a photo of one of the cards I will be sharing at the party, it’s using stamps from our new StampTV kit which you’re going to LOVE!

Hope to see you at the party!  Here are all the details:

• When: Today, Tuesday, August 2
• Where: StampTV Release Party Forum
• Time: 7 PM to 9 PM (Central)

Head on over to Emily’s blog to see what card she's sharing with you today and see you back here tomorrow for the beginning of our three day Inspiration Blog Hop series for August, which you should NOT miss, because let’s face it, who would want to miss out on opportunities to win free stamps?!!

Case the DT challenge at StampTV!

See?  I told you I still stamped!  I made these 2 quick cards for the Case the DT Challenge at StampTV!  This time, it is to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) a card/project of Carolina’s (click to see her beautiful gallery).  Since I love her clean & simple, signature bow/ribbon style, it was fun to make these cards!  I used the StampTV kit Vintage Chic, since it will only be available until the next release, which is next week…if you like it, you better get it soon!  I think it’s been my favorite to date!  I used cardstock, black & white pattern paper and the stamps from the kit.  The silk ribbon and red & white brad are not from the kit, but I used them because it added the POP of red I wanted.  Here is the card I cased of Carolina’s – which coincidentally, was a card for a paper-piecing challenge I hosted.  I changed the stamps, cardstock, ribbon and embellishments for my card.  For a case, you want to change at least 2 elements, but try to stick to the layout as much as possible so it’s recognizable as a copy.  

This next card is one I made at the same time because I messed up the placement of the flowers.  Why not turn it into a 2nd card?  I used ribbon from the kit on this one, as well as a red button for the center.  I really like both cards, what about you??  You have until this Thursday, July 28 at 8:00 central time to upload your card for this challenge and you can win a free stamp set valued up to $24.95  and you get your name in the drawing twice if you use Gina K stamps although you don’t have to to play along as usual! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

FNSI results: 1st quilt complete!!

Well here it is – my first quilt that I started end of April is finally done!  I would have had it done a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t find my walking foot to do the binding so I had to go and get another one (luckily with a 40% off coupon) but it was the wrong one, I was so disappointed when I found that out last night.  But…when I started to think more about the last time I used it, which happened to be about 3 weeks ago, I tried to recall anything out of the ordinary that may have been on the dining table at the time I quilted it and I remembered my little Longaberger basket that I was putting random things in and there it was!  I am ashamed to say how long I looked for this and the weird places.  Oh well…all is well that ends well!  So last night was the two yr anniversary of the Friday Night Sew In hosted by Heidi and Bobbi and I was really looking forward to it!!  **Edited to Add** I actually won the drawing!  I am going to get this awesome Christmas charm pack "Flurry by Kate Spain" and as Heidi put it, a 'quilting ruler gadget thingy' I am so excited!  Thanks Heidi!!
I cut, sewed and ironed the orange binding and got more than 1/2 the hand sewing of the binding on last night before I forced myself to go to bed at 1:00 a.m. and was so excited to finish, I got up after just 6 hrs of sleep, took an outdoor shower, cleaned up the kitchen, made my morning tea and finished it up this morning!  I am really happy with how it turned out and don’t think it looks that bad for being my first one!  I am almost ready to start my next one, which will be a winter rag quilt with blues, white, browns and a splash of red!  Ooh, I can’t wait!  

I decided I would venture to make my own label after reading Becca’s post about labeling your quilt this week (did you know she is continuing her quilt class on her blog?  so excited about that!) I happened to be prepared for this too, I can’t believe it!
Edited this post to add the photos of me holding the blanket off our deck.  John was not at home yesterday for me to do it which is why my first photo has it on the couch.  This is a better was to share it with you I think! 




About a month ago, John got me some iron on image transfer paper from Amazon and I put it to good use last night!  It was easy to use.  Here is what it looks like, you can use it in your printer, stamp on it, color.
I stamped a cherry blossom image (because I love them…see my blog banner) from The Journey by There She Goes stamps in rich cocoa memento ink. Then I colored the blossoms with copic markers and cut it out.

Then, it takes just about 10 seconds for a smaller image, with your iron set to the highest setting to adhere to your fabric.  I used a heavyweight cotton.  Then, I wrote the name of my quilt, my name and the date with permanent makers.  See above photo.  So fun! 

**Last weekend was our quilt shop bus trip and we had SO much fun!!  We met some really great ladies, chatted a lot, shopped a lot (all 28 ladies spent a whopping $8,000+ in 2 days at 6 quilt shops!) I am happy to say although I spent more than I thought I would, I was way under the average!  I will be sharing more of what I bought over the weeks, months as I make things with my purchases.  Unfortunately, this is the only picture from the whole trip and it was right before we left – we were celebrating Christmas in July which explains the elves hats, our bus mom Cheryl gave us.  We also got fun goodie boxes filled with ornament kits, a needle book we could sew and everything we needed to get them completed such as needles, thread, snips.  I made one ornament so far that I’ll share in a future post as this post is so incredibly long!  We just did NOT have enough time to take photos since our shopping time was pretty limited in the shops.  We tried to make the best use of our time as possible!  Stephanie is very new to sewing and I’m so glad we took this trip together, because as I told her that evening, spending time with her was the BEST part of our trip.  Our girls weekend happened to start the day before though, we met for lunch and got pedicures and manicures – it was nice!!
Here is one of the many things I purchased at the shop in Victoria – a quick apron kit.  It was just $10 although I’m pretty sure the fabric only cost about 1/2 that, but I got the pattern to make more!  I started working on this Wednesday night and finished it up last night before I found my walking foot!  I adore this fabric, I wish I had written the name down or purchased more of it. 
Here it is completed – the hand towel is a little off center, but once it’s on, I don’t think anyone will be able to tell.  Sorry about the poor photo, I didn’t look cute enough to put it on and model it for you!
Thanks for stopping by and I promise to share some cards soon-I bet some of you may be wondering if I still stamp…

Linking up here:
Chasing Cottons
The Girl Creative
Sew Darn Crafty
Tatertots & Jello
The Little Birdie Blog
Sew Much Ado
Passionately Artistic
The Girl Creative
Sewplicity
Flamingotoes
Somewhat Simple
Sundae Scoop
Six Sister's Stuff
Trendy Treehouse
Skip to my Lou
Sew Can Do
Gingersnaps Crafts
Tea Rose Home

You’re So Sweet Treat

Hi there!  Here is a small treat bag I put together to give to a few ‘sweet’ people in my life!  I grabbed the little candies one morning on my way to work at the grocery store (along with my absolute favorite chewy candy Bit O’ Honey)!  I figured they would be cute because they’re watermelon gummies, to pair with the new Garden Fresh Gina K set for a sweet treat!!  I just grabbed a few 3” cello bags from my stash, put some candies inside, and topped it with this simple folded over cardstock (3” by 5” folded at 2 1/2”) and adhered it with some green staples to match!  Super quick & easy to make and fun to surprise your favorite co-worker with (like I did today!)

Thanks for stopping by – hope you are having a great week!

**I may not post until next week because I am going out of town on my quilt shop trip with my friend Stephanie with The Cotton Cupboard this weekend – I am so excited!  I still have to pack and I will be ready to start posting some of my hand sewn creations to sell here soon!  I also need to be finishing up my 1st quilt soon too, the last ‘class’ was posted today by Rebecca! 

Mix It Up Monday: Clean & Simple Sketch!

I made a little time to stamp last night – yea me!  I remember a time not long ago I would have the energy to stamp or do something craft every day of the week but it seems like a thing of the past since my office moved 50 mins away from our house!  I really miss it, but sometimes there’s not enough hours in the evening to care for my house, cook and still spend time with John and get to bed at a decent hour since I get up so early in the mornings. 

So, I will try to post more during the week, it seems I may have lost some of my readers over the past week who knows why though. Here is a card for this week’s StampTV challenge Mix It Up Monday: Gettin’ Sketchy! which is hosted by the Lovely Lee Murphy! I am totally impressed the layer queen made a clean & simple sketch so I just had to play & give her a shout out! Great job, Lee! I used the new set The Vine for my clean & simple card.

Card details
Stamps: The Vine
Cardstock: Ivory, Green Apple, Just Peachy Pure Luxury
Inks: Rich Cocoa, Pear Tart Memento
Accessories:  brown satin ribbon, copic markers, spicaatyou glitter pen

Cosmetic Cases & Anniversary Share

Here are a few little cosmetic cases I made using a tutorial by Sew Mama Sew! just using 2 fat quarters (I bought at the Cotton Cupboard, a beautiful batik), a coordinating liner and 3 zippers!  The tutorial is so fabulous since you don’t waste an inch of fabric! I made these in less than 2 hours from the start of cutting, but I know it would be about an hour and a half if I pin all 3 of them correctly and don’t have to rip 2 of them apart and start over!  LOL.  I am trying to get a bunch of variety of pouches made because a friend expressed interest in purchasing some from me for Christmas gifts, I want to have a stash of gifts to have on hand for birthdays, Christmas gifts or surprise gifts for friends and family and I have been toying with the idea of possibly selling them directly from my blog instead of maintaining an Etsy shop where I have to pay fees to list items.  I think if I just dedicate posts to them and put a link for paying via PayPal, I would just have to pay those fees and it would be less work! Let me know what you think about that venture!

Baker's 14th Anniversary 7/6/11 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Last Wednesday was our 14th Wedding Anniversary and although we had to work that day, we did go to a fine dining restaurant in Bastrop called Baxter’s on Main. It was nice & delicious food! Great service and a nice atmosphere. I attached an album below you can view all the photos. Our stop before that was to my favorite chocolate store, called Roscar’s, it was out 3rd or 4th visit, omg – this place is fabulous! ***If you are ever driving through the Bastrop area, it is a MUST for you to stop in there! They make bonbons, truffles and other items including my favorite Honey+Caramel+Nuts+Sea Salt=Bar! I bought 2 of them this time so they last me longer in between visits! One thing I love about this place is that you can taste any & every creation they have to offer and believe me, I think we are almost there! Delish! The gal in the middle photo on the right is Roma, she is a sweetheart and let me take her picture so I could share it on my blog. ***They ship chocolates too, so you don’t have to be in the are in order to indulge in the delicacies they have to offer! Let me know if you want some feedback about what truffles and bonbons I recommend if you decide to buy some – I’d be more than happy to share my opinion! 
Dinner was awesome too; we had 2 delicious appetizers: handmade chips with gorgonzola cheese & thyme and baked marinara & goat cheese with toasted bread.  Then I had one of my favorite sandwiches, a reuben and John enjoyed a warm pear & goat cheese salad.  We didn’t have any room for dessert but we had our chocolates to enjoy anyway!  Then we came home to watch a movie, ‘Just Go With It’ with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, which was a super funny great movie! 
The last 14 years have been full of lots of adventures; ups & downs, highs & lows but such is life!  But I definitely cannot imagine sharing it with anyone else because John is a wonderful person who makes me laugh and is someone I still love & adore after all these years!  I thank God for him often but not often enough!  I love you honey **he reads my blog but I didn’t say all this stuff JUST BECAUSE of that** I truly mean it! 
Thanks for stopping by – hope you have a great weekend!!
Sharing at the following link parties:
FlamingoToes 
Sundae Scoop
Sew Darn Crafty
Sunday Showcase
Feature Yourself Friday
It's So Very Cheri
Skip To My Lou
Sew Can Do
Polly Want a Crafter
Keeping It Simple
Craft-O-Maniac
The Girl Creative
C.R.A.F.T.

Swipe On, Swipe Off and some sewing shares!

Here is a card I made for this week’s Mix It Up Challenge at StampTV hosted by the very talented and sweet Cat!!

This was a fun technique, definitely need to try it again, I like how the card turned out, but maybe because of the colors I chose – nothing POPS to me.  I used the new Whimsical Wishes set. You should play along with the challenges there posted every Monday and Friday – you could win FREE Gina K stamps valued up to $24.95! 

We are nearing the last week in the Quilt Class I’m taking so I thought I’d share what my quilt top looks like after I quilted it last weekend– it’s decent for my first time but I did have a little (big) mishap with the direction of my quilting, I didn’t turn it like I should have and when I did, I ended up getting a bunched up area around the middle I’m sure you can see it!  But, like I said it’s my first quilt, my LEARNING quilt – I’m SURE my 2nd one will turn out much better!  I’m already looking forward to making the next one! 

Here is the back, I chose to use blue for the color.  The binding will be a bright orange, a co-worker I showed it to yesterday said I did a good job for my 1st one!  And this is in spite of a LOT of the half square triangles not lining up very well!  I decided to stitch in the ditch for this quilt and not do any hand quilting, I will do something more complex with my future ones since this is my first one. 

I have to go – we have a meeting to attend for John’s continuing education in his field of work.  I will post again before the weekend is over, I have SO much to share, including our 14th wedding anniversary celebrations which were this past Wednesday! 

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Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 3: Bold and Beautiful

Today is our last day of inspiration hops – hope you have been enjoying all the wonderful creations Gina & the designer’s have had to share with us!  Last up is our One Free with Three sets, Bold and Beautiful!  That means now until the next release, when you purchase 3 stamp sets, you get this one absolutely FREE!  Its value is $19.95, can’t beat that!  But, as always, if you miss out on the one free time frame, when the next release happens it will be available for purchase, so you will never miss out on getting it!  In this set, there are 2 large images and 5 sentiments.

This is my favorite card I made for this release, one I peeked on last Thursday.  I just love the bold butterfly that you can color in all different ways!  I chose to highlight the beauty of our new pure luxury color, Blue Raspberry it is just delicious! 

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

Card 1 details:
Stamps: Bold and Beautiful
Cardstock: White, Lovely Lavender, Vibrant Violet pure luxury
Inks: Grape Jelly Memento, Wild Lime Vivid
Accessories: Pearls, open scallop border punch; purple ribbon; Labels 10 dies; pearls

Card 2 details:
Stamps: Bold and Beautiful
Cardstock: White, Key Lime accent, Vibrant Violet, Blue Raspberry pure luxury
Inks: Memento tuxedo black
Accessories: black brad; glitter pens