DIY, S'mores Kit

Monday, January 20, 2014

This weekend my family and I celebrated my dad’s 61st birthday at the beach, and when there’s beach, fire, and good company—there are s’mores! I’d planned on making these s’more kits when I found out we were going to beach for his birthday, and when I started prepping them the night before I thought this would be too cute NOT to share on my blog.  

Since I’m a blogger I tend to have some pretty random things on hand—for DIY’s and such. So when I was creating these S’more Kits I pulled out all the favors boxes and bags I had in my closet. I ended up having two types of treat bags, and a set of gable boxes. I first tried the gable box but quickly discovered that the full size Hersey bars didn’t fit in that box—so I tried out the 5 x 7 Kraft bags and they seemed to fit nicely. Not only did all the s’more ingredients fit great into the Kraft favor bags—they also seemed perfect for a male’s birthday party. 
I used my Lawn Fawn alphabet stamp set, Milo’s ABCs, to create the ‘Happy Birthday’ sentiment; and, I used the ‘Dad’ sentiment from the Avery Elle stamp set, The Man, to complete the ‘Happy Birthday Dad’ on the bag. I think it came out really nice. To the right of the bags I show how I organized the chocolate bar, crackers, and marshmallows into the treat bag. There is enough for two S’mores in each package. 
Lastly, I closed them by folding the top of the treat bag over, and I created a pennant flag with a ‘S’more?’ sentiment. My dad is known for cracking cheesy jokes—the kind that are so unfunny that they become super funny, haha. So I thought this pun would be cute.

Well I hope you enjoyed this easy DIY! 

New Stamps and New Card

Friday, January 17, 2014

I recently placed my first order over at the Mama Elephant website, and I ordered the femme frames die set, and the Party Kit stamp set. When I first discovered that stamp set I was in awe of how cute it was. I absolutely love streamers and anything party related—so this stamp set was a must-have! It has all the elements needed to create a really cute party themed card, or layout but what I think I love the most about this stamp set is that it’s so versatile—you can’t go wrong with a set that can be used for any kind of theme your making a project for.

The dies I purchased are a must-have as well (at least I think so) it makes creating cards a cinch and I like that. I added a piece of paper in between the die cuts for a little added interested and I’m really loving the way it turned out. 
I used a wide variety of Hero Arts dye inks to achieve this pastel color palette and I thought—this card NEEDS gold in it—somehow. So, I thought I’d use the small circle image (from the stamp set) to create this confetti look with gold embossing. I think next time I’m going to try making some of the streamers in gold, too.

When I order stamps from companies I’m always curious to find out how they package there items. So many great companies have such cute packaging—and Mama Elephant was no different. I loved that they used Kraft wrapping and their custom sticker to package this all together. I thought that was super cute. 
Even though this stamp set has a create selection of sentiments—I thought I’d mix it up a bit by using the Sentiment Sampler set by Paper Smooches. I love that set; and, I think it’s perfect because it can be used in so many ways and for so many different things. I created this banner by hand using my paper trimmer, scissors, and bone folder. 
But the fun doesn't just stop there, I recently purchased a few new crafting tools and I was excited to give this envelope punch board a try. I didn't do my research on this product, however. If I’d of known there were problems with it I would have purchased the Stampin’ Up version—but I just put a note written on the back of this board with the new A2 size envelope measurements—so that should work. Overall, I’m happy with this new product and I can’t wait to design a zillion things with it, hehe.
I’m also super excited to send this card out. I recently got a pen pal, and I’m going to send her this card—it’ll be the first of many and I hope she loves it. She might actually be reading this right now…but I promise all the other cards will be surprises, LOL!


Take care lovely readers and have a great weekend! 

Sweet Stamp Shop, January Release

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Hello everyone! Today is super exciting because the Sweet Stamp Shop January release is here! There are so many adorable stamp sets to choose from. For instance below I'm using their new set, Just the Basics, to create this "I miss you" card. That set contains a wide variety of sentiments that are perfect for card making, layouts, and even party decorations. 
Next up is this adorable birthday card I created using their super cute stamp set, Foxy, This set is so versatile and it has a few elements in it to create an adorable scene. I love that this set comes with a couple sentiments and even a matching text bubble. Gotta love a text bubble!
Using the, Just the Basics, stamp set I created some cupcake toppers with a Bridal shower theme. This is why I love this stamp set so much. You can use all the sentiments in so many ways! 
To view more of the SSS design team creations click here; and, be sure to visit their website to view the full release

Also, don't forget to like them on facebook to keep up with all the new stamp releases! You can also join their Flickr group, click here, to share all your SSS creations. 

Shop Update, Valentine's Day Cards

Monday, January 13, 2014

I feel like I’m little late by barely coming out with my Valentine’s Day cards, but they’re here and I hope they do well. I made three handmade cards, and one printed card—a lot less than last year’s release but I don’t typically sell that many Valentine’s Day cards in general—so I thought I’d only make a small batch this time around. Right now I love creating CAS cards, and using the white on white color scheme as far as card stock goes; and, I thought hot pinks, light pinks, and pastel colors would look amazing on white. Three of these cards are made by hand using clear stamps (by various stamp manufacturers) and the ‘Love, forever’ card was created by me on the computer—and printed.

All of my new Valentine’s Day cards are now available in my shop. You can click on the links below the pictures of each card if you would like to purchase one. 

I love each card that I've created by I think my favorite is the Boston Terrier card—I think it’s so cute! Thanks for stopping by! 

Cards For A Friend

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Oh my! It’s been a few weeks since my last post. The holidays kept me away from my camera—then I sort of got used to not taking pictures for a while, and I think that’s where I went wrong. Well, perhaps I really need a small break from blogging, too. Not that I hate it, but it’s always nice to step away from the computer for a while and regroup. I had been feeling like I was running out of creativity anyway—so maybe it was all for the best.

During the holiday break one of my neighbors was moving away, but before she left she sent over a handmade jar of pickles from her garden. Isn't that so cool?! Not only did she can the pickles herself but she also grew them in her own backyard. Because of this kind gesture I thought I’d return the favor and send her something handmade by me (plus she is a huge ‘handmade’ admirer and she even has her very own jewelry line; and sells on Etsy too). You can find her work here.

Since she is moved away, I wanted to create some really cute new address cards. I have been waiting, and waiting for a moment to use the ‘we moved’ sentiment from the Lawn Fawn stamp set, Home Sweet Home; and, I've FINALLY got the chance. I’m so happy about that. I also purchased a really colorful/whimsical 6 x 6 paper bad by, American Crafts—that pad is named, Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Paper pad, and you can find it here
I used a variety of Copic art markers to color in all the images, and I’m really loving the way the panels turned out. 
Here is the collection of finished cards. I know she’ll love them; and, I feel that the images in this stamp set are perfect because in her family are her, her husband (the two love birds), and they have three young children (the eggs). Perfect, right? I really hope she doesn't see this post because I would like her to be surprised when she gets them—but she might see this—and if you do see this, Kimiko, SURPRISE! Haha. 

UPDATE: I purchased the die from Simon Says Stamp, it's the Notepad die, by My Favorite things. You can find it by clicking here
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