A Birthday Ensemble

I have been pretty bad at posting some of the things I've been creating, so I challenged myself to share more this year. Here is a little birthday ensemble I made for my niece's birthday last week. She just turned 13, so obviously $ is the most desirable gift, but I just can't put $ in a card and call it good, so I made her a hair clip so she'd have something to open.

The card was created with CTMH's Gray Flannel and Petal. What a beautiful combo. I seldom use purples b/c they're just not my favorite, but it is my niece's. I stamped a piece of background using the medallion from the Wonderful You business builder set with grey flannel ink on grey flannel cs. I then stamped the label image from the December 25th stamp set and adhered a piece of petal to cover up the "Happy Holidays". Stamped "Happy Birthday" instead. I thought it turned out beautifully!

This little box was cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. I love that thing! I used a PTI die and stamp to make the label and added the "celebrate with style" sentiment strip.

Here's what the hair clip looks like in the box.

The flower was made with some ivory wool felt. The shape of each layer is actually 3 hearts in a circular pattern in 2 different sizes. There are 4 layers all together - 2 of each size. I stitched each heart to give it some depth. I stitched and glued each layer together and added a jewel to the center. Then I glued a clip to the back. Clear as mud? Anyways, thanks so much for stopping by today!

Feeling Grateful

So, I can't even begin to tell you how much I've missed the blogging world lately. I'm getting ready to finish up the last two weeks of my long-term teaching position, and I am counting down the days!!! It has been so crazy busy around here with working full time, keeping up with my kids' activities and my PTA responsibilities, let alone, trying to be a wife, daughter, sister and friend. I have failed so miserably at saying proper thanks to some very special people, so I set out today to make a card/box wrap for my neighbors. They took care of our pets, plants, and mail while we were away in August. (I know, long overdue!) I had this idea in my head to make some chrysanthemums inspired by the cover of the Paper Source catalog. I decided to keep the colors realistic and fallish.

I made a larger flower out of CTMH Goldrush and a smaller one out of CTMH Tulip and added some Olive Green leaves. And, it wouldn't be a "Karla" project if I didn't include a stamped background, so I stamped up a plaid pattern using CTMH Chocolate, and mounted the whole thing on PTI Kraft. I bought my neighbors a box of See's Candies (Yum!!) and simply wrapped the box with two pieces of ribbon, and then attached the card to the ribbon. So there you have it, a wrap and a card in one! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Distressed Stripes and Fillable Frames #4; Verve So Thankful

Cardstock: CTMH Goldrush, Tulip, Chocolate, Olive; PTI Rustic Cream and Kraft

Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Goldrush, Tulip

Accessories: CTMH Chocolate brads, Cuttlebug leaves die, PTI Fillable Frames Die, Marvy Uchida flower punches (3 sizes)

You're an Allstar

Hey bloggers! Just a quick post tonight to show you the token gifts I gave to the teaching staff at the school I'm working for. It just so happens that the school's nickname is the Allstars, and their colors are red & blue. I intentionally bought this stamp set from PTI because of the phrase "You're An Allstar". So perfect!

I purchased some plain white popcorn boxes from Michael's and filled them with a bag of Caramel Apple Popcorn, which I purchased from Cost Plus World Market. Made a wrap for the box and a tag.

I made about a dozen of them. They looked so festive when they were all together. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Just the Ticket, Distressed Stripes; CTMH Just Be You (stars)

Cardstock: CTMH Moonstruck and White Daisy

Patterned Paper: Carolee's Creations Hot Stars

Inks: CTMH Moonstruck, Holiday Red

Accessories: PTI Ticket Die; Cuttlebug Tags Die; Red Grosgrain Ribbon

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

Well, I'm happy to report that the family is finally on the mend. Girls are on antibiotics, and my oldest is still recovering, but hopefully he'll go back to school on Wednesday? I'm seeing the light! To those of you that commented on my last post with your words of encouragement, I was overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness! Thank you so much for your empathy!

Now on to today's post. Today is my niece's 13th birthday. I decided to take this occasion to participate in the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch challenge. It has been a couple of weeks since I have participated in any challenges, and I miss them!

So here's the card I made. The color combo came from the small bottles of nail polish I bought for her as a token gift (the real gift is the cash, of course!). The nail polishes were black, fuschia and teal, so I went with CTMH's Black, Watermelon and Juniper. I once again stamped up some plaid background and went with that preteen "rocker" look. Kazan's sketch was so fun to work with - I just might need to try it again!

I made a quick little box to hold the nail polishes. No template, just measured the bottles and went from there. I die-cut a window on the box top with my Spellbinder's Labels 8 die, and added a piece of transparency film. The stitching was hand drawn with my white gel pen. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps: CTMH Just Be You, Priceless Love Word Puzzle and Boutique Borders; PTI Background Basics: Retro and Mega Mixed Messages; Verve Stamps You Rock

Cardstock: CTMH Black, Watermelon and White Daisy

Inks: CTMH Black, Watermelon, Juniper

Accessories: Offray Black Satin Ribbon

Tools: Sakura White gel pen; Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels 8; Cuttlebug Tags Die

Gift Ideas

Here it is Christmas night, the gifts are open, the festivities are done. We had a wonderful Chrismtas celebrating the birth of our Savior, and enjoying the gift of family! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, as well!

I just thought I'd pop on tonight and share some of the gifts I made for my mom and sisters. I purchased a roll of wrapping paper, matching ribbon, and then made gift tags to match. I often put these ensembles together for "token" birthday gifts for friends. I made these for my sisters 2 years ago and they loved them, so thought I'd do it again this year for Christmas. (I've even put together a year round set for a Bridal Shower gift.)


These first two were for my sisters. One sister has 3 boys, so I wanted to make her a more grown-up girly set for her to use for her girlfriends. The second set is for my sister who has 4 girls. She's constantly buying gifts for the various birthday parties her girls are invited to. Thought this would be appropriate.

These last two were for my mom. One set of "boy" and one set of "girl". She has 6 granddaughters and 5 grandsons, so I'm sure these will get used up pretty quickly! If you're ever stumped for a gift idea for a girlfriend, think about trying this - they'll love it!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Warmest Wishes for the Holidays!

I was doing a lot of blog hopping this past weekend and ran across another stamp company that was new to me! (I know, just what I need!) Anyhow, Flourishes, was the company that I happened upon and they were having a super fun challenge. The challenge is to create a card that is inspired by the song, These are a Few of My Favorite Things (click on the title to see the challenge details). Well, this got my wheels spinning! My first thought was "what a fun and creative challenge", and then, "I think I might need some new stamps". After this find I found another challenge at Verve Stamps this week for homemade gift items. This is how these darling milk cartons from My Timeless Templates by Lauren Meader began. I plan on making up a number of these filled with a packet of hot chocolate, cookies and a candy cane. Won't they make a cute little token gift for those people in your life that just bless you in small ways, like the secretaries at my kids' school or my favorite cashier at the grocery store who I will wait twice as long to check out just to get a chance to say "Hi". Well, you get the jist. The best part about these little packages is that it goes to show you that there is room in this industry for lots of companies. I used stamps from Close To My Heart, Papertrey Ink, Verve Stamps, Martha Stewart, and when I get one from Flourishes, I'll use that, too! If you are still reading this, to you I say, "Thank You" for hanging in there with me! You are one of those people who blesses me in small ways! This is the one that started it all. I was inspired by the phrase "Warm Woolen Mittens" from the song, My Favorite Things. I used CTMH's Just for the Holidays.

Here I used an ornament stamp from Verve, but doesn't it make a cute tag?

Last, I used the Martha Stewart stamp to create this fun plaid, then added an additional stripe in Colonial White. The stocking is a shape from CK Lettering that I cut out and pieced myself.

So, there you have it. Thanks for stopping by today!

Bite-sized Goodies

Hey Y'all. It's been a few days since I've posted something, so thought I'd show you what I have in store for my kids' teachers for Halloween this year.

First up, I made a darling little box to house 4 brownie bites. I happened to bake these bites, but you could just as easily buy some brownie bites and spruce them up with a little candy topper, ganache or a dollup of Cream Cheese Frosting.

The box measures approx. 4 1/2"x 4 1/2" x 2 1/4". I had to make it deep enough to decorate the top of each brownie with a marshmellow creme pumpkin, but I could easily make the box shallower if I needed to.

For the lid I used my Labels 1 Spellbinders die to punch a window, which is lined with transperancy film. Around the edge I stamped a fun border with an image from PTI's Vintage Labels stamp set. The tag is made with a cuttlebug die and stamped with an image from PTI's Vintage Picnic. The "For you" sentiment is from Verve Stamps.

For the inside of the box, I made a holder for the brownies so they stay put. It measures 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" x 1/2". I used my Coluzzle tags to cut out a hole for each brownie (and bonus: the tag gives you a finger notch to easily pick up each brownie!). I stamped the cardstock with the plaid stamp from Martha Stewart.

I also made a matching gift enclosure card (2 x 3"). Now that I have the specifics and template worked out, it should be a snap to whip up these little gifts. I already have great ideas floating around in my head of how to change these up for Christmas and Valentines. Can't wait!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI (Vintage Labels, Vintage Picnic), Martha Stewart Clear Patterns Stamps

Cardstock: PTI (Kraft), CTMH (Garden Green, New England Ivy)

Inks: CTMH (Desert Sand, New England Ivy), Copic markers for the pumpkins

Accessories: Cuttlebug and Tag Die, Spellbinders Labels 1 Dies, CTMH Hemp, CTMH Craft Buttons, Ivory Satin Ribbon