Vintage Brooch Swap for A Swap for all Seasons

I once again signed up to partake in Linda's seasonal swap over at A Swap for all Seasons. Now for anyone who does not know, Linda runs some of the most unique and fun filled swaps around. The theme of the swap this time was "Vintage Brooches" and we had to send our partner a Brooch with some creative packaging. I was paired with the lovely and amazingly talented Jan from right here in the UK. Now my parcel from Jan was waiting for me when I returned home from holiday on last Thursday but I dare not open it until Jan received her parcel from me as I wanted to be fair. It was a hard wait but so worth it when I received Jan's email this morning I ran downstairs to open my parcel.


In the parcel I found this beautifully decorated book box.......

Now inside was even more tantalizing goodies and let me tell you the beautiful aroma of Lavender just floated out as I opened everything! Here is the beautiful tag she made for me. Don't you just love the details....

And behind the tissue wrap.....


A beautifully delicate Daisy stick pin holding together a wonderfully embroidered masterpiece.

Could it get any better......

Oh Yeah!

Inside that was a beautiful hand made pillow with Vintage lace, little blue paper flowers, buttons, paper and sewn embellishments and my beautiful Vintage Brooch Jan had picked out for me(I will show a closeup of that in a bit)

but wait there is more....inside the packaging was also a beautiful vintage embroidery book and sachet of seeds. I cannot believe all the work Jan went through for this swap. It is amazing and even more beautiful in person.

And as promised here is the closeup of the brooch she sent me. Isn't it lovely with the little jeweled flowers and it's a Shoe! how perfect is that!

Now you might be wondering what I sent to Jan......

Well the packaging was a purse I made using the fabric dying techniques I have been playing around with lately. The purse frame is made using Tim Holtz grungeboard. the fabric is then sewn onto the outside and inside.(a little different than the other I made using TH stains) The clasp is a bracelet clasp I altered to do the job.

I stamped and coloured the fabric using Tim holtz stamps altered with Promarkers.


I added the brooch(a Perfume bottle with purple moonstone) to a little handmade laced pillow with beaded accents, flowers and stamped paper bits.

that was then wrapped in stamped tissue paper and placed in the purse.

And placed in a hand made lace bag tied with a bit of trim and an altered ATC card keeping with the theme.

Now to see more closeup details you can pop on over to Jan's blog here , while you are there you can check out some of her amazing works of art. You can also visit the "A Swap for all Seasons " blog here to see some of the other swap participants goodies.

Thanks for popping in and have a lovely day!

Angela

I can say that this was another wonderful swap and I got an amazing swap partner and friend out of it. thanks Jan for all you amazingly detailed work. I just love everything. thanks also to Linda for hosting another well thought out, organized fun swap. I cannot wait till the next one.

A card for Tuesday....and Blog candy winner

This week at Try it on Tuesday the theme is Something old /Something new with a card. Your card this week must include something older than 6 months and something newer than 6 months. My "old" items are the Technique(Paper quilting used on the round part of the carriage), patterned Paper, Foil, Glossy accents, Chipboard die cut and Distress inks(for edging). My "New" items are Paper Roses, Prima Leaves, Card, Birthday Stamp(from The Stamp Man), Felt(used for the quilting), pro Markers(used to colour the roses).

Here is another view of the card showing the depth of the paper quilting.

Now pop on over to the Try it on Tuesday blog and see what my team mates as well as our Guest designer Carole have created. This weeks Card challenge is being sponsored by One Stop Cards and Crafts so remember to be eligible for the prize draw you need to post a link to them with your project post.

And now one lucky person is going to win this great blog candy that I posted last week....

It included some Easter stamps, Lots of Papers, Stickers, Rub-ons, Ribbons, Journal tags, Buttons, Brads, Liquid Pearls and more......

So are you ready for the winner........

First I would like to thank all those that left me such wonderful comments and were already or became followers. I wish I could give everyone something but unfortunately this time there was only 1 prize.

So on to the winner........

By Random drawing(The good old fashioned way).......

And the winner is......


Brenda Brown

Congratulations!!!!

Brenda Please email me your address for shipping to scrapbookcafe2@yahoo.com and I will get your prize out to you asap.

Thank you to all who particiapated in the blog candy and for all who are stopping by today. I really appreciate the comments. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Angela

Home finally and blog candy pic.

As promised here is the pic of my blog candy I am offering until Monday. It contains over 20 sheets of 12X12 spring/Easter themed pattern papers,lots of buttons, flowers, stickers, ribbons, brads, journal papers along with 2 liquid Pearls, Gem butterfly, foam flourish stamp, Chipboard book and shapes, Rubons and more.....

and don't forget the original Easter stamp set that started the whole giveaway. All you have to do to be in the draw for all these goodies is leave a comment on any post from 21 April until Monday 1 April. If you are a follower you will also get another entry or become a follower for the second. Each comment will also get you another entry. Don't worry if you have already left one or more comments you are already entered.

On another note it it is good to be home. Seeing the family or at least some of them was nice but it was allot of running around. Plus the long journey over and back has really played tricks on my timing. My body does not know what time it is. Arrrgh! Hope fully in a day or 2 I will be back on track. It was good to get back to see our Furbaby Sunny! She was so happy to be home.

She always misses us when we are away. now she is curled up next to her daddy on the couch getting some loving.

When I got home there were also some packages waiting for me. My swap for the A swap for all seasons Vintage Brooch swap I am in. (I cannot open that until my partner receives hers though so you will have to check back in next week to see that.). The other package was a RAK from Lorraine at the All things Tim yahoo group. I was so surprised.

All the wonderful ephemera... Book pages, stamps, cards....I love it. Thanks so much Lorraine!

Did everyone see the Royal Wedding this morning? It was beautiful. The church is amazing and her dress was beautiful. So fitting for her.

Have you seen the challenge this week over at Try it on Tuesday? Why not pop over and check it out. there is still some time to get your project in and get entered in for a GC from The Craft Barn.

Well I am off to catch up and finish my projects that need to go out. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping in. Angela

An Altered Tin challenge

I hope everyone had a great Easter and is enjoying some holiday time. I have been away in the states visiting with family and finally got the chance to give my wonderful new little nephew lots of hugs and smooches. Of course visiting family meant driving lots from state to state so I think I will need a holiday from my holiday. Oh well.

This weeks Challenge over at Try it on Tuesday was chosen by Pat and the challenge is to Alter a tin. I chose to alter a pencil case tin holding my graphite drawing pencils. I started with the picture on the tin as it was a beautiful B&W sketch type. I really wanted to do something around that. I used my Promarkers to colour the picture. I was really surprised how well they worked on the metal surface and how you could get different effects like watercolour and blending by overlaying the colours.
This was the finished inside. I used Prima Papers and Tim Holtz stamps here along with some tissue tape on the edges and some white sheer/satin ribbon inside.

And here is the bottom. I used Tissue tape to cover the bottom and the sides. I liked the effect of it. I had planned to do some embossing on the entire tin but being away with limited supplies I had to abandon that idea and work with what supplies I had in my travel kit.

Here is another shot of the finished tin. I added some cut out butterflies and moths on the top stamped with Tim Holtz stamps. The papers are also from the same Prima pack and the "Artist" stamp on the bottom is also from Tim Holtz. The lace I picked up at walmart in NC.

This weeks Try it on Tuesday challenge is sponsored by our good friends at the Craft Barn.

So don't forget to be eligible for this weeks sponsored prize voucher you will need to give them a mention and link them in your post.


We also have a special surprise this week ....

Our new guest Designer Freya so be sure to pop on over to the Try it on Tuesday blog and check out her bio you will be amazed. We also have allot of wonderful inspiration from the rest of the team. They really went all out this week with some gorgeous ideas for you. Now it is your turn to show us your altered tins. Just link up your post over at the TIOT blog. I cannot wait to see them

Now for a last note don't forget I am offering some blog candy to a lucky winner and you have until the end of the month to enter just by leaving a comment or becoming a follower. Check out more details on my previous post here.

Wishing you a wonderful week and a great big thank you for popping in to see me!

Angela

Too short.....and don't forget the blog candy.

We got to visit my new little nephew the other day. Here is Belle Feeding the little one. She was so afraid to hold him as she thought he did not like her because he squiggled and fussed a bit. this was the only time I could get some pics of her holding him.

Of course I spent hours snuggling him. The poor little thing has such bad Eczema that he is scratching his face constantly. He managed to cut himself just in the time I was there. I hope it goes away soon because he is too sweet to have to put up with that.

Here he is all tired out in his swing, and below on his playmat.

Now tell me he does not look like his Daddy..........Although he has his Mommy's ears(thank heavens).

I could not forget the pooches with a little loving during this visit. This is Lily. She just showed up on their doorstep one day and My Brother and SIL took her in. They think she was a breeding dog that the previous owners had no more use for.

And here is Rusty their baby of 14 years. They love to give Little Al kisses.

Oh, this I just had to share as I am always jealous when I visit my brother. Here is his oven....

Isn't it just amazing.....I love to cook so this would be a dream oven for me. My brother of course is a chef. He always makes us amazing dinners when we come to visit. As he did this time.

After The visit to my brothers it was back to dads. This was a layout I made for him a few years back. I love the quote on it and the pics are some favourites of Belle and him.

The next morning it was time to say goodbye to all and head back up to my in-laws. I always enjoy the visits with my brother and father as it is so serene down there and there is so much inspiration and beauty all around.....

Spring is always especially pretty with the flowers popping out and the morning rains on the grass.

Sigh.....After leaving there around 10 in the morning we finally arrived back at my in laws sometime after midnight......and they made us dye Easter Eggs....these are just a few.....

So How can my MIL look this well rested on Easter morning? Is it the coffee? Or did she sneak a nap while we were driving????

I wish my hair did not move while I slept. Mine looks like I put my finger in an electrical socket.....LOL.

So How was your Easter? Did you visit with Family? Do you have any fun traditions?

As you may know already I am offering an Easter/Spring blog candy . To be eligible all you have to do is keep leaving comments. There is some more information on my last post here. I will leave it open until the end of the month and don't worry it will have lots of fab stuff. I just picked up some more fun stuff the other day to add to the package. If you already left a comment on the last post then you have already received at least one entry and if you are a follower that is another. Any more comments between now and the last day of the month will also gain more entries.

Now I do have to apologise as I have not been doing as much blog hopping as I had hoped to this week since most of my time has been spent in a car, hence no Internet. I will be by soon though I promise. Tomorrow is another day of driving(some 10+ hours) and then I need to finish another project first but maybe after that or in the morning(since my timing is still off being here)

Sounds like we are getting another Thunder Storm now so I will tie this up for today.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and are enjoying the Holiday.

Thanks for stopping in and have a lovely day!

Angela

Sorry been MIA and a bit of Easter/Spring candy.

Sorry I have been a bit absent in blogland this week but we have been traveling around visiting family. Last night we arrived at Dads in NC. waking this morning it was a dull cloudy day just promising rain....
Here is a pic of the old barn with some damage to the front of the roof from the storms last weekend. I just love this old building because it has so much character and texture. I photograph it everytime we visit.

And of course there are brilliant flowers popping all over the garden. I spotted this by the back of the house.

And last but not least the infamous humming birds that grace us with their presense every day. I never tire of sitting on the front porch watchin them swoosh about. At times they are right in front of your face it is so amazing and beautiful.

Later it turned out to be a beautiful day. I was out and about collecting some of the necessities I need to bring back home with me and a few goodies too. After that we stoped for some lunch too. I am hoping to catch up on some blog reading tonight. Tomorrow we head to my brothers to see the new baby! I am so excited I cannot wait to hold him and pich those adorable little cheeks!. I have a whole box of goodies for him including the quilt I made. Oh how I wish it was already tomorrow....


Ok, now for the blog candy. I am putting together a huge pack of goodies with a Spring/Easter theme for my blog candy. I will leave it open until the end of the month and all you have to do is visit and comment to get an entry. If you are a follower or become one you wil get another. I am sorry I did not get to take a photo of all of it before heading on holiday. the only bit I did photograph was a set of stamps from Woodware I will be including in it. The rest of the candy will include tons of fab 12X12 papers, Stickers, Ribbons/Lace and whatever other fun stuff i may pick up along the way. I will post a pic when I return next week of the entire lot together but it will be a nice package trust me.

So don't forget to enter for my candy.

Now I am off to do a little maintenance on my computer and then leave a little blog love to some of the blogs I follow. I hope you have a wonderful week and thank you for stopping in for a visit.

Angela

Try it on Tuesday - A Bit of Upcycling

For this weeks challenge over at Try it on Tuesday The theme is all about Recycling! This was not too hard as I try to recycle most things although as a challenge I tried to come up with a project made mostly from recycled materials.

I started with an old box for chipboard letters and Belles used Paper towel roll. (from soaking up excess inks while working)

I covered the box with the towels in a kind of Decoupage technique. Then while that was left to dry I took some more old paper towels from another roll (aren't the colours fab!)and adhered them to the sticky part of some sticky back canvas and coated with a topcoat of sealer.

Once dry I cut out many different hear shapes and inked up the backs and edges. once this was done I stacked them all Larger on bottom small on top and punched a hole in the bottom of the stacked hearts. Next I put a brad through and spread out the petals. Lastly I scrunched and shaped them then added the pin. (sorry I did not get a picture of this last bit making the flower pin)

Next I recycled another bit from a Prima flower packaging(I love how it is already so pretty) and trimmed a bit for the backing of the pin inking the edges.

Here is a closeup of the pin(Above). For the box I coated the inside with Zig 2way glue and added black flock. To the lid I added a Diecut flower(Tim Holtz) with some stamping and doodling. The Butterfly is stamped from a Aspects of Design set from the Stamp Man and cut out. I added some wire antennnas.

Here is a closeup of the box(Above). I just love the way the textures and colors came out.

Now it's your turn to show us how you can recycle into your projects. Hop over to the Try it on Tuesday blog to see some wonderful inspirations from the rest of the team and for the full challenge rules. I cannot wait to pop on over and check out what this weeks projects will be.

Thanks for stopping in to take a peek. Hope you al have a great week!

Angela

PS, Keep an eye out for some fun Easter Blog candy this week.