Come Visit Me at "Art in the Vines!"

You are invited to Arts in the Vines ... a wine country experience!

Sunday, August 29th
11:00 am – 5:00 pm
(Rain or Shine)
 

Tons of booths featuring Local Artists, Artisans, & Crafters
Two live music sets by Dennis Enns Trio & "We Play for Wine"
Children’s Hands-On Fun Area

Huge Raffle for Charity

Local Food Vendors &
Charity BBQ for Small Animal Rescue Society of BC

Produce & Flower Vendors, Demonstrations.
Mediterranean Tapas Plates available for purchase. 

And of course… wine tasting. Tasting room open from 11 am to 6 pm
 

Township 7 Winery
21152 16 Ave. at 212th, Langley, BC

Lordy, Lordy... Look Who's Forty!

For my good friend Emma's fortieth birthday, I wanted to make something for her, as well as her regular birthday gift, because I know she appreciates craftiness! I had an inspiration photo saved from somewhere on the internet of a similar idea, just waiting for the chance to make it myself. I got a cute wrought iron and ceramic flower pot from Michaels, plus some rounded flower foam to fit inside the pot. Then I put in 40 different tootsie pops (yes, I counted!) into the foam. Because the foam is rounded, they went into a nice shape pretty easily. Then I printed out "forty sucks!" on white cardstock, cut it in a banner shape, and taped it onto 2 bamboo skewers from the kitchen. The pointy skewers easily stuck down into the foam. Lastly, I tied on some matching ribbon to the base and skewers. A lovely gift for a lovely friend; just make sure your planned recepient has a good sense of humour. I think Emma liked it!

Stamp Club Goodies

My last stamp club meeting for this group was in June, and I am sad its already done! Six months flies by so quickly.

The way our hostess club works is we get together at my place one evening per month for six months, where I provide drinks and snacks and everything for two fun projects. I try to focus on learning interesting new techniques, holiday-related items (depending on the month), and also whatever items or stamp sets my club members are interested in. 

The members' agree to purchase a minimum of $35 from the catalogue each month for the six months, and give me the orders the night of our meeting. The best part is that one month out of the six month each member gets a chance to be the "hostess," meaning that you get to pick one free level one hostess set and a minimum of $25 of free stuff from the catalogue! Its a great way to build up your stash of supplies over time, get free stuff without having to hold a home workshop, and learn new craft skills! And... the best part in my opinion... girl time!

I couldn't let our last meeting go by without putting together some special gifts for my members. I decorated some white paper bags, and included a sweet pea fridge magnet, some of my new business cards, a special invite to my Open House, and the best part: a "stuff I made" notebook filled with inspirational quotes and spaces to record all your projects over the years. If you would like to be a part of the fun of my stamp club, I have a new club starting up in September!! I'd love to have you join us. Just email me for more details and to sign up: lanamccarney@gmail.com

Draw prize for Art in the Vines

For Art in the Vines you have to donate a raffle prize as the entry fee. The best part is that the raffle is all for charity, as well as the barbeque. I thought you might be interested in seeing what I put together. I was thinking of donating a whole stamp set, but I figured that a gift basket would be more useful for a wider range of crafters, plus it looks cooler! I used up brand new random supplies that I already happened to have on hand, which made it even more cost effective for me. I think it looked cute! I tied it up with clear cellophane and ribbon. Hope the winner enjoyed their prize! Can you spot all the goodies in there? Dont worry, if you want your own super duper prize, come to my Open House! I have tons of prizes and free goodies. Or, you could always come to the next Art in the Vines event in August as well.

Father's Day

This past Father's day was my husband's second. I organised a family bbq in his honour, plus a little gift from Liam. We bought him a Star Wars decal for his tool box, plus a gift certificate for a dinner at the Keg. I also made a really really yummy dessert for the first time: death by chocolate trifle. I baked brownies in the morning, then in the afternoon I layered together in a big bowl: brownie chunks with cold strong coffee and some kaluha, cool whip, skor bar chunks, caramel sauce, then repeat! For the piece de resistance I added  store bought chocolate dipped cream puffs on top. Dessert fit for a king! (Or a great Dad).

I wanted to show you the cool card I whipped up while the brownies were baking. I loosely followed the directions from here. Cute idea, eh?