Austin Adventure at Archiver's

In April 2011 a group of us from Texas that are members of the All Things Tim Yahoo Group met in Austin, Texas for our first - of many - "ATT Adventure In Austin at Archiver's". Bren made arrangements for us to have a room at the Austin Archiver's. After an abundance of emails back and forth, the day was finally here. We had so much fun getting to know one another. I learned many new things and gathered lots of inspiration from this wonderful group of talented ladies.

Standing: Stephanie, Me, Bev, Kathy, Debbie, Bren. Seated: LeAnn

We came from all over Texas - the Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin Area, San Antonio, and El Paso.

We had an ATC swap, a charm swap, and a page swap for our Memory Books of the day.

Of course we had to stop for a quick lunch at Applebees. Wonton Tacos were the favorite.

We will be meeting again in July for another fun day together at Archiver's again. If you're down this way, give us a holler. We'd love for you to join us for another All Things Tim Adventure!

In Memory of My Mama

My mother went to heaven 3 years ago this past March 31 (my oldest daughter's, Jenn, 33rd birthday day.) My sister, Sherri, and I decided soon after that we wanted to get a snowflake tatoo in memory of our mom who loved snowflakes. My youngest daughter, Bekah, wanted to be a part of this special tribute as well. :D
This Memorial Weekend is the first time that the three of us have been together all at the same time. What better place to have our tatoos done than in the beautiful mountain village of Ruidoso, NM where our mother loved to come. And it's Bekah's birthday today. :)

That's me on the left...My tatoo has three showflakes to represent my three children Jenn, Chris, and Bekah. My daughter, Bekah, has a a snowflake that is the same as the one I have that is her snowflake. My sister, Sherri, has one snowflake that represents her son, Brett.

Our artist, Turtle, prepares to begin my snowflake tatoo. Yikes!

I have to admit...I did hurt - sometimes more so than others...but not too bad. It was worth every minute of it.

The three snowflakes are complete. Now he is adding the filigree in a "sweeping snow storm" effect.

Almost finished...I love it. Bekah said, "It is so you, Mom."

Now Bekah's turn. She's an ol' pro at this. This was a first for us old folks.

Sherri was actually the first one of us to have it done. Just like when we were younger..."You go first, little sister! I'll be right behind ya!"

And here we are with our special snowflakes in memory of our Mom and my children's MeMommy. We love you!

A Lil' Birdie Told Me

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to not buy any fabric, quilting patterns, or quilting books during 2011. I have made a commitment to only make quilts from the fabrics I have in my abundant stash.

So far...so good! :D

This is the beginning of a quilt I designed myself using a bird panel with coordinating fabrics. Let me tell you all about it ----

The quilt is made of two blocks - the pieced block and the birdie block. I wanted a block that would alternate with the bird blocks and frame them to add some pizzazz.

So I went to Quilter's Cache in search of a block that would meet my needs. (If you are not familiar with Quilter's Cache, it is a wonderful site that has blocks of various size. A gold mine for finding block and quilt patterns. Check it out!)

So with these five fabrics (the bird print will be used in the borders and for the backing), I created the alternating pieced blocks.

The name of the pattern is The Queen's X. I like the name of the block.

Next I 'framed' the bird prints with the wine colored fabric. This brought them up to the same size as the pieced blocks.

I love this panel fabric. These birds appear so gentle and serene as they sing to one another from atop their branches.

I then needed to rotate each pieced block to give the quilt its secondary design - with every other row's bird blocks being framed in either the peach or olive colored fabric.

Now just to get the rest of the rows sewn on there! I'm proud of myself for sticking to my New Year's Resolution. Only 8 more 'no-fabric-buying' months. I know I can do it!

Thanks for stopping by for a bit,

denise :D

God's Wonder Full World

Last month I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a women's all-day retreat at my church. "Wonder Full World" was hosted by wonderful women who shared their love for us and Christ.

We began the day by choosing a postcard from our dream vacation. I chose a postcard that looked like the Netherlands with tulips and green rolling hills and a beautiful old church-looking building in a quaint village.

Then we got to be royality for a day in our vacation spot. Here I am as Duchess Denise! I even got to wear a crown. We answered some questions about how we would live in our kingdom. I will travel by carriage and all the houses will be required to plant flowers in their yards.

These lovely ladies were my travel companions - (from left to right) LeClaire, Elia, Me, and Dorothy. I was so blessed to spend the day with them as we travelled around God's Wonder Full World.

As a group, we created our perfect best friend. Here Elia shows her in progress.

Our new best friend...She has a heart of chocolate, wears an angel halo, she's a Christian women, she likes to shop (has her purse), and has long arms to hug us. Her colorful hair represents all the beauty that we as women possess.

A part of the retreat is always some kind of service project. This year we made blankets for the less fortunate. As we tied the edges we said prayers for the unknown recepients of these prayer blankets.

I thank the Lord for this special day spent with very special women. :D

Blessings to each of you and yours,

denise <><

A Lil' Love

For Valentine's Day I made this lil' book of love for my boyfriend. I used the tutorial from Tim Holtz on his blog at timholtz.com. It's made from one double sided piece of 12" x 12" scrapbook paper. I used a paper from the Je t'adore collection by Making Memories.

This big, black flower is actually left-over from the boutinairres, corsages, and bouquets that I made for my daughter's recent marriage. The tag is made using a Tim Holtz coupon stamp.

The text is a Dream definition stamp. In the pocket is a coupon (another Tim Holtz stamp) good for an atomic clock. He's been wanting a new clock for awhile. The coupon reads, "Tick-Tock...You get a new clock!"

This tab is from a set of tabs from Basic Grey. I distressed it with Brushed Courdroy Distress Ink. The date is stamped using a date stamp I purchased from Office Depot.

These are inchies spelling L-O-V-E. They are attached using pop-dots for a bit of dimension.
This pocket had a coupon for dinner at his favorite mexican seafood restuarant.

More Tim tags and left-over embellishment from the wedding.

And this last pocket held a photo of us taken at my daughter's wedding. We're all dressed in our Sunday best!

Try a book for yourself. They're quite addicting!

Have fun!

denise :D

Friendship Quilt

Along with my dear friends Karen (BriarsideLane), Therese, Mary, and Lori, I am making a Sylvia's Bridal Quilt. Ours is more a Friendship Quilt as we get together to work on our blocks. We have given ourselves the goal of having our quilts finished by December 2011. Kind of like a Christmas gift to ourselves. :)

Sylvia's Bridal Quilt is inspired by the book "The Master Quilter". It is the sixth novel in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini. There are currently numerous online groups as well as in-person groups that meet to create their own versions of this beautiful quilt.

I have been collecting Thimbleberries Fabrics for several years now. I decided to make my quilt using these rich colors. They remind me of the Civil War era when women gathered around and stitched together while their men were at war. Their love and support for their men (brothers, fathers, husbands, and sons) as well as for one another as women is a guiding example for us all.

I'd like to share with you the first of my 140 blocks. (Please excuse the rough edges and dangling threads. None of the blocks have been squared-up yet.)

This is Block One: Mosiac #3.

Block 2 is Shoofly.

Block 3 is called Bright Hopes.

This is Block 5: Amethyst. I skipped Block 4, because it has applique and Karen is going to help me learn her technique of hand-applique. She does gorgeous work. :)

Will keep you posted as we stitch along on our quilts.

Tell me about what you're working on.

May God's hand touch you and your art. xoxo

Charmed, I'm Sure!

I am currently participating in a Charm Swap with the All Things Tim Yahoo Group at AllThingsTim@yahoogroups.com. This group is for artists of all kinds who love Tim Holtz and his style of creating. Last week I sent my "For The Birds" Charms to Deb, the Swap Hostess. After she receives everyone else's handmade charms, she will swap them out and send us all a set of each other's charms. Charming - don't you think?

I used the Tim Holtz Fragments for the base. I then stamped bird images on paper by KC Company. I attached the stamped image to the fragment using Glossy Accents by Ranger. I then added a charm from the 'Petals a Plenty' Collection by Plaid. All was then attached to a lobster clasp (required) that can be added to a necklace or a bracelet.

"Come fly with me," said the birdie to the butterfly.

"Pretty flowers make me smile," chirped the birdie.

"Let me tell you about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees - and this thing called love," sang the baby bird.

"Thrive each day," she sings to me and thee.

"Nice beads and baubles," my friend.

Birds make me happy. Their sweet little faces and happy little hops.

Birdie Blessings to you, my friends.

Chirp - Chirp. xoxo

Holy Matrimony

Come join me in the celebration of the wedding of Rebekah Larae Daniel (my youngest daughter) to John Michael Mulquin, Jr. on Saturday, February 5, 2011.

Bekah and Quinn with the Chaplain who maried them, Major Diddle.

My beautiful Bekah and me. I made her dress and birdcage veil. The wedding theme was circa 1940's vintage. I also made the bouquets, corsages, and boutinairres.

Bekah and her proud daddy walking down the aisle.

The ceremony and exchanging of the wedding rings.

The lighting of the unity candle - and the two shall become one.

Taking of holy communion - the bread and the wine.

The kiss of the newlyweds - so in love. :D

Mr. and Mrs. John Mulquin - husband and wife.

The sabre squad - "Welcome to the family."

The happy couple, Bekah and Quinn,...

...outside the chapel on Ft. Bliss, Texas.

The first dance as husband and wife.

The Daddy-Daughter Dance - with lots of tears.

The toast - to a happy future together always!

The wedding cake - made by Bekah's friend, owner of Chasing Butterflies Pastries. I also made the cake topper with the cute lil' love birds.

The cutting of the cake. Yum!

The happy couple. I love you both. Blessings to you always, baby girl. :D