Frozen Charlottes~

I just learned about the background of these charming dolls called Frozen Charlottes at a site called Yesterdays Toys. I've seen these mini treasures recently popping up in shadow boxes and Tim Holtz Configuration boxes.

Frozen Charlottes are a type of unjointed china doll popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name came from Fair Charlotte, a well-known American folk ballad attributed to William Carter. It is believed to have been composed some time between 1833 and 1860. The ballad tells the tale of a beautiful  woman who set out in a sleigh with her lover, Charles, on a bitterly cold night to attend a ball fifteen miles away. Her mother warned her to wrap herself in a blanket to keep warm, but:

"No, no, no," fair Charlotte said
And she laughed like a gypsy queen
"To ride in blankets muffled up,
I never can be seen."

The couple rode off into the cold and, after traveling a mere five miles, Charles remarked:

"Such a night as this I never knew,
The reins I scarce can hold."
Fair Charlotte said in a feeble voice
"I am exceeding cold."
Away they ride through frozen air
In the glittering starry night
Until at length the village inn
and the ballroom were in sight.
They reached the door, Young Charles stepped out
And held his hand to her
"Why sit you there like a monument
that hath no power to stir?"
He called her once, he called her twice
She uttered not a word
He held his hand to her again
And still she never stirred
Then swiftly through the lighted room
Her lifeless form he bore
Fair Charlotte was a stiffened corpse
And word spoke nevermore.

Of course there was a lesson to be learned from this tragic tale, and many young girls who later played with Frozen Charlottes probably were warned:

Now, ladies, when you hear of this
Think of that dreadful sight,
And never venture so thinly clad,
On such a winter's night.

Most Frozen Charlottes ranged in height from one to four inches. The one-inch-sized dolls were commonly known as "penny dolls" because they generally sold for one cent. The popularity of Frozen Charlottes can be attributed, in part, to the fact that their relatively low price allowed children to accumulate a collection of dolls with which to play.
                                 To see Tim Holtz's post on configuration boxes click here.

Birds Of A Feather~

My daughter has been using my Cricut all day for a school project, so I kept her company in my Scrap Room and made a card. I stamped the bird image on a piece of canvas that was part of an old tote bag. I also did a bit of stitching and masking. The sentiment is one from my Verve Stamps.

I also made a tag to send along with an rak to the winner of my Voila, Ink! May Pole Inking Challenge. I used a plain tag, Distress Inks and grungepaper. I tried out my new Tattered Angels Glimmer Screen, then finished off the inking with a coat of Distress Rock Candy. Lastly, I tucked a couple small feathers behind the stamped bird.

I'm Growing Hydrangeas!

Trisha Too asks, "what are you growing in your garden, on your sewing table, kitchen or scraproom?"  She posted What's Growing Friday with photos from her backyard and is trying out the link tool. I am happy to report that the Hydrangeas I planted last year have finally taken root and are thriving. I have tried for 10 years to get them to grow in our clay soil. Some of the blooms are 7 to 10 inches across! There are enough of them to bring some inside while leaving others to decorate the garden. :)

P.S. Happy 3rd Birthday, Pink Saturday!

Rhubarb ~

Now, don't you dare wrinkle your nose if you have never tried a great piece of rhubarb pie!  I think many people just think the name sounds funny and have never actually tried rhubarb. I first tried rhubarb when I worked at a Marie Callendars restaurant, and I've liked it ever since. I especially love deep dish pies, cobblers and crisps and just found this easy recipe for summer baking that I want to share with you. If you are a craft sewer or quilter, you will surely want to check out Keepsake Quilting; the following recipe is from the Keepsake Quilting Cookbook for busy sewers.

Rhubarb Crisp
1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup flour 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, melted 3 cups finely chopped rhubarb	1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup water 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 drops red food coloring (optional)

 Mix the brown sugar, flour and oats in a bowl. Stir in the margarine. Press about 2/3 of the mixture over the bottom of an 8-inch baking pan. Spread the rhubarb in the prepared pan. Cook the sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Add the vanilla and food coloring and pour over the rhubarb. Top with the remaining oats mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold. Make sure you share!!! LOL

Yield: 9 servings

Fun Stuff~

I discovered this Ranger tutorial by T!m H. that shows you how to make a custom stamp pad. It is reusable, lasts a long time, and can be washed and reinked in another palette if you desire! As my daughter would say, "awesomesauce!"

Then I found a great home decor project; it is a decorative chalkboard made with two frames and some scrappy supplies. I'm thinking this would be perfect for a Father's Day gift if made with masculine papers and embellies from Graphic 45~ Dad could use it in the garage or office. Check it out!
http://ateliersmonscrapbook.blogspot.com/2009/11/une-ardoise-decorative.html

Prom~

It is after 2 a.m....what am I doing up!?~ My daughter went to her Prom tonight, and we are up late winding down from the full day of activities and hustle and bustle. I took a few quick photos of her before she left the house and thought I'd share. I foresee several layouts in the future, and just loved the color of her dress!

Just SMASHING!

I have been waiting for months for K and Co. to bring their Smash Journals to the market! Woohooo, they are finally shipping these fabulous books to a store near you. And guess what? Crafty Steals, which has wonderful crafting products for one-day only prices is featuring 4 different Smash books today!! Have you seen the clever Smash video? What could you do with your Smash book? Make a 'favorite music' journal? Tea or wine tasting journal? Movie, play or concert memorabilia book?

100 Members at Bella Creations blog~

How exciting! We reached 100 members at Bella Creations new Blog, so now we are awarding the fabulous Blog Candy  below~

And the lucky recipient chosen at random is Donna L.!!!!!!! Congrats, Donna. We are looking forward to giving away more prizes and inspiring you with our beautiful kits (available starting in June).   

Quick Cards~

I made a couple of quick cards last week, despite being hit with a flu bug...can't keep me out of my scraproom for too long!

I call this one Heart Throb...haha! I used my new brick rubber stamp, cork, and G45 Curtain Call paper.

Yup, used the brick stamp again! This time I also used a piece of canvas (recycled tote bag), a playing card and Tim Holtz ribbon ruler tape. Using 'The Journey' car stamp I stamped the old car on cardboard, then fussy cut it. I like having cards ready in my stash for when birthdays come along, and it seems like I usually have a shortage of masculine cards.
Just fyi~ the deadline for the May Pole Challenge at Voila, Ink! is May 25. Use the digital Graphics Fairy May Pole image on a project, along with ink, and you could win this cute Studio K Tag Book!

Save The Date!

BLOG HOP! ~ Bella Creations first BLOG HOP will be on June 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th.

You are not going to want to miss our blog hop because its going to be loads of fun! Each Design Team Bella will be giving away a prize for visiting her blog. And at the end of the HOP there is a grand prize that is going to knock your socks off! We are all excited to do this hop, and hope to see you there!

I Am My Mother's Garden~

As a Design Team member I made this Gothic Arch for the Bella Creations Tres Chic Challenge. When I saw the Mariposa papers I was to work with I knew I wanted to include some deep red mulberry paper and parchment to the mix.

I gathered up several edge punches, sheer ribbon, thin stiff cardboard, then suddenly got the idea to include a white moire frame to the front! I found the Moire frame in the bridal section of Michaels.

 Here are the steps to making this Gothic Arch~

*cut a house shaped piece of firm cardboard to the size you like (mine was approx 7"x 8")

* tear paper into strips and punch one edge, if desired

*starting at the top, glue paper to Arch overlapping each new strip. Ink edges.

*I used Velcro to attatch the white moire frame to the front. This allows me to remove the frame to place a photo inside, then re-attatch without disturbing the floral spray!

*I added a ceramic floral spray and single red Prima paper flowers. Add Prima crystals.

*I added the last 4 lines of a poem to the front. The entire poem is on the back.

*I added an additional piece of cardboard to the back for strength and cut an easel stand at an angle

This was so fun to make!! You could make several, decorate the backs, and bind them together into an album. Here is the poem I printed on the back~

My Mother's garden

My Mother kept a garden, a garden of the heart,
She planted all the good things that gave my life it's start.
She turned me to the sunshine and encouraged me to dream,
Fostering and nurturing the seeds of self-esteem...
And when the winds and rain came, she protected me enough--
But not too much because she knew I'd need to stand up strong and tough.
Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong--
Markers for my pathway that will last a lifetime long.
I am my Mother's garden.
I am her legacy-
And I hope today she feels the love
reflected back from me. ~~~Anonymous

May Bella Muse Challenge~

I had such fun making a shrine from a match box for the May Muse Challenge. First step, empty a matchbox and make a cut lengthwise up the center of the sleeve. (box I used is 4.5" x  2.5 ")

                                Paint any surfaces that won't be covered with paper or cardstock.

Once painted, replace the box into the sleeve but bend the slit cover (top you cut) outwards, like wings. You will have a box with wings, and this is what you will attatch to the shrine front after you cut a central opening.  

 Using a separate piece of thin cardboard, cut a house shaped piece 5" by 7 and 3/4", which will give you about a 1.25" side  to which your box will attatch from behind. NOTE~ the top will be where the peak is, so if you want your shrine to sit horizontally instead of vertically the peak would be on the west or east side, not north. Cut a central opening for the box to be seen inside.

I wanted my shrine to be horizontal, thus I cut a piece that looked like this~ above! Just trace around your matchbox and leave a border. A quilters/sewer ruler comes in handy.  I used the Muse image from Bella Creations and placed it inside the box. Next, I covered all surfaces with G45 Curtain Call.

I decorated the front of the shrine with Tim Holtz filmstrip, punched paper, feathers, ribbon, a metal charm, and a The Journey stamped car. I stamped the car on cereal box cardboard; next I stamped the same image on the striped g45 paper and mounted the cardboard car with foam dots to the striped paper which gives a nice 3D shadowing from underneath.

Happy May Day at Bella Creations!~

This month is PACKED full of fun and goodies at Bella Creations! We have three monthly Challenges and wonderful sponsors and prizes, so come play along! For the Tres Chic  Style Challenge the sponsor is

and they are offering an RAK which is a kit to make this sweet mini album~

For our Bella Muse Challenge make a project using this image from Gecko Galz~

and you could win an RAK from the Scrappy Gourmet! And last but NOT least, Flying Unicorn is offering a fantastic RAK for one lucky participant in the Bella Unique Challenge, which will have you making a sueded embellishment for your project~

And next month we are having a Blog Hop with prizes, surprises, and our first monthly kit designed by Lacee~ Don't miss all the excitement!!