A Giveaway!

It's Leap Year and a Giveaway is underway!  No, not me, but the very generous and talent Kim at Tabby's Place  Be sure to go check it out and enter!!  She's the best!
xox
Karen

Leap Year Giveaway....Do You Art Journal?

How Many Times Have You...

How many times have you failed to take those wonderful recycle shopping bags with you when you go into a store?  There they sit....all nice and neat in the cargo area/trunk of your car...only to remember them as the clerk is bagging up your purchase in those fabulously attractive white plastic bags!!

Well, if I had 50 cents for every time I've forgotten, I'd be able to afford a personal shopper and wouldn't need to worry about this!!  On Friday I had the delightful pleasure of running into a dear old friend of mine, Gina Murphy-Darling.

Gina and I go way back ~ Salpointe Peace Club ~ Angel Charity for Children.  Gina is founder and principal of Mrs. Green's World.  She hosts a fantastic radio program every Saturday from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. AZ time.  Please visit her website and discover the AMAZING things Gina and her staff are accomplishing in sustaining our beautiful Earth!  I happened to mention those recycle shopping bags and dear Gina gifted me with a bag I WILL NOT forget....because it lives in my purse!!

fits in the palm of your hand!

How great is this!!  Thank you, dear Gina, and especially for the amazing job you continue to do for ALL of us!

The girls and I had a great visit in Phoenix with our "second family."  The highlight of the day was seeing Lacey and meeting her precious Cosette.

sweet little baby girl toes

the beautiful little princess!

my two favorite girls with my two favorite boys

our beautiful girls, inside and out

me and my sweert bestie Nancy

It wouldn't be a trip to Phoenix without a visit to Last Chance and it was crazy nuts!  We forgot that it was President's Day and I think everyone within a 100 mile radius chose to be there.  We did manage to get some awesome deals, though....

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm cutting waaaaaaayyyyy back on swaps this year and it has been very hard!  There are so many beauties going on right now with a Spring/Easter theme and temptation has been singing me it's siren song....but, I've been strong and resisted.  Here's a peek at what I created (pre-swap cutback) for the St. Patty's Day ATC Book Swap hosted by Kim and JoAnne.  

all 12 ready to go

a close-up

 In return I'll receive a bound book of 12 different ATC's...this Italian-German girl is very excited!

I had the honor to create invitations and a special bracelet for my dear friends, Michael and Jennifer, as they prepare to celebrate their daughter Olivia's First Holy Communion.  Here is what I created for them...

the invitation

a special bracelet for a very special girl

I must tell you that the crystals in the bracelet come from a necklace that belonged to Olivia's great-great grandmother!  I felt blessed to be able to use them in this treasure.  The pearls are freshwater and the elements are silver plate and sterling.

Well, I've been pretty busy in the studio this week, as well.  So, let me share some more creations with you.  They are now available in my Etsy shop!

3 different chains and 27 charms

a vintage piece in the focal

It's been a busy week in Tucson with the start of Lent, the Accenture Match Play golf tournament, Pro Rodeo...just to name a few...

I'm actually looking forward to a relatively "quiet" week ahead... And I'm really looking forward to getting together with the Tucson Swap Queens for our February mini matchbox "Love" swap on Tuesday.

Have a most beautiful week, dear friends, and thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to stop by for a visit!
xoxo
Karen

You See, It Was About A Bed...

You see, it was about a bed...a flower bed.  Our long-lasting vinca plants had seen better days

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and we knew we had to yank 'em and re-plant.  Having reached this decision at summer's end and as autumn approached, it wasn't the ideal time to be planting perennials, even in Arizona.  So, the dismal, barren bed just sat for a few months.

While cleaning out the garage, Ron found bag of wildflower seeds which we purchased eons ago at Native Seed Search.  Feeling we had nothing to lose, he sowed them and watered.  We were patient and soon sprouts appeared, then seedlings, and finally a flower.  It was now winter and we didn't think our wildflowers would endure what can be brutal, freezing, low desert nights.  But they have!!

And what a difference they've made along our walkway.  We've even planted flower shop plants that eventually need to be moved outdoors.  Here's a chrysanthemum plant from my November birthday, flowering and growing.

So, we are delighted with the Lord's hand on our flora and look forward to these "wild things" regenerating each year.

That's not all that's been blooming in our home...Today the girls and I will head to Phoenix for my first visit with Cosette Lilliana.  I'm over-the-moon about our visit and meeting this sweet precious baby girl.  So much so, that I've created my one-of-a-kind baby book for her.  This is a book of baby "firsts."  Here is just a sampling of the pages ~ there are actually 25 in all.

I love this type of book because the busy mommy just has to slip the page out of it's pocket, record the date, and slip a photo in the pocket below.  The album is a landscape orientation.

SURPRISE ~ SURPRISE!!
Sweet and generous Kasia at Chatelet, who won my giveaway recently, created a lovely for me.  She told me she was working on something, but never in my wildest dreams would I have envisioned THIS....

The sweetest, most delicate little nafta lamp.  Of course, I will not burn oil in it....it's too pretty!!

Thank you dear Kasia, for you generous, kind, and creative spirit!.   You are a treasure!


I've been finishing up on some swaps...Here are some pix you might enjoy...

Tee at the Altered Paper hosted a pin cushion swap and my partner Elysia at Mischieveious Crafts created this darling "cake" for me.

And they came with these custom designed altered pins...

the little thimble to the left is actually a necklace!

Elysia is such a generous heart and included these sweet images as well....

Here's the pin cushion with altered pins that I created for Elysia...

I'll be sending these bad boys off to JeriLyn this week.  They're altered coasters for a swap with my Paper Trader's Group.  We alter 7 and get back a book with 7 different ones from the artists in our group.  I was really excited to do this swap since I'm in the heart of "cowboy country," and Arizona just celebrated it's Centennial!

created an extra for our hostess JeriLyn ~ this is the front of the coasters

back of the coaster with a pocket

and a little postcard....

which says it all!

Each one is wrapped "cowboy style"....

And I've included an Arizona post card for each member, thanks to sweet friend Sandy B who gifted me with her post card collection!

I have a special favor to ask of you....my sweet friend Sue, who lives far from me, has been diagnosed with lung cancer.  She battled breast cancer, and won!, 9 years ago.  The doctors think the new cancer is somehow related to the old.  Please keep her in your prayers ~ we have such a powerful network in blog land, and prayer is the most powerful tool we share.  Love you all.

Have a most beautiful week, dear friends.   I'll be busy in the studio working on some jewelry for my Etsy shop, and of course you'll be the first to see!  Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to visit with me, and for your sweet comments, too!!
xoxo
Karen

A Little More Valentine-ness!

I just had to save this swap for today ~ Happy Valentine's Day!  Laurie at Indulge Your Shelf hosted a most wonderful swap where we created 4 Valentine ornies and a handcrafted Valentine card.  She swapped them out for us and here's what I received from my FABULOUS partners....

First, the package arrives decked out in vintage Valentine wrapping paper ~ how sweet is that!

Seriously, I didn't want to unwrap it!  Laurie is the Queen of Presentation!

But, I did ~ and here's the treasure trove that was waiting for me....

the sweetest Valentine card from Laurie

The first ornament comes from the uber-talented Lorraine at Paper Vernissage...the heart behind the heart is the darling package Lorraine created for the ornie

Second treasure is a gorgeous creation from Michaele at Twigs and Tulle

not only a stunning ornie, but a stunning card as well!

Third creation comes from the lovely and talented Terri at Vintage Connections (by the way...if you would like to see better pix than the ones I took, head over to Terri's...her's are fab!)

And the 4th lovely comes from Lisa at A Peaceful Place to Be

of course I'm over the moon when it comes to birdies!

A BIG thanks to all my partners, I couldn't be happier with your beauties, and to have made new blog friends! xo

I'll bet you'd like to see what I sent to all my partners, wouldn't you?  You know how much I love "trinkets" so I created bottle cap ornies that could also be worn as a pendant.

all packaged up with the card I created...

reveal!

I also created a special "thank you" gift for Laurie, our wonderful hostess...

packaged up..

reveal!

Wishing all of you the most wonderful Valentine's Day!  My Valentine is on a two day biz trip to FL, so we'll celebrate when he returns [sigh], but it's allllll good!
xoxo
Karen