blue moon giveaway winner and remembering

Thank you again to everyone who stopped by and entered my Once In A Blue Moon giveaway. There were a total of 36 entries (not including multiple comments). Everyone had really wonderful Halloween stories and ideas to share. And the winner via the Random Number Generator is....

 

 

#34 - Anna from Witchcraft and More

 

How fun to have another Anna be my winner!

Congratulations and thank you again to all of you.

 

Another quick reminder to invite you to play along at my Autumn Altered Witch Shoe Challenge. We are posting on September 22, the first day of Fall. So find an old shoe and get out your glue gun and glitter. Hope to see you there.

 

I also want to take a minute to remember and honor 911, the ones lost, the ones left behind and the heroes...two legged and four legged.

 

photo credit: Fred Stone

 

Have a beautiful, thankful and blessed day.

 

 

 



final days for blue moon giveaway

I hope you're having a great September weekend. Just a quick post to let everyone know the last day to enter my Once In A Blue Moon giveaway is tomorrow. You can still enter until midnight then I'll announce the winner on Tuesday.

 

 

Now I'm off to go hunting for more autumn treasures :)

 

 

 



fairy wand giveaway winner!

I hope all of you had a nice long weekend.
I can't believe it's the end of the month already!

We have a winner for my fairy wand giveaway and that is
#22 Kim from Tabby's Place.

Yay Kim!

Congratulations!

*    *    *    *    *

I'll be back shortly with a new bag for June. We are doing 'Altered Art' again so get ready to look for anything you can turn into a bag (except for a real bag of course.)

And I also have my May dress to post...last minute again.

I just finished another little pudding fairy. She's a special one that's on her way to a new home in the desert. I hear she might be running away with the gypsies!

Be right back.

fairy wand giveaway

Hello and Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Mothers Day weekend with your loves. I had a nice quiet day at home with the family. We usually visit our parents for Mothers Day but my mom is away on holiday and my mum and dad in law are getting ready for a trip as well. My son surprised me with a lovely handmade gift and the two of us spent a fun day exploring our neighborhood's new food places on Saturday. So a perfect Mothers Day weekend it was for me.

You might remember that I recently did a Spring Wand swap for Bliss Angels. I ended up making 2 wands. One I sent away to my swap partner Lynn, and the other one is this petite version.

It's the same style and very similar to the other one, just a shorter version....a lolli wand.

And to celebrate the flowery month of May I'm finally having the giveaway I promised!

All the flowers are in full bloom by now. They are everywhere because of weddings and of course, Mothers Day. Gardens are blooming, shops are overflowing with petals and fragrance. Everything is so pretty this time of the year isn't it?

So tell me about your favorite flower or flowers.

Which blooms have special meaning for you?

Kate Middleton's understated wedding bouquet had sweet william, in honor of her husband, and stems from a myrtle planted by Queen Victoria in 1845. Tradition and romance....lovely and sweet.

My winter wedding bouquet had gardenias and ivy, and the scent of gardenias still takes me back to my wedding day. I also love old fashioned flowers. Forget-me-nots, peonies, pansies and violets, and for me, nothing else compares to the sight of a riot of hydrangeas in full bloom.

To enter my Fairy Wand giveaway leave me a comment with your flowery thoughts and I'll choose a random winner on the 31st of May. The winner will receive my fairy wand just in time for an enchanted Midsummer's Eve.

Have a sweet and magical day.

owoh giveaway winner and a surprise

Greetings from windy California! Yes our weather has been so odd lately. We had sunny skies a few days ago, then sunny skies with showers, and now the rain and wind just rolled in. The kind of flip-your-umbrella-inside-out kind of wind. The sunshine was nice but being that it's still officially Winter, I don't mind the clouds and wind so much.

The final One World One Heart blog hop has come to an end. Wow! What an incredible undertaking that must be for Lisa (thank you again). I met so many kind, talented and creative souls during my travels and there are countless more places I want to see. Thank you to everyone that stopped by here and left such lovely comments for me. I wish I had a giveaway for all of you!

But I do have one winner for my OWOH mixed media collage. I used the good ole Random Number Generator because there were a total of 213 comments and my wee fairy lantern could not hold that many slips of little blue paper.

Someone should really tell Blogger to number the comments!

You might have noticed the little British flag up there on my graphic and that's because the winner of my giveaway is Angela from SofiNos Design, who visited all the way from across the pond in the UK. Angela is an amazing jewelry artist and when I popped over to visit her I was truly drooling over her creations. They are beautiful. Congratulations Angela!!!

In case you haven't heard, Lisa just announced that although this was the final OWOH event, she already started putting a similar one together for next year. That one, she said, is even more about art and artists. It sounds fabulous and I will definitely be back for it when it comes. Please visit her at A Whimsical Bohemian for details.

And now for a little surprise!

While reading through all your lovely comments and trying to visit as many of you as I can, I realized how much I love this whole blog hopping thing and connecting with all the wonderful souls out there who visit me and leave comments that always brighten my day. It's the same reason I love doing my Artful Bag Challenge. I love meeting all the talented 'bag ladies' and seeing the great things they're coming up with it.

So in the spirit of all this bloggy love I decided to pull one more name out of the OWOH hat...so to speak... and that person will also receive another one of my creations. I won't show it to you yet as it's not quite done and I won't tell you who the winner is until I post the prize {insert evil grin here}. But it will be soon I promise and I will let that person know before hand.

And now back to work I go to catch up on things that need catching up. Please go and visit the Artful Bag Challenge page and take a look at the absolutely adorable altered purses my bag ladies are making. I would love to have you play along if you haven't yet because it really is great fun!

Have a beautiful it's-almost-the-weekend day.

i hope you dance winner

Hooray! It's time to draw the winner for my

blog anniversary giveaway.

I'm soo excited!

Let's bring out the magic hat.

Toss in oodles of glitter,

stars

and maybe a carrot or two.

In case there might be a bunny taking a nap in there.

Then we get a little bit of help from the giveaway elves

(aka the True Random Number Generator).

And yes we have

A WINNER!

Andrea from Goddess and Magick wins my

mixed media collage I Hope You Dance.

Thank you again everyone, for helping me celebrate my first

year of blogging. It was a wonderful year and I look forward to

another year of art, inspiration and friends.

Don't forget you can still enter to win my seconod mixed media

collage for the One World One Heart blog hop.

Drawing is open until the 17th.

Enjoy your weekend!

this and that

Happy Friday lovelies! Oh my gosh, have you guys seen the ginormous OWOH list? I just took a peek and there are over 750 names! I don't think I'll ever get around to visiting everyone but what a great way to meet so many talented and amazing artists.

I thought I would just pop in for a quick hello and re post a few reminders. I didn't get to leave my February Artful Bag Challenge up very long because of my OWOH post so here's my little Alter It bag again to inspire you to play along. You can click here or on the button on my sidebar to add your link or see some of the fantastic ones that are already up.

I have 2 giveaways going on right now.
Both are for one of my mixed media collage pieces.

I Hope You Dance is for my anniversary giveaway which ends tomorrow, Feb 5.

And my One World One Heart giveaway (last post) is open until the 17th so you can still visit either of those posts and leave a comment for a chance to enter.

Now I'm off to work on my dress for Angela's Dress Up Challenge. I hope you guys are warm and cozy where you are. I know there is some crazy weather going on down south. My friend Cindy is getting hail down in New Orleans and some of you still have several feet of snow. It's sunny but still cold here in Tomatoland and the sunsets have been stunning. I can't complain.

Have a great Superbowl weekend if you're watching or if you're like me, have fun at the craft store while it's on!

P.S. In case you didn't already know, there is always a 40% off Michaels coupon available on line so I never go out without printing one. I know not all the Michaels will accept an online coupon and I have no idea why that is so check with yours if you're not sure.  JoAnns will also take them and the best part is they're good on all the magazines like the $15 Stampington ones. Unless of course they happen to be on sale for 10% off like they have been lately which means they won't take the coupon. Pretty sneaky those JoAnns people!

february artful bag challenge

*  *  Please click here if you participated in last month's challenge. *  *

Happy February!

I think I can say that the Artful Bag Challenge got off to a great start. I was just amazed by the beautiful and creative bags everyone came up with. Thank you to all of you who played along and shared your sweet little paper purses.

Before I start on February I have a winner to announce and one more bag to share. Sandy from Sandy's Space created the adorable bag below. It's sweet and feminine and makes me think of Spring. I love the flowers on the button which match the flowers in the background. Sandy is sponsoring the January challenge and is offering the book Purse Pizzaz to the random drawing winner.

Thank you Sandy!

Since Sandy and I are not included in the drawing the actual total number of participants is 27 (Sandy didn't add her link but I added mine first to test the Linky). This means everyone's number jumps back by one. Number 2 becomes 1, etc. I used the Random Number Generator this time and the winner is...

Number 8 who is really #9, and that is Debbie from Simply Debbie
Congratulations Debbie!

Enjoy your book!

*   *   *   *

Now on to the Febraury Artful Bag Challenge!

Our second theme is Alter It. The objective is to take any object that is NOT a bag and turn it into one. Boxes, pudding cups, bottles, mint tins, plaques...anything you can think of. The finished product can be decorative or functional but should clearly look like a bag.

Since there was such an abundance of Valentines stuff out I decided to use a box of Sweethearts candies. I couldn't resist all the fun pink and sweet pastel colors. I imagined going to a Valentines Day tea in Wonderland with the Mad Hatter himself.

I covered the box with Gesso and washed it with different shades of pink, lime and yellow gold. The Mad Hatter and tea set graphics are from my Halloween Alice in Wonderland scrapbook papers by Graphic45.

I cut out part of the front to create the flap and painted a black and white stripe along

the edges. Then I added black trim to the flap, black paper roses and

puffy pink glittery hearts.

The handle is made from the stems of 2 silk roses which I twisted into shape then hot glued on. I also added a large vintage pearl bead to create the 'clasp' and 4 smaller ones for the feet.

I thought of this saying which I remember seeing on another project in Somerset Studio. I always liked it because I think of myself that way. I love pinks and frills but always need a touch of black and a bit of grunge or it's too too sweet. I guess I'm just not sweet enough!

I hope you will decide to play along this month. Remember the challenge is open the entire month. I will add a button to the sidebar to make it easy to find this post. I can't wait to see all your fabulous creations again. If you didn't join us last month you are very welcome to start this month. Please feel free to visit the Artful Bag Challenge page for schedule and guidelines or drop me an email anytime.

The new Linky tool is right below.

Please add the link to your bag post.

See you soon.

happy birthday petunia

I have watched the little cat on my PitaPata counter make it's way across the bar, one day at a time for the last 12 months. I remember  how exciting it was when the kitty was at the one month  mark, then the four month mark which was a big deal to me. Three or four months was my usual average before I would loose interest in my new 'latest thing'. But I didn't and I kept watching the kitty make it to 6 months, 9 months, 11 and now it's all the way across!

One year ago today I posted a picture of a lemon cupcake and talked about plans to blog about all sorts of cupcake related things. Ever since that first post I can honestly say that blogging has changed my life. I know it sounds a bit dramatic but it's really the only way to sum up the amazing experience I've had this past year.

I won't go into all the details because you probably already heard me go on and on about it before. I talked about how I was inspired to start blogging in my Art Saves story and you are welcome to read it if you like. But I will say one thing again, and that is that the best part I have found about blogging is the friendships I've made here in Bloggyland.

You guys inspire me, make me smile, encourage me when
I give in to self doubt and just color my world with art and magic and fun.

Thank you again
and again from
the bottom
of my
heart.
♥

So today is a party day! And I'm so glad you stopped by to join me.

Petunia and I have the most adorable cupcake to share with you.

A frosted pink vanilla sweet cake treat covered with chocolate morsels all the way around. Yum! And look, the little topper is a pink purse! How Frosted Petunias is that?

Did you know my blog was originally called Cupcake Alchemy? I knew I wanted to blog about creative projects but I needed a place to start. I love cupcakes so I thought why not start there? So I focused on cupcake themed crafts, like my first polymer clay charm bracelet, and real yummy cupcakes like this chocolate one from a shop near my house that just closed down a few months ago. Sadly not enough people were as cupcake obsessed as I was.

Then almost exactly a month after my first post I found myself doodling while watching the Winter Olympics (obviously Figure Skating wasn't on lol). I made a simple little girl and after I finished her digitally I came up with a new banner (1 of 999 banners to come) and a new blog name.

I was already blogging about other things like trips to the thrift store and non cupcake related projects. But I still loved cupcakes and frosting, both the sugary sweet kind and the icy kind that makes flowers and pretty things glitter.

And petunias were not just flowers I love but a name that always sounded whimsical, silly, but still deliciously lovely to me. Saying the word petunia makes me smile.
So Frosted Petunias it was.

living inspired....

You know the song I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack right? It has been around for a while, maybe 10 years. I always thought it was pretty and loved the message. I would even sing along to it every now and then but it never really resonated with me personally, the way it has for others I knew.

Then a week ago, while I was on my organizing binge, I looked through an older copy of Where Women Create. In the opening letter from editor Jo Packham, Jo talked about change, creativity, courage and growth. She also included the lyrics to I Hope You Dance which she said, meant a lot to her.

That was the first time I really felt the words and understood where it was coming from. I decided 'faith' would be the word I would choose to inspire me this year.

So while my electricity was out a few nights ago I worked on another one of my little collages by faerie lantern and candlelight. I have been making these girls and giving them skirts made from my favorite stripey Halloween napkins. My little girl looked like she was waiting. Perhaps to dance and that song again wandered into my head again.

"Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the chance to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance....

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Living might mean taking chances

But they're worth taking...."

I think these words can apply to everything really. From big life challenges to personal goals and just day to day living. We are challenged to make choices everyday. Simple things like what to have for lunch, and big things like who we want to spend the rest of our lives with.

Sometimes the choices are harder with risks involved. Risks that might break our spirit or our hearts, or push us out of our comfort zones. It's so much easier to stay where it's nice and safe and cozy. I know I did for years and years. I made excuses and decided I'd rather just sit it out.

Well I'd rather not sit anymore thank you.

 I think I would rather dance.

And I hope you will to.

I would love for my dancer to go home to one of you, where I hope she will inspire you to step out and follow your dreams. I felt so much joy creating her and I hope what I felt in my heart transferred onto canvas.

I Hope You Dance is a mixed media collage on 8x8 inch stretched canvas. It's three dimensional, made with sealed layers of printed pages, tissue, paint, pencils and glitter. The skirt is stiffened and sculpted into shape.

The 3/4 inch border is painted deep raspberry and it is ready to hang.

If you would like a chance to win her simply leave a comment and tell me what your favorite cupcake flavor is, or if you're not a cupcake person (OMG!) tell me what your favorite dessert is. The drawing will be open for 2 weeks and I'll announce the winner on Saturday, Feb 5.

I also created a button and if you would like to help me spread the word you can put it on your blog and let me know in another comment for a 2nd chance to win. Please add a link to this post. I have never done a drawing this way before but I thought if I couldn't share the love on my blogaversary when else would I!

Thank you for stopping by on my big bloggy birthday day. I'm so excited about what the next year holds for all of us. I hope it's filled with creativity, inspiration, passion, glitter, whimsy and lots and lots of dancing.

♥

Have a beautiful weekend.