Bunny Butt

This is such an adorable project!!!  I just love it!!!  As soon as I saw this I knew that I HAD to make it!!  The best part, it was done in under 5 minutes!!!  that's right, under 5 minutes!  Think how many of these you could create in no time.  What adorable co-worker gifts, neighbor gifts, or just a gift for a Thursday :)  Here's the inspiration for this sweet treat, Catherine Pooler has a great video tutorial.  I did change one thing on mine that Catherine didn't do.  I used the 1 3/4 circle punch for the bunny bottom, Catherine used a framelit for hers.  I went with the circle because, well I'm a lazy stamper and the punch was right there :)

Inside are two of my favorite chocolates, Ghiradelli of course :)  The holder is the scallop tag punch.  Just add a little handle to it with the 3/4 inch circle punch and hold it closed with some ribbon.  Some of the yummy Island Indigo Sale a Bration ribbon in this case.  There's still time to get it free, not much time, but a couple weeks, HURRY!  I just love his tail made with the flower trim ribbon.  Don't you just love that ribbon!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birthday Butterfly

This is such a bright fun card!  Don't the colors just make you happy!?!  Our demonstrator meeting is next week and our theme for our swap is 'Birthday', so I've been testing a few cards to see what my swap will be.  This will not be my swap.  Cute, yes, but my swap is waaaayyyy cuter :)  But this card is still a winner, I was inspired by this card that I originally saw on Pintrest. 

The butterfly punches are so fun and have to be right up there on the list of my favorite punches!!!  The rhinestone just makes the whole card sparkle and who doesn't love all things that sparkle!?!  On another topic did you notice the new look to my blog?  I'm hoping to change my blog header with the season changes :)  We'll see how long that lasts :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Bunny Basket

It's almost Easter, can you feel it, it's getting close....well maybe not that close but it will be here before you know it, you might as well be prepared for it :)  To help you out I have a sweet little basket today.  This is a super easy basket that you could whip up in literally no time at all.  I'll get to that in a minute though.  I have a quick tutorial for you below on making this quick basket.  I used the Ears To You Single stamp for this basket.  Don't you just love these colors together.  Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Summer Starfruit and Pool Party! 

I added some Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon to the handle of the basket and attached it with some antique brads.  I'm really working on not hording the brads :)  I added some ruffle around the top with the Summer Starfruit cardstock.  To get that faux suede look you need to break down the fibers until the cardstock separates.  To do this I just used my bone folder and 'curled' the cardstock (like you were curling ribbon on a present with scissors).  Do this a few times and the cardstock will separate for you.  Plus once the fibers are broken it's really easy to work with and ruffle around the inside of the box/basket.  The finished basket is 2x2, the perfect size for some chocolates :)

For the basket, here's a really quick tutorial and two ways to do this basket.  You're going to flip when you see how easy it is! Start with a 6x6 piece of cardstock/DSP or whatever you're working with, here I have some scrap paper I pulled out of recycling.  Once you have the idea down you could make this basket as big or as small as you like.  Score your 6x6 piece of paper at 2 and 4 on both sides, so you'll end up with a tic tac toe board.  Cut up the score lines on one side to the first score line, flip it over and do the exact same thing on the opposite side.  So in my illustration I've cut the vertical score lines from the top down to the 2 inch score line and from the bottom up the 4 inch score line.  Hope that makes sense. 

 

Then you just fold the middle section in and pull up the sides.  You have 2 options here.  You can make a larger basket by folding them up at an angle or you can make a smaller square basket and fold them up so all the edges meet.  Cute and EASY right!   

Now that you know the basic idea you could do this with any square, make a tiny basket with a 3x3 piece of cardstock, just score at 1 and 2 inches on both sides.  Make a giant basket with a 12x12 piece and score at 4 and 8 on both sides.  I think you can see where I'm going with this :)   I hope all that helps! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

A Work In Progress

Things are finally getting back to normal.  For the first time in 2 or 3 weeks we did not spend our weekend at car dealerships looking at cars (thank goodness)!  It was nice to be home (for the little while that we were home).  So glad that part is over!  But we're going to jump right into the card today, I didn't have anything to show you on Friday so I wanted to make today's card 'extra' cute!  This card took about 3 days to complete.  The sweet dress and embossing of course didn't take that long, but once I had the base of the card and the dress form done I couldn't come up with where or what greeting to put.  I have a really hard time making a card with no greeting.  It just feels incomplete to me.  So this card and all it's pieces sat on my desk Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday waiting for the inspiration to be completed.  In the end, I added a quick greeting and dressed it up with rhinestones, cute, but now that I'm looking at it I think I should have added some scallops or another layer to it.  But that's for another day I suppose.

The dress is adorable!!!  I made the little skirt with the little cupcake liner looking things from the Pop Up Posies kit.  I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with those cup cake liners.  I was ready to put them in my kitchen and use them :)  Then I saw Kimberly Van Diepen do this with them and I knew I had to do the same.  When I first saw the dress form stamp and dies in the catalog I knew they weren't for me, but after all the samples I've seen and all the beautiful girly cards made with it I HAD to have it!  Of course if you can get it for free then it's even better ;)  This was my first time playing with it and it was so much fun to play dress up.  If you think you don't need these framelits you're wrong you DO need them!!!  I didn't get the coordinating set but guess what will be on my next order :)  That's it for me I think I've gone on long enough :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Whew!!

Well I for one am glad it's Friday.  For a short work week this week seems to have taken forever to come to an end :)  The biggest event of the week was Wednesday when Dan and I went to purchase a new car.  It took all day and we are so glad that it's over!  Thursday was spent with a sick boy at home and calling insurance to get everything set up.  Between all of that I'm sad to say I have no new project today.  I'll be back Monday though, make sure to check!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Disney Memories

We're taking a trip to Disney World soon.  I wanted to make something special for Logan.  It will be his first time there. Dan and I used to work there, it's where we met, so we're excited to go back.   He doesn't know when we're going yet, he knows it's this year just not when.  We're waiting until closer to the date we're leaving before telling him and sharing this book with him.  I made this fun book for Logan.  It's a small 5x5 book, the perfect size for him to stick in his bag.  It will be so much fun to see him fill this out.  When we look back on this book in a few years the memories will be priceless! 

There's a page for all the important info, in case the book gets lost....

Don't forget to pack list, it will be fun to see what he puts on this list.......

We'll make sure to pick up some postcards while we're there.  I wonder who Logan will want to send memories to......

Every day, including our travel days, he'll have these two pages to fill out......

....It's a two page layout.  We'll make sure to spend time every night recapping the day.  This will also be helpful for me when I start scrapbooking it at home :) 

He has a final comments pages, another two page spread..... 

........There's 3 or 4 blank pages in the back that he can use for extra note, drawings or whatever he wants. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!! 

 

End Of Year Gift......WAIT IT'S ONLY FEBRUARY!!!

It is only February but I've been in end of the school year mode, let me explain further.  Logan's teacher (who we've loved this year) is starting her summer break a little early, this week in fact.  She's about to have a little baby so her maternity leave will take her through the end of the year.  Just because she's leaving a couple months early doesn't mean that we don't appreciate all she's done the rest of the year.  So as I would do in May, I'm doing now with an end of the year gift for her.  First up is a potted plant.  I spray painted the pot with chalkboard paint and tied a ribbon on it.  To complete it I wrote (in chalk) 'Thanks for helping me grow!'.

Next up is a gift card that she can use for the baby or hopefully for herself.  I used the gift card template that I LOVE the most!!!!  I got this template from Heather Summers a couple years ago from one of her online classes.  I've used it tons of times since then.  I use a little Velcro to keep it closed.  When you open the gift card holder........

....the gift card pops up!!  So stinkin' cute!!!!  I just love it.  And by pure accident the gift card matches the colors of the holder.  A pure coincidence.  I had made the gift card holder and when I went to Target to pick up the gift card they only had one baby one, it happened to match, OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

Of course one can't give a gift without giving a card.  So I have a sweet card that coordinates perfectly with the holder.  Not a coincidence :)  I used the Perfectly Preserved stamp set with coordinating framelits for both the gift card and card.  They were in the Holiday Catalog but you can still get them!!!  Yay!!! 

That's really all I have today :)  It's been a busy week and it's only Wednesday!  Logan was tested for gifted and we're still working on finding me a new car since mine decided to die forever :(  We haven't shopped for a car in almost 10 years.  I now know 3 things about car shopping 1) I HATE CAR SHOPPING!  2) Car shopping should be a full time job  3) I hate car shopping.  I'll be glad when this is over :)  Have a great day! 

Birthday Bash....Day 2

Here are the last two cards from my class.  The first one is my absolute, absolute favorite card of the class!!!  The colors are perfect!  The flower is beautiful and the Coordinations Pool Party cardstock is lovely!  This card is simple but so so pretty, any one would love to get this card for their birthday.   

The last card from my class was also a big hit!  We used the Blue Ribbon set and the Parkers Patterns DSP for this card.  It's a quick card to put together but it looks like it took much longer to create.  The really key element on this card is the silver button.  Of course I hate 'naked' buttons so I added some linen thread to the button :) 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birthday Bash...Day 1

On Saturday, I had a fantastic class.  My customers always tell me they use birthday cards the most.  So I held a birthday card stamp a stack.  My guests all got to make 8 cards, 2 each of 4 designs.  These are the first two cards.  Tomorrow I'll share the last two.  The first one I LOVE!!!!  While creating it I had my doubts but by the end I loved it and I think it's a favorite of mine!!  The Sale a Bration DSP and Buttons coordinate so well together and I love all the patterns on the DSP, but most of all I love the Summer Starfruit and Rich Razzleberry together, I would have never thought to pair those two colors but it's a winning combo!!!!

The next card is simple, sophisticated and fun!  This would make a great masculine card, but also a fun girly card.  Simply replace the punched circles with a flowers from our new floral trim ribbon and your card would have an entirely new look.  Change up the colors for another fun look!  Tomorrow I'll share the last two cards from my class, and they're pretty awesome :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!!

RAK In The Mail

What's a RAK you might ask, it stands for Random Act of Kindness.  This card arrived in my mailbox a few days ago.  I love it!!  It was sent to me by Karen Titus a fellow SU demonstrator.  She's my 3 level up.  She's so sweet and sends beautiful cards monthly for demonstrators in her downline.  When I opened this card I loved it and I just might have to purchase that stamp now :)  The best part of the card is the use of the Coordinations cardstock.  If you haven't used this cardstock you really need too.  It's pretty awesome!  Hate to keep it short and sweet but I have a huge class tomorrow!  It's a birthday bash!  More on the class on Monday!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!!!

Whale You Be Mine?

Happy Valentine's Day!  I have the sweetest little card for you today!  Of course this is a Pintrest inspired gem!  Where to start on this card.....the clouds are made with the new cloud embossing folder, the clouds make all the difference!  The card just didn't look complete without the clouds.  For the whales, I used the new sizzlet in the catalog.  Then to add just a little texture I used my markers to add some subtle scales.  Super cute!!! 

For the waves, I used a circle punch and punched half and three-quarter down the edge of the cardstock to resemble waves.  To give it extra texture I sponged it with white ink.  The heart though is my favorite element on this card.  I started with the red glitter paper and used crystal effects to add a thin layer, once that was dry I added one more layer, it's so glossy and pretty!!! I LOVE IT!!!  I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Cookies and Milk!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow.  Do you have your gift and/or card ready??  I was out doing errands yesterday and the Valentine section in the store was packed!  So many people stocking up on candy and gifts.  Though I didn't go in the card aisle, I did look down it and it was packed!!!  When I wasn't out, I was busy getting ready for my class and finishing up Valentine's for Logan's class party tomorrow :)  which is what I'm showing you today. 

 

This idea is yet another great Pintrest find.  The one I saw on Pintrest was beautifully packaged in a cello bag with a nice bag topper.  While I did consider that, in the end I decided that for 1st graders who are likely to rip open the cookies in a matter of seconds anyway extra packaging is not what they need :)  The tags are super cute though and I LOVE them!!!!  Tied to each cookie package is a fun twisty straw, the tag says, "Valentine, We go together like mild and cookies!"  Ideally they would enjoy the cookies with mild and their fun straw (assuming the cookies last that long).

The tags were done on MDS (of course!) and printed at Staples  :)  I made two parts to each tag, I made the scallop part with the cookie on it and punched it out with my scallop circle punch.  And I made the rectangle tag, which I just cut out with the paper cutter.  Then attached the scallop circles with dimensionals.  Logan wrote the 'to' and 'from' on the back of each tag. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Lovely Ladybugs!

I've mentioned before what an amazing upline I have.  She's a great friend, she always has amazing and creative ideas and now she's treating her downline to a stress free, creative morning!  This is a long post, but well worth the time to read it.  Go get some coffee, or tea if that's your thing and come back and read it.  Don't worry I'll wait............................................Oh good you're back!  I attended the first Lovely Ladybug Day---our group name is Ladybug INK. hints the 'ladybug' part :)  This is something that Amber will do twice a year, and it's exclusive for her downline and you have to earn it!  You can be sure, I will not miss another one!!!!!  It was so fun and so stress free and the projects were incredible.  I had an amazing time!  We started with a wonderful lunch, ham Florentine YUM!!!  With yummy chocolaty desserts double YUM!!!!!  Isn't the table beautiful.  Let's take a closer look! 

 

The napkins are made with SU fabric, that we got to take home!!!  There were chocolates to greet us on our plates.  Just to the left of our plates we had a whole box of the Soda Pop Tops (which are pretty awesome!  I hadn't had a chance to use them prior to Saturday, but they're so fun and I'll be buying more :)  We used them for our make and take :)  She had rose petals on the tables and bows on the glasses, which we removed and took home too.  After our wonderful lunch we started on our make and takes! 

Even the make and take table is beautiful!  The projects were over the top and fantastic!  The was so much time, thought and love put into this event!  Have I mentioned my upline is the BEST!  I had such a good time, left with amazing projects and can't wait to do it again in June!  Let me show you all the stuff I brought home!

Here's everything.  Look at all the stuff I got!  Isn't is amazing?!!!  Try not to look too hard at my messy desk :)  It's actually pretty clean now :)  Here's a closer look. 

 

 

 So starting from the chocolate box on the top, this is just your box of valentine chocolate that are all over EVERY store right now.  Look how amazing it is and how different it is just by covering it with some cardstock.  It changes the look completely!  The bow on the box is the bow that was on my glass!  To the right of that is my napkin, we used paper napkins so we didn't have to use our SU ones :)  Under that is my box of Soda Pop Tops, she even decorated those!  To the left of that is one of our make and takes, a necklace made from the tops, isn't it beautiful!  I still need to add my jump ring to it, but I did string my chain on it for the picture :)

So there's the napkin again :)  That fabric is beautiful, guess I'll be getting that too :)  Under the napkin is another make and take, and more chocolate!  We made the heart pouch with the Petal Box die.  The cello bag has M&M's in it and we made the adorable topper for it.  See those little feet in the bottom right corner, those are Megan's feet :)  I try to take my pictures in the morning when the sun is best in my stamp room, so Megan is always there to help, sometimes we have to take 3 or 4 pictures because she like to bend down and 'photo bomb' my pictures :)  Silly girl!

Finally the rest of our make and takes,  The board is magnetic and the paper can be changed to match the season or perhaps just my mood :)  We used more of the tops for magnets!  Aren't they cute!!  I LOVE THEM!!!  I have my board hanging on the door to my stamp room and I can't wait to add little notes on it!!!!  Thank you so much Amber for the day!  I had a wonderful time and I can't wait for the next one!  Remember if you're in our Ladybug group, you too can earn this day!  You won't want to miss it!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Over The Rainbow

I can't get enough of this butterfly and matching punch.  It kind of makes me feel bad for the humming bird stamp.  It's equally beautiful but with no matching punch I don't think I've ever used it!  Maybe I should make that a new goal.  I can't wait to share with you my amazing weekend.  My upline Amber, held her first Lovely Ladybugs day.  She had yummy food, fun company and amazing projects!!!  I can't wait to show you the projects, make sure you check back tomorrow.  But for today I have a sweet little gem for you. 

This butterfly is so easy and so versatile, I think I do favor the 'oh happy day' greeting a little much though :)  This card makes me happy, I love the rainbow of butterflies!!  The sweet doily is so fun on the card too.  I can't wait to share more with you about my weekend, check back tomorrow for some incredible projects! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Valentine Blog Hop!

It's time for our blog hop!!!!  I love these little hops, I get some really great ideas!  If you're following the hop, you just arrived from Michelle's blog.  She always has amazing ideas!  Our theme for this month's hop is Valentine's Day.  It's just a few days away, are you ready!?!!  This card is amazing and there's so much dimension on this card!!!  I LOVE IT!!!!  I used the flowers in the Pop Up Posies Kit in the Spring catalog.  I saw the idea to turn the flowers into hearts here on Kimberly Van Diepen's blog.  I loved this idea and as soon as I saw it I was making a heart in minutes!  Kimberly has a great tutorial on her blog, so if you want to make this heart too head over to her blog and check it out.  I spayed my flowers the brown Smooch Spritz.  Then when the heart was done I sprayed the whole thing with some shimmer mist spray.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but it's super shimmery! 

 

The card is pretty basic, I used the Chevron Embossing folder to add some texture to the background, what did we ever do before the big shot and embossing folders??????  The ribbon is the Calypso Coral Ruffled Ribbon and I hung some 'Happy Valentine's Day tags on the ribbon too.  Don't you just love this heart.  What a sweet Valentine for someone you love!  But the fun doesn't stop here, there's still many more stops on the blog hop, next up is Amber!

In case you get lost along the way here's line up of all the bloggers participating in our hop today! 

Ruth Norton----YOU ARE HERE! 

Amber Wilson

Nichole Gonzales Jaramillo

Kay Jantz

Liz Kay

Carmelita Wasson

Cassie Rogers

Michelle Carrion

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Swap Review

Tuesday was our meeting and swap.  I shared with you two cards I did for the card swap here and here.  Sorry the pictures aren't great, they were taken last night with no natural light.  We've had a rough week here.  Last Friday my car died, it was towed to the mechanic on Monday where we learned that the transmission is gone and would need to be fully replaced.  Essentially costing more than the car is worth :(  So I've been car less for almost a week now and I hate it!  I want my car back, I don't want a new car I want my car :( But anyway, we'll begin the process of car shopping, UGH!!!!!  I've already started online, not too impressed with what's out there in our price range.  Hopefully we'll find something though.  Anyway here's the swaps, they were great as usual, I hope you enjoy them! 

This is Kay's swap, she has a piece of chocolate behind that heart!  Yummy!

 

This one is Kim's.  I love the colors on this card, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum and Pretty in Pink.

This is Amber's card.  It's so stunning in person!  The white is so dramatic.  I love it!

This is Cassie's card.  So fun!!  I love the DSP, punches and I love that she stamped the 'yum' in white ink! 

This swap is from one of our newer demos, she's been a demo before but took a break now she's back, WELCOME BACK KAREN!!!!!  You're card is super sweet!

Finally Kathy's card.  Her colors together are gorgeous!  Who would have ever thought Tangerine Tango and Real Red go together so well! 

 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!