Happy Birthday, Jana

Happy birthday to you! My dear friend Jana is having a birthday today and besides wishing her a very special day, I'd like to show you part of her birthday present that I made with my own two hands. The lovely thing about making this for Jana is that she's a papercrafter herself, so she really appreciates the time and effort that went into this!
First, I'll show you the envelope that holds the present. I created this with Lauren Meader's My Time Made Easy Simple Seedling cut file and my Cricut and Sure Cuts Alot software.

I created a band to go around the envelope and then used this great sentiment from the SNS Sew Happy Cocoa clear stamp set. You'll see why this is such an appropriate sentiment for this project in just a minute. I added a bow made from some custom-colored seam binding and some faux stitches. Now look what's inside!

The image and sentiment on the front is also from the Sew Happy Cocoa set! I colored Cocoa with my copics. I did some real stitching around the edges of this project. A few buttons and some more seam binding ribbon finish this off. Now, Jana has a little notebook to put all her crafty ideas in, notes, lists of books she wants to read (wink!), or anything she wants.
I hope she has a great day and I wish that for all of you! Get your craft on today!
Cheers!

Monday with Mom

We went masculine for this Monday's edition. Mom used blues and grays and strong score lines to create a masculine feel for a friend's birthday. She colored this image called SNS Camper with her copic markers and scored around the edges with her Martha Stewart Score board. the ribbon glide also adds another masculine touch!
I created a birthday present for our district's business manager. He seemed a little down in the dumps thinking about his 60th birthday, so I'm hoping this will cheer him up! I haven't made a cake in a can in a long time. I used to make them all the time for my coworkers but this last year I started giving cookies in a box. Since I'm not on any one campus any more, I thought I could bring this out for a new group of recipients.

Yep, that's a chocolate cake in an old green bean can. I actually cook the cake in a different can and transfer the cooled cake over to a decorated can. The cupcake image is from the LSS Sweet Treats 2. The sentiment is from the SU Whimsical Words set. The paper is K&Co's Life's Journey PP. Hope this is a sweet treat for my friend.
Cheers!

Sweet n Sassy Clear Stamp Blog Hop

WooHoo! It's finally here...Sweet n Sassy clear stamp release!! If you didn't preorder these fabulous new stamps, today's the day to get your order in! I'm showing off the beautiful April Daisy set. Also releasing this month is the June Rose set and more birthday flowers will be available in upcoming releases. There are six sets of clear stamps being released this month. Be sure to keep "hopping" around to see all the stamps being used by the design team, then head over to Sweet n Sassy to these for yourself!
Here's a closer look at the daisies:

 Aren't these scrumptious! They definitely needed to goon a beautiful basket! I envisioned my basket full of Hershey's kisses or some other small chocolate treat, but I couldn't find anything like that anywhere in my house....now where did all the chocolate go???(wink!)
Okay, make sure you leave a comment on my blog telling how cool the new clear stamps are and then stop at each of the design team blogs and leave comments with each for a chance to win some great stamps. I don't have the prize here, but keep hopping and you'll find them. Don't forget to end up at Sweet n Sassy Blog and the store. Then, join us tonight on SNR for a release party featuring chat, challenges, and prizes!

• Ceal Pritchett
• Darsie Bruno
• Janette Olen
• Kim Schofield
• Korin Sutherland
• Leah Cornelius
• Lisa Jurecek
• Lorie Souther
• Nancy Brown
• Nicole Anderson
• Tricia Traxler 

Happy Crafting!

Having a Whale of a Good Time!

One of my co-workers has a birthday this Saturday, so I baked a couple of cookies and created a mini pizza box to put them in. Then, I just needed someone cute to have the honor of wishing the lucky lady a very happy birthday.

And who cuter than Wally Whale! Of course, since he's in the ocean he needed some sparkling water  to float in. So, I added a clear layer over my image and covered the lower part of it with Stickles. To cover the adhesive on the clear cardstock and to make it seem like we are looking at him out of a port hole, I cut a circle in my patterned paper before layering it over the image.
Now, Wally's all ready to deliver my birthday message (created with MicroSoft Word)! For only .99 you can create a whole lotta cuteness for very little money. Be sure to head to Sweet N Sassy Stamps to see all the new stamps including Wally.

Monday With Mom 5

We did it again! Mom and I visited Stamptv for a little inspiration this week and found a tutorial on easy piercing. This involved using a sewing machine to create piercing on a card. It's supposed to be easier than using a paper piercer and it probably was for Mom since she's been sewing for years, but I'm not sure I've master the straight stitch. My pierced border looks a little crooked but hopefully that just gives it a more homespun look!
There's a great new image at Sweet n Sassy called Molly's Flower. Molly is soooo cute! Please buy thousands of these and beg Korin to do some more stamps with Molly! I loved coloring her.

Isn't she just adorable?
Mom put her sewing machine to good use, too. She created this beautiful Mother's Day card. Hmmm! I need one of those. Wonder if she'd let me have it (wink)!

The embossing is just gorgeous on this and yes, her piercing is perfectly straight. I really love the fresh colors on this and the elegance of the pearls.
We'd like to challenge all of you to find someone to craft with and do a joint project or share a challenge and see what you each come up with! Then, join us again next week for Monday with Mom!
Project Recipe

Paper: SU Sage Shadow and Chocolate Chip CS, My Mind's Eye PP, Neenah White Classic Crest Solar CS

Stamps: SNS Molly's Flower

Tools, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Classic Rectangles and Deckled Rectangles Nestabilities, Janome sewing machine, copic markers, chalk

Embellishments: PTI Aqua Mist twill ribbon and twine, button, Paper Studio half pearls (colored with copics and an airbrush)

Spring Flower Basket

It's raining again! Not a bad thing, I know. We need the rain, but still I miss sunshine (don't quote me on that this summer when I'm complaining about the heat!). Anyway, I was at Walmart the other day and just couldn't resist picking up one tiny little blooming plant. It's still too early for spring flowers, so I'm creating a garden in my craft room!

I've had the template for this cute picnic basket for a while now, but this is the first time I've actually used it. You can get the template at Papertrey Ink under My Timeless Templates.It was super easy to put together. I paired the great little basket with a very appropriate sentiment from Sweet N Sassy Digital Stamps. This is from the Springtime Blessing set. If you haven't been to SNS lately, you really need to go see all the new stuff. The new releases have me completely jonesing for Spring!
I used some buttons on the picnic basket handle and on the ribbon in order to meet the SNS Digi Day Challenge at SNR. Micki challenged us to use buttons on our project. Oh, and if you meet the challenge and post before Monday morning, there's a beautiful freebie in it for you!
Project Recipe

Paper: SU Blush Blossom CS, PTI Scarlet Jewel CS, DCWV Farmer's Market PP

Stamps: SNS Springtime Blessings

Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Labels Four Nestabilities dies, PTI Pack a Picnic Template, Martha Stewart Arch Lattice border punch, SU Horizontal Slot punch

Embellishments: buttons, twine (PTI), PTI Sweet Blush Saddle stitched ribbon