We Found A Fairy House and A Fairy!

When I was a little girl I loved to hear stories about fairies. I can remember being little and my mom telling me about Thumbelina and the tooth fairy. I always imagined tiny little glittery fairies flying around at night with the fireflies. Then when I was in Brownies there was a camp, Little House, that we would go to. Across the street was some sort of woods and the counselors would tell us about the fairies that lived in the woods. Then one of my very favorite movies, remember the movie the Gnome Mobile? The fairies in the Gnome Mobile is how I pretty much always pictured fairies. The Elves and the Shoemaker has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. I could just imagine the little elves sneaking in and helping the old shoemaker at night. Such fun memories of my childhood!!

So today when Ezie, Jace and I were walking Mallory home from the bus stop I noticed something I had never noticed before. We have lived here for 2 years and right across the street there is a tree with a hole in the trunk. When I saw the hole I immediately thought of the fairy stories I had heard when I was little. I told the kids that it was a fairy house. Ezie and Mallory's eyes got bright and they said, "Really?" They were amazed! They were full of questions. I told them whenever you see a tree with a hole in the bottom like that it is a fairy house and that's why we see the fireflies over there at night. I told them that usually if you see fireflies there are fairies close behind.

Our Fairy House

A Close Up of Our Fairy House Entrance

After we got in the house Ezie decided to go investigate and see if he could find any fairies. I told him not to bother them but he could take a picture of the doorway. On one of the roots next to the fairy door was a piece of loose bark. Ezie pulled it off and came running home so excited. He found proof that we really had fairies living in the tree. I was so shocked and amazed by what he found. Check this out!!

Ezie's proof that we have fairies.

Seriously now, can you see a fairy shadow in this piece of bark? There is even glitter where her wings were. They are kind of scaly looking things and they are right around the wing area and then sprinkled behind it. Can you see the image??

Anyway, we have had so much fun today talking about fairies and how lucky we are to have a fairy house right across the street from us. The kids are planning on going out tonight to try to see the fairies. It reminded me about the innocence of children and how much fun it can be to use my imagination again! I can't wait until tonight!!

indie-pendence: July Swag-a-Licious

Go to indie-pendence: July Swag-a-Licious to enter to win some wonderful prizes from some amazing bloggers who support independent designers.

AND

To join the mailing list for updates and special deals from indies, for information about advertising on the site, or to donate an item for the monthly giveaway, email indie@averymarydesign.com

Rachael Rabbits Cupcake and Tea Swap

I received a package today from all the way from the U.K. from Gemma. It was for Rachael Rabbits Cupcake and Tea Swap. The kids were so excited when the package came. They love when I get a swap package and especially when it has goodies in it and Gemma didn't let them down! She sent everything we would need if we were to sit down for a relaxing afternoon cup of tea.

Look how cute the gifts are all wrapped in cupcake wrapping paper!

Gemma sent a wonderful magazine, some tea, lemon candy, shrimps (they're like the orange candy circus peanuts) a really cute cupcake she made, a box of Rounds (extremely chocolatey dark chocolate) and the cutest little tea towel she embroidered. Oh, and see the cupcake card she sent. It has tons of different cupcakes on it, it's so cute!

These are the four corners of the tea towel. A tea cup, tea bags, teapot and a cupcake. I love it!! It is so cute!

Thank you Gemma for all of the wonderful things you sent! I love everything and the kids love the chocolate and lemon candies!! I will be sending mine out on Friday to a different partner. I'll post pictures soon.

2nd Post for Another Giveaway!!

Be sure and check out Canela's blog, Cinnamon Sticks Boutique, for a chance to win this awesome necklace! I love her jewelry and her blog! Be sure and check out her Etsy Shop too!!

Another Giveaway!

Go to Monogram Chick. Pick your favorite backpack/lunchbox design, and enter by posting a comment including the set you'd choose if you were to win. Check back on Friday, August 1st to see if you won.

Please be sure and mention that I sent you!!!

Sandra Evertson is also having a blogaversary giveaway. She is giving away several pieces of her art work and her work is gorgeous!

My Weekend Projects

Here are a couple of things I've been working on over the weekend. These are for the Alice in Wonderland Shadowbox Swap. I have 4 different parts of pictures layered on top of each other to make a more dimensional look. Except for the rabbit, I forgot to order 4 sets of prints on him. (brain fart!)

These are the backings to the 4 little shadow boxes that I am using. I glued pages from an old Alice book to them.

and these are 3 of the little shadowboxes. I bout them from the Dollar Tree. They had some corny thing on the inside, but the boxes are really nice. I'm sanding them down and repainting them.

I made 4 sets of cupcake cards and tags for a swap and for my Etsy Shop. Here are 2 of the sets.

Anyway, this is what I worked on over the weekend. I can't wait to get the shadowbox done. I've never done one before and I'm hoping it turns out like I've imagined it!!

The Wizard of Oz Movie, Swap and Trophy Day!

Just a little FYI -- TNT is showing the movie twice (back to back) tonight - Sunday, July 27th. for any of you who don't have the movie already. So if you love this movie or if you need some inspiration for my upcoming swap be sure and watch it! Thanks to Melissa for the info!!

After you watch the movie and get super inspired, There's still plenty of time to sign up for the swap, for those of you who haven't yet. Sign ups are until Aug. 12th and the swap date is Sep. 16th. Just let me know, the more the merrier!!

AND ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE

It was trophy day at our Little League yesterday

The kids team came in first place. Here is Dad (the coach), Ezie (the catcher), Mallory (Miss Attitude in the Outfield) and Jace (the fan). Mallory also got second place in a Run the Bases race they had yesterday. Ezie was not happy at all that his little sister beat him out of a ribbon. Great job guys!! We had a great season!!

Swaps, Swaps, and more Swaps!

This is my extremely late swap stuff I sent to Lisa for the Mermaid Swap.

I colored the mermaids and then sewed beads on to embellish them.

Her top and belt area are all beaded

Just for fun I sent Lisa some mermaid coloring sheet and a box of crayons (I love a new box of crayons), Swedish fish, the Goldfish crackers got eaten by Jace before I stuck them in the box, OOPS! I also sent some seashells, sea stuff confetti, little glass stones, a bottle of sea salt and I crocheted a starfish and seahorse.

I accidentally deleted a bunch of pictures that were on my camera before I uploaded them. This is one of the bags that I made for the kids swap. This one went to Miranda. One of her wishes was to go to Hawaii so Ezie picked out the fabric for the bag, an orange towel, a tiki cup, some Hawaiian window clings, a notebook and a skip it. I'm just sent off my 15 tags for the Good Ole' Summer Time Swap and should have my set of 15 tags back sometime late next week. I'm excited to see what everyone made. I am also working on my Alice in Wonderland Shadowbox Swap Item and the Children's Sewing Kit Swap. They both have to be out before next Friday, so hurry, hurry, hurry!!

Alison from Creative Art & Craft by Alison Gibb gave me this award on July 17 and I'm embarrassed to say that I'm just getting around to posting it. Thank you Alison for your thoughtfullness and it was so sweet of you to pass along this award to me!!

For the BRILLANTE WEBLOG PREMIO 2008 award
The Rules Are:
1) Put the logo on your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

So I would like to pass this award on to the following bloggers: (not in any particular order)

Michelle from Hello Cupcake

Twyla and Lindsey from Two Crazy Crafters

Melissa from Day to Day

Beth from Life is a Musical

Cathy from The Life and Adventures of Cateepoo

Angela from Angela Harris

Marcia from Blue Bobbin

I've Been Really Busy, but I'm Back Now!

Kids Summer Swap

The kids and I participated in the Kids Summer Swap hosted by Lori . All three of the little kids signed up for it. Ezie's swap partner was Miranda. Miranda and her mom Deb sent Ezie some really cool toys! He got a Barrel of Monkeys Game, a Zoom O, a bubble wand and an Old Navy Football. He LOVES everything!! He took off with everything so fast I didn't get pictures so I had to "borrow" them from the Internet.





Mallory and Jace swapped with Beth's daughters, Lucy and Lola. This is part of Jace's package that Lola sent. He took off with stuff so fast I didn't get a picture of everything. There is a bug catcher, coloring books, 4 little Golden Books, trucks, foam visor, some super cool fabric memory cards with a little bag to hold them. Jace also got the coolest crayon holder and Hot Wheels Car Holder. Oh, and sidewalk.

Memory Cards

Crayon Holders and Hot Wheels Holder

The holders rolled up. So cool!!

Mallory's Stuff

Lucy sent Mallory some fabric so she can sew something, a couple packages of foamies, ladybug cards, stickers, coloring book, a puzzle mania book, a teddy bear magnet, sidewalk chalk, a pretty necklace with sea glass in it, some seashells "that came from the real ocean!", a crayon holder like Jace's (she has taken it to summer school everyday this week) and the nicest apron and I'm sure I've some stuff. Mallory was so thrilled with everything, but especially the sea shells and apron. She made muffins already so she could wear the apron.

I'm sure I forgot to mention some of the stuff. Sorry, but the kids were so excited I could hardly keep track of everything. It was like Christmas at our house!! My kids had a great time picking stuff out for the swap partners. I'll show pictures of what we sent tomorrow.

Thank You so much Lori for hosting this fun swap! Thank you Deb, Miranda, Beth, Lucy and Lola for being so generous and making this a wonderful swap for the kids!!

It's a Party and Your Invited!!

Happy First Birthday

to My Oldest GrandSon

Anthony Daniel!

Anthony had his first Birthday Party yesterday

and your invited to view the event.

Okay,

here's how the story goes.

Anthony was getting ready for his party.

He's going to wear a suit,

well,

he's almost going to,

his birthday suit!

Hee! Hee!

He thinks he'll just sit there and look cute!

He knows it, He's cute!

and he has the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen!

Here are some of Anthony's distinguished Party guests


and some more......

and of course,
his twin cousins,
T.J. and Jordan,
were there to share the spotlight of ooers and aaers!


Anthony's First Birthday Cake!

MMMmmmmm!

Anthony wants to know if this is what REAL food taste like?

He says it was worth a year of waiting

to have cake

and ooooohh the frosting!

Yummmm!

Where'd it go??

He knew he just had a cupcake,

yeah,

right there,

right there on his tray!

Where'd it go??

Anthony begged,

"Come on Mom,

please, can I have just one more??

Chocolate this time around??

Come on Dad!"

Darn,

His Dad and Mom

said he had to get cleaned up

and entertain his party guests for a little longer.

All Anthony wants though

is
Another cupcake!!

Poor Anthony!

Well, this is the end of Anthony's 1st Birthday Party,

I hope you enjoyed yourself!

maybe he'll just take a little nap.

Being this cute and

turning 1 all in one day

is hard work you know!

Thanks for coming!The End!

Anthony is my oldest daughter Alexis' son. Lexie was only 16 when she had Anthony a year ago . I am so proud of her and Jake for being such terrific parents. They have put Anthony before all else and he is definitely a very loved little boy! Great job Jake and Lexie!!

Another Giveaway for You to Check Out!

Julie, from Just Trying to Remember, is having a giveaway. She is giving away a personalized "Quiet Bag". It is a bag full of goodies to keep your kids occupied during church, Dr.' appt.'s, etc..... They look really nice and what a great idea!

A Get Well Soon Tag Tree for Lori at Pink Faded Roses

If anyone hasn't stopped by Lori's blog Pink Faded Roses lately, her daughter, Noelle is making her a "Get Well Tag Tree". Lori had to have surgery for the severe pain she has been having in her back and legs from, I think, a car accident. Noelle would like to get as many tags from bloggers as possible for Lori. Lori made a tag tree for her son, Marc, before he left to go to the service and it was really a neat idea! I know Lori will be so thrilled to get as many tags as possible from everyone!! Be sure and go to Lori's Blog for details.

Etsy Love & i'm Having a 20% off SALE Today and Tomorrow!

First I would like to Congratulate Twyla and Lindsey from Two Crazy Crafter's for opening up their Etsy Shop, Fancy that Shoppe. I wish you both the best of luck!!

When I signed up for RME (like Paypal, click on the green button on my sidebar for more info!) I got a $25.00 bonus. Guess where the $25.00 went......Etsy Shop's of course!! These are some tags I bought from Denise at her Etsy Shop, Polka Dot Moon. I love the simplicity of the bird tag and the cupcake tag is just to cute!
Then I won these other terrific things from Denise's giveaway on her Blog, Polka Dot Moon. She sent baby girl scrapbook stickers, baby papers, (these will be great since I'm having 2 new grandbabies!) A couple of tags, some die cuts, and a card. Thanks Denise, your wonderful!!

Then I got these bright buttons from Lisa's Shop to use on my crafts. They are so colorful and bright they make me smile just looking at them!

Then Richard from, Unique Grabs, gave me a prize for winning the Etsy for Charity Monthly Challenge last month and I picked this sheet of Kreepy Kids . The Kids are designed by someone else from Kreepy Kids Kards, but Richard sells them in his shop also and uses them on a lot of his cards.

Check out the little Jack Sparrow! Johnny Depp is just to cute as a cartoon character or in real life!! Then the Wizard of Oz stuff is so cute and maybe I'll use those in my swap?? The Halloween ones are great too! Thanks Richard! Your the best!!

Finally, Congratulations to Janae from Claire and Janae for winning July's Etsy for Charity's Monthly Challenge. Janae makes wonderful burp cloths!! My daughter says there way to cute to get puked on!! They are really nice and high quality!

A Quilt Giveaway

Dana from Old Red Barn is giving away a beautiful quilt. Check it out, you have until July 22 to enter!

I'm Still Here, Alive, (not pregnant) and Feeling a Little Better!

Thank you to everyone who posted such nice comments while I haven't been feeling good!! It feels so nice to know that I am missed.

I went to the Dr.'s on Monday and they put me on antibiotics for a sinus infection. I went again yesterday, because I didn't feel much better at all. This time they did blood work to check for Lyme Disease, my thyroid, and some other stuff. Then she decided to check to see if I was pregnant (Very Mary's idea). I've had 2 tubals, but I did get pregnant with Jace after the first one. Anyway, Earl about died at just the mention of a pregnancy test, but much to our relief it was negative! I started feeling better last night, not completely better, but I can function now.

I have a ton of stuff to post so I do some today and some tomorrow.

First I got an Alice in Wonderland Shadow Box from my swap partner, Teresa. She sent it so early I was totally surprised!! This was the first shadow box she ever made and only her second time using polymer clay. Thanks Teresa, I really like what the shadow box you created and think you, you did a great job!! (my picture is terrible, I couldn't seem to get a nice shot)

I received some of the prettiest things from my swap partner, Leslie, from The Brown Paper Bag Swap.

This is a journal she made. On the inside cover is this little brown paper bag with the feather in it. It is so pretty!

Then Leslie made this cute hanging out of a decorated brown paper bag.

Then vintage sewing items were inside a brown paper bag.

and sew were these wonderful vintage earrings, beads, buttons, tag, doily, tickets, cards.

Thank you, Thank you Leslie!! You did a wonderful job and you are so creative!!