And the Winners Are...

Drum roll please.....

I used Random.org true number generator (couldn't get the screen shots to work) and the two numbers selected were

#28 Susan of Pieces of Fate

and

#7 AmyF of Amy Klaire's knitting, stamping, life

Congratulations Ladies! And thank you all for following and helping me clean out the studio for the big move.

Please send me an e-mail cmoh@earthlink.net with your mailing address' I would like to post the boxes tomorrow.

Just a quick FIY...with my follower # closely approaching 100 I'm planning on doing another giveaway once I get settled. Let me know what y'all would like. I've got a few idea's, item's collected as I drive cross country, a kit or two of my must haves and possibly some of my art (let me know what you would be most interested in receiving).

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Father's day and a great weekend.

Bloggerette Garden Party

The Ladies over at Bloggerette Sorority are hosting a Garden Party today and even with my total lack of a garden, I'm taking part. Right now we are renting a house in sunny CA that has a very small backyard. We found out we are moving right when it was time to plant so I didn't plant any new flowers or do any yard work but I did keep all the potted plants nice so it's still nice to go out and sit with an ice cold tea (or Gin and Tonic).

So please, sit back, relax, grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the pittance of a Garden I am pleased to share with you.

Pictures above is my brand new lawn furniture, I fell in love with these retro pieces last year and bought them this year. Once we've moved I have plans to make some matching/coordinating pillows. At the end of the photo are 6 small planters, in each of those I have my herbs. One of the projects that got put on hold because of the move were some shabby chic signs with the herb names on them. Guess I'll have to have my husband make another herb garden for me.

Below are some of my favorite (altered) photo's of the flowers in my plethora of pots.

This final image is new growth in the Rainbow Garden my daughter and I planted to help her learn her colors. Alas I deleted the original photo's and right now the Rainbow Garden is in transition (in other words it's not so full of color, there is no orange or blue flowers) but please hop over to the original post I did HERE, you won't be disappointed. It was a very fun, inexpensive and has been a very rewarding project to do with a 4 year old.

Thank you so much for stopping by my garden, I am thrilled that you spent some time on my blog today. Looking forward to your comments and stopping by your gardens.

Mega Move Giveaway

Ends June 19th

Please help me de-stash before my big move.

Treasures of the Sea Matchbox

I recently took part in a Treasures of the Sea Mini Matchbox Swap hosted by Vintage Dragonfly. A few weeks prior to her announcing the Ocean theme she posted images from Things With Wings Swap, which was a matchbox swap also. I was so thrilled with the opportunity to take part in another matchbox swap, especially one with one of my favorite themes, that I neglected to read the instructions. Opps...

So I was supposed to create a mini matchbox and fill it with goodies or create a scene inside. But as you see I created a large matchbox. When I discovered my mistake I was so mad at myself but I got over it fairly quickly because I love what I created and knew my partner would also.

I used some of the fabulous mermaid themed collage sheets from Alpha Stamps for all my collage images, fibers, German scrap and a number of the extras, like the little clear balls that look like bubbles. The sea horse is a stamped image from Oxford Impressions that I covered with diamond glaze. The coral is cut from a sea themed post card and I covered it with crackle diamond glaze, it gives it a real life effect that doesn't show well in the photo's.


When I went to fill the matchbox I remembered that my MAMA group had put mini matchboxes inside the larger ones. I had a sea themed mini matchbox that I made a while ago so I pulled that down. The funny thing is that it would have worked for the swap all on it's own but I didn't think it would be fair to send something that I created a long time ago.

I altered it a little. Added a transparency film behind the opening I had cut to show off the inside, so that I could fill it with pearls.

When I uploaded pictures to the group I only showed this piece, didn't want to draw attention to the fact that I was incapable of following instructions.


For the side of the large matchbox, the portion that pulls out, I affixed a piece of coordinating paper (I used this on the sides of the matchbox also) added a bit of glitter and created some more of the coral bits that I used on the top of the box.

The mermaid I created by making a mold of a lovely brass charm I have, making the mold and then painting her with a fabulous shimmery paint that sometimes looks blue and sometimes green.

As a final touch on the sides I added a real shell (also got these from Alpha Stamps).

I absolutely love the sides of this box. I used the same decorative paper as I did on the short sides and added glitter along with the German Scrap fish (which I toned down the blue shine on by brushing them with alcohol ink) and adding some fibers.

The matchbox is glued to a piece of foam core that is slightly larger than the box. I painted it the same color as the mermaid and then distressed some crepe paper (which of course I added glitter to) and crinkled it. Attaching it where the seam is and hiding the wrinkle with stones.

Along the edge I affixed river pebbles, pearls, some real sea shells and filled it in with sand.

The entire thing sits on top of some flat marbles.

I had a great time creating this piece and can't wait to take part in more swaps hosted by Vintage Dragonfly.

Make sure you check out my Mega Moving Giveaway in the post below and tomorrow I will be joining the Bloggeret sisters for a tour or our gardens.

Hope you all have a Great Monday!

Mega Move Giveaway

Well Gang, I'm moving, again, sigh. But that's a good thing for you because well, let's face it moving is an excellent time to clean out the stash and boy do I have some fun stuff for y'all.

I have 2, yep that's 2 (which means 2 winners) flat rate postal boxes filled to the brim with paper, ribbon, fabric, pearls, ink pads, charms, stickers etc etc etc. The pictures above are just a taste.

What do you have to do to enter? There are 3 ways/opportunities. Please use a new comment for each different entry.
1. Leave a comments
2. Become a follower (or if you already are please remind me)
3. Post on your blog, a full post or on the sidebar (with a link back here & please use the button)

On Sunday June 19th I'll randomly select 2 winners and you will have 24 hours to exchange information with me. Please leave a way for me to contact you, via your blog or e-mail. Entries without these will not be considered.

Hope you have a wonderful week and I can't wait to send these goodies off!

Art Share ~ Treasures of the Sea

Monday I was thrilled to find my Treasure of the Sea Mini Matchbox swap return. My partner was Lynn and she created a stunning piece that is perfect for me.



I love all things vintage and she mixed the Ocean theme with vintage in a wonderful way. The image looks like an old photograph, the frame around it is a thick cardboard covered with a marvelous sandy texture. It hangs over the edge of the matchbox giving it a fabulous 3D quality.

What I find most special about the top is the flower she made out of miniature sea shells. I've never seen anything so wonderful and I keep turning the box this way and that to get a better look at how she put it all together.



The matchbox came inside a lovely gold organza bag that I don't have shown here, she also included some wonderful bird stickers and a charm I have posted below, it too came in an organza baggie. I love those things!

Inside the mini matchbox she stuffed some wonderful bits and pieces. A cut out of a dress form in a lovely cream felt, some mini collage images, a real sea shell and a gorgeous crystal.

The little box/drawer she painted blue and added a blue button as a pull.






The charm she created is also ocean themed, with all sorts of different ocean creatures, shells and fabulous bling. The glittered shell is a real sea shell! I just love it.

I'm thrilled with this swap, what I created, what I received and how it all ran. I am looking forward to the next one! You should come join us.

Treasures of the Sea Matchbox swap goes postal

This is my shipping box for the Treasures of the Sea Mini Matchbox swap that I'm taking part in. Alas, it did not photograph well.

I used 4 different shades of acrylic paint on the box, some blues and some greens. When the paint was dry I decoupaged some decorative paper (that I also used on the matchbox that's inside, I know I'm a stinker hinting and not showing.)

Then I stamped the sea grass, Oxford Impressions, in a really shimmery paint, it can look green or blue depending on how the light hit it. As a finishing touch I adhered a few sea life stickers.

The box looks very plain compared to my normal shipping boxes but I promise it's not, it just wouldn't photograph. Sigh...

Stay tuned to find out what's inside! I went over the top with this one.

Art Share ~ Garden Fairy Book Alpha Stamps Swap returns

Today I received a wonderful collection of Fairy Book pages in the mail!

These are the returns from the Alpha Stamps Yahoo Group swap with the theme, Fairy Garden. I am thrilled with what I received. You can see all the pages HERE at the Alpha Stamps Gallery.

The first piece I am sharing with you is from Nicole of The Pisces Princess.

There are so many fun additions to this page. I'll start with the little butterfly, it's behind a clear acrylic tag that adds a great effect. The fairy has been dabbed with alcohol inks and so has the wand which make them fit into the overall piece better, not so blaring gold. The wand also has glitter on it! I am not sure what she cut the butterfly out of but it has a fabulous texture, crinkled but not. The Collage image is mounted on pretty background paper and I think she used some tissue paper sticker as the books binding.

The real surprise is inside! Yep, the book opens. The edges of the book have been roughed up so you get the impression that this really was taken into the field. She included three pages inside, all strapped in with a piece of German scrap that has been rubbed with Alcohol inks. The first page is the image of a butterfly, then there is a book page with butterflies stamped all over it and finally a sheet that looks like paper with Field Notes stamped on the top.

I love the pink fabric she used behind the book, she cut it into think strips. It is a wonderful addition.

The second page I received is from Teri Steele.

It is a fabulous paper collage that every time I look at I see something different/new. I believe she stamped on a decorate background paper and then added a bit of color in a few places. There are a bunch of 3D stickers all over the place. And the collage images are 3Ded also with added glitter to their wings. A lovely paper flower and some vine ribbon complete the front of her page.

She took the time to do an intricate collage on the back as well, which I love. Again she used a lovely background paper and added a cupid complete with a bit of string for the bow, pearls surrounding one of the images and lots and lots of glitter. The bumble bee is silver metal and he almost blends in perfectly.

The third page I received is from Diana Kelly.

I am in awe with this one. She started off with a lovely background paper, added a collage image that of course got a bit of glitter. Then surrounded the image with vine fiber that she added a touch of glitter to. In the lower right she added a gorgeous 3D flower sticker complete with glitter and rhinestone centers for a few of the flowers.

At the top she placed a gorgeous paper flower and a metal butterfly, both of which again got glittered. Her finishing touches are some metal dragonflies placed randomly with, you guessed it a bit of glitter.

The fourth page, and alas the last, is by Nancy Elkin.

She used one of my favorite, and one of the collage images I used, collage images as the background of her page. Adding glittery fibers where the poles were and paper flowers all up and down them. She created a fence, at least that's what it looks like to me, using green bits of fiber and some more ribbon. It is quite nice. As a finishing touch she added a brass dragonfly.

I am so excited to have these pages, I've started work on the cover but might have to re-think how I was going to bind them. All together (I made doubles of my pages) it is quite thick.

The cover page for this book will most likely be the last project my current studio seas. We are going to be making a big move! I just hope I can finish this book up before then.

Children shouldn't run with Scissors

Sandi is the hostess for the Circle of Friends sway this month and she has selected the theme, Children. She asked us to include a phrase, or word somewhere on the piece and that it be 4x6, she plans on binding them somehow.

I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do but life crept up on me and I needed to pound these suckers out fast! So I scaled back, WAY back on my original design and this is what I came up with. For those of you that know me you can see how much I struggled to not go dark with this one. One day I hope to get to re-do it in all its potential creepiness!

I'm still playing with a lot of the techniques in Lisa M. Pace's book Delight in the Details. For this piece I decided to focus on her tips on paper sewing and mix and matching decorative papers. I've already mastered crepe paper but used it a bit differently here. Other things that she frequently does is to use the mini pearls and she has a great section on eyelet boarders. All these concepts she uses on different projects but I decided to toss them all on this one.

I combined 3 different decorative papers (if you count the one with my scissors phrase) sewing them all together. Before sewing the phrase decorative paper on I stamped the tree, which was a little on the dark/creepy side which is why the decorative paper ended up covering most of it up (originally I was going to put it in the lower right hand corner). To make up for that I used a punch to add interest to the bottom. The ribbon running along the crepe paper I hand crinkled and died.

All and all I'm pleased with the way this turned out but like I said I really want to goo full force on the creepy factor, alas that wasn't the theme this month.

I hope the member's of Cirle of Friends enjoy this and I can't wait to get the completed book back!

Art Share ~ Boite D'Allumettes Swap Return

It's here it's here, it's here! The box Wanda made me for the Boite D'Allumettes swap with MAMA. The mailman even brought it to my door, said she couldn't leave such a pretty box in the mailbox!

She wrapped the matchbox with a wonderful selection of yellow, blue and lace fabrics/ribbons. So what you see under the Marie image is fabric and it is luscious! I think she hand cut and made all the flowers on the top, sewing seed beads to each center. And the yellow and blue sprigs of gems are marvelous! The image of Marie is slightly elevated off the box.

For the sides she once again used a lovely yellow fabric this one satin, folding it and sewing on the pearls and seed beads. Did I mention yellow is my favorite color!

Inside is chocked full of goodies! The daintiest handkerchief ever, hand stamped fabric bits, doilies, handmade flowers, ribbons/lace, collage images, one of her fabulous handmade strawberries (wish I had taken a separate picture of this), a miniature matchbox that she decorated (another item I wish I had a separate picture of) and filled with scrumptious vintage buttons and a fabulous crystal. She painted the box yellow and lined the inside with sheet music.

But this was the last of my goodies, the real fun started when I opened the box, which she had packed to the brim with goodies. Goodies, goodies everywhere! More ribbons, more collage images, fabulous Paris themed die cuts, a rhinestone vintage charm, french script pages and a handmade paper shoe that you can see on the top (a third item I wish I had a separate picture of...drat I was just so excited I didn't take the time to really get good pictures).

And below is the shipping box, she painted and stamped the top and decoupaged the sides with a fabulous yellow paper and bright yellow flowers. It is a lovely box and everything inside was even more fantastic!

This was a wonderful swap and I am so thrilled that I got to swap with Wanda.

Boite D'Allumettes Swap

A few days ago I posted about mailing out my Boite D'Allumettes Swap to my MAMA partner. Well, she received the box so now I can share it with all of you. To see the shipping box that went along with this swap go HERE.


This is my first ever large matchbox and I had a wonderful time creating this piece.

The idea hit me right away, I think it is because I've been cruising some really lovely Shabby Chic blogs recently and I wanted to stick with that color pallet.

When I checked out my partners blog, Roses in Water, she used a lot of blues, pink, and purples so to make up for the lack of color I filled the box with goodies that fit into her color pallet that I hope she can use.

I used a lot of techniques that I have learned from Laura at Artfully Musing on this box. The frame on the top of the box is one of those, I made a mold, then created a paper clay frame, sanded it down, painted it white then brushed it with various brown toned inks. To add some bling I dusted it lightly with a white shimmery pearl ex powder and sealed the frame with a high gloss sealant. I made some extras and hope to have them in my etsy store soon.

Like I mentioned the idea hit my right off and once I get an idea in my mind I have a hard time adjusting it. The carriages were key and of course an element I didn't have so I had to go hunting. I started by checking out what The Graphic Fairy had to offer, she has some lovely carriages but they weren't what I envisioned. So off to Etsy I went where I discovered a new store that I lurve! Graphique. Their images are gorgeous and the information packet they send out is very detailed, great for beginners or a seasoned image alterer. The image I purchased from them is called the Cinderella coach but I think it works for Marie also.

I shrunk the carriage down, altered the color to sepia and printed it out. Next I added the glitter, some of the carriage I left in a strip and over stamped the french words, affixing this to the side of the matchbox. On top of those I 3Ded a set of carriage.

The entire matchbox is seated onto a piece of foam core that I cut an inch larger so that I could create a cobble stone road. I used glitter as mortar and added some pearls here and there.

For the short sides of the matchbox I painted it white then dusted it with brown inks and stamped it with a crackle stamp. I used Tim Holtz distressing ink because I love the soft tone it gives once it is fully dry.

The Fleur de leis are also paper clay bits that I created a mold for using Laura's tutorial. They are painted and sealed the same as the frame on the top.

As a finishing touch on the sides I wrapped a silk ribbon that I had died and crinkled all the way around the box. So when you slide the inside out the ribbon decorates the entire thing.

I really wanted some miniature carriage wheels to place the entire piece on but I couldn't find any and I was starting to wonder how I would be able to attach them, because of course I wanted them to work. So I settled for some flat crystal marbles.

For the top I aged some paper flowers and twisted a cream ribbon all down the sides. I also added a few stones and pearls here and there.

The image inside the frame is behind a piece of transparency film that I stamped the same crackle background stamp on that I used for the sides, I wanted the transparency to look like old glass.

You can see some of the goodies I included inside the box. There are a bunch of ribbons and some collage images and a few other items under the flowers and pearls.

Of course I wanted to send her some fabric because it looks like she is a fabulous seamstress from her blog so that is what I used as packaging material.

I hope she enjoys her box because I enjoyed making it for her!