Thoroughly Modern Freebie Friday!

Hi guys! I can't believe it's already Friday. I guess time really does go faster as you get older! I can't complain though, because at least we have the weekend to look forward to, right? Well, for today, I thought I'd giveaway yet another notebook, but this time, I actually altered the Stampin'Up! Thoroughly Modern file folders to create my little giveaway. I also used the Beautiful Butterflies exclusive SU! Bigz die to die cut my felt self adhesive butterfly. Then, I used the On Board chipboard letters in their natural state to spell out "notes." What do you think? Simple, easy, and no stamping or inks required! Hope you like it!

{Thoroughly Modern Butterfly Notes}
*Dies: Beautiful Butterflies SU! Exclusive Bigz Die
*Accessories: On Board Loads Of Letters chipboard, Thoroughly Modern file folders, Hemp Twine, buttons, self adhesive felt

And here's a look at the Butterfly die I used - it's got lots of beautiful butterflies! All you need to do to play for this week's Notebook freebie is leave me a comment on this post, with either your email address or your blog site, by midnight Pacific Time on Sunday October 11th. You can leave me a comment about anything or you can tell me where you're writing from {like your city, state, and/or country if you're outside of the US - that's always fun to see!} and tell me about your favorite Fall Time food. I'll start off by saying I love having homemade soups in the fall! I'm lucky to have an awesome husband that loves to cook! So, my favorite recipes from his soup repertoire include lobster bisque, butternut squash soup, French Onion, and corn chowder. Yum. It's just starting to cool down here in CA (and it's relatively mild, compared to other locales...I think the evenings have been in the high 50's, low 60's by my house). Anyway, I look forward to reading your comments. It's always so fun to learn about my blog readers!

Have a great one!

Snapshots of Larkspur

Hi there! I am finally getting around to posting a few pictures from our trip a couple weekends ago to Northern CA. We went to Larkspur and Sonoma and had a fantastic time! I'm gonna start off with a few pictures of Larkspur for today's post and will post some pictures of Sonoma in the next day or so. I took a TON of pics, so these are just a few representative ones :)

Larkspur is an adorable and quaint little town just a few exits north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Our friends had just moved there a few days before we went up on our trip! It's also the town where I came across the store "Cocquelicot" that I posted about on World Card Making Day. This first picture is the Catholic Church at the start of the downtown strip. It's so pretty, I had to take a picture!
This is the view from the other end of the street. Our friend Jeff told us that the Blue Rock Inn had formerly been a brothel back in the day. Now it's an Inn and I think there's a restaurant at the bottom.
Here's a picture I took inside the Coliquot store. They seriously have the cutest stuff from Provence!
And lastly, here's a view of the redwood grove {? or is it forest?} at the base of the hill where our friends live. I just love these trees! So pretty. I took this on our way out en route to Sonoma...

Stay tuned for the next segment of pictures! Meanwhile, get ready for Freebie Friday!

Spotlighted!

Morning all! WooHoo!! I feel so lucky...Dawn picked my card for In the Spotlight 17!!! Yay! Mine is "L". Thanks for everyone that's left me such nice comments! I loved doing this color scheme and I think you all will enjoy checking out all her picks!! You can check out my original post and get the details on the card here,

Thanks so much for coming by today!!

An Autumn Challenge Surprise!

Hey there! I just wanted to do a quick post to share my excitement - my Twick or Tweet card was picked as one of Shelli's "An Autumn Challenge Winners"!! WooHoo! How fun is that!! You can check out the link to my original post above to get the details on how I created the card. You should also go check Shelli's other card picks as well - they are all a great inspiration for Fall!

Have a great one!!

Halloween Costumes for the Fancy Favor Box

Hello! How are you guys doing so far this week? Hope all is well! I'm back with more Halloween projects to share with you. I seem to have been bitten by the Halloween bug! As my title suggests, I've found ways to create costumes for the Fancy Favor Bigz XL die! {And my blog banner, too!} So, it turns out this little box isn't just for wedding favors or parties of the super fancy variety. You can disguise it as a jack-o-lantern or a broom! I didn't make one yet, but you can certainly make a Frankenstein out of it too! It's all just up to you and what your creative mind can think of. Here are some basic instructions:

{Jack-o-lantern}
1. Cut the favor box out of a 6"x12" piece of textured Pumpkin Pie cardstock.
2. Create the eyes using the 1" circle punch and punch a second time to create the crescent shape; create the nose using 3/4" square punch, cut then cut corner to corner; create the mouth using the 1 3/4" circle punch, and punch again to create a crescent shape. For the teeth, I freehand cut notches out with my paper snips. Glue down using the Tombow glue.
3. Adhere the box together using sticky strip to ensure that the box is sturdy enough to hold whatever goodies you want to put inside.
4. Create a handle using a strip of 1"x7.5" of black cardstock. Fasten using mini brads.

{Broom favor}
1. Cut the favor box out of a 6"x12" piece of kraft packaging paper (tip: I used the crumpled kraft filler paper from one of my Stampin'Up! packages - you may as well repurpose all that package filler paper, right?)
2. Score the creases and shape the box. Make sure to crease the bottom flaps of the bag as well.
3. Using your paper cutter, cut 1/2" strips from the open top of the box down to the base of the box, up to about 1/8" from the bottom crease fold. This will make your broom strands. When you're done cutting, adhere the bottom base together to form the bottom of the box.
4. Take a small treat bag and fill with treats, then place it in the center of the box. Use a skewer or a twig to create your broomstick and put that inside your treat bag.
5. Gather up the strips to create your broom and then fasten together with twine or rope. Voila, you're done!

Hope you like these ideas - have fun playing with the fancy favor box!

Freebie Friday Winner Announcement

Hi there! It's that time to find out who the winner of the Snowflake gift box is! Ready? This week's winner is lucky #....

8, who happens to be Char in So Cal! Congrats Char! Here's what Char commented...so sweet of her!
Thank you all for playing another week! I really do appreciate all of you that come and visit my blog. Hugs to you all :)

Have a great one!

Trick or Treat

Hi there blog friends! With the first weekend in October behind us, doesn't Halloween feel like it's coming towards us in a hurry? It'll be here before we know it! Well, I had promised my SIL I would make her a Halloween banner, so I got busy this weekend to put this one together. Thank goodness I was able to finish it and drop it in the mail. Whew! I had fun creating this little Trick or Treat number. I pieced together a lot of ideas I've seen in stores and of course, blurfing. I wanted to use the scallop square in black and create the letters on a light background. I decided to go with a subtle stencil detail, so I daubered in the Kind Thoughts Brocade Stencil from Stampin'Up! using Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink against a Very Vanilla Background. Then, I used the Serif Alphabet Bigz letters to finish out the project. Here's a little closer look: And of course, to get a feel of the banner in it's entirety, here's a full view. This was a fun project to make! Now that I've made one, I plan on making more banners for Thanksgiving and Christmas, too. I gotta say the Big Shot really makes crafting decor and party favors a snap! Hope you liked this idea. Have a fantastic day!