Emma - a sweet little fairy doll to love!!!

EDITED TO ADD 12-31-13 10:30pm Seattle Time:   Pictures of Tim's paper doll that is Emma's playmate....

Hello Friends and Happy New Year!

I am here with a posting for Paper Sweeties.  Debbie very kindly invited me to guest design for the Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge #15.  Here is the inspiration board:

My lovely email from Debbie said that I could be inspired by anything on the graphic!  And the ideas started popping into my head right away.  My eyes kept coming back though to the little girl who is so cute in her tutu and hat and scarf!  And to the colors in the lower half of the graphic.

My project was also inspired by a little girl who was a wee bit disgruntled at church this past week.  I was wishing that I had a little doll in my purse that I could give her to play with.....and hence this idea was born:

 I started by creating a lovely little fairy doll with the  "Emma" stamp set and die!  I cut the "Emma" die three times total:   twice out of cream felt and once out of linen.  I stamped Emma's image onto the linen using memento tuxedo black ink and then colored her very lightly with Copics.  It is important to color lightly so that the ink does not bleed on the linen fabric!!!  I then very carefully sewed all three layers together leaving the top open so that I could add some batting.  I used very tiny stitches!  And used a small crochet hook to push the batting down into her leg area when I was "stuffing" her!

After I had Emma all sewn up and "stuffed" my sweet doll was ready to be dressed up.  I dressed her in a tulip skirt and belt and created a hat for her from a pink button, two white glittery jingle bells and two baby roses.  Next my son Tim helped me create a butterfly wand for her with some beads.  And her "wings" or butterfly cape I made with half of a doily and a running stitch to create a tie for around her neck.  She has fairy dust (aka glitter) in her hair and on her skirt!  And her shoes are made from glitter! :)

 We felt that she needed a bed to sleep on and hence the box was created along with a pink felt mattress, and cream felt pillow and blanket! (The blanket was created by my son Tim who also made Emma a little friend to play with named after himself!)  I decorated the box and created the tag on the computer leaving a space to stamp her name using the coordinating stamp from the Emma set.   Here is a picture of the little room we set up for her using the box as walls, and adding some spools for tables with a snowflake doily on top of the smallest one and a "leaf" throw rug.  And of course you have to have a tiny bottle-brush tree as a house plant or perhaps the Fairy Emma's very own Christmas Tree!  LOL!

Emma also has a tie added to the top of her button hat made from a piece of pink and white twine so that she can be hung on a Christmas Tree, a rearview mirror or a door knob etc.

 Here is Emma all snuggled up for a long winter's nap under her doily comforter:

All of the "accessories" for her room snuggle up in the box with Emma when she needs to be put away making her the perfect small toy to tuck in a bag when you have to take your daughter to an appointment and you need something to entertain her in the waiting room! 

One last picture of Fairy Emma and her friend Timmy enjoying the Christmas Tree as we wait to ring in the New Year here in Seattle!:

Tim says he is now working on something to allow Emma and Timmy to have fun!  It is a secret he says...but he has scissors and paper in his hands tonight and is creating away!

Thanks so very much for taking a look at my project!  I had so much fun with this challenge!!!  I think I may have to sew up a few of these dolls in a more simple format to share with the little ones at church!  I wish I had taken a picture of the doll before I dressed her up!  Too cute!!!

To Debbie and everyone at Paper Sweeties:  Thanks for letting me join in the fun as a guest designer for January!  And congratulations to all the new Design Team Members!  They are a fantastically talented group of sweet women!  Here are links to their blogs if you haven't made the hop yet:
Amber Kroening
Annette Allen
Annette Witherspoon
Andrea Ewen
Char Cundy
Jeanne Jachna
Jinny Newlin
Kerin Sylvester
Kristi Schurr
Lesley Croghan
Lisa Elton
Maria Patrick
Michelle Bala
Nancy Penir
Tammy Hobbs

If you have some crafty time I hope you will join in the Paper Sweeties challenge this month!  We would all love to see what you create!

May you have a year full of blessings and friends and family to lift your spirits during times of hardship or sorrow!
Hugs,
:) Jill

You are in my thoughts today!

Just a quick post today.....some very dear friends of ours lost their home in a fire on Monday in the very early morning.  Thankfully their entire family made it out safely but their home is pretty much a total loss.  Having been through a flood in the 1990's in which I lost pretty much everything but the clothes on my back I know how very devastating it is to go through something like this!  Our homes are our places of comfort and security and they are filled with so many memories and mementos.  It is very hard when you begin to realize all you have lost - even though you are grateful for your lives being saved.  So last night after finding out where they are staying I took them a gift (and some homemade chocolate chip cookies because times like these call for comfort food and my other girlfriend was already bringing their dinner!) to help them and their son through this very difficult time!  My heart and prayers are with them! I am so glad they are all safe! 

Here is the card that I gave to them:

My dear friend Rebecca who blogs at PaperPrimrose.com sent me a lovely gift the other day and that sweet little rosebud embellishment on top of the snowflake is from her.  Isn't it adorable!  Thanks Rebecca!  I had to make this card so fast because I had nothing in my card stash that was right....and I see that I missed popping out a few of the little "chads" in my heart diecut..oops!  Hopefully they won't notice! That is what happens when you are trying to make a card, bake cookies, and help your little one with homework all at the same time!  LOL!!!!
Hugs,
:) Jill

2013 Christmas Tags distributed and great deal on pearlized cardstock on Cyber Monday - today!!!!

Hello Friends,
Well I did it!  The first annual "gift of tags" to each of my family members went off with a wonderful response!!!  I think next year I will actually have to make more for some of the extended family members too!

This year I created 14 different sets of tags though a couple sets did not get photographed and posted to my blog.   I then filled a clear cello bag with one of each type of tag for each of my 6 siblings as well as my parents which I distributed at our family Thanksgiving get together.  I thought you might like to see a picture of all of the tags that were placed in the bags this year:

I sure have enjoyed creating tags for my family!  It was a gift that was very much appreciated by everyone which really warmed my heart!  And it was a lovely way to give thanks to all of my family who have supported Tim and I through some very tough times the past couple years.  What a true blessing our family and friends are - I am so very grateful!

I am now working on some tag gifts for my girlfriends that will be coming over for a cookie exchange party during December.  I hope to give them a few each too to use for their Christmas gifts this year.  So stay tuned for a few more posts with Christmas tags in them! LOL!

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful Holiday season!  I know I am.....the outside lights are up thanks to some lovely help from my sister and niece on the day after Thanksgiving and I am starting work on the inside of my home now.

TAG SUPPLIES:
Companies whose products I used to create my 2013 tags:
AmuseStudio.com - cardstock
Cheery Lynn Designs.com -  dies
DutchPaperCrafts - Pinking edge star dies from Marianne Creatables
Factory Direct Crafts:  rusty jingle bells, and other items
Papertrey Ink stamps and dies
Serendipity Stamps:  stamps
Spellbinders dies
Taylored Expressions - Stamps and tiny tags dies
Technique Tuesday: stamps
The Craft Spot: Tiny tags stamps/dies
WPlus9 stamps and dies
Waltzingmouse Stamps and new dies!!!! (Yay!)
Sissix Dies - retired and current
And various other items from Etsy, Michael's, Joann's, and Hobby Lobby

Crafty Hugs!!!

:) Jill
SHOPPING ENABLER ALERT:    PEARLIZED CARD STOCK AT A FANTASTIC PRICE:
  Factory Direct Crafts has:  Tan Pearl Cardstock: Item: GXCS6 for 25 sheets just $2.99
   Pearl Cardstock - Item: GXCS1 for 25 sheets for $4.99 and other colors too for $4.99.  If you use code "CYBERMONDAY" you also receive 20% off your total.  There are lots of fun crafty items on their site and free shipping in the USA when you spend $50.00.