Hello Zebra Banner

Here's another freebie banner to go

with the Party Invitation Banner HERE

Just click the image above to save, download and print.

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

Judy Streger The Mixed-up Media Artist- has taken her hubby's shirt destined for the thrift store and refashioned it into a purse...now that's what you call re purposing!

The Artful Crafter -Eileen shows you how to make beautiful roses from paper clay. Paper clay is fun to work with and very easy on the hands. For this project the only molded shapes you need to make are balls and cones. Then you flatten them to make either rose petals or leaves.

The Crochet Dude -Kick off summer with Drew's latest free pattern, "Brain Freeze"!

CraftyPod- Sister Diane's been making some interesting stuff with her Cricut and Cuttlebug...

Cross Stitch at About.com- Meet Mr. X Stitch - Learn more about the man who helps put the X in x-stitch. Mr. Cross Stitch aka Jamie Chalmers designs and supports modern Cross Stitch and embroidery.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery- Old metal disk earrings get a industrial makeover with help from the new book- Chic Metal by Victoria Tillotson.

The Impatient Crafter -It's Flip Out Flip Flop Summer madness at The Impatient Crafter. DIY a pair of lace up Goddess sandals with Madge!

Vickie Howell -Download a free Pop Goes Crochet pattern for the "Doris" summer scarf!

Blisstree Arts Cyndi has been featuring some awesome polymer clay artists recently. Check out Dayle Doroshow's work!

Cathie Filian Whip up some flirty summer fashions with Cathie as she dyes slips.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world -Craftside's got the latest episode of the video series Look, Learn & Create with Amy Hanna author of Rejuvenated Jewels, 1 of the tips from the book: 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers, a sneak peek in Book-Art with more info about Swap-o-rama-rama at Maker Faire this weekend and how to make a stencil portrait from L. K. Ludwig's book: True Vision.

Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy reviews a book that may have answers for your crochet questions.

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Party Banner Invitation in a Tin

Download this party banner invitation, print it out, string it on ribbon, mail it in a windowed tin, and you have yourself a unique and fun invitation! Or create your own banner and send a fun greeting through the mail.

Click the image above to enlarge and then right click to save and download.
Click HERE to view my mini tutorial to see the finished banner in a tin!

Mail your invitation as is in the tin!

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Banners & Spring!

I was cleaning up things the other day

after having a banner making day with my niece

and created this mini fun banner it measures about

2.5". I'm thinking of putting some sticky magnets on

the back and making a fridge banner out of it!

Click HERE to view the other banners I've made.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note...

I thought I'd share a picture hubby

just took of our house all lush and green!

Living in a hot zone it doesn't stay lush

green for long.

To see more pictures of my

funky farmhouse click HERE

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Real Women Have Curves!

Meet Sassy Sadie she's part of my Curvalicious series

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Rozlynn Revision!

After careful expert opinion Rozlynn has had a

change of background (see the original below)

It just seemed she blended too much

with her background.

What do you think of the change?

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Memorial Week Special!

I have a Memorial Week Special going at

Outside The Margins

15% off your complete order.

Use coupon code "happy"

when your checking out.

Click HERE to pop over to OTM and take

advantage of the special. Special ends Saturday May 30th.

Any problems checking out email me otm@outsidethemargins.com

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Woman and Chocolate!

Rozlynn tried giving up chocolate once,

it wasn't a pretty sight! I heard she almost gnawed

off her finger when she did finally get some chocolate!

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner How do you brand yourself and your business? Alexa shares how she brands herself and offers some helpful marketing and graphic design ideas to help you build yours!

Blisstree Arts Many of Cyndi's favorite Photoshop tricks!

Cathie Filian Forget about "gone fishing" signs and "golf anyone" trinket boxes. Grab some fabric paints, freezer paper, iron-ons and get creative making one-of-a-kind fashions for your pop, pal or hubby.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside has the first in their how to video series, Look, Learn & Create with this week's guest Christi Friesen author of Polymer Clay and Mixed-Media Together at Last, as well as some inspiration and tips for working in series, wordless journaling and a free deer stencil from the new book The Art of Paper Cutting with a how-to for a pattern slider card.

Crafty Princess Diaries -Tammy shows off an oldie but goodie, her old Kenmore sewing machine.

CraftyPod Sister Diane shares some tips for using Twitter and Facebook to market a creative business.

Cross Stitch at About.com Connie's Grandmother was a quilter and she's created a special chart to memorialize her. Stitch it up for the quilter in your life.

Naughty Secretary Club Inspired by Marty Stevens-Heebner’s new book Altered Shoes, Jen gives a pair of white cotton Mary Janes a full makeover.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Stefanie's cross stitched up the 7 deadly sins in Latin with a scissor accent and gives you the pattern so you can make it too!

The Crochet Dude Drew talks about what could be better than a crochet cruise to the Caribbean!

The Impatient Crafter Madge is giving away a melange of beads from her Bead Board of Wonders and shares a fun mixed media project!

Vickie Howell Create earth-friendly vases out of re-used mason jars & twine. This one's for both knitters and crafters alike!

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Margie MuffinTop

This was a hard one...not to draw because once my friend gave me the idea she just flew onto paper! It was the saying that was hard....I had the hardest time trying to decide on a saying to go with my Margie MuffinTop. I finally came up with the one I used...what do you think? Do you have any better ones?

Click HERE to view all my whimsical drawings

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Tie-Dyed Deli Paper Backgrounds

Example 1.

Example 2.

Example 3.

Here are a few tie-dyed deli paper backgrounds I made the other day using my Color Mists. I had originally taken photos of my step by step process to show you, but my photo card bit the dust and I lost all the pics I took *sniff*

Example 1. I folded into a squares over and over again and then sprayed some Color Mists into a small plastic container and dip the edges in and then used a pipette to add color where it didn’t soak in. Example 2. I folded into triangles until it was completely folded small and dipped once again and then used the pipettes to add color as needed. Example 3. I gathered the deli paper into the middle and twisted until it was a completely twisted like twisty paper, and then applied the Color Mist with the pipette in sections. With all of them I used a heat gun to dry as I slowly unfolded them little by little…if some areas weren’t saturated enough I used the pipette to apply more color. Once the deli paper was completely dried I used chunky foam stamps and white gesso to stamp onto the deli paper.

After, I scanned each background into my computer and created fractal backgrounds using Paint Shop Pro.

Download free fractal backgrounds HERE

ATC

Veronica

ATC

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It's 5 o'clock somewhere!

Here's another new character. It's funny how each character's name pops in my head while they're personalities develop as I'm drawing.

Patsy takes her shopping & martinis quite serious!

She figures it's always 5 o'clock somewhere

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Time to announce the winners of my recent

blog giveaway!

Thanks to the help of my sons I had them pull names last night. For each person that left their name and email I added their name into the jar and for those that posted on their blog I added their name twice.

And the winners Are....

Brittany Heskett

http://www.papermoonies.blogspot.com/

*

Cindy B

eiggam44@yahoo.com

*

Kathy LaRocco

http://artful-musings-of-kathyl.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Ladies!

Please email me your snail mail addresses

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Marissa The Mermaid

Meet Marissa the Mermaid.

She's always ready for a party!

Give her a girlie drink and

she's happy as a clam!

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PYM II Sale!

I don't know about you, but I always get excited at the mention of a sale! ,I thought I'd pass this May Special on to you! The wonderful folks over at Precision-Blue are offering a PYM II special for the month of May!!! If you aren't familiar with PYM II let me enlighten you...PYM is the ultimate acrylic sealer! Its a waterproof and UV repellent and what I use on all my artwork, metal work, photos, ink jet prints, and anything I put outside that's going to get hit by our hot California sun! I have a mailbox that's over 2 years old that I painted and it still looks exactly like when I first painted it no fading whatsoever! If I could I would have sprayed my entire house after we had it painted! LOL The other things I love about PYM II is that it dries fast and takes on whatever finish you originally had!

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

Naughty Secretary Club Love the look of the groovy spaghetti string lamps from the 60’s? Make your own with Jen, some yarn, a balloon and a little fabric stiffener.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Sweater Surgery in the Pratt Institute Magazine and Bookmarks You can make at Maker Faire with me!

The Impatient Crafter Style Guru Brini Maxwell and The Impatient Crafter Margot Potter want you to join them on their Crafty Cabaret Carribean Cruise in Fall of 2010! Here's the 411!

Vickie Howell Need a home decor, quick-fix? Vickie shows you how to use fabric scraps to over those otherwise drab, light switch plates!

Blisstree Arts Digital art calls for a creative framing method!

Cathie Filian Cathie whips up a "no calorie cake" with a few items from the dollar store!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Inside peeks into the new books: Mosaics: The Art of Reuse and my shotgun and sea shell stepping stones, SKETCHBOOK and a few of my sketchbook sketches and their end result, Re-Bound and the story behind this month's San Metao Maker Faire (30th and 31st) "Makeready" journal we will be giving away in our booth, and a Sweater Surgery Hello Kitty Sunglass case how-to.

Crafty Princess Diaries Are you cutting coupons these days? Then make this simple little crochet coupon holder to keep them organzied.

CraftyPod Sister Diane shows you how to make a quilted fabric pendant.

Cross Stitch at About.com Connie's been in a Sci-Fi mood lately - check out her Out of This World Patterns.

About Family Crafts Discover how you can create your own fancy, garden stepping stones.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Swelldesigner shares with you why you need a mini idea book !

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Bottle Cap Monogram Necklace

I've been making bottle cap jewelry

for years, and now its found a resurgence

among teen girls. They're having parties

making bottle cap jewelry! How cool is that!

Below is a Bottle Cap Necklace my niece made.

Click HERE to check out my

Bottle Cap Monogram

Necklace Tutorial

Bottle Cap Necklace Variation

Bottle Cap Zipper Pull

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Bride and Nurse Whimsies

It's been several days too long since I've had time to draw! I was beginning to have withdrawals. At the encouragement of my friend, I've drawn some themed whimsies.

Meet Nurse Samantha, she's quick

with the needle and the drink!

Wendy was a happy bride...especially after 4 glasses of champagne!

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Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's out there!

I use to hate this holiday for years after I lost my mother I was envious of others that still had their mother with them. For those of you who don't have your mother with you any longer my heart goes out to you especially those of you who recently lost your mother it's a pain that only time can heal! I'm happy to say that eventually I got over that feeling and I now can enjoy mother's day again celebrating with my kids. Above is an altered book niche that I created years ago in honor of my mother. She was an artist and so creative, out spoken, wise and could grow anything! I owe my creativity to the creative life she exposed me to growing up, thanks mom!

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Crafty Blogger Blurbs

About Family Crafts If you are looking for an almost instant Mother's Day gift or activity, check out these free, printable Mother's Day projects.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Make your own mini Moo-like business cards from junk mail postcards!

Blisstree Arts Cyndi has compiled her favorite posts on creating collages and art quilts

Cathie Filian Cathie is Mod Podging thrift shop plates to make unique collages and mini works of art.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside's got a cool scratching photo technique, 2 ways to weave an eyeglass case, an interview with the author of Art Doll Adventures: Lisa Li Hertzi, a tutorial on how to needle felt a bird and as always questions of the day that if you answer you're entered to win a free book!

Crafty Princess Diaries Even if you missed making this for mom this Mother's Day, the Crafty Princess has a great combo gift idea for your next gift-giving need. Part of it you can make and part you can purchase, but both are inexpensive and perfect for lots of folks on your list.

Cross Stitch at About.com Stitching on dark Cross Stitch fabrics is challenging for most of us. Do you stitch on dark fabrics? Vote in the poll, read Connie's tips, and share your own tips and tricks.

Naughty Secretary Club Jen shows how she whipped up a coordinating fabric covered photo album to match the curtains and the cushions in her daughter’s nursery.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery A plain glass bottle gets a makeover with an engraved plaid jackalope following the great directions from the new book: Glass Engraving by Sonia Lucano.

The Crochet Dude Drew finally announces his latest news; plus video!

The Impatient Crafter Caution: Madge's new book may cause you to dive into a craft binge. She's created a form excuse letter so you can skip work and craft to your heart's content!

Vickie Howell In preparation for Summer break, Vickie shows a simple craft for bringing a little magic into your kids' vacation!

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Fun Nun!

Ahh it's been a few days hmm...where has this week gone to! I have no idea, but here its almost Friday! I couldn't resist drawing another whimsical nun and putting it with this saying I borrowed from my friend Debi's tagline.

Don't ya just love this quote, though

some how I don't think they had a nun

in mind when they said it LOL

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Whimsical Nun

This drawing was done for my real sister .

Meet Sistah Mary Margaret she's quite the sporty nun! You never know when you might catch Sistah Mary Margaret shooting hoops, playing hopscotch or even rollerskating!

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Sierra The Fairy

Sierra The Fairy

Sierra is quite the little Florence Nightingale Fairy. Her speciality is healing wounded birds and animals of the forest. With one swish of her magical wand they're good as new!

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Blog Giveaway!

I’m offering these 3 ATC size (2.5”x3.5”) original drawings for a giveaway.

1. You can enter for a chance to win by posting and leaving your name AND EMAIL<—important since I can’t contact you without an email.

2. You can enter a second time by mentioning this giveaway on your blog with a link back then post back here when you’ve done that and you’ll be entered twice.

In two weeks I’ll draw 3 names and post the winners here and once I receive your mailing address I’ll pop your original signed ATC in the mail to you.

Felicity The Mermaid

Felicity is all about having the latest designer mermaid fashions and having her hair just right. She's cousins with Penelope but they couldn't be more different in personality! One might even say she's a bit snooty!

Did you know you can click on the label "whimsical drawing" below to view all my drawings at once or click HERE

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Cold Case

I'm excited to announce my nephew will be in the show Cold Case Sunday evening. He'll also be in next week's show (it's a 2 part show). It's not a speaking part, but he did have a lot of fun meeting everyone and being a part of the show.

Click the link below my nephew is the one standing guard on the far left. Since he's a marine this came natural to him.

http://www.tv.com/Cold+Case/The+Long+Blue+Line+%281%29/episode/1255434/summary.html

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The Impatient Crafter Learn how to make beaded wire circles with Madge!

Vickie Howell Create customized cards out recycled fabric and keepsake images!

The Crochet Dude Drew talks about his latest hook/needle find in an All Boye Review!

About Family Crafts Help needed: Looking for creative graduation decorations... Ideas anyone?

Blisstree Arts Cyndi has rounded up all of her favorite posts on making background papers and fabrics for your projects.

Cathie Filian Cathie volunteered to make 40 centerpieces for an Awards Gala - Check out her trip to the flower district and step-by-step instructions on how to make the arrangements.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside's got a crochet pattern for a pop art roll of toilet paper cozy, a detailed tutorial on how to make a photo based painting, a free dress silhouette template from the new book: Cloth Doll Artistry, and a couple of necklaces made from some very unusual recycled elements.

Crafty Princess Diaries Go shopping in style with your own crocheted tote bag. The Crafty Princess shows off her latest finished fiber project.

CraftyPod In her latest podcast, Sister Diane interviews Sarah Hodsdon about the future of the design profession in a global, digital economy.

Cross Stitch at About.com Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with Connie's latest fun, fabulous, and did we mention FREE Cross Stitch pattern.

Naughty Secretary Club Jen does a little painting, searches for vintages images and boils a pair of eyeglasses all in the name of creating a necklace with a little specs appeal.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how to make stitchless embroidered fabric from the cool new book: Fabricate by Susan Wasinger.

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Crowned & Proud

Wow, I've been Awe-Summmly crowned! My very own sparklie crown that twinkles

by none other then The Creative Queen herself! (Please check out her site and see her wonderful eye candy, and win some woot loot while your there!)

I am humbled as I accept this royally Awe-Summm crown....I would curtsy, but last time I tried I fell and couldn't get up! So here's the catch official royal acceptance guidelines:

List 7 things that make you Awe-Summ
and then pass the award on to 7 bloggers you love.

1. I am Awe-Summ at making a mess of my work area!
2. I am Awe-Summ at altering/re purposing found objects.
3. I am Awe-Summ at sharing with others
4. I am Awe-Summ at that which can be put off until tomorrow!
5. I am Awe-Summ at remembering facts about movies and TV shows.
6. I am Awe-Summ at having multiple projects going at once.
7. I am an Awe-Summ loyal and caring friend.

And now I pass this royal award on to the following kewl & Kreative bloggers who inspire me! Without further ado here they are in alphabetical order:

ArtfulLife- Summer Swanson

Ad Libitum-Joanne Thieme Huffman

Bella Sinclair Doodlespot

Flying Colors Lisa Rivas

Karen's Musings

Madge The Impatient Crafter

Time with Tascha

Happy Creating!

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Charlotte & Evelynn

Charlotte doesn't have a problem with caffeine.

She has a problem without caffeine! Don't even think about

talking to her until she's had her

morning cuppa!

Evelynn feels coffee shared with a

friend is happiness tasted & time well spent.

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