Sparkle and Fizz

Today is a very  special day!  It's the day to celebrate my absolute True Love and my Best Friend---my Husband!  I used to be the "stand-at-Hallmark-forever" type of person, reading through every single long poem/sentiment on each and every husband card to find the "perfect one" and then, as years progressed, I thought, "Why am I doing this!? I can do a better job of writing my feelings than Hallmark!"   So I stopped.  And I started writing down my own  words on my own  cards.  And I think my husband appreciates it even more. DISCLAIMER: This is not to say that Hallmark (or any other greeting card company) doesn't do a great job of helping others express their thoughts and feelings!  They absolutely do!  But I have always been a hopeless romantic, so, I'm just going to spend the rest of my life embracing that. OK---two babies later and this Mama doesn't have time to write a long-winded love note and  create a gorgeous multi-laye...

Today's Throwback Thursday has been in my head, pretty much since I decided to feature this particular set for three weeks in a row.  I finally had the time to sit down and get it out of my head and into the real world!  Yay!  I think it turned out soooo cute!  Take a look! Eee!  It just screams Halloween Cuteness to me!!  And marrying it with a few newer sets just made it perfect. I "white-washed" my Brick Wall Embossed background with a Sponge Dauber and the Craft Stampin' Ink in Whisper White .  It really looks awesome and very "tomb-ish", if I do say so myself.  I made an attempt to give my little Vampire Buddy a muted watercolored look, which looks better in person than in the photo, but, as they say---practice makes perfect.  I just need to keep at my watercoloring skills! As you know, I'm not a huge fan of fussy-cutting, but the little bats from the Cookie-Cutter Halloween Stamp Set screeched "cut me out!" so I did and then...

You know what I enjoy?  Making treats for people!  And coinciding with making treats, I love making packaging for treats!  Which is why I was inspired by all of the Black Cat Halloween Card Love to create a treat bag that partners perfectly with my card!  (If you missed that post, click here to see it---it's one of my most pinned creations!) So what can one put inside this little treat bag?  I was thinking a small package of mini-cookies (maybe four stacked one on top of the other) or some candy treats.  Or possibly some Halloween toys!  It can hold quite a bit!  And this is truly, so quick and simple to put together, you could probably make a lot of them in a short amount of time; perfect for Halloween treats to co-workers, neighbors, or anyone else you'd like to surprise with a few extra goodies to! Here's how to make it: Supply List Very Vanilla Cardstock #100650 Daffodil Delight Cardstock #119683 Basic Black Cardstock #121045 ...

A little paper, one stamp, and some linen thread bring today's Simple Saturday Creation to fruition!  You probably have most of these supplies sitting around your craft room, so use this layout for some Simple Saturday inspiration and craft away! There's no dimension, no fancy cuts, not even a die cut in sight!  I simply let the Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper do the "talking" and added one simple banner with the "Give Thanks" sentiment from the Labels to Love Stamp Set .  I did add a little solid color cardstock to bring out the secondary color in the DSP ( Cajun Craze ) and I tied some Linen Thread to the banner piece (created with the Banner Triple Punch ), but those "extras" aren't necessary (even though they took less than two minutes to add). I'd love to see your take on this easy layout!  Share with me your Simple Saturday Creation! Here's what I used to create today's card: Very Vanilla Car...

This week's card is a bit of a spin on last week's card and features many of the same elements.  I can't help it---I love the scarecrow and I love pumpkins!!! I placed my little Scarecrow in a "field" of pumpkins, using the Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper  and added some Linen Thread .  That's pretty much it.  Take a look: The pumpkins!  Seriously, I just cannot get enough of those sweet pumpkins in the Designer Series Paper!  This may be a piece that I horde...you must tell me I have to use it up! I've never actually "fussy-cut" a sentiment out before (I'm more of a "Let's place it on a banner" type of Girl) but I love that extra little "element" of simplicity that makes it stand out.  I truly think this is another one of those "less is more" techniques!  Any more paper and I think it would detract from my "pumpkin patch"!  Haha!  This sentiment is from the Painted Harvest Photopolyme...

Hello, Friends!  I hope you had a great weekend!  I know I sure did!  My Fall Block Party was a huge  success; everyone had such a fun time!  If you didn't join us, be sure you come to our October Event, where we will be making some fun treat tags for your Halloween goodies!  We all have such a good time, crafting and making new friends! But speaking of treats---I wanted to come up with a special way to package some goodies for giveaways.  I've seen some cute milk cartons decorated for different occasions, but they were all created with an adorable die.  Now, that's all good and well, I could run out and buy it, but why do that when I found myself a super easy way to make my own milk carton with some paper, my score board, and some Tear and Tape Adhesive!? I'll share the tutorial today, but I need to be sure to give credit to Sam Hammond Donald (owner of Pootles.co.uk) as I have adapted my tutorial from her original share.   Thank you , ...

Happy Thursday, Friends!  I hope that today finds you well and happy!  I'm pleased as punch, but that's because I got a chance to use an old set that I really didn't give myself a chance to play with when I first got it. Have you seen the Cookie Cutter Christmas Stamp Set and the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch in the Annual Catalog?  (If you haven't seen it, you can view it online here .)  This set was carried over from last Holiday and I bought it along with the "sister" set, the Cookie-Cutter Halloween Stamp Set .  It's all just too cute and if you have this set from last year, then get excited to bust it out and use it with a few of this year's goodies!  It truly mixes so well with this year's gorgeous DSP and new stamp sets, so I think I'll incorporate this set into a few upcoming Throwback Thursday posts! Well, here's what I made with this set for you today: I merely stamped, colored, and punched out the little Scarecrow Ma...

Happy Tuesday, Friends!  I don't know about you, but I have been battling sick littles for the past five days!  I'm still pretty exhausted (my littlest one had his first ever ear infection and refused  sleep for days! ) but I wanted to share a really quick and easy card that was fun to make. This card was so easy to whip up, I could do it sleepless (in fact, I did!).  So, if you need to make something really fast, that doesn't take much time (or energy) then here you go! Supply List: Basic Black Cardstock #121045 Daffodil Delight Cardstock #119683 Whisper White Cardstock #100730 Memento Pad (Tuxedo Black) #132708 Classic Stampin' Pad (So Saffron) #126957 Classic Stampin' Pad (Daffodil Delight) #126944 Classic Stampin' Pad (Crushed Curry) #131173 Sponge Daubers #133773 Layering Circles Framelits #141705 Spooky Cat Photopolymer Stamp Set #144749 Cat Punch #144666 Bundle and Save 10% with the Spooky Cat Bundle #146014 Banner Triple Punch #13...

I'm really trying to use up some old, retired product.  Thursday's Blog Post does a good job of helping me with that.  I dig through old supplies and I re-discover old elements that look great paired with new product. Take, for example, the Succulent Garden Designer Series Paper from the 2017 Occasions Catalog.  There's a pretty gingham design that I thought was beautiful for showcasing the new Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set .  Add in some shimmery Sweet Sugarplum Ribbon and I'm all about this card! So, I'm pretty much a traditionalist at heart.  I know that strawberries are red, the grass is green, sapphires are blue, sunflowers are yellow...you get me?  But, I thought, I'll venture outside of my traditionalist box and mix it up.   It was intense.  It was crazy.  And it was worth it! I love that sunflower in Sweet Sugarplum.  It pulls and ties everything together and coordinates beautifully with the Rich Razzleberry. ...

Are you following me on Pinterest yet??  If not, please do!  There's a bunch of amazing goodness there!  One of which, is an extremely popular pin---my VIA Coffee Holder. I enjoy trying new things and one day, while wondering the aisles of my local Target, I stumbled upon these new little packages of coffee, called "VIA".  It's by Starbucks and they are instant coffee singles.  Whhaaat!!?  Naturally, (because I'm a victim of marketing) I bought some.  Then I thought, These are so cute!  I want to do something with them and my Coffee Cafe Suite!   After that, my VIA Coffee Holder/Folder (whatever you want to call it) was born. I imagine you can see why this is not just my  most re-pinned pin, but it's pretty popular on Pinterest, in general.  Woot! Now, my friends, I will show you how to make your own with my Tutorial Tuesday! Supply List: Cardstock (I used Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, and Crumb Cake for the samples a...

Today's card was so fast to whip up!  And while it's very simple, the full-white card allows the stamped sentiment the chance to really make a statement.  I am pleased! Because of the minimal supplies this card takes, I think it's a fabulous way to use what you have on hand and add in just one new item from the Holiday Catalog---the Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set . It's hard to tell, but the top layer is run through the Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Embossing Folder and the stamped statement from the Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set is simply punched out using the 2" Circle Punch .   Those leaves!  It added enough embellishment, without detracting from the cleanliness of the card.  These leaves are also from the Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set , and are a two-step stamp.  This means, you stamp one image and layer the second on top to add some dimension and detail, without a lot of effort.  Now, I did fussy-cut m...

It's here!  It's here!  I'm UBER excited to share Stampin' Up!'s NEW 2017 Holiday Catalog!  Last year, I loved pretty much everything there is to love about the Holiday Catalog, but this year...oh this year, I DO love everything in the Holiday Catalog!!! I really feel like it's super early to start thinking about Christmas (I know, I'm weird) and since I LOVE Fall, I just can't skip over it. So where are the Pumpkin Spice Lattes, already!?  I got coffee from Starbucks today and they still  don't have it yet!  Ahh!!  So, I settled for a Hazlenut Latte, instead.  (The struggle is real, my friends.) Well, since I didn't get my Pumpkin Spice Latte, I'm writing about a fall card I created a little while ago honoring my Pumpkin Spice Lattes.  (Those of you who follow me on Instagram , you may have already seen it!) For those who don't, here's what it looks like: Let's make this cute little Gem! Supply List: Very Vanill...