Mimmsical Creations

Whew - I have a lot of fun things to report!! :) All good!

Good thing #1 - I participated in the Fall Random Re-Gift Swap over at Just Be Connected. My partner was Angie. We discovered that we both love the musical Wicked and she followed that theme through with my goodies!! (I sent her goodies too, but not as themed as what she sent me!)

She sent some fun colored M&Ms, some handmade notecards (so cute!), an adorable cat pin cushion, and "wicked" green gloves! The coolest thing was the copy of the New York performance script from the musical Wicked! Wow!! What fun! I will enjoy this for sure!! Thanks Angie!

Good thing #2 - I won a contest! Wow! What a fun surprise! I entered a contest at Misty's blog - Rainy Day in May - and I won! Whoo-hoo!! My prize is a $25 gift certificate to the coolest site - Beau-Coup - fine favors. Yay! I will have so much fun spending this prize! Thanks Misty and Beau-Coup!

REALLY Good thing #3 - My shoes have been found!!!

I know you all were waiting with baited breath to know if I found my red shoes. (yeah, right!) But, I FOUND them!! My friend Andrea and I went shoe shopping on Friday to celebrate my birthday. We literally shopped til we dropped! My mission was red shoes for my wedding! And I found them (and had a couple of other options too!) They are perfect - flats, shiny, the right red to match, etc.!! Yay! Andrea found some pretty amazing shoes for herself too. I also found necklace and earrings for my wedding day! I bought a new nose ring - in blue - for my wedding day (something borrowed, something blue... ) It was a very fun day all in all! :) And a success! (My headband is also in the picture! I found it elsewhere, but it matches everything VERY well!)

I'm very late in posting about these goodies, but late is better than never, no?

First off, I purchased a lovely bookmark from the amazing Janet. She has a new Etsy shop, and I had to have this lovely mermaid!! She is just beautiful! Along with my purchase, Janet sent a great ATC as well! She even decorated the envelope!!

Next, I purchased this amazing handmade journal from Jolene!! I received this so long ago, but am just now posting! Sheesh! Jolene does amazing work! This journal is NO exception! (Jolene - I borrowed your photo - I hope you don't mind! I couldn't get a good one for some reason!)

And last, but certainly not least, I am getting photos posted of the Spring Re-gift swap over at Create a Connection! My partner was Donna (meaning I sent to her, she sent to me!) She really spoiled me (and outdid me I think!) She sent so much fun stuff, including a handmade pin (which I love!), an art doll that I can decorate, books, paper, bath stuff, candles, tea, you name it! It was such a fun package to open!! Thanks Donna!!

1/22/08

1/24/08 Oscar in the bag with Henry looking on.

1/25/08 - Grumpy Mike

1/26/08 - Screenshot from World of Warcraft. Mike's character Pleiades, and
my warrior Andromedah defeat the spider Terokarantula! :)

1/27/08 Luna and Oscar cuddling together! So cute!

1/28/08 - Fun mail from my nephew David, and niece Joy. Love the envelope! :)

1/29/08 - Miss Girl cuddling with me. She was even purring
(which doesn't happen often) and drooling!

I created some new Sharpie art over the weekend! Yay!

I'm participating in an ATC swap called "Art Not War". Each person (9 total) are assigned one letter from that statement. Then when returns are sent, we will each get ATCs that spell out Art Not War.

My letter was T. (the first T!) I decided to go for a "tie-dyed" look using sharpies. I tried something first that didn't work. I used white crayon to draw the peace signs on my cards. Then I colored over it with my sharpies. My hope was the sharpie would not stick where the crayon was, but that didn't work! So, I revised my plan!

I drew on my colors - tie-dye, and then drew on my Ts in a dark, matching color. On top of that, I used my metallic sharpies to draw in the peace signs.

I like how they turned out! And now, I can't wait to get back my full set!! These nine cards took me about an hour and a half to do - I was watching episodes of season three of Alias while drawing! :)

Well, we made it!! I've posted at least something every day this month!! I didn't think I'd make it when I got sick. It was hard to consider what to post when my brain was all fuzzy and cold-addled!

I did get some new art done this month (as promised, Vicki!) I procrastinated until the last possible minute... I know, I know - hard to believe I'd do something like that! :) I'm mailing these cards off today to make it under the wire for postmark by date!!

The swap is a Project Runway swap for my Sharpie group! ATCs based on the Bravo show Project Runway - which I had never seen until recently. One of my fellow Sharpie Scouts sent me a tape with the first two episodes of season 4! Boy, it is a fun show! I'm sorry I can't watch more as we don't have cable! I'll have to keep up online and watch clips I think.

I made three cards that were my take on some sketches from season 3, and one card based on the first challenge of season 4 - to show how I would be as a designer. A fashion designer I'm not, but these were fun! These first three are my take on the sketches.


This last one is my attempt at a design. I used real fabric for the skirt and top. The belt and embellishments are pieces of ribbon. And the background is silver sharpie. I think it's cute, but it certainly wouldn't win any fashion awards!

New art!! (I promised my sister - there would be new art to post this month! Here is the first of it!)

I am hosting a swap in my Mojo Art Group. We are making inchies and swapping 12 for 12. I've never made inchies before, but I've read about and seen them! 1" x 1" square. Now that's tiny!

For my first attempt, I took a paper that was 4" x 3" and did my doodle on that size rather than attempting 12 small ones. I cut it down today to get my inchies. I think I'll add some more to these (like probably glitter!!) but here they are.

First - this is the big doodle, before being cut down.


This is the same doodle after being cut down to 1" squares! I think each piece looks pretty cool by itself too!

I'll post the end results if/when I do some more embellishing! I have other ideas for other inchies too. We shall see if I get to them. I have an ATC swap due date approaching - theme Project Runway (a show I've never seen! But, I have ideas how to make ATCs look like outrageous fashions!)

I'm also participating in a swap called "Art Not War" - each person (9 total players) is assigned a letter from Art Not War... Then we each get a set of ATCs back spelling that out. I think this will be fantastically fun. My letter is T. I have to get started!!

It's Thursday and that is Photo Day at Create a Connection! I haven't played along in a while, but I have photos for today's theme! "What a View"

Amber is hosting and she wants to see the view from our windows. It just so happens, I took some pretty amazing sunset shots right out our back door a couple days ago!! So I'm sharing them now! :) I'm also including a shot of our neighbor's "fire" tree - the colors are pretty amazing right now!!

I also have Fun mail to share!! I've received two swap packages this week!! The first is from Eva - a book swap hosted by Zazazu!! Eva sent a lovely little handmade bird, a beautiful (also handmade) bookmark, and a great little book which Mike is also enjoying! (He read the Three Little Pigs out loud, and had both of us laughing like crazy!!) Thanks Eva and Karen Beth at Zazazu for hosting!

The second fun package I received was from the 5-a-Day Swap hosted by Jenna over at Create a Connection this month. It was a fruit and veggie theme (can you guess what I sent to my partner?! If you guessed pickles, you'd be right!)

I got a fun package from Marie today!! She sent me Idaho treats - potato themed, of course! "Potato" candy, a shot glass from Idaho, and postcards (Some had recipes!) She also included some family recipes - many for potatoes!! Thanks Marie!! So fun!

I am guest-hosting over at Create a Connection again! This time, I'm hosting the September Swap day!! Yay!!

Go over and check it out - now is a good time to start participating if you haven't!! We're going to swap our favorite things in September!! What better way to celebrate my favorite month? (photo from The Sound of Music - Favorite Things!)

I went missing... I didn't intend to, but I did. I have these periods of time where I need to be introverted I think. This last week was one. It's been pretty stressful around here, so I just sort of drew in! I visited all of your blogs, but I just didn't come update my own!! But, I'm back, with at least one post today - maybe even two or three! :)

Mike is very unhappy (still and ongoing) in his job. So, we are now really pushing to try to move away, move on, find something new for him! We're both very excited to live near the ocean, so that is where we're focusing. Right now, our target (still) is the Raleigh, NC area. His brother, Jeff, just moved to Wilmington, NC, and Mike got to visit last week. The ocean, the beaches, and the visit with his brother really rejuvenated him. He loves the area. So, we're going to aim that direction. Raleigh is close enough, but not too close to his brother. And there will be lots of job options for me too. I'll keep you posted, but we're trying to make this happen sooner rather than later because the stress isn't good!!

On to happy mail! I participated in this swap last month. And when I got back from my day off yesterday (another blog post there) I had a package waiting from my swap partner, Jana! Wow - what a fun box to open!!

Our assignment was to send things that made us happy - I did this for Jana, and she in turn did it for me. She wrote me a note explaining everything she sent! First up was this gorgeous, collaged box! So fun, and bright and cheerful!


Next, inside was a plethora of goodies! Jana included sharpies (my favorite, of course!), candles (that smell really good!), a cute little candle holder, flower seeds (from her garden!), glitter pens, handmade (by Jana!) earrings, chocolate, lip balm (also chocolate!), a great book that's on my to read list (White Oleander), and a pez dispenser. What a fun box to receive!!! I will definitely enjoy everything packed in!! Thanks for everything Jana!! And thanks to Zazazu for hosting such a fun swap!!

A little bit of art was produced this weekend... I've been feeling uninspired to make art, but I joined a swap (and it had to go postal today!) so I made up these three little ATCs! I like how they turned out!! And I had fun making them once I actually got going!

The swap theme is Sweet Things - done with Sharpies, of course!! I went with a simplistic style, lots of color! They are called:

Sweet Treats, You Scream, I Scream, and Fizziness. What better Sweet Things than a popsicle, ice cream, and soda!?

I participated in a fun swap this month at Create a Connection. It was the Hometown Swap. I put together a package of stuff that was from or about my hometown, and the person sending to me did the same!

My package arrived over the weekend from the lovely Bella! She sent me a very fun package of stuff about her hometown in New Jersey. What I loved most about the package is the letter that she wrote explaining her hometown, why she loves it, and why she sent the stuff she did.

Included was a bag of popcorn (from a midnight release party that she attended for the new Harry Potter book... she knew I was a fan too!), a shell and a beach souvenir from her favorite place on the water, a magazine about New Jersey as well as a little book about the state. She also included a couple of postcards. It was all wrapped up so prettily too!

Thank you SOOO much Bella! I will enjoy reading more about your hometown/state!

This swap happened a couple months ago, but my swap partner (sending to me) ran into some difficult times in her life, and I received my wonderful package from her just this weekend! She was so great in letting me know that my package would arrive, just later than planned! And it was worth the wait!!

Judy made me this wonderful little "cell" bag!! It is a perfect fit for a cell phone (which I don't currently have, but I will put this beauty to use no matter!!) The detail in the bag is hard to show in pictures - but it is gorgeous! Judy remembered that my color choice was green - and I let her know I loved it in combo with purple!!

Such an amazingly beautiful piece of wearable/usable art!! Thanks so much Judy for the thoughtful package!! I love it!!

This is art from a Sharpie ATC swap that I joined some time ago. I knew what I wanted to do, but had a hard time getting moving!! The deadline to mail these cards in was July 15, so I made it just under the wire.

Each participant had to make 12 ATCs. They could all be the same or all different. I chose to make mine all the same to simplify. It was a passport theme - so some sort of travel card from any country, real or imaginary.

Mine is from Pinkyland... as my scout nickname is Scout Pinky! :) I used rubber stamps, coffee colored ink, and Sharpies for these. All 12 are the same (or very similar!) When the host receives all of our cards, she will give us each one from each player in a little passport holder and return them to us! Should be fun!

The words on mine are gaelic and mean:

Bandearg Teigh - Pink Land

Ceann Scribe - Destination

Taisted - Travel.

News flash: Tammy makes new art! No, really! I did!! :) I've been so uncreative about art lately (other than photos) and a deadline was the only thing that pushed me to do it!

I joined several Sharpie ATC swaps and the deadlines are upon me!! I mailed the first set of cards off yesterday! Before the deadline even! These were for the easiest swap - an open theme - basically whatever you want as long as it uses some Sharpie! These were fun, as always! Doodling is my favorite!




Next up, a passport themed swap (due to be mailed on the 15th! Yikes!) I have all my supplies, but haven't started the cards. I HAVE to get them done tonight!! Nothing like a little pressure to motivate me! Hopefully I'll have some more art to share soon - as in before the deadline!

We have friends coming to stay with us tonight through Sunday. Mike's friend Jeff, and his wife Sarena will be visiting from Dallas, TX. They are the friends who got married in March and we went to Texas for their wedding!

I think we'll have a fun time! Mike has taken today-Friday off from work. I was only able to take tomorrow off because of work conflicts. We'll be heading up into the mountains near our home to show them the sights! I'll take pictures and have them to share soon! I may be absent until next week though since we'll have visitors!! See you all soon!! (I'll be back later with the Getting to Know You questions for this week... I think!)