EVERYTHING'S COMING UP POSIES

Welcome back to me!  It's been a very long time since I posted to my blog.  So much has taken place since last October.  I won't bog you down with the details right now as the details are pretty heavy.  However, I have recently started creating again and (gasp) I have even started to take and edit my own pictures for my blog.  It's not that I thought the Hubster was doing a bad job.  I just felt guilty asking him to take care of that for me when I should have been learning to do it for myself.  So, please hang in there with me as I learn the tips and tricks of photographing and editing my photos.  Okay, enough about me.   On with the card!

I recently purchased the Stampin' Up! Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit.  Awesome, I tell you!  This kit makes it so easy to design a 3-D flower in absolutely no time flat.  I love all the die cuts this kit offers.  I paired my flower up with some Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake and Summer Starfruit card stock.  I also used some Designer Series Paper to finish off the look.  What about you, are you loving the Summer Starfruit card stock?  Me, wellllllllllll......., I'm going to have to work with it a wee bit more.  I have to admit, I'm not loving it just yet.  I do love the Chevron Embossing Folder!  Can you believe this is the first time I broke it out?  Yep, I know, chevrons are so hot right now!  What was I waiting for?  I just inked up my brayer with Whisper White ink and ran it over the embossing folder, cranked it through the Big Shot with the lovely-ish Summer Starfruit c/s and voila` - a more defined pattern!  So, there you have it.  My first creation in what feels like a blue moon!  Hopefully, I can get my Mojo back on.

I do have some other projects to share with you in the very near future.  So, please check back with me.  Thanks for your patience with me during my monstrosity of a sabbatical.  See you soon!

SAVE THE DATE POCKET CARD

Wow!  It's been such a long time since I've posted to my blog.  I've still been checking out all the wonderfully creative papercrafters out there, but I haven't allowed myself the time to actually create for myself.  I apologize for not posting or updating.  Thanks for your patience with me.

A couple months ago, my dear friend Kim asked me to design her Save the Date cards for her upcoming "Diva Christmas Cookie Exchange".  I was very flattered and extremely nervous about her offer.  After much contemplating, I got down to business and created two styles of cards for my dear friend.  One is whimsical.  Yes, this card.  The other card is "diva-esque" with a lot more bling, schmling, diamonds and glitter!  (I'll show that one to you later this week.) 

I used the Owl Occasions stamp set from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog for this little pocket card.  I found a tutorial for pocket cards on Splitcoaststampers.  The inside card pulls out to display all the invitation information.  Oh, and have you tried the new Stampin' Up! Core'dinations cardstock.  It's great stuff I'm telling you!  I've used the Early Espresso paired with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder.  I love the woodgrain look especially when you run the sanding block over it!  It gives the effect of a real tree!

I'm going to forego the supplies list this evening.  If you have any questions regarding the supplies used, please contact me.

Thanks for peeking in this evening!  I'll try to not to be a stranger around here.

EAT YOUR VEGGIES

I made these cute little Easter treats for my piano students using the Petal Cone die and my trusty Big Shot machine.  Oh, how I love that machine.

I try to make my piano students some kind of little treat during the holidays  just to let them know that I'm proud of their hard work.  I filled these carrots up with mini candy bars and fun size packets of Skittles.  These little treats came together very quickly.

Thanks for peeking in on me today!  Hope your week is going great!

THANK YOU.......THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I first came up with the title for my post  a couple of days ago.  It was meant to be kind of witty since I felt like I had "thank you" boxes coming out of my ears.  However, reflections of this Memorial Day change the tone.  So, I would like to take a moment to remember those who so bravely fought for the freedoms of our country and paid the ultimate price.  One of my childhood teacher's only son is among those that I remember today.  He was part of the Lima Company from Ohio that suffered great loss a few years ago.  Sadly, he was among the casualties.  With that said, I'd like to continue on with today's post.

I'm finally finished the 200+ wedding favors for my friend's daughter, Erin.  I just hope she likes the results.  Would you like to see what I've been working on?  This is what 200+ wedding favors look like. 

Well, actually this isn't quite all of them.  These are the ones I boxed up.

Here are a few lined up on my table.  It was very late at night so the lighting isn't the best.  (Notice my open window in the background.  Our heat pump froze up and was not working.  Ugh!)

The boxes will be filled with cellophane bags of white chocolate dipped mini pretzels covered with purple and green sprinkles. 

Here is one all by its lonesome.  Sorry you can't make out the detail.  Each box has a banner which simply says, "Thank You".  The petals have been distressed and run through a crimper.  The flowers are made out of various sized circle punches and are also distressed.  Each flower contains a button in the middle.

If you haven't guessed, Erin's wedding colors are Elegant Eggplant and Certainly Celery.  Her dress is ivory and the groom and his groomsmen will be wearing linen colored tuxedos.  Erin's chose to go with a vintage wedding theme.  It should be  gorgeous.

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Thanks for peeking in on me.  It's back to work for me tomorrow.  I will be attending my son's Eighth Grade Promotion ceremony on Thursday.  I can't believe he'll be in high school soon.

WHOA, MAMBO!

And I do say, "Whoa!".  Any of you who are familiar with Stampin' Up!'s In Color Mambo Melon know that it is not this overpowering and fluorescent in real life.  Not sure what's up with this picture.  Oh well!  It's much better in person.  You'll just have to trust me : )  Today's card is an easel card.  I've seen them everywhere and you know me.  I had to get in on the action and make one of these buggers.  I must say they are easy to make and the finished project is impressive.  Here's a side view for you.  I've attached a brad in the center of the base so the front of the card stays propped up like an easel.  My card front was CASED from someone much more talented than myself.  I believe it was a card someone received as a swap at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference.  Unfortunately, I haven't been successful at finding the blog where I originally saw it.  If you know, please leave me a comment so that I can give credit where it is due.

Well, that's it for me.  Thanks for peeking in on me today!

ETA:  HERE'S THE LINK TO THE ORIGINAL CARD I CASED FOR MY CARD FRONT.  It was designed by Janet Moore. Thanks, Marilyn,  for helping me locate the link.

FLOWER FOLD BROOCH

My goodness, I haven't posted in forever and a day.  I tend to get the New Year blahs each year and to be really honest I just get in a weird funk.  This year was no different.  However, over the Christmas holiday, I did create these Flower Fold brooches.  Stampin' Up!'s very own Shelli Gardner had a beautiful flower brooch on her sweater at the Cincinnati Stampin' Up! Regional and it was all the rage.  Of course, I had to see what the fuss was about.  Well...........I started making these little gems and now I'm addicted!  I've made close to a dozen brooches in about two weeks.  They are so super easy.  Just run material through the Big Shot using the Flower Fold die and plug in the handy dandy glue gun to assemble.

I just got my new goodies from the Occassions Mini and the Sale-A-Bration brochure yesterday.  I'll be breaking them in this weekend and hope to be posting my creations very soon.

Thanks for peeking in on me today.

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

Isn't this snowman just the cutest thing?  I've seen the idea for this gift box using the Big Shot Top Note die on several blogs I visit.  So, I'm not exactly sure who to give the original credit.  I used Angie Juda Kennedy's tutorial for the box.  You can check it out here.   

I needed some bags to put Christmas goodies in for my piano students. They have all been working hard on their Christmas songs this season. I just wanted to show my appreciation to each of them. I purchased some treat size bags of mini M&M's, small boxes of Nerds and different flavors of lip balm to put inside their goodie bags. I hope they like them! I guess I'll find out tomorrow night.

I ran Basic Black and Whisper White card stock through the Big Shot to form the snowman's face and hat.  The brim of the hat was rounded with a SU! corner rounder punch.  Next, I punched out the 5-Petal Flower punch twice on Real Red card stock and once on Garden Green card stock with Summer Sun card stock 1/4" circle punch (retired) circles to make the middle of the poinsettia.  I freehanded the nose and the "coal" pieces for the mouth.  The eyes were made using SU!'s large and small oval punches.  I used a sponge dauber with Pretty in Pink classic ink to create his rosy cheeks.  I also sponged Whisper White craft ink on his hat and nose to give him a more "frosty" look.   I think the rest is fairly self-explanatory.  If you have any questions, just give me a shout.

Well, that's all for me tonight.  My son wants to start a puzzle before he heads off to bed.  Thanks for peeking in on me today!