Happy Mother's Day! (Okay...I'm a little late, but that's okay, I was late when I was born, too, so it works.)

What? I WAS!!! Two full weeks, actually. I was supposed to be a January baby, but, instead, I share my birthday with Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. It works for me. I like February much better than January, anyway! HA!

Well, I can't show you the gift I made for my Mom yet because, umm....I didn't make it yet. I had some supply issues (as in ... I didn't have them) so she will be getting her gift a bit later, but I am super excited about it, so I PROMISE to show you as soon as I finish it! SO CUTE!!!

I DID, however, manage to get her card made!



What better day to play with fabric flowers than MOTHER'S DAY???!!! I created this one with two different fabrics. A pretty white, grey, and purple patterned fabric strip is used for the center, and a lovely lavender is used for the rest. I love it!



I used my Cricut (Calligraphy Collection Cartridge) to cut the sentiment and added some Stickles for a bit of sparkle! The cut got a bit lost on the text background paper, so I inked the paper a bit to darken it and I love how it made the sentiment really pop!



And the best part? She liked it!!! It is so wonderful to have some people in my life who really appreciate the handmade cards that I create for them!



On another note, my AWESOME sister has a brand new blog for her theater company and she needs some followers!!! Please check out Take the Stage and become a follower! If you live in the New England area, or know anyone who does, we would love for you to spread the word! It is really a fabulous program!

Don't forget to enter Friday's free food giveaway!

Who Wants Free Food???? (Yup! It's a giveaway!) *Closed*

Okay, so in my humble opinion, that photo ALONE should make you want to enter! HA!
But, alas, I will give you more information!

So, Father's Day is coming up and even if your man isn't a Father, it's still nice to do nice things for him, right? Right. Good. And what is nicer than super yummy SNACKS?!!!! General Mills and My BlogSpark have come together to show off some super yummy snacks for both sweet AND salty cravings!

• Cocoa Puffs Treats Triple Chocolate: An indulgent cereal bar that combines the great taste of Cocoa Puffs cereal and chocolate into one decadent treat, Cocoa Puffs Treats Triple Chocolate is perfect for satisfying any sweet tooth.
• Bugles Hot Buffalo: Need something salty with a bit of a kick? Look no further than Bugles Hot Buffalo Crisp Corn Snacks, which blends the taste of hot buffalo sauce with crispy corn Bugles.
• Nature Valley Oats `N Dark Chocolate Crunchy Granola Bars: If you want the best of both worlds, give Nature Valley Oats `N Dark Chocolate Crunchy Granola Bars a try. These bars mix dark chocolate pieces, oats and crisp rice nuggets for a classic crunch and burst of whole grain goodness, making them a perfect natural snack that's high in fiber and protein, but low in saturated fat.

(The above information provided by MyBlogspark.)

Yup. Can you say YUM???? I can! Wanna know why? Because General Mills and My BlogSpark were awesome enough to send me the package above stuffed with these yummy treats! Both The Hubbums and I tried them and found ourselves liking very different things, which worked out well...no bruises! HA! He LOVES the Buffalo flavored Bugles. They are HOT STUFF! Personally, I found the Cocoa Puffs treats to be WAY fun! Super sweet, but way yummy!

Would YOU Like to win this prize pack to share with your man? (Or to hide in the closet and not let anyone in the house even know it exists?)

TO ENTER: (Mandatory)
General Mills and My BlogSpark would like to give this package to one JustJingle reader! To enter, leave a comment letting me know if your man prefers sweet or spice! (If you don't have a man, or if you ARE a man, or if you have a special woman in your life feel free to leave YOUR or HER preference!)

OPTIONAL EXTRA ENTRIES:
1. Follow my blog publicly and leave an ADDITIONAL comment letting me know!
2. Like my Facebook page and leave an ADDITIONAL comment letting me know!

Contest Ends Sunday 16 May 2010.

I was provided with the package shown above by MyBlogSpark and General Mills. They are also providing the prize for the winner. THANKS!!!

Meet Genevieve - She is ALMOST finished!!!

I really wanted to have Genevieve completed for you today, but... alas, I have come to a bit of a snag. She is done, but her outfit is, well, not quite there yet. I need help! LOL!








THIS, my friends, is Genevieve. She is a modern, classic, trendy sort of girl with a lot of spunk and a lot of questions. She has a lot of things in her life that make her incredibly happy. She has a wonderful family and people who love her, she has hobbies that keep her mind traveling to wonderful places and allow her to use her imagination to keep a flame ignited inside of her that drives her day in and day out. She is creative and energetic. But, something is missing. The thing is, Genevieve has a strong spirit and won't let that one thing blind her from all that is so wonderful around her. No, she will just keep on going, keep on creating, and keep on loving and being loved until she finds that piece and then she will know that all is well, at least for that moment.








I really had a wonderful time creating Genevieve's outfit! Her little Courduroy skirt, white t-shirt, and denim jacket are all created from thrifted fabrics or my own old clothes (like jeans that couldn't be thrifted because they have a hole in the butt. Just say'n.) She even has adorable little mary janes!!!! I {heart} shoes!!!!








I chose to use the bottom of a leg of the jeans because it had a seriously fabulous fray going on that just HAD to be the bottom of her jacket. Don't you love that???!!! I love that!








She is made from muslin with a paper clay head. I painted the fabric and the clay with multiple layers. I did a little experiment on her, too. I actually painted a coat of crackle medium over her painted surface and then, instead of paint, I layered a clear glaze as the top coat. Well, lesson learned. Glaze doesn't crackle! HA! But that's totally okay, because I did it for the purpose of learning and figured I'd design with whatever the result happened to be!








BUT...here is my dilemma! I can't quite figure out how to do the collar on the jacket! Now, understand, I don't sew. I mean, yes, I constructed her clothes and hand stitched them all, and I made her body from scratch and hand stitched that, and I'm happy with them, but, I am a hack and have no clue what I am doing! HA! I am totally stumped on this collar thing! I have a couple of theoretical ideas, but if you happen to know how to do them, feel free to toss your thoughts out for me to consider! PLEASE!!!








After I give her the proper collar, I want to add a necklace of some sort and I've been bouncing around the idea of a hair accessory, but I think I'm leaning away from that at the moment. Then again, this is me, so I could change my mind by tomorrow. Just say'n!

So....what do you think of Genevieve? Isn't she lovely? I think she is lovely. And she is hopeful and that is SO important. She knows there is something out there, she just needs to figure out what it is. Who knows...maybe it is somewhere in South Africa. Maybe.

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you all for the great ideas! Here she is totally finished! She makes me SOOO happy!



I am linking with the following parties:

The Calm Before the Show {Clue at MPAC 2010}

For More Wordless Wednesday Posts go here, here, and here!

Life the Life of Your Dreams - Skipping Stones Design

YAY!!!!  GUESS WHAT??!!!!

Ummmmm.....so yeah, I'm a little excited!  I was asked to be the guest designer for Skipping Stones Design for the month of May!!!!  Seriously!  How exciting is THAT?!!!  Lots of exciting.  That's how.  Just say'n.

We were each given the same sketch to work with and used, of course, amazing Skipping Stones Design stamps for the cards.  I chose to use the Healing Wings set for this card.  I really love these stamps!  They are just gorgeous and the sentiments are wonderful.  It is so hard to find good sets for sympathy cards and what I love about this set is that those are in there, but you have others to make it a super versatile set!





I used October Afternoon paper as my base and the fabulous pinks are Scenic Route.





I stamped the large butterfly with Close To My Heart ink on patterned paper and then added just a bit of sparkle with Stickles!  I love sparkle!!!!  Just say'n!





I added *just* a bit of fun by attaching the green bling at the head of the butterfly!  Heeeee!!!!! Love that!!!!!





I stamped the image directly onto twill tape that I had sprayed with glimmer mist.  I love how well these stamps work on the different textures!  They are really fantastic quality!





Skipping Stones Design has a great P.M.S. sale going on right now, too!!!  Why PMS?  PURCHASE MORE STAMPS!!!!  That's WHY!!!  tee. hee.  that's fun stuff.  Just say'n!

Here are the details for you:

P.M.S. stands for  Purchase More Stamps: the more you buy the more you save

Buy 1 stamp sets save 5% enter Coupon code PMS1 at checkout
Buy 2 stamp sets save 10% enter Coupon code PMS2 at checkout
Buy 3 stamp sets save 15% enter Coupon Code PMS3 at checkout
Buy 4 stamp sets save 20% enter Coupon code PMS4 at checkout
Buy 5 stamp sets save 25% enter Coupon Code PMS5 at checkout

So what are you still doing here????  Go check them out!

I am linking with the following parties:

***Winner Announcement for Yoplait Greek Giveaway!***

And the Winner of the Yoplait VIP pack is.....

Sammy!!!

Congratulations, Sammy!  Please email me with your mailing info so I can pass it on to the sponsor!


Watch for another great giveaway later this week!
Thanks to Yoplait and My BlogSpark for sponsoring this giveaway!

Happy, Sad, and a The Importance of a Quality Underwire...

I'm happy to be feeling a bit better.
I'm sad that the Hubbums is not so much. *oopsies!*

I'm happy that the Hubbums play went really well over the weekend.
I'm sort of sad that it is all done.
I'm REALLY HAPPY that he will be home more instead of at rehearsals!

I'm happy that it has been super warm the last few days!
I'm sad that it is raining today...still super warm, though, so not too bad.

I'm sad that I was sick for part of the weekend.
I'm happy that I was well enough to make a couple of fun cards yesterday!

I'm happy that I got to see my sister yesterday.
I'm sad that I don't see her more often.

I'm happy about lots of things that are going on right now, and sad about others. Isn't life interesting???!!!

Anyway...I want to show you a super fun card today. Think of it as sort of a sneak peek at some of the fun stuff you will see on my blog this month!!! I will give you more details tomorrow, in the meantime, enjoy some support! ;-)



This is a super fun card that I created using some SUPER FUN stamps from Skipping Stones Design!!! Like I told you...more details to come tomorrow, but I couldn't possibly wait to share this one with you!



I stamped the images and then pieced them together a bit before adhering them to the background. I popped a couple of them to give dimension because you guys know how much I LUUUUUUVVVV dimension on my cards!



The sentiment is stamped and mounted and then it is also popped up! LOVE! Seriously. It makes me laugh. I'm sorry. I can't even help it! HA!



I added just a tiny bit of sparkle, 'cause you know...every girl needs some sparkle in her day! And the ribbon at the top finishes it off perfectly!

These stamps are actually not even released yet, but there is the first edition set available on the web site, so totally check them out! I will share more from Skipping Stones Design tomorrow!!!!

Did you have an awesome weekend?