Owl Gift Sets

My eighth-grader daughter is exchanging Christmas gifts with four friends at school this week. She wanted to get something cute, nice, and trendy for each friend. She'd spotted an adorable stuffed owl (trendy!) that she thought would be perfect, but at $5 each, she worried about the total tab: $20 was too rich for her blood. I suggested that perhaps she could make something cute, nice, useful, and trendy for each friend, reminding her that I had a nice selection of owl rubber stamps at home. We brainstormed about what exactly she could make with those stamps, and, after she invested $4 in supplies (a 4-pack of spiral-bound notebooks, a 4-pack of sticky note pads, and a 10-pack of wooden pencils), she ended up making four owl gift sets like this:

Each set includes a monogrammed notepad, an owl magnetic clip (perfect for her friends' lockers), two owl-topped pencils, and a decorated sticky-note pad. Yes, she stamped those sweet DeNami owls and "Owl Always Be Your Friend" sentiment on each and every sheet of all four pads:  50 sheets x 4 pads = 200 times! The large owl and owl-shaped punch are from Stampin' Up.

Here are all four gift sets, each with a different color scheme, ready for gift-giving in clear cellophane bags:

Isn't it wonderful what clever girls can do? (Thanks, Peter Pan!) I'm so proud of my daughter for using her resources wisely and putting a piece of herself into these sweet gifts for her friends. I can't wait to hear what they think of their gifts!!

We are entering these in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, which has a "What's Your Favorite?" theme this week. We'd say that punches are our favorite tools--this owl punch made it so easy for my daughter to put these gift sets together!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Emily

Spreading Some Christmas Joy

My 7th-grader adores her teachers. Now that she is in middle school with a whole set of academic teachers rather than the single classroom teacher she had in elementary school, it would be easy to call it quits on teacher gifts. But she'll have none of that. Last year she wanted to give a little something to her core academic teachers for Christmas, so she made them THESE little sets of holiday gift tags. She made similar sets of gift tags for her Girl Scout co-leaders this year and packaged them in little glass jars (sadly, we forgot to take photos before she presented them!). But with six school teachers she wanted to remember with gifts and four Sunday School teachers (a teacher and helper for each of my kids), we had a list of 10 folks that we wanted to do a little something for, which left me scratching my head.

Luckily, all that head scratching struck during my daughter's Girl Scout fall candy & nut sale. This is an optional fundraiser that her troop tried out for the first time this year. I spied these fabulous cans of candy fruit slices ($5 for 14 oz), and decided that with six cans, we could repackage the candy with some fun handmade packaging and spread a little sweet Christmas joy to all 10 teachers. It was a win-win situation: we found a great product to turn into a meaningful gift AND supported her troop at the same time. Here's how our gifts turned out.
The handstamped gift bags and tags were inspired by this fabulous creation made by my sweet blogging friend Emily Niehaus. I loved how she took a plain paper bag (far cheaper than a handled one, which start at 59 cents each at my A. C. Moore) and gave it an upscale look simply by creating handles with an oval punch! I found a package of 10 plain white "craft sacks" by Paperbilities (measuring 4.75" across by 8.5" tall) at A.C. Moore for $1. Yup, that's just 10 cents each!!

My daughter and I worked together assembly-line style to stamp each bag with some candy stamps from The Angel Company (which I've had forever!) and the fruit slice stamp from Stampin' Up's Tart & Tangy set, using ink colors to match the candy. We repackaged the fruit slices in clear cellophane treat bags which are now nestled inside the white gift bags for giving.

All that remained was to tie on some coordinating gift tags. I had the best time creating these with digital papers and elements from Cosmo Cricket's Jolly by Golly collection and Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas collection. The sentiment is a stamp from Unity's Greetings of Christmas kit, and the frame is from Just Wanted to Say, an {ippity} by Unity kit. I'm entering it in the Unity Gift Wrapping challenge, which includes gift tags. Here's a closeup:
In other news, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent good wishes my way after being featured as Moxie Fabber of the Week over at Paper Crafts' Moxie Fab World yesterday. I am completely honored, as well as flabbergasted, to have been chosen!! When Cath Edvalson emailed me back in October to say that she wanted to feature me, you could have knocked me over with a feather. In fact, I'm still pinching myself!! And as exciting as all of this has been, I have been even more overwhelmed by the ensuing avalanche of warm words and congratulations from so many folks either by email, comments here, or comments on the MFW post. Warm fuzzies are the best :). THANK YOU!!

Thanks for sticking with me through this loooooooooooooong post. And, as always, many thanks for sharing my little slice of bliss!
Emily

Dear Friend

Thank goodness the current Tuesday Trigger (Beads & Baubles) over at Moxie Fab World is a two-week challenge this time around! I fell in love with the Trigger photo as soon as I saw it, but it's been a struggle finding time to play along. Finally, with the deadline fast approaching, find the time I did!
Here's the inspiration photo that I fell in love with. Isn't it dreamy and romantic?
I was definitely inspired by the colors in this photo, but also the bead shapes. I stamped four different images from the Stampin' Up! set Circle Circus in metallic gold ink, and I really love how they turned out. I need to remember to pull out this stamp set more often! My card measures 4" x 7", so there's plenty of room inside for a nice long note to a dear friend.

Making this card truly made me happy. I had such a good time putting this together!! If only I could find some more time, I'd love to make a bunch more!!

Thanks so much for checking out what's making me happy today!
Emily

Treats for Friends

Hooray for friends! I had the most wonderful chat with a dear friend this morning and was fed a most excellent lunch by another dear friend this afternoon. It's been a terrific day! (Plus, I started a yummy beef stew in my crockpot this morning, so after this rare day spent with friends, I didn't have to rush around pulling together supper for my family. The heavenly scent of our simmering supper greeted each of as we walked in the door this evening!)

Anyway, not wanting to arrive empty handed for my lunch date, I made this little something to slip to my friend.
I love that chocolate checklist stamp from Stampin' Up's Eat Chocolate set! I keep a supply of 3.75" x 6" treat bags on hand for packaging up little goodies. All I had to do was pop in 4 Ferrero Rocher chocolates, add a treat bag topper (made with papers from BasicGrey's Nook & Pantry collection), and staple on the topper. Easy!! A few punches may have been used in the making of this treat ;) .

And because I am hitting the jackpot this week, yet another friend has invited me to lunch on Thursday! When I asked her what I could bring to contribute toward the meal, she said she wouldn't say no to something for dessert. Done! I made some chocolate peanut clusters and set to work on making some packaging:
What I came up with was this easy-to-make 2-5-7-10 box (you can find a great tutorial on SplitcoastStampers HERE). The sentiment is from my brand new Quotes a'la Happy kit from {ippity} by Unity. The papers are from a big papers & diecuts pad from Me & My Big Idea that I picked up on clearance at Marshall's a while back. I wrapped up my design with a few fall-themed diecut felt stickers from the Dollar Spot at Target. Now I'm all set for Thursday!

With this treat box, I'm playing along with the Unity Stamp Co. Autumn Harvest Challenge, as well as the Do You Stack Up challenge to use teal.

Thanks so much for joining me for a little slice of bliss today!! See you back here soon. :)
Emily

P.S. Are you lusting after my chocolate peanut clusters? They are super easy to make!! Melt down one pound of chocolate-flavored meltable candy wafers (I use Melting Wafers from Make 'n Mold), stir in 2 1/2 cups of salted cocktail-style peanuts, and drop by the spoon full onto waxed paper. Allow to set up (should take only 30 minutes or so at room temperature) and enjoy!

StampinB Border Punch Challenge

Well, it took a while to get back in the groove again after our long vacation, but I've finally got things in order and am so happy to be back again posting with the rest of the Stampin' B's DT for our weekly Thursday challenges!

This week, we've got a fun one! The challenge is to use at least two border punches on your card. Here's what I came up with:

I combined this with a few other challenges. The theme of my card was inspired by Emily Leiphart's Moving Challenge.
My color scheme comes from the new ColourQ #102 Challenge.
And finally, my sketch is from the Vertical Sketch Challenge in the Moxie Fab World. I took the liberty of rotating the sketch (a full 180 degrees!).
Thanks for dropping by today. If you'd like to try your hand at this week's Stampin' B's Challenge, post your project on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

See you soon!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Good Neighbors
Paper: SU certainly celery CS, SU whisper white CS, turquoise CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Versafine onyx black, Versafine red satin, Palette reflection blue, Palette charcoal
Accessories: SU scallop border punch, MS picket fence border punch, sewing machine, dimensionals, red/white baker's twine
Techniques: machine stitching

Brown, Black, and Ivory for StampinB Challenge

It's been a busy week, but I really enjoyed making my sample card for this week's Stampin' B's DT challenge. It was an excellent excuse to sit down and create! I'm not sure anything would have been made otherwise. ;) Yup, that busy.

So, this week our Stampin' B's challenge is hosted by Vicky Gould, who is challenging us to use brown, black, and ivory. This combo had me stumped for a while. But while I was flipping through a Pottery Barn Teen catalog during breakfast earlier in the week, I stumbled across this photo and had an "aha!" moment:
I'm sure it's easy to see how these "Style Tiles" inspired my card:

This will be going to my dear, dear friend who, along with her family, is embarking on a job-dictated move to a different state in a few weeks. Boo hoo! I am going to miss her desperately. Oh, sure. We'll still keep in touch by phone and email. But it just won't be the same as getting together in person. I have quite selfishly hoped for months that the move could be averted somehow. And as much as I have hoped this, I think that she has hoped and wished for it 100 times more. She does not want to move. Normally, I would make a congratulatory "new house" card for a friend who is moving, but that just didn't seem appropriate in this situation. So I wanted to make a card of support for what has been and continues to be a difficult situation, and I think that this sentiment ("Where there is love, there is a home") is perfect.
My friend has been packing over the past several months, and she has been trying to down-size her family's belongings as she goes. She recently gave me a bag of craft supplies that she no longer needed. All of my embellishments for this card, including that precious little key, came from the stash that I inherited. I hope she'll recognize some of them!
Thanks for dropping by today. If you'd like to try your hand at this week's Stampin' B's Challenge, post your project on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

See you soon!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Good Neighbors
Paper: Neenah natural CS, Paper Maniac kraft CS, brown CS from The Paper Company, black/ivory patterned paper from Recollections, Gertie patterned paper from Stella and Rose Collection by My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versamark, Versafine onyx, Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: EK Success 1.5" square punch, white embossing powder, heat tool, twill tape, dimensionals, rescued buttons, satin ribbon rose, embroidery floss, key embellishment
Techniques: embossing

Erin's Birthday Blog Hop

Welcome to Erin's Birthday Blog Hop!!

Hopefully, you've arrived here by way of Lynn's blog, Millers-Ink. If so, you are on the right track! (If not, you'll want to head over to the start of the blog hop at Karen Baker's blog, The Bald Dragonfly.)

Wondering what's up? Well, today I am joining forces with eight other paper/ink fanatics to help celebrate the birthday of one super sweet and ultra crafty blogger, Erin Thiem, the self-proclaimed card-making junkie behind Homemade Cards by Erin!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday, dear ERIN!
Happy Birthday to you!

Our theme for this birthday blog hop is, not surprisingly, birthday cards! Not only birthday cards, but birthday cards featuring the colors red and kraft. And not only that, but red & kraft birthday cards based on a personalized sketch provided to each of us by hop organizer Karen Baker. Karen had the fabulous idea of each of us using the same basic sketch but with a "hopping" sentiment placement. So if you hop the entire way through, you'll see nine twists on the same basic sketch--all designed by Karen (along with that super cute blog hop badge, too. Isn't she talented?!?!!!) So, here's the "Emily Keaton" version of Karen's sketch:
And, now: SURPRISE, ERIN!!! Here's the card I made for you:
I thought this card would be perfect for Erin since her family owns a "canned ham" style vintage 1957 camping trailer, and she has made some of the most adorable cards featuring little campers (see here and here). My own family acquired a used camping trailer last year--although ours isn't quaintly vintage (rather a 1993 "pre-loved" model) and isn't a cute canned ham (it's a pop-up tent trailer instead). But still, Erin's cute camper cards really caught my eye, and when I spotted this Road Trip set of clear stamps by Inkadinkado in the clearance bin at Michael's earlier this year, I knew:

1. thanks to Erin's outstanding examples, that I could make some incredibly cute cards (not to mention fun scrapbook pages of our camping adventures) with these fun camping stamps, and
2. that these must follow me home and become mine forever and ever!
   

And when it was time to consider what stamps to use for Erin's birthday card, I knew that these were really my only choice. How could I consider anything else??

So, there you have it! I am stop nine on Erin's Birthday Blog Hop. You'll be off to the tenth and final stop next at the blog of the birthday girl herself: Erin! I believe that Erin is hosting a fun birthday party on her blog today and has some birthday party favors up for grabs. You'd better keep hopping so you don't miss out on all the fun!

And before I go, I just want to wish Erin a "Happy Birthday" one last time. I hope you've had a blast hopping along with your friends on this birthday blog hop! It was certainly fun to participate and have the chance to contribute to your special day.

Thanks for stopping hopping by today!
Emily

Erin's Birthday Blog Hop Participants
Karen ~ The Bald Dragonfly
Jen ~ Jen Shears Designs
Sav ~ Savannaland2
Emily L ~ Art from the Heart
Yvonne ~ Do More With Less
Michele ~ Studio MSG
Lora ~ Fleur de Lo
Lynn ~ Miller's Ink
Emily K ~ My Little Slice of Bliss <== you are here!
Erin ~ Homemade Cards by Erin

PS I'm entering this card over at Moxie Fab World for the Stamp It! Cards Week Challenge--to create a card in which stamping is the predominant element. I'd say that because the background is stamped, the sentiment is stamped, and the border element is stamped, I've got some predominant stamping going on here!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Road Trip by Inkadinkado, Punch Bunch by Stampin' Up!
Digital element: sentiment computer printed in CK Brownie font (www.creatingkeepsakes.com)
Paper: SU whisper white CS, Mark's Finest Paper kraft CS, red CS by The Paper Company
Ink: Palette L'Amore Red
Accessories: SU scalloped square punch, SU real red dotted/stitched grosgrain ribbon, foam tape, sewing machine
Techniques: machine stitching

Red, White, and Blue for Tuesday Throwdown

I can't believe how fast June has flown by! My month as June Guest Designer for Tuesday Throwdown has come to a close. Yes, this is my last TT post! But I'm going out with a bang--perhaps for the 4th of July? You'd think so with a challenge like the one we have for you this week: make a project using RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!


This week Tuesday Throwdown is sponsored by MYGRAFICO, a one-stop source design shop for all, offering a large variety of commercial cliparts, stamps, scrapbook items, stationery, and print supplies in digital forms. Be sure to stop by the Tuesday Throwdown blog to check out the awesome prize supplied by MYGRAFICO this week!

MYGRAFICO supplied all of the Tuesday Throwdown designers with the awesome Spotsy Dotsy Floral Collection by Cheri Wenger. I had a blast using all of these fun elements to make my last year-end thank you projects. Yes, I finally finished! My 12YO daughter wanted to give each of her sixth-grade teachers a thank you note and small gift. I made and decorated these pillow boxes, and my daughter wrapped Hershey Nuggets with coordinating wrappers to fill the boxes. She gave these to her teachers on the last day of school (last Wednesday), and she said they all adored their gifts!


Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today! I hope you'll give this week's Tuesday Throwdown a try. :)

Emily

Recipe:
Stamps: Hodgepodge Happiness by Stampin' Up!
Paper: white CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Palette l'amore red
Digital Elements: Spotsy Dotsy Floral Collection by Cheri Wenger from MYGRAFICO
Accessories: scissors, SU designer label punch, circle punches, baker's twine, dimensionals, pillow box cutting file from The Cutting Cafe, Hershey Nuggets

StampinB Border Punch Challenge

Welcome to a new Thursday! We are in the home stretch now: after today, my kids have just 3 more full days and one half day of school and then SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!! I'm not sure who is more excited about that: them or me. I'm SO looking forward to sleeping in, not having to pack lunches, no after-school activities, no monitoring homework progress. And I'm also looking forward to being able to do fun stuff with my kids!! With no school to get in the way, we can go on picnics, take hikes, craft, explore, play games, learn new stuff. The possibilities are endless!

BUT, we aren't there quite yet and I'm still cranking out the year-end thank yous. This week Vicki Dutcher is challenging us to use a border punch, so I broke out one of my favorite border punches (Martha Steward Modern Garland) and a detailed fleur de lis stamp to make a thank-you card for my son's Cub Scout den leader. (Incidentally, the fleur de lis is the symbol of the Boy Scouts of America and, thus, perfect for a scout leader! And the Cub Scout colors are blue and gold.)
My layout was inspired by the Splitcoast CAS challenge for this week, which is a sketch incorporating a 3 x 3 grid.

Well, thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss for today. If you'd like to try your hand at this week's Stampin' B's Challenge, post your project on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

See you soon!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Perfect Punches
Paper: snow storm CS; DCWV textured CS, SU night of navy CS
Ink: SU night of navy, Palette sunflower
Accessories: MS modern garland border punch, SU scalloped oval punch, SU small oval punch, scoring tool, dimensionals, twine

Flashback Friday 10.0

I have been having so much fun playing along with Amy Tsuruta's Flashback Friday Challenges! I was thrilled to learn last weekend that I was selected as the winner of Flashback Friday 9.0, and part of my prize (in addition to some fantastic sewing-themed Stampin' Up goodies) was to be the Flashback Friday 10.0 Guest Designer AND pick the 10.0 challenge!!

Just in case you aren't familiar with Flashback Friday, here's the scoop: in this challenge Amy encourages players to re-post a papercrafting "first" and take ownership of the project in the present day. No newly made project required! It's fun to see where we started in our papercrafting journeys and how far we've come, even if it provides some cringeworthy viewing moments. Amy picks each Flashback Friday winner randomly, and she always has some awesome prizes to award to those brave enough to play along!

So, on to my pick for the Flashback Friday 10.0 Challenge:

re-post your
**first project with STITCHING
on it (real or faux)**

I love to sew and play with fabric almost as much as I like to play with paper, so this was an easy choice for me.

Oh, and you'd probably like to see my first stitching project. I made this in June 2009, well before I started my blog, so this came from my Splitcoaststampers gallery. Not only is it the first time I used stitching on a card, I used both machine stitching and faux ("pen") stitching here. Fancy me, right? You can see my original SCS upload for this card HERE.
I was rather proud of this creation back when I first made it and still feel pretty good about it today. And look at me--getting all impressive by making a full-front tri-shutter card. Of course, I can think of hundreds of ways I could improve this thing if I were to make it today, but it was definitely a start. :)

If you'd like to play along with Flashback Friday 10.0, head on over to the Flashback Friday blog to play along. For version 10.0, Amy has lined up a fantastic sponsor:

Jane's Doodles

Jane is being so kind as to give out Mr. Smiles and Party the Penguin . . . along with some of her signature buttons.

Please come join us for some Flashback fun! Flashback Friday 10.0 runs from today until Friday, April 29th @ 11:59 pm PST. Just re-post your first project that incorporated stitching on your blog and add it the inlinkz linky at Flashback Friday. I can't wait to see all of your stitching firsts!!

See you around!
Emily

The Apple of My Eye

And this was the other card I worked on today--a nice clean and simple creation to soothe the soul after the turmoil of my previous creation!
I started this card wanting to make something for the Stamping with Markers Challenge over at the Moxie Fab World. I have no Copics and am truly uninitiated in the art of coloring with markers, so I fell back on my favorite stamping-with-markers technique: "coloring" directly on the rubber of the stamp before making an impression. When I was first introduced to stamping back in 2004, this is the technique that gave me my "aha!" moment and made me fall in love with the versatility of stamping. It is especially good, I think, on an image with solid regions, like this apple from Stampin' Up's Tart & Tangy stamp set. The sentiment is a clear stamp from We R Memory Keepers.

I'm also playing along with these challenges:

• One Stop Craft Challenge: Love is in the Air
• Wee Memories: Live, Laugh, Love (my card celebrates LOVE with its sentiment)
• Stamptacular Sunday: Food

Thank you so much for checking out my little slice of bliss for today. :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stampin' Up! Tart & Tangy, We R Memory Keepers (sentiment)
Paper: Mark's Finest Papers snowstorm card stock, DCWV red card stock
Ink: Various markers
Accessories: SU scallop trim corner punch, dimensionals, scoring tool, The Twinery maraschino baker's twine, brass apple charm from Mark's Finest Papers
Techniques: scoring, stamping with markers

More Snow and a Flashback

Well, when last I posted on Tuesday, I mentioned that we were in the midst of a two-day winter storm. (I'm sure you've heard all about this historic monster of a storm by now.) Later that day we discovered that our snowblower was out of commission and we were facing the storm armed only with the shovels that DH, DD, DS, and I could wield. Luckily our snowfall totals were lower overall than expected, but the four of us tackled the snow removal task three times over the course of the two-day storm. We ended up dealing with about 12 inches of snow and an inch of sleet. While it could have been SO much worse (and we are so thankful that it wasn't!), removing all of it was a considerable effort, especially on the second day when the snow was so heavy. We have so much snow already on the ground along our considerable driveway that each shovel full of snow had to be lifted 4 or 5 (or in places 6) feet off the ground to remove. Today I'm feeling like I've been run over by a truck!

Here are a few photos from yesterday.

This is along our driveway where we have a short rock wall. My husband is 6 feet tall.

DH demonstrates the proper technique for chucking snow to the top of the pile.

DD and DS are not being swallowed up by the snow but are standing on our front sidewalk, which is totally obscured by all of the snow that has piled up in our front yard. Notice that the snow on our porch roof masks the bottom half of our second-story windows.

We haven't heard the official storm totals for our town yet, but I'm guessing that this storm has brought our snow accumulation total to about 80" since Christmas. Amazing! And so much of that is still in our yard . . .

In other news, I recently came across Amy Tsuruta's Flashback Friday Challenge, a new challenge in which Amy encourages players to re-post a papermaking "first" and taking ownership of the project in the present day. No newly made project required! Sounded like fun to me, so I'm giving it a shot. I'm playing along with Flashback Friday 7.0 which requires us to re-post our very first glitter card or project. OK, here goes:

I made this card and posted it to my Splitcoaststampers Gallery on June 29, 2009--over a year before I started my blog! I made it for the CAS21 challenge to "make it sparkle." The challenge was to add glitter, Stickles, or Iridescent Ice (or similar) to your card. Unfortunately, I didn't have *any* of these products, so the only way I could play along was to use some DCWV designer paper that was already glittered. And that, my friends, was my very first glitter project! Luckily, there's very little that's cringe-worthy here. Hallelujah for that!

Thanks for checking out the happenings here on Bliss Road. I have a few card projects that I've been working on today that I'm hoping to share with you here later. See you again soon!

Monochromatic Valentine

OK, this is the last entry I'll be making in the Moxie Fab World Color Inspiration for Card Makers challenges. I've been able to play with four out of the six (I don't have the colors for the other two challenges. Boo hoo.). This card is for the Monochromatics Challenge.
I interpreted these colors as regal rose, pretty in pink, and pink pirouette.

How do you like my pinwheel? *I* love it. After seeing these for months, I finally decided to try my own. (I discovered that they are really quite simple to make. I followed this tutorial that appeared on the {ippity} blog last summer.) The pinwheel is held together in the center with a sparkly white heart brad that I found on clearance at the Target Dollar Spot on February 15 last year.
I was going for a whimsical feel for this Valentine card, and I do believe that with the pinwheel, embossed "Be Mine" tab,
and loops border, that's what I got. :)

Other challenges that went into making this card:

• Cute Card Thursday: Monochromatics
• Papertake Weekly: Ribbons and/or Pearls
• Tuesday Throwdown: Valentines
• Simon Says Stamp: Bingo! Include any three items that are in a straight line on the challenge Bingo card: I chose the first column: brads (the sparkly heart brad in the center), buttons (layered under the pearls at the corners), and punches

Thanks for dropping by to check out my card!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU Party Punch
Paper: SU regal rose CS, SU pretty in pink CS, SU pink pirouette, SU regal rose DSP
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: MS loops corner and edge punches, EK chain of hearts punch, SU round tab punch, foam tape, white heart brad, white embossing powder, heat tool, pink buttons from my stash, pearls
Techniques: embossing

A One-Layer Get Well

My friend Meredith (aka Crafty Math Chick on SCS) sent me a package at Christmas filled with a wonderful assortment of papercrafting goodies. One of the items she included was a beautiful (and quite large) Stampin' Up! rubber stamp (retired, I believe) called Stipple Gardenia. As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for a one-layer card and couldn't wait to try it out. Here's what I came up with:
Meredith is now recuperating from some major surgery, so I thought this would make a perfect get-well card for her. I think she will enjoy seeing something that I made with one of her gifts! I also made a second identical card, which will go to my elderly aunt who is still recovering from hip surgery following a tumble she took right after Christmas.

Challenges I incorporated into the making of this card:

• Challenge Up Your Life: Clean and Simple
• Cute Card Thursday: Monochromatic
• Stamp Something: Just stamp something (anything goes)
• Wee Memories: Use any ribbon (I chose some of my fabby baker's twine to tie into a bow)

In addition to having a fabulous time making cards today, I am just tickled pink by a new recipe for black bean soup that I tried a few days ago. It's very similar to Panera Bread's black bean soup, and I'm just loving that it heats up so well for my lunches! There's nothing like a bowl of hot soup to warm up your insides on a frigid winter day. And I'm finding that the flavor is getting better over time as the flavors meld together. Yum!!

On Saturday evening, my "book group" (more on why that's in quotes HERE) got together for a swap party, based on the most excellent ideas outlined in a swap party article in Better Homes and Gardens Jan. 2010 issue. We did this last year, too, and both swap parties were a huge success!! The basic idea is that everyone brings some items in good condition that they no longer have need for (clothing, books, toys, craft items, baskets, games, cookware, jewelry, CDs, movies, or whatever) and then everyone has the chance to "shop" among the amassed treasures. (The BH&G article explains how it all works.) We have appetizers, drinks, deserts, and some friendly competition over a few of the more hotly contested items. I brought home some wonderful rectangular baskets (perfect for organizing my stamping supplies), two necklaces, three pairs of earrings, an only-worn-once pair of Nike sneakers for my daughter (just the right size!), and a digital alarm clock that we really needed for my son's bedroom. It was so much fun! I unloaded a bunch of stuff that we can't use any more and came home with some stuff that we can really use--without spending a penny!

I also discovered my new favorite appetizer: Archer Farms Feta & Roasted Red Pepper Dip. This stuff ROCKS!! (Archer Farms is a Target brand.) One of my friends brought this delectable dip, served with Carr's Table Water Crackers, to the swap party, and I just couldn't keep away from it. Yum-MEE!! At the end of the evening, she sent the leftover dip home with me, and I have been enjoying it with crackers along with my warmed up black bean soup for lunch. I will be sad when both run out . . . but in the meantime, together these are my little slice of bliss.

Thanks for joining me today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stampin' Up Stipple Gardenia
Paper: snowstorm CS
Ink: Palette water lily green
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, baker's twine

Layer Cake

Today I'm playing along with this week's Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge! Here's my celebration card:
and here's this week's inspiration for Challenge #35:
I colored in my tiny layer cake with Prismacolor pencils and added some TE Tiny Twinkles to the Os of the "your" words in the sentiment and also to the frosting swirls on the cake.
I played along with two other challenges while making this card, too:

• Glenda's Random Amusing Challenge #100: use RED!
• Paper Sundaes Challenge #52 - Use your favorite challenge from the last year! I chose to play along with two challenges: #51 Circles and #24 Birthday Card
  

In other news, my kids are home from school today for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. After breakfast, my daughter spotted a flock of wild turkeys in our front yard!! Here are a few photos.
I was trying to take the pictures through the sidelight windows around the front door, so they aren't the best. I was afraid that opening the door to get a better photo would scare them. I think there must have been at least a dozen, maybe even as many as 20. It's so funny to listen to them--they really do "gobble!"

Thanks for dropping by for a little slice of bliss!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stampin' Up Birthday Bliss
Paper: SU baja breeze CS, The Paper Company red and white CS, Echo Park DP from the Sweet Summertime collection
Ink: Palette l'amore red
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, SU scallop trim corner punch, EK 1.5" and 1.25" square punches, foam tape, baker's twine, TE Tiny Twinkles