World Stationery Day, A Giveaway, And A Winner!

Earlier today, I found out that this is National Stationery Week and today is World Stationery Day which is about preserving the art of writing letters and cards.

How fun.  I know the week is half over, put you can still celebrate by mailing a letter (or two) on some pretty stationery or a handmade card.  

I thought it would be fun to celebrate by having a giveaway.  Yes, I am one of those weird people addicted to all things related to stationery and correspondence, such as pretty paper, pens, pencils, out-of-the-ordinary envelopes, washi tape, and on, and on, and on......  

I would like to share a little bit of my stash with you.  We'll call it a stationery grab bag prize!  Leave a comment below telling me how long it has been since you snail mailed a piece of personal correspondence.  I'll pick a winner on Sunday.  

And speaking of giveaways, the winner of a sheet of the Italian handmade marbled paper (from the 4/21 blog post) is.........drumroll, please.......KimM!  Congrats Kim.  I will be in touch soon to get your address.

Lovely Snail Mail And A Giveaway!

It has been so long since my last post.  (Can we say 9 months!!!) Is it me or does it seem like the blogosphere is not as active as it used to be?  Oh well.  I guess blog posting on a regular basis is just not gonna happen with me.  Good thing Blogger doesn't deactivate blogs for inactivity.

I have been meaning to do this post for quite a while.  I received some lovely snail mail in January that I would like to share with you.

First of all, take a look at the beautiful envie that I found in my mailbox........

And just in case you're wondering - that lacey "doodle" on the left side of the envie was hand drawn by  my totally artistic friend, Amy.  Should I even mention that it was her first attemp at drawing lace?!?!  And look at how beautiful the address lettering is.  Doesn't it make you smile?  I think I skipped back to the house from the mailbox.  She could have left out the envelope contents and I still would have been thrilled with this piece of art!  But, there were goodies inside!  First there was a nice handwritten note celebrating National Handwriting Day.......

Also enclosed was a little gift which was wrapped in this "upcycled" paper.....

How cool is that?  I plan on upcycling it again as an envelope.  But more about that later because I know you are anxious to see what was inside the package.  Take a look at these beauties....

Beautiful handmade marbled paper from a bookbinding shop in Florence, Italy.  And my photo does not do justice to the vivid colors!  As a side note, Amy and her hubby spent some time in Europe last year.  If you would like to follow along on her trip, she has blogged about it here.  Tom and I were in Florence in 2012.  I totally missed that bookbinding shop.....but, thanks to Amy, I now have a souvenir.  Aren't these papers gorgeous?  I have decided to frame at least one of the papers....and possibly two.  But, alas, what should I do with the third sheet?  Maybe share with someone else?  Yes, that is a great idea.  So, wha' cha think??  Should I mail a note to someone on a sheet of the marbled paper and use the wrapping paper as an envelope?  Do YOU want to be the recipient???  If so, leave a comment on this blog post and tell me your favorite thing about receiving snail mail.  

I'll let Bozo pick a winner on Monday, April 25.  

 How does he do that with his legs?

A Finish! (Finally)

After six-months of very sporadic stitching, I finally finished this last night.

The Beekeeper

Designer: Plum Street Samplers

Stitched on 35 ct. Natural Northern Cross linen

Fibers:  Weeks Dye Works Over Dyed Cotton Floss

Stitched size:  6.5" x 9.25"

Normally this would not take very long to stitch but there were weeks where I did no stitching at all....so, it turned into a six–month project.  My plan is to drop this off at the frame shop next week.

I did manage to stitch this little piece a few weeks ago in between stitching on The Beekeeper.

 

Friendship Quilts

Designer:  JBW Designs, Sweet Nothings

Stitched on linen from my "stash" using DMC cotton floss

Stitched size: 3" x 3"

I modified the stitched piece.  The pattern included a sentiment around the quilt blocks which I opted to leave off.  I may finish this into a pincushion and give it to someone for Christmas.

I always get excited when I get close to finishing a design because that means I get to start something new!  I started a new stitching project last night....but more about that in my next post.

What are you stitching??

May Flowers Challenge

The May challenge over on the Tombow blog is May Flowers.  The challenge theme shouldn't be a surprise since April's challenge was 'April Showers'!

When I papercraft, I rarely throw anything away!  I have several boxes of paper scraps, stamped images that I thought I was going to use on a card but didn't, etc.  I even keep "junk mail" when I KNOW it will be a perfect decoration or embellishment for a card.  Over the past few days, I've been going through my "scraps" and have made several cards.  Here is a card that I made with 5 punched out flower images that have just been laying around waiting to be used!  I thought this would be the perfect card to enter for the Tombow May Challenge.

Card stock, stamps, flower punch, and ink are all Stampin' Up products.  

I'll be posting more "scrap cards" soon!

April Showers Challenge

Tombow has an April Showers challenge going on this month.  Last night I came up with this CAS "thinking of you" card to submit.

The umbrella and raindrops are from the Stampin' Up Rain or Shine stamp set.  The sentiment, "The sun'll come out, tomorrow", is from Kraftin' Kimmie's Little Orphan Annie stamp set.  I used my favorite Tombow adhesive (Mono Adhesive Power Bond) for assembling the card layers.

The challenge ends tomorrow (!) so better get your craft on quick if you want to submit an entry.

Sunday Night Stitchin'

Work in progress!

Plum Street Samplers "The Beekeeper" stitched on 35 ct. linen using Weeks Dye Works overdyed floss.

Love Is In The Air!

I have been making Valentines like You.Would.Not.Believe!!  Since yesterday afternoon I have made 15 Valentines.  Are you making Valentines this year?  Time is running out.  There are only 9 days left.

Need some inspiration?  I found inspiration for lots of my cards on Pinterest.  However I did come up with my own design on some of the cards.  Here is one that I just got through making.  Isn't this adorable??

Supplies:  cardstock - Bazzill Basics

background stamp - Stampin' Up En Francais

balloon strings & sentiment - Lil' Inkers Balloon Builders stamp set

balloon die cuts - Lil' Inkers Balloon Dies

balloons - Bo Bunny and stash paper

 

I used to enter card challenges on a somewhat frequent basis but have gotten out of the habit over the last year or so.  But I plan on entering this card in both the Word Art Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge #169 and the Tombow Valentine's Day challenge.  Tombow is my "go to" for adhesive.  This is my fave adhesive for paper crafting.....

I plan on posting more of the Valentines that I made in a few days.  Quick!  Go get your Valentine craft on!