Spring Fun, Blessings and Friends

Happy Pink Saturday!

Last week I shared a photo of a close up of one of the buds on my Magnolia tree. The next day all the buds opened but I forgot to take another picture until after the sun had gone down and I heard an odd noise in the yard. I grabbed the camera and here is what I captured.

Happy April Fool's Day too!

Below is the original night photo.

That rectangular object is a bench under the tree. While fooling around with the image in my Photoshop I found several filters I liked. Here is one I might play with as a background in a digital collage. Love all that PINKness.

Now for sharing fun, fun, fun.

I recently joined the Tag A Month trading group at The Altered Paper. Lucky me, Tee had my name for April. Here is the adorable tag she made for me and all the special extra gifts she included. Thank you Tee!

And if that wasn't enough I received another surprise gift from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings. Abby has a wonderful collection of Vintage photos that she combines with Scripture, blessings and prayers. It was a blessing for me to receive these beautiful cards from Abby. It's been a stressful week for me and the "Keep calm and PRAY" card below was exactly what I needed! 

Thank you Abby. 

Thanks also to Beverly, our hostess every week for our Pink Saturday Party. 

Happy Pink Spring Saturday~

Spring Has arrived!

 My magnolia has lots of buds opening up. It will be beautiful this weekend.

Below are spring gifts from my secret blogging sister. A paper grass filled pink box filled with flowers, a card making kit, candy, and wonderful messages. Thank you sister! 

If you would like to know more about Blogging Sisters, go here.

Happy Pink Saturday! Please stop by How Sweet The Sound and say hello to our Pink Saturday hostess Beverly.

A bouquet of flowers...

I received this awesome card from Diane at 1 Card Creator. My photos do not show how beautiful it really is. The big bouquet of flowers the adorable little girl is carrying look and feel like real flowers. Diane used a product called "flower soft" to create the effect.  Diane's design makes it much more than a greeting card it's a work of art. 

 She added a beautiful paper lining to the envelope. Tucked inside the envelope were two special butterflies and a dragonfly she had made.  

 Thank you Diane!

I do not make cards often but I was inspired by Diane's gift to finish a card I started a while back. I finally completed it and gave it wings to carry get well wishes to another special friend. 

I'm linking this to:

Time Travel Thursday

St. Patrick's Day And More Blessings

Happy PINK St. Patrick's SaturDay!

An Irish Prayer

May God give you...

For every storm, a rainbow,

For every tear, a smile

For every care, a promise,

And a blessing in each trial,

For every problem life sends,

A faithful friend to share,

For every sigh, a sweet song,

And an answer for each prayer.

Blessings...

It's so much fun to receive these surprise packages in the mail. The one below is from Donna at Red Apple Junction she was my trading partner for March in the Tag A Month Swap at The Altered Paper blog. Donna made me a beautiful Spring tag. She also sent a tiny stamped bag filled with an assortment of ephemera to use in my creations.

 

I made the St. Patrick's Day card and tag below for a card trade with my friend Diane at 1 Card Creator.

I made the card base from recycled packing paper and freezer wrap, you can see the paper better in the photo below. The envelope was made from a thin sheet of handmade paper embedded with grasses, that I wrinkled and iron onto freezer wrap paper.

 The beautiful fleur-de-lis stamped set of tags below is a gift I received from Marcia at In Stillness And Simplicity.  They smell wonderful, Marcia sent them enclosed in a lavender organza sachet. 

What a joy to give and blessing to receive.

I'm linking this to:

Pink Saturday

Made U Look

Inspiration Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Time Travel Thursday

Luck...Blessing...

Luck, according to Webster's dictionary is,

"The seemingly chance happening of events that affect someone."  

Blessing, according to Webster’s dictionary is,

"Anything that gives happiness."

Lucky me received this super surprise in the mail this week from my friend Pam Eyre. She is a mixed media artist and an impeccable seamstress. I’ve been blessed with a friend like Pam. I’ve had the good fortune to have receive several items she has made. The latest is this adorable pin-keep. When I saw this pin-keep I commented to her that it reminded me of my mother. Unbeknownst to me Pam had decided that she was going to give the pink-keep to me.

Pam's message on the back of the tag was so beautiful it made me cry.

 She is one of the first friends I made in Blogland. When I was new to blogging she helped me by answering questions I had and giving me tips. Besides being a sweet friend Pam is a very talented lady. Her blog is Cloth to Creation, her posts show her beautiful and clever creations, recipes, and wonderful photography; did I mention Pam lives in Australia? I hope you visit her and say hello. She also has an Etsy Shop called Nest In The Attic.  To visit her shop and see all the amazing things she makes, click here 

I’m linking this to Pink Saturday. Please hop over to say hello to our hostess Beverly at How Sweet The Sound and visit some of the other P.S. participants. Who know what great friends you may meet.

Good luck and may your Pink Saturday be blessed.

Thank you Pam for being a friend and giving me happiness!

Tag A Month Swap

I had so much fun trading ATC's and tags for Valentine's Day that I decided to join in with Tee at The Altered Paper. Tee holds several different types of swaps. This one is called:

Tee matches up those who wish to participate in the swaps.  My partner for this month is Donna at Red Apple Junction.  Stop by to visit these talented ladies and say hello and maybe even join in the trades. 

The theme for this month is Spring or St. Patrick's Day. 

This is the tag I made for Donna.

 I put a cute poem about Ireland on the back of the tag.

A Mini Book...

"Every Joy In Life Is A Gift."

I started making mini accordion folded books years ago to show case my calligraphy quotes. I used handmade or decorative papers to make the covers but they were simple and understated. My art focus has changed to include much more than calligraphy. Creating this butterfly theme mini book was a joy.

2" X 2" Butterfly/Angel Book 

 ~ front cover

Inside front cover and page 1

page 2 and 3

 page 4 and 5

  page 6 and 7

  page 7 and 8

  page 8 and 9

back cover

I'm linking this to:

Pink Saturday

Time Travel Thursday

Potpourri Friday

Cottage Craft Room

Seasonal Sundays
Thursdays Favorite Things

Trading Art For Art~

It's so enjoyable receiving letters and packages in the mail that contain little treasures and sweet messages. Tags and art pieces have been sent to me as gifts and I have sent gifts of tags and art pieces to blogging friends. However trading an ATC's or trading art for art with someone is new to me. On Valentine's Day I posted an ATC background to share with everyone. I also posted a photo of my finished ATC that I wanted to trade. I only made one Valentine ATC to trade but I ended up trading with three friends.  We traded ATC's and tags. It has been a lot of fun.

This beautiful ATC is from Daniella Hayes

 I love all the details. Some are hard to see on the photo. The white paper behind the flower has a faint postmark in the corner. 

This lovely card with the flower and butterfly is from Marti at Marti's Musings.  I mentioned to Marti how much I like the beach but seldom get to visit one. She sent me on a Hawaiian beach vacation. Her ATC background is an actual photo from one of her family vacations. I love her addition of the palm tree and the sun umbrella. 

This adorable fairy is from JoAnne at Vintage Dragonfly. I wanted to include it again in this post since JoAnne was the first person to trade with me. 

Little pieces of sunshine to brighten my day...

Thank you all! 

Linking to:

http://ahappyvalentine.blogspot.com/

http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

http://madeinaday.com

Friends are...

My friends Marcia and Jenny are celebrating with a two for one celebration of friends link party. It's Jenny's birthday and Marcia's blogging anniversary. They are having a link party and a give away. Click here to visit our hostess Marcia at In Stillness and Simplicity.

" Our friends are like angels, 

Who brighten our days.

In all kinds of wonderful ways.

Their thoughtfulness comes,

As a gift from above.

And we feel we're surrounded, 

By warm, caring love.

Like upside-down rainbows,

Their smiles bring the sun.

And they fill ho-hum moments,

With laughter and fun.

Friends are like angels,

Without any wings.

Blessing our lives,

With the most precious things."

(Author unknown)

Donna my friend from My Shabby Chateau shared a tutorial on how to up-cycle an inexpensive candle. I thought it was a great project idea and I wanted to give a thank you gift to my friend Kim (a non-blogger). Click here if you would like to find the project tutorial and visit Donna.

Some of you may recall that I made an ATC Valentine and offered to trade it with someone. The first person to respond was my friend JoAnne from Vintage Dragonfly. It was the first time I traded an ATC. I am thrilled with the beautiful art pieces I received in the trade with JoAnne. I encourage you to visit her awesome blog, click here.

 Isn't this the sweetest little fairy ATC ever?

I had a few other friends offered to trade with me as well. We decided on trading art for art. The trade could be a tag or an ATC.  Besides being fun it's a good way to get to know one another a little better. 

I'm linking this to:

http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

http://knickoftimeinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com/

http://instillnessandsimplicity.blogspot.com/

Polished Needle Cases ~ Valentine Matches?

What can you do with some pink and purple nail polish and a few nail art pens? Well you could paint your finger nails or...

you could paint a couple of wood needle cases.

Add some tiny beads and rub the edges with StazOn ink .

I found these strikingly odd ((smiling)) Valentine's last week while gathering vintage Valentine images. I decorated some small match boxes for my adult friends. 

Please click on the links below to visit some fun blog parties and say hello to our lovely hostesses. Have a funtastic week!

Linking to:

Pink Saturday

Woman Thing

Time Travel Thursday

The Blog Hop

Knick of Time

Potpourri Friday

Thrifty Things Friday