Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop!

Wowzers! I was so excited to see the line up of everyone participating in this blog hop! There is going to be so many great blogs from Fiskateers to find yourself a lot of crafty inspiration!


Did you just arrive from Lindy's great blog, Vini Vidi Scrappy?  If you did, you are on the right track! If you just happened by, welcome to the  Orange Blog Hop where members of Fiskateers, a community sponsored by Fiskars,  are sharing their passion for crafting.  If you need to see the hop list, remember Angela will have it posted on the Fiskateers Blog.

All but one crop I have ever done have been on-line with my fellow Fiskateers. So, I didn't have a bag to carry my small tools to the upcoming Arizona United States of Fiskateers crop.  With this crop in mind, the hunt was on for a small  bag.  I didn't find anything in my first color choice, which was Orange, so I bought this inexpensive bag at Hobby Lobby thinking I would get crafty and jazz it up a little!  If a Fiskateer cannot get Orange, the next best thing is to get green and add Orange to it!

In this first shot, I had already added some Orange and white checked ribbon to the clear pockets. For a sturdy, flat stamping surface, I placed the long block from my Fiskars block set inside each clear pocket as I went along.

Next,I inked up one of my stamps from  Fiskars Simple Stick Kaliediscope set with white Staz-On Ink and stamped flowers on the three clear pockets on each side of the bag. 

After I added a few more embellishments...Wa La! A bag that looks like it is fit for a Fiskateer crop! An added plus about this bag, is it is small enough I will be able to leave it on my crafting table with some of my favorite tools and it will match a lot of other things in my crafty space. I have mostly Orange, green and pink baskets and containers.  When I became a Fiskateer, I had a lot of pink and green, but we all know what happens once you are a Fiskateer! Every Orange thing you see just wants to go home with you!!  

Fiskars products used: 
     5" Non-Stick Scissors
     Kaleidoscope Simple Stick Repositional Stamps
     Stamp Block Set
    
PRIZE ALERT: I will randomly select a Fiskateer who leaves a comment to win a special Fiskars surprise (you do not have to follow my blog to win).  Also, did you see that special pair of scissors on my bag with the beautiful Orange bling?  If you do not have a pin like it, let me know in your comment, and I will include one in the package if you are the winner.  If the winner of my prize already has one (i.e. they don't mention it), I will pick a second winner from those who said they don't have one, and that person will get my extra pin. 

Now, prepare to be amazed as you go hopping the next stop where, Mary at  MareBare Scraps will show you some crafty fun!

Don't Miss the Fiskateer Hop...

If you are a Fiskateer and haven't heard the news, there is an Orange Fiskateer Hop on the way!  I have a project I am getting ready for the big event.  It is sure to be Fisk-a-fantastic!!

If you are crafty and you are not a Fiskateer, why not?  Go to  fiskateers.com and check it out for yourself, contact a lead and be a part of the creative fun!

Finally a Crafty Post on My Blog - Simple Layered Flowers...For Fiskateer Chalenge

Hello everyone! I have been wanting to try my hand at a tutorial on video.  I had no idea how to start.  This week on the Fiskateer CHA-In-Spirit Crop there was a challenge to do a tutorial.  It did not have to be done with video, but I was determined.  First I decided on the easiest little project I could, so the content would be easy for me and it would go quickly. I know it is super simple, and I could have typed out the directions in about 1/20th the time it took me to do this video. But, I was using the video recording and uploading as a practice run in case I ever decide to do this again.

So, with out further ado, here is my video and I hope you can find something in it that you can either enjoy or learn from!

I don't know why there is the parts with the jumbled up sections.  They were not there before i started the upload.  But, since this is the last day to enter and I really don't have time to go back and figure it out, that is something I will leave to tackle next time!

Thank for your patience! I see more videos in my future, because I really did have fun doing it!

Hugs, Marianne

Dreyer's® Fruit Bars: Where Will You Plant Your Vote?

Dreyer's® Fruit Bars: Where Will You Plant Your Vote?: Marana, Arizona



I am really hoping some of my readers will help with this worthy cause. My friend, and fellow Fiskateer, Sandy is working hard at getting votes for her community food bank to have an orchard planted by winning this contest. Registering just takes a minute and you can vote one time every day. I believe they are currently in 5th place, just about 300 votes away from 4th place.

If you are a Fiskateer, Sandy has a RAK she is giving out for those who are voting. If you pass this on, she will give you more entries!! (I am not entering the RAK)

So, when you get registered, you can ask for a listing by state and then vote for the Community Food Bank in Marana, Arizona.

This will only take a minute of your time and is for such a worthy cause!

Nothing Crafty, But I Wanted to Share

When I was four years old, my parents moved our family to the country from the Big City.  My mom still lives in the house we moved to...42 years ago. We didn't have a telephone or a well for over a year. We hauled our water from a community well five miles away and my parents made emergency-only phone calls from a neighbor's house. There was only one television channel. It was an NBC channel and the local news was half in English and half in Navajo.

At first we lived on 2 acres, then my parents were able to buy the lot next to us, then the one on the other side. My grandfather owned the adjoining property to the back of our house, where he had a small mobile home he visited in the summer. So, we had one big yard!

Growing up, we made our own fun and mostly it was outside. We liked to make forts in the bushes and climb two big juniper trees that were in Grandpa's backyard.  We didn't know about property lines or anything, so his pretty much seemed like our backyard.

Now fast-forward to 1999. That is the year that Grandpa gave up his property and Dan and I acquired it. The best thing about our new yard were those two huge juniper trees. We situated our new house about 25 feet away from one of the trees so it is on the south side and provides wonderful shade for our house in the summer. It is the tree we sat our swing under, along with our Bar-B-Que, a picnic table, and even a couple of Grandpa's old metal patio chairs, which I guess to be from the 1950s or 60s.  We have a bird bath close by, some bird feeders Dan made for me from cups and saucers on top of posts and  feeders for the hummingbirds hang from the tree's branches.  You could pretty much say we built our house and yard around this tree. 

Since we live in an area that has been in a drought for so many years, we haven't added any more trees. Our well has gone dry once. For over two years hauled water from that same community well that my family did when I was a child. If you have never had to haul water, let me tell you it is not a real fun thing to have on your to-do list every few days. It gets old fast! Hauling it to water trees just doesn't seem like the thing to do.

Just recently, about three or four weeks ago, Dan noticed something not quite right on one of the branches of our much-loved tree and suspected some bugs had eaten away at a part of one of the branches. We were busy going out of town a couple of weeks in a row, due to a relative who was sick and has now passed away. So, obviously, the tree would not Dan's first priority at the time. Once we were home and settled, Dan took a little closer look at the limb, broke a piece off, collected some of the bugs and headed to the local nursery for advice. It turns out the tree has been attacked by Bark Beetles. There are two big limbs that have really suffered a lot of damage. Dan has sprayed it and fertilized it with what the man at the nursery advised. He has cut off any of the little dead limbs that were up inside to let all of the nutrition can get to the live parts. Yesterday our friend, John, who has a Master's degree in agriculture came to take a look at it. John's news was not good. He said it is not very often that you can actually get rid of these nasty insects once they get started.  We know that here in the southwest Bark Beetles have killed off huge portions of our forests. The good news, if you want to call it that, is that it takes years to actually kill off a tree of this size. John encouraged Dan to keep doing what he is doing with fertilizer and maybe it would be healthy enough to fight it off. 

The news was not what we wanted to hear, but we are trying to remember it is only a tree. For some reason, this is harder for me to remember than it should be. That tree has so many fond memories spanning nearly my whole life. It is a beautiful part of God's creation and I suppose I just don't want to start making memories without it.

The Bling Queen's Giveaway - Last Day to Enter

Look at all of the goodies that Wendy from the Bling Queen is giving away! Today (March 31) is the last day to enter. Go take a look and enter to win. When you do, please tell her Marianne sent you.  Thanks so much!

Easter with Glue Dots® Adhesives and Copic Markers A Doubld Giveaway

Easter is fast approaching. All the holidays this year have been sneaking up on Debbie  this year and she is not taking any chances for Easter. You won't want to miss the fabulous Easter project she has already finished that she did with Glue Dots. You will also want to find out how you can be the winner of some Copic Markers! So run, don't walk, over to Debbie's Blog.

Debby is at it Again. Chance Number Two of Three to Win Six Copics.

This time around instead of showing you her artistic skills as a scrapbooker, Debby is talking junk. She is having some great Copic Giveaways this week and you can have a chance to enter by going to her blog to see just what junk Debby is talking about while she gives away her second set of Copics

Big, Big Giveaway of Petaloo Flowers



Just a sample of the many packages of
flowers Leah has pictured on her blog



Leah at "Life as Lou" is giving away an unbelievable amount of beautiful Petaloo Flowers. Take a look at her blog and please tell her Marianne sent you.  If she picks you comment, we will both win $75 worth of Petaloo flowers.

Also, while you are there, take a look around her blog. She writes some interesting stories that will get you thinking!

Fun SVG Files



Sample of Patti's Work

 Patti at Short 'N Scrappy has some fun SVG files in her Etsy shop.  She also has some that she offers for free on her blog.  I hope you will check out both sites and support her Etsy shop if you have the need and find something you like. She is a generous lady with a fun blog, so go check it out!