Pink Saturday Swap!

I saved this posting just for PINK SATURDAY since it's, well, PINK!
Do you do that also? I know how if you're a committed Pink Saturday blogger there are times when you just run short of pink to share or you have to stretch pinks, as I do, well, from reds or mauves....
Today though I saved my beautiful swap pretties from my art retreat I attended last weekend at A Gilded Life to show you.
My swap partner for a home decoration was sweet Jennifer at Covered in Glitter.
She is such a talented and sweet lady and I've had the pleasure of meeting her teenaged daughter at another event and she's just as sweet as her Mom.
Jennifer knew I liked pinks and that I like artsy items and she made me this...

And I think I'll surround it with some pink Christmas balls this holiday season!

And then we also had a recipe swap

(you can make my recipe potholder too from the tutorial below this posting if you'd like! the cake is FANTASTIC, I promise!)

Jennifer made me also the cutest recipe card...

I love the old-fashioned cuteness of it!

And also there was Jan's of Just me, Jan

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Jan better also through the Paper Cowgirl Art Retreats and she is

so talented and meticulous in her artwork and I just love it!

                                   Now, if I could just get someone to cook for me, I'd be all set!

Have a lovely Fall weekend too!

Please visit my Pink Saturday friend Maria at Bubblegum and Duct Tape too!

She's talented on so many fronts I wouldn't know where to begin!

Recipe Potholder Tutorial

Hi, Friends! You may remember this recipe I posted the other day...

Well, I had a recipe swap at the recent Gilded Life event I attended and I decided to make my recipe into a potholder!

Here's the lovely Heather Ales loving it!

I thought I'd share this simple and cute potholder tutorial so you can make one or several as gifts too!

(HINT: The recipient would LOVE it with a piece of the cake too!)

First, please right click and save my picture.

Pull it up on your computer.

I chose to print it as a 5 by 7 inch size...

And I unchecked on the printer choices "print single photo per page."

This way I can print two on one sheet!

At this point, I should talk about the printer paper you could choose.

There are many in the stores, but I choose June Tailor Colorfast Sew-In Inkjet Fabric Sheets

as I knew the brand was high quality and the printing results were fantastic, nice and crisp whites against the colors!

Make sure you let the ink dry and then follow the package instructions to iron it, rinse it, and iron it again!

Now you're ready to stitch!

I used a seam allowance of about 1/4 inch for the project.

Choose your border fabric.

I cute each strip 2 inches wide.

Start with the side pieces and cut two strips and sew them right sides together on each side.

Iron the seams flat and then measure and cut two strips for the top and bottom edge.

Sew them on and then iron it nice and neat.

Repeat for the top and bottom strips.

You might as well go ahead and cut out the handle too at this point, It is 1 3/4inches wide and 5 inches long.

Fold the hanger strip in half and iron. Open out and fold each long raw edge toward the center fold..

Fold lengthwise up to the center fold and press.

Fold in half and press and set aside for now.

Next we'll add in the batting, I used a double middleweight batting to make it cushy,

It may be a bit wasteful, but I just left enough on the sides to make it simple and then you use your widest

stitch to attach it to the top piece...

trim even.

Now it looks like this!

Simple, right?!

Lay your piece on top of your backing fabric, with the backing fabric having the WRONG side facing up...

There is an inch needed around the entire piece. I used my ruler to just easily measure and mark and cut out

You will need to make mitered corners, and I'm not the expert or the best with this, but here is a link for you on mitered corners

HERE

Pin all the way around, adding in the hanger on the corner.

Stitch carefully and turning in neatly as you go, and simply stitch around and there you go!

A sweet gift, literally!

There are special instructions for the machine washing of this potholder and here is my tag I made which you can copy also!

Enjoy!

I'm thinking to make another potholder with a picture of my grandbaby in it for myself and my daughter too!

I couldn't resist...

I may bore you all with my desire to show off my grandbaby Madison as we approach Halloween, but she was  IS so cute in her little Halloween outfit... But she wasn't in the mood for a picture and had that nope, no way will I smile look, but even that is adorable to me!

I love this picture too with just the chubby arms...

I decided to have fun with these pictures in

Scrapblog

If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area check out

Kendra Pryor Photography

And get busy on the kids' Halloween costumes, you've only got a few days left!

Red Lead Halloween Swap Goodies!

I just love seeing the talent of other swap partners, don't you?! I thought today I'd share the beauties I got in the mail as part of the Red Lead Halloween tag swap!
First was this beauty from Julie O'Brien...

I love how she used so many different elements and they all look fantastic together!

Next I had a great card from Carolyn Huber..

The ravens with the poem really set it off just right!

And last, but not least, I had a tag from Tami Roth...

So adorable!

This swap was a lot of creative fun!

I also have swap pictures to share from my A Gilded Life event from this past weekend,

so I'll be back soon with those too!

Have a great Spooky day and Halloween week!

Pink Saturday is Gilded, Girls!

I've died and landed in a gilded other world! YES, I have! There are many pink beauties where I've been. The details are always attended to, and many are wrapped in pink...

The jewels are dripping in every corner....

And I'm happy in the midst of the beauty and glitter!

Here I am just glittering what will top off my crown!

And, OF COURSE, my crown is PINK!

It was so much fun to create!

Tomorrow is more of the same, but this time, I'm hoping to create a beauty like this...

Yes, this PINK SATURDAY

I'm a

GILDED GIRL!

Fall, Halloween, and working on Christmas too! And LOOKIE what I won!

I'm beginning to feel a bit short on time, you know that anxiousness that threatens to overcome you when you're working on craft projects for an event very close in time that happens? That's me this week. I'm over-the-moon excited because this Friday is the beginning of the A Gilded Life's Art Retreat and I'll be covered in my favorite, glitter! We're starting out on Friday with making a crown, Ah, it will be just fantastic! By Sunday, I should be in pure craft bliss by the time it ends.
Today though, I'm still working on my swaps for the event, they're coming along but I keep getting interrupted in my crafting schedule by my work schedule to caption the news!
I love Emblibrary.com and it's my go-to source for embroidery designs! I am working on Fall decorations for my swap and I found several designs of leaves there that I bought. Here's the link to one of them FALL LEAVES
Here are a few of the leaves I've stitched up so far...

Isn't it pretty?

And here is a lace design from HERE for LACE DESIGN

I stitched it on a sparkly organza and it really added a fantastic glimmer to it!

here are a few more...

I also had a "husband" to add to my Halloween decorations for my craft room and I snuck in finishing it up...

My lady (below) is much happier now that her husband is beside her!

OH!!!! LOOK TOO WHAT I WON!

Handmade stoneware buttons! Aren't they FABULOUS?!!

You can purchase them also from Koko Noelle

Thanks Noel and Liz! They are scrumptious!!!

I'm also making a few Christmasy swap items but they're not ready to show you yet!

Soon though!

Pink Saturday Goodness

I thought I'd share a PINK recipe card with you this weekend! Now, this recipe is originally from a Christmas Gooseberry Patch book and is just fabulous! I love the sponginess of the cake texture, and it would be "healthy" except for the icing! Please click on it and save and print and enjoy!

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY!

Haunting Halloween Images

I enjoy adding a bit of each holiday season to my craft room more than the rest of the house. I suppose it's part of the kids all being grown now and so I just don't feel the desire to pull out piles of Halloween decorations for my yard and fireplace mantle, etc. but since my craft room is my 'happy place' where I can just spend hours (when I can find them, that is!) I like to add touches of themed decorations.
I made this Bingo card decoration and it looks just right on my vintage Ouija Board!

I found the vintage picture at the antique mall, boy, this lady didn't appear to be a happy person!

I love finding freebies in nature too, like this broken branch at the park!

I hope you find time to craft today!

Card Inspiration!

Some bloggers are so humble, so generous in the sharing of their talents, and in this case the first source I search for inspiration when I have an idea to make a craft.
I'm talking about the sweet Elizabeth at Creative Breathing !!
I needed a sweet handmade card and I just KNEW Elizabeth would inspire me and she did! Elizabeth made an apron tag for a swap she's hosting and even though I was too late for the sign-up, I saw in her creation my card!
Here's Elizabeth's apron tag...

And here is my card...

I added a pocket on the back and used a journal card and stickers to create a removable little note!

I am so pleased with the results!

Thanks, as always, Elizabeth for your sweet spirit and talents!

Pink Saturday Squeals, SQUEALS!

Hi, My PINK SATURDAY friends! I thought I'd show a short little video clip of my PINK granddaughter Madison on Friday having fun with our dog, Ollie.
Ollie is the exact age as Madison, they were born a day apart, and they both have a LOT of energy!

She sure is FUN to have in my life and I feel so blessed every day whether it's seeing her or just thinking of her!
Please visit our Pink Saturday blogger at Fairytales and Grace today! Such a beautiful blog and family!
I thought I'd add on to this posting. My daughter took Madison for Halloween pictures this afternoon. Even with a nap, Madison decided she wasn't in the mood. Can you say, almost a 2 year old?! So funny!
this is an example of what Madison felt like today while posing with her BFF...

Love it!