Recycle It!

Dan is a fan of Starbucks frappacino drinks that come in the bottles.  I'm sure you know what I'm talking about :)  We had a few of these empty bottles on our counter in our kitchen so I thought I use one for a different purpose.  My original plan was to put a cookie mix in the jar.  So I searched and searched for a modified recipe (I would assume in this jar it would make maybe a dozen cookies?) I thought about taking a recipe for a quart jar (those are everywhere) but my brain wasn't going to handle that math.  If you have a recipe for a cookie mix in a Starbucks jar please send it to me!!   So instead I filled the jar with some hot cocoa mix and some marshmallows. 

It's super cute and perfect for those of you who are perhaps in frigid temps!  You could also fill these bottles with some homemade granola (I almost did that but it would have required a trip to the grocery WITH Megan, I'm not that brave), you could put some bath salts in it, what about just some candy or chocolate!  There's so many fun ideas to reuse these bottles for! 

I used the Sweet Sorbet Sale A Bration DSP and the Good As Gold Sale a Bration card kit for this project.  The DSP is beautiful, I love the colors and the patterns!  The Good As Gold kit is so shiny and fun!  I used one of the envelope liners to make my gold banner and to punch the circle for the top of the lid.  I added a quick flower made from DSP and a button to the top of the lid, tied it all up and it was done!  A quick yet beautiful gift! Next week I begin 'Box It Up Week', check back you won't want to miss it!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

See Ya Later...

...Alligator!  This is my favorite card of the week.  When I first saw the greeting 'See ya later alligator' in this set, (which by the way is See Ya Later), I thought that would be super cute with a little alligator on the card.....so I thought, thought, my original alligator didn't work, so I headed to pintrest.  Do a search for 'alligator punch art' and you'll get lots of fun ideas.  The problem was alot of the cards I looked at used retired punches.  Which is fine I have them all :)  however perhaps you don't and if you'd like to recreate him well then that's more of a challenge for you then.  So I looked at what they used, looked at what we sell and recreated him, quite larger, and made only with current punches!  Yay!!!!!  I'm going to list the punches I used and what I used them for toward the bottom.  Once I had all my pieces punched I ran them through the Sale A Bration embossing folder, Decorative Dots.  Now I've never touched an alligator, I hope I never do, but I would imagine they're quite bumpy so make sure you add that extra texture.  For the alligator I used Pear Pizazz and Gumball Green.    

 

He's very big, one of the biggest punch guys I've ever made.  In fact if I were to mail this or give it away I would need a 5x5 envelope.  His completed size is about 4.5x3.5.  So he's big but ever so cute!  This card is a 'fun fold as I call it, though it's so easy to make.  The green is 6x5 score the 6 inch side in half at 3, so you have a 3x5 card.  The Pool Party piece is 8.5x3 score the 8.5 side in half at 4.25 and that goes right around, only glue it on to the back.  I used markers to ink my stamp so that I could omit parts of it.

If you only glue the back of the pool party to the back of the green, the front will open again, so you kind of have a double card.  I don't really know what you call it but I love it!  You'll see on the inside I used my markers again to ink and stamp and omit parts of the stamp.  I love our markers!!! 

Here's how I made this guy, GG means Gumball Green, PP means Pear Pizazz, WW for Whisper White, and BB for Basic Black: Feet=Large Oval (PP) and Extra Large Oval (GG).  Hands=1/2 inch circle (you'll need 8 total GG) and 7/8 Scallop Circle Punch for his claws (I punched one and cut it in half WW).  Body=2 1/2 Inch Circle (GG) and 1 3/4 Inch Circle (you'll need 3 PP).  Eyes=Extra Large Oval (you'll need 2 GG), Large Oval (you'll need 2 WW) and 1/2 Inch Circle (again 2 BB).  Nose=Extra Large Oval (use the 1/2 circle to punch a notch out of the middle on the bottom PP), 1/2 Inch Circle (for his nostrils, you'll need 2 PP), 7/8 Scallop Circle Punch (his teeth WW), Large Oval (Use half for his chin GG).  So that's it!!  He's adorable!  Remember to sponge your pieces.  When layering the extra sponging detail really makes a difference!  Tomorrow is the last day of our Sale a Bration week! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

You're Lovely Petals

Today I broke out two Sale a Bration sets for this card.  And a color combo that I think I'm in love with.  I used Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo and Pumpkin pie.  Believe me no one is more surprised that I love this combo more than me (I hate Crushed Curry).  But I saw this combo in the color coach and decided to give it a try.  The colors are gorgeous together!!  I just love it!!!  But let's get down to the details of this card.   I used You're Lovely for the label on this card.  It's such a sweet set!  I used my Deco Label Framelits to cut it out then used some punches behind it.  I used the Artisan Label and 1 3/4 inch circle.  I cut the punches in half and used SNAIL to glue them on the back where I wanted them. 

For the flowers I used the Sale a Bration set Petal Parade.  This wasn't first on my wish list because really the last thing I need is another flower set, but as you can see I didn't hold out long!  The flowers in this set are fun and funky and work so well together!  Are you seeing the beauty in this color combo!  You'll see this again! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Sale A Bration Details

Today is the first day of Sale a Bration!  Whooohoo!!  This is the most exciting time of the Stampin' Up! year!!  This year the Sale a Bration products are amazing!  But there's 3 ways you can get free stuff so let's break it down.

During Sale a Bration for every $50 you spend (USA) you can choose one free Sale a Bration item. There are 13 different choices. They range from awesome stamp sets, cute DSP, there's a punch and embossing folder, there are wonderful kits and a couple MDS choices! There's so much to choose from! There is something for everyone! The best part, there is no limit to how many you can choose! If you spend $100 you can choose 2 items, etc!  You don't have to get it all at once (unless you want to :)  Sale a Bration runs through March 31, 2014 so there's time to earn it all!!!  I will!!!  You can start today though, head to my website and start shopping, use this hostess code ECC67MGW to be entered to win even more free stuff!!!

Want to earn even more free stuff???  Host a class during Sale a Bration and when your sales reach $300 you'll earn an additional $30 in shopping money!  With a $300 class you'll get $80 to shop with!  That's amazing!  I can customize a class for you and your friends, if you're not local I can do a class in a box and mail you everything you and your friends need to complete 2 projects.  Just want to place a large order-be your own hostess!  Let's set up your class today!!!

Finally, if your wishlist is rather long, perhaps close to or over $100 you might want to think about joining the Stampin' Up! family!  During Sale a Bration the starter kit is still $99 but instead of choosing $125 of products you get to choose $150 in products!!!  Once you're a demonstrator there's no obligation to sell or buy, but with the discount you're now getting you'll want to!!  Contact me for more info on joining!!! 

 

That's Sale a Bration in a nut shell.  Still have questions?  Send them to me, I'll be happy to answer them!!! 

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Hooray For Today!

It's official!  Sale A Bration begins today!!!  WhoooHoo!!  You can see this years Sale a Bration brochure here.  Or of course you can always head to my website and see all the products and order.  Use this hostess code and be entered to win even more free stuff ECC67MGW.  Today's card has a fun variety of items on it!  The adorable banner punch is one of your Sale A Bration choices this year, so is the embossing folder.  I adore this embossing folder!  I am hoping, please...please....please that both the punch and embossing folder end up in the next catalog......but since I don't know that you better get them now while they're free!!!!!  Who doesn't love free!!!  I stamped the banners with the dots from Perfect Pennants.  The greeting is from my new favorite set Geometrical.

Don't you just love these colors, I used So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Tempting Turquoise and Pear Pizazz.  I just used dimensionals to add my banners and then tied some bakers twine bows on either end.  The Smoky Slate ribbon and Candy dots go perfectly with this card too!!!  So what are you waiting for go check out the Sale a Bration products!  

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

Ray Of Sunshine

Today kicks off the first day of 'Celebrate Sale A Bration Week'!  I have lots of fun projects planned for this week!  Sale A Bration officially kicks off tomorrow on January 28!  During Sale a Bration for every $50 you spend (USA) you can choose one free Sale a Bration item.  There are 13 different choices. They range from awesome stamp sets,  cute DSP, there's a punch and embossing folder, there are wonderful kits and a couple MDS choices!  There's so much to choose from!  There is something for everyone!  The best part, there is no limit to how many you can choose!  If you spend $100 you can choose 2 items, etc!  Today's card shows one of the cute stamp sets, it's called See Ya Later.  I think this set has turned out to be my favorite set, which I didn't see coming.  I was sure I would love another set but this one seems to have taken over.  I'm using this set again later this week on a card you DON'T want to miss! 

It wasn't until after I took the picture of this card that I saw that my sunbeam sponging made it's way onto the sun.  It doesn't bother me, I didn't even notice it until I saw it in the picture.  This card was inspired by this card from Martha.  For the cloud I used the thought bubble framelits from the Word Bubble collection.  So cute and the perfect cloud!  I sponged it in Smoky Slate.   For the sun I used Crushed Curry and Daffodil delight to sponge.  I just used post it notes to mask where I didn't want to sponge and just made my way around the circle.  Tomorrow kicks off Sale A Bration, I'm so excited!  But I have fun cards and one non card item all week!!!

 

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

Just A Few More

I told you we'd wrap the week up with a few more MDS shots from my 'Please help me keep my life in some sort of peace planner' I mean my calendar :)  This one is one of my favorites.  I only included one shot from Disney World, though I could have easily done the entire album in Disney pictures :)  I love the subtle Mickey heads in the background :)

But like I said these pages are all super simple, I tried to make sure they all have at least a title, but there is no journaling or dates.  I'll be scrap booking all these pages later in our big family 2013 album anyway so that's where I'll do the journaling and all that fun stuff. 

MDS is such an amazing program, it has something for everyone and it's so easy to use.  Starting next week you'll want to tune into my blog.  I'm pretty excited about some projects coming up in the upcoming weeks!  I loved my 'themed' week last week with all the Valentine's projects, so starting next week I'm doing a couple weeks of themed weeks.  Next week is all Sale a Bration!  I'll be sharing lots of Sale a Bration samples and more.  The week after that is a week full of boxes!  I've been in quite the box making mode the past week, and I'll share more about why during box week :)  But I've made a bunch of boxes and can't wait to share with you!  There may be more themes after that but for now plan on Sale a Bration Week and Box It Up Week!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Good As Gold

We are less than a week away from our Sale a Bration kick off this year.  Sale a Bration begins on January 28th, that's Tuesday for those of you keeping track :)  This years Sale a Bration is amazing.  Ever single product, I'm in love with!  I just need it all!!!  This amazing card kit is just one of the freebies you can choose from.  It's the Good as Gold Card Kit.  It comes with everything (except adhesive).  It comes with supplies to make 8 cards.  It comes with envelopes and gold liner for the envelopes.  GORGEOUS!!!  The card bases are speckled with gold so they shimmer and shine all over! 

The banners come pre printed in 3 different languages, perhaps you have some international friends? Perhaps you just have friends that speak French or German (English is the third language, I probably didn't need to tell you that though).  There's gold tags that come with it.  You also get gold elastic cord and Bermuda Bay bakers twine (LOVE!).  These cards are quick and fun to make! 

Staying Organized?

Back in my pre-kid days I was orgnaized.  I knew what was going on, when it was happening and my Stampin' Up! desk didn't look like a heap of chaos.  In my defense it is organized chaos, I know where everything is on my desk :)  But in light of some recent positions in my life, I was asked to be on the Board of Directors at Megan's preschool and I'm also taking on some more roles in our children's ministry at my church.  All of this, plus all the kids activities, plus my classes, plus my personal activities (when they get squeezed in) leaves me in a crazy "what is going on today" state of mind.  So in my effort to keep organization in my life I used MDS to whip up a quick (I do mean QUICK) planner.  I work so much better with something in front of me that I can write on then some calendar app on my phone.  This is perfect!  I sent it off to print Monday so I should get it by next week. 

With MDS's wonderful calendar feature, I was able to start my calendar in February, and have it go through January of 2015.  My calendar pages (which aren't pictured) are super simple.  I didn't put any holiday's on them.  I figured I'd just write everything I needed in.  I plan to take this calendar to classes so I can book classes, workshops, etc.  It's an 8x8 book, it's not huge, but not tiny.  It's a soft cover one too, so it won't be bulky in my bag when I'm toting it around. 

As for the pages, all the pictures are in black and white.  I love that classic look.  Plus it left me room to customize each page without having to coordinate colors to their clothes or backgrounds.  The pages themselves though are all super simple, there's not a lot going on on any of the pages.  The purpose of this book is not a family album it's to organize my daily life.

I did 3 pages of just Megan, 3 of just Logan and the other 6 are of them together.  Knowing my son, if it wasn't even there would be complaining :)  So here's 4 of my favorites, I have 3 more to show.  Just my absolute favorites, I'll share those later this week. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

LOVE

I have another home decor project for you today.  Just as soon as I hung up the wreath up from yesterday, I picked up this fun chipboard 'love' sign.  I loved it instantly because it was big, perfect for a door, or really hanging anywhere in your home.  Perfect for Valentine's day, which if you're keeping track is less than a month away :)  I don't do a whole lot of decorating for each holiday or season, but I do like to change the wreaths on my door.  So even though this isn't your 'traditional' wreath, it still works perfect for the door.  I attached some (retired) Melon Mambo ribbon on the back and tied a knot and hung it on the door. 

Each letter is different, I knew I wanted to add the roses somewhere, I actually started with the E and worked from right to left instead of left to right, strange I know.  But by the time I got to the L, there were still no roses so I made the L very simple, I just covered it in Pink Pirouette and sponged it in Melon Mambo.  The roses are made with our new Spiral Flower Die in the Occasions Catalog.  They're so easy to put together.  I attached them with some hot glue and the L was done! 

The O was my most challenging letter.  I wrapped the whole thing in white taffeta ribbon.  I LOVE the final look of it, it's my favorite of the whole thing, but it was a little tedious and kept coming loose.  So on the back there's lots of glue dots holding it all together.  The V was the easiest letter.  I used silver glimmer paper, just cut it out and glued it on.  It's already covered in glitter, it doesn't need anything else :)

I said earlier the E was the first letter I did, along with the roses I knew a scalloped letter would be in there somewhere.  I used some textured Melon Mambo and cut it into 1 inch strips.  I used my scallop border punch, then glued it all down.  So temporarily I've taken down my burlap wreath, it will go up again as soon as Valentine's day is done.  Until then, this sweet decor is amusing the UPS man :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Burlap and Blooms

This wreath was SO. FUN. TO. MAKE.  I literally sat down one night with the kit and glue gun in hand, while watching tv and assembled all the flowers and wreath.  All in all I think it took me about an hour to do.  The flowers were fun, simple and they're so pretty!!  I watched this video from Stampin' Up! about how to assemble your wreath.  I recommend a glue gun.  They do suggest some other adhesives in the video but I think a glue gun worked best.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the burlap for the wreath base,  (I'm not a huge fan of burlap) but I love it!!!  Another tip: Start and end your burlap under all your flowers.  That way if you run a little short or if it's just not as pretty as the rest of the wrapped wreath you'll never know it will be under all the flowers!!!!   

I used all the supplies in the kit, the only thing I added was some extra linen thread.  I doubled up on all my bows on my buttons and didn't have enough linen thread to cover all my buttons.  But other than that, all the supplies are included (except glue).  It was fun and easy and real bargain for only $18!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Kiss Box

We're on the final day of my Valentine week.  I've made this box before it's always fun and always a hit.  You could make it as long as you need to hold as many kisses as you want and it's pretty easy to make!  This box holds 5 kisses.  The box is 5 x 4 3/4, on the 4 3/4 side score at 1, 2 1/2, and 3 1/2.  That's it!!  It makes a sweet (literally) triangle box.  I like to use a line of SNAIL to hold the kisses in place.

Isn't it cute!  If you wanted to make this box longer to hold more kisses just extend the 5 inch measurement above, 1 inch per kiss.  How about a box for your anniversary, you could do one kiss for each year, of course if you've been married for more than 12 years that gets a little complicated, not impossible, just a little more complicated :)   

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Ghiradelli Love

I've haven't posted in a while, but those that know me know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ghiradelli Chocolate-only the dark chocolate-only in the little 2 inch squares.  I'm really specific about my chocolate.  There is only one chocolate I love more than Ghiradelli and that's See's.  Hold onto your seats, I'm super picky here.  I only like the truffles-dark chocolate again.  My favorite, favorite is the Dark Chocolate Chip Truffle.  Santa brought me a whole box of them for Christmas...gotta love Santa!  So what on earth does all this chocolate talk have to do with anything???  Well, today's project-which would be the perfect gift for ANYONE  has 2 of the Ghiradelli chocolate squares in it!

I so wish I could have taken credit for this idea but it came from the amazing (you all know she's amazing) Mary Fish.  Check out her video to make the holders.  Her treat holders have one chocolate, I redesigned mine to hold 2 :)  I add more gold, the sequin trim I LOVE!  To finish the project I used the Scallop Tag Topper Punch from the Occasions Catalog.  I wasn't super excited about these, in face for this project I had to borrow my mom's punch.  But now that I've used them, I MUST HAVE THEM BOTH!  Guess what's going on my wish list!??? 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Non Traditional

Here's my non traditional Valentine's Day card.  Not an inch of red on here.  Instead I went with blue (because that's the ribbon I had :)  Crumb Cake is one of my all time favorite colors.  It goes with anything, and I just love this polka dot pattern in the Fresh Prints DSP stack in the Occasions Catalog.  I would love a whole stack of just this pattern.  LOVE IT!!  To make this card a little less bulky, instead of making a bow with the thick chevron ribbon, I just tied some white bakers twine around it.  You could step it up and add a button too.  Very cute! 

Note to self: Don't stamp right after you reink a pad, it's really juicy!  I thought about remaking this card but when I stamped it I wasn't sure how it would turn out and I didn't want to start over if I ended up hating the card.  But luckily I loved it, just as it is!  It's the little imperfections that I love in a card! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

The Cutest Elephant

I promised a pink a red card!  You can't look at this little elephant and tell me he's not the cutest little guy EVER!  AND he's (she's???) perfect for Valentine's because he's made out of hearts! (And a couple circles) His feet are the small heart punch and his ear is the full heart punch.  Seriously how cute!!!??!  His body is the 2 1/2 circle punch, eyes are 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch circles, and finally his trunk is a sliver of an oval punch.  THAT'S IT!!!  He's sponged in white so that the pieces all 'pop' and they don't get lost in all the red. 

My inspiration for this card came from here, loved the idea and I kinda ran with it!  There's not a whole lot more that I can say about this card.  It was a huge hit at the class, but I knew it would be :)  You could make a stack of these elephants in no time and attach them to boxes or tags for Valentine's, how cute would that be!??!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

You And Me And Some Gold

I don't know about you but I'm loving, LOVING all the gold in the Occasions catalog.  Didn't think I would, but I do!!!  I just love it!!!  Another thing I love, crafting for Valentine's Day.  It's one of my favorite holiday's to craft for.  There's treat boxes, cards, gifts so many wonderful things!  This week we're going to focus on Valentine's Day projects!  Yay!!  Some of the projects you'll see this week were the cards or gifts that were made at my Nothin' But Love class last week.  The cards we made are some of my all time favorite cards from classes, this one included!  Back to the gold goodness!  They're gold embossing, gold twine, gold vellum and gold washi tape.  What is NOT to love?!

This card could work for an anniversary card or just a random 'I love you' card.  Because it doesn't have all that pink and red that scream Valentine's (wait until tomorrow), you could use this for any occasion!  Ok, join me tomorrow and the rest of the week and we'll see some pretty fun Valentine projects!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Recycle!

Last week I was cleaning out my closet and came across these.  Yep those are all old button, brads, soda pop tops, trinkets and more containers.  I always save them, sure that someday I'd use them, I just had no idea how many I had accumulated in there!  So I knew that I had to made something with them, at least thin the bag a little :)  I always make small gifts for my guests at my classes.  So I made these adorable, sweet boxes!

They're so pretty in person!  The flower is made from the new Spiral Flower Die in the Occasions Catalog.  The flowers are so easy to make!  Don't you just love them in Coastal Cabana!!!

I used a glue gun to assemble all my flowers, I found it to be the quickest but you could also use crystal effects or even glue dots.  For my leaves I just used an oval punch and crumpled it up (you know how much I love crumpling paper!).  

I used my 2 1/2 inch circle punch to punch circles for the top and the bottom.  The punch is the perfect exact size--don't you just love SU for coordinating that ;)  So if you're not already saving these little boxes you will now!   

Thanks for looking, see you tomorrow!!!!

Happy Watercolor

I know you came here to hear more about my camera saga...no? Really?  Oh well you're here anyway :)  I pulled out my old camera thinking, hoping time will have fixed it, or better yet camera elf's.  But alas the pictures I took were horrible and blurry.  {sigh}  I am looking into getting it fixed but to be honest I don't want to pay much to get it fixed.  I bought it on a huge Black Friday sale a couple years ago and got a pretty good deal.  I'm not interested in paying more to fix it than I even paid for it.  The camera I am using, we had given to the kids.  It's a tiny point and shoot, it feels weird just to hold it compared to my other one, sad actually.  But I'll get used to it I assume.  So there's the update on my camera drama.  For the card today, I always like to have the kids make 'thank you' cards after Christmas or birthday's.  This year though between the potty training, the potty training and did I mention the unsuccessful potty training there was no stamping.  Logan did get one card made.  Before I knew it they were both back in school no thank you cards had been made, written in, much less mailed!  So I pulled out my Happy Watercolor and inked it for the first time.  I love it! 

 

I pulled out some cards that I had left over from some classes last year-they're already pre cut, all I have to do is stamp-perfect!!!  So I pulled out some rarely used colors Soft Sky and Elegant Eggplant.  There's really not a lot to this card.  I had to make a large stack of them, many people were very generous to the kids.  I didn't want a fancy, schmancy card--just a simple card I could easily stamp a stack of (not to mention they have to be post office approved so they don't get sent back to me for an extra 3 cents).  My favorite part of the card....the glitter!  Did you really expect anything else?  I used some crystal effect and the glass glitter.  The longest part on this card was the drying time for the crystal effects.  But now the cards are done, now if I can just get the kids to write a quick note in them.......

 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Love Birds

Today's card was so close to being in my Nothin' But Love class this weekend.  The only reason we're not making this card at the class is my bird punch broke.  That's it that's the reason it got cut.  It's been on it's last leg for a while, and punching through the thick glimmer paper just did it in.  So without the punch it makes it difficult pretty impossible to make this card.  This card is all over Pintrest right now.  I first saw it on Stampin' Connection (a demonstrator only website) by Debbie Currier. 

It's so sweet and I just love the glitter!!!  So I guess I better put a new bird punch on my next order :)  It had a good run, I've had it for years.  Sadly punches don't last forever :(  But if you have this punch, it will make a sweet Valentine for that special somebody in your life! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!