Square Card Challenge

Yesterday I made several square cards in purple, green, red, orange and pink for Swap-Bot swaps and Operation Write Home Challenges.  Today as I was perusing my blog roll I found a a square card challenge listed on Feline Playful's blog.  So I thought why not join in the fun.  Here goes....

Card Info:

Design - Cased from Angie at Chic'n Scratch 

Materials - paper, punches, ink, image from Stampin Up!

Sentiment - Hero Arts

Challenge - Creative Craft World

 

See ya!!

CJ

Ornament Swap and Giveaway

Recently I participated in a Swap-Bot ornament swap, yesterday I received the cutest stitched ornament from Elizabeth in Sweden (no blog) .  It is the smallest ornament on my tree about 1.5 inches square.  I am really happy to have it.

How about a Christmas Giveaway!!  Check out Dixie Samplar Designs for a little Christmas Cheer.  You must leave her a comment by 24 midnight CST to qualify.

Happy Holidays!!

See ya!

CJ

It a Monday Update!!

Hello, Happy Valentine's and Happy Chinese New Year!!  All is well in our little patch of Texas.  We spent the weekend visiting my MIL in Amarillo.  It was so good to see her after missing Christmas with her due to the blizzard in North Texas and Oklahoma.  My hubby and I are not big on Valentine's, the most we exchange are cards.  I did make Valentine's for my kids teachers and classmates but that was it.  As for Chinese New Year we took the kids and MIL to eat Chinese, a family tradition.

Stitching Update

I managed to work on a few projects this week, but nothing to brag about except the lovely biscornu I recieved form JeanieBeanie in a Swap-Bot exchange.  It is so beautiful, I love the colors.  Thanks, Jeanie.

More Swap-Bot

I particpated in a Tea, Bookmark and Coaster Exchange and posted a picture of what I was sending in my last blog post.  Here is what I got from Renee in California.  A really cool handmade bookmark, three types of tea and two bar coasters.  I was very happy with this exchange. 

Basket Weaving

Here is a my latest basket weaving project.  This is a Friendship Basket.  I have made many of this basket with the ceramic base.  It is a very easy basket to weave and it makes a great gift.  This is the first one I have made with the Sunflower design.  This will be a teacher gift for the end of the school year.  Now I only need to make 5 more. 

Other Stuff
Tomorrow I start my temp sub job at a local elementary school. I am looking forward to working at this particular school and with this special group of kids.  Because of the job I have really backed off with my swaps and exchanges.  Plus I need a break there wer times I had a few too many crafty irons inthe fire, if you know what I mean. Not to mention we will be going see the Lippenzaner Stallions, a rodeo and Monster Jam next week.  With that schedule who has time to craft, thankfully I can stitch in the car--can't read in the car, I get violently ill, but I can stitch. Go figure!

Anyway, I am tired and the Olympic are on so I need to go. 

See ya!!

CJ

Biscornu Finish and a Few Other Things

WooHoo!! Finally, a finished piece of stitching is appearing on this blog. I have made another biscornu for a Swap-Bot exchange. This will be the last one I make for a while, I plan to concentrate in getting my UFOs finished and working a RR in late February with Stitch It Quick group. Now I just need to figure out what I am going to stitch in that RR.

Stitching

This biscornu is in honor of Valentines Day. It is stitched on Cameo Rose Zweigart 14ct Aida with DMC # 99 variegated floss and little tiny pinkish-red beads from Japan. This turned out to be the smallest Biscournu I have ever made and I just love the colors it will be hard to part with tomorrow. BooHoo!!


Papercrafts

I also completed a bookmark, coaster and tea exchange for Swap-Bot. The acrylic coaster is decorated with designer paper from K&Company and solid paper from Stampin Up!. I made a coordinating bookmark and tea packet holder. The idea of the swap is to have a cup of tea and enjoy a good book. Turned out pretty good, tomorrow they leave with the Postman as well.

Here are some cards I made for upcoming birthday and swaps. This particular layout was inspired by Dawn of Dawn's Stamping Studio. I love watching her videos, she has some great ideas. These are made with a combo of Stampin Up! and K&Company papers. The sentiments I printed on the computer onto Whisper White cardstock. Easy as pie!!

Other Stuff

If you want to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer in a crafty way consider joining Nancy, Basketmasters Weavings, Think Pink effort. My friend and fellow weaver, Sue and I plan on participating, we would love to have your join us. BTW-Sue and I will be making that basket this spring. So excited!!

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate all your comments.

See ya!!

CJ

Merry Christmas!!

Whew! We made to another Christmas. It has been crazy busy around here with all the holiday stuff and just life in general. The last month or so I have been working, volunteering at school, baking, stitching, card making, basket weaving, and taking care of my family to include 10 doctor visits since early November. We had gutters installed on our house and hubby took me to the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Redskins game at the new Cowboy stadium. While we were in Dallas we visited the Holocaust Museum.

We have also had an unusual amount of family visitors lately which can frazzle anyones schedule especially mine. While I love the company the unscheduled visits can easily get me frazzled then I end up dazed, confused and stressed.


Stitching Update

I finished one stitching piece for a Swap-bot exchange. It is a monochromatic biscornu in a beautiful shade of blue. I really liked how it turned out, it was difficult to mail it away. Still have many other stitching projects going too many to list. I am working on my 2010 craft plan, I really need to get better organized--I feel like this is a recurring theme in my life.

I sent and recieved an Advent package for the exchange on CSE. I enjoyed the Advnt exchange but I found it to be very stressful. It was very difficult to come up with 25 gifts for one person. I don't think this type of exchange is for me, but I am glad I tried it out. Unfortunatley, I decided to leave a few of my stitching groups. I was just overwhelmed with e-mails I barely read and inundated with unfinished projects because I kept commiting to group activities. I have decided to stick to one stitching and one card making group with a few Swap-bot exchagnes. Sometimes change is good.


Paper crafts

I am always doing something with my paper crafts--mostly card making. The Card Swap forum is really fun and I plan to do more with them in 2010. Once I find my camera I may post a few pics of some recent cards. Besides making cards I have started to cover bird houses with decorative papers for Christmas.


Basket weaving

I weaved two pencil cups for Teacher presents and prepared 5 Nativity baskets for family gifts. Thanks to my mentor/weaving buddy Sue for the help with the Nativity baskets or else some folks would only get a card and cookies this year.


Other Crafty Stuff

The kids and I made Cinnamon ornaments with their initials stamped on the back for our family. It smells like a cinnamon explosion in my kitchen. I was surprised how easy it was to do. The hardest part was finding a large container of cinnamon.


Baking

This is the time of year that I bake until I can't stand it any longer. I have made six types of biscotti, lemon cookies, and giant ginger cookies. Time permitting I will bake some cranberry cheese bars later today for our little trip to Granny's house tomorrow.


PIF

I have sent out Meari's PIF. Take a look at her blog for the goodies. My objective is for fit all I can in the USPS Small Priority mail box. I plan to do one a month until all nine are completed. I have lots of goodies for all my PIF pals. Barb, you are next cause I know your favorite color. I will be mailing your package in January. Anne, Carol, Chars, Chiki, Donna, Janet and Lynda keep checking back to see when to expect your PIF. Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have any questions or concerning regarding the PIF.

Book Reading Challange Update

I manged to finish four books, I thought I could do better than this by the deadline of 31 Dec 09. Maybe next time.

1) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling-Finished
2) A Tisket, a Tasket, a Fancy Stolen Casket, Fran Rizer - Finished
3) Murder Unleashed, Elaine Viets - Finished
4) Murder with Reservations, Elaine Viets
5) Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone, J. K. Rowling
6) a mercy, Toni Morrison
7) Hey Diddle, Diddle the Corpse and the Fiddle, Fran Rizer - Reading
8) What Happens When Women Walk in Faith, Lysa Terkurst - Reading
9) The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
10) Accessory to Murder, Elaine Viets - Finished

Happy Holidays!! See you in 2010.

CJ

Biscornu, Biscornu, Biscornu!!!

I have four Biscornu to share with you. One I stitched and three others I received in swaps. They are all so cute and fun to make.


First is a Halloween Biscornu I made for a Swap-Bot swap. I used hand dyed fabric from my friend Meari, Carrie's Threads and a free pattern.

This Biscornu was the first I ever received, so beautifully stitched by Libby from the UK. This was the Anything Summer Biscornu swap on Swap-Bot.

This little Biscornu is from Doreen, she is the organizer of all the Swap-Bot Biscornu exchanges. The theme was to stitch summer flowers. Very sweet.

Lastly, I have a great Halloween Biscornu from Peggy. It is the biggest Biscornu, measuring 4 x 4 inches, I have so far. I am just showing the front view in this picture. The back is black aida with Happy Halloween stitched in orange. Cute!!

Thanks for stopping by. If you want to learn more about Swap-Bot and our little Biscornu group just drop me a line at texdelch@sbcglobal.net. Some folks asked about the pattern for the biscornu I stitched in this blog entry it is from Kristen Schmidt, but I can no longer access it on line at the website on my pattern.

See ya!!

CJ

Biscornu and Book Challenge

Good Morning!!

During the summer I joined a swap-bot biscornu group. So far I have made and swapped two biscornus, while my first one did not turn out so great I was very happy with the second and I have a few photos to share. I stitched on hand-dyed 14ct aida from Enchanted Fabrics and floss from Carries Creation Thread.




Book Challenge Update

So far I have read one book, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", and I am almost finished with a second. I have also edited my list a bit removing a book that I read before the challenge got started--couldn't help myself-- and added Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" and another by Elaine Viets.

What Else am I Stitching

I am ashamed to say that I have too many stitching projects going at once. I need to get them re-organized and put them in a rotation, then force my self to spend at least one solid hour per week on each or I may never have them finished. I have a Bent Creek Snapper, Gazette 94 SAL, Mausiemom SAL, BRD SAL and one Halloween Biscornu in the works. With the kids in school and hubby at work, I should be able to make this work. Just can't let my card making get in the way.

Speaking of card Making

Here are a few finished that I want to share with all of you. The first is a card I made for one of the CSE moderators birthday. It is a matchbook style card with a pocket inside. I got the idea from another card maker, but I can't remember her name or blog. The image is made with a technique called pulling pastels. You cover a piece of card stock with chalk and them stamp the image using a clear type of ink called Versamark. I put a little sparkle in the center of the flowers which is not showing up in the picture. Inside the card pocket I wrote a note and added some floss.


I used the same technique to make this butterfly card for a swap-bot exchange.

That is enough for today. Time for another cup of tea. Don't forget about my giveaway there is still a few days left to enter my PIF, if you are interested leave me a comment in that post.

See ya!

CJ

Can May be just around the corner??

Well, I thought tomorrow is the last day of April and I have only posted once this month, seems to be the norm for me lately so I better get busy. As usual things are a little nutty in our house, as I am sure they are the same for many of you that have children, work, husbands and/or hobbies, not to mention those of you going to school . How do we do it? I wish I knew. So let tell you what is going on.

Stitching Update

I have had two, yes I said two, finishes. Mind you they were small, but finishes none the less. Not only were they stitched they were also assembled for presentation. One is a floss tag and the other a coaster. I loved the way the coaster looked so much, I sent a copy of the pattern (a freebie) and two coasters to my CSE partner for the "Kitted Up Freebie" exchange. The Floss Tag pattern came from Miss T's blog, stitched on 16ct Ivory Aida using a multi colored floss from Threadworx. I recently discovered Miss T's blog, she has many great, free designs that are simple to stitch. Unfortunately, I failed to photograph my finish prior to sending it off to my Swap-Bot partner. Sorry!! As for the coaster it was stitched on 16ct Aida using DMC floss. I forgot where I got the pattern but it is an on-line freebie of three solid color flowers and a bee. Very cute. No photo it is on it's way to Finland. Must do better about taking photos of my work beofre I ship it off. As for my two SAL's I have made progress on both, not as much as I would like, but they are coming along.

On a somewhat stitching related note, I won week #8 of the CSE NASCAR Game. My driver Mark Martin won that race and he started at the pole--way to dominate Old Man!!!

More somewhat stitching news, Beth is going to Ocean City, Maryland for a stitching retreat. Needless to say I am very envious, Ocean City was one of my teenage stomping grounds many moons ago. She has promised to eat some Thrasher Fries with vinegar for me as well as take a picture of herself in the act of eating the fries. How sweet of her to do that for me.

Paper Crafts

I have made many cards this month and plan to make more. The idea is to make monogrammed card sets for each of my kids teachers. That will be about seven sets total so I need to get to work on them. Each set will have 6 different cards using the same papers and monogram.

I have also joined some Card Maker Magazine swaps for May. The first cards I have to make are Cris-Cross cards. I will let you know how that goes.


Swap-Bot

I have been involved with Swap-Bot for a few months now and I am really enjoying it. I have participated in several Tea swaps, Blank Note Card and Handmade Card swaps, one Cross Stitch swap (which involve the two projects listed above) and two Chocolate swaps. Lots of fun. You should check it out.

Paperback Swap

I have to thank Vickie for sharing info about Paperback Swap and introducing me to Elaine Viets. I am on the third book in her "Dead End Job" series. It is a fun series to read and I love the way the characters are carried over in each book, especially the 76 year old landlady with purple shorts and brightly painted toenails. Thanks Vickie!!!

Now speaking of paperback swaps, my neighbor has invited me to participate in a private book swap. So I am looking for interested folks to send my invites too. The deal is you only send one book to the person identified in the letter. Then you send six copies of the letter with one to your friends. I plan to try it out, I figure if I don' like the book it will go onto my Paperback Swap list for give away or in my garage sale pile. If you would like to join me just send me a note with your e-mail so we can exchange more details.

Anyhow, have a good evening.

See ya!!

CJ