National Craft Month is HERE!!!! And we are so excited that we wanted to Celebrate the whole month, but we can't do it alone! We Need YOU!!! Each week we will be holding a contest! How do you enter you must be wondering? Entering is simple all you do is link up your favorite "Craft" for that week. Yes, you read that right just link up friends!! We want to see your Cards, Scrapbook Pages, Mixed Media, and Altered Projects! A WINNER will be chosen each week.  Every Wednesday there will be a new blog post where you will go and link up your projects for that week! Be sure to check out everyones blogs and cheer each other on!!! We love Crafting and we love getting ideas right? So why not spread the love this month by sharing each others fabulous crafts? If you have other questions then the ones that are answered below, please email: [email protected]

Week One- Cards
Week Two- Scrapbook Pages
Week Three- Mixed Media
Week Four- Altered Projects


​Frequent Questions:

What if I have more than one card I would like to enter, can I enter both? 
Answer: YES!

Can I enter every week?
Answer: Why Not!

When will winners be announced?
Answer: All winners will be announced at the end of the month! 

Can I share the Contest with my friends?
Answer: Please DO!

     These little guys are so simple to use and fun too! You basically just open each end up, wrap yarn or twine around each side, close it up, cut them, tie yarn around the middle and tie in a knot, open the sides back up and pull them apart! BAM!!! It's that easy!
     However, if you are a step by step crafter here is a photo of the steps to make one of these fun pom poms!!!

     I have to say that my daughter saw these sitting on my table and said "Mom, I want to make a Pom-Pom Garland for my bedroom.  I want to hang it over my bed! Do you think you could make me one?" This was my response to her "Autymm, I won't make you one, but I WILL show you how to make yourself one!"
     LOL OK... Before the jokes start about how mean I am, I have to say I would have made her one, but I knew that she would love it more if she made it herself! So I sat down with her on Saturday afternoon.  We pulled out the three makers and went to work!
     She picked out three different colors of yarn. And she created her own pattern.  She also wanted to use Jute to tie them on to, and then she strung it up in her bedroom. 
     Not only was I proud of her for doing it all by herself, but she was proud of herself and that my friends is worth it's weight in gold! To see your child proud of their own success is a wonderful thing.  It melts the heart. 

     Some of you may be wondering if you can do more than one color at a time so you have a multi colored pom-pom.  And the answer to that question is YES!!! You can make these pom-poms really fluffy by wrapping a lot of yarn around each side, or you can make them less fluffy by wrapping less yarn.  The choice is yours!  I have to say that these three little tools are a must have in the craft room. They take up hardly any space and they can be used for so many different things! If you get yourself one of these tools we would love to see your pom-pom projects!!!

     Hope you all have a fun and crafty day! Be sure to come back and see more fun ideas!!!
Loves-
Madge

Extra, Extra read all about it! Midge and I are so excited to be a part of this amazing team! Laura Kelly’s Inaugural Design Team! What an exciting and amazing journey we are going to have.  Seeing all of the amazing faces and the talent on this team is the Cream of the Crop, the Crème dela Crème, totally Hot Bananas! Ok, Ok, you catch my drift! I want to make sure that you knew how excited we really were! #Boomshakalaka

If you aren’t quite sure who or what Laura Kelly does you need to check her out!! She is the bee’s knees and the bomb dot com! Quite frankly she is one of my “Crafting Hero’s” Laura is such an inspiration.  She not only believes in the Crafting Community, she lives it each and every day! She is constantly encouraging others to Create, Love Life, and Be Free! Laura doesn’t just reach for the stars once and hope she catches on to one.  She is constantly reaching for the stars, gathering them up one by one and sharing her light with all of us! Be sure to read more about Laura Kelly  HERE.

  This is Laura! We love her and admire everything about her!

Also be sure to check out all of the other amazingly talented designers that are a part of this design team.  You will not want to miss a thing! And to answer the questions that you had in your head YES!!! We will be doing Mingles for this team! EEK! Good things to come my friends, good things to come!
But wait!! Did you know that Jo Packham is our Honorary Design Team Member?   Do you buy the magazines-  Where Women Create, Where Women Cook, and Where Women Create BUSINESS? Umm… if you don’t, you need to my friends!! This is huge! Read more about Jo and what she does HERE.

WE can’t wait to get started! Check back for more!!
Loves- Madge

OH.  MY.  HELLS... One might ask, "How does this happen?"
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Friends, Crafters, ANYONE!  Please tell me I'm not the only one this has happened to!  Life was hectic.  I wasn't able to craft as often as I would like.  However, I did make it to a few (using this term lightly LOL) sales, friends gifted me items and fabulous companies sent me loads of amazing product.  I did complete my projects that needed to be done, I just worked in my living room.  But purchases, deliveries and leftover products were all just dropped in my craft room.  I just dropped and walked out, closing the door to the ever growing piles behind me!  The time has come people...
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This has got to stop!!!  It's going to take a lot of strength.  I am a hoarder of all things crafty!  (Hey-the first step is admitting it!)  I am going to de-stash.  I'm also going to need a little help from friends.  I have a problem getting rid of my supplies.  I can always come up with a way I "might" use something one day.  I have 1 or 2 friends in mind that are strong enough to say "No you won't, you will just keep storing it!"  This is serious...the struggle is real.  I must pass on some of my goodies.  Believe it or not, I already gave away 2 huge boxes full.  But then I got busy with other things and closed the door again.  NOT THIS TIME!
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I can do it!  Madge is getting her fabulous studio all finished up which is  a great inspiration. (And creates large doses of envy.  It's a good thing I know that I can craft there anytime I want :) More pics of that will be coming soon!
     We are going on a sun and sand filled vacation.  I can get my mind wrapped around what needs to be done and when we get back, IT IS ON!  I'm organizing, sorting, cleaning out and Donating!  It must be done.  I want my craft room back.  If for no other reason than my sanity!  (Let's get real, that's a far stretch!)  I would really like to use this room for it's intended purpose!  It can be done...It will be done...Wish me luck!  And when I come out on the other side, there will be an entirely different group of pictures I have to share!  

D-I-S-N-E-Y!!!  Welcome to the hop!  We are so excited to take part in this, I mean, who doesn't have at least one favorite Disney or Pixar moment?!  Recently we got the chance to go to CHA in Anaheim.  We decided to have a "girls day" at Disneyland while we were there.  We have lots of fun pics of that day to share, but first, here is a peek at our Disney Project...

     These adorable "Minnie" straws were the perfect addition to our Disney party table setting.  We can always find an excuse to P-A-R-T-Y...and going to Disneyland with only the (adult) girls seemed like the perfect excuse!  Another one of the things that we absolutely love about Disney and Pixar, is the fabulous color combos each of their characters help to create! 
     For 2016 we are going to attempt to have a hop every other month for the entire year . . . February, April, June, August, October and December.  If you are on Facebook you can like the group page so that you can be the first to learn about each upcoming event.  Just click HERE to go the the Facebook page.
      To make sure you don't miss any of the fun, be sure to start at Shawn's blog to see all of the projects.  Just click HERE to head over to her blog and then follow the hop line up at the bottom of the post to see everyone's projects.
 Now some "Girls Disney Day" pics:

Now that the dust has settled a little bit from the foot traffic at the CHA Mega Show in Anaheim, California, I thought now would be a great time to share with you our favorites from this years amazing show! Are you ready to be in Auh? I am sure you have read post after post about how wonderful CHA was, however my friends you have yet to read about this trade show through the eyes of Midge and Madge! You know that it is always an adventure with the two of us right? Well, let's get this party started!!!

Let's talk about the plane ride shall we?? We had a great flight I must say! Before boarding we ran into the amazing Laura Kelly Walters and Laura Neiman! Hugs were given, and we were stoked to be heading to CHA! But wait! Laura and Laura's peeps were missing! (What are peeps you are asking?? Keep reading and you will find out!) As we raced to their last gate to see if the cleaning crew had already cleaned the plane, Laura ran and was able to check the plane! Disappointed and saddened she came out of the gate with no peeps.  The Peeps are now missing persons! Standing in the terminal wondering what we should do Laura spotted the cleaning crew headed to the next plane to clean! She grabbed her phone and found a picture of the two missing peeps and ran to one of the ladies with the yellow gloves! She shared the photo with her and had her take the phone to the other cleaners to see if they knew where the peeps were.  Much to our surprise the brought the two peeps out safe and sound! Yes, the relief was immediate when they were found.  (Little did Laura know that her and Laura's  peeps were going to be kidnapped once again for ransom)

And Ransom they were!! More to come later in the post!!!
We arrived in sunny California and our great friend Christie picked us up from the airport! Mind you, there were 4 of us, all with Giant Suitcases and all of us having a small carry on suit case as well.  It was like Jenga while putting our luggage in! Once we arrived we then looked like we were clowns arriving at the Circus! One by one we popped out and our figures filled back out! YES! CHA is really happening! Let's go check in, drop our bags and head over to get our badges!!!

Hot Bananas! See that right there peeps? That is our badge and yes, yes it does say Madge Gillen with Midge & Madge Mingle underneath! ( Midge's was the same but with Midge LOL) We were legit! Saaaaweeeett!!!  Next stop..... Eileen Hulls booth #330 to check out Scotty and get directions on what we are suppose to do while teaching a Make & Take during our time!!!

We got our info and can't wait for tomorrow!! We are so excited to be demoing at CHA we couldn't be more happy!!!
Our sweet friend Katy Berry flew in and all of our "roomies" were here!!! Boomshakalaka!!

Now that you have seen the play by play up to this point! I am going to just give you our highlights of CHA! Are you ready??? BINGO! Let's do it!!

Here are some of our Favorite booths! Now remember I said SOME! Man, if  posted pics of all of the booths you would be here for days!!! LOL Now let's talk our Make and Take at the Scotty Booth (Eileen Hull Paper Trail) !! Below is a collage of pics that were taken while we were demoing.  I also have a fun clip that we recorded on Periscope during this class too!

Wasn't that fun?? Now check out the fun round table event we went to, that Laura Kelly Walters taught! Oh P.S. we got our own peeps, so that means that Laura and Laura have their peeps back and everyone is happy!!! (What is a Peep? A peep is a cute drawing that represents the person it is intended for.  However, not everyone gets a life size peep. There are qualifications! )

We all learned so much from our dear friend Laura! She even shared her awesome experience of being in the "Where Women Create Magazine"  Love that!!! We loved meeting with Amy Tangerine while there, and check out her booth isn't it darling??

Next up Richard Garay Booth!!

Who loves the bright colors and the tires as shelves? Oh my and that Bubblegum machine is to die for!!! EEK!! Love it!

Let's talk about these headdresses shall we?? We found out while at the show our sweet friend Christie Troxell from Ritzy Parties headdress was published in the book Party Style by Gemma Touchstone. In fact Christie has a tutorial on how to make these on her blog.  Click HERE for the link!  The Make and Take in the Tombow booth was fabulous!

We also had the opportunity to be a part of the VIP Bloggers event put on by FavCrafts!!! YAY!! We met so many fun peeps and so many fun new things in the works!! Can't wait to share!!!!

Our sweet friend Rina from Mothership Scrapbook Gal was teaching at CHA also! I loved listening to how she makes Happy Crafty Hour a success, along with the Do's and Don'ts And hey this gal she knows what she is talking about not only is Rina a successful Crafter she is also an attorney! Say What!!! You go Girl!!!

Meeting up with Lori, from My Craft Channel is always a blast!! Oh yes, and let's not forget the awesome Camera guy Brian!!! Whoop Whoop!!

SO... CHA has come to an end, and here we are eating at Jo's Crab Shack with friends before we leave to go back to cold UTAH!!!

Our Bags are packed and ready to go!!

As you know there are so many fun things to talk about while at CHA, these were just some of our highlights while attending! We love CHA and can't wait to share with you our fun new opportunities and plans that we have for 2016!!!

Hugs-

Madge