Stick Hunting

Camille and I went on a stick finding mission. We drove down our favorite street and found the mother load. The wind blew hard for a few days and the Oak trees in Lakewood dropped their bounty. 

We decided to use beans to weigh down the cans and give the sticks something to hold into. 

We used 4 different sized cans. Camille did a wonderful job arranging her sticks. 

I wrapped this can to match my dear friend Karen's home and will surprise her with this tree of her very own. Can't wait. 

Card in a box

I fell in love with these card in a box cards.  I avoided trying to make them thinking they were difficult, man was I wrong.  The hardest part is coming up with the embellishments, but that is just the creative part.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you can make them to fit into a standard size  envelope.

I got started making this one for my daughter's friend's birthday.  I biggest problem I had was time. I didn't give myself enough time to play around and felt pressured to finish.  The end result isn't bad but I felt I could have done more.

I used a tutorial off of Youtube. I'm sorry I didn't save the video so I can't give proper credit to the creative lady who posted the video.  There are so many good ideas out there. Pinterest and Splitcoast stampers are a great place to look.

This size box started with a piece of 8.5 by 11(inches) piece of paper. This will be cut down and fit into a standard size envelope.

I was in a hurry to finish this box and I used hot glue to adhere most of the embellishments.  It worked great and gave some of the items a "popped"up look.

I am glad I watched several videos relating to these box cards because in one of them I learned that you can use transparencies in thin strips to lift up the embellishments and have them appear to "float" out of the box (just don't make them too heavy).

Making the box takes no time at all. I spent quite a bit of time preparing the embellishments and finding just the right touches. Coordinating paper is the trick to a pleasing color scheme.

I used liquid glue to adhere most of the items on this box (I had time to let it dry). With the opening and closing of the box you need to make sure you are keeping the embellishments inside the closed box "frame" for mailing.  I find liquid glue keeps things stuck down longer and can stand up to all the handling.

This card is much larger than the purple one.  I measured the end result, and using my envelope maker I got this to fit into a 5.5 by 6.5 size envelope. The square I started with was 9.75 by 9.75(inches).  My envelope had a little wiggle room left to fit in the one petal that didn't fit inside the box.  This is what I mean by the closed box frame.

I know the next one I make for a birthday will defiantly have candles on it.

April Stamp Club

Well, April Stamp club came upon me quite quickly.  I had to use a tool or stamp that I had not used much or yet.  I picked my fringe scissors and made these rolled flowers. The flowers were simple to make. I cut strips of 12 x 12 paper (about an inch and a half wide).  I used the fringe scissors to cut the "petals" into the strips and then using some needle point scissors I rolled the strips up.  I glued them shut.  I took some floral wire cut them 2-3 inches long and hot glued the flower on top.  I built the basket from some kraft paper (I'll make a photo tutorial soon). Into the bottom of the basket I hot glued some styrofoam rectangles and stuck the flowers inside.  I covered the foam with easter grass and added some chocolate eggs. It turned out pretty cute.

Terri our wonderful Stampin Up "dealer" prepared these awesome frames for us to make.  She came up with this incredible display for spring.  We used temporary adhesive so we can change out the paper with each holiday.  I love what she did here.

What a beautiful use of the embossing folders. I love the cross and purple is my favorite color.

I love all the layering in this card. I struggle with piecing the right patterns together.  This is so fun, the sentiment can be used for so many things.

What a whimsical and fun card is this. Punched art is perfect for a child's card.  I love finding alternate uses for punches. It makes their purchase much easier to justify, lol.

I am loving these colors,  the embossing adds just the right touch to this card. I just love the texture this has.

This card just feels right, the balance and colors are so bright and fun. I know anyone would love getting this in the mail. This welcomes spring with just the right touch.

Wahsi tape is my new best friend, I don't pass up the opportunity to add to my collection. The layers on this card and colors are so fresh. These cards are going to be hard to part with.

These cute postcards are so cleaver.  The speech bubbles are very in the now and I love how clean they look. I hope you enjoyed your visits and next month we will be making masculine cards.  The search for inspiration starts.  See you soon.

New Toy!

My husband and I are in our mid 40's and health and fitness are extremely important to us. My Sweet purchased a George Foreman Grill for us and I made my first meal. Here is our spinach and turkey sausage egg white omlet. Can't wait to taste it. 

House warming gift.

My dear friend has moved into an adorable home. She has decided to down size to make things easier for herself.  I wanted to make her feel welcome the minute she unloaded the moving truck. The day before the were to move in I placed this on her door step.  I wish I wrote down the type of plant because it smells sooooo good.  I picked it up at Sprouts and have since seen them at many garden places.

A close up of the welcome home sign.

March stamp club challenge

This is the card I came up with for our March stamp club. The challenge was to use a paper that might be discontinued or use up your stash.  I loved this idea.  I used quite a bit of my scrap paper.  I punched 9 hexagons out and coordinated some sequins, a sentiment, tied some string and I was done. They came in many different colors so that is why there are so many pictures.

This was Monica's card I love the closure.

Kim made this beauty.

Terri had this for our make and take, we used water color paper and painted the flowers.

love the bakers twine with the gold in it.

Jene paper pieced this one and it is a gift card holder. Our hostess Kim taught us how to use our bird punch to make these lovely tulips.