The Walking Dead....

I started on my cozy, planning to do something out of the feltie book.  But then we got on a The Walking Dead marathon and changed gears!

I had planned on making it a bit more elaborate but having a new puppy in the household sort of eats up all my time!

So here is my project for this month's challenge!!!

On another note, if y'all haven't discovered the series, you need to check it out!

sneak a peek

soooooo many heartless choices........

matryoshka made

She is so cute! I made her using this freebie.
I'm very happy with how she turned out. You can't see the blush on her cheeks in the photo but they are very pinky and cheeky!

now I may try one out of the Fa La La La Felt book......

cuteness

To get everyone in the mood, check these cute printables out! I found them here at "this one thing I do:

and


head over and print some for yourself this month!

Enjoy!

February's Theme!

Years ago I bought this book to read with Kaela.
It was such a cute cover that I didn't even bother to read what it was about. Once we read it, we both fell in love, it was so cute and fun.
Kaela kept saying she was glad she didn't have a doll like Babushka's! I agreed with her but secretly thought Babushka was a very wise grandmother.

I hope you all take the time to go check it out....you won't be disappointed!

February's book: "Babushka's Doll"

February's ornament: matryoshka doll

February's challenge: use felt (like the one from Fa La La La Felt)

"A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween." ~Erma Bombeck

Thank you Cristal!!!

I got my feb package from Cristal today - and I was blown away! See for yourself:

The item on the bottom is is great journal with a homemade cover, the next item up is a giant mug rug (I will use this over and over as I drink hot tea all day), and a tea wallet on top!! She made me 2 adorable  gnome homes out of felt.. and my fav candy!! Thanks so much for spoiling me Cristal!

home for a gnome....

Only a handful of us decided to swap in February.....Missy and I were partners!

The month's theme was 'gnome homes' here is what I came up with...
a wee gnome home pin cushion.....yep, gotta make me one of those!


and the gnome home. I experimented with a few and I liked this one the best.


here are the rest of the goodies...I shipped it in this cute Christmas box...perfect size to ship the mug... everything fit perfectly.
I sent a little white bird (I think I remember Missy saying she collects them...) some moon flower seeds, some cocoa and bath salts...and m&ms.


and look what she sent me in return!

A gnome home, a mug rug, an extra gnome ornament. I couldn't get a good photo of it but it is awesome! Then she made me a sweet gnome home door to put somewhere special....and chocolate....gotta love that!


This brought tears to my eyes...I don't quilt, no patience...so this mug rug is extra special to me...


And the perfect gnome home...I varnished it so it would last for years to come. The back is just as beautiful. I will cherish this.....


Missy, thank you so much! I love everything!

YOE: February's craftalong theme!

*Dressed for Winter swap participants don't freak out....the swap is still going on, I just need to get February's theme up for everyone crafting along with YOE.

Gnomes are so enchanting.....grumpy happy little workers in pointy hats and shoes....with beards so thick you can't see their faces at all!

They go home to their cute little snow covered gnome homes and sit in front of the fire with a mug of warm grog.

makes me think of this postcard again...which made me think of our theme for this month....




February's theme: a "gnome home" ornament for your YOE tree.

Challenge: Use a different medium that you usually do. Try something different!

Activity: go to see the Gnomeo and Juliet movie. You can always blame it on me :-)




For inspiration, try places like flickr, etsy and google......I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

Have fun and don't forget to post your creations...

February's Fairy

Missy sent me this AMAZING fairy! She is truly exquisite.


she came with these lovely dried orange flower blossoms which made the box smell lovely...


and a mushroom bookmark, pixie dust with a toadstool stopper, fairy glitter, owl ribbon, and lovely ornate Easter egg...

Missy, I love everything. Thank you so much!

Fairy Goodness from Jenny!

OH MY!! Look at all this Fairy Goodness that my Swap Partner, Jenny sent me!!

She sent me some wonderful goodies that I can use in the making of my Fairy Doors, a set of lovely vintage napkins, a gorgeous leaf magnet made from a vintage brooch and so many other great goodies!

But the sweet little Fairy (who was hiding in the little blue pouch) was the BEST surprise of all! 

She's not quite two inches tall and is made from buttons and small beads. Isn't she just adorable??? She's just so teeny-tiny!

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! Jenny!

February's Fairy & Friend

Look at all these wonderful goodies that Robin sent my way!!! Robin, you are SO generous with your creative giving! I was so amazed to find so many wonderful items in the box when it arrived yesterday.
There was my little fairy nestled in with her big green dragon friend, a mini eye-spy quilt for the boys (AWESOME!!), colored pencils, sharpeners, and a mini sticky note pad, a pair of Valentine knee highs (yay!), a fat quarter with hearts, two bead necklaces with medallions, and a little baggy with a strawberry pin and four felt cupcakes (I think).
Here's my sweet little fairy with her dashing green dragon pal. My toddler snatched him up pretty quick once I opened the box. You're right Robin, dragons and fairies DO go together...my mom lives by the same rule in her household. :) Thank you SO MUCH Robin, everything was fabulous!!

Here's what I sent to Robin. I took this pic before I found the chocolate covered Red Vines and Leavenworth postcards.
This month's challenge was to use glitter....here's how I used some gold glitter on Miss Yellow Fairy...
And for our fairy house, we haven't gotten around to building a NEW one, but here are a few existing ones in our backyard that we winterized by locating them at a higher elevation so they wouldn't get buried with snow through the winter (although, it hardly snowed and mostly rained this winter). The first two are actually Gnome Homes with little red and white mushrooms on some moss and the third being a fairy's honeymoon suite. This past month has been super rainy and extra muddy all over so I didn't want to take the kiddies out to build a new fairy house in it.

February's Fairy

Here is a pic of the Fairy I made for Jenny for February.

Her name is Blu.  And she stands about 2" tall. With lots of glitter on her wings.

The Fairy House is still a WIP.......

Spoiled!

This is going to be a great year if we all keep getting spoiled each month!!

 

This is the fabulous package that arrived on my doorstep from Ramie. Ramie managed to fit lots of goodies into a small package.

 

Ramie made me the cutest little fairy.

I put up a bunch of pictures over on my blog if you want to see closeups of everything.

Fairy Cake recipe

This is Paula Deen's famous Lemon Blossom cake recipe.....but I call them Fairy Cakes because they are made with a mini muffin tin.

These are AWESOME and easy to make. I thought you'd like to sample them while building your fairy houses!

Ingredients:

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 c veg. oil

4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
the zest of 1 lemon
3 Tbls veg. oil
3 Tbls. water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Fill each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel.

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

Dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible. I do this by sticking a fork in the bottom of the cupcake and dipping it into the glaze....or I just put them into the glaze a few at a time, turning them to completely coat.

Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

"Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.
Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops that they hold."
~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, "A Faery Song"

To Missy

"With fabric and yarn and beads and such
I created a fairy, I like her so much!
I gave her a name, one that would fit her
Then added a touch of magical glitter.
I packed her up with some things you should like
And mailed her today for an afternoon flight
She is now on her way, across the land
But I won't be happy 'til she's in your hands!"

A Tu Tu Fairy Diva

You are gonna love her!!

Excuse the interruption!

Okay ladies....ALL January swaps have been received so the sidebar is empty again. Remember to email me when you start shipping out your February swaps, okay!

Because of the possibility of my emails going into a SPAM folder, I am going post partners here at the beginning of each month...just to be safe!

For February:

Val swaps with Missy
Sandy swaps with Sherry
Ramie swaps with Robin
Melinda swaps with Natalie
Kerry swaps with Kim
Jeanne swaps with Jenny
Courtney swaps with Gin
Niki swaps with Anna

February prize

A Page Kit Provincial Fare ... what is that you ask?

It's a crafting kit for maybe scrapbooking, or Tags, or whatever your busy head and hands can imagine and create!
 

This kit includes:

•  6 sheets of patterned paper
• 24 die cut shapes
• 192 stickers
• 10 chipboard shapes
• 6 3-d embellishments

It has colors of browns, beige, creams; alpha letter; numerals; leaves, birds, and flowers. And matches the YOE theme of the enchanted forest.

Here is a close up of a few of the items.

It should surely bring out the crafter in you!!

I will draw the lucky winner in one week on Monday, February 15th. 

February's Picture of Love!

Here is February's Calendar Shot!

February's theme!

A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near...

February's ornament theme: FAIRY!

Challenge: use glitter! You know you GOTTA have glitter on a fairy!

Activity: create your own FAIRY HOUSE!

There are SO many fairy's out there....I have a post scheduled tomorrow with some links so be sure to check it out!

February's challenge is to use glitter on your fairy ornament. (how could you NOT?)

February's activity is to create your own fairy house.
I encourage you to use this as an opportunity to take a walk with someone special.
Go walking through the woods or on a walking trail in your neighborhood, even a local park. While walking, collect natural items to use in your creation.

Some fairy houses use only natural items while others just a few....use your imagination!
Think of feathers, rocks, pebbles, twigs, leaves, acorns, pine cones, seed pods.....




As always, I encourage you to post about your creations so we can all see it!




"Soft moss a downy pillow makes, and green leaves spread a tent,
Where Faerie fold may rest and sleep until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby, the firefly gives a light,
The twinkling stars are candles bright, Sleep, Faeries all, Good Night."

~Elizabeth T. Dillingham, "A Faery Song"