Easter Favors

Here's my easy-peasy Easter favors for this year. Everything was bought at Hobby Lobby....with the exception of the little chick and "Happy Spring" ribbon, which I got at Michael's.

You will find all the supplies in the Easter decor aisle. If it's not there in your store, then look in the cake and candy making aisle. The chocolate egss were made using an egg shapped candy mold and dark chocolate candy melts. I did make some of mine with a peanut butter filling - totally not necessary, unless you love peanut butter cups like I do. (And if you do, they have a peanut butter cup shaped mold as well!) Melt the chocolate in the microwave, pour it into the molds and refrigerate just until set and ta-da. . .chocolate candy eggs! You could put Mr. Easter Bunny right out of business it's so easy! After they are cooled, wrap each egg in a candy foil, place in a paper candy paper and set three eggs into a 1/4 lb candy box filled with Easter Grass.
Cut a scalloped oval out of pretty paper and attach to the top of the box. Tie with Easter ribbon and add a cute little Easter chick on top and you are ready to fill up those Easter baskets!

Here is my Week 11 addition to my 52Q tag journal ~ What are you grateful for right now? I tried out Tim Holtz's Distress Crackle Paint in Tattered Rose for the base color. I don't usually have very goof luck with crackle paints, but this one-step, one-coat type worked very well.

Yesterday's winter wonderland is slowly disappearing. Even though I am completely ready for Spring-like weather to arrive, I must admit our picture postcard scene was beautiful. Even our kitty Midnight, who is definitely NOT an outdoor cat, couldn't resist venturing outside to check out the snow.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like. . . Christmas?

This is the scene from our back door this morning! Crazy, huh? And just when the tulips were beginning to push their way up from the soil. This is the way it is living in the Midwest, but it's never easy to get used to these little surprises. I think we can safely say that March is certainly going "out like a lion" around here! Surely it must be springtime somewhere!

National Clutter Awareness Week

This is a picture of my desk. . .well, it's an old picture and the desk doesn't quite look as bad as this. . . at the moment anyway. It's the rest of my craft room that looks like a tornado hit it. Heather refers to hers as "The Pit of Dispair." Holly's husband calls hers a "Crap Room." How many of you know that this is National Clutter Awareness Week? I just learned about this annual "celebration"(?) which always occurs the week after the first day of spring. Who knew? Well, I am fully "aware" of my clutter and don't really need a National Week to notice it. It always seems to win the battle when I try to conquer it, but for those of you who would like to try and do something about your clutter, you may want to check out the following sites:

My Simpler Life

The Clutter Diet

Creative Organizing

Get It Together

Mama Journey

Organize Yourself

1-2-3 Get Organized

The Secret is Out ~ She's Finally Here!

An advanced copy of this lovely publication arrived in my mailbox last week and put a huge smile on my face. This new special edition from Stampington has been in the works for months and features a wonderful collaboration I took part in last summer. That's when Dede Warren put out a call for a Marie Antoinette inspired altered book round-robin to which I enthusiastically responded to along with Maria Rodarte and Barbara Smith. It was such an honor to work with such a talented group of artists to create these treasured works of art. And a GREAT BIG hug of gratitude goes out to Dede for suggesting that we submit our books to Stampington when we were finished.

And our fun little collaboration, along with a second one initiated by Natasha Burns, inspired a brand new special publication by the editors of Somerset studios called Marie. Our first little hint that this dream was actually going to become a reality came back in August when Dede told us to check out this post on Jenny Doh's blog. We couldn't believe our eyes because there, in editor Jennifer Jackson's hands, was Maria's and Barb's altered books in a Call for Art for Marie. It is so thrilling to have your hard work be recognized and published in any of Stampington's gorgeous magazines, but to have an entire feature in a special publication ~ well, words just can't describe our excitement!

All of you (and I know there are many of you from my blog & Flickr hopping) who have been inspired by the decadence, beauty, richness of this exhuberant Queen of France are going to be blown away when you see this magazine filled to the brim with colorful eye candy. And you won't have to wait much longer because it arrives on the newstands April 1st.
And to coincide with the launch of this brand new publication, Maria Rodarte is hosting a Marie Antoinette Collage Swap on her blog. Come join in on the fun - you can get all the details by clicking here.

Farewell Friend!

Day 2 at the International Housewares Show started out with a bang. As soon as we entered, we could hear Paula Deen's voice and laugh clear across the convention hall! She was there with her hubby Michael and she was right in the middle of the audience working the room like only she can do. She let a guest try on her gigantic 6 carat diamond ring after being asked a question about it! She pulled out one of her silver hair extensions and placed it in another guest's hair-do! And when an audience member inquired how she and Michael stay so slim with all the butter she uses in her recipes, Michael replied, "We're marathon runners!" Paula was so warm and natural - she had us all in stitches.

That was the beginning of day 2 at the show. The ending wasn't quite as much fun. After watching a demonstation on making ravioli at the Kitchen Aid booth, I noticed my purse was missing. Of course we had just moved from one building to another clear across the complex, which is where I determined the "abduction" probably took place. We trekked back to the scene of the crime and no sign of it. After stopping at several different information booths and each of them directing us to a different area where the Lost & Found was suppose to be, we finally arrived at the Show Office where we gave a description of the purse and it's contents. We sat outside the office and called my bank, credit card company and cell phone company at the recommendation of my daughter. (Thank goodness someone had a clear head at this point!) She called her father to tell him the bad news and to inform him we had no way of getting home since my car keys were in the purse! All we could do is to sit and wait until my DH came to pick us up. And after awhile, lo and behold the gal we spoke to in the Show Office came walking towards us carrying my purse! I couldn't believe my eyes!!! Everything was still intact - well, everything except the CASH and my iPhone! The car keys & credit cards were still there and I was so relieved about that.

Not sure if I will replace my dear iPhone friend. I found out it will cost a fortune to replace. I am still mulling over my options. But one thing for sure, the next time I go anywhere, my car keys will be in one pocket of my pants, my credit card will be in another and my cell phone...well, let's see...maybe I can fit that in my bra!

What's Going On

Sorry for the break in posting. . .I'm at the International Housewares Show seeing Paula Deen,

Tyler Florence,

Ellie Krieger,

Todd English,

and Rick Bayless.

I'll be back into the swing of things later this week.

52Q - Week 11

What keeps me awake at night? Usually it's worrying about one thing or another that keeps me from getting a good night's sleep. How about you?

May the luck 'o the Irish be with you today!

Journaling Update

Journal Page from Art Journaling 102 class. Lots of layering - spray mists, acrylic paint, oil based pastels, masks, motifs, pen & ink, mono printing, collage, stenciling.

52Q - Week 10. Five movies which inspire me creatively. This was hard to narrow down to just five movies, but here's my list:

1. Marie Antoinette

2. Paris, Je t'aime

3. A River Runs Through It

4. Cold Mountain

5. The Da Vinci Code

No Place Like Home

Just a little peek at something I've been working on for LolliShops Romantic Homes ad coming in June. With so many magazines going out of business (ME Home Companion, Country Homes, Cottage Living, Home, etc) it's nice to see one of my favorites is still out there.

52Q - Week 9

~ 52 Questions ~

"What was the last brave thing you did?"

I had trouble journaling this one - I don't consider myself to be very brave.

Perhaps that little birdie should have been a chicken!!!

I used Glimmer Mist to create the background along with a mask.

This St. Pat's Day shadowbox is available in my Etsy Shop. Sorry for the "less than perfect" photography - does anyone have tips for photographing things that are under glass? No matter how I angle the piece I can't avoid seeing a reflection on the glass.