BLOGAVERSARY CANDY

(This is a long read, so get comfy and grab something to eat!

WOW!

Two years!

Whodda thunk?

It all started back with my very first post...........HERE....(nothing big, just pics of the kiddos)....on March 28, 2009, when I was persuaded by my BFF The Prairie Fairy [Roberta] to start a blog so I can make cards with her digital images!

Digital images?

A blog?

"Have some candy" she says [some of you may remember me talking of this before, so I'm sorry for the reiteration, but I really must share it again]

"Candy?" I said. I honest to god thought she meant "candy" in every literal sense of the word!

Then I won LORI's blog candy. Roberta called me; screaming- "you won, you won".......Ooooooooooo YAY (jumping up and down)!! NOW WHAT!!?!? [confusion yet again] & in that candy was my first TILDA--- "Who's\What's Tilda??" (yes,,,,really!! )

Oy yoi, yoi. I've learned so much since then, like paper piecing is not the same as paper piercing; my blog has a 'dashboard' which I thought was only in vehicles; there were more than just 5 challenges out there in blogland; AND I now know how to sew!!! lol
Ah I recall my first challenge TOP 3 fondly: Actually, NO I don't......I didn't even know I won until my blogger friend LORI (different Lori than above) told me! It was at the Stamping Vacation blog with this card. Remember......I was a dashboard virgin!  ACK!!
I can lovingly look at pictures of my cards & remember EXACTLY why I made it. A DT call, a color challenge, a special blog hop, another DT call, a birthday, just for fun.....funny how we become so invested in the little things.

I remember how very nervous I was applying for my first DT spot.........which I didn't get BTW [their loss-haha], then I remember thinking.......I'll never get picked (pity party began), but I tried again & was given my first break with the Creative Inspiratons DT. I remember how excited I was telling my hubby (who was like "what does that mean?") & how I trembled with excitement as I made my first post for that challenge! Oh the stress of it all!

How do I schedule a post?

How do I link my card & not my blog?

Word Verification?

How do I make a post 'sticky'----AND why does that just not sound right?!?!

It's a whole other language here in blogland, but as far as I'm concerned, what happens in blogland, stays in blogland! When something comes in the mail for me, now, even if I've ordered it, I tell hubby "no, seriously I won it"!! God love him!!

Sssssssssssoooooooooooooooo............since I didn't celebrate my 1 yr blogaversary.....(..........I know.............I suck )I am here to offer up ONE BIG WHOPPING 2 YEAR BLOGAVERSARY CANDY!

This is almost a farewell of sorts as well................you see, I have been on maternity leave for the past year, which has allowed me ample time to create, inspire, drool & appreciate......but now my time will definitely be limited. I will no longer be able to spend 12 hours 4 hours a day on the computer, visiting sites, entering challenges or candy draws. I'll be working my little butt off to make more money to support my crafting addiction habit. I hope you will all MISS ME tremendously! haha Just know that I will be here somewhere lurking in the background! Perhaps on my nights shifts.

So whaddya say, let's get to it then!

What is in these pictures!?

What can you win?

PAPERS

44- 6X6 blinged up "Love Nest" MME papers

72- 6X6 "Simply Delightful" MME papers
EMBELLIES

4 large self adhesive butterflies

3 self adhesive leaf mirrors

2 pkgs mini-frames [3 in each pkg]

1 pkg metal embellishments [6 pieces]

1 pkg PEACE charms [4 pieces]
1 pkg mixed button

RIBBON

 1 roll [3 meters ] chocolate brown grosgrain
5 yards white seam binding
misc amount of thin white sheer
4 yrds blue
4 yrds red with flowers
10 meters purple satin edge
4 yrds purple & green  plaid design
9 ft pink 'girl talk'
BLING

3 pk Ranger stickles (diamond, silver, gold)

1 pkg self adhesive rhinestone bling

2 pkg self adhesive pearls [pink & green]
ACCESSORIES

1 pkg of alphabet word stickers
1 pkg CTMH sponge daubers (12/pk)
mixed lot of shapes- crimped
PUNCHES
1 pkg Labels 2 Nestabilities
SU butterfly punch
STAMPS
2 Magnolia Stamps- "King Tilda" & "Tilda hiding Present" -you didn't think I'd forget Maggies did you?
"Little Treats Collection" Rubber stamps (cupcakes & sentiments [8 stamps total] )
1 Whimsy 'Chilly BunBun Fairy' stamp 
1 pkg 'Baby' wooden stamps
1 Whimsy 'Mr. & Mrs Teddy' Claus stamp
INK
Versamark Ink Pad
FLOWERS
Misc mixed batch
WOC-mixed lot (see pictures)
1 pkg pink pearl stems

MISSING FROM PICTURE:
The Labels Nesties (I have them now, but not when I took the pictures)

ALSO:

Donated by Bonnie at Really Reasonable Ribbons-Feb. Ribbon Club Assortment
 Mwah! Thank You!

AND FINALLY

Donated by Bec from Bizzy Becs Store-
WOJ Die Tag
WOJ pearls
 Magnolia 'Happy Birthday' sentiment &
an assortment of charms.
 Mwah! Your the best!

Now whaddya gotta do to be in it to win it?
** You MUST be a follower**
**Take one of the pictures OF MY CANDY &
display it on your blog [sidebar is fine] with a link back here**
(Don't forget to name it "Whopping Candy") lol
**put your name into Mr. Linky**

??--WANT A SECOND ENTRY--??
Use this awesome sketch created by Claudia Rossa (just for me- after I twisted her creative arm-lol) & make something with it. Be it a card/altered item/scrapbook page/tag........whateva....then post it on your blog and link THAT POST to Mr. Linky as well.(EDIT- write SKETCH beside your name so I can come see it kay)

DONE. 2 possible ways to win.......

woops...........almost forgot...............

****For every 100 enteries into this candy draw I will give away a set of 28 sheets of DP as well- (can you believe I never new what DP was either!!!)  [cut 6"X6"]  . ****

So the more enteries, the more chances to win some fabby papers!! Sound good!??!?

**EDIT: (March 3) I will announce these DP winners on my blog as I draw after each 100 enteries. I will also post the winners on a seperate page at the top of my blog, so look for that tab at the top** 

Finally, I'd just like to send a big shout out to all the teams, teammates & cyber bosses that have taken a chance on me in the past & present! And to all the bloggers who pop in & out on a daily or casual basis. And to those of you who stay in touch on the sidelines as well (you know who you are)!
Your encouraging words keep me going !

Crafty Cardmakers
Fussy & Fancy
Stamping Vacation
Prairie Fairy Fun Fridays
Creative Inspirations
Totally Tilda
Do It With Digis'
Bizzy Becs-Blue Butterfly Stamps
Let's Ink It Up

This candy will be open until March 28. Winner will be announced April 1st.

GOOD LUCK.

Creative Inspirations DT- Use a Template

WELCOME to another Creative Inspirations Challenge. This fortnight we want to you to:

USE A TEMPLATE.

Our sponsor this time is The Cutting Cafe & Regina was kind enough to provide us with some templates. I chose to do a pillow box and matching card. I will be giving this to my mom for mother's day (in May here in Canada) as we are planning on getting her a plane ticket to Alberta to visit her family & to celebrate her mom's 90th birthday. This pillow box will fit the plane ticket just nicely. Shhhhhh don't tell her though.

I placed some vellum over top of the word box  & I also stamped some CTMH swirls to the flower image. These 2 images can also be found at the Cutting Cafe.  

The little blingy flowers & center pieces seen on both the card & pillow box are from a set of wedding accessories I bought EONS ago. As a fellow blogger said, "it's fun to go shopping in my own supplies" !

In the picture below I placed some of my fave ribbons into the pillow box. Those ribbons would be from Really Reasonable Ribbons..............I love that store!

So get digging...............in your stash, in your computer, in your crafting magazines and find yourself a template to use and get into our challenge.

OH YOU HAVE GOT to check out the other girlz creations at the blog! They are phenomenol!! (is that how you spell it?).

Challenges for my set :

Kaboodle Doodles- break tradition (I've never made a pillow box before)

OSAAT- card for mum

Tuesday Throwdown- 3D

Crafty Sentiments- spring

Really Reasonable Ribbons- spring theme

Stamptacular Sundays- you've been framed

Sentimental Sundays- anything goes

Create with Connie & Mary- photo inspire (see below)

PS- I HAVE BIG BLOGAVERSARY CANDY BEING POSTED TOMORROW!!

BIG!

HUGE!

BUT ONLY IF YOU FOLLOW ME!

SEE YOU THEN!

Totally Tilda DT- Fruity Tilda

I'm trying something a little different with my picture taking. I see people take pictures as above and am always in AWE of it, so I have been trying to do this for some time! Whatcha think

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It's Totally Tilda time again! What do we have up our sleeves this time?!

The title of my post says it all:

FRUITY TILDA

We want to see Tilda in all her glory with all her fruityness surrounding her!

I chose this image of Tilda holding cherries to match the digital DP that was supplied to us by  Best Cardmaking Downloads , who is also our sponsor this time round!   Nicky was kind enough to give the Totally Tilda Design Team her yummy Cherry and Peach downloadable papers to work with. The more I use digi papers, the more I want to buy ALL the CDs out there!

I placed our lovely Tilda on a digital fence I won from Whimsy.  It is called "Garden Fence Background" by Meljens. I knew I wanted to do exactly this when I chose this image.

My flowers are from WOC. Butterfly charm......hhmmmm can't recall where I got that! lol

 Sentiment is from SU. Ribbon is from a misc stack o' ribbons I got AGES ago!

C'mon, get Tilda looking all frooty-patootie and head on over to the Totally Tilda Challenge.

Challenges for my card:

MDU- flower power

Sweet Stampin- Oh so girly 

Paper Sundaes- how charming

Frosted Designs- FAB Friday- use metal

The Crafty Pad- something yummy for your tummy

Colour Create- fruit & photo inspire (see below)

PS- I HAVE HUGE BLOGAVERSARY CANDY BEING POSTED TOMORROW!

BIG!

HUGE!

BUT ONLY IF YOU FOLLOW ME!

SEE YOU THEN!

Fairy Fun Friday- Be inspired by a SONG

Hello everyone. How are you today? I am tired. Up at 6 am with my 11 month old. He's sick. Stuffy. Coughing. Wheezing. Cranky. He was crying at 11:30 pm, then 3:00 am!  Uh! My 3 yr old as well woke up with a croupy cough. We just got over the stomach flu, now this! I said to my husband "I can't wait to go back to work..".....yup the dreaded word.....'work'........I probly would' ve taken a sick day anyways, to baby my children.....haha

ON a brighter note today is a new challenge over at  Fairy Fun Friday , where, for the next two weeks we want you to be :

INSPIRED BY A SONG

Make it fun. Start dancing! Start Singing!

What's the first song you think of as you read this!?

Me? I went for Tom Cochranes' "Life is a Highway".

OOoooooo wow does this song bring back memories of my younger years. Highschool, Dances, Socials, Boyfriends, Girlfriends......I just get an ear to ear grin thinking about it! Tom Cochrane- god love him!!!

I have used the image Party Animals from Prairie Fairy Designs!

I paired it with some awesome ROCK papers that say 'Turn up the" & I added 'radio' to the picture with my black sticker letters!

I tried to use ribbons that resembled highway lines, lol.

The crimped star came in a pack I bought AGES ago with other shapes, from Dollarama! Gawd I love that store!

Don't these dudes like they are having a blast!! Just like I used to do when I would hit the dancefloor dancin' to Tom Cochrane. There was no stopping me!! There would probly be no stopping me today......expect my daughter might stop me due to embarrasment!! LOL

So get on your dancin shoes people, think of a song, make a card for it & get it into the Fairy Fun Friday Challenge!!! WooOHOOO!!!

Challenges for my card:

Digi's with Attitude- where I wish I was right now!

Tellens' Place- lets see buttons

Sew Many Challenges- star challenge

Paper Sundaes- masculine colors

Cards for Men- recipe- 1 image, 2 DP, 3 embellies

Daring Cardmakers- Dollar store purchase

My fave color

When I saw the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Challenge.............I knew I had to get in on it! The colors they are asking for are "Coffee & Cream"--my faves. I love brown/cream tones! Did I mention they are also having a DT call for 1 new member. I am gonna throw my name in there and see how it goes!

Doesn't hurt to try hey?!

I used the sketch from Friday's Sketchers to pull this little beauty together. I flipped it , hee hee!

The off white Jute ribbon I got from Really Reasonable Ribbons. I made it thinner to suit the sketch element. The great thing about Jute is that you can remove some of the horizontal or vertical lines of the material, while  the rest remains in tack & looks great! The aspects that I removed I used in the center of my buttons!  The Seam binding ribbons were given to me from various blogger friends! Mwah! The heart charm is from Bizzy Becs and the flower is misc from Dollarama!

 Other Challenges for my card:

Do U Stack Up- anything goes

Magnolia Down Under- distressing

Anything Goes- distressing

The Paper Variety- stitching

The Shabby Tearoom- buttons & bows

Sketches in Thyme- open as long as you follow a sketch from somewhere

"A Life of Riley......................."

Otherwise known as an 'Easy & Pleasant life".

This is another page for Rousseaus scrapbook. Rousseau was my brother and his family's pet for the past 14 yrs. See original post HERE.

I believe this is going to be the first page of the scrapbook as it holds a very special meaning, which I will explain. See out the top, the word happy; well within the pages is a journalling sheet (see below pics) and if you can't read what it says I will type it here.

"At 1 yr of age Rousseau was adopted from the Humane Society & became part of the Duchinski household. He was mellow & laid back, the perfect gift for 2 yr old Riley (for potty training). Rousseau was always very gentle & easy to get along with. He truly had ..."

"A life of Riley".

Riley (my nephew) is about 3 yrs old in this picture. Lovingly embracing his new pet. Sitting in the wagon, waiting for a ride. My nephew is now 14 yrs old. Wow, hey!

I am entering my scrapbook page into the following challenges:

Frosted Designs Fab Friday- no DP

Whoopsi Daisy- someone special

Wee Memories- what's your inspiration (my family)

Paper Sundaes- masculine colors

Craft Your Passion- male project

Bizzy Becs- Blue Butterfly Stamps-Once Upon a Time- Day 6

Welcome to the final day of the new release over at Bizzy Becs.

This Blue Butterfly stamp line is called

The last image to be released is called My Butterfly Friend.

I based my entire layout for this card around that blingy blue & white butterfly in the bottom right corner. It was a gift from my BFF. The paper just popped into my hands shortly after finding that butterfly. The pins are made by moi. This is another card that has been sent clear across the miles to make someone smile on their birthday!! ! Seriously, who couldn't 'be happy' with this little butterfly chick!

Bizzy Becs is having a major giveaway with the release of these stamps/images. Yes you read correctly, these images are also going to be available in rubba!

The giveaway takes place at Bizzy Becs blog where you will have a chance to win either all 6 DIGIS or a complete set of these new releases in RUBBER!

6 winners.

5 digi sets.

1 rubber set.
Winners will be announced today at some point!

ALSO- today is the day this brand new collection goes on sale at Bizzy Becs Store!! YAHOO!!

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Before I depart today, I must tell you of some awesome candies happening around blogland.

Jude at Crafts International has some awesome Vintage feel calorie Free candy until March 31

Hannah at Delightfully Distressing has Kick it into Gear candy- again calorie free until March 3

Prairie Fairy has birthday candy until March 3rd.

You can also check my sidebars for more candy, including more fairy candy on the  top left hand side!!!

Challenges for my card:
Cute Card Thursday- shiny , happy cards
Charisma Cardz- spring has sprung
Dutch Dare Challenge- bling, glitter, sparkle
Paper Play- add shine
Top Tip Tuesday- bling it on ( can you see my insert in the top pic?)

Bizzy Becs- Blue Butterfly Stamps-Once Upon a Time- Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the new release over at Bizzy Becs.

This Blue Butterfly stamp line is called 

The fourth image to be released from this collection is Bella on a Swing. I went for a white on white card with a colored image, to highlite it. She is so cute with her foot dangling off the edge of the nestie, just like so! I used a few different embossing plates & some white lace & white silk ribbon. Turned out perfectly.  

Bizzy Becs is having a major giveaway with the release of these stamps/images. Yes you read correctly, these images are also going to be available in rubba!

The giveaway takes place at Bizzy Becs blog where you will have a chance to win either all 6 DIGIS or a complete set of these new releases in RUBBER!

6 winners.

5 digi sets.

1 rubber set.
Winners will be announced Feb. 23, 2011

See you there.

Challenges for my card:
Stamps R Us- for the girlz
TPE- buttons, lace & ribbon
PollyCraft Mondays- diamonds & pearls
Sparkles Forum- fairies
Stampin for the Wknd- monochrome

Bizzy Becs- Blue Butterfly Stamps-Once Upon a Time- Day 4

Welcome to Day 4 of the new release over at Bizzy Becs.

This Blue Butterfly stamp line is called 

This image is called Teddy Cuddles. I don't think images of girls are colored in green too often, so that is what I went for...just like me to go against the grain hey? NOT A PINK CARD! lol. I also opted to go a little CAS with just the doily & a couple layers of edge punched paper beneath the doily. The pearly brads are from Trisha......(thanks girl). Aren't they gorgeous! The word 'princess' is a vellum stick on.

Bizzy Becs is having a major giveaway with the release of these stamps/images. Yes you read correctly, these images are also going to be available in rubba!

The giveaway takes place at Bizzy Becs blog where you will have a chance to win either all 6 DIGIS or a complete set of these new releases in RUBBER!

6 winners.

5 digi sets.

1 rubber set.
Winners will be announced on Feb 23, 2011.

See you there.

Challenges for my card:
Top Tip Tuesday- all stitched up
Creative Inspiration- plain & simple
Creative Craft - card for a teen
Incy Wincy- use punches or dies

Waiting........waiting........

Here is another page for the scrapbook I am doing for my brother and his family, in memory of their pet Rousseau (see original post HERE).

I finally got some actual photos from my sister in law last weekend when we went for a visit. Til now I've been using digital pictures printed on my computer. It's nice to have 'picture, pictures.'...... know what I mean?!

This message was shared with me by my sister-in-law & I wrote it down here,  like it was her talking......

the rest of the message is carried onto the scrapbook page in the next photo.

As you can see, I've hidden the little message between the paper layers on top. Since the scrapbook pages load from the top, this works perfectly for the album.

I'll have another page in a couple days. Stay tuned.

Challenges for my page:

A Spoon Full of Sugar- anything but a card

CRAFT Challenge- not a card

Stamp Insanity- ABC of ABC's- anything but a card

Frosted Designs- sketch along Tuesdays (see below)