Pretty, pretty Christmas wreath!

I must seem a bit scattered to you all as I am one day working on a Halloween tag project and the next on a Christmas wreath!
I usually just go with the mood of the day as far as crafting, that's why my daughter had to wait six months for her curtains to be finished, I wasn't in "the mood"!
But my husband had a request for me to make just something handmade for a co-worker that he's know forever who has had a rough spell lately, so I scoured the internet blogs and found a cute project and tutuorial over at Fancy Pants for a really adorable Christmas wreath made out of scrapbook paper.
 I knew it just the right gift to make!
Here is how mine turned out...

And it was so easy to assemble the flowers, I made it in a day!

Here's a closeup of some of the flowers.

Hop over to Fancy Pants for the directions

the only thing I did differently was to wrap the green wreath with a light taupe material beforehand to make it pretty from the back as it is from the front!

Pink-delish Life!

Happy PINK SATURDAY, my gal friends in blogland! Today I thought I'd share some of the pink delish goodies I have read, bought, and wish for.
Let's start with WISH for, ok?! I don't have an IPhone (gasp!) but if I DID, I'd MOST definitely purchase this ap from
CARTOLINA...

You type in your IM and send it away on such pretty, pretty backgrounds!

Unfortunately, my husband has a distaste for AT&T, so no IPhone here!

He's thinking of getting me an Android though, maybe they'll have something similar.

Next are some fantastic READS!

I recently finished

SHANGHAI GIRLS BY LISA SEE

and L-O-V-E-D it!

and I'm now reading another of her books...

PEONY IN LOVE

Her stories take you away

(just like the bubble bath!)

And see part of the cute storage box?

I found it at my and your favorite store

Home Goods!

I am crazy lately for pretty storage and Home Goods delivers on that front for sure!

A beautiful pencil box for $6.00

LOVE IT!!!!!!

And this gorgeous box was $9.99!

My daughter wants it now to store her makeup in.

Now more shopping!

You may have noticed I go to the once-a-month flea market Trade Days in Canton, TX each month

and a shop I found there is

Tracy Harwin

and she sells DROP DEAD GORGEOUS lace items like this window swag...

(not my house though!)

Here are a few of the items I've purchased from her booth...

This gorgeous lace scarf...

And just last month my heart almost stopped beating when I saw this...

fireplace mantel scarf for $35.00! I'm so thrilled!

I wish my fireplace itself was prettier though!

I've been thinking of painting it white but I'm scared to do it!

A while back I purchased this tabletop scraf too...

Just the right touch!

So that's my pink for this weekend!

I hope you've enjoyed it!

Please visit my Pink Saturday Friend

Singapore Plants Lover

too!

Gorgeous beautiful plants and flowers!

P.S.

HAVE YOU ENTERED MY GIVEAWAY YET FOR FOUR OF THESE

OF YOUR CHOICE OF SAYING?

CLICK HERE TO ENTER! NAME CHOSEN AT RANDOM ON OCT. 2ND....

A Spooky Diversion and a Freebie for you!

Can you feel Fall and the spooky season of Halloween approaching?! I know I do, even though I'm here in heat soaked Texas! A Halloween Postcard Tag Art Swap over at Red Lead's Art Swap blog helped to get me in the mood for the spooky and not-always-so-spooky season of Fall and Halloween!
It might have just been an excuse to order some fantastic rubber stamps and goodies from their site Red Lead!
I've been working the past couple days on my tags and this is what I have so far...

What's better than a black skeleton?

A black GLITTERED skeleton!

I need to add some ribbons to the top still.

And then a fun one...

I'm thinking to add a moon "off the tag" so to speak still...

So a bit more work and one more to make and then they'll be ready to mail out.

What do you think?

What are you making for Halloween this year?

I purchased this book a long time ago at a library book sale

(BTW, one of the things that makes my heart go pitter-patter!)

It has wonderful pages like this...

And I thought I'd share an image on one of their Halloween images with you

for your crafting this year!

You just click to open and print!

Enjoy!

Mandala Finished!

It was relaxing, I lost myself in the process a few times, hour-wise, that is. That is when I'm happiest, so enveloped in the process that I don't even realize time is moving on.

I love Mica gold leaf too!

next up is learning from SUZI BLU

and her La Sirena Workshop!

I'm excited!

She says Be. An. Artist!

I am Calm, very Calm, this Pink Saturday! AND A GIVEAWAY TOO!!

I thought EVERYONE knew all about the craze for the "Keep Calm and..." series of posters and whatnots on the market and for sale on sites like Etsy like, for example, HERE where you can buy the iconic poster that started it all.

Do you know the history on this phrase?

Here it is...

and an original view...

Well, my daughter wanted a few to decorate her home

and so, of course, so did I!

So I made my own!

Here is my fun display this .PINK SATURDAY...

I spent all day thinking keep calm and..... ????

Here is a close-up for the last two so you can see them better...

and

I love them! Do you too?

Yes?!!

Ok, then I think you NEED YOUR OWN!

And I'd love to give you your own set of FOUR!!!

You can choose whatever you'd like them to say...

here are more ideas i made up but haven't framed as of yet...

Sugar is a given, isn't it?

And the next is for my job as a broadcast captioner...

Also, did you know I LOVE Starbucks?!

I do!

Here's the scoop!

The GIVEAWAY is open to Saturday, October 2

Just leave a comment for one entry

Link to my blog with a mention on your sidebar or posting and get another entry

Please link the giveaway back to my giveaway.

That's it!

                                          YOU CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT THE FOUR TO SAY
                                             MAKE SURE I HAVE A WAY TO CONTACT YOU TO SEE
                                                WHAT YOU'D LIKE YOUR FOUR TO SAY!
                                                        GOOD LUCK!
                              p.s. the frames aren't included but i got mine at Hobby Lobby at 50% off!
              And there's no reason I threw in Snoopy here, I just love him ever since I was like 5 years old!
       Please take time to visit my lovely Pink Saturday friend Sue at COLLECT IN TEXAS

My Turquoise Craft Assistant

There is NEVER enough storage or room for all of our crafty products, are there?!
I found a sweet little cart at the flea market that called to me from across the aisle saying,
Suzie, Suzie, here I am! Your assistant is OVER HERE!

This sweetie wasn't as pretty then as she is now though...

She was a bit dirty, a bit rusty, and white...

but lovely daughter Megan cleaned her up and she's my

spray paint queen!

Thanks, Megan!

I have her nearby to hold that bothersome goodie that is in my way on the desk

and to hold the whole kaboodle of paints, glitters and inks...

Yep, that's my Mandala artwork there that I'm working on!

Oh, and super sweet...

She closes up nice and thin!

OOPS! Megan forgot to spray her there.

Oh, well, it's a bit of the character of who she was before her re-do!

DIY Twins are back!

Did you see that our favorite crafty twins are back on DIY?!
And, of course, they're creating cuteness!
Watch this...

                                           Then visit them at DIY DISH

Just a Holiday Reminder...

Did you already visit

Matthew Mead

and preorder the fab Holiday issue?

Better hurry!

Discovering Art Materials

I found a little niche of time this weekend to squeeze in beginning my Mandala art! Here is the beginning of the fun part...

I'm already really enjoying the Mandala tutorial because it allowed

me to freely add this and that paper to create my background

I'm happiest without strict

boundaries when creating.

Are you too?

I was musing over the new-to-me art products I've purchased for this project.

What ones, you say?

Maybe this will show me as the un-artist that I most likely am,

but I had never seen these fabulous

Wood Painting Panels

before...

(this is the back of mine)

I instantly appreciated the quality of it...

no texture like on a canvas,

no stretch, no chance of becoming misshapen...

I need more of these!

We all love new paints, and these are scrumptious!

There are so many, many colors and GLITTER too at

Artist Cellar

I will definitely be buying more as I create more projects because, yeah, just look inside...

Pretty, pretty, Pretty!

Also when I've ever traced anything I've always just gone to the usual craft store supplies available to do the job...

but this is better...

First, it's bigger sheets

Second, it tears off like foil would

Third, it's got a full coverage, no light missed or hard to see lines when finished...

It can be found here at

Amazon

Too, I went to the art aisle at Michaels instead of just the acrylic paint in the craft section

and spent a bit more, but really not so bad

(with a coupon!)

for better quality paints and glazing liquid...

I love finding new art products to experiment with!

Now back to the craft room to work on my Mandala...

Remembering This Day

Hi, fellow Pink Saturday friends! I know that you share with me in this somber remembrance of the tragedy of 9/11. My heart is filled with sorrow for the families whose pain of their losses must always be present.
I am getting ready to caption a long day of news coverage and know it's going to be sad to hear the stories and to see the faces of those at commemoration ceremonies.

I apologize that I am late this morning posting...

I went to see the Rangers vs. Yankees last night at the stadium

and had to work this morning early...