My Fabric Banner and Other Things

Hello! We just finished having a massive garage sale this past weekend. Wow! Where did all that stuff come from? I guess 3 kids can really accumulate baby gear and toys like crazy. It was a little nauseating to see it all collected in one spot!
But....before the garage sale weekend, was Ella's birthday. I thought I'd share a couple of crafty decorations I made this year for her party - instead of the store bought kind.

The first picture is the fabric bunting/banner I had been wanting to make for some time. I ran across some cute fabrics at the craft store - and a cute polka dot towel (that's what started my "polka dot and cute theme" - is that really a theme???)

Below are some tissue paper "pom poms" (found instructions online).The polka dot balloons I found online: And here is Ella when I first hung the banner. She is telling me she likes "this one". I think it was the cherry one in the middle. :)

Okay, that's all for now! Got to run. I have a house with left over garage sale clutter that needs to be cleaned up and put away. Happy Tuesday!
~Linda

Happy 2nd Birthday ELLA..and Happy Father's Day too!

Wow! 2 years have somehow flown by. Really flown by. Our little Ella is now 2! Here she is almost 1 day old back 0n June 20th, 2008.

And here she is (almost 2) in a recent picture with my Dad........Happy Father's Day Dad!Here are the Birthday cupcakes, decorated by Malia & Alex

(I made the picture cupcake toppers):My Sister in Law Janna, with her granddaughter, baby Norah. She is such a sweetie, well they both are!!Here are Carson & Ella hugging it out. Carson (& Norah's) Mom is my Niece Kim, in the white (on the right). Carson & Ella were born about 3 weeks apart. Ella blowing out her 2 candles - she did well, but Malia & Alex were there to back her up. She needed it. ;)And finally, Happy Father's Day to my husband! Here he is this morning with all the kids barely hanging on his lap. Good times. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! We are still patiently waiting for some sun here in Oregon. Summer officially starts tomorrow...............so we are hopeful the

sun will make an appearance!

~Linda

In the Mood for a Giveaway?

Take a look at this giveaway opportunity! Melanie over at The Crafty Cupboard is generous enough to give this beautiful runner to one lucky reader. Head over to this blog post: RUNNER GIVEAWAY for your chance to enter! You actually have 3 chances to enter (just read the directions.) Love those polka dots and jumbo ric-rack!

Good luck to you --- but not too much luck. I entered too. :)

The rest of her blog is also fabulous. Take a minute and check it out!

Have a great day~
Linda :)

A Little Mini Album

Okay, so that title is a little redundant! :) lol.

I ran across these little accordion albums a couple of weeks ago, and thought I **must** make one! With Mother's Day approaching, I thought it would be a nice gift for my Mother in Law.

You can find the original post & instructions here: Accordion Albums - on http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/ it's a fun blog in general. Glad I found it!

Anyway, I messed up a little bit on mine. I had the kids draw pictures for Yaya (my mother in law), and we added them to the back pages of the album..........TOTALLY forgetting that the album is suppose to be tied with a ribbon around the back...like this (photo from http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/):

oops.

No biggie! We just left off the ribbon so Yaya could enjoy the fabulous artwork on the back. :)

I think it's still cute, and hopefully it doesn't look like it's missing something. :)

Have a great day!
Linda

Easter Recap

I hope everyone had a nice Easter! I cannot believe how much candy we have in the house. It's a constant battle to keep myself ...and the kids out of it! I'm sure my dentist will love me even more on the next visit ($$ cha ching $$).

Here are a few pictures from Easter. The morning started off with a little egg hunt in the house - the Easter Bunny has hid eggs in the house every year - it seems to usually be wet on Easter morning. Malia & Alex waited somewhat patiently for Ella to wake up ---- but had scoped out the view from upstairs quite a bit before then.

I call these first 2 pictures "A little egg-cited" (ha ha):
Here's Alex trying out his crazy glasses and nose the Easter Bunny left in his basket. I tried them on too - and Malia took a picture. Pretty scary first thing in the morning pre-shower and in pjs with these glasses on. It's scary enough withOUT the glasses! I couldn't delete it fast enough.After baths for the kids and a little nap for Ella, we headed out to my Dad's for another egg hunt, but this one was outside! The first one our kids have ever participated in. (we tried last year, but that's a long story). We made it just in time - before the rain started. It was a little windy, but dry! No complaints here. :)We even got to visit the 2 cows that belong to the neighbor. This one was the loud one. I feared he would manage to get over the fence and charge us. He seemed hungry and not too happy. In my mind I was starting to form a plan as to what I would do - which of the kids I would try to save first. lol. (or not).All the fun and excitement can be a lot to take when you are 4. Alex took a little siesta with Gramps. We were all pretty tired to be honest. :)

I may need to bury all the candy in the backyard.
~Linda

Happy Easter!

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Enjoy your day! We are off to an Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon - hoping for a small window of dry weather. Cross your fingers for us. :)

~Linda

A Rare Sighting of...

The EASTER BUNNY!!

Wait!! Not those scary bunnies...........

Do you see him? Look close:

Look closer - What about now?

Oh No! He's trying to get away.....

Wait...........here he comes. Emerging from behind a bush:

Ta da!!!! It's almost as exciting as the Big Foot sightings - don't cha think? lol

Here are a couple more pictures just for fun. :)

Hope you have a wonderful EASTER wherever you are!
~Linda

Somebody Stop Me!

Ack! I used to be addicted to scrapbooking supplies - now my addiction is creeping over into fabric. HELP! Our local craft store had a sale this past weekend - and is one of the only fabric stores in our area that carries designer fabrics. So.........here is a picture of a few new "must haves" I picked up:And these little set of cuties:I picked up most of these (below) from a great fabric shop on Etsy called Material Gal. She is great to work with! I'm actually in the process of making a fun table runner out of these. I'll post a picture when I get it finished. :) My love of fabric, and craft supplies in general, far exceeds the amount of time I have to actually put all this to use. I guess I'm thinking I will become "Superwoman" at some point, and whip out projects, quilts, and don't forget scrapbooks for everyone! I think I'll need to up my amount of coffee each day, and cut out a few hours of sleep to make it happen.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh but isn't it pretty? And......remember - it was ON SALE!!

:) Have a great day.

Linda

Bella Card Swap

Hi!
Each month the gals in our CTMH (Close to My Heart) unit take part in a little card swap. We all get the same piece of paper and the same accessory - then we bring back finished cards to the next meeting. It's fun to see what everyone creates with the same basic starting supplies. We then swap, and leave with a beautiful selection of cards!

Here are the cards I created:


I created a patchwork card, stamped around each "patch" with "Simple Stitches", added some coiled paper flowers, a felt leaf, and turned my bookplate into a hanging tag. I added a rub on word to each bookplate.

Here is a close up of the flowers I made out of cardstock:

I lightly glittered the flowers and leaf.


Supplies Used:

Bella Level 2 Pack

Simple Stitches Stamp Set (C1234)

Dimensional Elements-Bookplates

Sparkles

Rub ons (words)

Heartfelt Whimsy Die Cuts (felt leaves)

Twine

Glitter

Have a wonderful day!

~Linda

Happy St. Patty's Day - 2010

May you have warm words on a cold evening,

a full moon on a dark night,

and the road downhill all the way to your door.

~Irish Blessing

I ran across this cute Leprechaun's Hat card, created by Jenn Biederman. She has amazing work! Check out her blog here: Created by JB.

Have a Lucky Day!
:) Linda