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!

Grey Dey Thursday and "Grey" Tag Tuesday

Since I have been viewing blogs, I wanted to learn how to make tags.

Beautiful  grey vintage beads, sequins, and laces.

My dear friend Marcella talk to me about making them some

years ago, but at that time my kids were younger and I was making lots of things already.

  I wasn't looking at blogs at the time, and I wasn't interested because I couldn't see what tags 

were "about". Also, I didn't want to put all that effort into something small, made from paper, and

I wasn't sure what I would do with them. I wanted to invest my time and effort into something 

more ... substantial. She suggested that I give them as gifts, 

but I have a very difficult time giving gifts I have made. 

Have you ever had the experience giving a hand made gift to someone 

and it was obvious the receiver was not happy with what you made?

I have had that happen so often, I stopped making gifts for people,

unless I was SURE they would like it. Mostly now

I "Just Send Money". People are always happy with THAT!!!

When I make a gift I am so anxious about it. I rarely surprise people with handmade 

items unless they have had a part in designing it. I don't handle that kind of rejection very well.

My children tell me to just make it and surprise them, they like the things I make, or

I know what things they will like, so I don't worry about them. . . much.

Vintage grey, silver, cream and Mother of Pearl buttons that came in a kit
from LuluLiz.

I particularly loved the tags that LuluLiz from Lalaland was making

and posting on her blog. This last two years, I have found there are so many bloggers who make lovely tags, and I just had not seen them when Marcella had spoken to me about it. 

I GET it now...thanks for your patience with me, Marcella and Liz, and for teaching me how to make them! Their expertise has been invaluable.

Gorgeous Greys fabric collage inspiration embellishment kit, including
vintage French linens, laces, beads, bobbles and bits.

Each one is a small piece of artful beauty you can make out of snippets of this, and pieces of that,

many times those little bits you don't have enough to make a large project with, 

but you just can't seem to part with them. And you CAN give them as gifts, or keep, or send as a

birthday card or Christmas card or ornament. It isn't something

to agonize over, or fuss about...hypothetically...

I have only made a few tags in the This Past Year. If you look at those posts, you will see I 

have not done many. Liz commented on my New Year Resolutions Post that I 

really should include a tag a week for Tag Tuesday.

I am not an official participant, but this will be fun for me to make some...

substantial tags!

The Tag Tuesday Theme for this week is

Shelters/Homes

and this verse came to my mind.

This came from a cross stitch chart I worked on years ago,  designed by D. Morgan.

I had some "Issues" with the project and gave up on the pathetic piece! 

I have yet to remake one for my Hubby. He wants a cross stitch piece from me because 

I have given most of them away. So, this is a short term replacement!

This is going to be his Anniversary card when we celebrate our 33rd Wedding anniversary next month...Shhh!!! He doesn't KNOW! 

(about the card, he knows about the anniversary!)

I wanted to make something with the grey kit that Liz gave me for my birthday, and this 

picture of a home from a Vintage Christmas card was just the look I wanted.

Wintry, and farm like. This fit so very well with my feelings.

Our home is protection for us, but I truly feel sheltered when he is here in it!

In our younger years, he was the one responsible on the farm to get the hay cut, raked and baled.

The baling had to be done after the dew came in, those years ago. Thank goodness we have someone custom bale during the day now! Before our children were born,

I would go out with him some nights, I would rather be with him than home alone. 

After the children came, I was home with them.

 I was always so glad when he baled in the hay field near the trailer we lived in. 

I could hear everything that happened. When the baler stopped, my ears perked up, and I listened

until I heard the tractor and the baler start up again. 

Or, I would call on the Citizen's Band Radio (CB) to see if everything was alright. 

But, when I heard the door open and close and his footsteps down the hall, I would breathe in deeply and relax. It was as if all was right in the world, and I would sleep peacefully.

I really appreciated his hard work for us, and was so very glad he was safe at home, sheltering us.

He will love the card, not because of the Vintage Lace and beads, or because of 

its prettiness, but because he KNOWS how relieved I was and 

how grateful I am to him and for him. He knows I sleep best when he is here. 

And He knows how much fun, joy and satisfaction I have from making these 

beautiful pieces of art!

Liz has another Gorgeous Greys Fabric and collage inspiration kit
in her LaCroixRosion Etsy Store. Thanks so much for the birthday Gift Liz!

Hugs to you all!

Betsy

Go check out others tags for this theme at

Tag Tuesday
and
GREY DEY THURSDAY

PS ~ Liz...where is your Tag Tuesday Tag????  ;)
Here is Liz's Tag Tuesday Post! I just had to tease her you know...