S'more Amazing Birthdays

Isn't the s'more box so fun? I love it! Inside are three mini hershey bars, two marshmellows, the grahamn crackers. Each individually wrapped for freshness. The box itself was a container that my husbands wallet came in. It was just a metal tin with no top. After everything was nicely placed inside I simply inserted the whole container into a clear adhesive card bag and tied a coordinating Happy Birthday ribbon. BAM! One uber cute gift for a guy I know nothing about. Just a simple "acknowledgement" that its his birthday. (Happens to be my sons teacher.) One of those things you need to whip up in a hurry. I think I will reference this in future for last minute gift ideas.

As for the card, well its a 5 x 7 card on brown cardstock. In this picture its actually turned the wrong way. I keep correcting it but every time it posts, it turns sideways instead of up and down. So can ya'll crick your neck a bit and get the idea? Urg. Does anyone else have a demented computer with a mind of its own? Anyways... Brown cardstock for base card. Creamy demask for inbetween layer 4.75" x 6.75". Twilight dcwv paper at 4.5" x 6.5" for top base. S'more grahamn crackers and hershey squares cut at 3" using george. Freehand the dots, crumple and ink for texture. White circle for the marshmellow cut at 3.25" - wanted it a little bit bigger than the squares because in real life you always have mellow oozing out the sides. :) YUM!!! Used liquid applique for puffing the mellow up. Left the embossing tool get close a couple times so it would burn or brown the edges a bit. Again on purpose because "my" smores are like this in real life. On the edge that doesn't have a corner, I snipped the edges with some special shears so it looks like a bite has been taken out of it. It doesn't show up real well in the pics, but it is an added detail I thought I'd mention...

Inside I just hand wrote: "Wishing you many s'more amazing birthdays."

This is one delicious card & gift set. And oh so fun to make!

Theresa Collins Stamp Maker

Anyone have one? Do you love it?

Someone fill me in!!!

Its sitting in my shopping cart. Push me over the edge or pull me back from the ledge... :) THANKS!

Be You

5.5" x 4" base card
5.25" x 3.75" cardstock base from the Green Stack (Just left over scraps.)
3.25" Owl from Give a Hoot on Page 28 (Pieces cut from random scraps.)
"Be You" stamp was from a set I got at a garage sale. No clue on the manufacturer.

The owl drives me a bit nutty. Why? Because I purposely pulled out random papers and made it into the owl. I didn't coordinate on purpose - That can drive anyone a little crazy. Why would I subject myself to this horror? Well... The card is for a teenage girl who is struggling to just be herself. She seems to be afraid of her own skin and hasn't had a chance to "wise up" yet. So, I gave her a little pep talk the other day and encouraged her to be herself. Because that's the person we love. She's special just the way she is. That speech... So I thought this was a good follow up on our conversation. Enjoy!

Attn: Frugal Bloggers

Hello my friends! Just a quick plug today for a delicious blog I have recently discovered. Jessica over at Cheapskate Life always has some amazing tips and info that we can all use.

Her blog link is: http://cheapskatelife.blogspot.com

Take a moment and check her out. She'll guide you thru couponing and coupon deals as well as give you tip after tip after tip. I also love how positive and upbeat she is. In this economic time everyone could use some help in the saving department. She's my go to girl for that. So if you have a moment, drop on by. Better yet, become a follower and catch those savings every day!

Swan Birthday Card

Front Of Card:


Inside Of Card:


Coordinating Envie:


5.5" x 4.25" blue card base. 5.25" x 4" My Minds Eye. 0.50" blue cardstock strip.
7" coordinating brown and orange ribbon.

Page 62 - Cut Swan at 3" (Picturesque Cartridge)

Used 1" framework feature for the swan garnish on the envie.

Hope you like it.

Jukebox for under $10.00 :)

Did I need a jukebox? No. But when I was in another town over the weekend playing in the snow, I stopped off at a local scrapbook store and found one for $9.99 ---- SWEET! I could use one if its under ten for sure! I was completely giddy with my excitement. I just love deals! They had a bunch of other stuff on sale but I managed to reign myself in. Afterall, my guys were waiting in the car. How much damage could a girl do?

Have you ever seen "supermarket sweep?" LOL! Well, I gave it my best shot and managed to walk out of there with some additional goodies. But no big scores like the juke.

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend like I did!

Thank You & Deer Card

Create A Critter all the way on this one baby!!! DCWV greenstack cardstock. Simple and cute and FUN!!! Totally my kind of card. 5.5" x 4.25 card base, 5" x 4" greenstack, 1.5" green and 1" navy strip - trimmed with MS Punch. White Gel pen for "Hi" CAC deer cut at 3" found on page 30.



I just love black paired with another color. Usually my fave is when its with red. But I am digging this purple now too.

By now you know I like my thank you's to be simple. So thats what you see here.
Just embossed the bottom edge of the purple and sanded lightly to allow the white core to come thru. Embossed the word thank you, tossed on a bow. Done. Love it.

Wish my embossing skills were a bit better, but I am working on it! I will go check into other inks like Agnes suggested THANKS AG!

Cheers

Cuttled the background and then tried to glaze the top. Mixed thoughts on how it turned out. It was a thick embossing medium that I hadn't tried yet. So by trial and error, I think I will learn to love it. I dusted the top of the martini glass with some diamond dust and added a toothpick behind the image to look like it was coming out of the olives. Finished by tying a bow around the card for a little more texture.

Nuts... I miss you.

Front of card:


Inside of the card...


The envelope :)




Hello my lovely peeps! Hope you are all having a fantastic day thus far. :)

I am way organized with the details this time. I know! I'll wait for you to pick yourself up off the floor before I continue...

Ready? Okay then. Here you go:
I used the DCWV Greenstack for the brown polkadot background, scrap paper for the rest. White cardstock base 6.25" x 5.5" for the card. 6" x 5.25" for the brown. 5.75" x 5" for the polkadot. 2" x 5" misc. strip then used the MS punch. Slipped a 1" white strip behind the punched ege to make the edge stand out a bit more. 1" x 5" white strip down the center with 1" brown cardstock letters cascading down spelling out nuts. Used Alphalicious on this one. Oh, and while I am talking Alphalicious, let me metnion that I used it to print the sentiment also (on my Imagine.) Punched the sentiment out with a 1" square and inked the edges.Create a Critter was used for the squirrel. Please reference page 31 for that. Cut him at 4". The border leafs were also cut from the CAC cartridge at 1". I cut two of those leaf borders. One to tie in the inside of the card and the other one to adhere to the outside envelope. Carrying the theme throughout.

HA! Didn't think I could be that informative did ya? :)

Big shout out to our local Duck football team. Made it to the BCS championship!!! We lost, but at least we played. Lost with 2 seconds remaining for a 3 point kick. Not a bad way to go if your going to lose. Would have hated to see them slaughtered. Very proud of our local town. We may be a small town, but we have a lot of heart. And I think we showed that. Congrats guys!

A scrappy kind of thank you card.

Nothing too wow or over the top. Just a cuttled "Thank You" and some scrap paper. But... at least I posted. :)

I just love using up my scrap paper for small thank you cards. I often get intimidated that I have to make a "wow" card. And for Thank You's --- You really don't. So, I just threw my silly ways to the side and made a quick card and didn't spend alot of thought or time on it. But, I am still handing someone a "personal" card rather than store bought, so I feel good.

(Oh, and I added the details for the butterfly on that post so incase you were wondering what cartridge and sizes, please refer back. Thanks!)

Birthday card for 10 year old girl.

Cardstock base is 6 1/4" x 5 1/2", followed by 6 1/8" x 5 3/8" blue cardstock to frame. The main paper on the front was from the dcwv paper pack "Be Mine." cut at 6" x 5 1/4"

Cuttled and inked the number strip counting to nine. Cut the medallion circle from the accent accential cartridges at 2 3/4". Then cut the number 10 from Jasmine at
2 1/4" and painted them gold to match the swirls and the word "beautiful" in the background paper.

Tied it all in with the swirls on page 42 on the picturesque cartridge at 1 3/4" for the inside. (sorry but the inside pic refuses to post.) Okay it could be operator error too. :)

Off to go see some of you! Have a great day. :)

Thanks!

Super quick and simple card using Hannah Montana for the bird.The base card is 4.25" x 4.25" white cardstock. A 4" square was cut out of pink scrap paper. The ribbon was wrapped around the card base and tied. I usually use the cheater method to save ribbon, but this time it goes all the way around. The bird was cut out at 2" on gold glitter paper. Overall, I like the look. I made up 4 of these as quick thank yous for some personal gifts I received over the holidays.

Happy Birthday Butterfly Card

Thought I'd change it up a bit and do a trifold card. Not sure why my photos are blurry on here. They were crisp on the camera I swear! But you get the idea. I used the picturesque cartridge for the butterfly and couldn't be happier with the overall look. Is it terrible of me to be still using rubons? I 'love' rubons. I know, sad, isn't it? But I am a sucker for them.

(Did I mention that its absolutely FREEZING today?)I am not meant to survive in this cold. Off to go find a warm blanket! Hope everyone has a splendid day.

Edited for deets: Picturesque cartridge - page 28 with the fit to page option which ended up being 4.75" on the card and seal option. Butterfly was 2.5" on page 65 of the same booklet. Scored the wings for flight. It really looks like the butterfly is flying off the card. Just attached by the main body. My Minds Eye paper. :)

Gift from my sister

My stamps just came. :) She's such a turd! I just love her though. She broke her promise. She wasn't suppose to get me anything, but how can you be mad when THIS arrives on your doorstep?

Yeah, you can't.

LOVE YOU BANANAHEAD!!! Your the BESTEST SISTER EVER!!! (And yes, I meant to say bestest. Get over it. LOL!)

I think I have overcome my funk and am ready to proceed with a more positive attitude in the new year. I have no resolutions. Just thoughts. I will set goals but not deadlines. I will not give other people the power over me. I will celebrate that my future holds even more friendships and adventures. I refuse to worry about things I cannot change or control. Blogging is NOT going to be a chore. I will not stress about posting every other day. If I can, fantastic, if I can't... well, I'll just jump back in when I can. Thats all any of us can really do right?

So --- Welcome new fellowers, Hiya to my old friends, and Happy New Year to you all. :)

Oh, and if you follow Ali Edwards at all, you know she picks a new word every year. I am not sure what her word is for this year because I haven't been checking lately. But my new word for the year is PERSPECTIVE. Yep, that will work perfectly. Keep it all in perspective. Whats your word?

A tale of two stockings

It all started a couple years ago. A friend and I were disgruntled at our hubby's inability to properly stuff a stocking. Often times ours would remain empty. And that was OKAY. We didn't really mind. But we got to thinking... Dangerous, I know... And we came up with the idea that we'd exchange stockings amongst ourselves. The one time a year where its just the two of us. No kids, no hubs, nothing. We'd take an hour to ourselves and have coffee and open our presents and squeal with delight. The first year, it was grand. But I couldn't keep all her crap in one stocking. I mean stuff. The "stuff" just multiplied so I sewed two stockings together in a crazy fashion designed to make her laugh. She bested me with a "stretchy" stocking because she couldn't get all my crap to fit in the either. We had such a grand time! It went so well that we thought we'd do Easter baskets amongst ourselves. YEAH RIGHT?! Did I ever tell you how busy we are? We hardly have time to get together. So that just didn't work. But that didn't stop us from collecting all the crap. I mean "stuff!" LOL! So this year we were having a terrible time 'containing' ourselves. We finally had to say a number so we'd be even. Guess what number she chose? 75! We both could have easily gone over but really, after all the wrapping etc. UGH! It became a chore. So we had to stop. Stockings were no longer options. I contained hers in a paper ream box that overflowed. And THIS is what she came in with. I think I might have peed my pants I laughed so hard. Okay, I didn't. But it was close! She really should have called and warned me to wear some depends. I thought I'd take a moment and share some items in my "stocking". Here are a few:

Ikea Bag/Stocking


A mere glimpse of all my fun gifts!


The wooden easel was part of the gift too. We always exchange ducky and monkey stuff so this just went with our silliness.


Don't you just LOVE this container? Its home to my embossing gun at the moment.


Just ONE of the sets of stamps. She knows I am a sucker for stamps!


Aren't these neat? They are reusable hand warmers!!! She knows how I just freeze and the little dearheart hooked me up!


Oh, and this? Yeah... I had no idea what I was going to do with this. But laugh all you want. This sucker is LOUD. I was going to give it to my son, but I can't stand how loud it is. HOWEVER it makes a great horse detracter. I kid you not. A horse was trying to bring down the fence and J and I took turns with this sucker to drive it away. So yep, I love and use ALL the stuff in my stocking. :)



Not everything is scrap related. Most are just silly trinkets to bring a smile to our faces. We often pick the same things which makes a hoot with laughter. We both walk away with so many great things, but I know for me, its the memory made that day that I treasure the most.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. And yep, I am back. :)