WIN THIS! Win this Ephermia lot: DECLUTTER PRIZE # 1 includes lots of sewing pattern tissues, sewing pattern instruction sheet, some oddball letters and numbers and oodles of Kraft paper tags! I might even toss in a handful of old white buttons! They kind of go with the theme of this prize too don't they? Here's how to win... I am kicking off a NEW feature over at Scrappers Challenge Facebook . I am going to be decluttering some decor and craft items in the next few months and rather than list them on ebay or listia or give them to Goodwill, I am going to offer them as unique prizes to those of you out there who craft or garden or sew and appreciate little stashes of good stuff! It's all going to be FREE and I am paying shipping to get them to the winners. All you have to do is comment on this post before April 7th at midnight central time! What you have to do is include your blog link, web page or email to your comment so I can contact you if you win! Our first DECLUTTER ...

Now the next thing I am going to blog about is completely a MOM thing and yep, I am gonna be a bragger for about 55 seconds! And I do know my son would probably NOT approve of me saying anything here, but phooey! I have decided that I put in about 26 years so far so I have a right to shout how proud we are of him. LOL My oldest, John, is graduating Rosalind Franklin Medical School (a part of the Chicago Medical School) this June. He will then be coming BACK to our hometown in Rochester Minnesota as a Mayo Clinic resident in cardio-thorasic surgery. That means he got his first choice. And that means Mayo Clinic is getting a terrific, hard working resident! What it means for me personally is that my all-grown-up boy and his sweet, wonderful bride of 4 years plus --both seen above--are coming back to town! So excited and so relieved. And so very proud of all his long, hard work. I know residents work even harder and he has some long days ahead of him. But I also know he can do it. Br...

It really can't be the end of March yet, can it? What a busy winter I have had with my genealogy and my card making, my work and home --and some wonderful trips thrown in too! I don't know where the time went by to. But the plants in my Minnesota garden are telling me it's SPRING almost! Hubby and I have been busy with a few trips and the biggest one was flying out to see our newlywed daughter. First stop Pennsylvania to see our wonderful Jen and her husband Russ. What great hosts they were! We saw SO much more than is even shown here. Heading for NY city with them both to see all the main sights and a A-1 musical (Wicked). We even rode the Metro! Freedom Tower site. Very sobering and yet hopeful too. Passing Lady Liberty on the ferry boat. VERY cool to see her and it was something from my bucket list! Yeh! She really is inspiring to see. On to Ellis Island and the museum. This was also on my list of "someday" things to do that has come true! Growing up on the w...

Click on any photo to enlarge it. I add a lot of inking and dimensional items to my pages. Greece (title Page) Using what I have. The G in Greece is a blend of two Thicker letters, hence the ribbon bow to cover the joint On the Way Over... Torn and inked frames on each page and layered and inked leftover silk flowers from her wedding hair barrettes that she made herself. Old dictionary word tear-outs with words Greece, Travel, Vacation are inked and used as accents. Athens: the big door opens to a journaling box and the little window at bottom opens to a quote. Upper right window has a photo behind the shutters out to the marvelous view. Acropolis: featuring their Acropolis tickets as memorabilia and stickle dimension on the title letters. The Agora: ahhh, Grungeboard. And lots of leftover paper scraps as my mats in this whole album. Island of Santorini: Using a premade GREECE paper here and some mats. This was probably my fastest and flattest page with only the 3-D boat for a dimensio...

Generally I try to take my own advice. Yep. Good policy right? :D Probably a good idea not to be a hypocrite if you can possibly help it. LOL So here's a look at what I have been creating (besides jewelry) since January 1st. I am trying to get ahead of my greeting card swaps and trades, my ATCs (primarily I use these for holiday displays and tree ornaments), and charitable cards. I have an upcoming large commissioned album order later this month so I want to leave lots of time for that project. Doing these smaller card projects ahead of time is keeping me on track and using up stash in a beautiful way. Win, Win. And I end up with lovely usable cards from friends in the process. WIN! Here is a peek (and how many of each). Now these blue items above were on my desk from the last ATC holiday/winter card swap in 2011 --so I used them up for more Get Well/Be Well cards. You know me, no wasting! And they were beautiful elements so I put them to use for cards for later in the year. ...

While I had my tools out ---and my beads and chains and baubles--I decided t make some gift items. This bracelet is for my mom whose birthday is in Feb. It has hints of gold and amethyst in the glass beads.I wire looped every bead charm myself. The Christmas tassle necklace below it is for me for the next holiday season. I loaded both projects up with beads because I am using up my beading stash too! This is one of my goals in 2012. I want to process through most of my outstanding crafting projects of ALL kinds and get 'er done! So far so good....Enjoy!

A friend of mine asked me to make some chic up-cycled jewelry from a big bag of her grandmother's old loose jewelry items. These mementos are going to be for herself, sisters, and nieces in honor of their grandmother's memory. Here are most of the pieces I reconfigured for her. This was a fun project and so meaningful! Honor those you love.