Sad News

I'm sorry for no posts for so long, but after Karyn's Super Fun visit, we found out Friday that Kirby's Grandpa passed away.

The funeral /cremation will be on Wednesday and then I am not sure what state of mind Kirby will be in on Thursday.  I'm sure I won't get to the craft room to do anything this week.

Thanks for your support and understanding in this difficult time.

Anna

Getting Ready

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while ... I don't think anyone even noticed... 

I have been getting ready for Karyn's  visit.  She will be here TOMORROW!!  WOO HOO!!  We have a weekend of fun planned!!

Maybe I'll get something crafty done then!!  I haven't done more than a wedding card (which is still in my camera) since April!

Anna Banana

Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo - Milwaukee

Last weekend I attended the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Waukesha, WI (Near Mlwaukee).  

It was at a new location this year with vendors in three rooms - this is the biggest the expo has ever been. It was a lot of the same people I have seen before, but there were some new ones that made the raised admission totally worth it!

This year there was a new company to me called Bugawumps out of Northbrook, IL.  Hey - That's pretty close to me - I need to see if they have a local retail location!!  Anyhow, the cranky bird, the flip flops and the Rum stamp were all from them - pretty reasonable and they had a lot of really cute stuff that I had not seen before. (Images blurred to protect their copyright (and my butt)).

I got 6 sheets of cling foam for $3.50 a sheet!!  That was the best deal at the show (Found at Stamping Sensations) and I was in need of some!

There was a fantastic place called Scrap-A-Holic that sold Magnolias!! (See her blog for info on the stamps). Two tables full of them in baskets and boxes!!  It was SoOOOOooooo Hard to choose!  They were running a show special - buy 4 get 1 free, so I got 4 magnolias and the little bench for my sitting Magnolia with a Crown to sit on for free!!  WOO HOO! Nothing beats Free!

Then there was the spot I stopped at first - it was Eye-Lets Etc. and they only took cash unless you spent a certain dollar amount (I only had $10 cash, so it was really good that I went there first).  They had the fantastic tie-dye flowers!

I just HAD to have them and now I wanna hoard them and not use them, but I promise I won't!

Maybe I'll use them with the Magnolias!

My last stop of the day was Whippersnapper. They always have tubs and tubs of unmounted rubber stamps to wade through. They used to put them in a plastic kiddy pool, but there wasn't enough room in the pool for all the stamps the last few years!  No joke, there were at LEAST 16 tubs of unmounted stamps. Nothing in any order, but it's so much fun to dig through!!

I smelled like rubber when I left from being elbow deep in bins for two hours!

I only chose 24 stamps this time around, but at $1 each it's such a deal!!  No matter what size just $1 !!!  WOO HOO!!

So all in all I spent about $90, had a good day and found some new vendors!

I'd call that a SUCCESS!

Anna Banana

Socks - KARYN - DO NOT READ!!!!

Karyn - I am trying to do something nice for you ... stop reading so it can be a surprise!!!

Stop Reading ... I mean it...I'm not Monkeying around!!

Ok - everyone else... Karyn is coming to visit me at the end of the month and she LOVES funky socks.

I am trying to win this pair of really adorable hand knitted cotton socks for her at The Post It Place

Shhhh ... Don't tell her, but if I win I'll get the socks for her since I know she wants them so badly!

Anna Banana

I can't believe it!

I Can't Believe it - I'm on a Good Luck Streak!!

I WON AGAIN!!

I participated in the Firecracker Designs Blog Hop ... now I am excitedly waiting to see what my stamp set is!  As soon as I know I will post again :)

Thank you Pamela for your generosity.

Anna Banana

Thank you card

On April 1, I entered the Sneak Preview contest for the Cookie Crumbs Ladybug Friends on the All That Scraps Blog and WON!!  WOO HOO!!  Thank you again, Amy R!

Well, my husband is a FreeMason, AND a Shriner... and he has just joined the Scarabs - which is the guys you see in the little miniature VW Beetle cars in parades!

Tom and Carol' hosted a Shriner Picnic at their house this past weekend to socialize and for the men to discuss Shriner business before the upcoming parade season. So I found out that because I am the wife of a Scarab, I am a "Lady Bug"  How cute is that??!!

And how absolutely perfect that I won the Ladybug stamp set!

Well, everyone there made us feel welcome and right at home, so the least I could do is send them a card right off the bat ... and here it is!

 

Below the picture stamped in black on the red card stock it says "when friends meet, hearts warm".

Anna Banana

Belli Challenge #64 Jumbo Brads or Eyelets

Well, I didn't have nay jumbo brads or eyelets - never saw the need for them, but I wanted to give the Belli Challenge a go today so I used the biggest eyelets I had.

The angel stamp is from the Gingersnaps line, the text is from Studio g, the eyelets came with my crop-a-dile, the paper is all from my scrap basket, the inks are all from Palette I used prismacolor pencils to color it and I used prisma glitter on the wings.  The paper flower is wedding Confetti from Brides and the pink gem is from the dollar bin at Joanne Fabrics with a flower brad poked through it's center.

I really like the way the weaved paper looks going through the eyelets!

Anna Banana

SBS 24 Challenge #25 Birthday -general

Well - I recently created two birthday cards for my parents - a March and an April Birthday.

Dad's card could truly be used as a general birthday card- the colors are pretty neutral and the embellishments aren't over the top.

Mom's card is a little more pastel in colors, making it pretty "girly", but I think the image of the party mouse could translate to anyone.

I'm pretty proud of this one.  I used lace, velvet ribbon, glitter (on the pink confetti flowers) AND rhinestones, two styles of flowers and two patterned papers - quite a lot there, but it doesn't give the impression of too much going on!

Anna Banana

Blog Candy!

WOO HOO!!  This is AWESOME!!

Check out the fantastic Blog Candy over at Passion For Crafts.

Debbie is celebrating her blogoversary and her hits are amazing!!

This is a pic of what she has to offer:

Then Bev is offering some Blogoversary candy over at All the things I Love.

Her candy looks like this:

Jeanette is celebrating at Happy Thoughts and Inkspots

with this generous offering:

Anna Banana

Froggy Pin

With spring in the air (some days) I was feeling a little green - the grass is green, the buds on the trees are green, the daffodils poking through the earth are green ... you get the picture!

When I photographed the pin, a few days ago, it was sunny and warm - today it is overcast and raining :(

Well - I made this sparkly froggy pin from chipboard!  The green flower was pre-glittered.

I painted the kraft chipboard circle with white pearl paint - and then stamped the frog.  I colored him in with prismacolor pencils and then over colored him with spica glitter pens.  I put stickles around the edges of the frog for more sparkle.  I took a metal ladybug charm I had in gold, and used my alcohol inks to color it red and then heat set the color on it.  Then I krazy-glued the lady bug on the flower and added a pin back ... Voila!

Anna Banana