2014 Grow Your Blog Party!

Woo Hoo! WELCOME TO THE PARTY!
Grow Your Blog Party!!

I love to have fun! All you dear friends and followers of my blog KNOW that! What a fun 15 months it has been for me to share with you, to get to know you, to be inspired by you and to learn from you of the things you enjoying doing and post about on your own blogs.

I am not sure how many of my counted "95 followers" actually read my blog regularly, But I do appreciate your remarks and I enjoy the contact I receive from all who do comment. 

The majority of you I became acquainted with through the "2013 Grow Your Blog Party"

Hosted by 

Vicki Boster

at

2bags full

Vicki is so gracious and is partying again this year!

Thanks, Vicki! You Rock!

To those of you who are here for the first time, WELCOME! 

If you'd like to know a bit about me, my very first blog post talks about why I decided to make a blog and about the things I love, which is pretty much what my blog is about. You can read that story HERE if you would like to. But let me give you fair warning.... I type as much as I talk and I talk a LOT!!!

I keep trying to pare it down, but I am similar to "Anne Shirley" of "Green Gables",

"If you only knew how much I wanted to say...and DIDN'T!" 

I do wear my heart on my ..."blogsleeve" so be prepared! I hope my blog entertains you if nothing more.

I have been sick the last few days and completely forgot about posting this for today!
So I am late to the party myself! But,  I love party gifts! Having you arrive at my blog is your gift to me and I want to offer a gift to one of my past followers as well as to someone who visits my blog today. You do not have to be a follower of my blog to win the giveaway.  Just comment on this post and your name will be added to a drawing to receive a Vintage Style Tag Kit.  It will include laces and pearls, buttons and fabrics from my stash, and a little something I have received from LuluLizInLalaland. She is a blogger  who got me going on my blog and is one of the friends who helped me learn to make tags. Check out her blog, she makes gorgeous tags and gift items. She also shows the lovely French brocante finds she sell in her Etsy Store. She has wonderful taste!

Here is a tag I have worked on this last week or two. I know tags are supposed to be quick little works of art. . .NOT MINE! I take a long time making them. This one in particular. My GrandGirl*2 is 18 months old and this is her 2012 Christmas Tag ornament. I haven't finished it because I just didn't like what I had planned previously. I was so happy when I found this image at TheOldDesignShop on Etsy, it is exactly the look I wanted! You can see GrandGirl*1's 2012 Christmas Tag Ornament HERE and you will see this matches the look of her sister's Tag. 

This image, to me seams too wide to use on a tag, so I changed it. I usually change patterns, in just about everything I do. It makes it my own that way!  Don't you love the details of the toys, pearls and candles on the tree? and that sweet big sister with the dolly in her arms. It just reminds me of my GrandGirls! They live in Germany, so I only got to imagine what Christmas was like at their home this year. We did get to Skype with them and that is always so much fun! My daughter does not actually have a Nanny/Nurse for her children, so I decided the nurse could be out of the picture. But I still wanted to use "The First Christmas" since 2012 Christmas was GG*2's first Christmas.

I made a few copies of the image and cut out the areas I wanted to use on the Tag.  Out of the second image, I cut out the small toys on the tree, in addition to the baby and the message script, since I wanted those elements to be 3 dimensional.  I glued the base pictures to my scrapbook card stock background, with the music staff on the top, antiqued the edges of each cut out piece and added gel pen accents the toys, pearls and candles on the tree. I think that moving the baby down to the floor worked quite well, it looks as if she is realistically reaching up in joy and wonder at the Christmas tree. And there her older sister is, pointing to the things she likes! I am sure this happened at my GrandGirls house.
It happened when their Mother was the older sister. Everyday she would show her baby sister her favorite ornaments on our tree.

 This Tag is similar to the first, but a little different, for me! I am making my Grands Tag Ornaments that will also be a reminder of their gift that year.  GG*2 received a pretty lacy dress from Papa and I, so there is lace across the bottom of the tag.  If they are here for Christmas, there will be a Grands Christmas Tree, with tags like theirs on it.









These are such fun for me to make. If I wasn't such a perfectionist, it would go faster.
I will have to see what I can do about that!

Here are the final tags, one for Grandgirl*2 and one for Mimi and Papa. the back of the tag has her name and the year it was given to her on it.  I think this is a great tradition...for now!

I hope you enjoyed the tags and have fun at the Blog Party!
Thanks for coming by!

And Thanks Again, Vicki!
Hugs,
Betsy

PS ~ The giveaway Winner will be announced on February 15th!
Thank you so much for your comments, they mean so much to me!