Non-Sweet Easter Treat

I spent a little bit of time this afternoon putting together these Easter treats for our 2nd grade class:

I've seen several sites with the same idea, using piping bags made by Wilton, along with a carrot "stuffing" of Cheetos, Goldfish crackers or jellybeans.  I decided to go with a non-sweet version and simple carrot top using grosgrain ribbon and green ric rac (leftover from World Market's Christmas clearance).

Adding that Finishing Touch

I made this quick card to go with a birthday package for a sweet little one-year old.  Her party had a cupcake theme, so I knew I wanted to use this great cupcake die from Quickutz. I didn't want to go too over the top with stamping, etc., so I kept things simple.  The finishing touch made me smile:

I went to my stash of flat sequins and glued these pretty gems to the cupcake, acting as "sprinkles" and it was "just enough" to make it personal and special for her. 

The base of the card was made using a pre-formed matchbox card from DCWV.  I picked these up on clearance a while back from Hobby Lobby.  They are a neat concept, but in the end I decided I wasn't impressed.  They may find their way to a crafting garage sale.  The picture is not so pretty, but here is it in full view:

My ribbon proved too heavy for the matchbox flap making it difficult to photograph standing up....oh well, the cellophane envelopes that come with the set make up for it. 

Thanks to You All!

Here's a personal "THANKS" to everyone visiting my blog!! Some days I struggle with finding time to "be creative" or the personal decisions of whether or not the time is worth it...."Should I finish the laundry or should I make something for the blog?"  I do enjoy everything I do (or else I wouldn't do it) and seeing all the sweet comments lately lets me know that other people enjoy what I do too. 

This sweet little card came together in a flash using some scraps, a few of my favorite dies from Spellbinders and Quickutz along with a new Tim Holtz Vintage Market alphabet die.  I love the graphic look of it mixed with the bright colors.

Fringe Flowers

I saw this tutorial a while back and fell in love with the thought of making these pretty tissue paper flowers.  This afternoon I finally got around to playing with my new Martha Stewart scissors. Martha's new "Fringe Scissors" are really fun!  I found mine at Michael's and with a 50% off coupon they were less than $6.

I had a pretty package to prepare today so I got out my tissue paper, scissors and a stapler and came up with this:

This picture actually shows three small flowers clustered together to make a grouping on top of the package.  They were actually very easy to make following the maya*made tutorial.

I can't wait to make more in all kinds of colors!

My 50's Girl

One of the many things keeping me busy these days was working on this poodle skirt for a 50's "best dressed" contest at our school last Thursday night.  Here's what my Mom and I came up with: 
    
Working without a pattern proved a little tricky, but with my hubby's help (and engineer brain) he told us what we were doing wrong after we cut into the first half-yard of fabric (and ended up wasting it).  Part of the improved design included cutting out the waist measurement FIRST and then cutting the circumfrence length. 

We made it using pink felt for the skirt, white felt for the poodle, and black rope piping for the leash.

With a borrowed white cardigan, our own black shirt, pearls and pink skarf, the only thing we needed to complete the outfit were the saddle shoes.  No problem there....we simply used white sneakers from Wal-Mart and a little black felt. 

Abby looked so cute and won $10 free dollars to spend at the school's Book Fair.

Wrapped & Ready

What's this, you say? It's what I've been busy doing for the past week or so....on and off when I get a free couple of minutes. It's a stack of stamped cards I'm submitting for Paper Crafts Magazine's contest called, "Stamping Royalty." I'm not thinking I have much of a chance, but I figured I had all of the supplies, so why not? There is so much gorgeous talent out there....I feel as tho my creations don't compare, but who knows? We'll see in a few weeks or so. Keep your fingers crossed!

I've never submitted to a contest like this so I wasn't even sure how to get the cards in the mail without them getting entirely bashed up and disfigured, so I went to my chipboard stash and layered them up like this before wrapping in tissue paper. Hopefully they will arrive in Utah safe and sound.

I've got a lifetime supply...

of foam tape!! I went scrapbook shopping this past Saturday and found this great deal at one of my local stores. It's a huge round "wheel" of foamie dimensional tape and best of all, it's the same width as the kind I always buy from Stampin' Up.
I thought it was a pretty good deal for $9.99. Today, I thought I would try it out on my "Congratulations" card - as you can see below.

It worked like a charm...now I'm off to make something else.

Congratulations - Tiffany Blue Style

Hey there! I had a few extra minutes this afternoon, so I whipped up this pretty but subtle card today for a bridal shower I am attending this weekend.
When I found out the wedding colors were ivory and Tiffany blue I wasn't sure what design-scheme I was going to go with for a card....of course, I have to "make" one because I can't justify "buying" cards anymore....:)

After a quick visit to Michael's (I swear I only go there once a week.) I spotted these really sweet Prima flowers. Don't they look like they've just been dusted with a sprinkling of coarse sugar? I picked up a package and this is what I came up with:

Nothing too fancy...I just pulled out my oval Spellbinders dies, a little bit of printed vellum, ivory ribbon and a stick pin to balance it out. I like it....I hope you do too!

One of my Favorite Things...

to do is to surprise friends with special "little" gifts, usually something homemade, to brighten their day, or in this case to say "Thank You." I love taking something simple and adding a simple little touch to make it more special, something bigger than it really is.

Here is what I did to fancy-up a loaf of Zucchini Bread I made yesterday afternoon:
Quick breads like Zucchini, Pumpkin and Chocolate Chip Banana are my favorite things to bake. You can make multiple batches, bake two loaves at one time, and everyone usually gobbles them right up. Sometimes I package my quick breads in bread bags that I've sewn together with a quick straight stitch, but for this one, I first used a layer of foil and over that a layer of freezer wrap. That way, if my friend wants to eat it later all she has to do is remove the ribbon and pop it right in the freezer.

I used my Spellbinders tag dies, Memory Box patterned paper and cardstock in blue and orange that were at my fingertips in the scrap pile. Next up I stamped the "friend" heart using my new Stampin' Up clear stamp set and embellished it with a simple flower and brad. Couldn't be any easier....now the fun part, I get to give it away!

Playin' Around

One of my favorite Stampin' Up sets is called "Great Friend." I love the butterfly image, the frame image and the sentiment stamps. Here are two cards I put together while playing around the other day, just using the colors of cardstock on my desk along with a few scraps from Cosmo Cricket:
This card is nothing too fancy, just some simple pieces along with a scallop border punch and a snippet of Tempting Turquoise ribbon.

On the next card, I decided to go with a few more details, including a few punches from Martha Stewart's butterfly trio punch along with some grassy hills using her new shredding scissors.

The pink scrap was pulled out of my scrap holder and I also went with a larger scallop on the Cosmo Cricket patterned paper. I bought a set of Quickutz scallop border dies a while back and have just taken to using them on every other project lately.

That's it for today! Take care!

Thanks Lulu!

This morning, as I was going through my blog roll call, one of which is Laura Craigie's, I found out that I won a gift certificate to YourScrapbookStash....yahoo!!
It's always so exciting checking back and seeing your name as a winner! I can't wait to pick out something fun to play with! Thanks Laura and thanks YourScrapbookStash!

Dandelion Trend

Have you noticed all of the dandelion images out there? Maybe my head's been in a hole for quite a while, but I've just this week picked up on this trend. That's o.k....we were the last on our block to get a microwave oven....and as far as I know I don't have any permanent scars on my psyche.

Anyways, I put together this simple card using a dandelion stamp from Memory Box:
It's such a pretty image, I just fell in love with it when I saw the store's display sample. This image, unlike other company's dandelion images, including Hero Arts, does not include a stem, so I sliced and diced to reveal the green cardstock underneath. (I wish I could say this was my original idea, but I borrowed it.)

I also used some Memory Box patterned paper, along with a sentiment and cardstock from Papertrey Ink...can't get enough of them! The itty bitty gem is also from Memory Box - they are the smallest ones out there.

Keeper of the Cards

Until recently, I hadn't found a really good way to organize the cards I've made other than using a square-shaped basket and stacking them on top of each other. It's a quick doable method, but sometimes they get warped and dusty.

But now, Iris has come out with a "Card Keeper" and I found one at Michael's. Here's what it looks like minus the label on the front:
Open it up and all of your lovelies fit nicely inside. You can also separate your cards using the plastic dividers that come with it, but I found that they took up too much space.

I think this a good buy for $4.99 (using a 50% off coupon) and I still have room for a few more to fit inside. Check one out next time you're out!

A Cool Concept - Learn at Home

I signed up for my first on-line class and I can't wait to see what's in store. Today is the first day and I'm excited to view my very first .pdf file from the amazing Kelly Purkey. I love her design work and what an amazing talent and opportunity to work for American Crafts. Dream job!!