Donkey Smiles turns Three! Let's Celebrate with some Candy!

 THANK YOU! This CANDY IS NOW CLOSED....

Wow I can hardly believe it, but I have been blogging for three years now. Seems like only yesterday I started this all up, and how much my life has changed due to it! Blessings all the way around... I won't get all mushy :0)

So lets have a party today! It's Donkey Smiles B-day and we have some candy to share! I did a little shopping for you.. ahem and a little for me too :0) And here is what I have put together -

My shopping...
Have you seen the new K&Company 6x6 paper pads??? OH MY!!! I shopped for "us" ... he he one for you and one for me type of shopping...

So here is the list of candy -
1- K&Company - "Julianne" paper stack, 96 sheets!!!
1- K&Company - "Sweet Nectar" paper stack, 96 sheets!!!
1- DCWV "Glitter Sweet" Stack - one of my favorites, 72 sheets - 4.5x6.5
2 - packages of two SMOOCHES - Electric Blue, Vanilla Shimmer, Spun Sugar and Log Cabin!
Bakers Twine from THE TWINERY - Eight Colors!
A BUNCH of Mulberry Roses  - A WHOLE BUNCH in Lots of sizes- Buds to Large!
7 - Embossed Card bases with envelopes
Then I dug through my stash of vintage Button Cards and Grabbed out a bunch for the candy!

There is the "goods" and I want everyone to have a chance. So here is the how to -

Leave a comment on this post. Only one comment per person please.
That is about it :0)
If you would like to become a follower if you are not already that is wonderful, but not required. And spreading the news is wonderful! And appreciated, but not required.
I will ship world wide so no worries there :0)
Random Number Generator will be use to choose a winner on Monday March 7th!

And I know I said I wouldn't get mushy... but seriously I have to just a bit- Thank you all for visiting me the past three years. Through the "Smiles" and some "Tears" you have all been here for me, and it means the world to me. Thank you - and here are to the next three years! (I hope!)

HUGS and-

Animal Crackers - Sleepy time for the Doggies?

I got some adorable photos of the dogs sleeping this week... well of Chica and Autie - Libbie never sleeps she is always on guard! LOL
First look at how adorable Autie is  - My Little Man...

 

He is such a sweet boy - Now Hubby may not like that I am showing his Little Dude sleeping in Libbie's PINK bed, but they all love this bed, it is the only bed out of 8-10 beds that they haven't destroyed and they actually sleep in... must be really comfortable! 

Same time.. I caught Chica napping right next to Autie - 

She sleeps FLAT OUT - still a puppy so she really crashes when she is napping! Do you recognize that blanket? That was the Heart blanket that "Daddy" got Libbie when we got her - She loves that blanket - Autie used it when he came home to us as a baby and now their baby is using it too... they drag it all over the house and sleep on it. Just too darn cute!

Chica has the eyes that just melt your heart... just like her Dad Autie... man is that a face or what!

Libbie is just bored with the whole thing... lets go and chase some goats on the fence line!!!

Speaking of Goats - I got this photo of Chloe yesterday. This goat just kills me. Man those eyes are so stunning! But she is a psycho! Total nut, won't let you touch her at all, and runs and scream like a crazy idiot when you are in the pen. I'll have to try and video her screaming one day.. really you wouldn't believe it! But she is gorgeous. I just hope that she can one day give us some gorgeous babies, then I can tame them down... (remember I wasn't able to be with Chloe as a baby as she was born just after my accident)

 

And checking in on our newest addition - Baby Juliet. She is really loving being in the Girls youth pen, and getting to know all the other gals. She doesn't know that she is so much bigger than they are... remember most of these mini's are full size already... she is only 1/2 the size she will end up. 

Here she is being told the order of the pen... Felicia is letting her know... you wait and drink after I am done - Got it?  LOL one day Juliet may tell her differently  :0) 

And what do you do if you have an itch you can't scratch??? Well you use the fence silly!!!

I am putting together a special blog candy - Can you believe I have been here in Blog Land for THREE years!! Yep my anniversary is here.. so keep an "eye" on me... sorry... bad pun?

Have a wonderful Saturday- HUGS from me and all the Furry Kids!

Just Magnolias and Hanglars - A sketch this week!

Today at Just Magnolias and Hanglars there is a wonderfully fun sketch to work with. I really enjoyed this sketch - worked so well with one of my old stamped Hanglars that was sent to me many many moons ago :0)

Was a lighter weight paper than I am use to, but I love the shading with the copics on this paper... wonder what it is? LOL

And here is my card with this weeks sketch - I really had some fun with the DCWV Garden Party papers and a cream colored card stock. For my bands - I used a Martha Stewart Cherry Blossom border punch along with one of the pattern papers, LOVE IT!! Need to use these borders more like this really a cool effect don't you think. The light green bling doesn't hurt either -

My image is cut in a circle and then matted with a Nesties Lacey Circles. Everything is sewed down.

Love this sketch, and the fun colors of these papers. OH I am so READY for SPRING!!! Bye Bye Winter Bye Bye!!

Now pop on over to Just Magnolias and Hanglars Challenge and see all the DT cards, and join us for a chance at a wonderful prize!

I am off... today is girlie day :0) Toes - Lunch - and maybe Hobby Lobby?

HUGS and-

SMILE - a new Gillian Roberts Image "Fiona"

Hello -
Quick post today to show you one of the samples I made for Stampavie's CHA booth - A Gillian Roberts image called "Fiona" - just love this little gal -

 

This card came together so quick! I think it was one that was just meant to be - I first colored my image with my copics and had some fun with those polk-a-dot tights Fiona is wearing - and then I went a bit nuts with those daisies! The papers are from my scraps - all sewed down and the flowers and words were down deep in my stash from my days of scrapbooking. So glad they didn't find their way into my donation box, cuz they were just perfect for this card! 

Has been a bad week here at our house.. computer wise - opened up my computer to work on Tuesday and a NASTY virus was going to work... a million pop ups and fake security warnings going crazy! Over 9 hours later I finally had it out of the system, and ran a virus scan through the entire computer - two different kinds of scans. Then Wednesday I downloaded a new program, and ran it as well... Would you believe that it found things that the first two did not! I think my computer is clean now, and seems to be working like normal. But my house and my head have suffered the long hours at the computer... Could have handled that many hours surfing blogs and having fun, but the stress of the virus was a different type of computer work! LOL 

So here it is Thursday and I am physically still back on Tuesday morning with my work and chores! Double time today for me! Gotta get lots done today so I can go to lunch with my BFF Tracey and do our girlie pedicure time on Friday :0) Don't want to miss that so I am sure I will be a working crazy person today! LOL 

HUGS and have a wonderful day!

Me and My Space - My Metal Dies Storage Books

Finally - I have gotten photos taken of my Metal Dies Storage Books. I wanted to try and clean them up a bit first, but really... well they are just used so much that they are what they are right?

I have tried a few different storage methods for these dies, from leaving them in original packages - to boxes and a few others, nothing was right for me. This is working well right now and they sit nicely on my desk shelf and are used DAILY - 

These are actually recipe books from Pendleton. I found them on clearance a while back and really liked them. They are basically like a 4x6 photo album - with sleeves to hold cards for recipes. I took these cards and added magnets to hold up my metal dies!

I have tried to keep the names of each die written beside it.  Some are in the sleeves and some are just on the dividers. The more smaller the dies the more important it is to have in the sleeves. I move these books all around and so far.. knock on wood... I have not had dies fall out of the books.

The dividers are named for the style of die - especially with the nesties shapes.

 When short on magnets... I have been known to just cut out the cardstock the dies came in and just stick them down and use the double sided tape that they came on... lazy yes - works yes :0)

 Here are some of the Heartfelt dies - you can see here why I keep the dies like this inside the sleeves as well as the magnet - they really hold tight but just in case they are in the plastic.

 Again - more small dies..

And more small dies -

One book is all "other" dies - here they are mostly just in the plastic sleeves - and it works out well and makes it easy to see what I have - I just need to use these more instead of always going to my favorites all the time.

Hope this gives you an idea of storage for metal dies - Do you have something different? Share with me... might like your way better :0)

Now wanna see more personality in my room? LOL I don't think I have showed this before, if so it or "he" is gorgeous enough to show again!

Now I am not an active sports gal... sweating just isn't me... LOL but I do LOVE to watch baseball! ESPECIALLY the New York Yankees! I am a Texas gal all the way to the middle, but I do love the Yankees! Can't stand it during the year when baseball season isn't active. Nothing better than crafting at my desk while the Yankee's are on TV! And for me... my number one Yankee is my man JETER! No worries.. Hubby knows I totally have a crush on Jeter, he isn't to worried about it though - LOL Anyway I have lots of clocks in my room, wasn't planned... but ended up that way. Most all of them are handmade ones, but this one, well is just to make me smile :0)

Have a wonderful Wednesday - hope you had fun with "Me and My Space"
HUGS and-

A Spoon Full of Sugar - Birthdays with a new Stamavie image!

Good Day! Tuesday already and that is A Spoon Full of Sugar day we know - today's challenge is a Birthday challenge, nice simple and always needed for our card stash!

This was an opportunity to use one of the brand new Stampavie images that I had colored up playing with the new Letraset Aqua-markers - I ADORE this new image... is it the image or the name? "Cheeky Boy" by artist Penny Johnson. Isn't he just too cute?

I cut the image out with my Nesties label die and then used the red marker to create a mat around him.

For the card I went with the DCWV Blue Jeans stack, seemed to work really well with the image I had colored - and the denim is perfect for any little boy right?

The inside is decorated as well... this is where the "birthday" wish comes in too -

I was very proud of my very first pleated flower... is that what these are called? I don't know for sure but I have been seeing them on cards and loved how cute they are... so I sat down and figured out how to make one all by my self! LOL Wasn't that hard really... I just cut a strip and inch wide and 12 inches long. Then I scored it every 1/2 inch and then folded back and forth. Then attached the two ends together and messed with it a few minutes to make it look like a round circle.... now keeping it that way.. that was the hard part! I ended up putting some heavy two sided tape in two strips across the back of the flower and sticking it down quick before it popped up! For the pretty center I added a red button with twine tied through it. The sentiment is from Papertrey ink, then finished off with a Martha Stewart leaf.

Now pop on over to A Spoon Full of Sugar and see all the birthday wishes!

Have a wonderful Tuesday! See you tomorrow for Me and My Space :0)
HUGS and-

Dust It Off Sunday - A High Hopes Nurse and my Blog :0)

Dust it off Sunday! First.. I dusted off my blog for Spring. Just a few quick changes nothing fancy... but for some reason just a little pink and new font make me feel like I did a bit of Spring cleaning - and makes me smile. I do love the pink too!

For today's post I decided to make a card with one of the images that I had "practiced" with my new Letraset Aqua-Markers. I am LOVING these new markers BTW... they are just too fun. I just need to work with not being so heavy handed with the ink... and try a little less ink and water - trying.. but I do love the color!

Ok, so I had to do some serious surfing on the web to find out what this image was... LOL it has been in my stack of images forever - but I finally got to High Hopes and went.. duh I knew that was what it was! She is actually called "Valerie Nurse Angel" I think she is just an adorable get well image. Since I had colored with no papers in mind, I had to really dig through my papers to find something that went with this one. purple and browns? Not a color combo I do often! But then I found the paper stack from K&Company and Brenda Walton "Brookfield" - and the papers seemed just perfect for a simple calm get well card. I matted with a cream colored card stock, and sewed down everything. A pretty satin ribbon, and then LOTS and LOTS of adhesive pearls! The tab and the sentiment were part of the stack - so that worked out well for a quick card.

So have you dusted off an old image lately? Let me see it! Comment and give me a link so I can visit you! Those old images need some love and ink too :0)

Off to enjoy the day with Hubby -
HUGS and-

Animal Crackers - And then there was one more... Juliet arrives!!!

Yep... this was the week we got to bring Juliet home! Hubby bought her a few months ago, she is Ted E. Bear's full sister. And when we saw her in the pasture down the road... well I could see in Hubby's face that we were gonna end up with another "useless" donkey. Useless meaning, that she would have no point to our "business", just a mouth to feed. And well... an adorable, cuddly donkey to love on!!

 Yep this girl arrived this week, and I fell instantly in love with her. We just thought that Ted was the sweetest full size donkey- his little sister is so friendly and sweet... Did I tell you she is sweet? She is really like a big dog and follows you around just like a dog.

Loading her up in the trailer wasn't to bad... we have done mini's that were worse... but she at first was saying no... LOL

Hubby is really in love with this girl... Here he is giving her a kiss on the end of the nose, to tell her we are gonna take really good care of her.... spoil her is more like it.

Now I am nervous here... I was worried that the three other standards were gonna pick on this baby... remember she is only 5 months old.. so she is still a baby even if she is a big girl.... Her brother Teddy comes to check her out... I am so nervous here....

Oh no worries anymore... Teddy may like to think he is tough and manly... but uh.. big baby is afraid of his little sister and runs like mad to get away from her!!

The rest of the day all three standards hid from little Juliet! Shaking head here.... oh my...

Seriously.. they are afraid of this adorable little girl!!! Can you believe it? Common guys she is a baby!!

The goats were interested but not afraid!! And the mini donkeys were all curious but not afraid!! In fact Juliet really was interested in the mini donkeys.. she had never seen donkeys smaller than her - we decided at the end of the day that we didn't want her to be by herself... since the three standard stooges where hiding from her - that we would put her in the girls youth pen and she is quite happy in there right now. We weaned lots of babies this week - Paco, Jorge, Felipe were put into the youth boy pen... and then Lydia and Marissa were put into the youth girls pen, and guess who Juliet has made friends with? Lydia and Marissa... the other two new girls in the pen are being nice and she is sticking close to them. Too cute - and I feel good that she had new friends her own age, even if they are much smaller :0)

And I didn't forget Doggie photos this week...

You would never know this little man was bathed and brushed just a few days ago would you?? He is still handsome - :0)

Chica's newest "big girl" trick... she likes to "climb" the tree in their yard.. LOL this is as high as she goes, but she thinks she is really high! Heck.. I guess when you are that short, that is high huh?

She is her Dad's little girl.. she loves chewing on sticks! even when still attached to the tree - I had a comment last week asking if we are keeping Chica.... well... I don't think we can let her go, we have gotten super attached to her. We have sucker on our foreheads... with our baby donkeys, goats and now Libbie's first baby... BUT NO MORE DOGS in the future... all future litters must go... LOL

And Libbie... Isn't this a funny photo of my little gal? I think I had told you that she has lost a lot of her gorgeous hair after the litter right? Well it is all growing back in and she is back to her "normal" weight, she is looking really good... but well... her hair is still kind of funny looking - and makes her look long and skinny... and what is with those ears looking so large??? LOL

Hope you enjoyed! HUGS from all of us here at Animal Crackers!

Just Magnolias and Hanglars - LOVE!!

Hello and Happy Friday! Today is Just Magnolia and Hanglars day.. and today's challenge is all about the LOVE. GREAT Challenge don't you think? I am still in the Valentines mood :0)

For my card I chose another Hanglar image sent to me from a wonderful internet friend. I have some of these images that were sent on watercolor paper - and since I "used" basically only Copics I just put them in a drawer and never used them. But now that I have the new Aqua-markers :0) - -   :0) - - - :0)    I have pulled them out and have been coloring like crazy!!!

I just love the bold colors that are available with these Aqua-markers! I am still learning how to use them, and practicing but I do love playing with them. I highlighted with a white gel pen.

 Then for my card - full of Love of course! I started out with a red card stock, then I found papers from DaisyD's - The collection name is "Snowflakes and Holly" But I think there is some romantic Valentines Love feel with them as well. Love the vintage feel of them, and the pretty colors.

I sewed down the three patterns - Oh to save paper I cut the mat for the Hanglar image out of the bottom red pattern paper, then used it as the mat :0) Hey all that paper in the middle was gonna be hidden anyway right? :0)

Then I went digging in my ribbons and found this gorgeous stretchy red velvet lacy ribbon, really pretty! And perfect for this card. Then I punched out two Fiskar's squeeze punch hearts, one medium and one large - The sentiment is from Hero Art.

Had lots of fun with this one, and now I am heading off to see the other DT's Love at Just Magnolia and Hanglars! Join us and make a card with some love and then you could win our prize this week!

See you tomorrow for some Animal Crackers!

HUGS and -