Fun new projects at Craft Project Central!

Hi all!  How are you guys doing? I'm working from home today, so I thought I'd pop in fo a quick post before getting my day started.  I've got some sneak peeks of 3 cute projects over at Craft Project Central.

First up is an adorable Flower Pot project created by Erika

Such a cute project to brighten your day!

For the chefs out there, how about a yummy recipe for Bread Pudding, compliments of Shelby:

She used the pretty Bliss set from the Sale-a-bration products that you can get for free when you buy $50 worth of Stampin'Up! goodies....time is running out though - this promotion ends on Thurs, March 31st!

And, to get you all ready for Easter, how about this pretty banner from Joanna:

These 3 projects are all available in the March issue at Craft Project Central.  If you'd like to subscribe, you can head over and check out the deets here.

Well friends, that's all for now.  Hope you guys have a fantastic day and I'll catch up with you in a little bit!  Toodles!

shadow box fun for this week's HSS Challenge 61!

Hi all!  It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for this week's challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  And, what a fun challenge it is!  Have you ever made a shadow box card?  Well, I think I may have made one once or twice EVER, so I was really glad to rediscover this fun card style this week.  Take a look at the challenge inspiration photo:

It' such a fun and festive presentation and I love that it can prop up on your desktop like a little mini stage.  It took me a bit to come up with an idea, but once I figured it out, the assembly was a snap.  Wanna see my full card?  Here you go:

It really is such an easy card to make, but packs a lot of wow to it!  My card is a super simple one to put together, too.  I had fun with punches making this little faux store front window.  I used the Decorative Label punch, Itty Bitty punches, and the 1 1/4" circle punch to create my awning, believe it or not.  All you need to do for the awning is start off with four 2"x1" strips of cardstock.  Then, you'll want to thread through the strip into the 1 1/4" circle punch so you can trim off one end of the strip to create a "scallop."  I then adhered these 4 pieces onto a strip of cardstock, aligning my scallops, then trimming off the excess on the straight edge side, and trim the side edges at a slant. Once I had the awning the way I liked,  I popped it up with dimensionals.  For my store front window, I used the decorative label punch.  You'll want to center the punch on the cardstock and insert the cardstock as far as it will go into the punch, then punch out the cardstock and repeat on the other side.  The resulting window is a fun curvy rectangle that you see on my store front!  Here's a look at the card from the side view:

All you need to do for this card is have 2 pieces of  a quarter sheet of cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size).  Then score the ends at 1/2" and 1" on both sides and crease.  This is what gives your card dimension.  Punch out a shape on the front of the card and stamp on the back piece of cardstock, or create your scene - whichever you prefer!  Finally glue the ends together using the Multipurpose glue or sticky strip to ensure that the card stays together! Embellish the front as you like, and then you're all done!  It's a piece of cake...or chocolate, as you can see on my card {heehee}.  Here's the recipe for you:

{All you need is Chocolate Birthday}

*Stamp Set: Create a Cupcake, Eat Chocolate

*Cardstock: Sweet Stitches DSP, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Blushing Bride

*Inks: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Now isn't this challenge worth giving a whirl just to try a new or different technique?  Or, maybe you're a shadow box pro - how about you share your talents and link your card so we can all ooohh and ahhhh!  Hop on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and check out what the rest of the fabulous and creative DT came up with!  Thanks for popping by for a visit.  Have a great day!



So excited to be {PUBLISHED!}

{photo from scrapbooktrendsmag.com}

Hi all!!  I am so excited to share that I have my very first card published in the April Issue of CARDS magazine!!! Woot woot!  You can check out my card on page 147 :)

I've had to keep this a secret for a little while now, but have been waiting to get my copy in the mail so that I could actually see it in print before spilling the beans! I've checked out the issue and there are so many amazing cards, I feel so honored to have my little card in there.

Hope you guys have a great Sunday!  I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!

Paisley Petal sneak peek!

Morning all!  Happy Saturday to you.  Before I head out for a run, I thought I'd drop in a quick card share and sneak peek for you.  How do you like the snippet above?  The sneak is that pretty Paisley Petal paper {say that 10 times fast!} that will be available with the Spring is Blossoming promotion starting on April 1st!  You'll be able to purchase this pretty DSP and or the Four Frames stamp set when you spend $20 or more in Stampin'Up! products.  The paper will be available for $9.95 and the stamp set will be available for $15.95 in Clear Mount or $20.95 in Wood Mount.  Right now, I have to say that the Four Frame stamp set is definitely one of my faves.  LOVE that it coordinates with the Decorative Label punch!!  Do you want to see the full card?  Here you go: 

The prints of this DSP stack are so pretty, I wanted to create a card that was able to show them off a bit.  The card shows 6 different prints that coordinate so well with each other, don't you think?  The birthday sentiment I used is from the Create a Cupcake stamp set.  It's such a sweet font and I love that it fits so nicely in the frame. Isn't the ribbon yummy?  It's the Victoria Crochet Trim, which I think creates the perfect vintage look.  I added the Antique Brad in the center to give it a little more vintage flair.  By the way - did you know that the glue stick works GREAT for adhering ribbon and fabric onto cards?  Just thought I'd share that little tip :)

My flower is made out of the 2 scallop circle punches - all you need to do is spritz them with water and scrunch it up, then let dry.  You'll get this pretty flower when you're done!  I threaded my button with a teeny sliver of DSP to pull in the colors of the flower.  Hope you like it!  Better get going for now - Gotta run before it starts to rain!

Have a fab day!

March Final Friday Winner!!

Happy Friday to you all!  Can you believe it's already the last Friday of March?  Goodness gracious - where does the time go? I have to say I had such a good time reading everyone's comments and I learned a lot about so many places all over the world, so THANKS TO EVERYONE that shared a little something about your local digs.  :)

Are you guys ready to find out who this month's winner is?  Let's have a little drumroll please..... This month's lucky winner of the Funky Four stamp set and 6x6 paper stack is....

Lucky number 24 who happens to be Texas JennyWren!

Congratulations to you Jenny!!!

Thanks so much to you all for a fun round this month.  It's so nice to find out more about you all.  I really am glad you guys played along and left me comments.  They really do make my day!

Just a sneak for next month...I am quickly approaching 200,000 blog hits {thaks to you guys!}, so I'm thinking I'm going to have a special giveaway next week.  In addition, I'll still have my April Final Friday Giveaway, as usual, of course.  Stay tuned!  Exciting stuff coming up!  Ciao for now.

U Stamp With Dawn and Friends - Classes, Clubs and Camps!

Woot Woot!  I'm excited to be participating in another round with U Stamp With Dawn and Friends as part of her Creative Crew for the Spring Edition - Classes Clubs and Camps!  Have you guys checked this out?  You can now sign up for the Early Bird Special here.

The current edition of Big Shot Brilliance is going on right now - here's a quick sneak at one of 2 projects I created:

This edition has over 40+ ideas with detailed instructions and supplies for you, too! If you're a Big Shot lover, this edition is definitely for you.  Enjoy!  Have a great day!

blissfully quick thank yous...

Hi there blog friends. Do these cards look familiar to you?  Well, I had some extras of the background paper from the butterfly cork card I created yesterday that I decided to make some Thank You cards!  I was so pleased with how these 3 came out, that I stamped one more sheet of the flourish to do a one sheet wonder!  The one sheet gave me enough pennants to create a cute stack of 14 quick and easy Thank You cards.

As you can see, it's so easy to create a pattern with the clear mount stamps.  I alternated Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red Ink to create this pattern.

Next, I cut the paper down to 1 1/4" x 4 1/2" strip.  Then, to create my ribbon tails, I used the 1 1/4" square punch to make them perfectly aligned {and streamline my process, too!}.  Then I stamped the punch border images using the sneak peek Four Frames stamps set {available April 1st!} and stamped the sentiment using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set.  Can I just tell you how much I am loving the Four Frames set?!  Too cute!  Here's a look at the 3 frames I used {I didn't use the bird one because it didn't center my "thanks" the way I wanted it to...but you can still see what it looks like in the first picture of my post}

Makes me want to do these Thank You cards in a bunch of different color combos!  So EASY!  So...after I put these all together, here are the cards I made.  Note that I didn't emboss the background paper in this mass produced version, but I still think this simplified version makes adorable quick Thank Yous!  Here's a look at the 3 versions I made:

Aren't these so cute and easy?!  Now, I'm starting to think about the next color combo I should do these cards in!  This is such a simple and clean design - it's definitely a great Thank You card to have on hand.  The stamp set I used is the Bliss Sale-a-bration set and the upcoming Four Frames stamp set that will be available in the Spring is Blossoming promotion starting on April 1st.  I'm telling you...if you don't have that Bliss stamp set, it's time for you to pick out your $50 of Stampin'Up merchandise so you can get the Bliss set for FREE!  Just sayin' ;)

Here's a look at the Bliss set:

It's too adorable to pass up!  Shop now at my SU! store so you can get it today.

I'll catch up with you guys in a bit!  Have to get to work.  Have a fab day!