An adorable elephant and my favorite stamp of all time...

Good afternoon everyone!

I think my "Happy Spring" card worked...it is really starting to feel like Spring. Well, temporarily, that is. It is supposed to get cold again. But I have to say, the rain and the sunshine and the 55 degree weather yesterday really inspired me to create a little! Much more than I've been inspired lately. So, I just had to share some of my projects.

The first card is one I made for this week's HeroArts challenge...you have to use your favorite HeroArts product. I still have to upload it the to the gallery, but I wanted to put it on here first!

My favorite Hero Arts stamp is the French Script stamp...and I used it with the French themed collage stamp by HeroArts as well. Oh, and I was so happy when I remembered that my Cuttlebug Script Embossing Folder matched perfectly!

Stamps: Hero Arts Collage Take Time (H4777) and Old French Writing (H2365)

Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug Script Texture

Ink: VersaFine Jet Black, ColorBox Chalk Ink Chestnut Roan and Charcoal

Icicle Stickles, Prima Flowers, Clear Rhinestones

I made this next card with stamps from Unity Stamp Co. and Heidi Grace. I stamped the flower image with purple ColorBox Ink (I can't remember the name though...sorry!) and embossed it with clear embossing powder, then used some Stickles to accent the flowers.

Stamps: Unity Stamp Company "Spring in the Mail" and Heidi Grace

Ink: Colorbox and VersaFine Jet Black

Scallop scissors, icicle stickles, clear embossing powder

And the last project I am sharing with you today is the little notebook I covered up. It is one of those $1 notebooks from Michael's, and I covered it with cream cardstock. The stamps are from HeroArts...and they are one of their new releases! I just love these little elephants!!!

Stamps: Hero Arts Elephants (CL280)

Ink: VersaFine Jet Black, Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid, and ColorBox Chalk Inks Olive Pastel, Lavendar, Blue Lagoon, Lipstick, Charcoal, and Orchid Pastel

Patterned Paper: BasicGrey Eva "Noble"

Icicle Stickles, Scalloped edge scissors by ProvoCraft

Well, thanks for looking at all of them! I hope you have a great day!

Wintertime Centerpiece

At my husband's work, they like to have a centerpiece on the breakroom table. Since he is the new store manager, I am very happy that the responsibility fell on me. After all...it gives me a crafty reason to go get supplies and have a little fun each season! So, in preparation for the holiday party tomorrow night and for the long, cold Iowa winter ahead of us, I made this cute little centerpiece full of winter delight!

First, I started with the supplies: Pine garland (9ft. on clearance at Target), a winterey basket, some cinnamon scented pine cones, some crystal glitter, and that old trustworth Elmer's Glue.

OK. I took the garland and arranged it in the basket like I wanted it, and then trimmed off the rest. I probably used about 4 feet, which amazes me since the basket seemed really small! After I got all the branches looking the way I though was most natural looking, I grabbed an old paintbrush and the glue. I couldn't get a very good picture of it, but I just "painted" the tips of the branches, one at a time, with the glue. After each branch, I sprinkled some crystal glitter on it (I'm sure there is a bunch in the bottom of the basket, but that's ok!). I repeated with all the branches and let it dry.

While it dried, I worked on the pine cones. I watered down the glue a little in a foil lined pie pan, then did one of two methods to "glue up" the pine cones. Remember when you were little and made ornaments out of pine cones by rolling them in glue and then in glitter. I did that, as well as painting the glue on the smaller ones. Then I covered evenly with glitter and let them dry.

So, here is the final centerpiece. A snow covered wintery wonderland!!!

Thanks for looking! (It's much sparklier in person...I couldn't quite capture it on camera!)

Christmas Goodie Bags

I made some treat bags for my husband's employees, and I just had to share them with you!


I made the tags using the clear stamp sets that were at WalMart. I started with cutting the blue cardstock, rounding the corners and using Martha Stewart Glitter on the edges. I stamped that adorable Moose on white cardstock with VersaFine Black Ink and set it aside (I didn't want to smudge the little guys!) Next, I took white cardstock, cut them into rectangles that were around 1/4" smaller than the blue cardstock and rounded the edges on that. I grabbed the cute tree stamp from one of those WalMart sets and used My Mind's Eye ink (a sage greeny color) to stamp four of the trees, leaving a spot for one more tree. Then I used masking to stamp the darker green tree (I stamped two tree images onto white cardstock, cut them out, and used removable Glue Dots and covered up the trees on each side of the blank spot.) After that, I used the "Happy Holidays" stamps from the Tree set, and stamped it with VersaFine Ink over the trees. I inked the edges of the white cardstock with VersaMagic Aegean Blue Chalk Ink. Then I colored those little mooses, cut them out, and adhered them using 1/16" 3D Dots. Then I adhered them to the blue cardstock, punched a hole using my Crop-A-Dile, and tied some cute ribbon through it...so cute!

For the bags, I just bought the white paper gift bags in the crafting section of WalMart, used the larger snowflake stamp from my Hero Arts Owl Christmas acrylic stamp set, and stamped in various places in VersaMagic Aegean Blue ink on the front of the bag. Then I inked the edges with the same ink (I've got a problem...I'm addicted to inking the edges. I just can't leave edges alone anymore!) When the ink was dry (which was really quick) I used my stardust Gelly Roll pen in clear and highlighted miscellaneous parts of the snowflake (you can't really see that in the picture though). I used three Hero Arts crystals on each bag and put them in the center of miscellaneous snowflakes. Tied the ribbon on, and Voila! Easy as pie! I did all 7 bags in a matter of maybe 30 minutes. Simple project that adds that homemade touch to your Christmas packaging!

All the bags together! I can't wait to fill them with goodies!

Thanks for looking! Have a great day, and keep warm!

Christmas crafts...I love this time of year!

Wow. I can't believe the last time I posted was November 27th. It has been a crazy few weeks. If you read my personal blog, you know what I'm talking about. If not, I'll fill you in! We moved the weekend after Thanksgiving. In fact, we didn't find out for sure until the Saturday of that weekend that we would be moving the next day! So, we've been getting settled into the new town and apartment. And now that things are nearing normalcy, I actually had some time to work on some artsy stuff! I love when I get to create...it's such a release.

So both of these projects are for my husband's assistant manager for Christmas. We are going to put some candy and stuff in the take out box for her, and I painted the little Santa ornament. About the ornament...I usually am HORRIBLE at painting things with any detail to it. But this one turned out really nice! (My mom says it is because I have more time and patience now...she's right!) I didn't paint the face, that comes prepainted but I did the rest!


I love this paper! It is from K&Company by Brenda Walton...so retro looking and adorable!

Thanksgiving decorations...

I got some stamp blocks in the mail yesterday from one of the ladies on TwoPeas, and immediately I thought of my new Thanksgiving Hero Arts clear stamp set I got.








The stamp blocks had the stamps taken off of them already, and I peeled the sticker off of the other side. Then, I painted the stamp blocks (I used Making Memories Nutmeg). I took a green sheet of cardstock, stamped the leaf stamp from the Hero Arts set using VersaMark, and let dry. As it dried, I took a cream piece of cardstock and stamped the other stamps using Color Box Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan. I colored the pumpkin, the leaf, and the turkey, and cut them all out. I then inked the edges of all of them. I trimmed the green cardstock to fit each of the stamp blocks, inked the edges, adhered them using glue dots and a glue stick (I didn't want them to fall off!), and then put the cream cardstock images on using 3D dots. It turned out to be a quick, easy, and cute decoration!

Happy Halloween!

I have been waiting until today to post these pictures (mostly because I didn't want to put them up before my family got their cards and gifts!), so here they are! I made my little sister a Halloween surprise using one of those Take-Out Boxes. I bought the boxes at Hobby Lobby, covered it with paper and stickers from Hobby Lobby-Paper Studio, added some buttons, ribbons, and stickles, added a stamped image and sticker, and voila!




Here's the box stuffed full of goodies! What more could a ten year old want? (Besides lots more candy!)

And here is the card I made for my parents...



I just love these House Mouse Halloween stamps! What an adorable little mouse in his "make-shift" sheet ghost costume! Too cute! I got the template for the candy corn from Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine. Before putting the pieces together, I inked the edges to give it a little more depth... (all of these stamps are House Mouse stamps)

And before I go, here are a few more Halloween cards I made this year for family and friends!










Stamps are from Autumn Leaves and House Mouse, Patterned Paper from Paper Studio/Hobby Lobby, Flowers are Prima Flowers, and various Rhinestones.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

The Letter A

I just love covering paper mache with adorable scrapbook paper, so when I saw this letter A half off at Hobby Lobby (it was only a buck!) I just had to get it! So, I covered it with Basic Grey paper, added some ribbon, and voila...an adorable A for my scrapbook desk!

SUPPLIES: Letter A- Hobby Lobby, Paper- Basic Grey, Ribbon- Michael's, Ink (for edges)- My Mind's Eye

Isn't this little alien just adorable!?! I love his peace sign, and what a goofy expression!


SUPPLIES: Alien stamp- Stampabilities, Word Stamps- KI Memories, Cardstock- DCWV, and I don't know who made the patterned paper! Sorry!