Christmas in July, part 6 of 6

Hi again!  Since this is the last day of July I thought I'd better bring my CIJ sharings to an end.  Can you believe that tomorrow is August 1st?  Oh my word.........where has this year gone?  Won't be long before it's Christmas in December.  I really need to get started on my Christmas cards.  Anywho..................last by not least..................

This is a sweet little tag I made for my swap partner Mary.  I used an image that I snagged from the internet.  I just love this vintage little girl.  She has the sweetest.....most innocent looking face.  I used embellies from my stash, seam binding & DP from Bo Bunny.  I then distressed all the edges with Distress Ink 'frayed burlap'.

This is the back of the tag.  See...........I told you that I always sign my name with a little 'heart' at the end♥. LOL

I also made a little cross stitch picture for our CIJ swap hostess, Cyndi & made the same tag for her.  (ooopsie....I forgot to take a picture of it so I snagged the one she shared on our board.)

Well......this is the end of my CIJ ramblings.  LOL  Thanks for bearing with me & I hope you've enjoyed looking.  We were all so excited about our gifts that we decided to draw names right away for our 2013 CIJ swap partners.  LOL  Now we have a whole year to make things & get some great Christmas deals this December. Yippee Skippee!  'course that also means that we have to keep a secret for a whole year.  That could be a challenge............LOL

I'm entering my little tag in these challenges:
Anything Goes Challenge Blog:  #72 Let's not be square!
Clear It Out Challenge:  CIJ using a red or green stash item (red seam binding)
Ribbon Carousel Blog:  RCC64 CIJ plus a spooled item (seam binding)
Top Tip Tuesday:  #82 Ribbon
Twisted Tuesday:  2TC17 ~ Anything Goes
Critter Sketch Challenge Blog:  #126 Anything Goes
Get Hippity with Ippity:  use a Tag
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge:  Anything but a card
Lexi's Creations:  #70 CIJ
Paper Playtime:  #80 Anything Goes
Tammy's Scrapin Corner:  #21 Anything Goes
Come & Get it Challenges:  Anything but a card
Hiding in My Craft Room:  #56 CIJ
Joyful Stamper:  #69 Anything Goes
The Poodles Parlour:  Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog:  #59 Tag with sentiment
Pixie Dust Studio Pixie Challenge:  Christmas
Shelly's Images:  Christmas
Crafts and Me Challenges:  #94 Anything Goes
Simon Says:  Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges:  #132 Anything but a card
Ruby's Rainbow:  #34 Anything but a card
Bearly Mine Challenges:  #46 Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays:  #79 Anything Goes
Love To Create:  #26 Tag
Make It Monday:  #100 Anything Goes
Kaboodle Doodles Challenge Blog:  #130 Birthday or Any Special Day (CIJ)
Amusing Challenges:  Anything Goes


Thanks a bunch for joining me.

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Christmas in July, part 5

 Hi again!  Since I didn't make anything in this post........GASP!  LOL.......I thought I would share it along with the birdie cross stitch in my previous post.

This is a decorative box that I got from Hobby Lobby.  Obviously I didn't make the box. LOL  I just wanted to share what I did with it.  My swap partner Mary does amazing beadwork.  She loves "shiny" beads & buttons so I thought I would fill this box with both.   (It nearly drove her young daughter crazy when she shook the big box I packed everything in & she heard the RATTLE.  LOL)  These beads & buttons came from my huge stash that I dearly love.  Some are vintage & close to my heart.  I also included some brand new shiny beads that I thought she might have fun playing with & put them in a pretty little gauze bag.

I added a little "Love" sign & told her to look for the "Love" inside.  LOL (I found out later that she loves boxes.......I had no idea.)

 Here are some additional items I put in her large box.

 Yummy Cinnamon Nutmeg Pot Pourri with a metal Star bell attached.

Avon Santa, Snowman, Penguin & (hiding) Reindeer lip balm.

 and some little sparkly nail files.

Thanks for taking a peek inside the box with me today.  I'll be back tomorrow with my last CIJ "show & tell".  I promise that it's a little something that I made.  LOL

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Christmas in July, part 4

I'm baaaaack with more Christmas in July crafts to share with you.  :)  Today I wanted to share a little framed cross stitch picture I made for my swap partner Mary.

I love little birdies......especially little chubby birdies. When I saw this pattern of the three birdies chatting to one another I couldn't resist it since we chat a lot on our little message board every day. I also thought the sentiment......"Friendship is the essence of a happy life".....was so fitting. When we have meaningful friendships it truly brings happiness to our lives. Can I hear a big AMEN!  :)

The sweet little frame is from Hobby Lobby. I loved the heart blingy charm. I love hearts & always sign my name with a little heart at the end so I thought it would be fitting.

Thanks for indulging in my meanderings about CIJ. It truly is a happy time of year for those of us who share our lives on our little board. We may not be large in numbers but our hearts are large & filled with love for one another.

I have made some wonderful friends online throughout my crafting years. I count each one as precious as I do my IRL friends. How about you?

Thanks again for joining me in my CIJ celebration.  I'll be back tomorrow with another post for you.  Hope you're not getting tired of looking.  :)

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby!

I'm taking a wee little break from sharing my Christmas in July gifts with you to take time out to tell my hubby that I love him so much & wish him a Happy Happy Anniversary!!!!!  It's been 39 years of wedded bliss & I'm so very happy that God saw fit to put the two of us together as one.  I don't regret one single minute of it.

I love you, Babe!  ♥MWAH♥

I'll see you all tomorrow when I'll share another chapter of CIJ.  :)

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Christmas in July, part 3

Hi again! My next little treasure I made for my CIJ swap partner is this pin cushion I made from a pint size "Ball" mason jar.

This was my first time making one & I had to make it twice because after hot gluing the fabric & stuffing onto the lid I couldn't get it to screw down all the way. LOL Regroup..........then I took another lid & just glued it to the top of the lid instead of the bottom. There are several tutorials online but I found this one the most helpful.......'Suzanne's Crazy for Collars' blog. I don't know why I couldn't get it to work like hers but I'll try again. Maybe I had too much fabric in the way. Oh well.........live & learn. LOL I then glued on some sweet little pink daisy trim all around the outer edge.

Isn't that scissor charm the sweetest little thing.  I found it hiding in my button box.  I thought it would make the perfect little touch on top.  I stuck in various stick pins & flowers all around & then added a little box of straight pins inside the jar for her to use later.

Thanks again for joining me.  I'll be back soon to show you another goodie I made.

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Christmas in July, part 2

Hello again! Part 2 of sharing the gifties I made for my swap partner, Mary.   I've been cross stitching for years and years and thought I would make some Christmas magnets for my swap partners fridge. I love to do needlework in the evenings while watching TV. It had been awhile since I had done any counted cross stitch & I found that I really missed it. It's so relaxing (until I miss a stitch & have to rip it out....LOL).

So I scoured the craft stores & my stash of cross stitch books & found some cute Christmas patterns that would work well together. A Santa, a Christmas tree & a sign pointing the way to Santa.  I glittered a bit here & there with Stardust Stickles & backed them with black self-adhesive felt & added a magnet.  I placed them inside a tin so the magnets would keep them in place (I found this pretty tin in the gift wrap section at Michael's.)

Here's a close up view.

Thanks for letting me share & I'll be back with another CIJ Show & Tell.

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Christmas in July, part 1

Merry Christmas in July!!! Yippee Skippee!!! Are you celebrating too?  LOL I'm a part of a sweet little group of ladies who I share my life with each & every day on our own private board. These ladies have become my extended family & I love them dearly.

Christmas in December is always such a hectic time for all of us so we decided to make July a very special time to share gifts with each other.........henceforth we have.......CHRISTMAS IN JULY (who even says "henceforth"? LOL). We've been exchanging these gifts for several years. It's so much fun and we all look forward to seeing what each person receives. There is an abundance of talent in our little group.

I know I haven't shared many crafts in the last few weeks & this is why.........I've been working on these little gifties & couldn't share them until my swap partner "Mary" opened them today.  Sooooooo today is the day that I get to start sharing them with you over the next week.  **warning......this post is long & filled with lots & lots of pics.

First I'd like to share this "Keepsake Box" (cigar box) that I embellished.

The 'cigar box' is from JoAnn's unfinished wood section. Before I painted the box with Plaid Apple Barrel "Antique White" paint......I removed the hardware. I went over the brass closure & hinges with my Black Soot Distress Ink marker to try & tone down the brassy-ness.  (It doesn't show in the pics but it's not as shiny.)

I then covered the larger surfaces of the box with beautiful Graphic 45 papers called "A Ladies' Diary" and a coordinating soft red decorative paper from BoBunny using Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive that I brushed on. I then wrapped all around the box with Tim Holtz tissue tape and a tassel trim from my stash.

The postcards on the top are also from "A Ladies' Diary" collection. I love these papers so much that it's hard for me to cut into them.  LOL I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz paper distresser & Distress Ink 'frayed burlap'.

Here are more views of my box.

The beautiful metal corners are from Tim Holtz' idea-ology line.

This beautiful flower is from EK Success Jolee's Boutique called 'grey burnt edge gem center flowers'.   The "leaves" are from sprays that I found in Michael's wedding section. You might also notice a Kaiser Craft skeleton leaf peeking out from under the flower.

I made the stick pin with glass beads & baubles from my stash (attached each piece with Glossy Accents). I plan on making more of these so be looking for them in an upcoming blog candy or two. They are very addictive.

I found the word "Paris" on the Graphic45 paper & decided to frame it with a Tim Holtz 'ornate plate'. I cut some transparent plastic & the "Paris" graphic & attached them to the inside of the 'plate' with some Glossy Accents. It was then attached to a thick tag from the same "A Ladies' Diary" line.

This sweet little metal doo-dad hanging from the Tim Holt 'hanger clip' is from a new jewelry line that Michael's is now carrying called "art-i-cake" by Amy Labbe. She even has a sweet little bio on the inside of her charm packets. These pieces are truly little works of art.

This is the inside of my box.  More of the beautiful Graphic 45 & Bo Bunny papers.

I had to restrain myself from adding any more to the beautiful papers.  "Less is More" right?  LOL  So not me.  LOL  But I'm glad I didn't do more..........I wanted to leave room for her to hide away her little treasures.  She told me that she's going to use her "Keepsake Box" for her "trip momentoes".

Thanks so much for joining me today & I look forward to sharing more over the next few days.

(The cute little vintage girl image at the top of this post is courtesy of Peggy Loves Vintage)

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July to all of my American friends & family!  I love this saying......"May thy sweet blossoms never cease to bloom in love and trust and peace."  Such a sweet sentiment for our beautiful nation.  May freedom ever ring!  And don't forget to say a prayer for our troops today.

Have a blessed day with your family & friends.  A day filled with love and trust and peace.  And of course lots of yummy food & fantastic fireworks.

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~