Sweet Tweet Swap

Grandbaby #9 is HERE!

Jesse weighed 8lbs. 2 oz

Both baby and Momma are doing Great!

I participated in Ele's Sweet Tweet Swap and today everyone is posting their swap goodies. Stop by Ele's blog to see all of the participants and what they made.

I had a wonderful partner, Shirl. Here's the beautiful things that Shirl made for me.

She is so talented!!

You'll love Ele's blog and Shirl's too if you've never visited them before!

Shirl made this beautiful nest.

It has flower petals, feathers, ribbon, glittery eggs and other special touches.

It is so pretty!!

Next is this pretty card and a bonnet sachet. Shirl makes these ribbon roses

and she made some of my stuff in yellow which is my favorite color!

The detail in her work is amazing!!

(She has similar items for sale in her Etsy shop)

This beautiful cone is actually hanging in my china cabinet

because of all of the little fingers around my house.

It is so pretty!!


here's a close up view.



and if the swap package couldn't get any sweeter

here is some yummy white chocolates.
I didn't even share these with the kids.
I felt a little guilty......but the guilt left me in a hurry!

Thanks Ele for a fun swap and Shirl for such a gorgeous swap package!!
It was fun to make new friends!

Tomorrow I am going to post the cutest little Annie doll that I received from Valerie. I'm so frustrated, I mailed her package priority on Monday morning and she still hasn't received it. Come on Mr. Mailman!! I can't wait to see if Valerie likes the doll!!!

A Weeks Worth of Giveaways!

Please stop by and wish my friend Denise from Polka Dot Moon a Happy Blogiversary. Denise has a big heart, a wonderful blog and the items in her Etsy Shop are always my favorites. When you stop by she is giving away some wonderful prizes for ther blogiversary so make sure you enter for those too!!

Also my friend Jean from QuiltingRanny is having a Mother's Day giveaway with some really nice prizes so be sure and stop by her blog too. Jean is such a sweetheart....I know you'll enjoy her blog!

The other day my sweet friend Awtemnymf gave me this award.

Meaning of the Award:
‘This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes for self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propogated. Please give more attention to these writers!’
I honestly never know who to pass awards on to. I really enjoy everyone's blogs and it's so hard to choose a few people. I'm going to give the award though to some of my closest blogging friends that hopefully haven't already received this award from someone else. I know several you that I would list already have the award, Missy, Lindsay-Ann, etc.......

1. Angela is such a sweetie and so talented. Actually, I just read in her blog that she was surprised to be flipping through Somerset Magazine (here's the link to order a copy) yesterday and realized that her work was in the magazine not only once, but twice. Congratulations to Angela!!! Be sure and check out Angela's Etsy Shop, she has the prettiest things in there!
2. Melinda has been a wonderful friend and she is an amazing artist. I am always absolutely blown away with her artwork. Melinda is also being published in the February issue of an Apronology magazine that I think Stampington has. I'm not sure which one but I will definitely let you know when it comes out!
3. Twyla has also been a wonderful friend to me. She is such a great friend and encourager to me. Twyla and Lindsey sell some wonderful vintage things and Lindsey's artwork in their Etsy Shop along with Twyla's crocheted crocheted slippers, scarves and dish clothes.
4. Mary Ann is one of the nicest and funniest people and one of my first blogger friends. Mary Ann is very generous and has made my day many times with surprises at my door. Mary Ann has two Etsy Shops, one with things she finds and the other with some really neat things she makes and her packaging is really nice!! Thanks Mary Ann for bringing a smile to my face so many times!
5. Jean is also a wonderful person. Jean is always there to listen and give advice when needed. She is an amazing woman and is always encouraging us to support other woman by buying from their Etsy Shops. Jean does quilting and she is raising 3 of her grand kids along with work and everything else she does. Jean is an amazing person!
6. Dianne is another sweet friend and she is so talented in her artwork and photography. Dianne has some gorgeous photos on her blog. I want to be a photographer like her when I grow up!
7. Cathy is another not only friend but one of the best sisters anyone could ask for! Cathy was the only one who read my blog for the first several months and she always encourages me. Cathy has a wonderful way of looking at life and is very knowledgeable. Cathy "unschools" her kids and has a blog about unschooling. If you want to get some positive vibes going you definitely need to read Cathy's blog!
8. Lisa always is sweet and makes some of the most incredible things out of polymer clay. She does a lot of other artwork too, but I love her polymer clay stuff. Lisa is involved in Bottles of Hope. She made a beautiful bottle called "Healing Wings" in honor of her daughter who has Juv. Diabetes and is in the top 25 of the Staedtler Fimo clay Bottles of Hope challenge. Congratulations to Lisa!!

Thank you Awtemnymf for the award! You are always such a sweet friend!

Then Super Sweet Sara gave me this award the other day too.

It's a Mom of the Year Award.

I think that all of you moms out there deserve this award!!!!

Well, no baby yet for Chad & Jenn.

The little guy wants a BD of his own I guess!
Jace had a great BD. He liked it he said.

Lexie stopped by and gave him some presents.

Daddy and Jace made cheese and roni pizza

and all of the kids got 3 candles in their pizza to blow out.and Jace got to blow out his candles on his cake.

He had so much fun!

I hope everyone has a great day! It snowed hear again last night, not a lot, but it's still winter.

I'm off to eat a piece of leftover pizza. MMMMmmm!

Every Couple of Days Seems Like Christmas With All of the Swaps!

I received this wonderful swap package the other day but I was waiting until my partner received hers before I posted it. This swap was A Very Vintage Christmas Swap hosted by Heidi and my partner was Kim. Kim sent me 2 Little Golden books (I collect them), 2 glass Santa ornaments, a jar filled with beautiful ornaments, a Christmasy scarf, and some gorgoues and special lace that she had inherited from her recently deceased Grandma. I am going to use the lace on something special. I love everything you sent Kim!! Thanks for a wonderful swap!
Here's what I sent to Kim. I made matching aprons for her and her little girl and a matching bib for the baby. I made her son an apron out of cowboyish fabric. Kim wanted an apron and something that would involve her kids. I hope she likes pink!

The next swap is Priscila’s Vintage Christmas Stocking Swap and my partner was Ellen. Ellen sent me this wonderful package. This is package before Mallory got to it.

and then this is the opened package. A wonderful stocking, chocolates, ribbon candy, hot chocolate and coffee's, a hanging Santa, a yo-yo lollipop, a little bag that Ellen made filled with tags, a pincushion she made, and then

finally this beautiful little girl that has a planter in the back. She is so pretty!!!! Thanks so much Ellen! Everything is so perfect and I really love it all!! Thank you so much!

This is what I sent to Ellen. She collects tea cups so I sent her a stocking, a tea cup, a vintage hankie and doily, a tissure cover, a couple of yo-yo pins, some ribbon, an ornament, candies, notecards and aprons for her 2 little girls.

Please go check out both Kim and Ellens blogs and Etsy Shops!! They both have beautiful families and wonderful things in their shops. Kim makes baby carriers that are so nice for busy moms and she also has some of the cutest pillowcase dresses for girls. Ellen makes the most amazing pincushions that you have ever seen!

I also received my package from the Monique from the Netherlands for the Snowflake and Sparkles Swap hosted by Holly, but I'm waiting for her to receive my package before I post.

More Swaps

I finally got my package sent to Angela for Lori's Fall Swap. I was so late in sending it. Angela sent me mine like a month ago. Sorry it was so late Angela!

I participated in an Ornament Swap hosted by Shannon and my partner was Angie.

Angie made me this beautiful red and silver beaded ornament and sent some mint candies and hand soap from Bathy and Body Works.

I sent Angie 2 Fabric Christmas Bags, 3 pouches of simmering potpourri and a crocheted stocking.


Then the Aqua & Red Swap that was hosted by Shannon was next. I love these colors. My partner was Lisa.Lisa sent me these 4 cool bowls and 4 cups, a super cute hotpad, 3 really neat containers with buttons, flowers and pom-pom trim in them, a red clip, a red helicopter, an aqua and blue little notepad, a cute little pin with a pinchushion on it, an aqua & red marker, some paper strawberries, some aqua cotton crochet thread and some beautiful red fabric. Wow!

I found some aqua and red scrapbook stuff, a hankie with red on it, a vintage aqua doily, a red star and some vintage Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus salt & pepper shakers with aqua mittens on, a yo-yo picture thingy, and some red and aqua buttons and then
I bought this pretty little robin ceremic coaster from an Etsy Store, RobotCandy.

I'm finishing up my swaps. I only have Christmas ones left and then I'm done swapping for quite awhile and then on to Christmas!

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!

NEW ETSY SHOPS AND 6 MORE GIVEAWAYS!!

Oh my gosh, I just found, well except for Canela from Cinnamon*Sticks Boutique, she found me. Anyway, there are 5 more Bloggers doing giveaways!! Everyone is in such a giving mood lately. It's so great when everyone is in the giving spirit and it's not even Christmas!!

Canela is giving away a piece of her one of a kind jewelry because she has opened up a new Etsy Shop, Cinnamon Sticks. Congratulations Canela and it's great to see your shop on Etsy!! I love the simplicity of your jewelry and I wish you the best of luck!

So when I was looking at Canela's blog I ran across another giveaway. Plum Pear Apple Designs is having a Grand Opening and is giving away a cape for those with little guys or girls who love to be superhero's. I guess the big guys could dress up in one if they really wanted to?!?!? Anyway, they are really cute and I know my little Jace would love to win one!

Then Michelle at Hello Cupcake is having a giveaway on her blog. She has some of the cutest little tags that look like Gumdrop Trees that she is giving away and also has for sale in her Etsy Shop, Luckychelle Boutique. I love Michelle's creations and hers is definitely one of my favorite shops on Etsy!!

Kathleen at Grosgrains is having another giveaway this week. She has a cute little pink "Early Evening Gown" dress that she is giving away. The dress is almost as cute as her model!!

Jenna who is the host of the wonderful SwapDex that so many of us depend for our swapping amusement is having a blogaversary giveaway on her blog CorgiPants. Jenna, I would like to Thank You for all of your wonderful work on The SwapDex!!

The prize package will contain:

1. 1 issue of Workbasket magazine
2. circa 19581 cross stitch Christmas ornament kit to get you working on the holidays!
3. at least 1 craft item/pattern tailored to the winner's likessome
4. candy of some sort (not chocolate due to melting temperatures here right now)

Okay that's it!! I'm finally done sharing giveaways with you for tonight!

Actually, I lied, no I just conveniently forgot.

Very Mary over at A Very Mary Design is having her regular Friday giveaway, BUT, I am winning it this week, so you may as well not even enter. Very Mary uses one of those random generators to pick her winners and she has had the most wonderful prize for now 3 weeks straight and I want to win. She is giving away a whole box of goodies that she collected from cleaning out her attic workspace area.

I have been chanting and doing Ya Ya stuff trying to win and have had no luck. So late tonight, I am going to put on my crown that Lisa from Faerie Enchantment sent to me and light candles and ask that Random Generator Thingy Blobber to please pick me to win the wonderful box of goodies! So see, you all may as well not even enter.

Just kidding! Hee! Hee! Check out Very Mary's blog tomorrow for her giveaway!

and I'll let you all know as I come across more fantastic giveaways!!

I'm Showing Some Etsy Love and Look at What I Won!!

I just received this ceramic egg "nest" I bought from Amanda at her Etsy Shop Funky Shique yesterday. It is so cute and was only $6.00! The ceramic isn't the shiny finish, but more of a natural, slightly rough finish. It is the perfect finish for a egg "nest".

Then when you open the "nest" up, look what's inside, 3 of the cutest little pink eggs!

I love this egg nest so much! Amanda at Funky Shique sent this in a box that was all decorated up cute and with a nice card too. She has a lot of really cute items in her shop from ceramic to crochet to, oh she has the cutest little wired birds cage. A good find for me on Etsy and hopefully you'll like Amanda's stuff too, so go check her shop out!!

I also just bought some handmade buttons from a different Etsy Shop, NicholeAnne's. I love these cute little buttons. I get 5 randomly picked buttons for $3.50.

I wonder which ones I'll get?!?!? I can't wait to find out.

There so cute!!

Then one of my favorite shops is Claire and Janae. Janae is another person who donates some of her wonderful handmade baby items to Etsy for Charity. I was lucky enough to win two sets of burp cloths from Janae and they are VERY well made and of a high quality. With all my new grandbabies coming these are wonderful gifts!!

This green set went to Mrs. Benyo, one of the best teachers my kids have ever had!! She had her fist baby, Blake, on May 21.

This set is going to probably be going to my new grandson, Austin, who is due in November.

Okay, Last but NOT least is Richard from Unique Grabs. Richard makes very high quality and cute cards. Richard donates his cards and time on a monthly basis to Etsy for Charity. Richard, is in fact, the wonderful person who runs Etsy for Charity, so get in touch with him if you would like to join us at Etsy for Charity! He puts a lot of work every month into the shop and keeping everything and everyone organized. If you need cards be sure and check out Unique Grabs or Etsy for Charity to get some of Richard's "unique" cards!

Now for the GRAND FINALE'!!

Look at the cutest little dress I WON from Kathleen at blog Grosgrains yesterday! I can't believe she is giving this dress away! Actually Kathleen is having a Bi-Weekly giveaway of cute dresses. She has 2 of the most precious little models for her outfits, so check her blog out. Kathleen also has another blog The TumTum Tree that shows some of her family stuff and other wonderful things she creates. She is a very talented and busy lady!!

Thanks so much Kathleen!!

And because,

unfortunately,

this dress won't fit my Mallory (damn, it would look so cute on her!)

I will be sending the dress to a very cute 2 year old,

the daring,

cute as a button,

my niece,

Miss Hannah Jo.

A New Etsy Shop for Lori and She is Having a Giveaway!!

Lori from Morning Glories and MoonFlowers is having a giveaway on her blog for the opening of her Etsy Shop, Too Silly Sisters. She has some really pretty jewelry that you should check out! Lori will draw a winner on Thursday the 10th so hurry and go to her blog and leave her a wonderful comment to enter.

ICE CREAM SOCIAL FROCK GIVEAWAY
I bought something from a new Etsy shop I found tonight, Polka Dot Moon, and when I went to Denise's blog, Polka Dot Moon, to enter her giveaway I found a posting for another giveaway on the blog Grosgrain. If you've never been to Kathleen's blog, Grosgrain, you are really missing some of the most adorable little girls dresses you've ever seen!! She has the sweetest dresses that she makes and get this, she has frequent giveaways of these, make you want to have another little girl, dresses! They really are some of the cutest dresses I have ever seen and she has the cutest little models!!

Be sure and check out Denise's blog, Polka Dot Moon, too. I didn't mean to leave Denise out I just got so excited about the little dresses. Denise has an adorable little girl that will look really cute in one of the dresses in a couple of years! Denise is also having a sale in her Etsy Shop over the weekend, so be sure and check it out and have fun exploring some new blogs!!

New Blogs I Discovered and My a Few of My Favorite Etsy Shops

My sister, Cathy, just started a blog, The Life and Adventures of Cateepoo. Cathy has rhuematiod arthritis and has been off all of her medication for about 6 months now. She is trying to get a "healthy body that heals with natural herbs, vitamins and homeopathy."
Cathy also talks about the decision to let her hair go gray. Not a thing that to many of us woman choose to do or that society "approves" of. I admire the fact that Cathy has chosen to just be herself!!

The other important subject that Cathy talks about is unschooling. She unschools her two kids, Alexander and Sophia. Unschooling is a relatively new form of schooling and some of you might be interested in finding out more about it.

Another new Blog that I like, Little Cotton Aprons, is by another Kathie. Kathie's blog is sweet and she is interested in sewing and swapping. I love her banner with the aprons on it. She just starting her blog but so far I love it!!

Now for a couple of My Favorite Etsy Shops. Check out Michelle's Etsy Shop Luckychelle Boutique. Michelle has the nicest scrapbook embellishments and handmade scrapbooks. Right now all of her Etsy money will be going to help her and her husband to adopt a baby. Michelle has a great blog too, Hello Cupcake. Check it out!! Here's a few photo's I borrowed from Michelle's Etsy Shop to show you some of her stuff.

Felt Posies -- So cool!

Chipboard Scrapbook

I love this Ribbon Covered Bulletin Board

Another one of my favorite Etsy shops is A Very Mary Design. Mary Ann has some wonderful collages, the cutest tags and some aprons. Great stuff!! I love it and I bet you will to! Here's some photo's I borrowed from Mary Ann'e Etsy Shop to show you. Beautiful, huh??!!

I love this ladies and the colors are so bright and fun!!

Collage of three beautiful homes and there pink. Who could ask for more!