Matthew Mead Giveaway!

Head over to Holiday with Matthew Mead to find out how you can win the opportunity to have your blog or online shop mentioned in the magazine. Holiday with Matthew Mead is a "book-azine" celebrating and offering inspiration for the Christmas holiday season. To be released in October 2010, Holiday is offered via online orders only - in limited quantities - and will not be sold on newsstands. But, by simply following the BUY HOLIDAY MAGAZINE link below their banner, you can reserve your own copy of this beautiful magazine, with guaranteed delivery of the magazine straight to your mailbox! Holiday with Matthew Mead is144 pages of holiday inspiration with well-known and admired designers, bloggers and top-notch features, printed on beautiful paper and not drowning in ads!


Now, head on over for your chance to win!

Preparing for Easter with Cook's Country

Easter dinner is always a highlight this time of year, the meal symbolizes the birth and renewal of Spring and all the delights therein!
I am always on the hunt for tips to make my meal better, more lively, maybe enhanced!
I turn more and more often to a FABULOUS magazine...

I know I can count on them to give me the BEST way to cook any meal!

They're so detailed and I love the comparison way in which they write their articles.

I noticed in this May 2010 issue some great tips right near the front of the magazine...

ther/e is more...

I love this tip above so much!

I hate those gumpy stickers!

Can't beat living like a monkey would!

All great tips!

Now to the perfect Easter Ham!

You can count on Cook's Country for good eatin'!

What I learned from this magazine?

That you should get the shank end of the ham, not the butt end!

Why?

Because the ham is easier to carve, plus it has less gristle and fat than the

BUTT!

EEK, watch the language, Suzie Button!

Plus we need the perfect glaze...

And according to them the enclosed packet in most hams can create a kind of

plasticy coating.

I totally agree!

We'll use their recipe above instead!

Who doesn't have potatoes with every holiday meal?

We're no different in this house...

The Gruyere cheese should add that suprise and elegance to the dish!

Can't wait!

And though we're having birthday cake on Easter 'cause

baby granddaughter Madison will turn ONE on Easter Day,

I just loved the vintage recipe and feel of this

Daffodil Cake

Yummy!

What are you planning for Easter Sunday's meal?

I'd love to hear!

Paper Wreath

Paper flowers made out of coffee filters are all the rage I noticed on blogs lately, and I wanted to try my hand at it too...

I was thrilled with the results!

I used Glimmer Mist to highlight half the "petals"

until I ran out

and then I switched to a green tea soak...

I knew a soft boa would accent beautifully!

I hung it up and sat to admire it and then figured I better get busy

making one for my daughter's home...

And I realized that a touch of glitter would only make it more

glamorous, so I took mine down to add the glitter to it too!

Have you tried your hand at coffee filter flowers yet?

Vintage Easter Hop Party!

Hi Friends, new and old!
I'm excited to join Joan at Anything Goes here for Sunday's Vintage Easter Hop!
When we're talking vintage, we might as well start close to home and talk about me, Suzie Button!
Here I am, well, quite a few years ago when I must have been around 5 years old...

I'm the CUTE one, the youngest and smallest sibling in the front

My older brother Sammy is in the back and Billy on the left, my niece Pam in the middle

and my sister Connie with the cute Easter headband on in a matching coat as

Suzie Button.

This is when we lived in the country, which I really don't remember

as we must have moved to town not long after this and that's where I grew up...

I do love the Easter finery though...

off to church!

Church, in fact, is my strongest memory growing up of Easter

because as I became older we'd all go to sunrise services on a beautiful hillside

outside of Frederick, MD and it was always magical so early in the morning!

I grew up in a country church too.

My next Vintage Easter was part of two swaps that I received recently...

both blogger gals included adorable vintage cupcake picks!

Aren't they gorgeous sitting in my altered yogurt cup basket I received?!

So sweet!

I also was given these teeny tiny little Easter birds

I've never seen something so tiny and sweet

like a quarter inch big!

There was also this very vintage postcard that was from...

So wonderfully Vintage!

I collected a few sweet vintage and vintage wanna-be Easter goodies from

Etsy too for your enjoyment while you Hop through!

1. Vintage Easter Basket Favors

2. Vintage Birdies

3. Spring Daffodil Doily

4. Vintage Easter Blocks

5. Vintage Jam Jar Spring

6. Vintage Fabric Eggs

7. Vintage Easter Postcards

Thanks for stopping by!

It's a Spring Pink Saturday!

Hi, Friends! Thanks today to Beverly, our Pink Saturday Host we're enjoying the beautiful Spring colors of Pink AND Yellow today!
How Lovely!
I have finished up some swaps for Easter, as I'm sure many of you have also, and I haven't had a chance to photograph all my goodies I've received, so today I thought I'd share some of the Spring Easter items I've made for my swap partners!
In one swap we were to use yogurt cups to create EASTER baskets, and here is one I made...

I used some velvety millinery flowers

and covered it all around

and added some goodies inside too like a yummy

cherry blossom candle..

and I also made a notebook for all

those lists and such...

And for another swap partner in this same swap i made this basket...

This one had spackle icing with a doilie bottom with

chicks and eggs and flowers!

It too had little goodies like rubberstamps, a bird eraser and images

to tuck inside

and also a notebook!

I just LOVE making these notebooks!

Plus I could hardly stop there

when my baby Granddaughter Madison

needed an Easter basket too!

And I wanted hers to be fluffy, soft and a sweet pastel palette!

Plus she collects Lambs, well, her Mommy does actually!

Here's wishing everyone a beautiful Spring weekend!

And Happy Pink Saturday too!

If you haven't met Nancy at My Crafty Little Page

please do! She's one sweet lady and a beautiful blogger,

especially on Pink Saturday!

Oh, and just one little pink and yellow

SWEET BABY LOVE...

Madison and her Mommy...

Card Crafting!

Hi my bloggie Friends! I have it seems today a lot to accomplish and not enough time to accomplish it within!
I am sure you know this feeling.
I tend to get anxious on Thursdays since my day off is usually Friday, so I start adding up in my mind all the things I want to craft, clean, buy, reorganize and do and it starts the train rolling to Friday!
I have a couple little Easter goodies to send two of my sisters and I wanted to include handmade Easter cards, so I at least was able to accomplish making one NO TWO cards (now) today and I thought I'd share it with you!

I used an existing card that was blank, cut out the egg shape

backed it with paper and used a dimensional Easter image

I found the gorgeous trim at JoAnn Fabrics for $3.99 a yard

and I had a 40% off coupon!

I was quite pleased with the look and I think it is something

she'll love to receive!

This card was made in similar fashion

just using my now favorite fur trims!

I also simplified the insides using scrapbook paper templates and stickers

to send my Easter Greetings!

It's most of the time these days around here now

about what I can make that I can actually FINISH

instead of my adding to my to-do list!

Easter booklets...

Hi, Friends! I use notebooks every day as part of my job.
I caption live television programming as a closed captioner or sometimes referred to as
a Real-time Captioner.
In my job there are names, cities, acronyms, rosters, lists, figures, on and on,
there is never a day that I don't need to write down a bunch of words and I create "briefs" as
they're called in this business, and essentially what it is is a shortened way for me to stroke out a
word or phrase in one or possibly two strokes to create the speed I need in order to do my job.
Writing it down reinforces it in my mind while I caption the news, legislature or various programs,
and it is there to glance at when I need it
This is what one page of my notebook looks like on a typical day...

I'm not what you call a neat line by line note writer downer, ha,ha.....
Chaos works for me (you DID see my craft room below, right?!)
That's why I probably am still sane after raising four children, that were at times
let's say 8, 7,6, and 1 year old! Now they're (just yesterday)29,27,26, and 21, and I still am basically normal.
Well, I think so at least!
Anyways, get to the point, Suzie Button!
OK!
So, the point is that I don't need to use an ugly, boring, flat run-of-the-mill notebook...
No, sir! Not this Suzie Button!
Here are some pretties I made to write my briefs in...

And another one for my daughter so she won't steal mine...
The same but slightly different...

By the way, don't you LOVE the image? It is from the most talented crafter
I've run across when it comes to nostalgic, sweet, fun, light gorgeous crafts of all kinds
over at Creative Breathing
Elizabeth has become a daily blog addiction for me!
She makes me want to quit my job and just CRAFT all day long!
But then, how would I pay for it?
Darn it!
Do you create pretty notebooks for your daily needs too?
We all have lists to make and things to record.
I'd love to hear about your notebooks too!

Score!

It's always a given that there is going to be some money exchanged if I step foot into either Home Goods or
in this case this morning Tuesday Morning.
I had no specific NEED for these goodies, but, um...
Well, abundance of cute goodies called out to me!
A great see through scrapbook, perfect for grandbaby Madison's First Easter/Birthday this year!

And who doesn't need cute letters that are stickers too?

And then these boxes of packaged goodies

from Poppy Ink

The goodies were fantastic!

Paper and flowers

stickers and fabric

library cards and mini albums too!

So there was also this great swag kit

with THREE different banners

I love the way the letters are already stamped and ready to go

but I think I'll stamp mine up

maybe grunge it up a bit...

And this is just because I found it funny...I was having lunch with my son Ben who I pay occasionally

to clean my house and my fortune cookie said this..

We had a good laugh because it's the LAST thing I need is a new collection and hobby

and no one knows that better than Ben who deals

with my clutter and "hobby" stash!

Ha,Ha!

Altered Acrylic Tiles!

I began with Tim Holtz's clear acrylic tiles and began making goodies...

Once I began I couldn't stop!!

Too muc cuteness and fun going on to stop!

So in between a long typical weekend workday Saturday at home captioning television for you
closed captioning viewers there in Canada
(SHOUT OUT: EH, CANADA!) I made more and more cuteness...
Then the wheels started churning on making jewelry with tiles like these, so I ended up on Etsy after a google search and spent a teensy bit of money
and then saw this YouTube video with Tim Holtz himself...

OK, now I need, let's see, a metal box for altering, a drill for drilling through the large tiles and some small notebook journals to alter and create...
Oh, the joys of creating!

Bunny Cake Winner!

This weird looking little boy was part of the

Random Number Generator

and he randomly chose number....

10!!

Woo-Hoo for

Valerie from Glittery Daze and Nights

Thanks for all the entries!

There were a lot of links and it was great fun!

Giveaway!! Explodin' Pink Saturday Giveaway!

Hi, my Pink Saturday Friends
I have to share that my daughter walked into my craft room the other day to discover me listening to music, humming along and went OMG, Mom, it looks like Michael's craft store puked Easter ALL OVER your room! She threatened to pull out her mini camcorder and tape it and out me on Facebook, so I'm beating her to the punch.
I told her I KNOW I'm not the only messy crafter...

that it's PART OF BEING CREATIVE!

Needless to say, she didn't buy that excuse!

I have to say it's actually much worse than these two pictures..

as you didn't see the floor or the other table!

LOL!!

I swear I'm almost finished up my Easter swaps

and the very next day,

I'm cleaning it up!

HA!

Well, I don't know if you remembered, but I promised you that I'd have an

Easter Bunny cake

GIVEAWAY

and I keep my promises!

Only problem is that I can't decide WHICH cake to giveaway,

so take a look at both....

this little darling bunny in his basket with his chickie friends...

and decide which one YOU like best

if you're the lucky winner

THIS WEEKEND ONLY....

and HELP me spread the word by saving either picture

with the script

Suzie Button's Bunny Cake GIVEAWAY

and posting it on your blog and letting me know in your comment...

and I'll QUADRUPLE your name in the pot

so instead of once, your comment with the link back to me

will count FOUR times...

but first you need to consider which bunny is your

FAVE....

This sweet guy is sitting on a stamped altered flower I purchased off Etsy...

and he'd be so HOPPY to live in your home if you choose him..

I will pick a winner at 8 a.m. central time on

Monday, 03-22-10

by random number generator

and so please too make sure I have a way to contact you easily

if you WIN!

Remember post + link = 4 entries!

Did I say Happy Pink Saturday to you, too?

Well, Happy Pink Saturday!

P.S.  The entries start NOW, by the way and...

your bunny cake will have glittered feet,

they're just wet right now from the glitter storm we had earlier in the day

but they'll be on their cake when you receive it!