being strong

My aunt is in the hospital so I wanted to make her something cheery and encouraging to hang on the wall. I saw this inspiration photo on the Unity Stamps facebook challenge:


And I loved all the flowers so I decided to make a floral wall hanging for her.
 I first stamped the sentiment in the center of my watercolor paper. Then using the masking technique, I stamped several flowers and leaves around the page.

Then using a waterbrush and gelatos, I colored in all the images. I finished it off by mounting on black cardstock.

Here are all the stamp sets I used:
strong is your only choice
Quiet Essence
Wildflowers & Wings
Devoted
Best Wishes & Blooms
Finally Fall
you+me =bliss (discontinued)


I'm also linking up to Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge which is ONE LAYER.

Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great day!

GIU, Day 1

Guess what?? I get to be the Growing in Unity girl for this week!

That means that every day this week I will post a new project using Unity stamps. I'm a little late because I was a last-minute fill-in, but, hey, I still get to do it!

And  you have a chance to win some stamps too. Every day you can comment on my posts and get entered to win a selection of 25 Unity stamps! Cool beans.

For my first post I made a fall-themed gift sack/envelope.

I wish I coud tell you which stamp set this sentiment came from but I'm not sure. I think I got it in a grab bag from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Dr. Who-themed gifts

My son is such big Dr. Who fan so I couldn't help but make a couple projects for his birthday last week! 

First was a Doctor-inspired birthday card. I made a similar card at my monthly card class so I used it as a pattern to make one that looked very Dr. Who like. You can't see it too well but I took brown cardstock and stamped a tweed-like stamp on it for texture. 

Then I took a plain black journal I found and turned it into this TARDIS journal just like River Song carries. My son has been journaling in it every day since I gave it to him!

I designed a cut file and used lots of blue paint! I'll be making a second journal for my other son so stay tuned for a quick tutorial in a few days.

Another fun gift to include would be one of these pens-turned-sonic screwdrivers. 

Cheap pens + oven-bake clay= sonic screwdrivers!

I found this craft on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/223913412700147905/) 

We've actually made very many of these and I was going to add some to my photo but ours are so heavily used that they are just too dirty for photos! It is an easy, inexpensive and kid-friendly craft. Follow her directions and use the pens she suggests and you'll have some very happy whovian kiddos. Even if you are not Dr. Who fans you can still make Harry Potter wands or Star Wars light sabers maybe!

Linking up to:

The Paper Girls Challenge blog Father's Day/Masculine projects

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes

the golden thread

Today I've got a little 6"x6" canvas I made for a friend. It's 1 of 3 - hopefully I'll have the other 3 ready to share soon.

I collaged some paper, painted some yellow, and stamped some Unity ( Classified Newsprint).

 

I used the Moroccan stencil from Simon says Stamp and some embossing paste for cool texture. I inked over it with gold ink for some color.

 

I added some washi tape, die cuts, flair, and a fussy-cut stamped image (Grow Yourself Extraordinary).

 I created the quote on my label maker (love that thing!).

 

This was so fun to make. I think I need to make some artwork to hang in my own house now!

 

ETA: I'm linking up to the Moxie Fab World challenge to use stencils.

 

Thanks for stopping by today.

:)



Glitter decor

The current challenge over at The Paper Girls is to use Glitter! As a mom of 3 boys I don't get to do that often enough!

 

My little niece is decorating her room in pink, white, and black so I thought I would make her some 3-D letters in her initials to decorate her room.



I used this 3-D letter svg file from svgcuts.com to cut the letters out of cardstock.

 

I added some black and white paper, and then a layer of pink glitter paper!



I added some black rolled flowers and a bow to the T and a fabric flower to the R.

 

These are so fun and {almost} easy to make. If you make any of these (and I highly recommend you do) please watch the assembly video. And have lots of quick-drying liquid glue handy. Some letters have way more pieces than others and can be a bit tricky. I used this last year to make all the letters in "Merry Christmas" for my mantel. Talk about time-consuming! But it was well worth it.

 

What would you make with these files? I want to make more seasonal words for my mantel. My sad little mantel needs help. I should do this soon.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

I'm linking up to:

Think Pink Sunday

Making the World Cuter Monday

Time to Sparkle Link Party

Take it on Tuesday

Link up Tuesday

Your Whims Wednesday

 

A pretty little treat box

This week over at SP and Company stamps it is Halloween projects week!

 I made a little Halloween treat box that is not necessarily "Halloween-ish".

Now, I love Halloween! Love, love, love it! And everything else fall-ish that occurs from the time school starts until Christmas.

But I know many people are not fans of the scary stuff so I made my treat box on the cute side. I made sure to keep the orange and black color though.

Here is my box that can hold 4 fun-size candy bars:

Top view:

To make this I started with a 6x6 piece of orange paper. I scored every 2 inches in each direction so that it looks like a tic tac toe board:

Then I flipped the paper over and scored the corners on the diagonal from the corner to the center square:

Then just fold your score lines like this:

I punched a hole in each corner and ran twine through and tied it all together.

But luckily before I tied it I realized I hadn't stamped yet (as you can tell in the photo)! I just opened it up and stamped one of the poppies from Poppy Field Summer onto the center of each square with black ink. THEN I tied it and filled with some fun-sized candy bars.

Another option to the box is to fold in the corners so you get a simple box. For this one I used ribbon as the handle instead of twine. You could fill this with candy corn or some other yummy thing.

So there you have one more way to use your SP and Company stamps and some 6x6 papers! Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 



Just a Note - a teacher gift

 

I made a few more note boxes to give as teacher gifts.
I decorated 3x5 notecard boxes and made small note cards to put in them.
I figure teachers always need cards to thank parents or to send reminders or something!
And this is small enough they can keep it on their desk or in a drawer and repurpose it when they are done.

This one is for Authentique's color challenge. I am just loving blues and yellows lately.

 I used Mod Podge to attach all my papers.
I love these flowers I fussy cut from the "You + Me = Bliss" Unity and Authentique co-branded stamp set. I also covered them in several layers of Mod Podge for extra durability before attaching to the box.



 

Some of the coordinating cards inside:

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I'll get the other boxes finished and photographed soon.


 

Supplies:

3x5 notecard box

Authentique Free Bird Endless & Fairweather 6x6 nest

Unity and Authentique co-branded stamp set - You + Me = Bliss

Unity Just a Note stamp set

American Crafts ribbon

Mod Podge

 

An altered journal

It's gifts week over at SP & Company and I decided to make a notebook for my little niece. Well, actually this was my third idea after the others weren't gonna work!

I took a standard composition book and covered it in scrapbook paper. The first thing I did was get rid of the ugly inside cover.

I simply adhered white cardstock to both inside covers. But before I glued down the backside, I stapled a few lengths of twine (you could also use ribbon) to the cover.

These twine will now be book marks for her. I attached beads to the ends to weigh them down.

Next, I took some scrapbook paper (not cardstock because you want it thin enough to wrap around the cover) and adhered it to the front and back. Make sure to cut enough to wrap around the cover to finish it off. Then to cover the spine I just glued on some thick ribbon.

Now finally you get to decorate. I kept it fairly simple since she is only 5. All of my papers are from Echo Park's So Happy Together line which was part of SP & Company's June monthly club kit (and just so darn cute!).

I added twine and then fussy cut flowers from the Garden pattern paper. I used the sign from the Boutique Sign mini stamp set to stamp the label onto the Diagonal Dot paper. The banner behind it uses Happy Stripes and Road Trip paper.

I added her initials using foam stickers. And now she has a cute little book that she can practice writing her alphabet in! Maybe by the end of the year she'll be writing letters to her favorite aunt ; )

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cupcakes

I wanted to make a thank you gift for about 20 people that were volunteering their time for one of our MOPS events. And I needed an excuse to bake and get it out of my house fast so I wouldn't eat it!

That's how this was born:

 These are some of my favorite cupcakes to make. They are from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. White cupcakes with a Strawberry Meringue Buttercream frosting. YUM! Find the reipe for both cake and frosting here.

 To make the toothpick flags you just need toothpicks and cardstock. I, of course, had to stamp mine! I used SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments II set and Mix 'n Match Sentiments: Friends. I just love these stamps. They have so many possibilites to mix and match! The stamps are small enough to fit on the flag and yet bold enough to stand out.

 One side of the flag said "Thank You" and the other said "You are Super Sweet"!

I cut cardstock into long strips just long and wide enough for the stamps. Sorry, I didn't write down any measurements. After I stamped I cut out the notch and inked the edges in yellow. Then I applied glue and wrapped around the toothpick.

Now came the tricky part. I wanted these all individually wrapped so each volunteer could carry it home and keep it covered in the process. But I wanted a container that was both clear (so the cupcakes could be seen) and that was tall enough to allow for the flag. I didn't have time to custom make 20 boxes. The only premade cupcake boxes in my town were the Wilton ones at Wal-Mart that were neither very cute nor would fit the flags. The only bakery in town is at Safeway and I begged them for ideas. And the brilliant lady there showed me these boxes that they use to sell caramel apples in. Brilliant!! Clear and tall! And only 50 cents each.

So I wrapped each one with a bright spring-colored bow and tucked in a little thank you card containing a small gift card.

 Tada!

These are guaranteed to make them ooh and ahhh. : )

Thanks for stopping by. For more inspiration using SP stamps stop by the blog at http://sp.thescrapmaster.com/.

I have another post there today showing you how to make this pop-up card:

Neighbor gifts...with recipes!

 I finally got around to baking a couple of our new neighbors some welcoming gifts.

Again.

We ate the first batch.
: )

They each got a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Lemon Poppyseed loaf.

I wrapped each loaf in parchment paper and then wrapped with some patterned papers. The wrappers I made were about 4"x12" and ended up being perfect to go around the loaf. I just taped it on the bottom and then tied some twine to secure it. Oh, and made a little tag so they'd know what they were eating.

I was in such a hurry to finish these so they could be delivered while still fresh and while there was still daylight outside and before we could eat them again! Well, I put the wrappers on before I stamped them. Then I was too lazy to take them off. So... I stamped the sentiment onto the soft bread. Not my best idea! But it mostly worked : )

 Please forgive any smudges!

I stamped the word Welcome from the Ultimate Sentiments II set. It actually says Welcome Baby but I didn't ink up the Baby part.

Then I used Mix 'n Match Sentiments: Basics for the FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS part.

Whew! They also got a cute little card but I didn't get a photo of that.

Here are the recipes in case you're interested!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz sour cream

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup chocolate chips, give or take

Cream butter and sugar until blended. Mix in eggs. Add banana, vanilla, and sour cream and mix well. Combine oats, flour, soda, and powder and then slowly add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Lemon Poppyseed Bread

1 box of lemon cake mix (standard 18.25 oz size)

1 box instant lemon pudding (3.4 oz)

1 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1 Tbsp poppy seeds

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, water, oil, and eggs. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Stir in poppy seeds. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. Combine lemon juice and sugar. Brush all over warm loaf

ENJOY!

For more inspiration using SP stamps head over to the blog at http://sp.thescrapmaster.com/.

Thanks for stopping by.