Diva Days of December

I have been a member of PBS for five years now and every year (except the first) I have taken part in the Diva Days of December.  Who and What are the Diva's?  Well, we are just a group of women who enjoy reading (not necessarily the same things) that are member of PBS (see my side bar) that love to exchange gifts and chat. 

This year we are doing 7 Days of Diva (because 12 was too many and 6 wasn't enough LOL).  And I am exchanging with my very bestest friend in the whole wide world (who I suckered into PBS and into the Diva's)! 

Here are my 7 packages for Heather, I decided to indicate which day to open by putting that number of flowers on the box. 

So this is box 5.

We start opening on December 17th and I already have 4 boxes from Heather sitting next to me, one of them smells scrumptious, I half want to open it and make sure somethings not broken but she told me not too ;)

So I'll see you December 17th to share the lovely items Heather sent me.  Don't you wish you were a Diva!

Divas de Mayo ~ A Swapping Fiesta! What I sent

Yesterday I shared the wonderful goodies I received in this months PBS Diva Swap. You can view the fabulous items I got HERE. My swap partner received the box I sent yesterday also so I can now share them with all of you.

Margaret said in her profile that she loves the 60's colors and she is a fabulous cook, alas I don't know this first hand but she made it to the finals of a very tough cooking competition and she is always sharing wonderful recipes with us Diva's.

The twist this month was to include something in our boxes that was "Festive" well, I went a bit overboard. I wanted to send her some outdoor entertaining things to fancy up her dinner parties outside and was cruising one of my regular stores when I saw this apron, inspiration struck and I hit the sewing machine running.

I shoved the apron in my purse and headed to the local fabric store. It took a little looking but I found some nice fabrics that I thought went well, there was nothing that was spot on. I got them cut and was getting ready to check out when I walked by the rick rack display and like a lightning bolt my design just kept getting hotter! So I picked up some rick rack and headed home.

I selected 6 different fabrics, 2 yellows (they were the hardest), 2 greens, and 2 browns.

This is my very first set of napkins where I didn't attach a boarder and it is also my very first set of tea/hand towels. Everything is double sided because lets face it no one wants to look at the back of fabric, it's just not pretty.

The n's are all hand cut applique's that I ironed on using stitch witchery. And I sewed the rick rack as well as glued it (don't want it to frey).

Margaret said that I got the colors perfect to match the rest of her decor. I really hope I did and she's not just being sweet. I love these and had a great time making them. I hope she gets years and years of use out of them.

The other items that I sent were citronella candles to keep those pesky bugs away, some fun outdoor twinkle lights and a holder for wine glasses and a bottle of wine that you steak into the ground. It looked like a ton of fun!

Till next time!

Divas de Mayo ~ A Swapping Fiesta! My Goodies!

This is the latest haul of goodies that my PBS Diva Margaret sent me. The Diva's are a group I am a part of through the PBS site. We all share a love of books and get together to chat about anything and everything and also swap goodies.

Recently we have started to have twists to go with our monthly swaps, this time it was...

FESTIVE! You must send at least one item this month you feel is festive. It can be a color (red is festive) or a flower (think Tulip Festival), candles are festive or anything you think is fun and festive. The choice is yours.

Margaret blew me out of the water with the gift she sent!

First I want to share some of the note that she wrote me...

...I tucked some usable packing material that you might be able to use. The odds & ends of yarn are leftover from projects I've made. I keep them and now hopefully you or someone you know can us them. The lace and ribbons also are left form projects....

The Post Script is the best though...

I hope you don't think of the odds and ends as a stupid gift. Please feel free to toss anything you don't use.

So at this point I am highly curious as to what all the "odds and ends" are, so I pull back the tissue paper and OMG I squeal like a little girl!

Have you ever seen a full ziplock bag crammed with so many scrumptious art goodies??? I just couldn't contain myself, I ripped into it right away, completely consumed with the fabulous odds and ends, totally forgetting about the rest of the box thinking there's no way whatever is buried under all that bubble wrap could top this part of the gift.

WRONG!

Yes that is Sugar, my four legged helper, checking out the fabulous odds and ends. She of course found them all worthy and tried to sneak off with one or two. Needless to say she didn't get very far, it's mine all mine!

There was not one, not two, but four tea cups all lovingly wrapped hidden under the bag of odds and ends.

The picture I have at the top of the post shows all four but I've decided to just feature one today and link it to Tea Cup Tuesday this way I'll have three more fabulous cups to share with you over the next few weeks.

Okay so onto the fabulous cup. I selected this one because today is a rather grey and rainy day and this cup, while grey (a fabulous shade of grey) is also very bright, so I hope the sun comes out soon to join me for tea.

There is no stamp on the bottom of the cup but there is a number. I'm pretty sure it is from occupied Japan.

Check out all that gold brushed down the sides, I love that it looks like random brush strokes. And isn't the foot fabulous!

But just wait, the cup is exquisite on the inside, it has a kind of opalescent coating inside that reflects pinks, purples and yellows to match the lovely painted bouquet on the inside. It is going to be so much fun to drink tea out of this and watch the pearly sides and bouquet appear as my tea disappears.

Now onto the saucer, the flowers from the inside of the cup are mimicked here as is the random brush strokes and a bit of the pearlescent shimmer but wow those cut outs! Each cut out is highlighted with gold.

The final detail that I want to showcase is the delicate and lovely handle. I love the mix of swirls with a touch of what I think looks like leaves. And like the rest of the cup it has wonderful gold highlights.

I will cherish this cup and the other three which I'll be showcasing over the next few weeks. This is the first cup I have received from a PBS Diva and I know every time I look at it or use it I'll think of Margaret.

Thank you beyond words!

Big Sewing Project

Well, I had to wait a while to post this one because it was going to someone that occasionally looks at my blog.

This is my latest work for one of the many Diva's on Paper Back Swap. The theme for this months swap was 3rd Anniversary so we sent 3 gifts. My Diva this month collects Fiesta wear so I mad her a set of cocktail napkins that hopefully match.

I had never seen Fiesta wear in person before going and purchasing her a pitcher. The colors they had at my Macy's were not all the colors so it was very hard for me to determine if the fabric I purchased would match.

I stamped each napkin with a different female image from a set sold by Stampington & Co. known as the Unruly Girl Club which was just perfect.

This is the first set of napkins where i have not hand died any of the fabrics at all but it didn't make them any easier to sew together. I like how they turned out in the long run even if they don't have any shimmer to them. But time was of the essence and I didn't have time to test different shimmery paints.

For my Diva's daughters I put together two totally different pillows. The pillow in the front is for her older daughter and the one with the monkeys on it her younger.

I found the Monkey fabric and my DD just fell in love with it so I know it would be perfect for little Miss P.

The first initial of their name is stamped in the middle of the pillow using a block letter.

I was not so bright when I took the photo's and didn't get a shot of the backs. But they are able to open with a gigantic ribbon made out of the main fabric the ties them shut.

I hope my Diva and her daughters like them.

Becca's Diva Box

Here is the first diva box for 2009. Of course this is not everything I sent, but this is everything that I made.

This particular box and its contents went all the way to Bahrain! I hope I spelled that right. Becca is our deployed Diva.

The Doddled Bird Cocktail napkins are a combination of hand died fabric and purchased fabric. The center, the light ocher color is hand died the trim is purchased. However the dots on the trim are hand stamped. The image I used for the bird is from Alpha Stamps and the circular dot stamp is from Close to my Heart. This is the first set of napkins I have done with different colored trim and I think it is fabulous.


I have an extra set of these wonderful napkins for sale in my Etsy store. And let me tell you they are a steal! There may not be much money wrapped up in product but time whew...they take almost a week...there is hand sewing involved to make the 45 degree seams on the front and back corners. If this set does not sell I am really considering keeping them...I just don't know yet...every time I make a new set of napkins I think they are the best.

Becca received or purchased a pair of paisley print earrings a while ago and was looking for a necklace to match. I found a seller on Etsy that had one that I thought would match. Becca has told me it is really a perfect match which was a weight off my mind because I was a bit disappointed with it when it arrived.


Anyway I made her a jewelry box to keep it in while she is deployed. I painted the box a solid matt black Stamped the paisley background on gold paper and painted portions of it with Sparkeling H2O. I then stamped the paisley stamp on black paper and cut out two of the paisleys painted them to match and mounted them on the paper with 3D tape. As a finishing touch I ripped the Gold paper in the shape of the box before affixing it. I love how it left a plain gold rim.

On two sides of the box I put matching images. The Collage image is from Jogglers and it is a woman lounging on a sofa, it is a stunning image that I bought quite a whiel ago but have been waiting for the perfect oportunity to use, this was it. All around the image (to hide the cut marks) I clear embossed a number of times adding pearl ex gold powder to each layer so it shimmers.


On the other two sides I sponged on some gold paint and affixed some gold brads and circular rhinestones. The brads are holding the black satin ribbon in place so when you untie the box the ribbon does not compleatly fall off.

I selected the gold and black colors to match the necklace, I wish I had a photo of it. All in all I am fairly pleased with the box...

I hope Becca enjoys her items...I had fun making them.

12 Day's of Diva-ness Day 1 and 2

Today the PBS Diva's started our Second Annual 12 Days of Christmas Swap. This is a gift swap with one other Diva where for the next 12 days we will open one gift per day!

I have had the gifts from my diva sitting next to my computer now for about a week and it has been killing me not to open them...

But the wait was worth it...

On the First Day of Diva-ness by Diva gave to me
one Tree Wire Form to hang fabulous art swaps from.

And today we actually got to open two gifts, we had to wait for the silly mail system to deliver one last box...

So

On the Second Day of Diva-ness my Diva gave to me Two (and yes, I did get two of them) black frames to put my favorite pictures in.

Thank you most fabulous Diva partner of mine...I already have both of the wonderful items in use as you can see...

I can hardly wait till tomorrow!

Now I am off to report my fabulous items to the other Diva's and to send a thank you to my wonderful Diva...


I will leave you with a few of the Diva Guidlines:

1. Motto: Put on your big girl panties and deal with it!


10. Feather boas are an essential wardrobe component.

14. Screen protectors on your monitors are a MUST! You'll understand this rule all in good time.

17. Divas talk with their hands. Flutter to the left then flutter to the right. Just be very careful not to smack the person next to you.

19. Divas should never try to light a disposable lighter immediately after having applied lotion to said diva's hands.

Secrets & Divas & Buddies, oh MAY!

Another month has come and gone which means another fabulous Diva exchange! And boy was I spoiled this month!

This month, you will have a secret buddy. Of course, you will know to whom you are mailing, but you won’t know who is mailing to you! For a fun twist, we are also having secret RAK buddies (random acts of kindness). You will be assigned 2 buddies. One for a Diva box ($25 minimum) and the other for your RAK buddy ($5 maximum). Please read the rules listed below.

Here is what I got and OMG is it Fabulous!

• $20.00 gift certificate to Altered Pages Link...do you know how hard it was for me not to spend this before telling ya'll about it LOL
• 2 Cinderella and Birds Link Fabric Collage Sheets from Alpha Stamps! (scroll down the page) This is so perfect b/c I am making Cinderella pillows for my sister for her birthday...and they sent a free gift a Transparency of a Fabulous Castle! (also on the same page Tall Castles bottom right hand corner of the sheet)
• 18 Marvy Brush Marker...that I really really needed! Yahoo Yahoo...
• 2 stamps from The Lockhard Stamp Company Broccoli and Bok Choy #2041 Link and Vegetable Shoe #2015 Link ...scroll down... I can not wait to play with these...I am going to make Recipe cards and paint the images with a sparkeling paint (surprise surprise)!
• Teaposy Blooming Flowers Tea Link Snow Dance with one Daydream Teapot and Box of Let is Snow Teaposies. This is even more beautiful in person than it is at Amazon! LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!
• teaposy Flowering Medley teaposies. Link I don't know which one to make first???!!!
  
  I’ve already made one piece of art with the supplies I received, I added it to this post so everyone can see that I really do LOVE my Box!
  
  

Now for the box I sent. I made a lot of the items b/c the woman I mailed to loves hand made items. It was so much fun to incorporate her tastes into new and different art forms for me. I’ve never made cocktail napkins before…they took me an entire week but I think they look smashing…I hope she likes them!

Here is what she wrote upon receiving her box…

I was also her REOK buddy…I sent her lavender scented organic laundry detergent, she got it first and I had to bite my fingers not to tell her I was her Secret Buddy also!

it turns out that Caro is my secret buddy after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. I got a fabulous artsy crafty fantastiky box just like my dreams!!

• I got a fab plate from my kaboodle list: Link
• A unbelievable handcrafted pillow in yellow with Ms K's nickname Karoo stamped on it with an elephant border and elephant charm. too freakin fab!!
• A CD with divalicious music that Caroline complied.
• A set of fabulous cards from Caro ( 6 of them)-the diva face ones with stamps as well!
  the cutest ice cubes shaped like guitars and other jazz instruments. perfect for a summer cocktail.
  Link
• a wonderful handmade card.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Divas are a Girl's (& Guy's) Best Friend--April Diva Swap

I received my Diva box! For those of you who do not know what the Diva’s are it is a group of PBSers that exchange a box of goodies each month. Here are this month, April’s guidelines…from the most awsomest hostess with the Mostess Hunter…

This month, you will be required to send at least one item relating to either something floral (flowers, an item decorated with flowers, floral scent, etc) OR an April Fool’s gift (gag gift, humor related game, puzzle, book, etc). You may send more of course, but at least one. The minimum amount required for your Diva box is $25.

I was paired up with Nita…a Rockin woman! And this is what she sent me

There is an adorable card with flip flops on it (some of the flip flops have glitter accents!) and a sweet note…

-2 bags of Starbucks! Yum…I was almost out, now I don’t have to go to the grocery store
-A bag (small brown lunch bag) of lose leaf Darjeeling Tea
-A giant box of Whoppers and then a small box of the New Reeses’ Peanut Butter Whoppers and a small box of the Strawberry milkshake whoppers…Can’t wait to try them.
-A bag of hot tamales…already eating those J
-A Kokopelli bookmark from Arizona (metal tortuous shell colored)
-Aveno Daily moisturizing lotion…use this all the time!
-Dove body wash…I needed this too…and I need a shower (been at the park all day)
-400 Rhinestone Stickers! I love love love these!
-A gorgeous wooden box with an Indian woman on the front reaching up into a tree picking fruit…very pretty. Inside is lined with bright blue velvet.
-A glitter cards book and kit
-Gerber daisies…which I have been enjoying since last Friday when they were deliverd to my doorstep
-3 Wish List Books Jumper, The Big over Easy and Abundance

Kudzu received The shining stars pink poodle. Once I got it opened she carried it around the house hugging her tightly. So cute!

Thanks Nita…You Rock!

The following pictures are of the box that I sent to Nita...

This is what she wrote about the box on the Diva Board

Anyways, to come back to my great Diva box from Caroline, it had this pretty painting outside with flowers painted along the bottom edge.
Inside were silk flowers.
Then A very pretty pillow with Zoya's name and pink flowers painted on it and pink and black feathers all around the edges. Zoya also got a crown-shaped keychain, fit for a princess.

There were also 6 Oscar shaped cookies which Zoya declared to be "sooo good".

Next was a wonderful hand-made card reminding me of summer on the beach with a really sweet note in it.

Then there were all these goodies for me!!! Caroline sent me:
-Six Diva cards with envelopes - awesome!!! Caroline even included 6 first class stamps.
-Brand new Terminator (Special Edition) and Terminator 2 (Extreme Edition) DVDs - Love these!!!
-WL book - When Red is Black by Qiu Xiaolong - Yay!!
-A tea-for-two tin of Earl Grey with Bergamot tea silk infusers from Tea Forte
-A set of two ceramic trays for servings silk infusers in celery green from Tea Forte
-And last but definitely not least "Gift of Persia" scentennial drawer liners - AWESOME!!!!!!!!