Happy Easter!

Wishing each of you a blessed Easter and a joyous Spring.

Sandy's Easter Tag Swap

I had such fun making a special Easter swap for my partner Lisa. I fell in love with the little girl image I used for the front of my tag. But it was the chicks hatching out of Easter eggs that became the theme for this swap. I highlighted the doily, chicks, eggs and girl's hair with Twinkling H2O's. Click to enlarge the picture and see how it sparkles. I added detail to each layer as I went. The bottom layer is stitched with yarn tied in a bitty bow. The next layer is embellished with tiny buttons. I hadn't put away my paper doilies since I had them out for Valentine's Day crafting. It worked out to be the perfect element to set off the sweet girl image. And lastly I added the wonderful chunky glitter that looks like Easter grass.















The scrapbook paper I used on the tag back is something I've had since I first began scrap booking. I just couldn't believe how it matched the chicks on the front. More Twinkling H2O's here and a repeat of the chicks from the front image added at the bottom to cover the bulk of tying off the yarn. Added my swap info and a blue gingham ribbon to finish it off.















Now onto the Easter goodies. I had the idea that I wanted to make a Spring/Easter potholder since my partner likes to bake. I was undecided about what fabric to use until I spotted a yard of new fabric at the Flea Market for a great price. It had similar colors to the papers used for the tag and it had Easter eggs on it! Now I had a theme. It seemed a shame to me to cut into a yard of fabric just for a potholder or two. I have quite a few apron patterns that only take a yard and you know I love to make aprons, so.....















I hope my partner will post a pic on her blog modeling her apron. The potholder is backed with the apron fabric and I used four colors of gingham for the front.










I found this adorable felt chick basket at Target and filled it up with goodies. I wrapped everything in Easter egg tissue paper I found at K-Mart and mailed it off to Lisa.









And here's the wonderful swap I received from Lisa.




This adorable, glittery pail was a perfect Easter basket. And it was filled to overflowing with so many goodies.


This pink chick inside the music note egg is just the cutest little bit of Easter joy.
For inspiring my paper crafts, Lisa sent cute Spring stickers, itty-bitty alphabet stamps and a stamp pad, and pink flower glitter, so fun!


My boys were quick to get their hands on the chocolate. I had to get the carrot bag of Reese's Pieces from my hubby to take this picture. My son did share a chocolate bunny with me. Yum!














And Lisa crafted this adorable tag for me. The 'Happy Easter' is on shrink plastic and adds great dimension and shine. I love the chick in her Easter bonnet. She hand painted the scalloped border. Just perfect! Lisa topped it off with Spring green cheesecloth. So sweet!





Thank you Lisa @ A Peaceful Place To Be for sending such a lovely Easter swap. And thanks again to Sandy @ 521 Lake Street for hostessing such a fun swap.

What's New

Just thought I'd catch up a bit on what I've been up to since my last post on Valentine's Day. It seemed like February was the month for appointments. We all visited the dentist and got haircuts plus hubby had 3 doctor appointments and I took care of the two visits to the accountant doing our taxes this year. I've been doing our taxes for years (we don't have anything complicated to deal with.) but since we rented my MIL's house for 3 months and it belongs to my husband and his brothers, I didn't want to mess it up.
So in March we had time for more fun things. We took a day trip to Hartford, CT to tour the Mark Twain house and museum. I've wanted to do that for such a long time. For someone like me who loves a lot of detail, this house sure made me happy. All of my photos are of the outside because they don't allow photography, gum, throat drops, lip balm, ink pens, food or drink inside the house. I was surprised that they didn't have us remove our shoes!

Also in February, my oldest nephew announced that he had signed up for 6 years in the Army and was getting married! So I made a cute pink cupcake apron and potholders (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.)for the bridal shower on March 12th and here's the happy couple a week later. They're so young!

The couple next door to us just had their first baby so I made some bibs. This pair is my own pattern. Is there anything girlier than gingham ruffles?

When I saw this new Simplicity pattern I knew I had to make this pea pod bib. I love those yo-yo peas.

Such a cute pattern!

I wanted to share this photo of my pink violets. My white, purple and yellow violets are still a few weeks away. Can you guess my favorite flower?

Now I need to work on my post showing what I sent to my partner for Sandy's Easter Tag Swap. That way I'll be ready to link up with everyone on the 22nd.