Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

I pulled a late nighter!!! And I mean REALLY late. It was after 3 am before I left the comforts of my messy workroom to head on upstairs to go to bed!! I was not tired and I was having fun stamping!!

This is the card I made for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge #209. I flipped the sketch around because I like my wording on the right of the card.

I used the Stampin' Up! "Candy Lane" decorative paper and the "A Happy Heart" stamp set. The cute little character stamp is by Penny Black and it's called "Bees & Bunny." I thought it was SO cute. It was the first time I'd ever used it. I have a LOT of stamps that I can say that about. I need to start using them more. I should make that one of my New Year's Resolutions. The more I have the better my odds will be of succeeding!!! LOL Well, maybe not. But if I only make one and break it, it wouldn't look so good but if I have a few and make some and break some at least it wouldn't be a total failure!!! LOL I rarely make New Year's Resolutions because I find them too stressful to try to keep. I usually vow to NOT make one and that way I can keep it!!! LOL I try to set personal goals for myself throughout the year. Sometimes I succeed and other times I don't.

Ok, back to my card. I rambled a bit there!!! LOL I used a blender pen to color in the character. I think using a blender pen is one of my most favorite ways to color in images. I also added a few red heart brads. After adding them I regretted it because there is no other red in the card. But what's done is done and this is how the finished card is looking.

I REALLY liked this layout. It was fun to use and I have a lot of stamps that fit in that image area. I just bought a small album to keep these sketches in. I print them out every Wednesday and I was keeping them in a clear plastic baggie. When I wanted to find a layout I had to take them all out of the baggie and page through them one by one. I have started putting the printouts in the album so I can find them at a glance when I need them. It's another way I'm trying to be a bit more organized for 2009!!

Tomorrow I will be posting some Blog Candy to start off the New Year on a fun note!! Please stop by then to leave your comment for a chance to win it!

Thank you every so much for stopping by today,
Wanda

All Tucked In!

It just seems so strange to be working on Valentine's Day cards when the Christmas tree lights are still on and blinking away! There are opened gifts under the tree waiting to be put in their perspective places. There's even Christmas cookies and candies left!!! I do recall when I was Christmas shopping or was it just shopping for me LOL at Joann's I saw they had an area of Valentine's Day items already sitting out. And of course I had to go take a look at what was there!!! So I guess I just need to move with the times and work on what is in!!!

SO today I made this Valentine's Day card. It's ok but not one of my favorites. I'm trying to find the "ideal" card to give to my hubby this Valentine's Day and this isn't the one!!! So far the little heart shaker card is #1 but I'm not done yet!!!

This card is kind of like a train wreck. A bunch of stuff everywhere and you just can't take your eyes off it!!! LOL As I look at it I think it looks like one of those things you see in a box and you take the pieces out and try to make something of it!!! I did tuck the heart in the scalloped decorative paper part but it is also taped in place. I think it might be cute if the heart was one you could open. Then you wouldn't have to make a folded card, you could just attach all this to a card front. Maybe I should work on this one a bit more!!!!

For this card I used the new Stampin' Up! "Candy Lane" decorative paper and the "Love You Much" stamp set. I am really liking this little set. I think it will be fun to use it in April when we celebrate our wedding anniversary!!!

I'm off to find some other inspiration to make yet another card using this set!!! Then I'm going to work on a purple bracelet!!! I'll show you the bracelet when I get it done. It's a fun stitch to do but those tiny little 15 seed beads are sometimes sticklers to pick up with the needle. I flung a few across the dining room!!! The cats are fun to watch when that happens. They hear something hitting the floor but just can't quite see it. With bigger beads it's nice, I just look at the cat and I can locate my bead!! LOL They usually don't go running after them, they just watch it. They watch it, I watch them and I retrieve my bead!!! Simple as that!!!

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

SO as I said I'm off to create!!

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for visiting,
Wanda

CSI MN

Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) comes to Minnesota!!!

On Friday the weather in our area turned a bit warmer. The snow on the ground that had come down (every time it snowed) as that fluffy dry stuff became wet and sticky. It was SNOWMAN snow!!! I checked the thermometer and was SO excited. I immediately got dressed and gathered the things I needed to go outside. I had to make sure my camera was inside but nearby. I didn’t want to have to take my boots off just to walk around in the house to get the camera or anything else I might have needed. I was SO prepared I had even brought out a bottle of water with me because making a snowman can be such hard work at times!!!

Now I warn you some of these pictures are graphic and you may want to remove any little children from the room!!!!

Are they gone? Here is Frosty before the box of clothing was put on him!!!

Once he was all dressed up I took more photos. I have made and taken snowman photos for years and I’m going to do a scrapbook page on it in 2009 when I begin my scrapbook paging adventure!

Then tragedy struck. I looked out on Saturday morning to see Mr. Frosty and much to my surprise he was not standing. There he lay face up on the cold ground. A smile still on his white face. I carefully checked the area for suspicious footprints but there were none to be found. Just the ones that were there when he was constructed. Suspicious indeed!!! Nothing was missing, he still had on his hat and his scarf. I tried to reconstruct the scene. A snowman standing on the ground just minding his own businesses one day and laying on the ground the next. How could this be?

It was extremely difficult to know how long he had been laying there. Rigor Mortise had already set in or could it be that the weather had changed once again so the snow was too hard to move? Possibly! Without more facts it’s just too difficult to tell!!!!

There was a mist and rain that evening before the weather turned colder. He was leaning backwards a bit that evening. And there was cloud cover along with fog. The poor guy just couldn’t handle the mist and rain that was coming down and just fell over! It was so sad to see him laying there.

This was my first snowman of the season. I’m hoping to make more. Isn’t his hat fabulous??? My friend Sheila made it for me. She sells them and is probably making one as I am typing this!!! She’s SO talented!! I always share my mittens with Frosty for the photo shoot. I can hardly take photos with mittens on and they do look so cute on him!!! And the best part this year was the eyes, mouth and buttons I had made. I had cut a closet dowel rod into 1" pieces. Then I drilled a hole in the back to hold a smaller dowel. I painted the larger pieces black with acrylic paints. I started to spray paint them but the paint soaked in on some areas and was shiny on others so I went to plan B and just painted them with acrylic paints and a paint brush. My first thought with those was to get some Tinker Toys but I didn’t want to spend what places were asking for them. I am going to put the word out to a few friends who garage sale and see if they can find me some for next winter. I thought it would be easy to paint the round piece and put a dowel in it and just push it in place on the snowman. I did achieve that with the dowels I cut and painted but the Tinker Toys would have been so much easier. SO I’m hoping that someone will be selling their set with pieces missing at a reasonable price!!! Then I can make more snowmen!!! I still have two more carrot nose things in the box. I got them at JoAnn’s after Easter, they were on the end of a jump rope!!! Perfect for snowmen!!!

SO this is my fun and yet sad story for today. You can bring the kids back in the room now!!! LOL

Thanks SO much for indulging me!
Wanda

Shaker Box Technique Page

This technique page is number 18 of 20!! Are you getting excited??? This second set is almost finished!!! The next two pages should go faster now that I am not so busy with holiday stuff!!!

Stamp your image on card stock and color it in. Cut your piece to the desired size. What ever size your window is for your shaker box you need a piece of acetate to cover it.

Run some double sided adhesive around the parameter on the back side. If your acetate is the same size as the window box then you will need to make sure the acetate has adhesive on the edges to seal in the micro beads.

Once the tape is exposed you will want to add your micro beads. Just pour a little of them in the center of the acetate. Then cover the area with your stamped and colored image. You may want to hover over it to get a better view so it lines up evenly on all edges.

Turn it over and have a look at it!!! Cute, isn't it? Now add some double sided tape to the shaker box and affix it to your card or scrapbook page. You can add other small objects or sand from your favorite vacation spot. Use your imagination!

I do have the first set of technique pages for sale on CD. You can find it on my web store. You can print them out, cut them at 5-3/4" x 5-3/4" and decorate away. They make great class tools and are a great way for you to do a technique club!

The original first set is in the process of being redone so I will be posting the completed first set of 20 pages in a month or two. I had a lot of requests for that first set so I thought I'd better make more. Please be patient they are coming!!!

Thanks SO much for visiting,
Wanda

A Little Shook Up!

I thought I'd use that title because of the little tiny shaker card I made. I used the new hearts punch from Stampin' Up!. I punched the heart out of Real Red card stock. Then I took some foam tape and I punched the same heart out of that. I took the smaller heart from the punch and made a pattern with it and set it on top of the foam tape heart and punched it out. I did have to stick the foam heart on a piece of parchment paper so I could have something to hold on to while I punched out the heart. Then I took some red card stock and punched out the smaller heart and then lined up the larger one over it and punched it out. My next technique page will be the shaker card!!! Stay tuned!!!

I stuck the foam heart to the solid heart. Then I removed the protective piece from the foam to expose the tape. I added a little bit of the clear micro beads to the center and covered it with a piece of acetate. I did punch the acetate out using the heart punch but after a couple of them I realized I didn't need to do that, a little piece of acetate is more than enough to cover the heart opening.

Then I affixed the large heart with the small heart in the center of it to the foam heart. I used my gel pen to add the dots and I drew around the little heart.

For the stem I used the Stampin' Up! "Sweet Stems" set. I used a marker to color in the stem (the Direct to Rubber) technique. I huffed on it and stamped the image onto a piece of vanilla card stock. I sponged the edges and layered the piece.

For the words I used the computer and punched them out and layered them on top of the scallop punched piece of red card stock. I used the new "Candy Lane" decorative papers for my background pieces. It's simple but sweet!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,!
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

This is the card I made for my hubby's birthday which is the day after Christmas (poor guy). I used the Wednesday Sketch Challenge #208 for the layout.

I was originally going to use the Stampin' Up! "Antique Autos" set but I couldn't fine the map decorative background paper. I must have used it up. WOW, can you imagine that, using up decorative paper?? LOL

I used the Stampin' Up! "Happiness is a Journey" set to make this card. The background paper is from some 12" x 12" stuff I got at Michael's. It seemed to go well with this design. I wanted to use the "Antique Autos" set but the car was a bit smaller than I wanted for this layout. SO I thought I'd try out the new train one and it worked pretty good.

Hubby will like the card. Or he'll at least say he does!!! LOL

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that things are starting to wind down for you now. I am looking forward to Saturday because I have NOTHING going on at all. I plan on sleeping in and staying in my p.j. until at least noon!!! Don't do the visual I can't afford therapy for all of you!!! LOL And then my plan is to play with some beading projects. Just kick back and relax. With a busy Christmas eve, Christmas day and the following day hubby's birthday I get exhausted!!!

Thank you SO much for stopping by today,
Wanda

Merry Christmas To You!

I would like to take this post and wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas. It has been a fun year of card and card craft making for me. I am enjoying ever moment of it. I have lots of new ideas down on paper and these will be appearing on my blog. I will be keeping you all busy!!!

I have the technique pages (the second set) just about done. I have some new stamps to play with and show you what I've done with them. I have LOTS of Blog Candy that I decided to wait until after the holidays to post. And at the rate my blog is receiving hits I may be celebrating with back to back blog candy!!! It looks like a fun new year of BLOG CANDY!!! Does blog candy get old??? LOL

And for something new I am going to start dabbling with Scrapbooking!!! I'm not talking the little 6" x 6" pages either. I'm going for the HUGE 12" x 12" ones. I have LOTS of card stock and even more decorative paper from MANY different companies. And I have LOTS of ideas for these pages. It's going to be a fun exciting adventure in blogging next year. 2009 doesn't that sound and look funny? WOW, the time is just flying by!

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season and I will post my hubby's birthday card tomorrow. I can't share it with you now or what I got him because he sometimes visits my blog and I don't want to spoil the fun for him!!!

Merry Christmas,
Wanda

A Simple "Merry Christmas"

In all the hustle of this busy season I wanted to just make a simple Christmas card. Keeping things simple this time of year can be almost impossible. Between juggling your every day life and events there's the added things like shopping, wrapping, cooking and even parties. Trying deal with all of those and still keep on top of the every day things can at times be overwhelming. I hope that you are able to find some time to step back and take a look at your day and take a moment for yourself to simply relax. Or at least take a deep breath and jump back into it all!!!!

I always tell myself that I will start shopping earlier next year or I will start baking earlier. And I will keep on top of the wrapping and housework so I am not stressed. But "next year" comes around and I find myself saying it all over again about "next year!!!" LOL But things manage to get done and Christmas day will come whether or not you are ready for it!!!

Ok, onto this simple card. I made this card using some wrapping paper that I had purchased. I had cut a few of the characters out and didn't get around to using them all. I still have a penguin left that may not get used this year!

Using the characters on wrapping paper is very simple IF you tape a piece of card stock to the back of the paper first. That way the so fragile wrapping paper is easier to hold and to cut. You can use copier paper too but it's not quite as firm as card stock.

I printed out these simple words on the computer. I just wanted a very simple card to express in a very simple way "Merry Christmas" to all of you!

I hope your holiday brings you lots of joy and many scrapable memories!!!

Merry Christmas,
Wanda

Hugs & Kisses!

It just seems strange making Valentine's Day cards when it's still Christmas time. I use to manage a gift shop and it always seemed strange to be purchasing for Easter around Thanksgiving time. It made the holidays seem a bit off to me.

SO in the spirit of being a bit off, here is a Valentine's Day card I made using the new "Candy Lane" decorative paper and the new "Love You Much" stamp set from Stampin' Up! Oh and the new hearts punch too!!! I really like this punch, it's nice to have 3 hearts on one punch!!

I used Pretty in Pink and Riding hood Red card stock. The ink I used is Black StazOn. I punched out a scallop and taped on the stamped image. I had cut out that image and then took a small punch and punched little holes all around it. Then I stamped the image on a scrap of the Riding hood Red and colored in the edge with a black marker. Then I stamped the image one more time on the decorative paper and I cut out the little heart in the center. I taped them all together and added it to the front of the card. It looked so empty so I punched a bunch of hearts and taped them around the open areas of the card. It could use a bit more bling but I didn't add any because I want to mail it without having to pay the surcharge.

It's a pretty quick and simple card to make. The part that took the longest was to cut around the scallop of the stamped image and that really didn't take all that long to do.

I'm off to do some last minute holiday baking!!! All the gifts are purchased and wrapped and I even brought them over to my moms when I went there to help clean her place for Christmas eve. I just have a bit of baking to do and a little dusting and vacuuming and I can just sit back and enjoy Christmas with all the joys that come along with it!

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

Merry Christmas to you and yours,
Wanda

A New Thank You!

While surfing the net I found a cute card at Nancy's Creative Mess. I really liked how she used the Stampin' Up! "Priceless" stamp and then added the embossed snowflakes over it. Her card was a Christmas card. I just wanted a wintry "thank you" card.

I had just put the Stampin' Up! "Elegant Thank You" stamp on the wood and thought I would give it a try on this card. It's kind of fancy but the swirls on the thank you sort of blend with the swirls from the Priceless set.

The snowflakes are also from Stampin' Up!, they come from the "Holiday Blitz" set. I just LOVE that set. There's so many fun images in it!!!

This card was very easy and quick to do. First I stamped the swirl image from the "Priceless" set. I used Bashful Blue ink. Then I used the Embossing Buddy so I wouldn't get a lot of white embossed spots I didn't want. Then I stamped the snowflake image on using a VersaMark pad. After that I sprinkled the snowflakes with white embossing powder and heated it to set up. Once I was done with that I took a sponge and sponged the ink in on the two sides making sure the snowflakes got covered so they would pop out on the card. I then sponged the two edges. And lastly I stamped the words on. And that was it.

Isn't it just a sweet looking card?

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Faux Silk Technique Page

I thought I should make a technique page this week. It's nearing the end of the year and I have a couple more pages to make before this next set of 20 is complete. My goal was to have them done this month. It's going to be close. And even if I do complete them I will not be selling the sets until after the first of the year. After Christmas I am planning on taking a couple of days for myself and catching up on a few other things around the house that I have neglected. And of course some sleeping in and a bit of much needed R & R too!!! Unless it snows that sticky snowman stuff then you can find me outside playing in the snow!!!

OK about this technique. It is a very fun and extremely easy one to do. Well, the easy part depends on you and how much you want to color. Yet coloring is easy it just takes time. I used an old Spectrum pad I had for mine so I didn't really have to color but yet I got a variety of colors.

Cut a piece of tissue paper a bit bigger than the image you are going to stamp. Ink up your stamp or color it with markers for a variety of color. Stamp the image onto the tissue paper. Now tightly wad up the tissue paper. Cut a piece of card stock for the backing 5-1/2 x 4-1/4 will work nicely and you can trim it when you are all done. Unwrap the tissue paper. Use the glue stick and cover the entire piece of card stock. Place the tissue paper over the glued area and gently smooth out with the bone folder. The tissue paper can rip if you rub too hard so be gentle. Allow glue to set up for a few minutes and then trim the edges to fit your layering.

As simple as that. Give it a try, it creates a wonderfully unique background and it really does look like silk!!!

I do have the first set of technique pages for sale on CD. You can find it on my web store. You can print them out, cut them at 5-3/4" x 5-3/4" and decorate away. They make great class tools and are a great way for you to do a technique club!

The original first set is in the process of being redone so I will be posting the completed first set of 20 pages in a month or two. I had a lot of requests for that first set so I thought I'd better make more. Please be patient they are coming!!!

Thanks SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Santa Theme Stocking Stuffers

Here's a fun way to jazz up some little gifts for those Christmas stockings. Especially if they are from Santa!!!

I took a package of Extra brand gum and wrapped a piece of red card stock around it. I taped it on the back seam.

I took a piece of white card stock and tore the sides and taped it in the center of the red piece. This is the fuzz or fur on Santa's jacket.

Then I took a 1/2" strip of black card stock and wrapped it around the box and taped it in the back.

I punched out a square from Brushed Gold card stock to form a buckle. I taped it in place on top of the black strip.

Then I took a paper punch and punched out a few black dots for buttons and glued them in place.

That is all there is to this. It just dresses up an ordinary package of gum!! Isn't it cute? You HAVE to make one to see it's cuteness. The photo doesn't do it justice. I held it in my hand and it is just such a cute size. I just can't get over how cute it is and I'm sure it's because of it's size!!!

There are more Santa Theme items on my blog. Just click here to view them! You will have plenty of ideas to fill those stockings or to make a little something for someone special!!

Christmas is just around the corner! You'd better get a move on it if you want to get all those projects done before Christmas!!!! I am behind on my wrapping!! So off I go to wrap. UGH!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Such A FABULOUS Card!!!

Isn't this card just adorable? I love the new Stampin' Up! "Love You Much" set and of course the new hearts punch. Oh and I can't forget about the "Candy Lane" decorative papers. The stripes are on the backside of the dotted paper or vice versa!!! LOL

The image is colored in using the Pretty in Pink marker. Nothing more, just coloring. The image was stamped using Basic Black ink.

I LOVE the paper piercing corners and the three loops of ribbon at the top. The brads in the corners are cute too.

I can NOT take any credit for this card except for being able to duplicate it almost exactly like the original one!!!!

Yup, you got it, it's a CASE!!! I saw this card on Jackie's blog Kreate With Me 2 and I just couldn't help myself. And I am sure you can see why. It's just TOO darn cute. It was easy enough to make too! I think the most difficult part (for me anyway) was getting the three loops exactly the same distance apart.

Jackie did a wonderful job on this card and if you have a moment go take a look at her blog, she's got some other cute creations there too!!

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Tissue Holder!

While surfing other stamping blogs on the net I found this cute tissue holder. I have made other tissue holders that are actually a box and have them posted here on my blog. This one is easier to make and just as cute.

I found the original idea for this by Sandy at Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps. There you will find the easy tutorial on how to make the tissue holder.

On Sandy's holder she attached a couple of cough drops. On mine I added a tube of lip balm. That is what Chrissy did with hers, I found it on her blog Creating with Chrissy. I liked the idea of the lip balm much better than the cough drops. It just seemed funny giving someone meds even if they are over the counter ones. I figured giving someone lip balm is less dangerous than cough drops. It's always best to play on the safer side.

I think these would be a great craft fair item. They are easy enough to make, they really don't take a lot of time and they are actually fun to do!!! These could easily be changed into some type of cold and flu emergency kit. Increase the center area by adding a bit of card stock length to the center and including a packet of Cup-a-Soup! You can use your imagination and come up with other "kits" to make with this pattern!!!

The papers I used in my tissue holder are Riding Hood Red and the decorative paper is from the "Candy Lane" package. I used Riding Hood Red ribbon on the top. I used the back side of the striped paper on the inside of the holder. I wanted something light in color there so something could be written or words stamped there.

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

I thought I'd better do the Sketch Challenge from SplitCoastStampers today because next Wednesday is Christmas Eve (can you believe that?) and I doubt I will have time to work on a challenge and try to get ready for the festivities! But if I can actually get organized enough and if a sketch is posted I may do it. If not I will print it out and work on it on Friday. Better late than never, right???

This one was much easier for me than last week's challenge. I struggled with that one.

I used ribbon taped to black card stock on the little strips that go around the edges of the card. The center paper is some cute "Let it Snow" paper I had gotten at Michael's and I layerd it on top of black card stock.

The main background piece was done using the Cuttlebug snowflake folder and the edges were sponged in Bashful Blue. That is pretty much the extent of ink on this card.

The snowman is from the wrapping paper I just can't get myself to use on any gifts!! LOL I tied some snowflake organdy ribbon in a bow and hot glued it to the card. It was a pretty simple card to make.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Blog Candy Delay

I decided to wait until after Christmas to post my other Blog Candies. It's just too busy of a time plus it's a nightmare to go to the post office. I went there again today and I actually had to wait in line to get a parking spot. UGH!!! SO you can only imagine what it was like inside!!! The line was VERY long and fortunately I had my little radio with ear buds in my purse so out it came so I could listen to some Christmas music while I waited in line!! Not that it made the line go any faster, just smoother!!! LOL

SO after the first of the year I will post more Blog Candy. Oh and the winner of the last blog candy did contact me. That's a good thing!!!

Stay tuned!

SO Sad.

December is not a good time to have to make a sympathy card. Actually no time is but this close to Christmas it just seems even sadder. The sister-in-law of a friend of mine died last week and this is the sympathy card I made for her.

I used the new Stampin' Up! "Echos of Kindness" set. I believe it is one of the new second level Hostess Sets. I don't usually purchase them but I had a pre-order going in and this one just caught my eye along with a level 3 set too. I will put that one together later in the week and have some fun with it. This "Echos of Kindness" set has two other flower stamps and a word stamp, a quote by Mother Teresa. "Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echos are truly endless." Isn't that just a touching saying? I didn't use it on the card, I just wrote on the inside.

I had also used the new Stampin' Up! decorative paper "Raspberry Tart." You can't see much of it on the card but trust me, the whole pack is SO pretty!!!

I did use the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss background folder on the Pretty in Pink card stock. And the other layers are done in Regal Rose. The decorative paper went SO well with these colors. I can't wait to play with this set and those papers more. And of course I will share it with you all!!!

Thank you SO much for stopping by today,
Wanda

One More Try!

I was not thrilled at all with the end results of my card for last weeks Sketch Challenge over at SplitCoastStampers. This one is a bit better but not quite up to my taste. I have another one in mind and will try to find some time to work on it later in the week.

I have a very busy week and I don't see things getting any better until after Christmas. I have gifts to wrap, cleaning to do and some baking yet to tend to also!!! I think I am done with the shopping but I will have to check my list soon. I don't like the hustle of the last minute shopping. I don't mind parking half way across the parking lot, we usually park there anyway. I don't like the crowds nor do I like the stress that comes with it. But we manage to get through it and forget about that part until the next year!!! LOL

I am hoping the next Sketch Challenge won't be such a "challenge" for me!!! I really do enjoy taking them on but lately I don't feel quite as creative. Could it be because of the upcoming holidays and all the things they involve???

Thanks SO much for visiting today!
Wanda

Wrapping Things Up!

OK, I was suppose to be wrapping gifts this afternoon and I was looking at this wrapping paper in a different way than most people would!!!! I thought it would make some cute looking cards. And I think it did if I must say so myself. I can not take credit for the designs nor the coloring, they were done by Dianna Marcum. I just cut out the little characters and stamped a "thank you" or two and layered.

A quick way to make some adorable cards, huh???

The background paper on the snowman card is where I actually cut the snowman from. There were such cute characters on the paper and it was difficult to find a spot to cut a background piece. I have issues when it comes to cutting across snowmen!!! LOL There was some horrible thing I saw on America's Most Funniest Videos one time where these people were blowing up snowmen. I didn't find it funny and every time one would blow up I would say "awwww" and hubby would just laugh. All that time and effort you put into making a snowman and then just blow the thing up. SO sad!!! We are suppose to be getting some snow.

We don't have much out there and today it was a bit sticky but I didn't get to go out and make a snowman. The snow in our yard is gross! The city came in and removed our two big trees in the backyard and trampled all the snow and then on top of that is wood splinters from the chainsaws. We don't have any trees left in our backyard. But on the brighter side they are going to be coming in the spring and having us pick out some new ones that only grow to 25'. Lucky us, we get a Hobbit yard!!! LOL Oh well, I guess dwarf trees are better than none at all.

Anyway back to the cards. I have some other wrapping items that are getting the crafting eye too!!! There's SO many cute papers on the market. I think it would be fun to have the cards match the paper. But do many people really realize it matches???? Sometimes I even miss it!!!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

December Birthdays!!

December is a tough month to have a birthday unless it's at the very beginning of the month! My hubby's is the day after Christmas. Tough day to have a birthday. But we buy him a separate gift and wrap it in birthday paper. We do place it under the tree and we even let him pick it up, hold it, shake it, etc. But we do NOT let him open it. We're SO mean here!!! LOL

My dear friend Gerry was here to stamp last night and she brought with her some fun stamps. And she shared too!!! The shoe stamp is by Stampendous and the little cupcake in the scalloped layered circles is from the Stampin' Up! "ABC Images" set. I added a bit of bling on the top of the cupcake. It needed something but I knew a candle would be too tall. SO I dug through one of my drawers and found the rhinestones and there was one that was the perfect size. And no, this card is not for my hubby!!! It's a girly card and I don't think he'd like it!!! LOL

This stamp was easy enough to color too. The coloring was done right from the marker except for the cupcake wrappers, I used a blender pen for those. I didn't want them too dark.

And now when I look at the card I think I should have colored the shoe in with yellow. The pink of the shoe kind of blends in with the cupcake frosting. Good thing I stamped some extra images!!!

It is a VERY fun and useful stamp to play with. Gerry is such a dear for bringing it with and sharing it with me!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

A Cardinal Christmas Card

Isn't this card just FABULOUS?? One of the gals last night made it. You know how I just HATE to mention names on my blog!!! But didn't Linda do a great job with this? I LOVE the colors she used, the Basic Black on top of the Real Red just attracts the eye, doesn't it?? I am especially loving the way she did the corners of the layers. Only doing two on the opposite ends.

I do have to apologize to Linda though. The camera didn't pick up the beauty of her card. It looks SO much better in person. I have not played with this set very much. I have not played much with many of my sets. I need to challenge myself to make at least 2 or 3 cards from each set or to make sure I use every stamp in a set . . . . or both!!!! LOL I have SO many sets I bought just because of one stamp in the set. Now setting aside the ones with snowmen or snowflakes I guess the numbers do drop a bit!!! Those don't count!!! LOL But in all seriousness I do need to play with the sets I have instead of just collect them!!! There's SO many wonderful sets and so little time!!!

I would like to thank Linda for sharing her card with me and with you!!! She's such a sweetie!! She's the kind of gal you meet and you know you want to do coffee with her. It must run in the family because her sister is the same way!! They're both great gals!!

Thank you for stopping by today,
Wanda

They ALL Can't Be Winners!!!

Oh my, I am SO not thrilled with the card I made for the Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers. I did try words at the bottom and it looked awful and not having words at the bottom doesn't look all that great either!!! LOL

I'm going to chalk this one up as a card that needs to be reworked. This sketch challenge was exactly that for me, a challenge. And after I get caught up on a few things around here I am going to give this challenge another try. I know I can do better than that!!!! At least I hope I can!!! LOL

There is no stamping on this card. It's all done with card stock and stickers. I had gotten these stickers in a package of 5 for 99 cents at Michael's. It did make the card quicker to do but it didn't improve the looks!!! LOL

The only ink on the card is the Gable Green I used for sponging on the white piece.

Your helpful comments on this card are GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thank you for stopping by,
Wanda

Blog Candy WInner!!!

Ok I guess the third time is a charm, right??? Let's find out if the winner of this blog candy will respond. If I don't hear from the winner by Saturday I will just add this blog candy to the next blog candy. I will be celebrating something. I don't remember now. Was it the blog reaching 600,000 hits, or the Chatty Cathy one or something else?? I'll have to check on that and get back to you. But one thing for sure is there will be more blog candy coming!!!

The winner of the Blog Candy is Jen and here was her comment:

Ok here you go: When I was a kid we would go to my grandmothers house for a Christmas eve party and stay really late. We would always go thru downtown Indy to get home (which as a kid was really exciting)but my favorite part about that night was when we got close to being home we would drive past a White Castle and it would be closed and to me that has always been my favorite memory of christmas as a kid, that White Castle's was closed on Christmas Eve. I know strange but its true. We know have the Christmas Eve party at my parents house and unfortunatly I dont have a White Castles to drive by. Thanks for a chance to win the blog candy.

Congratulations to you Jen. Please email me by Saturday December 13th with your snail mail address and I will get the package out in the mail on Monday morning!!!

Thank you all for playing along. It was fun to read your stories. Holiday's are always filled with memories, mostly fond ones. I hope that this holiday season finds you well and is filled with new memories to share,

Wanda

Are You Ready For This?

I had gotten the frame at the Dollar Tree. The minute I saw it I knew what I wanted to do with it. SO I bought 25 of them!!! Then I contacted my dear friend Katie and asked her if I could borrow her Stampin' Up! "City of David" set. And being the kind person that she is she borrowed it to me. I purchased 25 of them because I wanted to make 2 dozen to sell and the 25th one is for Katie for so graciously borrowing me her set.

I just LOVE it when I can mix clay and stamping together and what is even better is when I mix them and it actually turns out nice!!!

It was a little difficult to get the back off the frame. It's glued on all the way around. Once I got it off I had to remove the plastic car and then chip away the glue from the inside of the frame. Once that is done the glass gets all dusty so that needs to be cleaned!!! Cleaning up one issue causes another one!!! Not the first time that has happened in my life!!! LOL

I hadn't played with clay in a very long time and I have really missed it. I am hoping that next week I will be able to find more time to play with the clay. By then my hands should feel better. Rolling those clay balls made the palms of my hands sore. They are so delicate!!! LOL They're just not conditioned to work with clay. I have TONS of clay ideas in my head and want to play SO bad.

I actually have all the baby Jesus pieces done and next is to finish up Mary & Joseph. I had put a layer of Crystal Effects on the bottom and then added the clay figures. I poured in some tan sand and made sure the bottom was covered. I left the excess sand on the bottom for an added desert effect!!! I don't believe it snows in that region!!! Though anything is possible!!! The sand just seemed to fit with the background!!!

I did color in the stars with the white gel pen. My biggest problem with this was the glossy card stock. There was a line on each image. I'm not sure why it's there, it could be from the glossy card stock rubbing on the sheet in front of it. So to try to fix it I sponged over the area and let the ink dry. There was not much else I could do about it. You really can't see the marks until you start sponging over the paper. But for the most part I'm able to cover it.

I glued the back on with Crystal Effects and today I gave it to Katie but I asked her if I could keep it here for a few days longer. And of course she said I could. It's a fun project and I can't wait to get back to it to finish up the rest of them!! They do look SO much better in person!!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Card Time!

It seems like it's been a while since I have made a card. Probably about a week, huh??? And Wednesday is quickly approaching so I will be making another card. I am not much of a scrapbooker but I just LOVE to make cards. But after the middle of January I will be getting into scrapbooking and expanding my blog to include scrapbook pages as well. It's good to be well-rounded!!! I can't promise you spitacular pages it's new stuff for me!!! I did do our son's scrapbook about 8 years ago but that was LONG before I knew much about layering and other fun techniques!!! SO my new pages will be much better and I will be learning as I go! Though aren't we all?

SO here is my card. I needed a thank you card and I wanted to use a new set I had. It's new to me anyway. I only bought it because of the stocking but I haven't even used that one yet!!! I need more hours in the day to play. Hmmm, I wonder if Santa can bring me something like that???? But wishes like that bring complications!!! If I got more hours in a day would I age faster than everyone else??? LOL

Ok, for my colors I used Pacific Blue, Elegant Eggplant and Really Rust along with the Whisper White and Basic Black. Don't ask why I picked those colors. I have no idea. I just opened the paper drawer and knew I wanted Pacific Blue and just picked out the other colors because I thought they might work and they did. It's a pretty bright card but bright is good!!! LOL

I used a "Thank You" stamp I had gotten from Vista Print a couple of years ago. It's now starting to dry out. I do like those stamps, they are self-inking so you can stamp a very long time without getting tired!!!

I punched out the words with the large oval punch and then punched out the black layer with the newest largest oval punch. I layerd the flower which I had colored in with the Yoyo Yellow marker and a dot of Really Rust in the center. I used a blender pen and Pacific Blue for the vase. I also sponged the edges in Pacific Blue. Oh I just remembered someone asked me to do a tutorial on sponging. I will get to that soon, I promise.

I used the new scallop punch and punched my card stock on each end before I taped it in place. I layerd Really Rust over that and then the flower layers.

It was a very fun and quick card to make. Now I need to play with the other three images in the set so I won't feel bad when the set retires!!!

This item was made using Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made using Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you so much for stopping by,
Wanda

Blog Candy Still!!!!

Doesn't anyone want this blog candy???? I have more to post but am going to be doing these one at a time so I don't get confused!!!

Once again this blog candy goes unclaimed. SO lets try it one more time!!! I have added more items to this but I NEVER disclose what they are. But be assured they are fun and useful!!

Leave a comment on this post only. Comment on some fun Christmas memory!

Here is mine:
Many years ago when our son was a little guy we had gotten home from the family Christmas parties. It was around 3 am when we finally got settled and went to bed. At 5 am there is a little voice in our room saying "Santa came!" I sat up in bed, looked at the clock and just fell back onto my pillow!!! And so began Christmas morning!!! LOL We went out to the living room and the gifts that Santa had stacked so nicely were all over the floor. And get this, he "found" them that way!!! LOL

PLEASE be sure when you leave a comment that you will check back on Friday to see if you won!!! I will draw a name on Thursday night and post it on Friday.

Good luck and have fun!
Wanda

First Set of Technique Pages For Sale on CD

I have the first set of Technique Pages available on CD. Click here to be directed to my store. They all have been put on a CD in PDF form for you to print out and cut down to 5-3/4" x 5-3/4" to be layered on top of a 6" x 6" piece of card stock. Also on the CD you will find all the photos of each technique done up as you saw them on my blog. The CD is $3.00 and shipping for this item is FREE to USA zip codes. There's a shipping chart there for you to pick first class, priority, etc. And it does list the prices for those too. Shipping is FREE until the end of the year come 2009 shipping will be based on zip codes. Shipping usually runs just under $1.00.

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Chocolate Gingerbread Men!

Somehow chocolate and gingerbread men just don't go well together!!!! I got these adorable chocolate gingerbread men at the grocery store. Aren't the adorable. They are made by the Palmer company. Not the greatest of chocolates but they sure are cute!!! These little guys are double crisp chocolates. I guess that gives it more flavor!!! LOL

I did remove them from their original packaging and put them in these little baggies (that are meant for food items). It was a very tight fit, sort of like trying to put on a wet bathing suit!!!! But I managed to get them in the baggie.

These come with a plastic cookie cutter. How cute is that???? I used the large Stampin' Up! label die cut for the headers. I cut one red, green and white. I folded the colored ones in half and stapled them in place on the baggie. When I staple them I like to have the nice side of the staple on the back and the bumpy part on the front. It's covered by other card stock so no one will see it. Plus you don't have to worry about someone poking their fingers on an end of a staple that didn't quite do it's job!!! I do it more for the looks myself.

I cut the white label piece in half and cut around the perforated lines. Then I taped it in place over the colored pieces of card stock.

I had gotten these adorable small dies at JoAnn's and one of them happened to be a gingerbread man. How great was that??? I cut them out of Creamy Caramel card stock. I set them in place on the white card stock and took a pencil and marked where the eyes, nose and buttons were. I took my white gel pen and I colored in around the edges of the gingerbread boy and drew in the details. Then I colored them in with markers and taped the gingerbread boy on top. I used a To & From stamp on the right of the gingerbread boy and I was done. It was very quick and other than the baggie issue it was pretty simple too!!! I have two hanging stockings waiting for these!!

You can be creative and make fun gifts that don't cost a whole lot. Taking these out of their original packages and putting them in these baggies made them look SO much better. I should have taken a picture of them before I opened them up. Then you could have seen all the printing on the bag. Now that they are in clear bags it looks so much prettier and more appealing!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Glad via Glade!!!

It's always fun to make a cute gift from a plain one!! I bought a Glade candle at the grocery store on Tuesday when I was doing my shopping. I do like how their labels are meant to remove. That made the project a LOT easier to do!!!

I stamped my image on tissue paper using black StazOn and colored it in with colored pencils. You really don't want to use markers because the ink will bleed when you put the Crystal Effects on it.

After you are done coloring the image, cut around it to about 1/8" from the edges. The closer you can get the better. Take an old paint brush and brush on some Crystal Effects. It's ok if you don't get it on the entire area, you are just using it to affix the tissue paper to the glass. Begin with the center of the image and work your way out to the edges. Once it's down it's down to stay!!

Next brush a coating of Crystal Effects over the area. You can add glitter or micro beads now or you can give it one more coat of Crystal Effects and then add the glitter or beads. For mine I used the tiny micro beads that have the look and feel of sand. It gave the snowmen a frosted look and it blended in better on the jar which was already frosted.

If you don't want to add glitter or beads I recommend that you go all around the entire area with the Crystal Effects so it blends in.

Once it's dry just take a clean paint brush and brush off the excess beads or glitter. Now it's ready for gift giving. They make wonderful gifts!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Icicle Technique Page

This is such a fun technique and it didn't take long to make at all. It was the drying time that I didn't care for. But I did mine at night before I went to bed and when I was ready to go to my workroom again it was all dry and waiting for me! I'm glad I did mine that way instead of doing it in the moring. I can pretty much guarantee you that I would be touching it now and then to see if it's dry. Or picking it up and checking to see if it was set. I just can't leave things like that alone. SO for me it's best to just do it and leave it. And I do have to say I LOVE the end results of this technique!!!

Take the bottle of Crystal Effects and draw a line on your waxed paper long enough for your project. Go over the line again to make it a little thicker. s you go across for the second time move the tip of the bottle down a bit to create long drips that will be your icicles. You want to make these in varying lengths. Sprinkle with Dazzling Diamonds and allow to dry completely. This will take about an hour. Do NOT remove the excess glitter, it will cause the Crystal Effects to run and distort. When it is dry remove it from the waxed paper and add it to your project. Affix it with a little Crystal Effects on the back.

Only 4 more to go and the second set of 20 will be finished!!! I don't know exactly when they will be done but I think I should wait until after Christmas to post that they are ready to sell!!! It's just getting busier as the days draw closer to Christmas.

Thank you for visiting,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

Ok, so I'm a day late with this!!! I didn't get it done until late Wednesday night!!! I saw the sketch on Tuesday night (or was it in the wee hours of Wednesday morning???) and I thought it looked like something I didn't want to play with. I think my thoughts were clouded by all the other things I had to get done during the day that I didn't think I would have any time to play.

Well, it was late but I did find the time!!

I got this beautiful flocked snowflake paper at Archiver's. The photo doesn't do the paper justice at all. The blue part (where it's not flocked) has a pearly look to it. It's just stunning. You can sort of see it if you click on the photo.

I cut the snowflake into three pieces and layered them on the card. I went on my computer and printed out the "let it snow" in the Baja Breeze color. I punched the words out with a 1-1/8" square punch and I finally got to use my square scallop punch!!! Don't you just LOVE brand new punches??? LOL

This was a lot easier sketch than I thought it was last night when I first saw it. I checked out what some of the other stampers did with this layout on SplitCoast and I was totally impressed. I wished I would have looked there first before I finished my card. After seeing what is on there I think I could have embellished the card and done a bit more to it to jazz it up. Oh well!!! This is what I had in my mind and that is what came out on paper!!!

If you have time hop on over to SplitCoastStampers and play along with the Sketch Challenge. They are a lot of fun and I can't emphasise enough how fun it is to play with a new layout!!!

Thanks SO much for looking,
Wanda

My Beaded Project!

Last week I had mentioned that I was going to go work on a bracelet. I had taken a class to learn how to make the "Mariposa" bracelet. Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish. I didn't know that. Though I don't know much Spanish and that is one of the words that wasn't on my short list of Spanish words.

The one I made in the class was done using Swarovski bicone beads in amethyst and amethyst ab. Ab means aurora borealis because they sparkle like the northern lights do. It's a lot darker than the fire polished glass beaded one. I do like them both. Swarovski crystals have such a pretty sparkle to them and the fire polished have a beautiful look all their own. Not as sparkly but still pretty. Click on any of the photos for a closer view.

This bracelet is made with fire polished glass beads with lavender ab's in the middle and light lavender on the outside and the seed beads are clear and have a light lavender lining on the inside.

The camera does not do the bracelets justice.

The red, green and gold one is my Christmas bracelet. I just love the colors of the Swarovski beads in this one. These bracelets are such fun to make and I'm going to be making some Christmas gifts using this stitch!

My plan is to get some black and red beads to do one for a Christmas gift!!! They take less than 2 hours to do, depending on what movie is playing!!! LOL And if things go as planned I may get a few in my store too!!

Thank you for looking,
Wanda

A Different Box Makes My Job Easier!!!

On my "Good Enough to Eat" tutorial I showed you how to make a box to display your bath fizzy for gift giving. Now don't get me wrong, I do like those boxes but there were just too many pieces to it for me to make as many as I needed to make. SO I went to "The Super Deluxe Tuckbox Template Maker" and entered in the measurements that I needed and had that program make me a perfect box. I have used that website many times to make special boxes to fit those odd size gifts. For my box I entered in 1.75" x 1.75" x 1.75". It gave me a PDF file which I just saved to my computer to use over and over and over again!!!! Such a deal! And it's even free!!! Now that's a REAL deal!!! LOL

Ok, now onto my box. I printed it out in draft mode because there is some printing on the box that you just can't get rid of. It's only fair to have it displayed on the inside of the box to give credit. Printing in draft mode makes it print lighter. I cut it out and I spent a while trying to figure out where I was going to make the hole for the "window." I HAVE to have a window in my box. It's a must if I plan on selling them. It's kind of hard to finish them all off and seal them shut by tying a ribbon around it and then have someone come along and open it up because they want to see what is inside. SO a window IS a must!!! LOL Would you buy a box not knowing exactly what is inside it? You are told what is in it but don't you still want to see? I was at Target today looking at makeup bags and there were some that had double zippers but they were hooked together with tie wraps. I asked the gal working in the makeup department if I could see inside the bag and she said if it's sealed they can't open it. Well, needless to say I put it back on the shelf. I wanted to get one to store my beads in it for traveling. I did end up getting a different one (from DH for Christmas - he does so well shopping for me!!! LOL) and I was able to see inside!!! And I, for a moment wondered why there were so many of those bags sitting on the shelf. Well, now I know. If you can't see inside you won't buy it!!!

Ok, back to my box. After cutting it out I used the Stampin' Up! "Spot On" jumbo wheel and Bashful Blue ink on Bashful Blue card stock. Then I scored the lines and folded the scores in. I punched the window in using the 1-1/4" circle punch. I glued in a piece of acetate and then I taped the box together. Then I wrapped my bath fizzy in some foil paper and placed it inside the box.

I had printed out the ingredients and the children under 4 warning and taped it to the bottom of the box. Then I tied a ribbon around it. I may add a tag to it later but for now I think I will leave it as it is!!!! It was much quicker to make than the one with the 3 pieces. And It took less card stock and less acetate!!

These make great gifts for anyone who would love to take some time out for a nice warm relaxing bath!!! They are wonderful for teachers, friends and family!!! A great co-worker gift, a fun Make N Take, a quick Craft Fair item, and wonderful customer or hostess gifts!!!

Thank you SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Save That Old Blender Pen!

As I was finishing up my Christmas cards the final thing I do is seal the envelopes. YUCK!!! I didn't want to wet my finger and I didn't have one of those office sponge things that you went and use on the flap. SOOO I took my old dried out, tip flattened Blender Pen, the one that is only good for coloringin big circles because there is no tip left at all to get into any corners, and I soaked it in water. Once the pen was wet I just ran it across the envelope flap and VIOLA!!! it was wet and I just folded it over and it was sealed!!! It went SO quickly. No paper cuts on my lips. No awful taste on my tongue and best of all it went SO quickly!!

The tip of the blender pen was sticky but that didn't matter. I was going to toss it anyway. I could have rinsed it out and used it next year but the way I go through Blender Pens I can pretty much guarantee you that I will have a bad one in time for next years Christmas cards!!!

Just a fun little tip to share with you!!

Have a great day!
Wanda

Colored Soot Technique Page

Well, the pages are coming along nicely and I should have the second set done in a couple of weeks. If all goes as I'm hoping it will!!!

This technique is much like the regular soot one but you can add color. A spectrum pad would be fun with this technique too!! Play around with it and have fun!!

Click here to see the colored soot and stamping closer.

Ink up your glossy card stock with a brayer or a sponge. If using multicolors you will want to use sponges. Once your card stock is colored the way you want it, light the candle. Move your card stock around the top of the flame. You are collecting the soot. Once the card stock is covered enough in soot, set your card stock down. Blow out the candle and set it aside. Take your clean dry rubber stamp and stamp on top of the soot. The rubber will pick the soot off and the color will show. If you need to use the stamp again, wipe it off making sure it is clean and dry and stamp again. Careful not to touch the soot, it will come off on your fingers. When you are all done spray the card stock with the acrylic spray to keep the soot from coming off.

Thank you SO much for visiting,
Wanda

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Isn't it just amazing how little things can go wrong at some of our bigger family gathering dinners and the dinner still goes on with no complaints? Some of the little mistakes we make in preparing the meals turn into the fun memories we have of those "learning experiences!"

Much like stamping, we make mistakes on our cards and we learn how to cover them or just leave them as they are!! I believe it's called giving the card "character!" Some of my cards have LOTS of character!!! LOL

Ok, onto the winner of the Blog Candy.

LeAnne is the winner and here is the comment she left:

Great blog candy! We didn't have this dish on this Thanksgiving, but my husband's family has (are you ready for this?) fried celery on Thanksgiving. Yuck.

And I tend to agree with you LeAnne about the fried celery. Never tried it and probably never will. Yuck seems to fit it for me as well!!! LOL Though I am a picky eater, if it has a funny name, look funny, walks sideways, swims in it's own poo or contains gravy I'm NOT eating it. Perfect example of it for me is cheese cake. I am not a big fan of cheese and just the thought of cheese and cake together..... well, YUCK! LOL

Ok LeAnne, please email me with your mailing address and I will get the package in the mail to you soon. I was at the post office today and the wait in line was over a half hour. I can only imagine it getting worse as the days draw closer to Christmas!!!

Thank you all for playing along. I will be posting more blog candy in a day or two. This one will be in celebration of me finishing my Christmas cards. I just got the stamps on them today. That was a job in itself since I am still using the 39 cent snowflake stamps from a couple of years ago. I bought TONS of them because I am such a big fan of snowflakes!! I do know that I will not have enough left for next year's cards!!! I may actually have to buy postage stamps by then!!! It will be nice not to have to add the one and two cent stamps that I also had a ton of!!! LOL Silly me, who thought the postage would keep going up??? Good think I am almost out of the snowflake stamps, my cards next year would have been covered with the makeup stamps!!!

SO stay tuned to find out what the next Blog Candy will be!!! And your next fun question!! LOL

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by,
Wanda

Good Enough to Eat!!!

Looks good enough to eat but DON'T!!! It's for the bath tub!!! The perfect gift for those who could use an hour in the tub to relax!!!

For this project I used the cupcake box tutorial found here.

Inside this box is a bath fizzy. Another way to decorate up a little something for someone special without spending a lot of money. This makes a wonderful gift for any gal who needs a relaxing soak in the bathtub. This is a great teacher's gift and the kids can help some with it too. Like wrapping up the bath fizzy in the foil candy paper or stamping some images on the outside of the box bottom before it's assembled. The love to help out with the gifts they give to others and for most of these gifts there is some little job they can participate in. I know most of the time it's just easier to do it yourself!!! I've been there myself. But the look on their face when the project they helped with is complete is worth more than words can every say!!

On the bottom of my box I used the Stampin' Up! jumbo wheel "Spot On."

When making these please be sure to add something on the bottom of the box stating what is inside (ingredients help too) and that little reminder that it is not edible and not intended for children under 4. It's always best to be safe than sorry when it comes to things like this. Any child (and some adults too) would see the ball wrapped up like candy and assume it is candy. The prettier you make things like that the more they can be mistaken for candy. Use caution. For mine I just copied the wording that came with the fizzy. I figured they must know what all needs to be included on it so I went with that. If you are planning on making these to sell you absolutely NEED that information on the bottom. No question about that at all!!!

These would be great for teachers gifts, craft fairs, stamp camp, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts and those "just because" gifts!!!

SO now you can get started on those little gift giving plans!!!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Look What Lois Did!!!

A while back I made a pair of scarecrow pants as a centerpiece and thought it would be fun to see them as Santa pants. Well Lois did all the work for me!!! Aren't her Santa pants just adorable????

I like how she did them in 3 different sizes too!!! How cute is that???

Wouldn't these be cute as a centerpiece?? Just fill them with crimps and candies or place plastic flowers in them. You could probably use real ones if you put the vase inside first. Though I don't feel comfortable with water and card stock!!! Throw in a few busy kids and I'm thinking wet pants!!! Santa's not mine!!! LOL

A big THANK YOU to Lois for sharing her Santa pants with us!!!

Thank you too for stopping by,
Wanda