Birthday Surprises

February 21st was my birthday!  It was a nice day too.  Actually, it's been a nice week.  For my birthday I received the Project Life set and it is so fun.  I have been messing around with photoshop, learning how to add journaling to my cards and getting it all put together.  I really love the idea and will share some of this on a later post.

I have felt very blessed because of the overwhelming show of love and acknowledgement from friends and family.  A few days before my birthday I received a fun and crafty surprise from my good friend Anne.  Look what she made me!

And look what was stuffed inside??  Yay!  Craft supplies!

 

I took the day off on my birthday and enjoyed some me time.  My oldest son took me to lunch and then I spent the afternoon working on some project life stuff.  The next day when I went back to work, my team presented me with this lovely bouquet.  They smell divine!

Today, my husband is back in town and we will go to one of our favorite places to eat for dinner and my new furniture arrives too!

It's been a good week!!



Happy Valentine's Day

It's been awhile since I posted here, but I wanted to share my Valentine's Day box with you.  On top of all my other duties as a lead at work, I have also been assigned the task of Activities Director there.  It's a huge undertaking for 180+ people, but I will give it a whirl!  Our first activity this year was to design our own Valentine's Day box to share Valentine's cards in.  You know, like back at school.  No biggee.  YES it is!!
But not to be outdone, I put on my thinking cap and came up with this:

 

It's kind of fun!  Hot glue and a whole lot of conversation hearts!  I started with an old round wooden box I picked up at a garage sale for a quarter.  I cut a slot in the top and covered it in pink paper.  I used some washi tape around the slot edges.  Then I glued on hearts.  It really wasn't that hard of a project.  And it looks adorable, I think.  To finish it off, I sprayed the box with a sealant so that the hearts wouldn't crumble away (or no one would start licking on it).

 

With all the activities for Valentines Day going on at work I used my cricut to cut out a bunch of hearts.  I had all these sheets laying around my craft room, and look what my sweet husband did!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Bloomin Love!

Who wouldn't love to wear a flirty and fun flower?  I know I love these and I think you will too.  I have made a bunch of these and get a load of compliments when I do.  They are versatile and can be worn pinned to a headband, hat, your bag or to your lapel.  You may want more than one in different colors because they are just too fun.

Modeled by my adorable granddaughter

 

And my lovely daughter in law.  They measure approx. 4.5" across.  They will be backed with a brooch pin.

If you are interested in having one or ten of your own...please email me!  I will make to order.  Currently I have these colors available:

Turquoise

purple

hot pink

burgundy

rose

black with flecks

navy

mustard yellow

sage green

lemon yellow

cornflower blue

red

white

The price for the 1st one is $10.00 and that will include shipping to anywhere within the United States. If you want to order more than 1, please add an additional $6.00.  If you live outside of the US, then I will email you cost of actual shipping.  I can take payments via PayPal which is safe and secure and I am a verified PayPal customer.
Each flower will come packaged individually in a clear acetate bag with header.  These are handmade by me and come from a smoke-free home. 

Sweet Little Mini-Album

I was feeling a little crafty last night and decided to create a little mini album with the new Authentique "Renew" line available now at Paper Patch Crafts.  Oh, how I love this line of paper, and I think you would as well.  Look at how easy these items work together:

Using Spellbinders Lacy Circles, I cut the base of my album from chipboard.  I hear that people do this all the time and my experience wasn't great because I think my chipboard was a little too thick or I was doing something wrong.  But, luckily in this case, the chipboard was a thinner type and it worked out just fine.

This line of paper is so pretty with it's mint blue's and greens and a yellow.  Very fresh looking.  I added my own embellishments that I felt went along with it.

There are some fun puzzle piece elements that go along with the line that I think are very creative.



I plan on using some wallet sized photos of my grandkids to complete this album.  I was thinking that ones in black and white would look the best with this line.

This is the back cover of my album.

 

 I hope you enjoyed this album.  The thing I learned in making this album was that you really can make a mini album from any shape.  All you need is the imagination and let those creative juices flow.  If you liked my album, I hope you will leave me a comment and tell me about it.  Have a great day!

Authentique "Renew"

Paper Patch Crafts has a new paper line called "Renew" from the Authentique company.  Oh my, this paper and it's quality are amazing.  I created this card pretty quickly for a challenge going on at the Patch right now.  It was a no-brainer because the paper was so lovely and coordinated that it came together fairly simply.

I recommend visiting the Paper Patch Store and picking up some of this gorgeous stuff as soon as possible.  Also, it's not too late to participate in the current challenge.  If you haven't joined the group at the Paper Patch Crafts facebook page, you really should.  There are challenges going on all the time prizes being given away.

Hope to see you there!

Anything Goes Blog Hop

Welcome to the Anything Goes Blog Hop!! We are pleased to have you here. We hope you enjoy seeing all the fabulous projects on each blog in this hop. We are giving you 2 days to hop. We all know how busy lives can be:) Shelley the host of this hop has a great blog candy package for 1 lucky winner! All you have to do is comment and be a follower on each blog in this little hop! You should have started at Shelley's blog. If you didn't please go to the beginning. We don't want you to miss a single great project in this line up.  I will provide the full line up at the end of this post in case you have gotten lost along the way. Shelley ships to the US only. 

Hello friends.  I am also named Shelley, and welcome to my blog.  Since this hop is anything goes, I decided to take a departure from my paper crafts and share with you a fun yarn project I have been enjoying.  This is an adorable flower pin I created.  Isn't this sweet?  I have made a variety of colors because they are so fun to accessorize my outfits with.  I have had several compliments and even had some people ask me to make them to sell.  This got me to thinking...I could offer these to my friends here at my blog.  So, here is a little more information about them:

The flower pins are approximately 4.5" across.  These are the perfect size to be showy and flirty with your fashions.  They have a pin attached to the back so you can wear them on anything.  (I was thinking a headband or hat would be adorable).  I can make them in the following colors:

• Turquoise
• purple
• hot pink
• burgundy
• rose
• black with flecks
• navy
• mustard yellow
• sage green
• lemon yellow
• cornflower blue
• red
• white
• Is there a color you don't see?  Email me.

I will charge $10.00 each and this includes free shipping to anywhere in the U.S.  If you order more than one, I will charge an additional $7.00 for each item.  If you want them to give as gifts, each one comes already packaged in a clear acetate bag with a cute header.  All handmade, all originally put together by yours truly.  :)  Simply email me your order and we can process it through Paypal.  And, as an added bonus, for leaving a comment on my blog today you will not only be eligible for the giveaway sponsored on this hop, but I too will be giving a pin away to one lucky winner that I will randomly choose.

I hope I hear from you!!  If you like what I have to share here at my blog and would like to visit again, I hope that you will become a follower!  Have a wonderful day!
Your next stop on the hop is Miranda.

Echo Park Fun

Hello there.  It's been awhile again since I have posted to my blog.  I am sorry about that, but I do have something to share with you today.  Over at Paper Patch Crafts they discovered they had a surplus of some Echo Park products from awhile back.  Because of that they decided we could let you again see all the wonderful options and products that you can still purchase.  Today I used a studio cut file and made this sweet little suitcase.

The paper is from the "For the Record" paper collection.  I added a few of the stickers and did a little ink distressing.  It's sweet, isn't it?  Please come visit Paper Patch Crafts and get your own Echo Park papers while it is still available.

Last Minute Gift Giving Idea

Hey, were you wondering a fun way to share the gift cards you bought for your friends and family?  Why not make this darling stocking to hold them? I searched all over the Internet the last couple days trying to find something that was easy, and free.  Here is a template that I found. : Template  Thank you to the creator of this template, because they went together really quick.  I added a paper rosette and a tag to mine.  I was happy with the results!

I ended up making 5 of these.  Other than waiting for the stickles to dry, they went together very quick and easy.  Perfect for the last minute idea!

Raise the cuff flap and underneath is a pocket that holds the gift card. Pretty nifty!

Gift Ideas for Christmas

Do you ever start a project and it becomes bigger than you thought it would?  I showed you the Candy Boxes yesterday. Yes, I actually made 22 of those things for co-workers.  But that's not all I did this weekend...No.  I always have to out-do myself, and this time is no exception.  I am a team lead for 9 people at my work and I decided to give everyone a stocking to hang outside of their cubicles.  Now, I knew I needed to fill them!

Remember the cute little post-it books I made at Halloween?  Well, here they are again, only this time they are ready for the Christmas holiday. (the link will show you a more descriptive photo) These books are simple to make too.  Here are the steps:

• Cut 4 pieces of decorative paper 3.25" x 3.75"
• Cut 2 pieces of chipboard 3.25" x 3.75"
• Adhere the paper to both sides of the chipboard.  I used double-sided paper and made sure my front and back covers were the same, any my inside covers were the same.
• lightly sand all edges of covers
• lightly ink all edges of covers
• I used my bind-it-all and punched out 6 holes in the top.  I then bound it with 3/4" wire.
• I applied adhesive to the back of a post-it book and placed it inside.
• Embellish the cover however you like!  I used paper rosettes and whatever else I could think of.  No two were alike.

I also whipped up a yummy little bag of home made caramels.   I showcased the caramels a couple years back, but they were ready for a redo this year.  Before you think, "forget making home made caramels...who has the time or patience?"  You better check the recipe out.  Did I mention they cook in the microwave??  So easy!!  My good friend, Jackie, gave me this recipe and it really is wonderful.

Microwave Caramels

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

In a glass bowl, melt butter. Add remaining ingredients and mix

well. Microwave 7 minutes, stirring after 3 minutes. Pour into

buttered 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Cool to room temperature. Chill, cut

and wrap in wax paper.

Tips and Tricks:

- Use just slightly less than 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

so that you can get two batches out of each can! It won’t

mess up the recipe.

- Use a metal pan.

- After caramels come to room temperature, chill in fridge for

about one hour. Take out and let sit for just a few minutes then

pop out of pan in one big block.

- Cut with pizza cutter. I try to get 81 caramels out of each

batch, so 9 rows by 9 rows of about ¾-1” in size.

- Cut wax paper into 4x4 squares using a paper trimmer (like

you use for scrap booking projects)

After the caramels were wrapped up, I put them in a clear acetate bag and cut a header out of the matching decorative paper I used for my projects.  I also put the post-it book in a bag as well, to keep the embellishments on the front nice and sharp for gift giving.  It was definitely a busy weekend, but it was really fun.  I haven't spent this many hours in my craft room for a very long time!

Candy, Candy, Candy!

Hello everyone!
Paper Patch Crafts has another fun challenge for you that is not only fun, but also might be something you want to work on for your holiday gift giving.  Over at the group page, Anne would like everyone to create a candy box using this template, either by hand cutting or incorporating it into a cut file.  I tried it both ways, and decided that I would use the cut file with my SCAL because I couldn't imagine handcutting 20 of these for my work friends.  Here is what I created, and also the template if you'd like to give it a try.

These cute boxes are filled with candy treats. Won't this be fun to give out to friends or family for the holidays?  Or any occasion actually!

Here is the template.  Come and join us at the Paper Patch Group page at Facebook.  Also...Paper Patch Crafts has selected merchandise for 40% off.  WOW...now, that's a sale!!

I really hope you will play along!  Anne will be giving away a set of stamps to a lucky participate.

Items Used:

My Minds Eye Paper "I Believe"

Tim Holtz Mini Paper Rosettes Die

Stickles

For the tags I used "Schoolbook" Cricut Cart

Cut file was available at SVG Attic