Another Page Turner!

Another great read! Wow, such a thoroughly engaging plot. The Russian Maffia, murder, Witness Protection, a cold, uncaring mother and a warm, funny man for a love interest. I love it that the woman was the hero and saved herself!

Blog Award

 Today I was astonished and so honored to receive this Blog Award from Ellen Taylor way up in Alberta, Canada. You've got to check out her blog, to see all her gorgeous creations and prepare to be inspired!!! This award is to wish good luck and I am to pass it on to 10 bloggers who have fresh ideas and have blogs that I admire. Thank you sooo much Ellen, I'm so flattered to receive this award. Wow to choose only 10 artists who inspire me is quite a challenge let me tell you! I definitely think of Shirley, but Ellen just awarded her, and of course Ellen, but she just awarded me! I am giving this award to  these talented ladies......

Jamie

Lynda

AnnMarie

Patty

Dina

Athina

Jennifer

Jessica

Nan

Shelly

By The Sea Challenge

Impression Obsession is offering a By The Sea Challenge this week. And the first image below is my entry. I used the stamp, Beach D2319 colored it with Prismacolor pencils and sponged Distress inks in the background of both layers. The darker turquoise layer has the Swiss Dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The starfish, seahorse and seafan stamps are from Fred Mullet and the crab is from Hero Arts. The small shells came from one of our lovely South Carolina Beaches.

The peacock butterfly below is from Impression Obsession too. Isn't it fun? I used Prismacolor pencils as well and then used some turquoise and olive green Pearl Ex on top. It gives it such a nice subtle iridescent look, but it doesn't show in the scanned image:(  Paper Studio's flourish provides the texture and curves in the embossing folder while the peacock feather strands add a touch of realism. They are from some peacocks living on a nearby plantation. I picked them up off the ground while feeding the gorgeous creatures. Holy Smokes those things are noisy!!

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews

I just now finished reading this book and I literally could not put it down I was so intent on finishing it. I just LOVE reading that kind of book. It had a terrific plot that was not another predictable love story. I read a lot of mysteries and am pretty good at figuring out what will happen. Not with this book! It definitely has the Wow factor down pat. I love the kind of story that keeps me on the edge of my seat and Mary Kay Andrews didn't fail! I've liked all her books, but this one is one of my favorites.
http://marykayandrews.com/the-books/books-by-mary-kay-andrews/spring-fever/

Fabric Covered Thumbtacks

I said I'd post pictures and progress of making fabric covered thumbtacks for my new bulletin board, so here they are as promised. I do have a tip for you too. The tacks below were covered with canvas fabric and it is kind of thick, which makes it very difficult to push into the button head. Plus, I was out of glue sticks, so I used what I had - Gorilla Glue. Boy, that stuff sure lives up to it's name!! It bubbles and expands a LOT. It reminds me of that spray insulation stuff. Worse yet, is the stickiness!! I know you're probably thinking, "well it IS glue." Yeah, but not regular glue, which you can wash off. This stuff will not wipe off, or wash off. I was beginning to worry and I didn't want to tell DH. He'd come to my rescue sure, but he'd tease the living daylights out of me and tell our friends and family of my latest Lucy move. So I tried every method I could think of, while hoping it wasn't permanent and that I'd have to go the ER or something. (Hey, it's me we're talking about, it HAS happened in the past.) The last thing I tried was rubbing alcohol and mercifully, it worked:) When I finished with these, I swore I'd never make any more... but then I got to thinking about how I really did need some more, and maybe, just maybe thinner fabric would work better. Oh and NO MORE GORILLA GLUE. I bought some more glue sticks, and an eighth of a year of a pretty blue paisley cotton. It worked like a charm. The hot glue was much better too. I didn't even burn myself  this time either, which is always a possibility with me. 

Directions for making the bulletin board and the fabric-covered thumb tacks are in a previous post: http://scmagnolia.blogspot.com/2012/05/art-cork-board-diy.html

Remember these two tips from Lucy-impaired blogster:

• use hot glue gun
• use thin cotton fabric

Greeting Card Verses and Sentiments

I've been collecting sentiments, poems, clever sayings and verses for - gosh since college... or even high schools. Does that make me a word smith? lol I keep card verses on my computer and print them out as needed. I keep the printed verses in an old binder categorized by event and holidays in plastic sleeve protectors. When I need one, it's easy to find and then glue inside a card.

I make a collection of cards for a few of my closest friends and family for gifts. Then I always think that they'd like some verses to go in the cards. In the past I've made many different types of portfolios, boxes etc. to hold these gifts of card assortments and verses. I've put the verses in little envelopes, but for my BFF's birthday in the past, but her supply is running low, so I thought I'd give her a refill. I decided to do something different this time. My blogging group, Paper Pajama Party, has a challenge this month to make a book. I love making hand-bound books!! So my BFF is getting a book of verses this time.

I used cardstock (Stampin Up, Red Rose) for the cover and the back with some decorative paper from K & Company.  The embossing folder for the cover is from Stampin' Up. I made the envelopes from double sided cardstock (K & Company). To make the envelopes I followed Shirley's directions on the Impression Obsession website. Then I just bound it with my trusty old spiral binder.

My old binder full of verses, greetings, sayings and poems.

If you'd like some verses, I've put them on Box to share with  you. I noted the author of a verse IF I know them. I would gladly give credit if I knew the authors of any of the others.
Just click on the links below:
Wedding and Anniversary
New Baby
Get Well
Birthday
Friendship
Thank You
Sympathy
Graduation

Challenge Gift Certificate

This is one of the stamps I got with my gift certificate from Impression Obsession. I won their challenge:)  I just LOVE their stamps! Have you seen their new stamp called the Train Station? It is to die for!
This one is Damask Floral. I used Prisma Pencils and sponged with Memento and Distress inks. The ribbon is from my stash, the charm from Fancifuls, the embossing folder is Tropical Paisley from Sizzix, and the cardstocks are Certainly Celery and Red Rose from Stampin' Up.